This is part of a series looking at pressing coronavirus questions of the week. We'd like to hear what you're curious about. Email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions." More than 76,000 people in the U.S. have died because of COVID-19, and there have been 1.27 million confirmed cases across the country — and nearly 4 million worldwide. Though the virus continues to spread and sicken people, some states and countries are starting to reopen businesses and lift stay-at-home requirements. This week, we look at some of your questions as summer nears and restrictions are eased. Is it safe to swim in pools or lakes? Does the virus spread through the water? People are asking whether they should be concerned about being exposed to the coronavirus while swimming. Experts say water needn't be a cause for concern. The CDC says there is no evidence the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas or water

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NPR's education reporter talks about what graduating seniors are going through right now as the colleges are closed due to the pandemic and answers their questions.

NPR's education reporter talks about what graduating seniors are going through right now as the colleges are closed due to the pandemic and answers their questions.

Magician and animal trainer Roy Horn, of the legendary Las Vegas duo Siegfied and Roy, died Friday from complications related to COVID-19. Horn tested positive last week. He was 75. "The world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend," Siegfried Fischbacher said of his partner in a statement. "Roy was a fighter his whole life including during these final days. I give my heartfelt appreciation to the team of doctors, nurses and staff at Mountain View Hospital who worked heroically against this insidious virus that ultimately took Roy's life." Roy Horn was born in Germany in 1944. He and Siegfried began their act in Las Vegas in 1967. In 1989 they began a 14-year run at the Mirage Resort performing illusions with exotic animals, making tigers, lions, even elephants vanish and reappear. In October of 2003, Roy Horn was performing with a 400-pound white tiger named Mantecore when the great cat grabbed him by the throat before a stunned audience and dragged him

Protests over stay-at-home orders because of COVID-19 have become more common around the country. In California, a surprising group is behind some of them: those who oppose mandatory vaccinations. On Thursday, a mash-up of people mingled on the sidewalk in front of California's state Capitol in Sacramento. There were Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats and waving American flags. There were Christians, singing along to religious rock songs and raising their hands in prayer. The event's MC. urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to tune into their event. "Everybody up at the Capitol, tell Gavin Newsom [to tune in to] 107.9 FM, if he wants to hear what we have to say," the MC told the crowd over loudspeakers. "It could be kind of good for him!" There were also mothers with their children at the rally. Many people were not wearing face masks or observing social distancing protocols. They'd all come out to protest California's stay-at-home order, put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. This week's

President Trump wants states to begin relaxing stay-at-home orders and reopen businesses after the spread of the coronavirus pummeled the global economy and killed millions of jobs. The White House coronavirus task force released guidelines on April 16 to encourage state governors to adopt a phased approach to lifting restrictions across the country. Some states have moved ahead without meeting the criteria . The task force rejected a set of additional detailed draft recommendations for schools, restaurants, churches and mass transit systems from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it considered " overly prescriptive ." A number of states have already begun to lift restrictions, allowing for businesses including hair salons, diners and tattoo parlors to once again begin accepting customers. Health experts have warned that reopening too quickly could result in a potential rebound in cases. States are supposed to wait to begin lifting any restrictions until they have a 14

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later

For the first time in its 231-year history, the Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments remotely by phone and made the audio available live. The new setup went off largely without difficulties, but produced some memorable moments, including one justice forgetting to unmute and an ill-timed bathroom break. Here are the top five can't-miss moments from this week's history-making oral arguments. A second week of arguments begin on Monday at 10 a.m. ET. Here's a rundown of the cases and how to listen. 1. Justice Clarence Thomas speaks ... a lot Supreme Court oral arguments are verbal jousting matches. The justices pepper the lawyers with questions, interrupting counsel repeatedly and sometimes even interrupting each other. Justice Clarence Thomas, who has sat on the bench for nearly 30 years, has made his dislike of the chaotic process well known, at one point not asking a question for a full decade. But with no line of sight, the telephone arguments have to be rigidly organized, and

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to pick up in Alaska, Dr. Anne Zink, the state's chief medical officer, faced a difficult choice. Should she continue in-person meetings and nightly briefings with Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy? Or should she opt for a more socially distant form of engagement? Zink chose the latter, saying she wanted to model the behavior that she has been appealing to residents to follow. She now appears at Dunleavy's briefings by video. And over the past two months, she has become a trusted voice as she urges Alaskans to follow the strict social distancing and other public health guidelines adopted by the state administration — which doctors groups have credited with keeping the state's COVID-19 numbers among the lowest in the country. Zink, who has a Facebook fan club and a #ThinkLikeZink hashtag , isn't the only public health official to acquire a cultlike following during the pandemic: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal infectious disease expert, has inspired a Saturday

