And you Reuters reporters in prison in Myanmar right now wallowing in Cha who are investigating the massacre of 10 Rohingya Muslims putting this in context Time magazine cited other examples of journalists under attack this year including the claim by President Trump that the fake media is the enemy of the American people and n.p.r. News you're listening to n.p.r. News and this is Delaware public media I'm actually know Christiana Care Health System is planning to start paying a $15.00 minimum wage starting February 1st $500.00 Christiana Care employees will see their hourly wage rise to $15.00 the health system is the 1st to make this move in Delaware and joins a short list of hospitals across the country paying unskilled workers more than the national $725.00 an hour minimum wage Christiana Care president and c.e.o. Of Janice Nevin says she expects this will have a positive impact on the local economy and we know that having a job and being paid a fair wage is not only good for the economy but it's also good for health and so we believe it and I believe it is the right thing to do for the health of our community and the health of our organization Neven says she expects the move to reduce employee turnover the paying crease will affect clerical technical and service positions at the hospital Christiana Care is the largest private employer in Delaware with nearly 12000 employees. Some Room 9 Korda residents want a community benefits agreement with the company planning a slag running facility near the port of Wilmington while in specialty construction projects is currently seeking a construction permit from Den Rex division of air quality center Smithers lives in Dunn Laith neighborhood off Route 9 We know that that jobs have to come to our community to offset some of the issues that we have but we also know that we have to protect the community's house so we have to strike a balance Smithers is building a coalition of residents to develop a set of community asks she hopes it could eventually negotiate a binding agreement that any new industry in the area would have to sign onto while an representatives say they are open to a community benefits agreement and intend to keep meeting with residents the proposed facility it would receive a blast furnace leg from the port and grind it into a powdered cement additive it's expected to emit nitrogen oxides which contribute to ground level ozone and fine dust You're listening to Delaware public media support for n.p.r. Comes from Focus Features presenting Mary Queen of Scots based on the true story of a rebellious young queen who will stop at nothing to reclaim her throne search for Ronan and Margot Robbie Starr as warring Queens now playing in select theaters and the ne ek z. Foundation from n.p.r. News this is All Things Considered I'm Ari Shapiro in Culver City California and I'm Audie Cornish in Washington where today the president and top Democrats let their true feelings be known the fact is you do now have a bill in the house that's if I do and we need border secured Nancy Nancy the experts say you can do border security without a wall which is wasteful and doesn't solve the problem it's totally solves the problem that was of course President Trump along with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer their meeting at the White House was to discuss funding the government the major sticking point is. As money for the president's border wall that fight is holding up legislation to avoid a partial government shutdown from the start there were signs the meeting was not going to go well I think American people recognize that we must keep government open that a shutdown is not worth anything and that we should not have a function a you have with a lot more if you have trouble right she did say a trumpet shutdown a short while later came this exchange as Schumer and Trump debated who would be to blame if a shutdown happened and any I don't want to do what you did 20 times job call for I will shut down the government if I don't get my will none of us if you want to know something you've said Ok you want to put that in the Senate I'll take Ok You know what I'll say yes if we don't get what we want one way or the other whether it's through you through a military through anything you want to call I will shut down to go Ok I've seen enough and I have 0 out and I'll be your lottery I am proud to shut down the government for border security check well to dig into this friendly day in Washington we are joined now by n.p.r. National political correspondent Mara Liasson Hi Mara Hi there and N.P.R.'s Kelly Snow on Capitol Hill hi calcium there well Kelsey to start with you the Democrats went into this knowing it was going to be a negotiation did they have a plan from the outset Well I asked Schumer this at a press conference that the he did a little bit later and he said there really only the plan that they had was to go in and offer trump a couple of options for keeping the government open and funding the Department of Homeland Security he repeatedly said she repeatedly said that they went in there expecting this to be a closed door meeting not something with cameras present and they really didn't expect to be fighting with the president in front of an audience of the whole country but this is not the 1st time the president has made a meeting like this public right Mara No it's not in the past he has invited cameras in and the idea is to show that he's in charge or he's making deals bipartisan deals with members of Congress but this time it didn't work out like that he looked like a man without a plan he seemed to be. Backed into a corner by the Democrats to admitting yes I will shut down the government if I don't get what I want which is quite unpopular and he didn't really seem like he had a strategy for this meeting and as we heard by the end he said I am proud to shut down the government for border security accepting ownership of that so Kelcey How does this change negotiations in Congress where you are well it's really different than what Republicans were saying just a few hours earlier House speaker Paul Ryan and his House Republican counterparts were talking about a Schumer shutdown not even an hour and a half before this happened and they basically can't claim that anymore the president has said that if this if a shutdown happens it will be entirely on him now that means that Republicans will have to convince him to change his position and as we know that is not something the president likes he doesn't like to give up this moment of theater but that's not how you usually negotiate things in Washington and the other thing the president did is he toggled back and forth between saying quote a lot of the wall is already built it's been very effective it's cut illegal immigration by something like 92 percent in certain areas which of course led to the Democrats saying well if it's already working then you should take the money we're offering you which is the same exact amount of money we offered you for border security last year right what about the president's insistence that this vote could get through the House and the only reason he's not bringing it up in the house is because it couldn't get through the Senate because it doesn't have Democratic support is that true well Nancy