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An index of the day's stories: CLINTON PROPOSALS -- President Clinton said today that he will present a balanced budget to Congress this year, the nation's first in thirty years. He also said that new projections show the 1998 deficit will be smaller than expected, less than 22 billion dollars. But the President warned against adopting new tax cuts, which he said could undo years of fiscal discipline. NPR's Mara Liasson reports. (4:30) BIG GOVERNMENT -- NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that while the President was playing golf over the weekend, White House spin doctors kept the headlines focused on Clinton's initiatives for the new year. (2:30) GOP AGENDA -- House Speaker Newt Gingrich has outlined new goals for the nation that seem to offer something for everyone. Speaking to an audience in his Georgia district, the Republican leader said he wants to improve education, protect Americans' retirement, reform taxes and create a drug-free America for children. NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports. (4:30) OTHER STORIES -- In other stories we're following today: the trial of accused UNABOM suspect Theodore Kaczynski began today in Sacramento, though proceedings were almost immediately interrupted when Kaczynski requested an audience with the judge to make a statement; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 1998 budget passed today despite the resignation of his foreign minister, David Levy; and the jury has been given the case in the penalty phase of the trial of Terry Nichols in Denver. (:30) CHICAGO SCHOOLS -- NPR's Cheryl Corley reports from Chicago on the improving quality of the city's schools. Ten years ago, Chicago schools were called the worst in the nation. Now activists say they're a model for the rest of the nation. A large part of the credit goes to "Local School Councils" -- groups of elected parents and community residents who along with principals and teachers control much of the activity in the city's 540 schools. It's a concept school officials in other cities are considering as they craft their own reforms. (5:00) YESTERDAY WILL MAKE YOU CRY -- Reviewer Alan Cheuse says that the reisssue of Chester Himes's book "Cast the First Stone"...now retitled "Yesterday Will Make You Cry"... is an unusual case of restoring a book to its original form. The book was written in the late 1930's after Himes was released from the Ohio State Penitentiary. Once gutted by editors who were hoping to maximize "pulp fiction" sales of the book, Cheuse says the book in its restored form not only has a new title, but some of the most gripping descriptions of brutality and humanity he's seen. (STATIONS: "Yesterday Will Make You Cry" by Chester Himes is published by W. W. Norton.) (2:30) ( 20:24:9 WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL -- Gillian Sharpe reports from The Hague where the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal begins its fifth trial tomorrow morning. On trial is a Bosnian Croat who was a prison camp commander. He is accused of mistreating and killing Muslim prisoners. (3:00) TOO MANY DEER -- Across America, deer populations have exploded in recent years, due to changes in land use practices. Deer are causing car crashes, spreading Lyme Disease, destroying crops and shrubs, and are setting off fierce political debates over what -- if anything -- should be done. NPR's David Baron profiles anthropologist Richard Nelson, author of "Heart & Blood: Living With Deer in America," who says the fight over deer reflects a much deeper conflict over attitudes toward nature. (9:30) BRINKLEY & ADM -- Rem Rieder, the editor of the American Journalism Review, says that television journalist David Brinkley's decision to become a spokesman for the Archer Daniels Midland company was not a wise one. He says that because Brinkley holds such a unique position in American culture...from his pioneering work on the Huntley-Brinkley Report to his landmark ABC political commentary series...it's all the more discouraging to see him working as a shill for this enormous multinational corporation. (3:30) FRANK MUIR OBIT -- Frank Muir, the British broadcaster, writer, and teller of shaggy-dog-stories died over the weekend. His wit and wordplay endeared him to his audience for more than half a century. We'll hear an excerpt from an episode of "My Word," the radio quizshow. (5:00) KACZYNSKI TRIAL -- NPR's John McChesney reports from Sacramento, California, on the trial of accused Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski. Opening statements were scheduled for today, but at the start of proceedings the defendant said he wanted to read a statement about his lawyers. Judge Garland E. Burrell immediately took Kaczynski and his lawyers into the judge's chambers for a private discussion. After more than three hours of meetings, Burrell sent the jury home for the day. (3:00) ISRAELI GOVERNMENT -- Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today won passage of his 1998 budget despite the weekend resignation of his foreign minister, David Levy. Netanyahu's budget passed by a vote of 58-52, but analysts in Israel say the real test for Netanyahu will come when he tries to win support for his plan on a further withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank. Netanyahu now enjoys only a narrow majority--61 seats in the 120 seat Knesset--and he's now even more dependent on the right wing of his coalition, a group which is unlikely to go along with any withdrawal large enough to satisfy both the U.S. and the Palestinians. NPR's Eric Weiner reports. (4:30) ABOUT LEVY -- Robert talks with Leslie Susser, the diplomatic correspondent for The Jerusalem Report. They discuss Israel's foreign minister, David Levy, who resigned because of the 1998 budget proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Susser has been following Levy's career, whose constitutency includes immigrants from North Africa and lower-income Israelis. (4:30) FERRARO -- NPR'S Melissa Block reports from New York that after much anticipation and speculation, Geraldine Ferraro announced she's joining the democratic primary race for the US Senate seat held by Republican Alphonse D'Amato. Polls show her ahead of her Democratic opponents, and leading against D'Amato. Ferraro is a former Congresswoman, who ran for vice president in 1984, on the ticket with Walter Mondale. She lost in a bitterly-contested primary for D'Amato's seat in 1992, when her opponents raised questions about her and her husband's business dealings, and alleged links to organized crime. She says those accusations have been laid to rest, and promised not to engage in negative personal campaigning. (4:00) NICHOLS TRIAL -- NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports on today's closing arguments in the penalty phase of the trial of convicted Oklahoma bombing conspirator Terry Nichols. The government told the jury this morning that Nichols deserves to die for his part in planning the 1995 blast. But the defense says Nichols' life should be spared because he played only a minor role in the plot. It will now be up to the jury to decide. (4:00) INTEREST RATES -- NPR's John Ydstie reports the bond market rallied today. Long term interest rates dropped to record lows as the market responded to a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Greenspan remarks were interpreted as signaling lower interest rates in the future. The benchmark 30-year treasury bond fell below 5.75%. (4:30) SOROS & U.K. -- Robert talks with Richard Lambert, the editor-in-chief of the Financial Times. They discuss financier George Soros's proposal for an international loan guarantee institution that would serve as a sister institution to the International Monetary Fund. Soros has also suggested that he might invest heavily in South Korea, and this has triggered a rise in that nation's stock market. (5:00) E-MAIL -- Commentator Daniel Pinkwater gives us an example of e-mail humor. Daniel's cyber-home is at www.pinkwater.base.org. (1:30) OTHER STORIES II -- In other stories we're following today; President Clinton announced today that he will submit a balanced budget to Congress this year...it's the first time this has happened in 30 years. Meanwhile, House Speaker Newt Gingrich announced his new agenda in a speech before his home district in Georgia today. (1:00) BASEBALL GREATS -- Robert talks with Peter Gammons, a commentator for the ESPN cable sports network, about the upcoming announcement of this year's nominees for the Baseball Hall of Fame. (4:00) BOTHY CULTURE -- Music critic Charles de Ledesma reviews "Bothy Culture", a debut album by Martyn Bennett. It combines the traditional music of the Scottish highlands with state of the art digital percussion programming. Bennett also was influenced by other musical styles, including dub reggae, classical, Indian raga, and house music. (STATIONS: "Bothy Culture" is on Rykodisc. E-mail information can be found at www.rykodisc.com. Their postal address is Rykodisc, Shetland Park, 27 Congress Street, Salem, MA 01970.) (4:00) |
