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The Bloomington City Council learned during its meeting Monday that $3.2 million in COVID-19 relief has arrived to help the city’s battered budget, via…

Steve Inskeep talks to Jonathan Meyer, deputy general counsel in the Department of Homeland Security under President Obama, about the possibility migrants might be transferred to sanctuary cities.

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with director Luke Lorentzen about his new documentary Midnight Family which follows a family working in the private ambulance industry.

Wherever humans gather, there is garbage. And getting rid of it is a challenge. The start of trash removal in Bloomington dates to the start of the 20th century and to a man known in his day as the King of Swedes.

Five years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans isn't the city it used to be. The Census Bureau estimates there are 100,000 fewer people living there than before the storm. But many in New Orleans say things may actually be better -- from its sense of community to a greater appreciation of the city's food and music.

For years, squatters have been living in abandoned buildings in New York's East Village and Lower East Side. In spite of the risk that one day they could be forced out, squatters have often improved the buildings dramatically, investing time and money in an effort to create a home. Recently however, the New York City police department launched a large raid on several squats, forcing the residents out. While the city argues these buildings had been illegally co-opted, the squatters argue the law protects their rights as homesteaders. Beth Fertig of member station WNYC reports that now the matter has gone to court.

In the second part of her Mafia series, NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports on a civic campaign to rebuild the old city of Palermo, capital of the Italian island of Sicily. Palermo is a living museum, with architectural styles ranging from the ancient to art nouveau. But under the influence of corrupt politicians and their friends in the Mafia, it fell into ruin. Citizens have now begun to take back their city from the mob, restoring its architectural treasures. (8:00) Music after story was "Costumi Siciliani" from the CD "Italian String Virtuosi", copyright 1995, Rounder Records.

As part of NPR's ongoing Changing Face of America series, NPR's Melissa Block reports on political activism among Asian-Americans in Flushing, New York. Despite having the second largest Asian American population in the country, New York State has never sent an Asian-American to Congress, to the state legislature, or even to the city council of New York. In the richly diverse community of Flushing, several Asian candidates are hoping to change that. They are already campaigning for a city council seat that will open next year.

NPR's Ed Lifson takes a look at German newspapers. As far as Berlin newspapers are concerned, The Wall is still standing as high as ever. People in what was West Berlin read papers published in the western part of the city, and people in East Berlin read papers published in...the eastern part of the city? Is it editorial content? is it just habit? Whatever the reason, papers on both sides are trying to lure readers from the other...with few results. (4:15) Funder 0:29 XPromo 0:29 CUTAWAY 1B 0:29 RETURN1 0:29 NEWS 2:59 NEWS 1:59 THEME MUSIC 0:29 1C

New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani has announced plans to send 1000 poorly-performing students from the city's public school system to local Catholic schools. We visit Bishop Loughlin (LOCK-lin) High School in Brooklyn to talk with students and educators about the differences between the public and parochial school settings. As NPR's Barbara Mantel reports, teachers feel that Catholic schools like Loughlin bring a sense of a mission to the job of teaching -- giving students a greater feeling of belonging than they receive in public schools.