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NPR's Edward Lifson reports on block 37 in Chicago... an empty lot in the middle of the downtown area. The lot waws bulldozed in the 1980s real estate boom, but a planned development was never built. On Friday it was announced that Sears Roebuck is considering building on the site.

Linda speaks with crop consultant Dale Fain about the drought conditions affecting some parts of Oklahoma. Fain claims that in some areas, the effects of the drought are comparable to the Dust Bowl of the 1930's...and may only get worse in the coming months.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Gaza reports on the Israeli army's thrust into Palestinian-ruled territory. Israeli forces withdrew Tuesday from small areas of the Gaza Strip they seized Monday after an attempt to end Palestinian mortar attacks on Israeli towns and settlements.

Robert talks with Jan Vansina, a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin who specializes in Central Africa, about the Hutu-Tutsi conflict in Central Africa. Vansina discusses the potential for a full-blown war in the area which includes parts of Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi.

Educating diabetics is key to their well being. But only about 20% of them get the information and counseling they need. Bill Zeeble from member station KERA looks at some innovative programs in the Dallas area, which has a high concentration of patients with diabetes.

A storm dumps snow and ice along the East Coast, with forecasts calling for more than six inches of accumulation in some areas between Virginia and New Jersey. Many schools are closed and airports are reporting flight delays. NPR's Dave Mattingly reports.

A Virginia grand jury indicts Washington, D.C.-area sniper suspect Lee Malvo on capital murder charges, moving the 17-year-old into adult court where he faces the prospect of the death penalty. NPR's Larry Abramson reports.

The Aceh region of Indonesia, at the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, was one of the hardest-hit areas of Sunday's earthquake and tsunami. The city of Bande Aceh is all but destroyed, and in smaller towns along the coast the death toll continues to grow. NPR's Michael Sullivan reports.

Bombings at Shiite Muslim shrines in Baghdad and Karbala have led to increased demands for Shiite militiamen to be given authorization to help maintain security in Shiite areas. Officials of the U.S. occupation authority remain opposed to the idea. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

FEMA releases new federal advisories and recommendations about which areas of New Orleans are vulnerable to flooding in the future. The advisories will require that many houses be raised several feet to qualify for insurance. Residents plan to use the guide to decide whether to rebuild or relocate.

Three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans officially welcomes back its first residents. The Algiers area is the first to open. But some officials think it's too soon because of contaminated water and lack of utilities, among other problems.

Two Democratic congressmen say that Halliburton is overcharging the United States for gasoline it imports into Iraq, citing lower gas prices elsewhere in the country. The company says its price reflects the cost of doing business in a hostile area. NPR's John Burnett reports.

Federal authorities transfer custody of Washington, D.C.-area sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo to Virginia. The two will face trial separately in state court in two different counties. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports.

The Supreme Court produces a split decision over the protection of wetlands areas. The justices decided 5-4 that regulators may have misinterpreted the federal Clean Water Act when they refused to allow two Michigan property owners to build on wetlands they own.

About 1,000 Dutch soccer fans were presented with an odd conundrum when they tried to watch their national team's game in Stuttgart, Germany. They were ordered to give up their pants -- or they would not be allowed into the viewing area. The problem involved beer sponsorship.

In a rare move, Myanmar authorities have appealed for help from international aid agencies as food and water run short after a deadly cyclone. A World Vision official for the Asia-Pacific region says there are reportedly piles of bodies in the hardest-hit areas.

For months, Los Angeles city officials have complained that regional hospitals are dropping off their indigent patients in the city's tough Skid Row area. On Wednesday, a group of city council members released a videotape that seems to have caught one hospital in the act.

Norfolk, Va., has spent decades — and millions of dollars — raising houses and building barriers to successfully hold back the sea. Expanding such efforts to other vulnerable coastal areas, such as New York and New Jersey, could work, but costs could reach the billions.

Real estate agents normally command 6-percent commissions of when they sell a house. But discount brokers and the Internet are eroding that cut. Wendy Kaufman reports that agents are returning most of their commissions to buyers to speed sales in areas where the boom is already over.

Efforts to cut federal spending are targeting a program that gives higher Medicare reimbursements to small hospitals in rural areas. Some observers say the program has gotten so big, it's propping up hospitals that are neither critical to a community nor isolated.