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An investigative committee in Sacramento has concluded that the county's child-protective system places too much emphasis on family preservation at the expense of children's safety. The committee, which was formed after 3 year-old Adrian Conway was beaten to death at his home, also says that training for case workers could be improved. Robert Siegel speaks with the committee's chair, retired Superior Court Judge Eugene Gualco.

Noah talks with Harry Robidoux, the director of Emergency Management Servic in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Robidoux led the search for a family of four whose plane crashed in the Pocono Mountains. Gary and Marie Knapp and their two children had been on their way home from visiting relatives in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving when their plane went down. All four survived, thanks to the rescue efforts which discovered the family some sixteen hours after the crash.

Wade Goodwyn reports that in Arkansas' Fourth Congressional District -- Bill Clinton territory -- incumbent Republican Jay Dickey is fighting for his political life by attending almost every town or county festival, and even large family reunions. He's touting the millions he has brought to the district from his perch on the House Appropriations Committee. Challenger Mike Ross is running to the right of Gore and meeting bleary-eyed potential constituents at 7 a.m. in coffee shops across the district.

In the final installment of our Changing Face of America series on the changing face of sports and society, NPR's Uri Berliner travels to Orange County, California, to see how girls fast-pitch softball has changed. The game has become big business, with highly paid pitching and hitting instructors, and super elite travel teams that all but assure scholarships to major universities. But gone too are the days when softball was just a game, and many girls are feeling the pressure to succeed in the sport on and off the field.

Ohio Representative James Traficant is the subject of a federal investigation, in connection with free construction work and free cars the Congressman allegedly received from Ohio businessmen with interests before the government. Twenty years ago, when Traficant was a county sheriff, he was charged with taking bribes. He defended himself in court and won. His popularity launched him to Congress. Now, Traficant makes clear he's ready to defend himself again. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports.

In a remote region of Russia's Arctic Far North, residents say they're the latest victims of President Putin's drive to reshape his county into a global power. Last month, authorities jailed the region's governor, Alexei Barinov, on charges of fraud and embezzlement. But citizens say the move was part of a plan.

In 1831, Nat Turner led a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Va., that killed more than 50 white people. An independent film debuting on PBS examines The Confessions of Nat Turner, William Styron's controversial 1967 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Turner's alleged jailhouse statements and other versions of Turner's story. Pat Dowell reports.

In the second of three stories on the mood of the country, NPR's John Ydstie visits a farm cooperative in Lincoln County, just outside St. Louis. The biggest issue is growth and development, as farm land turning into housing divisions and suburbs. On the national and international front, the war in Iraq is most important - and views are mixed. The economic outlook has brighten a lot in this region with corn and soybean prices up so overall, there's a pretty optimistic outlook.

Winds are slowing in California, giving firefighters a respite from the massive wildfires. The fires around Los Angeles are contained, but farther south in San Diego County, firefighters are struggling to control them. Around 10,000 firefighters are working day and night to put out the blazes.

Many Americans are reassessing Pope Francis' triumphant U.S. tour because of his meeting with Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis.