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One of several tax cuts passed by Congress this summer -- a repeal of the tax on estates -- was formally dispatched from Capitol Hill to the White House today -- but not by the usual means. The document made its way down Pennsylvania Avenue on board the tractor of Lynn Cornwell, a cattle rancher from Montana. President Clinton has said he will veto the repeal, and Congress is not expected to muster the votes to override him. But Congressional Republicans are determined to keep the issue in the public eye. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

A federal judge has ruled that Wen Ho Lee, the nuclear scientist accused of mishandling sensitive information at Los Alamos National Laboratory, can be released on bail. NPR's Barbara Bradley explains.

Jazz saxophonist James Carter. He has just released two new CDs Chasin' the Gypsy and Layin' in the Cut (Atlantic Records). The 31-year-old New York based musician was discovered at the age of 17 by Wynton Marsalis. He's played with Marsalis, the late Lester Bowie and Kathleen Battle. He has been praised by jazz musicians and critics alike; Richard Harrington of the Washington Post once wrote, "To hear saxophonist James Carter is to be blown away."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg contemplates the finer points of punctuation.

A woodchuck spent ten ecstatic days in Commentator David Budbill's garden before Budbill shot it, to preserve his vegetables. Budbill grieves for the woodchuck and for himself.

Bill McGee, Editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, joins Noah by phone from Yonkers, New York, to offer some tips on what to do if your flight is delayed or cancelled.

NPR's Snigdha Prakash reports that at least 50,000 of the striking Verizon Communications workers are back on the job today as the two-week strike against the largest local phone company winds down. The unions said they were happy with terms of the deal, which gives them better pay and better benefits; more important, from their perspective, the unions have increased their ability to organize the company's wireless and Internet divisions. Analysts say the settlement is being closely watched by telecommunications industry.

Joe Smitherman is running for his 10th consecutive term as mayor of Selma, Alabama. He has been mayor since 1965. Smitherman once referred to Martin Luther King in very unflattering terms and was an unabashed racist. He says he has reformed. NPR's Debbie Elliott has a profile of this southern leader from another era.

An Indian immigrant allegedly murdered her children to spare them the shame of divorce. The court is weighing whether holding different cultural beliefs mitigates the crime. Commentator Lis Wiehl feels she deserves compassion, but that excusing the murder could open the floodgates for other immigrants to use a similar defense.

Edward C. Walker, the inventor of the Lava Lamp, has died. Noah talks with Cressida Granger about Walker and his creation. She is the managing director and owner of Mathmos, which now owns and sells Lava Lamps.