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NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that businesses throughout the area affected by the storm struggled to reopen today. Airports managed to resume operations, though officials warned it will be several days before the schedules return to normal. Meanwhile, more snow fell in the Washington, D.C. area, causing additional problems for commuters.

Lynn Terry reports on the visit by French President Jacques Chirac to the United States, where he will try to raise France's profile on matters of international defense.... and boost his prestige at home.

Linda talks to Ellen Forch (FORSH) - A Research Scientist for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand. She talks about the caputre of one of the world's most elusive creatures. A giant squid. This one was 24 feet long and weighed one ton.

Commentator Merrill Mathews guides us through the various kennel clubs of Washington, DC. It's a satyrical look at the political players on Capitol Hill from the Blue Dogs to the Yellow Dogs to the Lap Dogs to the Dead Dogs.

NPR's John Ydstie reports the Federal Reserve cut short-term interest rates by a quarter-point today. Policymakers at the Fed cut the Fed Funds rate -- the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans -- to 5.25 percent. It was the third time in the last six months the Fed has moved to lower rates over concern about weakness in the economy.

NPR's Dan Charles reports on the status of a government decision about whether to reprocess plutonium. Arms control advocates oppose the reprocessing to limit the amount of material available for weapons.

Leda (LEE-dah) Hartman of New Hampshire Public Radio reports on New Hampshire, the only state not to honor Martin Luther King with a day of his own. This year it gets a bit uglier, as a white supremacist group from Mississippi stages a demonstration at the statehouse.

NPR's Cheryl Corley reports on the impending end a federal program that was started in the late-1960s to provide subsidized housing for the poor in middle class white neighborhoods. The program grew out of a 1966 discrimination lawsuit against the Chicago Housing Authority and the federal Deparatment of Housing and Urban Development. Advocates are lobbying Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros to continue the subsidies.

Robert previews other pieces coming up this week, marking the Persian Gulf and its legacy.

NPR's John McChesney reports that Visa and Mastercard have agreed on a single technical standard that they say will allow for secure purchases over the Internet. The two credit card giants had been pursuing different systems with conflicting security specifications. Today's announcement means banks and consumers will not have to worry about choosing one system over the other.

Robert and Noah read listeners' letters.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports on prospects for funding the federal government beyond next week. Congress is considering two approaches: funding it all but for only a short time, such as a month, or funding only certain parts of the federal government, forcing further discussion on the rest.

In Minneapolis, two businessmen are trying to raise money to start a new internet company. They plan to serve corporate clients, but they also want to provide jobs to people who live in their neighborhood, an area known for prostitution and drug-dealing. John Biewen of Minnesota Public Radio reports that the company initially attracted many investors -- until they found out where the company is located.

Noah talks with with Chris Nuttall, the BBC correspondent in Turkey. Nuttall discusses the end of four-day hostage ordeal in which gunmen seized a Black Sea ferry with more than 200 people on board and threatened to blow up the boat unless Russian troops halted their attacks on Chechen rebels in southern Russia. The pro-Chechen gunmen surrendered to Turkish authorities near Istanbul after throwing their weapons into the sea.

Commentator Elissa ELy describes a delusional man who was hospitalized for years and eventually took to his bed. But, he came to life when he was elected an honorary officer by the hospital security guards.

Linda and Robert talk to a variety of people about their week in the snow. A Philadelphia firefigher-Ken Pogorueck (puh-GORE-ik)... a Baltimore police lieutenant- Dawn Jessa... A Baltimore Priest- Father Lawrence Waudby (WAD-bee), Frasier Bresnahan (BREZ-na-han), with the Coalititon for the Homeless.. delivering hot meals to people in the streets of New York, a Newark Emergency Room Physician: Dr. Michael Jaker (JAKE-er) and Alissa (ah-LEESSA) Talisman a mom in Bethesda, Maryland, and Jim McCaffrey a grocer in Yardley, PA. We hear about cops being called to negotiate parking places, firemen delivering babies, moms stuck in the house with five kids, a priest with an empty chapel and so on.

We remember Marc Gregoire (GREG-whar), inventor of the non-stick frying pan that goes by the brand name T-Fall.

Daniel talks with Robert McKinley of the RAM Research Group who says that consumer credit card debt has tripled in the last decade. McKinley says many credit card issuers are now offering seemingly great "teaser rates" that draw more people into getting credit cards, but then people forget those rates double and even triple after a certain amount of time and therefore more and more people are getting loaded down with debt.

NPR's John McChesney reports that many computers used by government and industry may stop working in the year 2000. The problem has to do with the fact that many of these computers record dates using only the last two digits of the year..and that if you enter zero zero for 2000...many of these machines will get confused.

Daniel visits the Goleta California Farm of Michael Ableman. Ableman is an organic farmer and faces the possibility of losing the land if he doesn't raise three-quarters of a million dollars in the next two years. Even more interesting is his 12 acre farm called "Fairview Gardens" is completely surrounded by suburban development.