National News from NPR

Most people think of turkeys as the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal. But at one farm, the turkeys are the guests.

At the 26^th annual Feeding of the Turkeys ceremony in Watkins Glen, in upstate New York, a line of turkeys come walking out the door of the barn. They stroll towards long low tables set up on the lawn, with scarlet tablecloths and seasonal squash centerpieces.

There, a feast awaits. There's pumpkin pie topped with cranberry, and platters of green salad — hold the dressing. The spread is surrounded by a crowd of spectators.

President Obama is nominating Marilyn Tavenner to succeed Dr. Donald M. Berwick as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Tavenner, who has been the agency's principal deputy administrator, will serve as administrator on an acting basis during the confirmation process, according to an announcement to CMS staff.

Seventy-five years ago Wednesday, two men, an ocean apart, stepped up to microphones. One man was a cello prodigy who had played for the queen of Spain. The other was the son of black sharecroppers, a regular in the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta. But on Nov. 23, 1936, Robert Johnson and Pablo Casals each walked into a room alone with their instruments. And on that day, each made recordings that would change music history.

According to an AP survey of 18 cities with active Occupy protests, the movement has cost local municipalities $13 million in "police overtime and other municipal services."

The AP reports:

"The FBI and local sheriff's deputies this morning raided an Amish compound in Ohio and arrested seven men, including reputed breakaway sect leader Sam Mullet, on federal hate crimes charges and related state violations in connection to a series of beard-cutting attacks against other Amish across Ohio," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is getting lots of attention for his remarks about immigration in Wednesday night's debate. Gingrich has been moving up in the polls and last night he broke with his fellow candidates by saying that some illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S. Though his statements were in line with other GOP candidates from years past, the aftershocks show just how narrow the immigration debate has been in recent years.

Gingrich spouted the typical Repubican line in last night's debate,

Take it from emergency room doctors, Thanksgiving can be dangerous.

I learned the hard way that plumbers' busiest day comes on Black Friday, when pipes are groaning from too many flushes from Thanksgiving guests and too much garbage shoved down the kitchen sink.

How about hospitals? Yep, the emergency room can be a pretty busy place, too, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians.

A decade ago there were fewer than 100 Narragansett turkeys being raised on a few hobby farms. The gamy-tasting meat has a flavor that most Americans have never tasted. "They're delicious," says Slow Food USA's Josh Viertel.

"And they're at risk of being gone forever."