Pelosi kept telling him that it was not true and she has pretty good reason to say that Republicans control the House and they could have brought up money for the president's Well at any time and they just didn't do that they also have been battling a group within their own party a group of moderates who would rather be dealing with say other parts of the legal immigration system and and you know this is not something that has full and total agreement within the Republican Party and you know the one of the most dramatic moments in this meeting was when Nancy Pelosi was schooling the president about whether or not he had. The votes in the house she said you don't have the votes he said yes I do and we know who the better who was the better vote counter in that standoff but she was calling his bluff she was saying if you have the votes go ahead put it on the floor of the House the president also sort of took a dig at Palosi suggesting that she couldn't negotiate because of her own internal politics in the leadership race among House Democrats let's listen to this you know Nancy is it a situation where it's not easy for her to talk right now and I understand that and I fully understand that we can have a good discussion and we're going to see what happens but we have to have border security forces don't have to run the proof but I think that with. The leader of the House Democrats who just won a big victory laps Kelsey How did you read that extend well read that is b.s. Palosi being very upset that the president would try to diminish her here and you know what a lot of Democrats that I've talked to read it that way as well they actually think that this was good for Palosi Democrats I've talked to say if there was any question about how she was going to handle herself in a relationship with the president there is no question anymore and if you are a person who hasn't decided if you want to vote for her if you're a Democrat who hasn't decided if you want to vote for her for Speaker this is the 1st indication they have of what it might be like to see a relationship between Palosi and Trump and I've heard from Democrats that they feel a lot better about the way she might comport herself with him now and you know if anybody wants a preview of what the new power dynamics in Washington are going to look like when divided government starts in January I recommend they spend 17 minutes on You Tube watching this extraordinary Oval Office meeting a little glimpse today of what may be to come in January thank you very much Kelsey snow and Mara Liasson good to talk to you both thank you. For more on for more reaction to what this means for communities on the southern border we turn to Democratic Congressman Henry Quaoar of Texas welcome to the program. Thank you so much so this back and forth today extensively came down to the issue of border security and what money may or may not be spent along those lines what's your reaction to what you saw what transpired. Well 1st of all I live in the mortar I drink the water I breathe the air there so I'm very familiar so I'm not one of those individuals that might visit the border once or twice and think that they know the border better we want to have border security by border security we're talking about technology making sure that border patrol and c.b.p. As you know Border Patrol the men and women in green that guard between ports of entry. Are the men and women in blue that guard or the man the ports of entry and we need to have a combination of both because if you want to stop drugs and I've said this to the president if you want to stop drugs keep in mind that according to the e.p.a. Most drugs will come through ports of entry so as they let me jump in here on the port of entry I want to jump in here because the president is talking about funding for a physical wall you wrote Senator Schumer saying Democrats should oppose all funding for a physical wall do you see any room for negotiation do you think your leadership is wasting its time. Look the problem is the president some and some Republicans think that a wall equates to border security border security equates to take Knology personnel having the right protocols down there I mean I mean does the president even know that Border Patrol is losing more men and women than there are actually hiring right now there's a president know that if you go down to the border and see some some of those technology and I've been there in the middle of night with let's say Hector Garceau the head of the Border Patrol down there the union down there he'll say Look at that camera over there that one is working the other one facing the other way is not working so why do we have technology or cameras are not working or sensors why are we losing more Border Patrol. Then we're hiring Border Patrol So again let's stick to the fundamentals border security means addressing the issues so then on the question of things you know he's talking about on the question of negotiating you have Nancy Pelosi who's flat out recently said that she wouldn't for instance do a deal that would do border security funding in exchange for the doctor program make a helping the dreamers. Should should she do that should she rule that out completely is there some point like with Doc where there could be some bargain. Well again look immigration is one thing the border security is another thing so trying to you know anybody wants a tie both of them together is doing a disservice I'm for for immigration reform I'm for protecting the dreamers but again you don't give in and say we're going to put a wall down here why is it that the private property rights or the water or the environmental sense that the various The we have down there the southern border less important then the border that we have with Canada so I mean we believe in private property rights we believe in protecting the border but again a wall is a 14th sentry solution trying to address the issues that we have in this 21st century issues there's ways of dressing border security and after watching this meeting today do you have more or less confidence and in posi does this solidify her her bit at being speaker to you. Hero I've been part of her leadership for many many years so I've seen or in public and in private and if there's anybody that can stand up to the president and do it in no way in a respectful way to the president but still stand her ground be Palosi So for any of those Democrats that I've been thinking well should we have are or not they need to look at that like you or somebody said a few minutes ago watch that our new Tube video and see how well she handled herself that's a top a person that we need to negotiate for Democrats Henry Quaoar is a Democratic congressman from Texas his district runs along the border with Mexico thank you for speaking with us. Thank you so much. You're listening to All Things Considered from n.p.r. News and this is Delaware Public Media your source for n.p.r. News here in the 1st state we're broadcasting from the campus of Delaware State University in Dover on 91 point one w d d e 91.7 w. M.p.h. Wilmington and 88 point one to be h. As Wilmington I'm your host Michel you know since 1909 Corp service company in Wilmington has provided business legal and financial services to companies worldwide