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Despite Rising Coronavirus Cases, Trump's Focus Appears To Be Elsewhere

President Trump, in a speech Friday at Mount Rushmore that lasted more than 40 minutes, focused on statues and "cancel culture" and accused his political opponents of fascism. But he spared just a few words for the pandemic that has killed 130,000 Americans, thanking "the doctors, nurses and scientists working tirelessly to kill the virus." And that was it. He gave it a little more attention Saturday night at the White House before a crowd of first responders and their families, touting the...

States Shatter Coronavirus Records As Officials Eye Holiday Weekend With Alarm

In Central & Northern Pa., 3 Big Arts Festivals Go Virtual

WPSU Jazz Archive - July 3, 2020

By Greg Petersen • Jul 3, 2020

An archive recording of the WPSU Jazz Show (from home edition) as broadcast on July 3, 2020, and hosted by Greg Petersen. The show features songs by Louis Armstrong who claimed he was born on the 4th of July in 1900. Almost 15 yeas after his death in 1971, baptismal records revealed he was born on August 4.

The first hour includes tracks by Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Diana Krall, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing Trio with Wynton Marsalis and Jane Monheit, Matt Nelson Trio, Pete Zimmer, Plas Johnson, and more.

In Central & Northern Pa., 3 Big Arts Festivals Go Virtual

By Kristine Allen • Jul 3, 2020

In some parts of central and northern Pennsylvania, arts festivals are a summer tradition. But 2020 has been a tough year for festivals. As the COVID-19 pandemic took shape, many such events were canceled.

Rick Bryant, director of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College, estimates that 99% of arts festivals around the country are canceled this summer.

This I Believe: I Believe In Nursery Rhymes

By Britney Ubele • Jul 2, 2020

I believe in nursery rhymes.

First Penn State Student Dies From COVID-19

By Andrew Destin • Jul 2, 2020

Penn State's Old Main administrative building. — Min Xian / WPSU

A Penn State student has died from respiratory failure due to COVID-19.

Penn State said in a press release that it learned of the Tuesday death of 21-year-old Juan Garcia, a student in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, through friends and family. He is the first known Penn State student to die from coronavirus.

So Far, No Penn State Athletes Test Positive For COVID-19

By Anne Danahy • Jul 1, 2020

Penn State Athletics Director Sandy Barbour taking off a face mask at the beginning of an online press conference Wednesday, July 1, 2020. — Anne Danahy / WPSU

Penn State Athletics Director Sandy Barbour said during a news conference Wednesday that no student athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 so far out of 102 tested.

Barbour said Athletics will report its results publicly every two weeks. She said that will happen at least until students return for the fall semester, and then will be reevaluated.

The university has said it will make its overall testing results data public.

Penn State Hosts Virtual Roundtable "Toward Racial Equity"

By Andrew Destin • Jun 30, 2020

A screenshot from the "Race, Our Campus Climate and Workplace" virtual roundtable.

State College School District Finalizing Fall Plans, Including In-School Classes, Summer Workouts

By Anne Danahy • Jun 30, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, families in the State College Area School District will decide whether to send their children to school in person or have them learn online at home.

Like other school districts in Pennsylvania, State College is planning how it will teach students when the new school year begins in the fall. The board reviewed those plans during a meeting Monday night.

Penn State Staff Welcome The University’s New Paid Parental Leave Policy, Effective July 1

By Min Xian • Jun 30, 2020

Courtney Witmer posed with her daughter, Arya, in their State College home in February. Witmer is glad Penn State will begin to offer four weeks of paid parental leave to its staff. — Min Xian / WPSU

Courtney Witmer and her husband are first time parents. They welcomed their firstborn, Arya, at the end of last year. Witmer, a social media marketing manager at Penn State’s World Campus, said being new parents is exciting, but challenging.

“We knew that those first few weeks are really the hardest,” Witmer said. “You're navigating a whole new world of lack of sleep and this little being that can't tell you what it needs. And its only form of communication is crying, and your brain is literally wired to light on fire when it cries. And so, you're trying so hard to adapt.”