Dr. Grace Farris is chief of hospital medicine at Mount Sinai West in Manhattan. She also writes a monthly comics column in the Annals of Internal Medicine called "Dr Mom." You can find her on Instagram @coupdegracefarris . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Monty and Rose met last year on a beach on the north side of Chicago. Their attraction was intense, immediate, and you might say, fruitful. Somewhere between the roll of lake waves and the shimmer of skyscrapers overlooking the beach, Monty and Rose fledged two chicks. They protected their offspring through formative times. But then, in fulfillment of nature's plan, they parted ways, and left the chicks to make their own ways in the world. Monty and Rose are piping plovers, an endangered species of bird of which there may only be 6,000 or 7,000 in the world, including Monty, Rose and their chicks. They were the first piping plovers to nest in Chicago in more than 60 years. After their chicks fledged, they drifted apart. Rose went off to Florida for the winter, and Monty made his way to the Texas coast. They'd always have the North Side, but were each on their own in a huge, fraught world. And then, just a few days ago, Monty and Rose were sighted again, on the same patch of sand on

Very briefly, at the end of 2019 and the start of 2020, there were slightly more women on American nonfarm payrolls than men. That's no longer true. The historically disastrous April jobs report shows that the brunt of job losses fell on women. Women now account for around just under half — 49% — of American workers, and they accounted for 55% of the increase in job losses last month. One way of looking at why that matters that is to look at the gap that opened up between women's and men's unemployment last month. The below chart shows women's unemployment rate minus men's unemployment rate since 2007. Usually, the line bumps around near or just below zero — meaning men's unemployment is usually near or slightly higher than women's. But that spike on the far right shows how women's unemployment leapt to be 2.7 points higher than men's in April. Women had an unemployment rate of 16.2% to men's 13.5% last month. That's uncommon for a recession. The below chart is a longer view, and the

Updated at 9:44 a.m. ET As a young woman growing up in a poor farming community in Virginia in the 1940 and '50s, with little information about sex or contraception, sexuality was a frightening thing for Carole Cato and her female friends. "We lived in constant fear, I mean all of us," she said. "It was like a tightrope. always wondering, is this going to be the time [I get pregnant]?" Cato, 78, now lives in Columbia, S.C. She grew up in the years before the birth control pill was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on May 9, 1960. She said teenage girls in her community were told very little about how their bodies worked. "I was very fortunate; I did not get pregnant, but a lot of my friends did. And of course, they just got married and went into their little farmhouses," she said. "But I just felt I just had to get out." At 23, Cato married a widower who already had seven children. They decided seven was enough. By that time, Cato said, the pill allowed the couple to

Updated at 1:55 p.m. ET Little Richard, the self-described "king and queen" of rock and roll and an outsize influence on everyone from David Bowie to Prince, died Saturday. He was 87 years old. Wayne Chaney, his longtime bandleader and tour manager, tells NPR that Little Richard died at his brother's home in Tullahoma, Tenn., after a battle with cancer. Rolling Stone was the first to report on his death. With his ferocious piano playing, growling and gospel-strong vocals, pancake makeup and outlandish costumes, Little Richard tore down barriers starting in the 1950s. That is no small feat for any artist — let alone a black, openly gay man who grew up in the South. He was a force of nature who outlived many of the musicians he inspired, from Otis Redding to the late Prince and Michael Jackson. His peers James Brown and Otis Redding idolized him. Jimi Hendrix, who once played in Little Richard's band, said he wanted his guitar to sound like Richard's voice. The late David Bowie was 9

Airlines and airport operators in the United Kingdom are not waiting for the British government to publicly confirm their fears. Already, the groups representing major players in the U.K.'s air travel industry are pushing back on a proposal that would require travelers to quarantine after arriving from outside the country. A spokesperson for Airlines UK — a trade body with British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair as members — says the group understands from government officials that plans for a quarantine are in the works, but that details remain scarce at the moment. "We need to see the detail of what they are proposing. Public health must of course be the priority and we will continue to be guided by Sage advice," the group said in a statement emailed to NPR, noting that support measures will be necessary to ensure "that we still have a UK aviation sector once the quarantine period is lifted." "We will be asking for assurances that this decision has been led by the science and that

Rory Block performed a special concert at World Cafe Live during the XPN Music Film Festival on Saturday, April 13th. Listen to the concert here.

Last Thursday during XPN’s Non-COMMvention, the Tupelo, Mississippi brothers and sister trio, the Homemade Jamz Blues Band, performed in concert with Super Chikan for the final Mississippi Blues Porject concert series. The band performed songs from its new album, Mississippi […]

Award winning Blues guitarist and singer Super Chikan and the Fighting Cocks made the trip from his home in Clarksdale, Mississippi to Philadelphia last Thursday, May 16 in a double header Mississippi Blues Project concert as part of WXPN’s Non-COMMvention […]

Listen to this special Mississippi Blues Project session with David Bromberg here. David Bromberg dropped by the studios at WXPN in Philadelphia in April to talk about, and play, Mississippi Blues. Bromberg cited the influences of players such as Muddy […]

Rory Block, who performed a concert for the Mississippi Blues Project, has released Avalon: A Tribute To Mississippi John Hurt on Stony Plain Records. The album is the fourth CD in her “Mentor Series.” Previous tribute have been to Rev. […]

Below, listen to a Spotify playlist of Mississippi Blues artists. Listen to the first volume of the Mississippi Blues Project playlist here.