including 90 percent of the Fortune 500 c.s.c. Is proud to support Delaware public media more information is available at c.s.c. Global dot com. Come January a whole lot of brand new former representatives and senators are going to be looking for their next gig which means lobbyist to get a lot of holes like this just want to catch you know think about what's going to be doing next I was told You're a good person to talk to about these things I'm job hunting for former members of Congress that's next. Be sure to tune into marketplace this evening at 630 right after all things considered right here on Delaware Public Media. And thanks so much for joining us you're listening to All Things Considered This is Delaware Public Media It's Tuesday December 11th coming up on the show the Woolsey fire destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings in southern California N.P.R.'s Ari Shapiro speaks with rich soft go owner of the Rock Store bar that survived about reopening his business and the more on that coming up and here in local news more on that the 2019 Firefly lineup there are a lot of hip hop acts. Expected next year for Firefly more on that coming up here on All Things Considered 40 degrees right now and over it will drop down to 29 feet or overnight low and remain mostly clear throughout the evening a mix of sun and clouds for the next couple days rain expected Friday and Saturday support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Zoom Zoom offers cloud video conferencing online meetings and a video conference room solution and one platform featuring digital video and audio with screen sharing account registration and more at Zoom dot us from the pajama gram company offering $26.00 matching holiday pajamas for the whole family including dogs and cats with Snoopy Star Wars and St Nick themes in its fleece and flannel learn more at pajama gram dot com and from the Annie e. Casey Foundation. It's All Things Considered from n.p.r. News I'm Audie Cornish and I'm Ari Shapiro the Clean Water Act regulates pollution in the nation's waterways politicians lawyers and activists have argued for decades about just which waters should be protected today the trumpet ministration weighed in with a proposal to strip federal protections from thousands of miles of waterways and vast areas of wetlands N.P.R.'s Nathan Rott reports when the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 it was pretty direct restricting pollution in the nation's navigable waters think waterways that are big enough to float a boat what was less clear is how far the federal government should go to stop that pollution does that mean tributaries to those bigger waterways should be protected or just the waterways themselves in 2015 the Obama administration sought to bring clarity imposing a broad definition that included wetlands and upstream water sources the trouble ministration seeking its own clarity is doing the opposite proposing to severely restrict the number of waterways that get federal protection Here's Andrew Wheeler acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency today e.p.a. And the Army Corps proposing a new definition of waters the United States the puts an end to the previous administration's power grab Wheeler signed a proposal surrounded by Republican lawmakers agriculture interests and manufacturing groups folks who decry a deal bomber rule as a regulatory overreach Randy know well chairman of the National Association of Home Builders says that the new proposal should make it easier for development to take place as a home builder I'm pretty excited about. When they have a lot to build on Noel lives in south Louisiana an area with a lot of wetlands he says developers are running scared the last few years because it wasn't ever clear which wetlands were federally regulated and which weren't Hopefully this redefinition will fix that under the new proposal the only wetlands that will be federally protected are those that are adjacent to a major body of water or ones that are connect. Did to a major waterway by surface water untold millions of acres of wetlands will no longer have that federal protection neither will untold miles of ephemeral streams or waterways that only flow after precipitation the e.p.a. Says it does not have a precise number for either Chris Wood president of Trout Unlimited a conservation organization says that's one of the proposals problems a lot of these environmental issues are complicated and they're confounding and you can see both sides of this and it implicates our drinking water beyond that he says it compromises wildlife habitat and areas that people use for recreation a number of environmental groups are already promising to challenge a proposal Trout Unlimited would says is not an overly litigious group but you know when it comes to painting drinking water which you know we all need every day you know if need be and we find it deeply flawed enough we will likely litigate the public now has 60 days to comment Nathan Rott n.p.r. News. There's a shortage of police officers in this country police departments are having trouble recruiting enough new officers to replace the ones retiring the latest national statistics show an overall drop in the number of working officers on Morning Edition we heard about how this makes the job more hectic for officers on patrol now N.P.R.'s Martin reports on how some departments are trying to refill their ranks earlier this fall there was a sign of the police recruiting shortage in Indianapolis literally a sign a billboard put up by the Seattle Police Department Seattle was looking to hire away cops from Indianapolis coaching coaching is yeah it's a less polite term but it's exactly what it is that's Valerie Cunningham the deputy chief in Indianapolis She oversees recruiting and training I've never seen that in my career and I've been in this career for 27 years I've never seen a Billboard pop up from another agency here and in our own backyard but that's the new reality in police recruiting departments are putting a lot more effort into the grass is greener on this side of the fence sales pitch coming to Seattle was an easy decision for the transition was seamless there was no age restriction and it's lateral entry which was an abbreviated and expedited hiring process that Seattle's lateral recruiting video the department is under pressure to diversify in the video features an African-American officer relaxing in a high rise apartment in downtown Seattle with a $1000000.00 waterfront view minority and women officers are hot commodities but really all mid career officers are valuable these days with their hard to come by experience and all I think there's a lot more competition sheriff's deputy Dan hall on patrol here in Washington County Oregon just outside Portland he's just what many departments are desperate for 11 years on the job military experience before that yeah everybody talks about . Kind of what's going on comparable agencies you know. I have looked at other things he knows he could make more money somewhere else but so far he's. Resisted the temptation he likes his colleagues here and there's more to consider than pay Paul keeps coming back to this one thing a factor that might strike other people as trivial his vest it's the kind of vest