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4:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
NPR Story

Business News

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with a Silicon Valley lawsuit.

Facebook has fired back in its patent dispute with Yahoo. The social networking site says Yahoo products, including the photo-sharing site Flicker, are infringing on 10 of Facebook's patents. Facebook's legal action is a counter-claim to a suit filed by Yahoo last month, also claiming 10 patent infringements. The pending court battle is a distraction for Facebook as it prepares to go public - a move that could see the company valued at up to $100 billion.

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4:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
NPR Story

Baylor Beats Notre Dame 80-61 For NCAA Women's Title

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

On a Wednesday, it's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

The Baylor Lady Bears have their title and a piece of history too. Last night in Denver, Baylor won a women's college basketball championship that many expected. The Lady Bears beat Notre Dame 80-61 to go undefeated and then became the first team in NCAA history to win 40 games in a season. NPR's Tom Goldman reports the player who led Baylor all year was the star once again.

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4:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
Election 2012

Romney Picks Up More Delegates In GOP Race

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Joining us for some analysis of last night's results and a look at the presidential contest ahead is NPR political correspondent Mara Liasson. Good morning.

MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning, Renee.

MONTAGNE: Clearly another good night for Mitt Romney, especially when it came to the delegate count. What exactly has he won?

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4:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
Around the Nation

Alaska Legal Program Resolves Divorces Quickly, Amicably

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Alaska is trying to limit the pain of divorce. A program called Early Resolution aims to help couples settle their cases quickly and amicably. Alaska Public Radio Network's Annie Feidt attended an Early Resolution session.

ANNIE FEIDT, BYLINE: This is a serious story about the legal system and divorce. And one thing you do not expect to hear during an afternoon in court is laughter.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: So I just started recording, if that's okay.

JACOB CARPENTER: Yeah.

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4:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
Business

James Murdoch Resigns From British Satellite TV Giant

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 2:47 pm

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

After many months of bad new and devastation to its stock price, the British satellite TV giant BSkyB will try to move forward under new leadership.

NPR's Philip Reeves says this follows the resignation yesterday of its chairman, Rupert Murdoch's son, James.

PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE: James Murdoch announced his departure, acknowledging he's worried his role in Britain's phone-hacking scandal was threatening to hurt BSkyB. He doesn't want to be a lightening rod in a storm. That storm shows no sign of passing any time soon.

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4:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
Business

Private Colleges Branch Out To Other States

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

American universities, like American companies, have been looking to expand into new markets. They open campuses overseas. And now many private colleges are looking for growth back home, building satellite campuses around the United States. Now, any given public college may spread campuses across a state, but private institutions reach across state lines. Here's Monica Brady-Myerov from member station WBUR.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

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3:19am

Wed April 4, 2012
Law

Gay Marriage Lawsuit Presses For Survivor Benefits

Herbert Burtis met the person he wanted to marry in college, in 1948. But since the object of his affection was another man, they had to wait until 2004 for the ceremony, when Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriages.

"It's a long engagement," Burtis says, laughing. "We thought it was time that we made each other honest people."

His spouse, John Ferris, died four years ago. When Burtis went to the Social Security office to apply for survivor benefits, the clerk told him the federal government did not recognize his marriage.

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3:18am

Wed April 4, 2012
Around the Nation

College Student Pieces His Way To Lego Mastery

3:06am

Wed April 4, 2012
Europe

The Secret To Germany's Low Youth Unemployment

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 2:47 pm

For as long as he can remember, German teenager Robin Dittmar has been obsessed with airplanes. As a little boy, the sound of a plane overhead would send him into the backyard to peer into the sky. Toys had to have wings. Even today, Dittmar sees his car as a kind of ersatz Boeing.

"I've got the number 747 as the number plate of my car. I'm really in love with this airplane," the 18-year-old says.

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3:05am

Wed April 4, 2012
U.S.

Activist Puts Albany Neighborhood On The Bus Map

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 2:47 pm

Credit Marie Cusick for NPR
Willie White pushed for the creation of a new bus route for his previously underserved neighborhood in Albany, N.Y.

The New York state capital, Albany, is a gathering place for the state's most powerful people.

But in the city's poor and predominately black South End neighborhood, many residents once felt powerless.

They had repeatedly asked for better public transit for South End, an area plagued with poverty and crime not far from New York's gated governor's mansion.

Today, the city's Route 100 bus glides easily up Morton Avenue, a steep hill in the South End neighborhood. Many feel there would be no Route 100 if not for the efforts of local resident Willie White.

