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NPR's Michele Kelemen reports that environmentalists in Russia are going to court over Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's restructuring of the country's environmental protection system. Activists fear that the new system is really a cover for a plan to open up long protected nature reserves to commercial usage, to bring in badly needed cash to the central overnment. Kelemen visited a reserve in southern Siberia where rangers are worried about their future and the protection of the reserve.

NPR's Phillip Davis reports on the Miami-Dade county mayoral race. The front-runner is Alex Penelas, who made the famous vow that his police force would not help the federal government return Elian Gonzalez to his father, as well as threatening to hold Janet Reno responsible if violence broke out in Miami. The remarks cost him a lot of support in the non-Hispanic community, but apparently have not hurt him in his Cuban base, and he's favored to win in tomorrow's primary.

Former Mouseketeer, Annette Funicello. At the age of 12, she was discovered by Walt Disney at a dance recital; he was looking for kids for his new show, The Mickey Mouse Club. Funicello became the "most popular" Mouseketeer, and went on to star in a number of Disney films: The Shaggy Dog, Babes in Toyland, and The Monkey's Uncle. Before she went to star in the beach party movies for which she is also known, Disney requested that she wear a one-piece bathing suit instead of a bikini. Funicello agreed. In 1987 Funicello was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and she founded the Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Diseases. Her autobiography is A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes. (REBROADCAST from 5

Although Congress has never finished work on its juvenile justice bill because of its gun restricting provisions, that issue lives on in this year's presidential campaign. NPR's Eric Westervelt files this story on rival gun policies in the presidential race.

Jon Miller reports from Lima that the government of Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori has engaged in talks with the political opposition on democratic reforms. The two sides are considering ways to restructure institutions throughout the government, from the military and intelligence services to the judiciary. Fujimori agreed to the talks under intense international criticism of the country's last election, which returned him to office for a third term. His immediate obstacle is convincing opponents that with his record, he can become a champion of democracy.

Commentator Amy Dickinson tries to find out the recipe for the "secret" sauce that's powered the Methodist barbecue that's been held every summer weekend since 1949 in her hometown in upstate New York. The secret is: there is no secret after all. It's a myth.

Our classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz turns off the turntable and reads us a poem from his new book, Cairo Traffic.

NPR's Richard Gonzales reports on the affirmative action case that the California Supreme Court hears today, testing whether Proposition 209 allows cities and counties to keep minority outreach hiring programs. Even though Prop 209 bans affirmative action programs, many California municipalities have refused to change their minority hiring and contracting practices, unless the courts force them to do so. This case will determine whether they're complying with Prop 209.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews A Good House, Bonnie Burnard's first novel. It won the 1999 Giller prize, Canada's most prestigious literary award. It's just been published in this country.

NPR's Brian Naylor takes a look at one of the most important Pennsylvania House races. Patrick Casey's running against an aggressive one-term Republican Representative, Don Sherwood. It's one of the races to watch in the battle for control of the US House.

Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush proposed today that low-income seniors receive prescription drugs for free. Bush also said that all seniors ought to have a choice of plans that would pay up at one fourth of their drug costs, either by government program or through private insurance. Steve Inskeep, traveling with the Bush campaign, filed this report for NPR News.

Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr wonders why George W. Bush is hesitant to engage Al Gore in presidential debates.