(Courtesy of Jennifer Andrushko)
It wasn't until she applied for Medicaid that Jennifer Andrushko discovered someone had been using her young son's Social Security number. Because kids don't have much use for credit, the crime often goes undiscovered for years. Now, Utah is piloting a program that would help protect children against fraud.
(Adrian Dennis / AFP/Getty Images)
American athlete Allyson Felix is still weighing which events she'll focus on in London this summer. She already has two Olympic silver medals plus a relay gold. Now she wants an individual gold. To get it, she'll have to beat her arch-rival: Jamaica's Veronica Campbell Brown.
(J. Scott Applewhite / AP)
Founded in 1906, Xerox is one of America's most venerable companies. But the corporate giant has struggled in the digital age. CEO Ursula Burns, the first African-American woman to run a Fortune 500 company, is working to transform a company known for photocopy machines into a services icon.
(Steve Mullis/NPR)
Nearly every sofa and armchair sold in the U.S. is treated with flame-retardant chemicals thanks to an obscure California law. Some experts say the chemicals do little to prevent fires; others worry that they might cause health problems. The industry has opposed attempts to change the law.
(Facebook)
When Katy McCaffrey's stolen iPhone began beaming her photos from a cruise ship, she posted a batch of photos from the purloined iPhone on her Facebook page, in an album called "Stolen iPhone Adventures."
(Christopher Polk / WireImage via Getty Image)
While many black pastors condemn homosexuality from the pulpit, the choir lofts behind them are often filled with gay singers and musicians. The fact that gays and lesbians often hold leadership position in the church is the worst kept secret in black America.
(Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Dept. / AP)
Shuai, a Chinese immigrant who lives in Indiana, is still facing charges of murder and feticide following a failed suicide attempt in Dec. 2010, when she was 33 weeks pregnant.
(Edward Linsmier / Getty Images)
With the latest campaign dollar totals officially on the FEC books, at least one thing is certain: President Obama will not have the huge spending advantage this November that he did four years ago. What is less certain: whether some big political donors can remain anonymous.
(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP)
Max Nutting, a journalist who writes for the MarketWatch website affiliated with The Wall Street Journal looked at the data and found that rhetoric and reality don't quite match up. Nutting found that, contrary to repeated allegations from the president's political foes, including Mitt Romney that Obama has been on a federal spending tear, he actually hasn't.
(Paul Morigi / Courtesy of Bloombury USA)
For years, the Tea Party has held individualism up as the great American value. But columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. says that Americans historically have prized communitarianism just as much. In Our Divided Political Heart, Dionne argues that America is at its best when it balances the two.
(Steven Senne / AP)
After helping the Boston Red Sox win the World Series, pitcher Curt Schilling could do no wrong. Then news broke that his video game company had chewed through a $75 million state loan that it's struggling to pay off. Now, Rhode Island officials are moving to protect taxpayers from what appears to have been a very bad investment.
A company called SpaceX has put an unmanned capsule into orbit, on the first-ever commercial mission to deliver cargo to the international space station. If successful, the mission will be a key step towards NASA's goal of privatizing space travel to the orbiting outpost.
Robert Siegel talks to Andy Pasztor, aerospace reporter for the Wall Street Journal, about the business model for SpaceX.
Audie Cornish and Robert Siegel note that the ashes of some celebrities' were launched on the SpaceX Falcon rocket on Tuesday. They include those of James "Scotty" Doohan of Star Trek and astronaut Gordon Cooper.
On Tuesday, family and loved ones in Chowchilla, Calif., remember a school bus driver who many consider an American hero. Thirty-six years ago, Ed Ray was driving his regular school bus route when it was hijacked. Everyone aboard was driven 100 miles, forced into a storage van, and buried alive. Audie Cornish speaks with Lynda Carrejo-Labendeira, who was on the bus that day.
While we assume our judicial system occasionally makes mistakes, until recently no one had been tracking the number people in this country who are convicted and later exonerated. Now the National Registry of Exonerations has begun compiling these cases. Audie Cornish talks with the registry's editor, Samuel Gross, about some of the group's findings from the over 2,000 exonerations they've compiled.
Al-Qaida has had a habit of putting out subtle hints about attacks it's planning. In the wake of the recent airline bombing plot that was foiled, officials are looking back to see if the group telegraphed its intentions.
