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New York state apple growers are fighting to make local school boards more picky about the apples they serve to students. The quality, they say, is fine, but the apples are being imported most likely from Washington state. Local growers would like to see New York products served to New York children. Brenda Tremblay of member station WXXI reports.

In part three of a series on deregulation, NPR's Scott Horsley reports on how deregulated electrical utilities have increased the cost of powering the neon lights of the Las Vegas strip. Deregulation was supposed to reduce the cost of electricity, but in parts of Nevada and California, it's had the opposite effect. New power plants and transmission lines are expensive, and financial problems at some of the biggest utility companies have made it hard for them to raise the necessary capital.

The Bush administration prepares to lift a moratorium on a new, controversial type of pension, the cash-balance plan. The Treasury Department has released regulations indicating what companies must do when converting pensions to cash-balance. Companies with large numbers of older workers are especially interested. Critics say lifting the moratorium will lead to a flood of conversions that will hurt older workers. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

Taking advantage of low interest rates and service costs, there was a sharp upswing of mortgage refinancing among U.S. homeowners in 2002. Many took cash out of their properties to pay off credit card debt, remodel their homes or put money in the bank. NPR's Jack Speer reports on whether the trend has run its course.

The pressure on Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) to quit his post as Senate Republican leader increases. Secretary of State Colin Powell "deplored the sentiments" of Lott's statements made in tribute to Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC). Meanwhile, Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) says "It's time for a change." The controversy could derail parts of the Bush agenda for the new Congress. NPR's David Welna reports

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from The Netherlands that defense attorneys abruptly closed their case today in the trial of two Libyans accused of killing 270 people in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The court reconvened after a month-long recess that was called to give the defense time to collect information from Syria that would supposedly implicate Palestinian militants. But the evidence did note materialize and so, after briefly calling a final witness, the defense ended its case. After both prosecution and defense make their closing arguments, the Scottish judges hearing the case are expect to return a verdict within ten days.

Kerry Donahue from member station WBGO in Newark, New Jersey reports on the latest garbage skirmish between New York and New Jersey. On Staten Island, the Fresh Kills landfill will be closed by the end of next year and is the world's largest dump. After the Fresh Kills closure, 13-thousand tons of New York City garbage will pass through New Jersey every day by rail. And some New Jersey residents aren't happy about it.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Berlin that Germany's foreign minister Joschka Fischer has found himself on the defensive, apologizing for his role in violent street protests in the nineteen sixties and seventies. Fischer, a member of the Green Party, never hid his radical past, but always said he resorted to violence only in self-defense. Now, a German magazine has published photos that appear to show Fischer beating a policeman. Fischer says he has made a complete break with his earlier political views.

NPR's Phillip Martin reports on reaction to the news that the Reverend Jesse Jackson is the father of a 20-month-old daughter, out of wedlock. Jackson released a statement admitting to an affair with an aide and said he was supporting the child emotionally and financially. Many in the civil rights community have refused to comment publicly on the scandal. Those who have followed Jackson's long career in civil rights say only Jackson himself has been hurt by the revelations -- that the movement has many other leaders. Jackson announced a temporary withdrawal from public life. He was preparing to lead Inauguration Day protests in Tallahassee over alleged suppression of the black vote in Florida.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Berlin that German foreign minister Joschka Fischer was in parliament today, defending himself in the face of calls by some opposition members for his resignation. Last week, a news magazine published photos of Fischer as a nineteen seventies street radical, beating a policeman. Yesterday, he was called as a character witness in the trial of a former comrade, accused in a terrorist attack. Today, in parliament, Fischer again admitted he had once beaten a policeman, but said he took responsibility for his actions. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder cancelled appointments to come to his foreign minister's defense.