that's covered with pockets and Velcro which lets him carry more of his gear high up instead of on his belt it's just carrying it in a different place makes a lot less painful for me long run this is no small thing if your back hurts a lot of departments don't allow these vests because they cover up the uniform but a couple of years ago Washington County decided to allow them under sheriff Jeff Morey says there's a larger strategy here to find the little things that help to attract and retain officers we did make policy changes we now allow facial hair or we allow a tattoo as we allow earrings the Reeve unwilling to forgive an applicant's past use of marijuana especially since it's now legal in Oregon still none of this is enough to close the gap Morey says his department has 55 job openings forcing the current staff to work overtime he's hoping to make up for some of this personal shortage with technology the predictive analysis software that is being rolled out right now there is going to be more predictive analysis being done for proactive policing so we don't just randomly patrol so we'd be more strategic about where we're spending resources still he'd rather just have more deputies applicants no longer come to him or not enough of them so he sees his job is similar to that of a football coach constantly scouting new prospects instead of waiting for people to apply to be deputies he sending recruiters to colleges and job fairs It means seeking out people who might never have thought of becoming a cop and he says that also means acknowledging that younger people today are more skeptical about police work I don't know if they want to be cops as much as the previous generation as much as they want to do something that's bigger than themselves they're very community focused they view themselves as community builders and police recruiting is starting to reflect that you see the change in the videos just a couple of you. Years ago the recruiting videos tended to play up guns and gear to see the enemy. Anyway. But nowadays the videos are more about diversity and helping people and the gung ho tone has been replaced by cornball humor such as the Fort Worth police department's recent videos featuring Star Wars characters learning to be cops. I'm sorry I don't understand that. The most successful recruiting campaigns look at the side of policing that is about giving back and actually kind of the fun and friendly side that's what tends to draw them to this profession deputy chief Valerie Cunningham in Indianapolis saying she's also noticed this change in how departments appeal to potential recruits I think we have to recruit differently and I think they're going to end up policing differently but I don't think it's a negative I think it's a positive a positive because she thinks the current recruiting crisis is actually pushing departments more quickly toward the kind of policing that younger Americans want to see Martin cost n.p.r. News. This is n.p.r. News. This is Delaware Public Media your source for n.p.r. News here in the 1st state you're listening to All Things Considered I'm your host . As a total shock to the system with a gripping story he ran away from home at 12 times piano by sneaking into Berkeley and nearly died in a car accident that led to a 3 week coma oh yeah and he wanted Grammy and n.p.r. Music's 1st contest. On the. Check out the world. Public Media. Turning on your Amazon Google speakers of. Music or visit our Facebook page or Twitter account. Public for all the latest news here in the 1st day the time is 430 your local national news is next. It's All Things Considered from n.p.r. News I'm Ari Shapiro And I'm Audie Cornish Next we return to the scene of the fire one month in the blackened mountains of people trying to salvage what they can from the ashes. Now this news. Live from n.p.r. News in Culver City California I'm to Wayne Brown a White House meeting between President Trump and leaders of the Democratic Party got heated today both sides appear to be digging in as the deadline to pass a year end spending bill approaches Democrats and says Trump doesn't have the votes to win the $5000000000.00 he wants for border wall funding the president says he'll probably shut down the government if he doesn't get it Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer calls Trump's move a temper tantrum the $1300000000.00 that we gave him last year for border security no wall that border security less than 6 percent of it has been spent they haven't even spent last year's money and now they're demanding much much more this year lawmakers have $10.00 days to reach a spending agreement to avoid a partial government shutdown just before the Christmas break Russians have paid their last respects to a human rights defender and one of the last great Soviet era dissidents as N.P.R.'s Lucy and Kim tells us from Moscow she spent 16 years in u.s. Exile and is expected to be buried alongside family members in Washington Russians from all walks of life filed into the central house of journalists in downtown Moscow Elix a of a lay in an open casket she died on Saturday at the age of 91 dollar yammering Digimon the seller of all of the corporate manager said he came because Aleksey of a had given him and his children a possibility to think independently and that it was thanks to Alex a of a that they were alive at all even President Vladimir Putin his policies Aleksey of a had frequently criticized made the effort to come by with a bunch of red roses some mourners criticized Putin's presence well others said it showed that Alexei of a had won even his respect Lucien Kim n.p.r. News Moscow stocks finished mixed on a Wall Street after another seesaw session with bank shares losing ground the Dow was down 53 points this is n.p.r. . Then this is Delaware public media I'm actually know the Brandywine Valley as p.c.a. Hosted what it's calling a record breaking adoption of and over the weekend Delaware Public Media's Sophia Schmidt has more clearly 1200 dogs and cats found homes for the Brandywine Valley s.p.c.s. Mega adoption of Benton Harrington the organization hosts these major adoption events in June in December where Dobson fees are significantly reduced this was their 5th vent and it broke their previous adoption record by about 50 animals Brandywine Valley's Linda Lee says December is a good time to get animals out of shelters and into homes shelters become their forests through the summer and into the fall during the warmer months so the shelters down to be pretty full and it's a good time of year to really help make space she knows that around the holidays families tend to have more time and more people around to introduce a new pet to the household trolly says the s.p.c. a Does not worry about animals adopted at the December event being given as holiday gifts there's actually national data here in the u.s. Showing that given a gift have equivalent if not higher returns on rights. That are adopted directly by a family to really adds that starting this Saturday large adult dogs can be adopted from the Brandywine Valley as p.c.a. With no adoption fee through the end of the month Sophia Schmidt Delaware public media hip hop will take the center stage again at the Firefly music festival in 29000 for a 2nd straight year rap acts