Howard Berkes

Amid Data Controversy, NSA Builds Its Biggest Data Farm

Howard Berkes — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 06:58:00 +0000

As privacy advocates and security experts debate the validity of the National Security Agency's massive data gathering operations, the agency is putting the finishing touches on its biggest data farm yet.

The gargantuan $1.2 billion complex at a National Guard base 26 miles south of Salt Lake City features 1.5 million square feet of top secret space.

Fines Slashed In Grain Bin Entrapment Deaths

Howard Berkes — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:41:00 +0000

The night before he died, Wyatt Whitebread couldn't stand the thought of going back to the grain bins on the edge of Mount Carroll, Ill.

The mischievous and popular 14-year-old had been excited about his first real job, he told Lisa Jones, the mother of some of his closest friends, as she drove him home from a night out for pizza. But nearly two weeks later he told her he was tired of being sent into massive storage bins clogged with corn.

Jones choked back tears as she recalled the conversation.

Poll: Romney Near Landslide In Rural Swing Counties

Howard Berkes — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 06:27:00 +0000

As Mitt Romney and President Obama get ready for their second debate, a new bipartisan survey shows a surge for Romney in a key voter group following their first debate Oct. 3.

The random cellphone and land line poll of 600 likely rural voters in nine battleground states Oct. 9-11 has Romney at 59 percent among the survey's respondents.

U.S. Speedskater Admits To Sabotaging Rival's Skates

Howard Berkes — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:30:00 +0000

American speedskater Simon Cho says what he did was "wrong" when he yielded to what he claims was persistent pressure from a coach to tamper with another skater's blades at the World Short Track Team Championships in Poland last year.

"Tampering with someone's skates is inexcusable," Cho told NPR in his first interview about the incident. "And I'm coming out now and admitting that I did this and acknowledging that what I did was wrong." The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune also spoke with Cho earlier this week after the NPR interview.

Cho, 20, won