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NPR's Tom Goldman reports from Sydney, Australia that 21 extra meteorologists have been brought into the city to try to forecast the weather during the summer Olympics, which start Friday. Some athletes complain that the name should be changed to the early spring Olympics as summer has not arrived in Sydney and morning frost covers parts of the Olympic village. Olympic officials are sending in extra blankets but can do little to help the triathlon athletes. This weekend, they will be competing in the chilly waters of Sydney Harbor.

Janet Heimlich reports that Austin, Texas utility officials are trying out a new program that allows their customers to buy power generated from renewable energy sources such as solar, or wind power. It means slightly higher power bills for customers who choose the program. But the city has long been home to a strong environmental community that supports such initiatives. Also, the rising price of fossil fuels -- oil and natural gas -- has closed the price gap, making the program more attractive to residents.

Despite the fact that he made many movies in France, Jules Dassin was not a French filmmaker. He was an American who made movies abroad because he was blacklisted here. Rififi is a classic caper film - it inspired Kubrick and Tarantino. It's being re-released in theaters for the first time in more than 40 years - starting a national tour in New York today. You might also know some of Dassin's other films: The Naked City, Never on Sunday, Topkapi. David D'Arcy reports.

Today's programming is made possible in part by WGLT Day Sponsors Stan and Martha Geison, celebrating their anniversary and their love for WGLT, which they think of as, “the lifeblood of balanced news in the twin cities!”Learn how you can become a WGLT Day Sponsor.

The number of days cities across the country are facing air pollution from fires has gone up dramatically.

Ani DiFranco [AH-nee dih-FRANK-oh] is a 25-year-old musician who has released seven albums on her own label. With her company based out of her family home in Buffalo and her apartment in New York City, she has built a solid following, selling more than 200,000 units. And Benjamin Shapiro reports that she's done it with songs that are sometimes very frank, addressing sensitive issues like politics, abortion, the intimate details of personal relationships.

Host Liane Hansen speaks with Peter Shrag, ditorial page editor for the Sacramento (California) Bee newspaper, Richard ard, editor of the Miami Herald's Sunday Viewpoint Section and Mike hristiansen, Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution bout the top stories in the news for the past year. Topics include the budget attle on Capitol Hill, the Oklahoma City bombing and the Simpson trial.

This week marks the fifth anniversary of the allied military campaign to evict Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Nearly five years after the end of the military conflict, United Nations sanctions against Iraq remain in place. NPR's Sunni Khalid visited Baghdad to see the effects of the sanctions on the people in the city and found that the economy has declined considerably in the past five years. Food prices have skyrocketed, the education system has declined, and the hospital system is short of supplies and medicines.

Ballet in America would not be what it is without Lincoln Kirstein (KURR-steen), who died today in his Manhattan home at the age of 87. NPR's Melissa Block reports that as a dance patron, Kirstein brought choreographer George Balanchine to the United States in 1933. Together they founded the School of American Ballet and later, the New York City Ballet. Kirstein ran both for many years and wrote several books on dance.

Commentator Jonetta Rose Barris believes that when well-meaning legislators seek to ban advertising on cigarettes and alcohol, they take away the critical element of choice. Efforts to ban such advertising in poor, inner city neighborhoods is paternalistic, she says. Children need to learn to exercise their judgement and practice making choices. The ability to choose wisely isn't dropped in our laps when we turn 21, she says. We need to teach them to beware the products, not the ads.