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NPR's Melissa Block reports on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

NPR's Richard Gonzales reports on efforts to improve the safety of development in fire prone areas. Regulations against building in high fire risk areas are most effective, but still pretty rare. In some communities, people and their neighbors, insurers and local officials have taken the task of "fire-proofing" into their own hands.

Noah Adams talks to Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Foley, Director of the United States Marine Band. The band is performing a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington this weekend, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the return of the US Capitol to Washington from Philadelphia.

To try to blunt the gains Vice President Gore received since this week's convention, his Republican opponent, George W. Bush, campaigned in Mr. Gore's home state: Tennessee. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

Melinda talks to Roy Criner's attorney---Michael Charlton about DNA technology, and why it took so long to free his client. Mr. Criner was released from a Texas prison this week, three years after DNA evidence proved that he was not at the site of a murder/rape.

Melinda has some thoughts about Firestone's tire recall.

Vice President Al Gore kicked-off his Mississippi River campaign tour today. NPR's Anthony Brooks reports that, with a hoarse voice, Gore is charging through the heartland searching for votes. People interviewed along the way give their reviews of Gore's speech last night accepting the Democratic presidential nomination.

Noah Adams talks with sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics trials in Boston. Several members of the women's team which won a gold medal in 1996 are trying to make the team again. Interestingly, women's coach Bela Karoly has been given unprecedented power to select the team from among the top finishers at the trials. Usually, the team consists of the top six finishers at the trials.

NPR's Daniel Zwerdling traveled to Nicaragua to report on a new twist in the ever expanding global economy. As international companies travel the world in search of cheap labor, some workers are trying to form unions to demand better wages and better conditions. Zwerdling tells the story of Chentex, a Taiwanese consortium that was attracted to Nicaragua because the nation offered space in an industrial park, no taxes for the first ten years and lots of people willing to work for low wages. But unlike many developing nations where "sweatshops' are set-up, Nicaragua has a history of unions. Under the Sandinistas, peasants and factory workers were encouraged to unionize. When the workers, mostly women, tried to organize at the Chentex factory they were fired and harassed. The way the workers see it, the government made a kind of pact with the devil and they need unions to protect themselves. The way the government sees it, international companies offer employment and a much needed economic boost. The way the companies see it, they are not anti-union, and they are offering work and wages in places where none would exist without them.

NPR's Peter Kenyon is following the George W. Bush campaign. With the Democratic convention over, the Republican nominee got right back out on the road today, trying to limit any post-convention bounce for Gore. Bush started today in Gore's home state of Tennessee, and told the crowd he could win there.