National

Texas Voting Rights Stalemate Ends. GOP Will Push To Overhaul Elections

10:57am August 20, 2021

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Chris Turner about the decision of several Democratic lawmakers to break rank and return to the state capitol.

A man who claimed to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the Capitol surrendered to law enforcement after an hours-long standoff Thursday. The incident prompted a massive police response and the evacuations of government buildings and businesses in the are

National

Questions About Security Around The Capitol Complex Emerge After Bomb Threat

10:57am August 20, 2021

by Vanessa Romo

The ease with which the attacker gained such close access to the Library of Congress on Thursday raises new questions about security, just seven months after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

A young fans searches through Topps Baseball cards prior to the game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Kansas City Royals on Sunday April 28, 2019, at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

MLB Is Ending Its 70-Year Partnership With Baseball Card Manufacturer Topps

10:12am August 20, 2021

by Jaclyn Diaz

Fanatics is expected to be the new partner with MLB to manufacture trading cards, edging out baseball's long-time partner, Topps.

Voting Rights Stalemate Ends In Texas As Democrats Return To The State Capitol

7:21am August 20, 2021

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Associated Press reporter Paul Weber about the Texas House achieving a quorum after some of the Democrats who left Texas to block a GOP voting bill returned to Austin.

National

8th Grade Class In Massachusetts Fights To Clear Woman Of Witchcraft Conviction

5:49am August 20, 2021

In 1693, Elizabeth Johnson was convicted at the height of the Salem witch trials. Her execution was never carried out, but she was never exonerated. A civics class wants the legislature to clear her.

News Brief: Latest On Afghanistan, Texas Voting Bill, Alabama's COVID Surge

5:36am August 20, 2021

The Biden administration has a warning about what could come next in Afghanistan. A political standoff in Texas is over. Doctors in Alabama say they're exhausted by a crisis that was preventable.

Arizona Will Withhold Funds From Schools With Mask Mandates

9:19pm August 19, 2021

by Sneha Dey

A new $163 million school grant program, created with federal COVID-19 relief funds, is open to schools that are adhering to "all state laws," referring to a recent order

National

A New Genre Of Filmmaking Has Proved Invaluable In Exposing Years Of Abuse

7:39pm August 19, 2021

by Eric Deggans

As with Finding Neverland and recent docs about Woody Allen and Britney Spears, Surviving R. Kelly played a critical role in exposing years of abuse — and producing a new must-watch genre.

National

New Orleans Police Superintendent On Policing Reforms That Have Been Working, And Why

7:39pm August 19, 2021

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson about the summer spike in violence and how the city has changed their policing efforts under a Justice Department order.

Mask-wearing travelers head through Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va., in May. More than 70% of reports to the FAA of unruly passengers this year were related to people failing to comply with mask mandates and causing a disruption as a result.

National

Fines For Disruptive Plane Passengers, Often Over Masks, Have Reached $1 Million

7:08pm August 19, 2021

by Sharon Pruitt-Young

Nearly 4,000 incidents of disruptive behavior have been logged on planes this year, according to the FAA.