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Cory Monteith overdose spotlights surge in heroin addiction and death

The number of heroin addictions and deaths among young people, many of whom previously abused prescription drugs, has risen dramatically, experts say. Cory Monteith battled addiction for years.
Tsarnaev on Rolling Stone cover: Rock-star treatment or good journalism? (+video)

The Aug. 1 Rolling Stone cover has been harshly criticized for featuring what many are calling a glamorous photo of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombing suspect.
Progress Watch Youth homicide rate hits 30-year low, but it's not good news for everyone

The homicide rate for individuals aged 10 to 24 was 7.5 per 100,000 young people in 2010, according to a new study. Overall however, declines in the rate have slowed since 2000.
Progress Watch Cocaine use: Will the factors behind its steady decline continue?

The US government released more good news this month about impeding entry of cocaine into the country. Still, opinions vary when it comes to interpreting the overall cocaine-use decline and the possible reasons for it.
Zimmerman trial: Did wall-to-wall media coverage inform, or entertain?

While some say the extensive media coverage of the George Zimmerman trial provided a civics lesson to the US public, others saw a play for ratings that did little to address key issues in the case.
Cleveland strong: 3 women, once kidnapped, thank supporters

In a video, three Cleveland women, kidnapped and held captive for about a decade, thank the public and the Cleveland Courage Fund, which has raised more than $1 million to help them start anew.
Immigration and assimilation: Feeling global, but being an American

Mohammed Raziuddin an Indian high-tech professional came to the US for an education and ended up becoming an American citizen. Though he feels like he fits in here, he still feels like a citizen of the world, not just America.
Cover Story Immigration: Assimilation and the measure of an American

Immigration reform, making its way through Congress, and the Boston Marathon bombings – allegedly committed by two Chechen immigrants – has raised heated debate about how we measure the assimilation of newcomers civically, culturally, economically, and even patriotically.
Immigration and assimiliation: Immigrant roots, but made in America

Manuel Weintraub's is a story from the 'melting-pot' Century: The son of Austrian and Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, he grew up and ran the family deli in a Jewish immigrant enclave – but he feels so American that the question of assimilation is almost a non-sequitur for him.
Immigration and assimilation: Soccer and prom are part of her American-ness

Brenda Calderon, whose Guatemalan family was finally reunited with their father in North Carolina when she was 7, measures her American-ness in proms, soccer, and sleepovers – things she couldn't do back home but discovered here.
Immigration and assimilation: Finding a cultural foothold ... in a gang

Alex Sanchez, an undocumented Salvadoran who couldn't find stability in the mainstream as a youth, found unity in a gang. After a long struggle, he has become an internationally known peacemaker and gang interventionist.
Immigration and assimilation: After dislocation, a Hmong refugee finds a fit

Kouei Siong, who has returned to his family's California farm with dreams of upgrading the business, sees himself as not just Hmong, but Hmong-American.
Gay Pride 2013: Supreme Court gives extra reason to celebrate (+video)

Gay Pride parades and other celebrations are happening all around the US this weekend. They're an annual event, but last week's US Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage have added to the enthusiasm.
Cover Story The bike boom (+video)

Americans are using bicycles for transportation and recreation in record numbers as the fitness and green movements, as well as high energy costs, spur a two-wheel revolution.
In Sanford, Fla., Zimmerman trial keeps a shaken community on edge

The Trayvon Martin shooting rocked Sanford, Fla., to its core. And with the murder trial of George Zimmerman now underway, the city is unnerved by the attention and fearful about the outcome.
Miss USA 2013: Top 6 Questions & Answers (+video)

The Miss USA pageant doesn't ask contestants to perform a talent or support a charity. But it does ask some challenging questions of its contestants. What did the celebrity judges ask the final six contestants – and how did the women answer?
'Man of Steel' offers a new generation its own, brooding, Superman (+video)

To each American generation, its Superman. But will audiences get what they need from another spandex-clad, costumed, immigrant superhero in this summer's 'Man of Steel'?
Focus Not sci-fi: Researchers work toward post-trauma limb regeneration

Researchers at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., are working on what they call the next logical frontier: easing the human body into fully repairing and regenerating itself.
Focus 'Exponential' progress in prosthetics helps ease tough path for amputees

People who lost arms or legs in the Boston Marathon bombings – and in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars – are among some 2 million Americans coping with limb loss. Emerging technologies and expanded peer support programs are helping.
'Star Wars: Episode VII' director J.J. Abrams drops new hints about film

'Star Wars: Episode VII' is set to begin filming in January, according to director J.J. Abrams. He also spoke briefly about his vision for how the film will fit in to the franchise.