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Effects from the energy crisis in California are rippling across the West, with more serious consequences than higher home electricity bills. So far at least 1,500 industrial workers in western states have been laid off, partly because of high electricty prices. Among the victims are copper mine workers in the southwest. From member station KRWG in New Mexico, Eric Whitney reports.

Attorney General John Ashcroft went to Oklahoma City today to meet with survivors and relatives of victims of the 1995 Murrah Federal Building bombing. Ashcroft said he wanted to talk with the people about the calls from some of them for closed circuit television of the execution of bomber Timothy McVeigh. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

NPR's Jackie Northam reports a declining population has caused the state of Iowa to try to lure new workers. Many of the newcomers are from other countries, and the state has started to plan programs to deal with their needs. The immigrants are bringing new cultures to Iowa. Some people are unhappy about the changes.

Joshua Levs reports a case involving alleged child abuse at church has created a stir in Atlanta. The House of Prayer disciplines its young parishioners with corporal punishment. Georgia officials believe the church and many of its parents are abusing the children with beatings and whippings. The state has put 41 children into temporary foster care.

Adam Hochberg reports that it's snake roundup season in the South, a springtime tradition in which hunters scour the woods for rattlesnakes and bring them into town -- often to be slaughtered. Roundups were originally intended to protect people from snake bites. They have become tourist attractions in some places, like Claxton, Ga. But environmentalists and animal rights groups call the roundups barbaric

NPR's Debbie Elliott reports on the ruling against a former T-W-A flight attendant who says the tobacco companies were to blame for the smoke in the airplane cabin which aggravated her lung disease. This is the third second-hand smoke case to go to trial, and the third time a jury rejected the claim.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports from Tokyo on reaction in Japan to the collision Friday between a U.S. submarine and a Japanese fishing trawler off the coast of Hawaii. U.S. Coast Guard search efforts continue for the nine Japanese still missing; 26 survivors from the boat have been rescued.

From Los Angeles, Johanna Cooper reports on the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. The group has long invited community members to join them on stage. For her latest project, Hallelujah, Lerman brought in people from churches, synagogues and Buddhist temples to give praise and celebrate as part of the dance.

At his first official White House press conference, President Bush continued to take the high road on the subject of last minute pardons by former President Clinton. We hear an excerpt. And NPR's Brian Naylor reports on the effort made today by New York Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to distance herself from the latest controversies surrounding the granting of last-minute pardons by her husband.

The state of California is considering buying more than 30-thousand miles of high voltage power transmission lines. Governor Gray Davis sees the move as a way to help solve the state's power crisis, by federal regulators are not so sure. From member station KPCC in Los Angeles, Rachael Myrow reports.