National

Steve Inskeep and David Greene have the Last Word in business.

One of the largest public works project in California history is struggling to re-gain public confidence amid construction delays and questions about whether the new bridge will be safe. A scheduled opening for Labor Day is in doubt as officials race to fix a series of bad bolts that were meant to keep the bridge secure in a catastrophic earthquake.

And now another chapter in our series on African-American lives. NPR conducted a poll of African Americans with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. The survey found optimism but many respondents expressed fears about the economy.

The conventional shorthand for the IRS scandal is that employees "targeted" conservative groups for extra scrutiny in the applications for tax-exempt status. Except, as an inspector general's report showed, it wasn't just conservative groups that got the extra scrutiny. Plenty of liberal groups had to produce extensive documentation answer dozens of questions, too.

Now that the U.S. Military has officially agreed to allow women into combat roles, NPR's Larry Abramson looks at just how quickly, or not, the various branches are moving to make that happen.

The National Security Agency director made the rounds again on Capitol Hill to defend two surveillance programs leaked to the press. Gen. Keith Alexander appeared before the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday, along with other members of the intelligence community and FBI. The government says its Internet monitoring program and the collection of phone logs have stopped more than 50 terrorist attacks.

Disney is trying something new. It's charging a higher admission price for the Magic Kingdom than its other theme parks in Orlando. A one-day pass to the Magic Kingdom now costs $95 — compared to $90 for Epcot, Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios.

The Miami Heat avoided elimination Tuesday night by beating the San Antonio spurs in overtime, 103 to 100. LeBron James shrugged off a poor start to get 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Ray Allen hit a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds to play to force overtime.

In Milwaukee, cartoon characters dressed up like various sausages race at each Brewers' game; in Washington, five of our beloved presidents do their own bratwurst ramble. But the character I want to appear at every baseball game –– and at a couple of other sports, too, is ...

tick-tock,tick-tock

... the crocodile from Peter Pan who swallowed a clock and shadows a terrified Capt. Hook.

There is one basic question that keeps being asked about the U.S. auto industry: Is it on the rebound?

"People ask a lot, is the auto industry back?" says Kristin Dziczek, a director at the Center for Automotive Research. "And it depends on what scale you want to look at."

So if we're looking at scales, let's start with productivity. In this case, how many work hours it takes to build a car. Productivity in U.S. plants is 39 percent higher than it was in 2000. "Productivity has never been this high," Dziczek says.

If the US Airways-American Airlines merger announced earlier this year is approved, the combined airline would control two-thirds of the takeoff and landing slots at Reagan National Airport, outside Washington, D.C.

The government could force the airline to give up some of those slots as a condition of the merger. But lawmakers warn that could have consequences for some small- and medium-sized cities. And, not coincidentally, it could affect flight plans for lawmakers themselves.

The mystery of Jimmy Hoffa's final resting place was opened yet again Monday, when the FBI began digging up a field near Detroit in the hopes of finding the former Teamsters president, who was last seen on July 30, 1975.

Legislative battles are being fought around the country over whether or not to let home-schooled students play on public high school teams.

Roughly half of U.S. states have passed laws making them eligible to play on the teams. Advocates have dubbed them "Tim Tebow bills," after the NFL quarterback who was home-schooled when he played on a high school team.

But an attempt by Indiana to find a middle ground may not have solved the problem in that state.

Somewhere In The Middle