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International tennis officials are considering changes to the game, including shortening sets, allowing temper tantrums and painting the courts purple. Melinda speaks with Tennis magazine deputy editor David Sparrow.

Melinda speaks with Stan Werbin of Elderly Instruments about Pete Seeger's handmade long-necked banjo, which went missing in New York's Hudson River Valley last week. (4:30) (Call Clearwater, (845) 454-7673 with information.)

Unions say talks have intensified, the company says a deal is within reach, but Verizon telecommunications workers are still on strike and without a contract. NPR's Snigdha Prakash reports the main disputes revolve around work transfers and mandatory overtime. One participating union had threatened to bolt the talks, but backed off, saying that "significant progress" has been made.

The E.D. Edwards coal plant in Bartonville is slated to become a battery energy storage site after it closes next year.

Noah talks with Ronald J. Ostrow, a veteran Los Angeles Times writer who is covering a probe of the FBI Crime Laboratory. The probe began three years ago because of allegations of sloppiness in the handling of evidence for 3,000 criminal cases. Some of the defendants of those cases landed on death row.

Noah Adams talks with sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics trials in Boston. Several members of the women's team which won a gold medal in 1996 are trying to make the team again. Interestingly, women's coach Bela Karoly has been given unprecedented power to select the team from among the top finishers at the trials. Usually, the team consists of the top six finishers at the trials.

Vice President Al Gore kicked-off his Mississippi River campaign tour today. NPR's Anthony Brooks reports that, with a hoarse voice, Gore is charging through the heartland searching for votes. People interviewed along the way give their reviews of Gore's speech last night accepting the Democratic presidential nomination.

NPR's Daniel Zwerdling traveled to Nicaragua to report on a new twist in the ever expanding global economy. As international companies travel the world in search of cheap labor, some workers are trying to form unions to demand better wages and better conditions. Zwerdling tells the story of Chentex, a Taiwanese consortium that was attracted to Nicaragua because the nation offered space in an industrial park, no taxes for the first ten years and lots of people willing to work for low wages. But unlike many developing nations where "sweatshops' are set-up, Nicaragua has a history of unions. Under the Sandinistas, peasants and factory workers were encouraged to unionize. When the workers, mostly women, tried to organize at the Chentex factory they were fired and harassed. The way the workers see it, the government made a kind of pact with the devil and they need unions to protect themselves. The way the government sees it, international companies offer employment and a much needed economic boost. The way the companies see it, they are not anti-union, and they are offering work and wages in places where none would exist without them.

Mark Moran of member station KJZZ in Phoenix reports the latest information on Senator John McCain's health. The senator has had a recurrence of skin cancer and has been meeting with his doctors.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reports on issues surrounding the new grand jury empanelled by Independent Counsel Robert Ray to investigate President Clinton. Legal experts say Ray may have needed a new grand jury to look at new evidence, or simply to get the subpoena power necessary to tie up loose ends. Since he took over the office from Kenneth Starr, Ray has said he was not ruling out the possibility of trying to indict Clinton after his presidential term ends.