Shots - Health Blog
5:31 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

All Routine PSA Tests For Prostate Cancer Should End, Task Force Says

Credit Jose Luis Magana / AP
Terry Dyroff, at home in Silver Spring, Md., got a PSA blood test that led to a prostate biopsy. The biopsy found no cancer, but it gave him a life-threatening infection.

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 11:33 am

There they go again — those 17 federally appointed experts at the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are telling American doctors and patients to stop routinely doing lifesaving tests.

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Teacher Pay
4:46 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

Key Wash. Lawmaker Calls For K-12 Pay Raises Next Year

Credit Washington House of Representatives
Wash. House Ways and Means Chairman Ross Hunter says teachers and other school employees deserve a raise.

Washington teachers are woefully underpaid. That’s the conclusion of a draft legislative task force report. Now a key Washington state lawmaker says teachers and other school employees deserve at least a cost of living pay raise next year.

Twelve years ago, Washington voters approved Initiative 732. It requires annual pay increases for K-12 employees. The initiative didn’t come with any funding. In recent years, because of the Great Recession the legislature has suspended those pay raises. But now state revenues are starting to recover. House Ways and Means Chairman Ross Hunter says the state should make it a priority to ensure teacher pay keeps up with inflation.

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Kitzhaber Faux Bill Signing
4:34 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

Kitzhaber Signs Series Of Bills…Again

Credit Photo credit Chris Lehman / Northwest News Network
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber signing two measures into law in March.

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber has been busy signing a series of bills dealing with everything from marine reserves to tax incentives. But the deadline to sign bills from this year's legislative session was actually more than a month ago.

With a bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered behind him, the governor extolled the virtues of House Bill 4068.

John Kitzhaber: "The people here deserve a lot of credit for bringing a bill to my desk with broad, bipartisan majorities."

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Medical Treatments
3:46 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

Task Force: Men Don't Need Regular Prostate Tests

Originally published on Mon May 21, 2012 4:00 pm

A federal task force has concluded that men over 50 don't need a regular blood test for prostate cancer. Millions of men get the test every year. The task force says too many unnecessary treatments are being performed because of the test.

Law
3:46 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

Court: No Benefits For Kids Conceived After Dad Died

Originally published on Mon May 21, 2012 5:21 pm

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that that a Florida man's children, conceived after his death through in vitro fertilization, are not entitled to Social Security survivors benefits. More than 100 similar cases are pending before the Social Security Administration, but Monday's ruling is unlikely to resolve most of them.

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Music News
3:35 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

Garbage: After An Absence, Always The Oddball

Credit Courtesy of the artist
"I wanted to make loud, guitar-driven rock again," says Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson, on the band's reunion.

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 5:46 am

Parallel Lives
3:20 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

Obama Made A Strong First Impression At Harvard

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 4:57 am

From now until November, President Obama and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney will emphasize their differences. But the two men's lives actually coincide in a striking number of ways. In this installment of NPR's "Parallel Lives" series, a look at Obama's time at their shared alma mater.

Harvard professor Laurence Tribe is a sort of legal rock star, particularly among liberals. First-year law students he has never met don't just show up at his door saying, "I want to work for you." At least they didn't until March 31, 1989.

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It's All Politics
3:05 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

Obama: Romney's Bain Record Is No Distraction

"This is not a distraction. This is what this campaign is going to be about."

That's what President Obama said during a press conference in Chicago minutes ago, when he was asked what he thought about Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker's critique of the campaign ad about Mitt Romney's time as CEO of Bain Capital.

If you missed it, Booker made news by going off message on Meet the Press.

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The Two-Way
2:15 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

Obama: U.S. Making 'Diligent Progress' With Pakistan

Originally published on Mon May 21, 2012 3:06 pm

President Obama said the U.S. was making "diligent progress" in their negotiations with Pakistan over the reopening of a crucial supply line into Afghanistan.

Obama said he didn't think that issue would be solved by the end of the NATO Summit in Chicago, but "we are making diligent progress on it."

Obama and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari met on the sidelines of the summit. Obama said while their talk was brief he "emphasized... Pakistan has to be part of the solution" in Afghanistan.

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The Two-Way
1:26 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

SpaceX Spacecraft Will Attempt Lift Off For A Second Time On Tuesday

Credit Roberto Gonzalez / Getty Images
SpaceX rocket Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral in Florida was scheduled to launch Saturday morning, but aborted just before liftoff.

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 3:43 am

The SpaceX unmanned rocket will try to lift off again, after its first attempt was scrubbed a half-second before launch on Saturday.

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