Morning Edition on WUKY

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with more positive signs for the economy.

The U.S. economy is improving faster than previously predicted. This, according to two dozen economists surveyed by the Associated Press. The economists foresee stronger growth and more hiring than they did two months ago, and predict an unemployment rate at around eight percent by Election Day.

NPR's Dan Charles has been looking into the problem of weeds that America's most widely used weed-killer won't kill anymore. It's a sneak preview of a story that will air later this week.

First responders never know what they'll find when they get called to an accident site. Sometimes crews have to rescue dairy cows from collapsed barns, evacuate horses during wildfires or move pigs off the highway after an accident. These first responders often don't have the proper training to handle large animals.

Republican presidential candidates have a chance to win hundreds of convention delegates after voters cast their ballots in Super Tuesday contests. The delegate count wouldn't be enough for any candidate to clinch the nomination, but it would help. Mitt Romney is hoping to return to front-runner status but Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are trying to prevent that.

Morning Edition has four reports on Monday's campaigning leading up to Super Tuesday's 10 primaries and caucuses.

NPR's Don Gonyea was traveling with former Senator Rick Santorum in Ohio.

People have been avoiding checked-baggage fees by carrying on bags — that includes bags too big for the overhead bins. Now United and Delta Airlines are enlarging the bins. There is some fear, however, this will prompt people to bring bags that are even larger.

Russia's opposition is turning to the streets to protest Sunday's presidential election which returned Vladimir Putin to power. The protesters may have agreed on a set of very catchy slogans, but they're not a cohesive political movement.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

OK. And we all noticed rising costs at the gas pump. But those costs will also mean rising prices for airline tickets.

As NPR's Annie Baxter reports, that's already happening.

ANNIE BAXTER, BYLINE: If you've been looking for a great deal on airline tickets recently, you've probably been disappointed.

BOB MANN: Carriers have raised prices successfully twice, so far this year and that's out of four attempts. And I would expect another attempt literally within in a week.

It would be difficult for some people to let a stranger drive off with one of their most valuable possessions. But not for Stanford graduate student Katie Hagey.

Hagey is one of a growing number of individual car owners who have started renting their wheels to people they don't know through car-sharing startup companies resembling the better-known Zipcar.

The last time Morning Edition spoke with K'naan, he had just gone back to his native Somalia for the first time in 20 years to highlight the effects of the famine there.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. Joshua Thompson is a big moviegoer, but high prices at the concession stand left a bad taste in his mouth. So after paying $8 for a Coke and a box of Goobers, Thompson filed a class action lawsuit. It accuses Michigan's AMC Theaters of charging grossly excessive prices for snacks. Consumer lawyers told the Detroit Free Press the lawsuit will likely be a flop, but moviegoers are applauding. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.