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The city of Baltimore received a $300 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to replace some of its most rundown and dangerous public housing developments. Many of the families who lived in one of these projects, Lexington Terrace, say that even though the buildings were a haven for drug dealers and posed serious hazards to their children, they'll still miss the place they called home. Amy Bernstein reports from Baltimore.

NPR's Joe Palca reports that scientists today are presenting details of the evidence they found that life may have once existed on Mars. A team of researchers led by NASA scientists analyzed a meteorite from Mars that was found in Antarctica. The researchers found evidence of ancient fossilized bacteria-like microbes. Although it's far from conclusive, researchers say it's the strongest evidence yet that life may have once existed on the Red Planet.

NPR's Vicki O'Hara reports on the mounting woes of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The latest blow came earlier this week with the arrest of a senior INS official in Hong Kong. The official, based in Honduras, allegedly was running an operation which was smuggling illegal aliens from Asia through Central America and on to the US. The scandal comes on the heels of charges that INS officials in California and Miami have sought to deceive Congress and the public about their operations.

NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports that Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole has completed a three-day campaign swing through the upper Midwest, in which he promoted his plan for a $1,000-1,500 a year school voucher program. The proposal is intended to let low- and middle-income students go to private schools if they choose, but critics say it would undermine the already troubled public school system.

NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports on the historic end to a long political struggle over children's television programming. The Federal Communications Commission has approved guidelines that will require broadcasters to air three-hours each week of 'high-quality' educational programming. The new rules -- and last week's commitment by television broadcasters to accept them -- target television that kids might see between the hours of 7 and 10 in the morning.

NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports that Senator Bob Dole, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, has released his position on how the issue of abortion should be dealt with in the party's platform. He hopes to avoid a big fight at the national convention in San Diego this summer. Dole said he endorses keeping language that calls for a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, but that he would back new language acknowledging that Republicans differ on a number of issues, including abortion.

NPR's Debbie Elliot reports that, despite the attention that's been focused on black churches, arson is a major problem for houses of worship, regardless of the race of the congregation. Attorney General Janet Reno said today that preventing church fires and arresting the culprits remains at the top of the Justice Department priority list and federal officials recently met with church leaders in Mobile, Alabama to talk about arson prevention.

Sean Crowley reports that First Lady Hillary Clinton visited Robben Island today with South African President Nelson Mandela. The South African leader spent 18 of his 27 years in prison on the island. Clinton has spent the past three days in South Africa, one of the stops on a two-week, six-nation African tour--the first such trip by a sitting First Lady.

The Federal Aviation Administration is considering the adoption of regulations that would require airlines to install fire extinguishers in cargo holds. The most practical chemical available for those systems has been banned by the Environmental Protection Agency because it damages the ozone layer. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports the agencies appear to be headed for an agreement to use the banned chemical, while a safe, effective and affordable alternative is developed.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, some candidates spent upwards of $200,000 for a seat on the city council, before a city ordinance placed spending caps on local campaigns. The city hopes a court challenge to the ordinance will wind up before the Supreme Court...and will prompt the Court to reverse its 1976 Supreme Court decision that found mandatory spending caps violate candidates' free speech rights. NPR's Rick Karr reports.