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California is in the midst of a boom in power plant construction. Most of the plants are in rural Kern county. Tamara Keith reports.

NPR's Guy Raz reports on a scandal developing around one of Germany's leaders. Last month German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer gave testimony in a murder trial about his past as a student radical. Now evidence suggests that Fischer may have whitewashed his story, and he is being accused of perjury.

Solar panels and other devices that allow homeowners to generate their own power have been available since the late 1970s. At first, cost and reliability kept them from being widely used. But now the technology behind solar power has improved, and electricity shortages in states like California have caused some consumers to look again to the sun for their power needs. NPR's Andy Bowers reports on the renewed interest in solar power.

From member station KCUR, Jeremy Cate reports on a growing problem for many airports -- collisions between wildlife and airplanes. In Kansas City, they're trying a unique experiment to keep deer from wandering on to the runway.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Michael Williamson of the Washington Post, who was named the Photographer of the Year by the White House News Photographers' Association. (5:51) View some of Williams' photos.

NPR's Jack Speer takes a look at how mutual funds are weathering the downturn in the stock market. Mutual funds remain a popular way to invest, but when the markets turn bearish, many investors drop funds that focus on quick-growth companies and find shelter in those with a more conservative portfolio.

Host Bob Edwards speaks with Kari Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. President Bush is scheduled to speak today at the opening of the new museum, the third component of the National Memorial.

NPR's John Nielsen reports that a new study has found that some types of fisheries may actually lead to a net loss of available food. The report bases its findings on the fact than some types of fish, including salmon, eat four times as much food as they eventually yield.

The Flint Hills in central Kansas are covered by tallgrass prairies that once spread across much of the Midwest. Now 11,000 acres of that land are being set aside as a national preserve. Matt Hackworth of member station KCUR in Kansas City reports.