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Alan Chartock
Alan Chartock
President and CEO
Joe Donahue
Joe Donahue
Vice President, News and Programming
Ian Pickus
Ian Pickus
News Director
Katie Britton
Katie Britton
Program and Outreach Director
Brian Shields
Brian Shields
Senior News Anchor
David Guistina
David Guistina
Morning Edition Anchor/ Senior Producer
Susan Barnett
Susan Barnett
Host, 51%

All Things Considered on WAMC

Weekdays, 4pm - 6pm; Weekends, 5pm - 6pm

All Things Consideredis a NPR radio newsmagazine that delivers in-depth reporting and transforms the way listeners understand current events and view the world. The program presents breaking news mixed with compelling analysis, insightful commentaries, interviews, and special -- sometimes quirky -- features.

Genre: 
News/Talk
Composer ID: 
5187ee3be1c8156e5bf76f3d|5187edcfe1c8156e5bf76f38

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Science
5:06 pm
Wed September 19, 2012

Hungry Snakes Trap Guam In Spidery Web

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Credit Isaac Chellman / Rice University
Invasive brown tree snakes have gobbled up most of Guam's native forest birds. Without these avian predators to keep their numbers in check, the island's spider population has exploded.
Credit Isaac Chellman / Rice University
In the wet season, there are 40 times more spiders on Guam than there are on other nearby islands.
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Originally published on Wed September 19, 2012 8:09 pm

The Pacific Island of Guam is experiencing a population explosion — of spiders.

There are more spiders there now than anyone can remember. To get a sense of how weird the situation is, I started out in Maryland. On my front porch, overlooking the Severn River.

At 6:30 in the morning on a cool fall day, I find two spider webs in a matter of five minutes. But if I were on the island of Guam, I might find 70 or 80 spider webs in five minutes.

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Politics
3:54 pm
Wed September 19, 2012

Deep South Democrats Seek Path Back To Relevance

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Credit Rogelio V. Solis / AP
Albert N. Gore Jr., a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss., on Aug. 2. Gore is running against incumbent Republican Roger Wicker. He says there should have been younger people interested in taking on Wicker — "but they didn't want to fight."
Credit Danny Johnston / AP
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe speaks to delegates at the Democratic Party of Arkansas state convention in North Little Rock on Aug. 18.
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Originally published on Wed September 19, 2012 8:09 pm

It can be lonely being a Democrat in the Deep South. Just ask Steve Wilson.

The young lawyer was a first-time delegate at the Democratic National Convention, but it's not something he brags about back home in Meridian, Miss.

"I don't talk about it," he says. "It's the elephant in the room, so to speak. Most of my friends are Republican, I think, but I just don't bring it up."

That climate can make it hard to recruit viable Democratic candidates in the Deep South — once a solidly Democratic region that is now reliably Republican.

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The Salt
3:42 pm
Wed September 19, 2012

FDA Weighs Federal Standard To Limit Exposure To Arsenic In Rice

Credit Danny Johnston / AP
A combine harvests rice near Tucker, Ark., as consumer groups pressure the FDA to set federal standards on arsenic in rice.
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Originally published on Wed September 19, 2012 8:09 pm

Scientists have known for a long time that rice — often babies' first food and the staple of much of the world's diet — is good at absorbing inorganic arsenic from soil during the growing process.

Two separate analyses, one by Consumer Reports and one by the Food and Drug Administration, have raised concerns that we might be getting too much of this known human carcinogen in our diets.

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U.S.
3:21 pm
Wed September 19, 2012

Smoke Cleared, Texas Gun Owners Remain Wary

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Originally published on Wed September 19, 2012 8:09 pm

Texas state Rep. Wayne Christian was born two blocks from where he now lives in what is called Deep East Texas.

"We were not wealthy people, [we were] common laborers, but that was typical in rural East Texas at that time," he says.

When he was growing up, Christian says, by first or second grade, an East Texas boy would accompany his father or grandfather on a hunting trip. But before a boy got a gun, he had to learn how to act — how to address the other men respectfully, to watch how it worked.

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Middle East
10:20 am
Wed September 19, 2012

Syrian Rebels Fear Radicals May Hijack Revolt

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Credit Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images
Syrian rebels pose after seizing control of the Bab al-Hawa border post on the Syrian-Turkey border on July 20. Now, the rebels are facing a new challenge: radical Islamists, who they say do not represent them.
Credit STR / Reuters /Landov
Islamist fighters carry their flag during the funeral of a fellow fighter who died during clashes on Sunday, outside Aleppo in northern Syria. A similar flag, raised over the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, was at the heart of a dispute that highlights the growing tension between homegrown Syrian rebels and radical Islamists who have flowed into the country.
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Originally published on Wed September 19, 2012 8:09 pm

Homegrown rebels have done most of the fighting against the Syrian government troops. But Islamist militants from abroad, including some with links to al-Qaida, are now joining the fight against the government in growing numbers.

The local rebels are not pleased with this development, and there is growing tension between the groups that share a desire to oust President Bashar Assad but little else.

Until a few weeks ago, the border crossing at Bab al-Hawa on Syria's northern frontier with Turkey was the site of a training camp for a militant Islamist group.

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Education
6:29 pm
Tue September 18, 2012

Chicago Teachers Union Delegates Vote To End Strike

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By editor

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 7:09 pm

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

In Chicago, teachers have suspended their strike. That means teachers and students could be back to class as soon as tomorrow. The strike lasted seven days.

And with us to explain what has transpired in Chicago is NPR's Claudio Sanchez. And, Claudio, teachers, as we've said, have suspended the strike. What has the reaction been?

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WAMC News
5:50 pm
Tue September 18, 2012

Vermont Veterans' Home to Plan for Funding Loss

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The trustees of the Vermont Veterans Home in Bennington are going to begin planning for a future without funding from the federal government.

Trustee President Joseph L. Krawczyk Jr. said the Sept. 26 meeting will focus on "operating strategies."

Last week the trustees revealed that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will stop paying for the care of veterans at the home due to deficiencies that included failure to report abuse in a timely manner and improper dressing of a wound.

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WAMC News
5:40 pm
Tue September 18, 2012

Probe of Vermont Cop Overtime Finds Unissued Tickets

Credit Vermont State Police
James Deeghan
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The ongoing investigation into the overtime charged by a former Vermont State Police trooper has found that he wrote 973 traffic tickets over 12 years that were never given to a motorist or filed with the court.

That conclusion is among the latest findings in an investigation into alleged time-sheet padding by Sgt. Jim Deeghan, a former state police patrol commander in Chittenden County.

The details were in an affidavit filed by Detective Lt. Robert Cushing, who is investigating Deeghan's overtime practices.

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WAMC News
5:30 pm
Tue September 18, 2012

Man Sues to Keep President From Vermont November Ballot

President Barack Obama
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The Vermont man who lost the state's Republican primary to run for the U.S. Senate is asking a court to strike President Barack Obama's name from the state's November election ballot.

The lawsuit by H. Brooke Paige, of the town of Washington, claims Obama is "not a natural born citizen" because both of his parents were not born in the United States.

Obama was born in Hawaii and he is a United States citizen.

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WAMC News
5:20 pm
Tue September 18, 2012

Toronto Airline to Expand Winter Flights to Vermont

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A Toronto-based airline is expanding its seasonal service to Vermont during the ski season this winter.

Porter Airlines will offer four round trip flights weekly between Toronto and Burlington starting on Dec. 15, up from two weekly flights last season.

Governor Peter Shumlin and state officials announced the renewed partnership on Tuesday at the Burlington International Airport.

The flights will be offered on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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