NPR News

Few governors have been as vocal and as unequivocal in their opposition to the federal health care law as Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Perry, a Republican, has vowed not to expand Medicaid and not to create an insurance exchange. Consumer advocates in Texas say the Perry administration has also been dragging its feet when it comes to insurance rate review.

Two-Way readers were immediately struck by a sense that the victims of the Aurora, Colo., shooting could have been anyone, as well as shock that something as simple and fun as going to a movie could turn violent without warning:

• Remember the interview with "sonochromatic artist cyborg" Neil Harbisson? He was born without the ability to see any colors at all, but his prosthetic eyepiece translates color into sound — and he has started reinterpreting music visually through his new perceptions of color, as in his painting based on Mozart's "Queen of the Night" aria.

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney who was in Bow, New Hampshire for a campaign event addressed the mass shooting in Colorado, during a speech this afternoon.

Romney said he was addressing the nation, not as "political candidate," but as "a father, a grandfather, a husband, an American." Now, he said, "is the time to look into our hearts and remember how much we love one another and how much we love and how much we care for our great country."

Sylvia Woods, known as the Queen of Soul Food, died yesterday at age 86. She opened the legendary Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem 50 years ago, around the corner from the Apollo Theater, and it soon became a gathering place for prominent African Americans, politicians, and foodies of all ages and races.

(Updated @ 1:11 pm ET)

As deeply as the mass shootings in Aurora, Colo., shocked the national conscience, they also quickly affected the U.S. political scene, with both major party presidential campaigns ripping up their scripts for Friday, and the mayor of the nation's largest city using the issue to put the candidates on the spot on gun control.

Many cities around the country are faced with growing costs and shrinking revenue. Despite making sweeping cuts, Stockton, California recently became the largest city to file for bankruptcy. Host Michel Martin talks with Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston about how she's managing a city that's operating in the red.

Authorities have identified 24-year-old James Holmes as the suspect in the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

According to witnesses, the gunman showed up at a midnight screening of the new Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises and opened fire. Quoting a federal law enforcement official, the AP reports the gunman had an assault rifle, a shotgun and two pistols."