Humes, Edward

After 30 years, Detective Jim Scharf arrested a teenage couple's murderer--and exposed a looming battle between the pursuit of justice and the right to privacy. When Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook were murdered during a trip to Seattle in the 1980s, detectives had few leads. The murder weapon was missing. No one witnessed any suspicious activity. And there was only a single handprint on the outside of the young couple's van. The detectives assumed Tanya and Jay were victims of a serial killer--but without any leads, the case seemed forever doomed. In deep-freeze, long-term storage, biological evidence from the crime scenes sat waiting. Meanwhile, California resident CeCe Moore began her lifetime fascination with genetic genealogy. As DNA testing companies rapidly grew in popularity, she discovered another use for the technology: solving crimes. When Detective Jim Scharf decided to send the cold case's decades-old DNA to Parabon NanoLabs, he hoped he would bring closure to the Van Cuylenborg and Cook families. He didn't know that he and Moore would make history. Anyone can submit a saliva sample to learn about their ancestry. But what happens after the results of these tests are uploaded to the internet? As lawyers, policymakers, and police officers fight over questions of consent and privacy, the implications of Scharf's case become ever clearer. Approximately 250,000 murders in the United States remain unsolved. We have the tools to catch many of these killers--but what is the cost?.

Profiles Whitney High, one of the best high schools in the United States, discussing how students work around the clock to make good grades and impress their parents, and examining the hidden consequences of students' desire to overachieve.

Examines America's growing problem with garbage, including how it's created, where it goes, and what it costs us economically and environmentally. Profiles individuals and families who have changed their lifestyle to combat waste.

Presents a collection of true stories of how the G.I. Bill transformed the lives of returning servicemen and women after World War II, and how the country ultimately changed during the post-depression years.

Chronicles the events that occurred in Dover, Pennsylvania, after the school board decided to eliminate evolution from the curriculum and teach intelligent design, providing both sides of the argument.

Presents a year of observation and participation in the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles, following the stories of a handful of youths facing a variety of charges and awaiting decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.

Examines the things that compose trash in the United States, the cost of all the garbage, reasons why there is so much waste, and technique that families and communities have adopted in order to limit trash output.

The story of the remarkable visionaries who have quietly dedicated their lives and their fortunes to saving the planet from ecological destruction. While many people remain paralyzed by the scope of Earth's environmental woes, eco barons--a new and largely unheralded generation of Rockefellers and Carnegies--are having spectacular success saving forests and wildlands, pulling endangered species back from the brink, and pioneering the clean and green technologies needed if life and civilization are to endure. Journalist Humes tells of the former fashion magnate who has saved more rainforests than any other person, the college professor who patented the plug-in hybrid car, the impoverished owl wranglers who founded the nation's most effective environmental group, and the former Hollywood pool cleaner who became the guiding force behind a worldwide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This book proves that one person with determination and vision can make a difference.--From publisher description.