NPR News

One of the biggest drivers of the federal deficit and debt problems is health care spending. Now the president says the health law passed last year already addresses this problem, to the tune of a more than $200 billion over the next decade. But on Wednesday, he added even more proposed savings on top of that. Melissa Block talks with NPR health policy correspondent Julie Rovner about the competing Republican and Democratic proposals.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to save $50 million by consolidating the state's 25 juvenile detention facilities, which has hundreds of empty beds. That puts him in conflict with lawmakers and union leaders who want to protect jobs — and with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who wants the state to hand over control of juvenile detention to local officials.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon's administration is vowing to bring the full weight of the government to bear on killers who have been operating in the northern state of Tamaulipas.

The declaration comes after at least 116 bodies were discovered in mass graves over the last week in the town of San Fernando. It's the same town where 72 migrants were found assassinated last August.

Investigators say the latest victims are mainly Mexicans who may have been kidnapped recently in the area.

A Painful Search

"Here We Rest" was the original motto of Alabama, the state Jason Isbell was raised in and still calls home. It's a perfect title for his new album. After nearly a decade as a touring musician, Isbell spent more time at home last year to write the record, and his new songs reflect that choice. Finding himself in familiar territory, he reexamines his past, attempts to rekindle relationships and retrace old patterns, and fights the feeling of being a stranger in his own town in "Alabama Pines."

Using an eclectic blend of styles from Slavic to American punk, the Denver-based quartet DeVotchKa entered the public consciousness when it scored the Grammy-nominated soundtrack to Little Miss Sunshine. The group's orchestral melodies and energetic pop has been called souped-up polka rock, but its members have found room to explore and mature over the past decade.