Barbara Sprunt is a producer on NPR's Washington desk, where she reports and produces breaking news and feature political content. She formerly produced the NPR Politics Podcast and got her start in radio at as an intern on NPR's Weekend All Things Considered and Tell Me More with Michel Martin. She is an alumnus of the Paul Miller Reporting Fellowship at the National Press Foundation. She is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., and a Pennsylvania native.
The Supreme Court Tuesday rejected an appeal from Alex Jones and left in place the $1.4 billion judgment against him over his description of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a hoax.
Under a plea deal, Balmer was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison, far less than he could have faced if the case went to trial. He declined to address the judge about the crime.
More than 1,300 staffers at the health agency got notices they were fired — but more than half were reinstated. The cuts will hobble some divisions, employees say.
Humans can genetically modify plants and animals to be more resilient to climate change and disease. But the scientific community is divided about whether the tool should be put to use in nature.