Below, from our session with David Bromberg, watch him perform “Kind-Hearted Woman,” and “Wee Midnight Hours.” You can listen to the full session

We’re saddened to hear that James “T-Model” Ford has passed away. He was 94. Born James Lewis Carter Ford in Forest, Mississippi. T-Model was a hard hitting and raw sounding Delta bluesman. While he played music for most his life, […]

The legendary James Cotton is playing a free show at the TLA on South Street in Philadelphia on Friday, September 6. It’s the finale concert of the year long Mississippi Blues Project and will be hosted by Jonny Meister, host […]

The legendary James Cotton played the TLA on Friday, September 6th for the final concert of XPN’s Mississippi Blues Project. The 78 year old blues man performed with the energy of a twenty-something to a sold out crowd, playing songs […]

Bennett, Hickenlooper request that BLM oil and gas lease sale be deferred Health clinics in Colorado serve a vital role for low income health care Western State University in Gunnison gets largest ever donation

KVNF News spoke with The Colorado Sun reporter John Frank in this edition of The Purple State Update, our weekly interview on the Friday KVNF Regional Newscast focusing on statewide and Western Slope political issues throughout the election season. In this episode we talk about the growing homeless population in tourist towns on the Western Slope, and about the growing number of out-of-state political groups pouring money into the Governor's Race.

Bull Draw Fire flares up in warmer, drier weather; smoke expected Engage Energy Conference brings together stakeholders in energy industry Transition from older, outdated energy sources to new ones a hot topic Governor Hickenlooper forms Federal PAC, signals possible Presidential run

Candidates for 3rd Congressional District disagree about Jordan Cove project Flare up in the Bull Draw Fire causes more closures of the Divide Road Changes to Endangered Species Act could impact oil and gas, recreation in Colorado Glance at high school football schedule this weekend

Colorado has fourth best economy in the country Statewide surplus expected this year and next The Purple State Update with the Colorado Sun Recycling, election security, Governor possibly running for President

Toxic algae confirmed in Blue Mesa Reservoir Boaters encouraged to stay away from Iola Basin, protect pets Paonia Elementary School wins prestigious award

Water Sheriff patrols Four Corners, water theft up during drought season Historic Leadville Opera House eligible for preservation grant Update on investigation of two bodies discovered outside Hotchkiss

Blue Mesa Reservoir at record low volume, toxic algae blooms confirmed Bull Draw Fire 95 percent contained, special techniques aid firefight Statewide expansion of Medicare greatly benefitted rural residents Victims of shooting outside of Hotchkiss identified, investigation ongoing

ICELAB comes to Delta County, promotes job growth and new business Amendment X would take hemp out of state constitution

Report indicates drought in Colorado is getting worse Flu season last year in the state was busiest ever The Purple State Update with the Colorado Sun Purple State talks Club 20 Debates, state economy and beer industry

Propositions 109, 110 would fund transportation in different ways Author returns to Paonia to read from debut novel National Parks in state, country hope to get funding from Congress

Montrose Police Chief calls it a career after 45 years in law enforcement Trial in deaths of two Norwood girls continues, one defendant incompetent Western Slope Resources Reporting Native cutthroat trout species making a comeback after reintroduction efforts

Delta County Candidate Forum brings together Republicans, Democrats Hunting, fishing and wildlife on BLM land generates big tax revenue Mesa County school district 51 names interim superintendent

Road work, closures scheduled next week for Red Mountain Pass Telluride climber makes history, skis down 4th largest mountain in world KDNK feature about nationwide opposition to Jordan Cove pipeline plan

The Purple State Update with the Colorado Sun First poll in governor's race, debates, and Governor Hickenlooper travels Amendment 73 proposes to raise taxes on high earners to pay for schools

Colorado voters aged 50 and older voice their concerns, issues Three Western Slope counties face additional transportaiton ballot measures Montrose Budget public meeting scheduled for Oct. 10

U.S. Forest Service plans to implement shuttle, fees at Hanging Lake Bull Draw Fire closure lifted, fire now 95 percent contained BLM, advocates battle over management of wild horse herds in West

7 states tentatively agree on Colorado river conservation, drought mitigation Biologists have some success in protecting endangered fish in Colorado River Gunnison Basin hopes for wet weather, prepare for dry winter just in case

Colorado voters looking for specific changes from Governor candidates Luke Runyon reports on stakes involved with Colorado River conservation First ski resort in Colorado to open this weekend after snow in mountains

The Purple State Update with the Colorado Sun Conservation plan calls for water to be taken from Blue Mesa Reservoir Lake Powell near disastrous low level; contingency plans established Preview of high school football schedule around listening area

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