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With budgets tight, the court in San Joaquin County, Calif., stopped hearing all small claims cases in September. More than 800 people have since filed claims with no hearing dates in sight. Many other counties nationwide are experiencing similar delays for civil cases as they grapple with spending cuts.

In February 2007, Rick Bounds was diagnosed with a serious liver disease and given eight months to live.

Police in New Orleans have arrested six people in connection with last Sunday's mass shooting at a Mother's Day parade. Two brothers have been charged with 20 counts of attempted murder, for firing guns into a dancing crowd. Four others have been charged with assisting them after the fact.

Playing the famous half-Vulcan requires a little meditative depth and a lot of brow-shaving. Heroes villain Zachary Quinto plays Spock in the reboot of the Star Trek franchise, with the blessing of original Spock Leonard Nimoy. Quinto tells NPR about befriending Nimoy, shaping eyebrows and more.

NPR's Susan Stamberg reads an excerpt of one of the best submissions for Round 11 of our short story contest. She reads Plum Baby by Carmiel Banasky of Portland, Ore.

Actor-director Katie Aselton could watch Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break a million times. "It totally scoops you up and takes you for a ride," she says.

The movie Pitch Perfect has plans for a sequel in 2015; NBC's reality show The Sing-Off is coming back for its fourth season after being cancelled, and Pentatonix has millions of hits on YouTube for making awesome videos like "The Evolution of Music." The father of contemporary a cappella explains the genre's appeal.

California is about to become the first state to require shore power at its ports. A new law mandates at least half of a shipping line's fleet to shut down their diesel engines and plug into shore-side electric power when they unload their cargo. It's part of a larger effort to cut pollution at the state's busiest ports, but costs have been a sticking point.

More and more gardeners are bypassing the local nursery and instead starting their veggies from seed. Seeds are often cheaper, and they give growers a bigger choice of varieties. At a community garden in Venice, Calif., students learn the ins and outs of gardening from scratch.

Germans had to finance bailouts for countries like Greece, and imposed austerity measures in return. Those who disapprove may have struck back. People across the continent and beyond watched the Eurovision song contest. The German entry finished near the bottom, with countries giving the Germans no points at all