OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The Oklahoma House has killed a bill to authorize the governor and legislative leaders to make one-time replacements of their appointments to state boards and commissions. The House vote 47-40 against the measure Thursday.
Left to their own devices, many seedless grapes would be puny and soft. But these Thompson seedless got pleasingly plump after a little girdling and hormone treatment.
Credit I Love Egg / Flickr.com
Giving that orange a run for its money, these red grapes clearly have been treated with a plant hormone, which makes them long and cylindrical. They "were so large, hard, and yummy that I had to re-read the package label a couple of times," Flickr user I Love Egg wrote about her grapes.
Credit Daniel M. N. Turner / NPR
Left to their devices, many seedless grapes would be puny and soft. But these Thompson seedless got pleasingly plump after a little hormone therapy and girdling.
Credit Courtesy of California Viticulure
Put a "girdle" on that vine: By scraping off a small section of the grapevine's trunk, a farmer in California hopes to fatten up the fruit growing at the top.
Credit California Agricultural Extension Service/University of California Agricultural Extension Service
A 1931 horticultural pamphlet from the University of California shows how girdling boosts grape size and quality.
Originally published on Mon March 11, 2013 4:37 pm
It's no secret that many Americans have a fetish for big food. Whether it's a triple-decker cheeseburger or a 128-ounce Big Gulp, some portions in the U.S. have gotten freakishly large.
Oz the Great and Powerful. Say that name aloud and you will smile, I guarantee you: It will conjure up so many images, characters, actors, songs. Then hold that smile as long as you can, because you won't be doing much smiling at the movie called Oz the Great and Powerful, the so-called "prequel" to The Wizard of Oz from Disney Studios.
Leader from around the world have arrived in Venezuela to pay their final respects to President Hugo Chavez, who used his country's oil wealth to put in place his vision of socialism during 14 years in power. And this larger-than-life leader presumably will continue to inspire his followers. The Venezuelan government plans to embalm his body and keep it on display in a glass coffin.
Stacy Rowles once wrote a note to her father, pianist and composer Jimmy Rowles, stating: "Dear Dad, if you buy me a flugelhorn, I'll play the [expletive] out of it." Indeed she did, and she picked up singing, as well. A longtime mainstay on the Los Angeles jazz scene, Rowles worked with the all-female quintet the Jazzbirds, led by the late multi-instrumentalist Betty O'Hara, as well as the Jazz Tap Ensemble and the DIVA Big Band.
Recently, host Marian McPartland remembered this 2001 session with Rowles.
Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 10:59 am
There was bombshell news from the world of honey two weeks ago, and somehow we missed it. Two big honey packers, including one of the largest in the country — Groeb Farms of Onsted, Mich. — admitted buying millions of dollars worth of honey that was falsely labeled.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A judge has rejected a request to dismiss manslaughter charges against a white Del City police captain accused in the shooting death of a black teenager. Attorneys for Randy Harrison sought to have the charges dismissed, but a judge denied that request Friday. Trial is set for April 8.
Was Senator Rand Paul's 13-hour filibuster a smart political move or a total disaster? The Barbershop guys weigh in on that — and how Major League Baseball could be affected by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's death. Host Michel Martin checks in with writer Jimi Izrael, civil rights attorney Arsalan Iftikhar, sports writer Dave Zirin and columnist Mario Loyola.
It's been 10 years since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. That conflict drastically changed the lives of Iraqi women. On International Women's Day, host Michel Martin talks with Iqbal al-Juboori, about how the war affected her personally, and what it's like for women to live in a conflict zone. al-Juboori works to provide job training and life skills to women and their families in rural parts of Iraq.