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Maine Public Radio's Andrea De Leon (AHN-dray-uh day-lay-OHN) reports that Maine Islanders are up in arms over Nabisco's decision to stop making their favorite chowder cracker. The company says Crown Pilot crackers are just not profitable. But residents of Chebeague Island say chowder just isn't the same without them and they've launched a campaign to 'save the cracker'. Latest word is that Nabisco may be reconsidering.

NPR's Virginia Biggar reports that now that a civil jury has found OJ Simpson liable for compensatory damages in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, the trial turns its attention to possible punitive damages. The jury has already awarded 8.5 million dollars in compensation to the family of Ron Goldman, and the plaintiffs' lawyers will begin arguing tomorrow for punitive damage. Part of their task will be to demonstrate just how much Simpson is worth, and that his future earnings should be counted in the assessment.

In last night's State of the Union address, President Clinton made education the centerpiece of his second term, proposing to make higher education more affordable and to make U.S. education the envy of the world. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports that many educators welcome the President's support, but they say that many of the programs he proposed have been in existence in one form or another for a long time. They question whether the federal government is in a position to enact the reforms the president talked about.

NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports on a new, negative evaluation of the recent television ratings system. The conservative Media Research Center claims the system has failed to adequately alert parents to programming they might not want their children to see. In fact, the group's reviewers contend that prime time programming rated for general audiences routinely contained "vulgarities" and "obscenities". The study looked at 150-hours of prime time television on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, UPN, and WB networks. NBC garnered some of the harshest criticism.

NPR's Ann Cooper reports that South Africa is already making the transition to the post-Nelson Mandela era. The 78-year-old Mandela will be president until he retires in 1999, but Deputy President Thabo Mbeki has taken over much of the day-to-day running of the government. Many are fearful of a future without Mandela, but the president is laying the groundwork for a smooth transition by giving Mbeki more responsibility now. In addition, Mbeki is not expected to change many of Mandela's policies.

Robert talks with Pete Early, author of CONFESSIONS OF A SPY: The Real Story of Aldrich Ames (Putnam, 1997). Early is a former Washington Post reporter who interviewed CIA and KGB officials about Ames. Ames also granted Early secret interviews from prison. Early says he believes Ames "gave up" 25 American agents to the Soviets. Ten of them were killed and several are still missing.

President Clinton sent Congress a one-point-69 trillion dollar budget proposal today, which he says will lead to a balanced budget in 2002. The President also said the spending plan will create surpluses to carry the country through the baby boomer retirement years. The House and Senate Budget committee chairmen say the overall proposal is not bad, but is not bold enough, and would not balance the budget by 2002 as Mr. Clinton claims it would. NPR's Brian Naylor has a report.

Mike Shuster reports on the explosion of TWA Flight 800 which went down last night in the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island, N.Y. killing all on board. More than 100 bodies have been recovered from the waters off Long Island. 228 people were on board. The National Transportation and Safety Board is heading the investigation btu the F-B-I is involved and would assume control if it were determined that the plane's destruction were the result of a criminal act.

Linda talks with NPR's Joe Neel, who's covering the AIDS conference in Vancouver. The conference ends today, with more promising news about new treatments. Researchers report that studies evaluating combinations of anti-AIDS drugs continue to indicate that the approach can suppress the virus to levels that can't be detected. One researcher even went so far to suggest that it may be possible to discontinue the treatment after three years.

Russian voters go to the polls to choose a president on Sunday, June 16th. The two front-runners are President Boris Yeltsin and the leader of the Communists, Gennady Zyuganov ((gen-NAH-dee zyoo-GAHN-off)). Neither is expected to win outright and will probably face each other in a run-off July 7th. NPR's Anne Garrels reports from Moscow on the media campaign each candidate is waging...a campaign in which Yeltsin has a big advantage.