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Virginia Republicans Continue Fight For Offshore Drilling

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It's a new session of Congress, but the same old battles persist. In the last session, House Republicans passed bills to expand offshore oil and gas drilling, but they sat untouched in the Senate. With Congress still divided, Virginia Republicans are working to convince their Senate colleagues to take up a comprehensive energy bill, including wind. Rep. Rob Wittman says environmentalists' fears are misguided about coastal drilling.

"I think that we can safely develop that off the Virginia shore, learning from what's happened elsewhere to make sure we do that in an environmentally responsible way, but also do that in a way that helps the economy of Virginia and the long-term energy security of this nation."

The biggest roadblock for Virginia Republicans may be the president. His moratorium on drilling off Virginia's coast is still in place.

NPR

James Gandolfini Dies; 'Sopranos' Actor Was 51

Actor James Gandolfini, 51, has reportedly died. Variety magazine reports that he suffered a "sudden stroke." The cause of death is not yet known with certainty, but HBO says the actor may have suffered a heart attack.
NPR

And The Winner Of The World Food Prize Is ... The Man From Monsanto

The prize is sometimes called the "Nobel Prize for food and agriculture." And this year's winners include Monsanto executive Robert Fraley, a pioneer in genetically engineered crops. If there's a single person who personifies the company's controversial role in American agriculture, it's probably Fraley.
NPR

How Ted Cruz's Father Shaped His Views On Immigration

The Texas senator says giving a path to citizenship to immigrants in the U.S. illegally would be unfair to immigrants who followed the rules, like his own father, 74-year-old Rafael Bienvenido Cruz. He portrays his dad as a kind of Cuban Horatio Alger.
NPR

In More Cities, A Camera On Every Corner, Park And Sidewalk

A growing number of cities are using surveillance cameras in the hope of fighting crime, but all that video is almost useless without powerful search tools to sort the material. The municipal camera trend is proving to be big business for companies that design video analytics software.

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