Words » Feature Reporting

Pitching on LSD

admin — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:22:43 +0000

Allegations of performance-enhancing drug use have stained professional baseball in the last few years. But using drugs to get an edge is nothing new to the sport. Many players routinely took amphetamines before games. Joe DiMaggio was rumored to have drank 10 cups of coffee before suiting up. Today we’re going to hear from one of the more eccentric icons of baseball: Dock Ellis. Pitching primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1970s, Ellis was an unusual player, an intimidating, cerebral presence on the field.
He once won 13 games in a row. And he led the 1971 Pirates to a World Series title. But Ellis, now 63, might just be remembered for one of the strangest accomplishments in the history of sports.

Listen now! (6:23)

Fast, Cheap and Under Control: The rise of Forever 21 and Downtown’s wholesale economy

admin — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:25:37 +0000

It’s hard to keep count of the lawsuits piling up against cheap chic retailer Forever 21. The cases numbered more than 20 in October, when menswear label Trovata joined Anna Sui, Harajuku Lovers – Gwen Stefani’s line – and Diane von Furstenberg Studio in filing an intellectual property suit against the Downtown Los Angeles company. Forever 21, they claim, stole their prints, logos, patterns, favorite colors and lunch money to boot. OK, not the lunch money. Forever 21 then sells the knock-offs at prices so low, they befuddle even the most thrifty chain store shopper.
Some of the arguments are pretty convincing. The yellow, printed von Furstenberg smock dress, an item in question under the Manhattan-based clothier’s lawsuit, looks identical to the one sold for less than a tenth of the price at Forever 21. Less convincing is that Anthropologie and Bebe, who themselves copy high-end designers as a matter of course, also have lawsuits pending against the chain.

Suspicion at the Dog Park

admin — Mon, 21 May 2007 18:53:36 +0000

Recently, “Weekend America’s” Neille Ilel learned something disturbing about a regular at the dog park near her: he was on the state sex offender registry. Dog parks, especially in the sprawl of California, are one of the last places where people from very different backgrounds, who aren’t connected in the usual ways — work, kids, a love of organic vegetables — actually hang out and talk. She brings us a story of community and fear.

Listen now! (11:17)

Adventures in Genetic Testing

admin — Mon, 14 May 2007 20:08:00 +0000

Last year, after making a deal with her mom, “Weekend America’s” Neille Ilel got tested for the “breast cancer gene.” If a woman has a mutation on BRCA1 or BRCA2, she’s almost guaranteed to develop breast cancer over her lifetime and is at a highly increased risk for ovarian cancer. But knowing about the gene doesn’t necessarily mean there are any easy ways to prevent the disease. Ilel tells us what it’s like to get tested for something you can’t really change.
Listen now! (6:10)

A Healthy Dose of Anarchy: After Katrina, nontraditional, decentralized relief steps in where big government and big charity failed.

admin — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 01:39:00 +0000

When I walked into Rose and Gary Singletary’s house in the black, middle-class Gentilly section of New Orleans in February, I saw the shell of a building. The floors, the walls, and all the fixtures—toilets, sinks, doors—had been removed. Floodwater from Hurricane Katrina had reached higher than the Singletarys’ front door, and their home had to be stripped down to the frame to bleach out the mold. After months of on-again, off-again work, the house was finally ready to be rebuilt.

With Debt Rising, Americans Face Tougher Bankruptcy Laws

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 20:31:58 +0000

Forest Hills bankruptcy attorney Kevin Ribakove said it’s nearly the same story every time. “My clients are typically an individual or a couple who live month to month. Maybe they have $5,000 or $10,000 in savings,” he explained. “Over time they incur credit card debt, but they manage every month to pay off the minimum.

Scientologists’ Stress Tests In Jackson Heights Raise Questions

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 20:06:28 +0000

Dipika Palit said she liked “Dianetics” because the techniques in the book helped her to concentrate. “There are lots of things (in the book) that help you not to think so much,” she said, noting that thinking too much is a major cause of stress.
Palit discovered L. Ron Hubbard’s tract on living a healthy life—part self-help, part religion and very much controversial—in the last few weeks when followers set up a table offering free “Stress Tests” at the 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue subway station in Jackson Heights.

Immigrants, Labor Supporters Fear Central American Trade Pact

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 20:10:14 +0000

Although Queens is hundreds of miles away from farmland or textile manufacturing, negotiations over a new trade agreement between the United States and Central America hits close to home among many of the borough’s immigrants.

Queens’ Worst Landlord? Coalition Calls Corona Owner ‘Notorious Slumlord’

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 17:14:28 +0000

“It almost fell on my daughter’s head,” Jeanette Gotay said as she pointed to the water-damaged ceiling in the bathroom of her Corona apartment.
She and her two children live at 93-35 Lamont Avenue, which is owned by Nicholas Haros, the city’s sixth worst landlord, according to the Housing Here and Now Coalition.

LIC Naturalist Has A Vision For Forgotten Dutch Kills Waterway

admin — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 20:17:53 +0000

As if Newtown Creek isn’t a far enough stretch for a pleasant taste of nature, city naturalist Erik Baard has chosen a narrow, and even more obscure, inlet of water north of the creek to try and restore.
“You’ve got to adopt the nastiest place,” said the 37-year-old Flushing native, standing amid a pile of trash bags and a submerged barge. Indeed, this finger of water may well be the nastiest.