Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Last fall, Abe Lincoln lost his sword. A copper blade went missing from atop President Abraham Lincoln's burial site in Illinois. Authorities eventually recovered it, but in two pieces. Now, as Rachel Otwell reports, the artifact has been replaced.

RACHEL OTWELL, BYLINE: Lincoln's tomb is at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. It's a massive structure with statues of Union soldiers that reach far into the sky. Mikle Siere works at the historic site. He describes the statue the sword was taken from.

When a bookmobile broke down last winter in rural Vermont, patrons, especially preschoolers, really missed it. Then a donor, who heard an NPR story about the rolling library's demise, came up with over $100,000 for a replacement. The town can't believe its good fortune. Vermont Public Radio's Charlotte Albright reports.

The annual seat belt enforcement campaign known as "Click it or Ticket" officially gets underway on May 21st.  Law enforcement officials hope to help save lives by cracking down on those who fail to use their seat belts. Law enforcement officials in Kentucky say about 58 percent of the people killed on the state's roadways in recent months weren't wearing seat belts at the time of their accidents. Transportation Cabinet Secretary Mike Hancock says the state "undoubtedly experiences far too many fatalities that could have been avoided with the simple use of a seat belt."