will headline 2 nights at the Woodlands and over one Firefly returns June 21st through 23rd travel Scott caps off Saturday's bill while post Malone closes out the 3 day event serving as the Sunday headliner Scotter and 3 Grammy nominations Friday including Best Rap Album and Best rapper formants Malone grabbed for Grammy nods including the year in Best Rap Song collaboration the 3rd headline act is panic at the Disco which tops Friday's lineup other acts slated to perform include acts and back. Sitters a t.l.c. a Death Cab for Cutie and Vampire Weekend the 3 day 21900 schedule is a day shorter than recent years a limiting the Thursday slate of x. Tickets for the event's 8th year in Dover go on sale Friday with pricing starting at $279.00 for general admission pass here in Dover it's 40 degrees fair skies You're listening to All Things Considered on Delaware public media the time is 435 support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Universal Pictures with welcome to morrow and a new film based on an inspirational true story from the director of Forrest Gump starring Steve Carell in a story about hope friendship and healing in theaters this Christmas from c 3 providing a software platform that enables organizations to deploy artificial intelligence and Io t. Solutions at industrial scale learn more at c 3 dot a I. And from Americans for the Arts. It's All Things Considered from n.p.r. News I'm Audie Cornish in Washington and I'm Ari Shapiro in Culver City California one month ago people living in the mountains above Malibu woke up to evacuation orders the Woolsey fire was devouring miles of forest and homes including the hills around the Rock Store a famous biker hangout that's been owned by rich south coast family since 1962 I spoke to him just after the fire swept through the area they were just devastated just devastating drought. And. We get we didn't have any time to respond you know I mean it came through so. You know there's large ranches around here they just had to turn animals free and come part 1st day in just by the grace of God the Rock Store storm last Friday I drove up into those blackened hills a moonscape stretching ridge after ridge back before the fire hundreds of bikers would gather at the Rock Store each weekend for a bite or a coffee before riding the twisty road called the snake through the Santa Monica Mountains on Friday the restaurant had just gotten power back and was preparing to reopen a Ritz to pay Amare. If they were you rich saddos 90 year old mother Vern was inside sitting in a booth drinking a cup of tea and looking at the workers buzzing around her built in better like we are now saying yeah that guy that's for is there's a lot going on here what's happening right now there but it's garbage in the smoke you know. That the Rock Store has become a kind of community center it's one of the few buildings still standing around here even on Friday with the place still closed bikers came by for a visit Keanu Reeves' passed through for the last month emergency workers and neighbors have been coming by for coffee rich won't let anybody pay it seemed really tough around Thanksgiving time if you will. Sorry I mean the stuff you know about. People obviously lost all their homes and things like that and they sat out here and had Thanksgiving dinner while everybody just brought whatever they had. The guy across the street cooked a huge turkey and things like that in and you know people didn't know where to go or what they were going to do for Thanksgiving but fortunately we were able to light some battery operated lanterns and then celebrate Thanksgiving after the fire it was a gathering place for firefighters to they knew that if they had information they needed to share with the community people could come by the Rock Store and spread the word Frank Knutson is an engineer with the local fire department he's 41 and says even the oldest guys hadn't seen a fire like this one the fire front was 14 miles wide and traveling 70 miles an hour I'm sure had a spending with memories of what the last month has been like can you describe one moment that you will never forget starting narrowed down to one moment to be honest with you I think that everyone sees it on t.v. But when you're when you're in it and it's 10 o'clock in the morning and it's. Feels like night because the skies dark it's a surreal moment you also live in this community that has now experienced a lot of loss and what's that like layered on top of the extraordinary hours that you've been working on energy that you've been putting out my home aside it's hard to see the community the way that it is you know it's always hard to talk to someone that's lost their house because you I personally I've always feel let down like I wish we could have done more for them his home has smoke damage but it's still standing one of the people who lost everything is 76 year old Gary Jones he's lived on the ridge above the Rock Store for decades with a fat cigar in his mouth he gets into a pickup truck that's been blistered by fire at all and here. We drive up to see what's left of his place the morning he tried to evacuate he got trapped behind a big metal gate at his property line the gate was locked. In the dump fire. And I couldn't push it forward. Because in the day there was a hill there and it would have been big 8. So I called my wife to say good bye and asked their pray for me. Playing where they could be in the dining car and after about 10 minutes he managed to force the gate open and drive through the black smoke and fire down the hill to safety when he returned days later the house was gone today a tall brick chimney looms over a stretch of blackened stone where he used to live with Windows from shipping and I found my wife's wedding ring. From her jewel turns out rubies don't melt and where are you psychologically and emotionally Oh I'm excited really. Is Wrong through the grief a loss while the us is a blessing in disguise how so. Although I probably you know storage containers. Are full of decisions that have been made yet. And when you finally clear off the container it has a feeling of cleansing. And that's kind of what I feel like. I've been cleaners all the problems I had are gone I have got a few new ones though I got some new ones but it's like you know if they talked about turning the page above book and it's true I'm turning the page to a book but the book's getting more interesting. Right now he's waiting for a hazardous materials team to come sift through the rubble and authorize him to take everything to the dump one month after the fire the signs of progress are still small little shoots of grass are just starting to poke out of the ashy soil but on Saturday morning for the 1st time since the fire the Rock Store opened for business while. The smells of frying bacon maple syrup and coffee cover up the scent of ash in their 90 year old Vern Sasco bought this place more than 50 years ago looks around at her grateful for us dollars It's great to see everybody you know they were read about this so it's great. But we're here we're here. Earlier today I spoke with California Governor Jerry Brown as he prepares to leave office and part of our conversation touched on the record breaking fires in the state at the same time the Woolsey fire