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NPR's Richard Gonzales reports that the high cost of housing and lack of community has led two Silicon Valley mayors to leave the area. Some fear that it could be the start of a trend if the region doesn't act now to ensure quality of life for people at all income levels.

David Greenberger reviews the new CD from singer/songwriter Dave Fischoff, called The Ox and the Rainbow. Fischoff has a distinctive, quiet, spare sound, with intimate arrangements. His songs usually consist of a solo guitar and no other voices but his, with a deep resonating bass drone that makes his work more mysterious and melancholy. The CD is on Secretly Canadian Records; they're a small independent label from Bloomington, Ind.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that stocks were down sharply on Wall Street today. The NASDAQ composite fell below 2000 for the first time in more than two years. The technology heavy index is down more than 60 percent from its high of a year ago. The blue chips that make up the Dow Industrial Index were also under heavy selling pressure.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports that an exhibit currently at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art features a small Dutch canvas believed to be a previously unrecognized work by Johannes Vermeer. If this Lady at the Virginal is indeed a Vermeer, Sotheby's say it could be worth as much as $60 million. The exhibit of works by Vermeer and his contemporaries moves to London's National Gallery in June.

NPR's Emily Harris reports on the low income housing issues facing the new Bush administration. President Bush has proposed budgeting more money to provide more down payment help for low income people who can buy a house -- and to provide more subsidies for renters. But housing activists say neither program would address the current shortage of low income housing.

Noah Adams talks with San Francisco public librarian Jerry Roth about today's vote to allow the San Francisco Public Library to hire a collection agency to recover thousands of unreturned items. Each year, the library system loses nearly half-a-million dollars in books, CDs, videos and other materials.

Noah Adams talks with Tom Gjelten about a deadly training accident involving U.S. troops in Kuwait. A U.S. Navy plane accidentally dropped munitions on a bombing range in Kuwait killing at least six people, including four Americans, Pentagon officials said.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Commentator John Feinstein about the Number One regional picks of the NCAA Basketball Committee. (4:34).

Whitehead Reviews Ralph Gleasons Jazz Casual Series, a collection of Gleasons 1960s TV show on DVD and video.

Globalization appears to be a mixed blessing: the global economy is making life better for some people, and hurting others, sometimes in unexpected ways. Daniel Zwerdling of NPR News and American RadioWorks has a story about how an obscure kind of international trade -- used tires -- might be making the country more vulnerable to disease. (12:30) Read more about Mosquitoes and Tires.

The Census Bureau officially announced today that the number of Hispanics in the U.S. has increased dramatically since the last census. The figures show Hispanics drawing roughly even with non-Hispanic blacks. The growth rate for the whites was much slower than for minority groups. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

In the 1950s, young Franco Americans growing up in Maine were often forbidden to speak French in school. Many gave up speaking their unique brand of Acadian French altogether, for fear of prejudice. Now, Charlotte Renner reports on a group of middle-aged women who are trying to relearn their native language.