Search results for

When Tucker West was 6, his father built an 800-foot-long luge track in their backyard. Now, at 18, West is the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic luge team.

Winter won't officially begin until nearly two more weeks pass, but snow, ice, and freezing rain are blanketing a large swath of the U.S. As of Monday morning, more than a thousand flights were cancelled.

The Cincinnati Zoo hasn't had a hippopotamus for a long time, but it's building a new exhibit and hopes to acquire a breeding pair. It'll take another $6 million to bring the hippos home, so this year, zookeepers are singing "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" to raise the money. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to zoo director Thane Maynard.

Twenty percent of high school seniors say they binge drink, with 6 percent consuming 15 drinks or more in a row. This extreme binge drinking accounts for high rates of emergency room visits by teen drinkers, researchers say, and poses a health risk that until now hasn't been adequately measured.

At Philadelphia's historic prison, Cellblock 12 is known for cackling and echoing voices, Cellblock 6 for shadowy figures darting along the walls, Cellblock 4 for ghostly faces. Footsteps. Wails. Whispers. For decades, people have told the same eerie stories, over and over again.

There haven't been any pronouncements in favor of gay rights at news conferences or on medal stands yet. And LGBT activists aren't too surprised.

The justices ruled 6-3 that police can enter and search a home without a warrant, so long as just one of the residents consents, giving law enforcement more room to conduct warrantless searches.

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck central Italy on Wednesday. David Greene speaks with reporter Christopher Livesay in Amatrice, at the epicenter: "It does look like a war zone," Livesay says.

Turkish and Ghanaian organized crime rings are said to have issued legitimate and counterfeit visas for $6,000 to people from across West Africa. They bribed corrupt officials to look the other way.

Homelessness fell overall, despite large increases in cities such as Los Angeles and Seattle, according to a new HUD report. There were declines among veterans, families and the chronically homeless.