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Newspaper Takes The Pulse Of San Diego Coffee Culture

Credit Courtesy of Josh Bletchely

John Rippo in July 2012 in a coffeehouse called Espresso Mio, in San Diego's Mission Hills neighborhood.

By editor

Originally published on Tue April 23, 2013 5:34 am

Portland and Seattle may take coffee very seriously, but San Diego can boast a newspaper devoted entirely to coffeeshops and all the news that's fit to print about them. John Rippo is the publisher of The Espresso, and he's convinced that coffeeshops are the place to catch juicy moments of the human experience, as they happen.

Inspired by European periodicals written for the cafe intelligentsia, Rippo curates local news in his monthly paper to inspire his fellow San Diego residents to social or political action.

3:44 am

Tue April 23, 2013

Journey Of A Specialty Coffee Bean, From Cherry To Cup

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Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Coffee beans are raked to dry in the sun in western Guatemala.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Mark Stell of Portland Roasting samples coffee from his Guatemalan grower.

By editor

Originally published on Wed April 24, 2013 5:26 pm

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When we wanted to know how the growth of the specialty coffee movement is influencing the lives of farmers, we took a trip to the mountainous region of Huehuetenango in Guatemala.

3:42 am

Tue April 23, 2013

For Chinese Women, Marriage Depends On Right 'Bride Price'

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Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Lucy Wang and Derek Wei represent the new modern Chinese bride and groom. With a lack of women in China, Wei had to pay more than $10,000 in a "bride price" to attract Wang to marry him.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

A scarcity of women in China is allowing them to make large financial demands of prospective grooms. In addition to money, grooms are expected to provide an apartment for their new wives.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Wang looks in a heart-shaped mirror embossed with the Chinese character xi — meaning "double happiness."

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Wang's niece tries to shield her from Wei as part of traditional games played when the groom picks up the bride before their wedding ceremony.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Wang's mother made special insoles for her daughter's lucky wedding shoes. The shoes were hidden for Wei to find and put on Wang's feet as part of the games leading up to the wedding.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Wei finally makes it through the wedding games and finds his bride in her bedroom, waiting for him.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Wei carries Wang out of her apartment to a waiting entourage of six Mercedes Benzs and Audis for the drive to their wedding ceremony at a Beijing restaurant.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Wei smokes a cigarette as his Wang comes down the stairs for their wedding.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

After exchanging vows and wedding rings, the couple shares kisses after being egged on by their guests.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

The couple bows before their parents and offers them tea, as is traditional in Chinese weddings.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Guests raise their glasses for a toast to the newlyweds.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Wang and Wei go from table to table to toast their guests. Wei had to borrow money to pay Wang's bride price and is counting on his parents to give them an apartment to live in.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Lucy Wang gets her makeup touched up before her wedding ceremony at a Beijing restaurant. Wang is marrying Derek Wei, who paid her family more than $10,000 for her bride price.

Credit Sim Chi Yin for NPR

Wang and Wei practice walking down the aisle, just before their wedding ceremony at a Beijing restaurant.

By Louisa Lim

Originally published on Tue April 23, 2013 3:05 pm

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Women hold up half the sky, China's Chairman Mao famously said. But in China, the one-child policy and the traditional preference for boys mean that 117 boys are born for every 100 baby girls. By one estimate, this means there could be 24 million Chinese men unable to find wives by the end of the decade.

As China's economy booms, the marriage market has become just that: a market, with new demands by women for apartments and cars.

But are women really benefiting from their scarcity?

Let's Make A Deal

7:27 pm

Mon April 22, 2013

Father Saves Boy From Alligator Attack, With A Stranger's Help

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Credit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

A Fish and Wildlife Service team caught and killed an alligator after the animal attacked a 6-year-old boy Friday. The boy survived with only incidental wounds.

Credit Google

An image from Google Maps shows the area of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge where Joey Welch, 6, was attacked by an alligator.

By Bill Chappell

Originally published on Tue April 23, 2013 3:05 pm

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A 6-year-old boy's day off from school Friday left him with a vivid story to tell his classmates, after he was seized — and eventually released — by an alligator in South Florida. The attack occurred at a wildlife refuge near Boynton Beach, Fla., where Joseph Welch had taken his son, Joey, for a canoe ride.

As Welch, a native of Rhode Island who now lives in Pompano Beach, says in a Morning Edition interview airing Tuesday, his idea had been to do "something new and different."

7:16 pm

Mon April 22, 2013

Half Of Guantanamo Detainees Now On Hunger Strike

By editor

We told you last week about an increase in the number of prisoners on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay. This week, that number has risen further – to cover half of all inmates at the U.S. detention facility; also, 1 in 10 inmates is now being force fed.

Eighty-four of the 166 prisoners at the camp are on hunger strike, the U.S. military said Sunday; 16 of them are being force fed through tubes.

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The Salt

3:47 am

Tue April 23, 2013