The “Piano Man” who became one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time with such hits as “Just the Way You Are,” “Uptown Girl” and “Allentown” is being awarded the nation’s highest honor Sunday for influencing American culture through the arts.
Billy Joel joins Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, opera star Martina Arroyo and actress Shirley MacLaine in receiving the Kennedy Center Honors. All of them have been playing music, dancing or singing since they were children — and have never stopped.
Joel said the honor stands apart from his six Grammys.
Domestic Glance
The National Security Agency isn't the only government entity secretly collecting data from people's cellphones. Local police are increasingly scooping it up, too.
The long-simmering battle over teaching evolution in Texas boiled over at a late-night meeting, as the Board of Education extended preliminary approval of new science books for use in classrooms across the state but held up one biology text because of alleged factual errors.
The National Security Agency’s collection of information on Americans’ cellphone and Internet usage reaches far beyond the two programs that have received public attention in recent months, to a presidential order that is older than the Internet itself.





























