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Minnesota Republican Rod Grams is considered one of the most vulnerable US Senators facing re-election this fall. He's a staunch conservative in a state with a long history of progressive politics, but he's also a maverick in a state known for its independence. Anemic poll numbers and a modest legislative record brought lots of challengers into this month's Democratic primary, but the big field may prove to be Grams best defense. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports.

Ina Jaffe reports a massive new residential development planned for northern Los Angeles County has been halted by court order. The judge ruled that the developer couldn't prove there was enough water for the anticipated 70 thousand residents. Experts predict more such cases as the population of California grows and water gets harder to come by.

Commentator Lenore Skenazy has some thoughts on the history of wine and beer inspired by a museum visit.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports officials in Sydney, Australia hope the upcoming Olympic Games will boost tourism and investment for years to come. Despite the excitement, Australians are not nearly as enthusiastic about the games as they were seven years ago when Sydney won its bid to play host. Cost over-runs and scandals involving Olympic officials have taken a toll.

After a volunteer collected more than 200 dead migratory birds from the sidewalks around the World Trade Center, bird groups in the city called on the complex to dim unnecessary lights at night.

Patients with advanced cancer and heart disease are among those who have had to wait for surgeries and other procedures as critically ill, unvaccinated COVID patients strain the medical system.

When Al Gore and George W. Bush talk about health care, they sound a lot alike. But as Julie Rovner reports, the presidential candidates' plans for health care in the U.S. are starkly different. Gore wants to expand existing government programs to bring health coverage to more people. Bush believes he can achieve the same thing through private-sector initiatives.

Ina Jaffe reports that new Census information indicates that ethnic minorities will now constitute an majority of California residents.

Michele Kelemen reports from southern Siberia, where computer programmers are hoping to create their own Silicon Valley. Akademgorodok was built as a model town for Soviet scientists. With its highly-educated workforce, it's home to software companies that do programming work -- cheaply -- for Western customers.

Robert talks to Larry Jackson, a project engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board, who helped reconstruct TWA Flight 800 from pieces found in the ocean after the crash. The reconstructed plane is now in a hangar in Calverton, New York, waiting to be moved to an academy where it will be used to train crash investigators.

Robert and Linda note two news items today -- related to church attendance in this 21st century. And Storyteller Kevin Kling relives a Sunday morning from his childhood, when the family would pile into the car and head to church. The kids would fight in the car, and Kevin's dad would assert himself to restore order... until he fell asleep in the service.

Host Jacki Lyden talks with Catholic author and broadcaster Peter Stanford on the eve of the Pope John Paul II's beatification of two of his predecessors: Popes John the XXIII and Pius IX. Stanford says perhaps too many people are being beatified and canonized too quickly and maybe the process is faulty.

For critic Bob Mondello, going to a movie is work. So what does he do for entertainment? Recently he went to an amusement park in Virginia to try out the rollercoasters. He found out that many of them have a lot in common with summer blockbusters.

A crew of Icelanders sail across the ocean from their home to America 1,000 years after their Viking ancestors made the same voyage. Their vessel, the Icelander, is a replica Viking warship built to an ancient design by the ship's captain.

Jacki talks to law professor Jonathan Turley about the decision yesterday that prevented Wen Ho Lee from being released on bail. Lee has been charged with mishandling information and has spent the last several months in solitary confinement without bail. Turley says that despite yesterday's decision, the government's case is looking increasingly shaky.

Colin Fogarty of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports on the bad reputation that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has in Portland. Tensions boiled over last month when the agency jailed and strip-searched an innocent Chinese woman.

It's the first Saturday of the month and host Jacki Lyden is joined by novelist Paul Auster to bring you the National Story Project. Interested in submitting a story? Send your stories to: PMB 206 123 7th Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11215. You can also email your submission to NationalStoryProject@npr.org. For more information on the National Story Project and to read this month's stories, please visit the National Story Project area on NPR's web site at http://www.npr.org/programs/watc/991002.storyproject.html.

Since the 1960s, an unusual alliance in redistricting has brought Black and white lawmakers together to draw Missouri's 1st District to ensure Black voters can elect Black Democrats to congress.

The COVID-19 shot joins a list of well-established vaccines required by the U.S., aimed at preventing dangerous diseases such as polio and varicella (chickenpox).

What does an elementary school classroom look like right now? Photojournalist Natosha Via spent the day with one Louisville music teacher as she adjusted masks and sanitized xylophone mallets.