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Western Wisconsin counties bordering the Mississippi River have a unique geography: steep bluffs with layers and layers of silica sand. The sand is extremely valuable because it's strong enough to prop open underground veins in shale fields so oil and natural gas can be released. It's called "frac sand," and Wisconsin appears to have more of it than any other state. But the hills are private property, so sand mining companies have to negotiate with local farmers — not all of whom are on board.

NBC News' top-rated Nightly News with Brian Williams draws a modest number of Hispanics, compared with the population at large. Network executives see that as a growth opportunity, and they're turning to their Spanish-language sister network, Telemundo, for help in realizing it.

In Peter Heller's debut novel, The Dog Stars, a man named Hig survives a superflu that kills most of humanity. Heller, a travel and adventure writer, says that when his novel took a post-apocalyptic turn, he found himself relying on his real-life scrapes and survival skills.

Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon speaks with Howard Bryant about sports this week and the Nationals' plans for star pitcher Steven Strasbourg.

It may not be an Olympic sport, but Wisconsin teen Austin Wierschke was just named the fastest texter in America. The texting champion was awarded $50,000. Wierschke speaks with host Michel Martin about how he keeps his thumbs in shape.

She's still in high school, but boxer Claressa Shields is also an Olympic gold medalist, as she won her middleweight bout Thursday. She defeated Russia's Nadezda Torlopova by a score of 19-12, overcoming the Russian with both speed and power.

After nine years in prison for sexual assault of a baby girl, Lopez has been reunited with his family in Texas. An investigation by NPR, Frontline and ProPublica showed that the baby had a disorder that mimicked the signs of physical abuse. And now, Lopez awaits a new trial.

Pastor Fred Luter has led the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, the largest Southern Baptist church in New Orleans, for 25 years. He recently announced that he is seeking to become the first African-American president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The northeast coast of Japan has an older population, fewer jobs and more tsunamis than the rest of the country. The regional economy had been declining long before last year's disaster. Many people say in order to survive, the region needs to remake itself.

Athletic since she was a toddler, Holley Mangold has been dreaming of Olympic glory for nearly as long. It took the onetime football star years to find the sport that would take her to the Olympics. Now 22, 350-pound Mangold has qualified for the U.S. women's Olympic weightlifting team.