Ari Picker's novelistic childhood and difficult life story has been at the heart of his music since he started writing songs. He describes his band, Lost in the Trees, as making orchestral folk music, combining the passion and pathos of symphonic music with the intimacy and searching of classic folk music. The band's album "All Alone in an Empty House" has had more than one incarnation including the newest, released last summer.

Outlet malls have been a big hit with bargain shoppers this millennium. Those following the industry say the up-and-down economy has resulted in leaner shoppers who demand a deal. The Tanger Family of Greensboro gets a lot of credit for developing the concept of brining up-scale retail merchandise to the suburbs, highways and by-ways. And yesterday – Tanger Outlets celebrated its 30th Anniversary at its retail outlets across the country.  

Another wave of students is set to graduate from area colleges and universities this weekend. Commencement ceremonies will be held at North Carolina Central, Duke, and NC State. 

Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis will give the commencement address at NC Central on Saturday. Across town and a day later, Duke will hold its graduation. Cisco CEO John Chambers will speak to the Duke graduates.

A proposal from WakeMed to buy Rex Healthcare from UNC is getting a chilly response. UNC president Thomas Ross said in a statement selling Rex Healthcare would be damaging to its core mission and not in the best interest of the people of North Carolina. He went on to say UNC Health Care's board of directors will discuss the proposal on Monday. WakeMed President and CEO Bill Atkinson says there are number of uncertainties over health care in Wake County.

A vaccination incentive program for students in Orange County's school districts is drawing criticism from some parents. The county Health Department is entering students into a drawing for an iPod or laptop if they get immunized for meningitis this month. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district says it has received 19 complaints. Alan Phillips says the drawing puts undue pressure on his children to get the vaccination, which is not required to enroll in school.

Many school districts are beginning to lay off teachers and other employees in anticipation of deep budget cuts by lawmakers. A budget plan approved by the state House would cut public education by almost a billion dollars. State senators haven't come up with a final plan yet, but Republican budget writers say they'd like to cut a hundred million dollars more than the House would. Jennifer Tuft is a kindergarten teacher in Randolph County who found out last week that her position will be cut. 

Recently, the news was focused on President Barack Obama and his critics who publicly doubted that he was native born. In response, the President released his long-form birth certificate as proof of U.S. citizenship. Still, some don't believe him. What is it about conspiracies that draw people in, even after being presented with the facts? Host Frank Stasio talks about the Obama story and other famous conspiracy theories with Kenneth Kitts, a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and author of the book, “Presidential Commissions & National Security: The Politics of Damage Control” (Lynne Rienner Publishers/2006).

Burning Coal Theatre Company in Raleigh wants young playwrights to have a chance to showcase their work. That's why staff there created Kidswrite, a contest that picks and performs the best plays written by junior high and high school students. This year's winning plays include an impressionist romance and a play told from the perspective of a hangman.

Silvia Heyden has had a thriving career as a weaver, creating tapestries on commission in her native Switzerland before moving with her family to Durham, NC in 1966. She continues to weave, forging a new abstract tapestry form that is inspired, in large part, by the Eno River. Kenny Dalsheimer's new film, "A Weaverly Path," documents Heyden's long and colorful journey with the yarn, the loom and the river.

A UNC-Greensboro study shows a major economic impact of small farm ventures funded by the Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund. But state budget cuts could end the program.  

  In this tough economy – there are many casualties in the state budget package passed by the house.  One casualty is the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. Joe Schroeder is director of the Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund Program – supported by the Tobacco Trust.  He says they have dispersed 3.6 million dollars in the past three years.  But the economic impact was more than 700-million.