NPR News

One day Theresa Hamilton, a mother of 12, was struck by how hard it is to come by human dignity when you are down on your luck. For instance, you can't use Food Stamps to buy toilet paper or laundry soap.

So Theresa founded Giving The Basics — an organization that provides people with toothbrushes, feminine hygiene products and other human-dignity necessities.

It's the closest these Floridians will ever get to an actual snow day.

The threat of Isaac canceled most official business at the Republican National Convention Monday. But the storm went west, sending a little wind and rain to Tampa. The typical summer afternoon thunderstorm is worse.

So members of Florida's delegation were free to engage in a political snowball fight — they ate, partied and trashed a political traitor: former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist.

A judge has given Ohio unions a preliminary injunction stopping a new state law that could endanger provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct, even if the cause is poll worker error.

Why is one-time Republican presidential contender Herman Cain optimistic about the GOP bringing more African-Americans into its tent?

Because "a lot of people in this country have not realized or it does not get picked up in the polls [that] some black people can think for themselves," he said Monday afternoon. "They don't have to be told what to think and who to vote for and they are responding to the facts."

Officials in Texas say they will cut off state funding to Planned Parenthood following a federal court ruling last week. The decision by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the state can defund the health clinics because Planned Parenthood is associated with abortion.

The late Stephane Grappelli is perhaps the best-known jazz violinist in history. His collaborations with guitarist Django Reinhardt have influenced countless musicians. A comparison to Grappelli is one of the highest honors a young, rising violinist can receive.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We just heard in Debbie's story from Mitch Landrieu, the mayor of New Orleans. He insists that his city is, in his words, much, much better prepared than it was seven years ago. So we thought we'd take a few minutes to understand what lessons New Orleans learned from Katrina and in what ways its better prepared for Isaac.