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Frank Morris of member station KCUR in Kansas City reports on the effort to remodel old nuclear missile silos into homes. The U.S. government built more than 100 nuclear bases and silos in the early 1960s, but they were quickly decommissioned. Today, some people are finding they make for spacious and interesting housing.

Debbie Elliott reports that the trial of a former Ku Klux Klansman in the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham has stirred memories and resentments of that turbulent time, even as the city tries to project a new image. The Klansman's attorney says there is no way his client can get a fair trial in Birmingham, which is seeking redemption for its racist past.

David D'Arcy reports on an unlikely Johannes Vermeer exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It features several of the 17th century Dutch artist's paintings, but it also shows work from his contemporaries in the Netherlands. Curators hope the juxtaposition demonstrates Vermeer's immense talent.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Macedonia that ethnic Albanian guerrillas today announced an unlimited, unilateral cease-fire to allow for negotiations with the government. The guerrillas made the offer just hours before a government ultimatum was to run out. The government ordered the rebels to surrender or withdraw from the areas they hold around the city of Tetovo or face an all-out assault.

Frank talks with writer Thomas Glave about Whose Song? And Other Stories, his new collection of works about life in the New York and the Caribbean. Glave's work focuses on issues involving race, sexuality and the interaction of people from different cultures. (9:25) (NOTE: Whose Song is published by City Lights Books).

Blending into a new city can be a difficult thing in any country, and foreigners living abroad often need to find ways to decompress. Commentator Shai Oster describes the almost religious experience of the morning commute in Beijing.

Maura Ferrelly of Georgia Public Radio reports that residents of Savannah, Georgia are divided over a statue that would commemorate slaves and their contribution to the city. The focus of the controversy is an inscription on the proposed slave memorial by poet Maya Angelou describing the horrors of the "middle passage," the voyage slaves took from Africa to the New World. Opponents say the inscription is divisive, others believe it is an accurate reflection of the voyage.

Noah Adams talks with Ben Miller about the closing of Fresh Kills, the world's largest landfill and the largest manmade object on earth. Fresh Kills opened in 1948 and received its last barge of New York City garbage this week. The garbage mounds will be covered with dirt and seeded with vegetation, but it will take decades for the waste to decompose. Miller is the author of Fat of the Land: Garbage in New York -- the Last 200 Years.

Robert Siegel talks to Helene Stapinksi, the author of Five Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History, a book about growing up in Jersey City, N.J., where the whole town seemed to be on the take. (7:30) Five Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History, by Helene Stapinski, is published by Random House, 2001, ISBN # 0679463062.

Noah talks with Milwaukee County Supervisor Jim McGuigan about the controversy over Dennis Oppenheimer's sculpture of a giant blue shirt. The 35-foot-tall shirt is planned to decorate a parking structure at the Milwaukee Airport. Some people in town are worried that the sculpture will reinforce the city's blue collar image. The artist says that's not what he had in mind.