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Kentucky has surpassed another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. Saturday Gov. Andy Beshear reported the state’s death toll from COVID-19 has…

NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports on an important decision today by a federal judicial panel blocking an Internet decency law. The government says it will appeal the ruling, which grants a preliminary injunction to opponents of the Communications Decency Act. The Act -- part of the huge Telecommunications Law -- would have prohibited 'indecent' or 'offensive' material on the Internet. Opponents filed suit, charging the Act is too broad and violates the First Amendment. The federal judges agreed, saying the global computer network deserves at least the same protections as print media. The case is certain to find its way to the US Supreme Court.

Noah talks with NPR's Anne Garrels in Moscow about today's presidential run-off election in Russia. President Boris Yeltsin is challenged by Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov ((gen-AH-dee zyu-GAH-noff)). Election returns have been coming in very gradually, since there are 11 time zones in Russia. In the Russian Far East and Siberia, the election commission reports the voter turn-out is nearly 64-percent. Aides to Yeltsin say he needs a high turn-out of at least 60-pecent to beat Zyuganov.

NPR's Eric Westervelt reports that social service agencies have a new tool in trying to stop child abuse without breaking up families. In Western Pennsylvania, a pilot program has at-risk children wearing an electronic transmitter they can use to signal authorities if they're threatened. This way, children do not necessarily need to be taken out of their homes. Some child advocates heartily endorse the program, but other claim that this solution fails to address the underlying problems in these homes.

Steve Inskeep reports on efforts in the state of Ohio to register more voters and to get out the vote this fall. Republicans and Democrats alike are using computers and demographic information to target those likely to favor their candidates. Special interest groups are conducting their own get out the vote campaigns. Ohio is one of several states considered pivotal in the Presidential election.

NPR's Joanne Silberner reports that a four year study of the health of people with chronic illnesses (high blood pressure, diabetes, recent heart attack, congestive heart failure, manic depression) showed that people in HMOs and people receiving traditional fee-for-service care did about the same, EXCEPT for the elderly and the poor in HMOs, who did worse. The HMO industry says the data, collected in 1990, doesn't reflect current HMO care, and that the difference wasn't that large.

NPR's John Burnett reports on a Colorado ballot initiative which has attracted the concerned attention of non-profits around the country. Dubbed "Murphy's Law" for the man who has made its approval his personal mission, the measure would end property tax exemptions for churches, religious organizations and other non-profits in the state. The prospect has mobilized powerful opposition and started fierce debates about the cost of privilege and the value of service organizations.

NPR's David Welna reports on the difficulties facing hundreds of people deported from the United States to their native Haiti after serving jail time in America. "The deportees," as they're known in Haiti, grew up in the US and find themselves strangers in their homeland, in most cases not even speaking the common language, Creole. They have great difficulty finding work, and some invariably drift back to a life of crime. An American woman has formed a group which is trying to help the deportees get education and jobs.

Linda talks with Liz and Christy Carpenter -- two delegates with a long history of Democratic Conventions. Liz Carpenter was in Philadelphia in 1948 -- as a very young, very green reporter. She later became Press Secretary to Lady Bird Johnson. Today, she's a delegate from Texas. Her daughter Christy is a delegate from California. Her first convention was in Atlantic City, New Jersey -- in 1964. She was more excited about the possibility of seeing the Beatles afterward.

In the 1940's operatic soprano Kyra (KEER-uh) Vane's pure toned beautiful voice garnered her leading roles in operas like Mussorgsky's "Sorochintsy Fair" and a coveted spot in Europe's opera houses. But then Vane stopped singing, got rid of her beloved piano, and became a typist. Now in her 80's, Kyra Vane has lived to see recordings of her performances on CD and critics are asking how could she have ever stopped singing. Vera Frankl reports.