Tagged: features

The closing of the Legislature in June was just the beginning for construction crews at the state Capitol.

The Advocate reports workers are ripping up floors, breaking through walls and removing ceilings to give the 80-year-old building a facelift.

The work is expected to be completed in January 2013.

A $14.7 million upgrading of the heating and air conditioning system is well under way as is a $1.4 million project to repair the breezeway under the Capitol's front steps.

The Capitol was authorized under Gov. Huey P. Long and opened in March 1932.

Bob Greenberg died this week at the age of 67. He was a sportscaster who happened to be blind. When I've told people he's one of the most extraordinary people I've ever worked with, there's usually polite incomprehension: A blind sportscaster?

Bob worked for WBEZ in Chicago, and he could be cranky, blustery and loud. But it was a marvel to watch him work.

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Earlier this week, NPR and the Center for Public Integrity reported astonishing news: the coal miners' disease called black lung is a growing problem again. The investigative report also showed that weak regulation and industry deception has thwarted the effort to protect miners from the coal mine dust that causes black lung.

NPR's Howard Berkes joins us. Howard, thanks for being with us. first,

HOWARD BERKES, BYLINE: It's good to be with you, Scott.