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National Teachers Initiative
5:00 am
Sun June 24, 2012

Former Dropouts Push Others To Reach Finish Line

Originally published on Sun June 24, 2012 12:40 pm

In Pasadena, Calif., one teacher's devotion is helping kids graduate. Mikala Rahn is the founder of Learning Works, a charter school for kids who have dropped out of traditional schools.

Carlos Cruz is one of the first students she helped graduate. When he started senior year, Cruz realized he was two years behind.

"[I remember] you looking at me and telling me that everything was going to be OK," Cruz tells Rahn, "and me looking back at you, and I'm like, 'How the [expletive] do you think everything is going to be OK?' "

Rahn says it was optimism.

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Presidential Race
4:52 pm
Sat June 23, 2012

Putting A Positive Spin On Negative Campaigning

Originally published on Sun June 24, 2012 5:46 am

The general presidential election is still months away, but President Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney are already hammering each other with attack ads.

Obama's most recent ads criticize Romney's time as a so-called "corporate raider," while Romney has released several ads seizing upon the president's statement that the "private sector is doing fine."

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Around the Nation
3:56 pm
Sat June 23, 2012

University, Community Reacts To Sandusky Conviction

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 4:42 pm

Transcript

GUY RAZ, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.

Jerry Sandusky will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. After just two days of deliberations, a jury found the former Penn State assistant coach guilty of sexually abusing 10 boys. He'll be sentenced in 90 days. But right now, the community where he lived and worked is trying to recover from the damage he caused.

NPR's Jeff Brady joins us from State College, Pennsylvania. And, Jeff, what are people saying about that verdict there today?

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The Two-Way
3:37 pm
Sat June 23, 2012

Captured Man Isn't El Chapo's Son, So Who'll Get The Blame?

Originally published on Tue June 26, 2012 5:45 am

On Thursday, the Mexican Navy triumphantly presented a man it said was the son of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Today, both Mexican and U.S. authorities are pointing at each other for misidentifying the man who was captured.

The man's name is Felix Beltran Leon, 23, a car salesman, and not Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, the Mexican Attorney General's Office confirmed on Friday, saying "necessary tests" had proved he wasn't the drug lord's son.

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Television
3:25 pm
Sat June 23, 2012

Norman Lear: 'Just Another Version Of You'

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 4:42 pm

When legendary TV producer Norman Lear was young, his father gave him a do-it-yourself radio kit. Lear built it, turned it on and remembers one day hearing a fiery broadcast that spoke kindly of the Nazi movement and ranted against Jews.

"It scared the hell out of me," Lear, who is Jewish, tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz. "It was the first time that I learned that I was, quote, 'different.' I started to pay a lot more attention to people who were even more different."

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The Two-Way
12:56 pm
Sat June 23, 2012

Ugly Mugly Wins Ugliest Dog Contest

Credit Kimihiro Hoshino / AFP/Getty Images
Mugly, a Chinese crested dog from the United Kingdom won the 2012 World's Ugliest Dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, Calif., on Friday.

Originally published on Tue June 26, 2012 5:46 am

Living up to his name, Mugly has won the title of World's Ugliest Dog.

Like many of the previous title holders, Mugly is a Chinese crested. It's a breed known for being mostly hairless and prone to a few conditions that can make the tiny dogs heavyweights in an ugly contest.

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The Two-Way
11:31 am
Sat June 23, 2012

Two Found Dead In Hotel Just Before Daytime Emmys

Credit Matt Sayles / AP
The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Originally published on Tue June 26, 2012 5:46 am

Two people have been found dead at the Beverly Hilton where the Daytime Emmy Awards are being held later today.

That's the same hotel where Whitney Houston was found dead in her bathtub just hours before the pre-Grammy party she was to attend in the downstairs ballroom.

The AP has details from the police:

Police responding to a report of a shooting shortly before 11 p.m. Friday found a man and a woman dead from gunshot wounds, Beverly Hills police Lt. Mark Rosen said.

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Simon Says
7:09 am
Sat June 23, 2012

Behind A Wave Of Asian Immigration, Stories Of Struggle

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
A Pew Research Center study shows Asian-Americans are the fastest-growing immigrant group in the U.S., but that doesn't make theirs a success story.

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 12:43 pm

The Pew Research Center says Asian-Americans are now the fastest-growing ethnic and immigrant group in the United States: 18 million Americans, almost 6 percent of the population. Pew says Asian-Americans also tend to be the most educated and prosperous.

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Presidential Race
6:58 am
Sat June 23, 2012

Presidential Campaign Takes On A Spanish Accent

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. The presidential campaign shifted focus a bit this week as President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney both reached out to the fast-growing population of Latino voters. The two men spoke to a national gathering of Hispanic politicians in Florida. Immigration, of course, is an urgent issue after Mr. Obama's decision last week to try to stop deporting some illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

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Presidential Race
6:58 am
Sat June 23, 2012

Contrasting Romney And Obama On Immigration

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

We get two perspectives on President Obama's policy shift on immigration and the election year efforts to reach Hispanic voters. Host Scott Simon speaks with Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, co-chair of Obama campaign and head of Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who served alongside Mitt Romney when he was governor in Massachusetts and is now an adviser to the campaign.

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