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Linda talks with Sam Walker, staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal about a series the paper is running on Florida's rise in sports prominence. Walker says Florida has become what is arguably the most dynamic sports landscape in the world. Four of this year's college football "bowl" teams are from the Sunshine State. And of late, Florida has been host to the Super Bowl and the World Series.

There's a new theory of how breast cancer works; it's the "on-off switch" theory. Up until now, most researchers have adhered to the "slowly increasing risk" theory, which suggests that the risk of breast cancer is low when a woman is young, and increases with age until menopause, when the risk levels off. But a harder look at the actual cases of breast cancer makes the "on-off switch" hypothesis more plausible. NPR's Joe Palca reports.

California's Public Utilities Commission is raising electricity rates for consumers and businesses to help two California utilities that are approaching bankruptcy because of the state's energy crisis. But the move has scant support. Consumer groups are angry, and the utilities say the temporary rate increases are much too small to revive their financial prospects. Utilities are again warning customers that rolling blackouts could be on the way. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.

President Bush today went a step further in defining what he means by "compassionate conservatism" -- creating a new White House office to support social welfare programs in the private sector. The new operation -- to be called the Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives -- has already attracted critics who question the use of public funds by religious organizations. NPR's White House Correspondent Don Gonyea reports.

Earlier this month, lawyers for a group of black employees - and former employees - of Microsoft accused the software giant of employment practices they say "border on corporate slavery." The suit seeks $5 billion in damages. Attorneys representing employers say this is the latest example of a trend in bias cases -- to constantly up the ante. Employers argue that the tactics are not only unfair to business, but may do more harm than good for diversity. NPR's David Molpus reports.

NPR's Peter Overby reports on today's introduction of the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform bill for the new Congress. Arizona Republican Senator John McCain is more confident of the bill's chances for passing this go around, as he has picked up a significant supporter in Republican Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi. Some of the bill's opponents were also defeated in the November 2000 elections. The bill threatens to pose the first major confrontation to the new Bush administration.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reports on today's arguments before the Supreme Court about whether golfer Casey Martin may ride in a cart during PGA tournaments. Martin won in lower courts, which held that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires the tour to waive its rule that golfers walk the course. But the PGA is appealing. Martin has a circulation problem in his leg that makes walking the course painful.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on the second day of confirmation hearings for Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft. Today's hearing was not as combative as yesterday's, when Massachusetts Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy lashed into Ashcroft's civil rights record. The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee continued pressing Ashcroft on how his personal views on laws might differ from having to enforce them. But one Democrat, Wisconsin's Herb Kohl, conceded that Ashcroft is likely to win confirmation.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on Georgia Senator Zell Miller, a Democrat who has given the Bush Administration two huge gifts -- a promise to vote for the confirmation of Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft and his support for the President's 1.6-trillion-dollar tax cut. Miller was appointed to the seat last year following the death of Republican Sen. Paul Coverdell. He had a reputation for reaching across party lines, and insists this is not a precursor of switching to the GOP. But these two actions have created a buzz in Washington.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from London on a British court ruling that twin girls at the center of a trans-Atlantic adoption battle must remain in temporary foster care. The judge postponed a final decision on the babies' custody. But he upheld the actions of child welfare authorities, who removed the twins from the home of a Welsh couple named Kilshaw. The Kilshaws had adopted the babies through an American agent advertising on the Internet. The girls had already been taken in by a California couple, but that adoption was not finalized.