The acclaimed, eccentric, and very polarizing British film director Ken Russell has died, after a series of strokes at the age of 84.

The director of Tommy, Women In Love and Altered States, Russell was known for a florid style and fascination with sadomasochism that earned him condemnations and a cult following. His adaptations of classic literature and over-the-top biopics ranged from perverse to merely provocative — and an indelible nickname: "Kinky Ken Russell."

The U.S. military has spent more than $42 million to test every service member's brain to find out who suffered a traumatic brain injury, or TBI, during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But an investigation by NPR and ProPublica has found that military leaders are refusing to carry out the testing program as Congress ordered. Partly as a result, the program that was supposed to fix things has hardly helped any of the troops.

At point today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.9 percent to 11,554. The rally comes after news that European leaders had made progress on a solution to the sovereign debt crisis and record sales this past Friday.

It also comes after a 4.8 percent downturn last week, the worst Thanksgiving week since the markets started observing the holiday in 1942.

It's funny how the birthplace of one little bean can stir up a world of passions. But when it's the soybean, maybe it's not such a shocker.

Soy plays an outsized role in human history, serving as the primary source of protein in Asia for millennia. That can slip by people in the United States, where — until very recently — the super-nutritious bean was relegated to animal feed.

Anxious parents sometimes ask the pediatrician if they can postpone vaccines for young children. And a new survey suggests quite a few doctors go along with the requests, despite standing recommendations they stick to a strict schedule.

Before he was cast in the Broadway revival of Follies, actor Danny Burstein had never seen Stephen Sondheim's famous musical, which first hit the Broadway stage in 1971. And he didn't know much about the show, except that everyone in the theater world seemingly had an opinion about it.

Food banks around the country say rising peanut butter prices are making it harder for them to provide one
of their most-requested items this holiday season.

The increase in the cost of peanut butter and food overall has been a blow to food banks and pantries that say they're serving more clients and having a harder time getting donations because of the economy.

Peanut butter is popular at food banks because it's a kid-friendly protein source that has a long shelf life and doesn't require special storage, cooking or utensils.

Flooding could become a problem across northwest Ohio, where up to 2 inches of rain is expected to drench
areas already saturated by recent rainfall.

An area that stretches from Toledo to Cleveland's western suburbs and several counties to the south will be under a flood watch from late Monday night to late Tuesday. The National Weather Service says flooding is possible along rivers and creeks and in low-lying areas.

A few rivers in the region were already approaching flood stage Monday morning.

During the 50-plus years that Agatha Christie actively reigned as "The Queen of Crime," it became something of a tradition in England to give one of her novels as a holiday present; in fact, she and her publishers popularized the slogan "A Christie for Christmas." Dame Agatha died in 1976, but the association of murder most foul and the yuletide season lingers.

Full episode of WYSO Weekend for November 27, 2011 containing the following stories:

-Jerry Kenney interviews Scott Murphy from UpDayton about the Activated Spaces in downtown Dayton.

-Jerry Kenney interviews David Romick, president of the Dayton Education Association about the Priority School Campaign

-An Interview with Marsha Bush in Conrad's Corner