swept through the hills above Malibu the campfire in Northern California killed 85 people I asked Governor Brown what he thinks needs to be done now the fires are going to get worse they're not going to get better it's very simple drought over time takes out the humidity and with no moisture What is nice for education and pretty trees becomes kindling wood and just explodes so what we can do is maybe. The forest better we're not going to do that overnight we have millions of millions of acres a 2nd up we have massive grass in southern California you go deal with that wild lands there that are very great to hike in but as the summer heat intensifies and we get into the fall Santa Ana winds is very dangerous So look the disaster point has to increase the management of our lands that has to intensify and that's going to cost you know if not hundreds of millions probably billions so and then each person has to take responsibility and learn where they are and what they can do to reduce the vegetation find an escape route we're in a new abnormal and I'm not going to give you a nice little everything's fine it is to a b. And c. To be safe no we're in great danger and the danger will intensify and I'm sure the politicians will respond that well we too slowly. Will hear more of our exit interview with California Governor Jerry Brown elsewhere in the program . You're listening to All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. After months of struggle lawmakers in Washington every to agreement on a new farm bill the bill cost nearly $900000000000.00 over the next 10 years Grant Carlock of any news in the press care reports on what's in the bill and what's not one of the biggest fights over the huge farm bill had nothing at all to do with farmers it was about the largest budget item in the bill the food stamp program also known as snap House Republicans wanted to double the number of people required to work in order to stay in snap Senate Democrats vowed to block that proposal the standoff lasted for months but when the midterms flipped the house it forced the issue this morning House Speaker Paul Ryan indorsed the compromise this bill shrank things work requirements in Boost works supports so that more people are spurred toward opportunities that makes it sound like the House proposal is in the bill but it's not there is extra money for training programs but the work requirements were dropped to clear the way for the bill to pass and that's how it is with much of the farm bill that makes incremental changes not structural reforms that goes for Snap and forestry which leaves out most last minute demands made by the White House to fast track forest thinning projects some describe this as a status quo bill even costs about the same but Julie opens in ski of the National sustainable agriculture coalition says there are significant changes she points to what she calls tiny but mighty programs that the farm bill would make permanent things like outreach to minority and veteran farmers and training for new farmers we know that these issues are not temporary issues especially the aging farm population and where the next generation of farmers are going to come from the farm bill with more than double research funding for Gannett farming and it legalizes hemp for industrial products and medicinal c.b.d. Oil something many farmers hope will become a new lucrative cash crop up to now only a handful were able to grow it under tight regulations John courier farms in the Imperial Valley of Southern California were forging. A ration of his family have grown winter vegetables like cauliflower lettuce and broccoli he now wants to swap those veggies for hemp because he says he can't keep up with farm consolidation I mean the writings on the wall that unless you're a big corporate farmer that year round in the produce business you pretty much got to get out of it in the farm bill states can allow hemp production as long as the crop contains less than 2.3 percent of t.h.c. The compound in marijuana that causes the high aspiring hemp farmers like courier would even be eligible for crop insurance I need something else to grow I mean this hemp deals kind of fall in our lap at the exact perfect timing but it's not a done deal until the farm bill reaches president Trump's desk and it always goes back to politics and I hate politics most farmers do that's Mark Nelson who raises corn soybeans and cattle near payola Kansas like a lot of farmers Nelson has been working against a headwind the trade fight with China has spoiled soybean prices and on top of that a drought crashed crop yields he says crop insurance subsidies which are mostly unchanged in the farm bill help him avoid a critical financial blow and that's what's important for most farmers is just give me the next year where you know we're going to have our ups and downs we're going to have years where we don't produce crop insurance helps us with our lenders and banks and. That's all tied to the farm bill a bill that's years in the making and crucial for the people who grow the food we eat for n.p.r. News I'm Grant for Locke. That story comes to us from Harvest Public Media Reporting collaboration focusing on agriculture and rural issues. You're listening to All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. And this is Delaware Public Media your source for n.p.r. News here in the 1st state we're broadcasting from the campus of Delaware State University in Dover on 91 point one. We're also on $91.00 w m p h Wilmington $88.00 to be un h s Wilmington I'm actually know he's a wealthy sex offender with friends in high places including the current secretary of labor Geoffrey Epstein worked his connections to dodge a lengthy prison sentence those connections included Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta who at the time was Miami's top federal prosecutor Miami Herald reporter Julie Brown won Epstein and Secretary Acosta next time on one. Be sure to tune in to one a this evening at 7 o'clock right here on Delaware Public Media. And thanks for joining us for all things considered it's Tuesday December 11th you're listening to the source for n.p.r. News here in Delaware well as Ari Shapiro said Governor Jerry Brown is going to be on the program coming up Ari talks with California's governor who concludes his term in January wrapping up his political career that has spanned nearly half a century Jerry Brown's been around for a while they'll be more on that coming up here on All Things Considered and in local news largest private employer Christiana Care Health System is raising its hourly minimum wage to $15.00 Details on that as well coming up 40 degrees here in Dover it's going to drop down to 29 for your overnight low and remained mostly clear throughout the evening similar weather the next 2 days mix of sun and clouds throughout the state with highs in the low forty's by Friday though expect rain and more rain to continue through Saturday it's going to warm up for the rain highs in the low fifty's Friday and Saturday. All things considered continues here on Delaware Public Media. It's All Things Considered from n.p.r. News I'm Audie Cornish and I'm Ari Shapiro today if the president fought with Democratic congressional leaders in the Oval Office over a border wall a top official