U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement / Creative Commons

A Tale of Two Counties: Buncombe and Henderson Co. Sheriffs Differ on Policies Dealing With ICE

Western North Carolina’s two most populous counties have differing policies when it comes to working with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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The State of Things

“The State of Things” covers diverse issues & topics in NC. Frank Stasio talks to authors, musicians, politicians, & citizens about subjects that matter to North Carolinians.

In the midst of a presidential budget proposal destined to generate controversy for its expected drastic spending cuts, White House senior adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump wants to have a conversation about increasing the availability and affordability of child care.

NPR has learned that the 2020 White House budget set to be released Monday will call for increased spending on child care and propose a new initiative to address shortages.

The Packhorse pub sits in the tiny village of South Stoke in the west of England amid rolling hills dotted with sheep. For more than a century and a half, it played a crucial role in the village and marked milestones in the lives of local families.

Gerard Coles, who was born half a mile from the pub and now brews cider nearby, started coming to the Packhorse when he was 15 and underage, sometimes with his school teacher for lunch.

When Erin Gilmer filled her insulin prescription at a Denver-area Walgreens in January, she paid $8.50. U.S. taxpayers paid another $280.51.

She thinks the price of insulin is too high. "It eats at me to know that taxpayer money is being wasted," says Gilmer, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes while a sophomore at the University of Colorado in 2002.

The diagnosis meant that for the rest of her life she'd require daily insulin shots to stay alive. But the price of that insulin is skyrocketing.

Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., Asad Khan, says India is hastily and unfairly blaming his country for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing that killed more than 40 Indian security force members in the disputed Kashmir region.

"India pointed the finger at Pakistan within minutes. The Indian government and media went into overdrive, whipping up war hysteria against Pakistan," Khan said recently in Washington.

When high school senior and wrestler Brendan Johnston realized he had to face Jaslynn Gallegos, a high school senior, and Angel Rios, a high school junior, in last month's Colorado state wrestling championship, he knew his shot at a state title was over.

Johnston refused to compete against Rios and Gallegos because they are both women.

Gallegos went on to place fifth place in that tournament and Rios was fourth — marking the first time girls have placed at a Colorado state wrestling tournament.

The House on Friday approved a sweeping measure that would, among many others things, expand voters' access to the polls. But Senate Republican leaders say that chamber will not take up the bill, calling it a power grab.

Updated at 11:32 a.m. ET

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed Sunday morning shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the airline said.

The plane had 149 passengers and eight crew members on board, the airline said. There were no survivors.

The cause of the crash remains unknown. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it will send a team to help with the investigation.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to return now to our Troll Watch series.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: This is where we bring you stories of cybersecurity attacks, bots and of course, internet trolls. This week, Twitter confirmed that users will eventually be able to press a button that says hide tweet that would, as you might imagine, allow users to hide certain responses to their tweets. And that means if you tweet something and you get nasty or abusive replies back, you could make those replies invisible to others.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to return now to our Troll Watch series.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: This is where we bring you stories of cybersecurity attacks, bots and of course, internet trolls. This week, Twitter confirmed that users will eventually be able to press a button that says hide tweet that would, as you might imagine, allow users to hide certain responses to their tweets. And that means if you tweet something and you get nasty or abusive replies back, you could make those replies invisible to others.

Reality TV Roundup

17 hours ago

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to return now to our Troll Watch series.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: This is where we bring you stories of cybersecurity attacks, bots and of course, internet trolls. This week, Twitter confirmed that users will eventually be able to press a button that says hide tweet that would, as you might imagine, allow users to hide certain responses to their tweets. And that means if you tweet something and you get nasty or abusive replies back, you could make those replies invisible to others.

Pages

Arts & Performance

Scott Sturdy

Kitty Tsunami is surf-punk-garage-pop band in Asheville led by the couple Meg Caldwell and Tommy Tsunami. They spoke with Blue Ridge Public Radio as they released their debut full-length album, titled “Cosa Nostra.”

 

Kitty Tsunami shares the stage with local improvisational/atmospheric band Pink Mercury March 11 at the Mothlight to close out the Winter Music Series from the Asheville Area Arts Council and Asheville FM. Here, the couple tell a little about themselves and their music.

courtesy of the artist


Jane Kramer almost had it too good. She was in a loving, long-term relationship, making music as part of the Barrel House Mamas and engaged in a career in social work.

“Within about six or eight months, all those things collapsed,” Kramer said. “I was really, really broken. I was just in the wreckage and the shrapnel of all the ways my life here had decayed, and feeling like a tremendous failure, coupled with losing a dear friend in a really tragic way. Suddenly, I didn’t know how to find my identity, even here, in these mountains, where for all intents and purposes I came to be myself.”

Matt Peiken | BPR News

Margaret Curtis and her husband, their two sons and a joyful chihuahua-dachsund mix named Sally live on a quiet, curvy street on a hill above downtown Tryon. From the surface, it’s the quintessential American picture.

Curtis doesn’t paint such pictures.

Matt Peiken | BPR News


Emöke B’Rácz has survival in her blood. In 1956, Her father came to the United States from Hungary as a political exile. B’Rácz was 15 years old when she and the rest of her family followed him to Connecticut.

“I did not speak the language. In Hungary, I was an ‘A’ student, and in the United States, I was at the bottom of the class,” she recalled because I couldn’t say anything very well.