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It's summer, time to kick back and take off your shoes. Dave DiFonzo of the Dirty Soles Society takes host David Wright for a walk around Washington without footwear. DiFonzo believes going shoeless in public is healthy, and legal in public buildings. Our host and guest find out if the guards at some Washington landmarks agree. For more information, listeners can go to http://www.barefooters.org.

Eight days of intense track and field competition wrapped up on Sunday night in Sacramento. Coaches and athletes consider these US Olympic trials as one of the greatest track meets in the world. The high levels of competition mean many world class athletes don't make the US Olympic team. KPBS reporter Nancy Greenleese has the story.

As NPR's Tom Goldman reports, 29-year-old Michael Bennett of Chicago is given a good chance to win a gold medal in the heavyweight division of the Olympics, even though he only took up boxing six years ago. Even more surprising than his late start is how he honed his skills: Bennett learned to box from fellow inmates when he was in prison. www.bennettboxing.com

Karen Michel reports on the Alice Neel retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Painter of New York's famous and not-so-famous, Neel's uncompromising adherence to figurative painting at the height of abstract expressionism left her outside the city's art scene for much of her life. The Whitney exhibit is the first major retrospective of Alice Neel's artwork since her death in 1984.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr wonders if all the time spent on speculation about presidential running mates is time well spent.

NPR's Ted Clark reports the summit at Camp David has reached a critical stage. President Clinton is holding intensive talks with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, and he is expected to decide within the next day or so whether there is any hope for a breakthrough.

THINKING -- Commentator Donald McCaig says the countryside can be noisy, with the sounds of thunderstorms or the peeping of frogs and bleating of sheep. But on summer evenings it's quiet enough to hear yourself think. He says that's unlike the city, where the challenge is not so much the din, as knowing what the noises mean. (2:30)NOTE: MUSIC AFTER THIS PIECE WAS HARMONICA VIRTUOSO RICHARD HUNTER, FROM HIS CD "THE SECOND ACT OF BEING FREE" ON TURTLE HILL PRODUCTIONS, PO BOX 651, MONROE, ct 06468-0651. PHONE: 203-459

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Gaza reports that while Israeli and Palestinian leaders continue the search for peace at Camp David, both sides are also preparing for the worst. There are fears that a failure at Camp David could lead to a fresh eruption of violence.

Government figures released today show that nearly one million Medicare recipients now enrolled in HMOs will have to find another source of care next year. As NPR's Julie Rovner reports, HMOs are abandoning Medicare in record numbers, saying the program doesn't pay enough.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports on a very conservative appeals court that made a series of important and controversial decisions that made it to the Supreme Court this past term. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals was upheld by the Supreme Court on its ruling that a key part of the Violence Against Women Act was unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court rejected the 4th Circuit's decision that the Miranda warnings to a criminal suspect were not necessary if a court were confident the defendant's confession was given voluntarily.

Robert talks with Suzanne Rodgers, Northwest Editor of the Belfast Telegraph in Northern Ireland, about the prisoners who had been released under the Good Friday peace agreement. Some of the former prisoners are now working as taxi drivers and club bouncers, while others have gotten jobs doing "community work."

NPR'S Jim Zarroli reports that Deutsche Telekom and Voicestream Wireless made it official today. The German telecom giant will acquire the Bellvue, Washington company in a stock and cash deal valued at more than 50-billion-dollars. The deal, if approved, would create a wireless phone service capable of operating in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The merger may face stiff opposition in Washington, though. Some lawmakers are concerned that the German government holds a majority stake in Deutsche Telekom.

Linda talks to Jacob Weisberg, SLATE magazine's chief political correspondent, about the latest round of political ads for the presidential campaigns.

Kathy Witkowsky reports on a controversial plan to re-introduce grizzly bears into the Bitterroot mountains of Montana and Idaho. Opponents of the plan fear that the presence of the bears will endanger human lives. Supporters argue that grizzly attacks on humans are extremely rare and that any problem bears will be removed or killed.

Playwright and Commentator Thom Jones talks about basketball and "Yo Mama" jokes, in a piece adapted from his play, "Birth of the Boom."

NPR's Ted Clark reports the Camp David summit ended today without an agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians, but President Clinton said significant progress was made, and both sides remain committed to peace.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports on reaction to the collapse of the Middle East summit among Israelis and Palestinians.

Linda interviews Julie Bell, lead archaeologist for Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado about new sites discovered after a fire last week. Mesa Verde is the nation's largest archaeological preserve, with more than 4000 identified sites.

Secretary of Defense William Cohen told a Senate committee today that the United States would not be able to deploy an anti-missile defense system without the help of its allies -- some of which have been critical of the system. Cohen, however, said he was not discouraged by recent setbacks to the system's testing program. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

A note on some of the other stories we're following today.