Health Minute: Youth Sports

By Cheraine Stanford • Jun 30, 2020

You’re listening to WPSU’s Health Minute, a collaboration with Penn State’s College of Nursing.

Many young athletes getting ready to resume sports during the summer months. According to the CDC, more than 2.6 million children are treated each year for sports and recreation-related injuries.

Safety tips for youth sports include:

Members Of New Penn State Commission On Race, Bias Begin To Share Plans In Town Hall

By Emily Reddy • Jun 29, 2020

Old Main, the administration building, on Penn State's University Park campus — Min Xian / WPSU

In an online town hall on Monday, Penn State President Eric Barron talked with the co-chairs of the university’s new Select Presidential Commission on Racism, Bias and Community Safety about their plans for the commission.

The university also announced the creation of scholarships to promote equity and diversity. Barron said Penn State will match up to $10 million in donations toward diversity and equity scholarships, and fund memorial scholarships named after George Floyd and Osaze Osagie.

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NPR Stories

Third Ex-Police Officer Charged In George Floyd's Death Released From Jail On Bond

By Rachel Treisman • 1 hour ago

A third former Minneapolis police officer involved in the killing of George Floyd has been released from jail.

According to Hennepin County jail records, Tou Thao was released from custody with conditions on Saturday morning after posting $750,000 bond.

Baltimore Protesters Topple Columbus Statue

By Rachel Treisman • 3 hours ago

Protesters in Baltimore pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus and hurled it into the city's Inner Harbor on Saturday night, adding to the list of monuments toppled during nationwide demonstrations against racism and police brutality.

In Fourth Of July Remarks, Trump Attacks 'Radical Left'

By Emma Bowman • 6 hours ago

In a Fourth of July speech aimed at commemorating the military on Saturday, President Trump hit on familiar divisive themes, condemning the "radical left" and the media, which he accused of "slander."

During the second annual Salute to America event held on the South Lawn of the White House, the president drew a comparison between historical American wartime victories and stopping the "radical left."

A Look Into The Wild Economy Of Tabletop Board Game Funding

By Christianna Silva • 6 hours ago

Long before the coronavirus pandemic, tabletop board games were having something of a renaissance, with popular games like The Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride becoming mainstream additions to family game nights.

Sunday Puzzle: Try T-H-is

By Will Shortz • 7 hours ago

On-air challenge: Every answer today is a word or phrase in which the only consonants are H and T — repeated as often as necessary. All the other letters are vowels.

Example: Eighth letter of the Greek alphabet --> THETA

1. Canine or molar

2. Give a share of one's income to the church

3. Lake straddling the California/Nevada border

4. Country sharing a border with the Dominican Republic

5. Island paradise in the South Pacific

6. Giggle sound

7. Tract of land with low-growing shrubs

8. Kind of yoga

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Widespread Use Of Face Masks Could Save Tens Of Thousands Of Lives, Models Project

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The Kung Fu Nuns Of Kathmandu

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States Shatter Coronavirus Records As Officials Eye Holiday Weekend With Alarm

The grim news has taken no respite this Fourth of July. On Saturday, just as residents across the country celebrated the holiday, state authorities once more reported a record-breaking number of new coronavirus cases. Florida and South Carolina on Saturday both reported passing their previous single-day highs, while Alabama , Texas and a slew of others continued to reel from recent records of their own. In Florida on Friday alone, there were more than 11,400 newly confirmed cases of the virus...

With Fleets Of Planes, Artists Take To Skies Nationwide To Protest Mass Detention

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50 Years After Mount Rushmore Occupation, Native Americans Are 'Still Fighting'

Native American groups are protesting President Trump's Fourth of July celebration at Mount Rushmore on Friday, and some are even calling for the removal of the national monument. Fifty years ago this summer, the sounds of protest were also ringing through the Black Hills of South Dakota. In 1970, a group of Native American activists scaled Mount Rushmore and occupied it for months to demand the land be returned to the Sioux. Lehman Brightman , a Sioux activist and history professor, was one...