At a day of remembrance, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon honored emergency workers, victims and survivors of tornadoes that killed 161 people, and praised the ongoing efforts to rebuild Joplin. Reporter Matt Pearce, who was in Joplin the morning after the tornado, talks about the aftermath of the disaster.
US Airways Flight 787 was headed to Charlotte, N.C., from Paris when it landed in Bangor, Maine, instead. The Transportation Security Administration says there was a report of "suspicious behavior" by a passenger.
US Airways Flight 787 was headed to Charlotte, N.C., from Paris when it landed in Bangor, Maine, instead. The Transportation Security Administration says there was a report of "suspicious behavior" by a passenger.
Stay-at-home mom Holly McCall says she manages her family's finances and has perfect credit. But due to a federal law, she was denied a credit card because she doesn't make an income. McCall wants the law changed, but Aracely Panameno with the Center for Responsible Lending says the law is necessary. Host Michel Martin speaks with both women.
On Monday, Dharun Ravi was sentenced to a 30-day jail term for using a webcam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi. Clementi was having an intimate encounter with another man in their dorm room, and a few days later, he committed suicide. Host Michel Martin discusses the sentence with Paul Butler, a law professor and former federal prosecutor.
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Over the past decade, employee background checks have become a billion-dollar business. Some lawmakers think companies that want to know not just about criminal backgrounds but social media passwords have gone too far.
(Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images)
Put your financial acumen to the test. Where should the stock, which has been on a slide since it debuted on Friday, land?
The news is one sign that home prices may finally be recovering.
(John Raoux / AP)
A robotic cargo ship owned by SpaceX, a private company, is ferrying supplies to the space station. NASA is turning over routine flights to the commercial sector so that it can focus on other missions.
The parents of Diane Waller and Randy Kjarland are deceased. The couple tells the Daily Herald they decided to have their wedding at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, Minn., to be near their family.
Two New Jersey men have found a way around high gas prices and traffic jams. The mile long trip from Hoboken across the Hudson River to their Manhattan office takes about a half-hour to paddle. They also get their exercise in for the day.
For the second straight year, one of the NBA's greatest players is leaving the playoff party early. Kobe Bryant and his Lakers are out after losing their second-round series against the young and explosive Oklahoma City Thunder, 4-1.
Chen Guangcheng is settling into his new apartment in New York. But Chen says he is worried about the safety of members of his family left behind in China, and the activists who helped him escape from house arrest and take refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
(Kainaz Amaria / NPR)
Depressed home prices make the decision to move an aging relative even more difficult than normal. So what should be done with the house? Try selling in a depressed market? Or rent it until prices perk up? One family weighs a tough choice as it struggles to pay for a grandmother's care.
The Obama campaign continues its attack on Mitt Romney's time at the private-equity firm Bain Capital. Over the weekend, Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker seemed to veer off the campaign's message. Later, Booker tempered his remarks in a YouTube video. But it didn't take long for the Romney campaign to seize on Booker's comments.
The insider trading trial of Rajat Gupta is underway in New York. Gupta is a former Goldman Sachs board member, who prosecutors say provided inside information to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam. Gupta's lawyer told the jury that the case against his client was based on guesswork and speculation.
(Mladen Antonov / AFP/Getty Images)
Chinese activists have often fallen off the radar after leaving their homeland. Activist Chen Guangcheng is now safely in America, but hopes he can still play a role in China, where he fought forced abortions and sought to improve conditions for the disabled.
President Obama held a press conference Monday afternoon as NATO wrapped up its Chicago summit. Audie Cornish talks to Scott Horsley for more.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — once accused by a whistle blower of not being able to find ice cream at a Dairy Queen — is experiencing something of a culture shift. Last year the agency filed a record 735 enforcement actions and collected nearly a billion dollars in penalties from companies with SEC violations. Audie Cornish talks to Devin Leonard, staff writer for Bloomberg Businessweek, about his article, "The SEC: Outmanned, Outgunned, and On a Roll."
Audie Cornish shares excerpts from this year's college commencement addresses by President Obama, Mitt Romney, Maria Shriver, Michael Bloomberg and others.
A judge on Monday sentenced former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi with 30 days in jail for using a webcam to spy on his roommate. Tyler Clementi committed suicide days after Ravi saw him kissing another man.
