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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Two-Way

Census: U.S. Continues To Get Older And More Diverse; Though More Slowly

The crowded scene on "Black Friday" at Macy's in Manhattan. The U.S. population is projected to hit 400 million in 2051, Census says, up from 321 million in 2015.

December 12, 2012 The nation's population is now projected to become "majority-minority" in 2043, the Census Bureau says. Meanwhile, the average age will continue to rise as Americans live longer, birth rates continue to decline and immigration slows.

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The Two-Way

UPDATE: Oregon Gunman Identified; Killer Sent Shoppers Diving For Cover

Jacob Tyler Roberts.

December 12, 2012 An estimated 10,000 people were in the Clackamas Town Center mall when a gunman opened fire. Shoppers, store employees and the mall's Santa scattered. When the attack was over, two people and the gunman were dead. He's been identified as a 22-year-old Portland man.

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Superstorm Sandy: Before, During And Beyond

N.J. Spars Over Free Beach Access Post-Sandy

Superstorm Sandy caused massive beach erosion and damage to the Jersey shore. Some people say the beach restoration work, which will largely be paid for with federal tax dollars, will mostly help to protect expensive homes for the wealthy — people who have free access to the beach — while most communities would still be charging fees for public access.

December 12, 2012 Federal taxpayers will pay the lion's share of the restoration for the Jersey shore damage caused by Sandy. But since most of those who will benefit are private landowners on the shore, one N.J. lawmaker wants to prohibit the shore towns from charging access fees to their public beaches.

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It's All Politics

Farm Bill Becomes Fodder In 'Fiscal Cliff' Wrangling

A customer shops for nectarines at a farmers market in San Francisco.

December 12, 2012 Farm-state lawmakers are urging leaders to include a farm bill as part of any budget deal to avert year-end tax increases and spending cuts. But others argue that Congress shouldn't toss the farm bill into a giant package because it would very likely stifle debate and amendments.

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Shots - Health News

Democrats Draw Line On Medicaid Cuts

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, speaks Tuesday as Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., listen during a news conference on Capitol Hill calling for no reduction in the Medicare and Medicaid budgets as part of the year-end budget talks.

December 12, 2012 Democrats are worried that cuts to the program will go beyond the impact on the people it serves. It will also affect the Affordable Care Act, which calls for expanding Medicaid to as many as 16 million more people. The states are watching closely because the federal government has promised it will pay most of those additional costs.

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Animals

Scientists Mourn Popular Wolf Shot By A Hunter

The Lamar Canyon pack's alpha female (right) was shot and killed by a hunter on Dec. 6.

December 12, 2012 The wolf known as 832F was taking a rare jaunt outside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park when she was killed last week. Though her death is a blow to those who followed her story, some say hunting is a necessary part of the future of wolves in the West.

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Sweetness And Light

NHL Lockout Leaves Fans Out In The Cold

Mike Bolt, keeper of the Stanley Cup, takes it off the ice on Dec. 7, 2012, in Vancouver, British Columbia. The NHL lockout enters its 88th day on Wednesday.

December 12, 2012 Hockey fans are living their lives, going about their business, but their days are a little paler. Commentator Frank Deford says fans deserve a little sympathy when their sport is taken from them.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Two-Way

Sitar Virtuoso Ravi Shankar Dies At 92

Musician Ravi Shankar performs at the Concert For Bangladesh benefit at Madison Square Garden in New York on Aug. 1, 1971. Shankar died Tuesday. He was 92.

December 11, 2012 He was responsible for making Indian classical music popular in the West, collaborating with artists as diverse as The Beatles and Yehudi Menuhin.

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The Two-Way

Boehner Sends 'Fiscal Cliff' Counteroffer To White House

Speaker John Boehner leaves his office Tuesday and walks to the House floor to deliver remarks about negotiations with President Obama on the fiscal cliff.

December 11, 2012 The offer from the speaker follows his remarks on the House floor in which he said the White House was slow-walking the process. Unless a deal is reached, automatic across-the-board spending cuts and sweeping tax increases are scheduled to go into effect at the first of the year.

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The Two-Way

Lawyer For WikiLeaks Suspect Says Client Was Treated As 'Zoo Animal'

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is escorted into the courthouse on Nov. 28.

December 11, 2012 The pretrial hearing for Wikileaks suspect Pfc. Bradley Manning ended on Tuesday, but the massive amounts of documents he is accused of leaking were hardly mentioned in the 10-day hearing. Instead, the focus was Manning's treatment at the hands of the military.

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The Two-Way

Inscription On Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial To Be Removed

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar endorsed a plan Tuesday to remove the disputed "drum major" inscription from the memorial and replace it with a fuller version of the quote.

December 11, 2012 The quote will be removed instead of replaced to avoid harming the monument's structural integrity. Critics, including poet Maya Angelou, had criticized the current iteration of the "Drum Major" quote, saying it made King sound arrogant.

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