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An index of the day's stories: WEATHER -- NPR's Adam Hochberg reports a huge storm stretching from Texas to New England has brought heavy rains and flooding that have killed at least 5 people. In the South, floodwaters have spawned mudslides, forced people from their homes, and closed roads and schools. In the Northeast, the rain has turned to ice in many places, downing trees, knocking out power, and turning streets and sidewalks into ice rinks. (3:30) LETTERS -- Jacki reads from listeners' comments. To contact All Things Considered, write to All Things Considered Letters, 635 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, Washington D-C, 20001. To contact us via the Internet, the address is ATC at NPR.ORG (atc@npr.org). (4:00) ((STEREO)) OTHER -- Other stories we're following today: Kaczynski Trial, Yousef Sentenced, and P.P.I. (1:00) SKATING -- Jacki talks with John Powers, who covers Olympic figure skating and speed skating for the Boston Globe newspaper, about the U-S figure skating championships being held in Philadelphia. Thirteen spots are open on the US figure skating team for the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan next month. They'll talk about who's likely to make it on the team, and what to watch for as the skaters try to impress the judges with their strength, skill, and versatility. Among the things to watch for - one of the men skating in the singles competition is attempting a "quadruple lutz." (4:00) BLACK HOLE -- We'll hear the sound of gas jets that are escaping from the gravitational pull of a black hole. Astronomers have long thought that the collapsed stars sucked ALL matter nearby into them -- and emissions like light and x-rays, too. But at this week's meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, scientists reported that they'd been wrong. (2:00) (19:36.7) FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE -- Jacki talks with writer Geraldine Brooks about her new book, "Foreign Correspondence." It's a collection of letters Brooks wrote as a young girl to pen-pals all over the world, and the responses she got back. Recently Brooks tracked down her pen pals to find out what had become of them, and she tells their stories in her book. For many years, Brooks was a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, based in Sydney and Cairo. (STATIONS: "Foreign Correspondence" is published by Anchor, a division of Doubleday.) (12:30) KURDS IN ITALY -- Sylvia Poggioli reports that many Kurdish refugees escaping Turkey are making their way to Italy with the help of organized crime. Other European countries are worried the Italians can't handle the influx and some of the Kurds will escape from the refugee camps that have been set up. (6:00) BOB DORE -- NPR's evening newscast producer, Bob Dore, died suddenly last night at the age of 44. Newscaster Ann Taylor talks about working with Bob, and the things that he tirelessly did for National Public Radio. (2:00) KACZYNSKI TRIAL -- Jacki talks with N-P-R's John McChesney from Sacramento, California, where the man accused of planning the UNABOM attacks, Theodore Kaczynski, threw his trial into disarray for the second time this week. Monday, Kaczynski touched off three days of private meetings when he informed the judge he wanted to fire his legal team. The judge had temporarily talked Kaczynski out of that desire, but this morning's court session was derailed when one of Kaczynski's lawyers announced the defendant now wants to represent himself. This afternoon, Kaczynski finally agreed to psychological testing, to show that he's competent to be his own lawyer. Up until now, Kaczynski has refused to be tested. The judge has now told prosecution and the defense to submit a list of Sacramento-area psychiatrists to examine him. (5:00) YOUSEF SENTENCED -- NPR's Melissa Block reports that Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted of masterminding the World Trade Center blast, was sentenced today in federal court to life in prison without parole. The hearing was a confrontation of sorts between Yousef and the federal judge who sentenced him. Judge Kevin Duffy called Yousef "an apostle of evil" who "worships death and destruction." Yousef said, "Yes, I am a terrorist and I am proud of it." (3:30) P.P.I. -- NPR'S Jim Zarroli reports that prices at the wholesale level declined 1.2 percent last year. That's the largest fall in producer prices since 1986. Today's report on producer prices comes at a time when economists are starting to debate whether the U.S. economy might face a threat from deflation. (2:30) OTHER -- Other stories we're following today: Weather and Warming. (1:00) SCHOOL REPORT -- NPR's Claudio Sanchez has the details of a "report card" for the nation's schools issued today by the journal Education Week. The report gave the nation's schools a "C," saying that teachers are unprepared, classrooms are too big, reforms are weak and schools funding is too low to fix the problems. The report was especially critical of policymakers who it says have neglected inner city schools. (3:30) SCHOOL THAT WORKS -- Jacki talks with Fredna Howell, the principal of Phillip Salla Burton Academic High School in Bay View Hunters' Point, a low-income neighborhood in San Francisco. Students at this school consistently excel on national standardized tests, and the school has a very high graduation rate. Ms. Howell and Jacki talk about why this school has managed to succeed where others have not. (4:00) IMF/INDONESIA -- NPR's John Ydstie reports that the debate over the IMF handling of the Asian crisis continues. Meanwhile, a leading analyst of the world economy warns that the U.S. and other nations are underestimating the threat posed by events in Asia. (6:30) ART DISPUTE -- Late yesterday, The Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed officials from the Museum of Modern Art concerning two paintings by Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele [AY-gahn SHEE-leh]. The heirs of Holocaust survivors claim the paintings were looted from their families by the Nazis and should not be returned to Austria. Though the paintings are indemnified against seizure, the DA's move could keep the works in the U.S. until his investigation is completed...which could take as long as a year. Laura Sydell, of member station WNYC, reports. (3:00) MAE QUESTEL OBIT -- Mae Questel (KWEH'-stul), the woman who supplied the cartoon voices of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl, died Sunday at her home in Manhattan at the age of 89. We'll hear a sample of her work. (2:30) AMERICAN ANALOG SET -- Jacki talks with Andrew "Kenny" Kenny, who plays guitar, sings and writes songs for an Austin, Texas quartet called The American Analog Set. Kenny says the band records on older analog equipment to achieve a warm and rich sound that cannot be achieved through digital recording. He believes the band's mellow sound is a reaction to some loud, aggressive music of the past few years. (The band's most recent release is called "From Our Living Room to Yours," catalog number EJ14 on Emperor Jones/Trance Syndicate. Listeners interested in purchasing this recording with a credit card can call Touch and Go, the CD's manufacturer and distributor, at 1-800-3-TOUCH-U.) (7:15) |