in charge of border security was on Capitol Hill the head of Customs and Border Protection testified before senators about last month's use of tear gas against migrants and other contentious issues N.P.R.'s Brian Naylor reports c.b.p. Commissioner Kevin McElwain and told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that the clash at the Mexican border near to one of last month was a dynamic challenging situation they were assaulted in their behavior they threw rocks at agents we had an Asian who now asked have surgery for a dislocated patella he was hit by a rock during this event and the agents were in challenging spaces but he denied that agents intentionally fired tear gas at children the top Democrat on the paddle Senator Dianne Feinstein of California confronted McAloon and over the widely circulated photograph of a woman holding a child with another beside her in diapers as a cloud of tear gas billowed in the background I think that not a picture or an act that fits this country I respect that view Senator it's very unfortunate that women and children were in the vicinity of this large group that was trying to enter the United States I don't know that that picture accurately tells the full story of the scope vans McElwain in said it was up to individual agents to determine whether to use tear gas and that the incident is under investigation by in internal use of force review board he was also asked about the border wall construction Democrats charge the vast majority of the $1700000000.00 Congress has appropriated for improvements to existing fencing and some new barriers remains unspent Macca leanin disputed that we built 33 out of 40 miles and fiscal year 17 and when I talk about obligated that's spent that's on contract with the u.s. Army Corps of Engineers the administration wants to build 1100 miles of new barriers Meca lean into. The system is overwhelmed by the numbers of families and unaccompanied children arriving at the border and that last month some $30000.00 people in family units were arrested something he said the system was not designed for Brian Naylor n.p.r. News Washington. The best symphony orchestras in the u.s. Are almost always located on the coast but there's one in the heartland that critics say just might be our nation's finest. The Cleveland Orchestra marks its centennial today and N.P.R.'s Tom highs in a has a few snapshots of the orchestra's 100 year history from its early Pistol Packin conductor to a recent sexual harassment scandal 100 years ago Cleveland was the 5th largest city in America home to such industrialists as John d. Rockefeller and John l. Severance who had deep pockets and desire to bring culture to Cleveland says Donald Rosenberg author of The Cleveland Orchestra story 2nd to none and former Cleveland Plain Dealer music critic because the Cleveland Orchestra was born in a city outside one of the major artistic centers its accomplishment needs to be taken seriously when it debuted on December 11th 1800 the Cleveland Orchestra a small just 55 part time musicians it gradually grew in size until it made its 1st recording in 124. Within a couple of decades Rosenberg says the sound began to blossom especially under idiosyncratic director Archer Regency I carried a pistol in his pocket virtually the entire time he worked in Cleveland and elsewhere never used it the pistol was intended to shoot his lover's husband but he got interrupted with a last minute conducting assignment the performance was a triumph and the revolver became his good luck charm. Rosenberg says planted the seeds of the Cleveland sound toward the end of his tenure you can already hear some of the qualities that we associate with the Cleveland Orchestra this decision this clarity this transparency of texture. During World War 2 The Cleveland Orchestra lost musicians to the draft and afterward needed rebuilding the man who did it Rosenberg says was George cell an autocratic hung Garion who put the fear of God in his players during the time that Zell was music director evidently the psychiatrists in Cleveland did booming business because a lot of musicians needed help coping with his personality I think it was a reign of terror basically. Merced has been the Cleveland orchestra's music director for 16 years he says Ezell ruled over every aspect of the orchestra for nearly a quarter century until he died in 1970 he even reportedly chose the toilet paper for Severance Hall the orchestra's longtime home and he micromanage everybody's playing I mean he was all about for a session and balance so he got the orchestra to play it in that way which was true of those days relates for every. Cell might have been a ruthless perfectionist but he crafted the sound admire the world over so admired that it attracted one of the most respected composer conductors of 20th century music Pierre Boulez who became the Cleveland orchestra's principal guest conductor in 1969. He had this incredible thing here no one that I know of had an era like the less had Jones hired by Zell as the orchestras keyboardist says Boulez expanded the repertoire. I think in the 1970 s. Music director Lorin Maazel writing the Cleveland Orchestra sound followed by Christoph undocked Nani who added some warmth and elegance and by 1994 Time magazine hailed Cleveland as the best band in the land this year the New York Times. Called Cleveland possibly the best in America. But in October the orchestra's longtime concertmaster and its principal trombonist were fired after an independent investigation determined they engaged in sexual misconduct but Joel a Jones says she hasn't seen any of that during her 50 years with the orchestra I never ever felt sexually harassed in any way whatsoever and I'm sorry if that's disappointing news it's important to note that the incidents alleged so far didn't occur at the orchestra but other institutions where the 2 musicians were teaching for his part author Donald Rosenberg points out that unlike other orchestras women have been playing in the Cleveland Orchestra since the beginning the musicians look out for each other as if they were family perhaps in a way that doesn't happen in great big cities Rosenberg says the Cleveland Orchestra will survive the scandal and the City which is fiercely loyal to its musicians will stand behind the ensemble this orchestra was nurtured by a community that really wanted to hear symphonic music on the highest level and after 100 years the world beyond Cleveland has come to appreciate the music of the heartland orchestra made it big time highs into n.p.r. News. Tomorrow on Morning Edition the United States is not the only country Russia has targeted with a descent from ation campaign in fact it's gone after every nation affiliated with NATO a look at the Russian troll farms work overseas tomorrow on Morning Edition ask your smart speaker to play n.p.r. Or your station by name. You're listening to All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from the y.m.c.a. Committed to opportunities for all and the belief that no one should be defined by the zip code they're born into details on the impact of donations as at y.m.c.a. Dot net slash for a better us from Subaru with their Subaru share the love of event now through January 2nd details on the not for profit organizations that it supports