Morning Edition

New Hampshire Filmmaker Dan Habib followed student Kelsey Carrol in the new film Who Cares About Kelsey. His cameras focused on Kelsey both in and out of school to get a sense of the obstacles this troubled teen faced in completing her high school education- and finding hope for her own future. A decade ago Somersworth had one of the highest dropout rates in the state. The movie profiles a program that has changed that, and become a model around the nation.  

Dan Habib will be at Red River Theatres in Concord Sunday for a screening and to lead a discussion about the film. 

See the trailer for Who Cares About Kelsey here. 

New Hampshire foresters are closely watching the movements of an exotic beetle known as the Emerald Ash Borer.  Just last month the U-S Forest Service announced that for the first time, the beetle has been found east of the Hudson river.  That’s just ninety miles from the New Hampshire border.  The Emerald Ash Borer first appeared in North America ten years ago, and has killed millions of ash trees in several mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states, as well as Canada.  To find out whether or not the beetle poses a threat to the Granite State, we turn to Kyle Lombard.  He’s the Forest Health Program coordinator for the state.  He says any threat to the state’s ash trees is serious.

The 2012 presidential election is approaching, and President Obama's fate may hinge on how well the economy fares over the coming months.

On the campaign trail, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been highlighting the economy's weaknesses. The former Massachusetts governor has made a similar claim about the president, and the recession, at almost every campaign stop.

"I don't blame the president for the downturn," Romney told a crowd in New Hampshire earlier this year. "He didn't cause it. But he made it worse and made it last longer."

Romney's charge — that Obama inherited the recession, and then made it worse — angers many of the president's supporters.

Since 1896, the Manchester Historic Association has been collecting and sharing documents, pictures and other items from the city’s past. The association also encourages preservation. On April 17th, it will present its 20thannual Preservation Awards, honoring those who have worked to restore historic buildings and traditions in Manchester. Aurore Eaton is the Executive Director. She tells  NHPR's Rick Ganley about the awards and the role of the Manchester Historic Association.

In 2012, the federal tax return deadline is Tuesday, April 17 — so if you haven't already filed your income tax return, you have about one week left to shop around for different options to finish your taxes, or request an extension.

If you're wondering if you're better off filing your federal and state income tax returns through an online tax preparation service, a standard CPA (certified public accountant), or a more elaborate tax specialty firm, you may want to read an article over at Bloomberg Businessweek called "Joel Stein Has Four Accountants."

Since the uprising began in Syria last year, there have been a lot of stories about soldiers who have defected from the army to join the rebels. This rebel group is loosely known as the Free Syrian Army, and it's starting to look more and more like an insurgency.

Not all soldiers who leave the army, however, decide to join these rebels. Those who simply escape the army altogether offer a rare glimpse into a military they say is committing unspeakable atrocities and a rebel force that's fighting back with its own brutality.

Once a man turns 18 in Syria, he's required to serve in the military. A Kurdish man who calls himself Maxim started his service about a year ago, right about the same time the Syrian uprising began.

When Lisa Galloway was trying to decide what kind of radiation treatment to undergo after surgery for early breast cancer, she jumped at the chance to get a newer, quicker approach.

Instead of dragging on for weeks, the newer form of radiation, called brachytherapy, only takes five days.

"Five days compared to 33 days, I was like, 'Yay!' " says Galloway, 53, of Silver Spring, Md. "So I wanted it so badly. I got it — I got my wish."

But there's an intense debate under way about whether the approach is being used too widely before there's clear evidence it's as effective as the traditional approach.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years, eager to get an education under the new post-Sept. 11 GI Bill.

Many vets looking for a school find they are inundated by sales pitches from institutions hungry for their government benefits. Now, lawmakers are looking for ways to protect vets without narrowing their education choices.

Daniel Elkins, a legislative associate with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, recently did what a lot of vets do — he went to a site like gibill.com and answered a battery of questions about his educational goals and background. When prompted, he provided his email address and ZIP code.

The response, he says, was overwhelming.