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3:04am

Wed April 4, 2012
Sports

U.S. Rhythmic Gymnastics Star Readies For London

3:03am

Wed April 4, 2012
Latin America

An Upgrade, And Bigger Ships, For The Panama Canal

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 8:17 pm

Two giant ships move through the Panama Canal's two parallel channels at the Miraflores locks, heading toward the Pacific Ocean.

The orange and white Bow Summer is a tanker. The deck of the Ever Dynamic is stacked high with burgundy and blue shipping containers. More boats like these are backed up in both the Pacific and the Atlantic waiting to enter the narrow waterway.

Global trade has grown dramatically, but the Panama Canal — one of the most vital transit routes — hasn't changed its basic structure since it opened in 1914.

But that is about to change.

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3:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
Starting Up: Silicon Valley's Origins

A Rare Mix Created Silicon Valley's Startup Culture

The first in a 3-part series airing this week on Morning Edition.

When Facebook goes public later this spring, its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, will be following in the footsteps of a long line of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs that includes Steve Jobs and Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin. But there was a time when the idea of an engineer or scientist starting his or her own company was rare.

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2:58am

Wed April 4, 2012
It's All Politics

Once Again, Santorum Keeps It Close But Falls Further Behind

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 1:50 pm

Credit Jeff Swensen / Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum speaks at a campaign rally at Four Seasons Sheraton in Mars, Pa., Monday night. Rival Mitt Romney won the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Wisconsin primaries.

Rick Santorum came surprisingly close to an upset in Wisconsin this week, losing to Mitt Romney by less than 5 percentage points. It was not as heartbreakingly close as his previous losses in Michigan and Ohio, but it was one more reminder of what might have been.

With a win in Wisconsin, Santorum would have confounded the ruling media narrative of the moment, which wants to turn from the primary season of spring to the autumnal matchup of Romney and President Obama.

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2:30am

Wed April 4, 2012
Sweetness And Light

Is It Time To Tone Down The Tiger Woods Coverage?

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 2:47 pm

Credit Streeter Lecka / Getty Images
Tiger Woods at a practice round ahead of the 2012 Masters Tournament, which begins Thursday in Augusta, Ga. Woods receives the lion's share of press coverage despite his poor record over the past several years.

Hearing about golf these past couple of years has turned into some sort of dual universe. On the one hand there is the real world, like: "Smith and Jones Tied for Lead in Cat Food Open."

But then, in more detail, the larger shadow story reads: "Tiger's Putter Falters, Trails By 12 Strokes."

Golf has become like fantasy football or Rotisserie Baseball. Only, imagine if everybody has the same guy — Tiger Woods — on his team. No other golfers seem to exist, except possibly The Ghost of Jack Nicklaus.

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11:05pm

Tue April 3, 2012
NPR Story

Wisconsin Primary In Focus

Audie Cornish talks to NPR's Ron Elving, Ari Shapiro and David Welna about the Republican primary in Wisconsin.

11:05pm

Tue April 3, 2012
NPR Story

Romney Sweeps Primaries In Wis., Md., D.C.

Audie Cornish talks to NPR's Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving about Tuesday's primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

6:35pm

Tue April 3, 2012
It's All Politics

Live Blog And Results: Wisconsin, Maryland And D.C.

Credit Scott Olson / Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets supporters Tuesday in Milwaukee.

With wins in Maryland, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C., Mitt Romney inched his way forward toward becoming the inevitable GOP presidential candidate.

After Tuesday's hat trick, the road to victory is clear for Romney and increasingly rocky and unlikely for Rick Santorum, Romney's leading opponent.

Still, in a speech from Mars, Pa., Santorum vowed to continue his campaign.

"We have now reached the point where it's half time," Santorum said. "Who's ready to charge out of the locker room for a strong second half in Pennsylvania?"

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5:51pm

Tue April 3, 2012
It's All Politics

GSA Clown-Conference Scandal Could Result In Counterproductive Reaction

Credit Harry Hamburg / AP
Former GSA administrator Martha Johnson on Capitol Hill in June 2009.

The scandal involving the General Services Administration's by now infamous conference featuring spending on a clown and mind reader is certainly far from the biggest in terms of the overall dollars involved. After all, we're talking about less than $1 million all told.

That's pocket change at the Pentagon, where they can probably find more taxpayer money under the couch cushions.

But it may go down in history as one of the dumbest. A clown and a mind reader at a conference of federal bureaucrats? Really?

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5:32pm

Tue April 3, 2012
The Two-Way

After Two Test Flights, The Race Toward A Flying Car Is On

Credit PalVco / via Flickr
The PAL-V at a runway.

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