National

In the past few years, the news from Detroit has been fairly bleak so it's no surprise comedians like Stephen Colbert have taken shots at the downtrodden city.

"Maybe someone could attempt the unthinkable: walk through downtown Detroit."

But many positive changes are taking place. Desiree Cooper, who started a company called Detroit Snob, says residents have a lot to be snobby about.

Gen. John D. Lavelle commanded the Seventh Air Force during the Vietnam War. He served five steps down the chain of command from President Nixon. In his oral history — recorded by an Air Force history officer in 1978 — he explained how, six years earlier, his life changed forever.

It started with a meeting with a Thai general, Dawee Chullasapya, who had charged Lavelle with overseeing an operation to destroy anti-aircraft guns in North Vietnam. It was a mission necessary to keep Thailand in the war.

The space shuttle Endeavour picked its way through the streets of Los Angeles today, creeping slowly toward its final resting place at the California Science Center.

As NPR's Alison Keyes told our Newscast desk, folks in L.A. are used to celebrities, but today's star got an over-the-top welcome:

"People — cameras and children in tow — are lining the streets as the five-story-tall Endeavour with its 78-foot wingspan winds along its journey at a top speed of 2 miles an hour."