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The American actress and singer Annette Funicello, photographed here circa 1960, died April 8, more than two decades after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

A Tip Of The Mouse Ears To Annette Funicello, 1942-2013

The Mouseketeer and bikini-musicals actress became a pop star and made a generation of boomer boys swoon. Later she faced multiple sclerosis with equanimity — and raised awareness and money in the process.

Main Street in Webster City, Iowa, has so far survived the 2011 closure of an Electrolux factory. But retraining funds and unemployment are running out for former workers, leaving businesses worried that a serious downturn is ahead.

Iowa Town Braces For New Reality In Factory Closure's Wake

Appliance manufacturer Electrolux closed its Webster City, Iowa, plant in 2011. Now, the retraining programs for former workers are wrapping up, and the town of 8,000 is bracing for the true impact of the closure. It's a familiar story for many former manufacturing towns across the Midwest.

His Makeover Strategy In Shambles, J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson Is Out

Johnson joined the company from Apple and tried to change the look, feel and function of the retail stores. The strategy failed; JC Penny lost $4.3 billion in sales since Johnson became CEO.

President Obama's budget plan for fiscal year 2014 may include a proposal for Medicare patients to pay more of their own medical bills.

The 'Hard To Change' Legacy Of Medicare Payments

One possible proposal in President Obama's budget would change the way Medicare patients pay for their care. It's been floated as a possible bipartisan compromise, but it's an idea with a long, controversial and unsuccessful history.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is one of five celebrity directors taking part in a Canon-sponsored experiment called Project Imaginat10n. His short film, the inspiration for which was crowdsourced via the Internet and social media, focuses on familial loss and the process of grieving.

Crowdsourcing Creativity At The Cinema

The Canon-sponsored Project Imaginat10n used social media to crowdsource images and ideas to produce five short films. It's an idea director Ron Howard says other artists would be foolish to ignore.

Britain's then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at the Tory Party Conference in Blackpool, England, in 1981.

Book News: Margaret Thatcher Authorized A Posthumous Biography

Also: Christopher Hitchens on being spanked by the "Iron Lady"; Victoria Beale skewers Paulo Coelho; and Robert Silvers on the meaninglessness of the phrase "in terms of."

The process that turns this beer crystal clear also may impart trace amounts of arsenic.

Arsenic In Beer May Come From Widely Used Filtering Process

Arsenic in beer doesn't sound like a good idea, even if it's due to a centuries-old filtering process. A new study says filtering beer with diatomaceous earth could boost levels of arsenic. But it's not clear whether this poses a health risk.

Conservation Easements and Land Trust Organizations

More than half of western Great Plains farmers are near retirement age. Many are considering conservation easements as a way of protecting the land from…

Sports Roundup: 'Smarmy' Pro Golf And A Maddening March

Tell Me More host Michel Martin recaps the big stories in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. She's joined by Tell Me More editor Ammad Omar, who's a heartbroken Michigan fan, and sports columnist Kevin Blackistone.

Razan Shalab Al-Sham, 26, is from a wealthy Syrian family and has been working to bring supplies into the country for the Syrian Emergency Task Force. Here she meets with local councils in Syria who came to the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep.

'It's Not Normal': Syrian War Transforms Lives

The war in Syria has torn families apart and driven millions out of the country, but it has also transformed some Syrians as they take on roles they never imagined. A 26-year-old woman from Homs has put her dream of teaching English literature on hold as she works with the opposition.

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