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WMUK Staff

Gordon Evans

News Reporter/Producer

Morning Edition Host

Announcer & Producer

Announcer & Producer

Announcer & Producer

Announcer & Producer

News Director

Chief Engineer

Program Director

Underwriting Director

Kim Willis

Development Associate

Martin Klemm

Sound Engineer

Gordon Bolar

General Manager

Around the Nation

5:09 pm

Mon March 11, 2013

Owens Valley Salty As Los Angeles Water Battle Flows Into Court

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Credit Kirk Siegler / NPR

Owens Lake — which dried up after losing its water source, the Owens River, to Los Angeles — is known to be a source of air pollution. The city of L.A. is in court over obligations to control dust pollution at the lake.

Credit Kirk Siegler / NPR

Owens Valley and the Sierra Nevada, the high desert environment that is drier today because of a century worth of water diversions to Los Angeles, some 200 miles away.

By Kirk Siegler

Originally published on Mon March 11, 2013 6:30 pm

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In the West, fights over water last a long time.

It's been almost 100 years since William Mulholland stood atop an aqueduct along the Owens River and said, "There it is, take it." He was referring to a diversion channel that started piping water to Los Angeles from 200 miles away. That water allowed L.A. to become the metropolis it is today.

But it also meant that the Owens River no longer flowed into the massive Owens Lake, which quickly dried up and became one of the biggest environmental disasters in the nation.

4:40 pm

Mon March 11, 2013

Remembering Lillian Cahn, Creator Of The Coach Handbag

By Audie Cornish

Originally published on Mon March 11, 2013 5:36 pm

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Lillian Cahn, co-founder of Coach Leatherwear Co., died March 4 at the age of 89. Cahn was the force behind today's high-end leather handbags.

Back in the 1960s, she and her husband, Miles Cahn, were running a leather goods business in Manhattan. They produced men's wallets and billfolds but wanted to expand.

"My wife had a great sense of style, and she made the suggestions that we men maybe were a little thoughtless about," Miles Cahn says with a laugh. "Among her many suggestions was: 'Why don't we make pocketbooks?' I like to tell people I scoffed at the suggestion."

4:38 pm

Mon March 11, 2013

Obama Team Stops Saying 'Global War On Terror' But Doesn't Stop Waging It

Credit J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Standing in front of the Constitution, President Obama delivers an address on national security and terrorism in 2009 at the National Archives in Washington.

By Ari Shapiro

Originally published on Mon March 11, 2013 5:36 pm

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After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush often made a provocative claim: He argued that the U.S. was fighting a war without a typical battlefield. In effect, he said, this war is everywhere.

"Our enemies make no distinction based on borders," he said in a 2007 speech in Michigan. "They view the world as a giant battlefield and will strike wherever they can."

Ryan Loyd is Texas Public Radio's city beat and political reporter who brings more than a decade of news experience back to his hometown.

Ryan began reporting at KGNB radio in New Braunfels, followed by KTSA. He worked in television news in Joplin, MO, San Antonio, Sherman, Texas, and Austin.

Since joining TPR in October 2011, Ryan has covered stories of local, state and national interest including the 2012 Democratic National Convention, where San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro delivered the keynote address.

Ryan especially enjoys reporting on in-depth issues like the Eagle Ford Shale oil and natural gas boom, the ongoing conversation into redeveloping Alamo Plaza, the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland sex scandal, and numerous city issues. Ryan is a regular contributor to NPR News.

In 2011 he won first place in the Ft. Worth Society of Professional Journalist's First Amendment Awards for his work on an environmental story while in Austin. He won a second place Associated Press Broadcasters award for beat reporting for his coverage of San Antonio city government at TPR.

Ryan is trying to become a more avid cyclist, but in the meantime he chases around a vibrant toddler and a red-nosed dog with his wife, Sarah.

Business

4:09 pm

Mon March 11, 2013

In Trendy World Of Fast Fashion, Styles Aren't Made To Last

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Credit Michael Buckner / Getty Images

Prices at stores like Forever 21 are so low, "it's virtually impossible to walk out empty-handed," says Elizabeth Cline, who writes about fast fashion.

Credit Kathy Willens / AP

Clothing chains like H&M (above) and Forever 21 design and distribute new styles so quickly and cheaply, they've been dubbed "fast fashion" retailers.

By Jim Zarroli

Originally published on Mon March 11, 2013 5:36 pm

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When she got out of college and moved to New York, Elizabeth Cline liked to shop at vintage-clothing stores. They were the kinds of places tucked away on side streets in Manhattan and Brooklyn, where a lot of hunting and a little luck might reward you with a great, inexpensive cocktail dress that no one else had.

Then she discovered the world of "fast fashion" — chains like Forever 21, H&M and Zara — and it redefined her whole notion of bargain shopping.

4:05 pm

Mon March 11, 2013

Oil spill in 2010 not a threat to drinking water

Credit WMUK

Kalamazoo River re-opens in 2012 (file photo)

By Andrew Robins

A new state report says the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill did not cause contamination of residential water wells that threatens human health. The final “health assessment” by the Department of Community Health says no oil-related organic compounds were found in wells near the disaster in Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties.

3:51 pm

Mon March 11, 2013

Four-Legged Warriors Show Signs Of PTSD

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Credit Ryan Loyd / KSTX

Bernie Green is a supervisor with the Department of Defense's Military Working Dog Breeding Program. Experts say dogs can suffer from PTSD-like conditions that can affect their military capabilities later on.

Credit Ryan Loyd / KSTX

Tech. Sgt. Joe Null kneels with Layka, a combat dog who lost her legs overseas. She was given an award for animals that serve heroically in combat.

By Ryan Loyd

Originally published on Mon March 11, 2013 8:04 pm

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For years, PTSD — or post-traumatic stress disorder — has been an issue for military members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

But humans aren't the only ones with problems. Military dogs returning from war zones are also showing signs of PTSD. And there's evidence that these canines need some extra tender loving care after their tours of duty.

2:33 pm

Mon March 11, 2013

The Living Building Challenge at WMU

Credit Living Building Challenge.org

LBC building: the Hawaii Preparatory Academy Energy Lab

By Andrew Robins

When is a building like a flower? One answer is: when it is built according to the standards of the Living Building Challenge™. The initiative launched by the International Living Future Institute seeks to reduce or eliminate the effect of human structures on the natural world.

2:12 pm

Mon March 11, 2013

Op-Ed: We Need More Aaron Swartz-Style Hacktivism

By editor

Originally published on Mon March 11, 2013 3:58 pm

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Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan.

And now the Opinion Page. The release of millions of academic papers by Internet activist Aaron Swartz raised many questions about how much access the public should have to scholarship, questions that took on new dimensions after his suicide. At the time of his death, Swartz faced federal charges of wire fraud and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

2:07 pm

Mon March 11, 2013

Japan's Broken Coast Struggles To Recover

By editor

Originally published on Mon March 11, 2013 3:53 pm

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

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