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Alison Richards of NPR News begins a three part series on osteoperosis. Today she details how the disease has become a public health crisis in such a short period of time. No one realized the size of the problem until the accountants took a look at the heath care costs.

NPR's David Kestenbaum reports on the newest developments in research on narcolepsy.

Commentator Frank Deford unleashes every football fan's resentment for the announcer especially the newest to the NFL Dennis Miller.

NPR's Martin Kaste (KAH-stee) talks with host Linda Wertheimer about President Clinton's visit to Colombia to endorse his latest plan to curb drug trafficking. Clinton was meeting Colombian President Pastrana in the coastal city of Cartagena in the wake of a one-point-three-billion dollar package of aid and military support for the Colombian army to help fight guerillas and the drug overlords who support them.

Writer Verta Mae Grosvenor examines how massive, rapid resort development has altered life on the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina. The long-time residents are the Gullah -- or Geechee -- people. The names are interchangable. The Gullah people are descendents of slaves, and managed for years to retain a distinctive, African-influenced way of life. Some 30 years ago, high-end tourism came to the region. One by one, land was bought up by outside developers. Now the Gullah people want to profit from the little land they still own.

Bill Zeeble of member station KERA in Dallas reports that the city has a new record -- sixty-one days and counting without rain. The previous record was 58 days set back in 1934 and tied in 1950. The dry spell has hit North Texas farmers hard, and it is starting to occasionally impact the city's drinking water. It is also drying out the soil causing the foundations of many houses to settle and generating business for local foundation repair companies.

Osteoporosis affects some 10 million Americans now, and those numbers are likely to grow as the baby boom generation ages. Wendy Schmelzer reports on a study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, which finds that a drug treatment used by women to treat osteoporosis works just as well for men. That's important, because men account for 20 percent of those affected.

After a gruesome start to the year, stocks have made a solid recovery this summer. As Jim Zarroli reports, while lots of dot-coms have hit rock bottom, many other sectors such as consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and financial stocks are faring well. The economy has cooled without coming to a halt, interest rates are falling, and many investors think the market looks reasonably healthy.

NPR News Science Correspondent Richard Harris reports that scientists have been surprised by a rapid change in the Arctic Tundra. When the Arctic air warmed up in the 1980s, this delicate ecosystem started venting large quantities of carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere, potentially adding to global climate change. But a study in the journal "Nature" finds that arctic plant life has adapted to the changing climate, and is helping soak up some carbon dioxide.

Peter Kenyon of NPR News, reports from Erie, Pennsylvania that Texas Governor George W. Bush is defending his state's record in providing health insurance for children. A federal judge in Texas has ordered the state to improve its enrollment in a healthcare program for poor children. Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore has been pressing the Republican candidate for details of his health care plan for the nation. But Governor Bush is not being rushed. He says he'll have details of the plan after the Labor Day holiday. He goes on to criticize the Clinton-Gore administration for being ineffective on this issue for the past seven years.