Corova Coleman

A heavy storm is moving across the state, pouring heavy rain that will last to early tomorrow.

Some Texas areas could get between 6 and 8 inches of rain.

New research from Brown University finds that marijuana use leads people to cut back on alcohol consumption.

NPR's Will Stone reports it's one of the first rigorous studies to test this idea in humans.

One of the self-portraits of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo will be auctioned today in New York.

Kahlo painted herself asleep in a bed with a yellow coverlet and a skeleton lying above her on top of the canopy.

The 1940 painting is called El Sueno La Cama, and it could fetch between $40 and $60 million at Sotheby's.

That would make it the most expensive artwork created by a female artist.

This is NPR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corova Coleman.

The National Hurricane Center says the top-of-the-scale Hurricane Melissa has gotten even stronger.

Top sustained winds are now at 180 miles per hour.

Forecasters say the storm is approaching Jamaica's southern coast.

Jamaican leaders are pleading with people to get to shelters.

The mayor of Montego Bay, Richard Vernon, says Jamaican officials are using all their knowledge to protect people.

He spoke to the BBC.

Yesterday, Jamaica's prime minister warned there's no infrastructure in the Caribbean region

that can withstand the strength of this hurricane's onslaught.

The federal government shutdown is nearly a month old.

State and federal officials all warn federal food assistance, also known as SNAP, will stop this Saturday.