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In New York's Fourth Congressional District, an interesting race is shaping up for the seat currently held by freshman Republican Dan Frisa (FREE-zuh). Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was murdered in the 1993 Long Island Railroad shooting, has decided to run against Frisa because of his position on gun control. NPR's Melissa Block reports.

Linda talks with Dr. Dan Kelly about a school ban of clothing and accessories with tobacco logos on it. Dr. Kelly is a peditrician and a school board member. He is also the lone dissenter of the ban. He says the ban becomes a freedom of expression issue with students, and may backfire as a way to educate students about smoking.

NPR's Dan Charles reports that the Federal Aviation Administration is expected to announce personnel changes today in the wake of the controversy surrounding its investigation of ValuJet. The FAA asked ValuJet to suspend operations because of problems with the low-cost airline's maintenance procedures. FAA Administrator David Hinson said the case has highlighted problems with the agency as well.

NPR's Dan Charles reports that airline safety experts say that there are limits to how safe airline travel can be. As the number of flights increase, and the complexity of safety precautions multiply, experts say there is a ceiling to how low the accident rate can go.

The cause of the crash of a USAir 737 in Pittsburgh two years ago remains a mystery. Today, the National Transportation Safety Board urged the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct additional research into the cause of the crash. In the meantime, NTSB recommended changes in the rudders on 737 airplanes, since rudder problems have been implicated as a possible cause of the accident. Dan Charles reports.

Weekend Edition's Dan Schorr spoke with Susan Rice, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council and Kofi (KO-fee) Annan (on-On), the Under Secretary-General for Peace-keeping Operations at the United Nations about the prospects for a peace-keeping force in Africa.

Every day in Texas, more than a hundred people walk out of the state's prison headquarters as free men. The Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas is where all male prisoners are processed for release. Producer Dan Collison went to Huntsville to talk to some inmates just about to make their return to the outside world.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews some new summer reads. Her list includes The Rule of Four, by Ian Caldwell; You Remind Me of Me, by Dan Chaon; and The Master by Colm Toibin.

Researcher Dan Starer provides bestselling authors with all manner of background information for their novels. Starer has dug up historical and scientific tidbits to give the ring of truth to more than 100 bestsellers. He speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

NPR's Dan Charles reports that researchers have developed an 'artificial nose' that can distinguish different smells using optical sensors. The device may be more sensitive than other attempts to mimic the olfactory sense, and may be useful for environmental and medical purposes. But it's still far less sensitive than the human nose.