are at Subaru dot com slash share love it's what makes a Subaru a Subaru from Fidelity Investments taking a personalized approach to helping clients grow preserve and manage their wealth more and more at fidelity dot com slash wealth fidelity brokerage services l.l.c. And from the ne e Casey Foundation You're listening to All Things Considered here on Delaware public media the source for n.p.r. News in the 1st state I mean I host Michel you know stay tuned from the campus of Delaware State University this is 91 point one w. D.d.e. Dover also broadcasting on 91.7 w. M.p.h. Wilmington and 88 point one w. M.h.s. Wilmington in collaboration with the University of Delaware and the Brandywine and red clay school districts this is where public media. He saw a black man. Determination. How have police killed black men who had weapons good guys with guns one police trainer reports cops say it's a reflex he really wasn't a decision for me it just was a reaction I don't know if this guy is a good guy or a bad guy how to train to make a decision tomorrow on Morning Edition from n.p.r. News. Be sure to start your day with Morning Edition tomorrow morning right now it's 5 o'clock your local and national news is next. What could go wrong in the worst way possible. To avoid California Governor Jerry Brown leaves office next month and has some advice for his successor for Tuesday December 11th this is All Things Considered. I'm Ari Shapiro in Culver City California and I'm Audie Cornish in Washington this hour an exit interview with the only person ever to have served 4 terms as California governor also the new. Car into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville gets life in prison. Sorry more than 40 former senators signed a letter calling for senators to put country above party we'll talk with one of them you can disagree of course you can disagree. Both sides have to do that now this news. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Jack Speer a closed door meeting between President Donald Trump and congressional leaders came to a rapid conclusion after a heated televised opening session where the respective sides bickered about the president's proposed border wall and threats of a government shutdown speaking outside the White House after the meeting Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer blasted Trump over his renewed threats to shut down part of the government over funding for the wall something Trump later defended in remarks to reporters I don't mind having the issue of border security and I said if we have to close down the country over border security I actually like that in terms of an issue but I don't want to be an issue I wanted to be something that what the country needs is not really an issue it's something that country any government funding for some agencies are set to expire at the end of next week setting up the possible partial shutdown House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi says Trump lacks the votes for border wall funding at least 2 people are dead 10 of those were reportedly injured after a shooting at Strasbourg France near a holiday market tricks again are reports the suspect who is known to authorities remains at large police say the shooter fled after opening fire near the Christmas market around 8 pm local time a shopkeeper told French t.v. The gunfire lasted 10 minutes the French interior minister said authorities have identified the attacker and a manhunt is underway the pair's prosecutor's terrorism unit has also been engaged to investigate Strasbourg is home to Europe's most famous Christmas market and drew 2000000 visitors last year reporter Jakes again are on the trumpet ministration is proposing massive changes to a clean water rule that would limit the number of u.s. Waterways they get federal protection N.P.R.'s Nathan Rott has more the waters of the u.s. Rule or modus as it's called defines which waters fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act The Obama administration in 2015 put forward a wide definition protecting millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of miles of seasonal or ephemeral streams. The move angered real estate developers in agriculture groups who called it a land grab the trumpet ministration agreed the new definition would not include ephemeral streams or ones that are not next to a major body of water environmentalists are calling the postal reckless and are promising to bring challenges Nathan Rott n.p.r. News producer price index that's the broadest measure of the cost of goods and services before they head down the pipeline and consumers showed only a slight upward movement last month the government's main inflation wholesale inflation Brahman are rising just 110th of one percent scant rise came as lower gas prices offset pricier trucking and mobile phone services excluding wall to food and energy wholesale inflation was up 3 tenths of one percent for the year wholesale inflation is up just 2 and a half percent a mix close on Wall Street today the Dow is down $53.00 points 224370 the Nasdaq closed up 11 points the s. And p. 500 was basically flat You're listening to n.p.r. . Then this is Delaware public media I'm actually know while some residents near a proposed slag grinding facility have taken a hard line against it others are hoping to work with the company planning to build it the where Public Media's Sophia Schmidt has more wall and specially Construction Products is seeking a permit for a facility that would take blast furnace slag into the port of Wilmington and grind it into a powdered cement additive the proposed operation is expected to emit nitrogen oxides which contribute to ground level ozone and fine dust Marie Reed is president of the south bridge Civic Association on the bridge community No not in our backyard Harris with the International Longshoremen's Association at the port thinks any moratorium on industry in the area is not the way to go that was shut the port and set down what we're trying to do more in the port expansion because with ports Mystery's gonna come in that's what we want because when they come jobs you don't come with Sandra Smith There's lives off Route 9 she envisions a community benefits agreement with the company which she says would protect residents we cover the environment we cover employment we cover health issues and then what the company needs and then we have to fall in representative say the company is open to such an agreement but is focusing on the construction unskilled workers are crucial to hospital operations and patient care very often they will comment on how caring the person was who came every day to clean their room at how important the person was to their recovery the person who delivered food and so these are folks who have really essential jobs. The health system is the 1st to make this move in Delaware where the minimum wage is $825.00 an hour and slated to rise to $925.00 in October 29th teen Christiana Care also joins a short list of hospitals across the country paying unskilled workers more than the national $725.00 an hour minimum wage Neven says she expects the move to reduce employee turnover for clerical technical and service positions at the hospital you're listening to Delaware public media from n.p.r. News it's All.