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NPR's Richard Harris reports that researchers have made a promising step toward repairing spinal cord damage. In a study being reported in the journal Science, researchers were able to transplant nerves to the severed spinal cords of rats to bridge the damaged area. The rats then appeared to regain at least partial use of their hind legs.

1: Biographer DAVID HAJDU. He's just written "Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn" (Farrar, Straus and Girous). The book not only explores the life of Strayhorn, a Duke Ellington collaborator, but also the lives of other black and gay artists in New York from the 1930s to the 1960s. Under Ellington, Strayhorn composed "Take the 'A' Train," "Lush Life" and "Something to Live For." But he did not gain much recognition and has been called "the great unsung hero of American music." HAJDU is an editor for "Entertainment Weekly."

Fresh Air book critic, Maureen Corrigan has more suggestions for summer reading: "A Little Yellow Dog" by Walter Mosely (W.W. Norton); "Cause of Death" by Patricia Cornwell (G.P. Putmans Sons); and "Lily White," by Susan Isaacs (HarperCollins).INT. 2:A concert and interview with vocalist SUSANNAH MCCORKLE. Last week she finished a cabaret of Cole Porter tunes in New York City. "The Passionate Cole Porter" was an attempt by MCCORKLE to prove that Porter was not an unfeeling observer of romance. Included in the show was "The Censorship Medley," six songs denied radio air play because of their sexual content. She also has a CD featuring Cole Porter tunes, "Easy To Love" (Concord Jazz). MCCORKLE is the youngest singer ever to be included in the Smithsonian Institution''s "Popular Music Record Series."

Linda Werthiemer met with a group of conservative women who live in Rocky River, a mostly white, middle-upper class suburb of Cleveland. They are all planning on voting for Dole, but as we heard from the businessmen, they aren't excited about it, and are disappointed in their candidate. They are already resigned that Clinton will be re-relected.

commander of U.S. ground troops in Bosnia. General Nash says he expects to have his peacekeepers out of Bosnia by the end of the year, in keeping with the President's pledge to Congress. Also now that things are a little quieter in the war-torn region, the forces are making tactical adjustments.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went before a joint session of Congress to reaffirm his tough new stand on the Middle East process, underlining his differences with the land-for-peace approach embraced by the Clinton Administration.

Commentator Marianne Jennings has the real scoop on consultants...they are either people who have been down-sized...who advise that a company grow, or out-of-work MBAs who set up shop in weird places and get contracts with the same companies who wouldn't hire them. Usually they advise the opposite of whatever the company is doing.

2: Interview with CHRIS HEDGES continued.

back in the Likud government as minister of national infrastructure, is planning a second trans-Samaria highway to link Jewish settlements in the West Bank -- a move that could seriously damage the peace process.

Tom Manoff reviews the new cd by guitarist and composer Ralph Towner. Manoff thinks that Towner is able to combine many of the elements of jazz and classical music succesfully, perhaps because his music doesn't call attention to the musicianship. (Stations please note: The CD is called Lost and Found, by Ralph Towner on ECM Records. For information on Ralph Towner via the Internet, the address is http://www.ecmrecords.com/ecm/artists/20.html) (IN STEREO)

A dispute between New York and New Jersey over who should own historic Ellis Island has gone to trial in the Supreme Court. This is not an appeal. It's the original trial. Border disputes like this one are heard by the Supreme Court, although it doesn't happen very often. NPR's Barbara Bradley reports that the justices have assigned a legal expert called a special master to hear the case. The justices will make their ruling based on his report.

NPR'S Richard Harris reports that researchers have found new evidence that spring has been arriving in the Northern Hemisphere earlier since the 1970s. New research suggests that spring now arrives about seven days earlier than it did 20 years ago, and that could be a sign of global warming.