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Cowboy poets, writers, musicians descended on the small town of Elko, Nev., for the 20th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Who better to report on the sights and sounds of it all than Morning Edition's own resident cowboy poet, Baxter Black. Hear several poems and songs from the gathering.

NPR's Margot Adler offers an audio postcard from the waters around Manhattan. She took part in a most unusual fishing tournament, testing the waters in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.

Barry White, the honey-voiced baritone known for his sultry, romantic songs, dies at a hospital in Los Angeles. White, 58, had been in poor health for several years and died while awaiting a kidney transplant. The soul singer became a star during the disco era, but had a resurgence in popularity in recent years. He won two Grammies for his 1999 album, "Staying Power." NPR's Scott Simon has a remembrance.

Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion of the Christ features two languages that haven't been used in common speech for centuries -- Latin and the even less familiar Aramaic. NPR's Renee Montagne talks to Joseph Amar, a professor of Semitic languages at the University of Notre Dame, about the ancient Middle Eastern language. Hear the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic.

Tough-guy cop Lucas Davenport returns in John Sandford's latest thriller: Hidden Prey. The author speaks with NPR's Linda Wertheimer about his hard-boiled detective, who seems to be a little older and wiser in his 16th outing.

A new study shows that the rate of abortion in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level since the mid-1970s. The survey, conducted by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, also found a rise in the use of the abortion pill mifepristone, also known as RU-486.

Until a decade ago, HIV-infection rates were dropping in the United States. Experts discuss why that trend has reversed and what can be done.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted Tuesday to retroactively reduce sentences for crack cocaine offenders. As many as 19,500 prison inmates could be affected by the new guidelines. In the past, crack cocaine offenders were typically sentenced to 50 percent more jail time than powder cocaine offenders.

Five Hollywood studios launch an online movie rental service called Movielink. It's a bid by the studios to avoid becoming the next major victims -- after record companies -- of Internet piracy. If it's successful, Movielink could eventually compete with cable TV. NPR's Andy Bowers reports.

The bunchberry dogwood, a tiny North American shrub, is the fastest-moving plant ever discovered, bursting open to release its pollen with the force of a huge explosive, researchers report in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

When Sesame Street begins its 36th season on public television today, children who tune in will be getting lessons in exercise and healthy eating along with tips on spelling and math. The residents of Sesame Street -- even Cookie Monster -- are trying to reverse a trend.

The Supreme Court hears arguments testing whether it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute people for crimes committed when they were 16 and 17 years old. There are currently 72 men on death row for crimes committed when they were 16 or 17. Hear NPR's Nina Totenberg.

It's been three years since the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was founded. With billions of dollars at its disposal, the fund has attracted criticism, especially from the United States, over how it uses the money. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

As the Ford Motor Co. marks its 100th anniversary, a Ford dealership in central Minnesota is also celebrating its centennial. The Tenvoorde family began selling Fords a century ago, just as Henry Ford started his business. It's now considered the oldest Ford dealership in the world. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Post reports.

National Geographic researchers say they've found the only known copy of the Gospel of Judas, which has been lost for 1,700 years. Instead of portraying him as the greatest traitor of all time, this Gospel describes Judas as one of Jesus' closest friends.

The MAX School in New Orleans combines youngsters from several Catholic schools damaged by Katrina. A group of seventh and eighth graders talks about how the storm touched their lives.

A hectic, above-normal tropical storm season could produce between four and six major hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico this year, but conditions don't appear ripe for a repeat of 2005's record activity, the National Hurricane Center predicted Monday.

Miles Davis is among the new inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For most of his career, the great jazz trumpeter played music that had very little to do with rock 'n' roll. But his influence on popular music is still being felt today.

Test pilot Scott Crossfield, a legend in the tight-knit community of fliers, has died. The 84-year-old pilot's death has been confirmed after air-traffic control lost contact with his plane early Wednesday. Robert Siegel talks with Ken Hyde, President of the Wright Experience.

The Senate Judiciary Committee votes 10-8 along party lines to approve President Bush's nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. The nomination now moves to the Senate floor, where a vote could come as early as Friday.

The return of Stephen Kappes to the CIA, where he will soon become the agency's No. 2 official, is likely to help smooth some of the turbulence the spy agency has experienced since the upheaval that followed the departure of George Tenet.

Though amenities have improved in the past two years, U.S. soldiers at a forward operating base in Baghdad must still deal with heat, tedium -- and an occasional rocket attack launched in their direction.

David Robinson is the son of baseball legend Jackie Robinson; but his struggle has been to bring a fair price to coffee growers in Tanzania. Robinson founded the Mshikamano Farmers Group in the East African country. The Mshikamanos are exhibiting at the annual Festival of American Folklife, put on by the Smithsonian Institution on the National Mall in Washington.

Novelist and historian Shelby Foote died Monday night. He was 88. The native Mississippian gained a sort of celebrity when he lent his gravelly voice to Ken Burns' PBS documentary series The Civil War.

The Bush administration is overhauling the rules on who's eligibile for overtime pay, and who isn't. But, as many workers have learned, qualifying for overtime on paper doesn't necessarily mean you'll get paid. NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports.