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NPR's Aaron Schachter reports on a little known option for minor criminals in Southern California. If a judge approves, a prisoner may be allowed to leave the crowded and dangerous county jail for "nicer" accommodations in a small city lock up. The pay-to-stay program costs detainees anywhere from 40 to 145 dollars a night. Some lawyers who know about the program say it's a legitimate way to keep clients safe. Civil libertarians say it's inherently unfair, since it gives an advantage to those with money.

Noah speaks with Craig Dremann, co-owner of the Redwood City Seed Company, about the Indian Military's claim that the world's hottest chili pepper is grown in Assam. He says it's the hottest domesticated pepper, but the hottest is a wild pepper called the Pepper Tepin, which grows in the dry desert mountains of Northern Mexico. His company sells old fashioned vegetable and herb seeds from all over the world, including Assam. For the chili seeds, he's had to developed his own testing system, which is similar to the scoville scale at the turn of the century.

NPR's Rob Gifford reports China has mounted a massive cleanup and construction campaign in Beijing in an effort NOT to lose out again on a bid to host the Olympics. Beijing was bitterly disappointed when Sydney, Australia won the right to host the 2000 summer games, beating Beijing by only two votes. The people of Beijing now hope their city will be chosen to host the 2008 Olympics. They say it's a matter of national pride. But winning an Olympic bid also would force the government to address severe problems with noise, traffic and air pollution.

The bicyclist in front of the two leaders at the Quad Cities Marathon went straight instead of turning — veering them off course. But it steered Tyler Pence to a $3,000 first place prize.

For families in the New York City homeless system, the first stop is the EAU, the Emergency Assistance Unit. It is supposed to be the place families go to get paperwork processed and be placed in a shelter. Fourteen-year-old Herbert Bennett Jr. came into the EAU with his father in June, and spent some of his time there writing in his notebook. Hear some excerpts. (2:30)

NPR's Anne Garrels reports from Moscow that the hostage crisis in the Russian city of Budenovsk (pronounced: bood-YAWN-uhfsk) took a turn for the worse today, as Russian government troops stormed the hospital where Chechen fighters are holding more than one thousand civilians hostage, but failed to end the crisis. Some hostages were freed, around 200. But most remained captive. Negotiations continue. And in Moscow, the political fallout is accumulating, as Boris Yeltsin's government tries to figure out how to end the crisis without further loss of civilian lives.

-NPR'S Andy Bowers reports from Sarajevo on the seizure by NATO forces of what they call a Muslim terrorist training camp just outside the city. Eleven people, including three thought to be Iranians, were arrested at the camp, along with a large arms cache, including rifles, machine guns and booby traps. U.S. Admiral Leighton Smith, the commander of NATO forces in Bosnia, says elements of the mainly Muslim Bosnian government may have been involved in training some of the men to carry out terrorist acts.

Janice Yeary [JAN-is YEER-ee] is a federal employee in Oklahoma City. She helped start and served as a volunteer at the child care center in the Murrah Building and then watched in horror as it collapsed a year ago. She has been amazed at the strength of Sharon and Scott Coyne, who lost their only child in the bombing. The Coyne's hosted a party at the sight of the bombing on what would have been their daughter's second birthday. Janice Yeary talks about what that event did to help her and others come to terms with their grief over their many losses.

Linda Wertheimer talks with Dr. Jeanne-Marie Col of the United Nations about the Great Tangshan (tang-SHUN) earthquake which occured in northeast China 20 years ago this week. Col recounts how the citizens of Qinglong (Ching-long) were able to accurately predict the quake, take precautionary measures, and thereby prevent any loss of life. By contrast, in the city of Tangshan and other nearby areas where people did not take such measures, it is estimated that 240-thousand people died and over 600-thousand were injured.

. Today, the Ford Motor Company will produce its two-hundred-and 50-millionth vehicle, AND this year marks the one hundredth birthday of automobile production in the U.S. We'll hear from Ralph NAder, New York City's traffic commissioner, a car loving poet, and from Tom and Ray, the hosts of Car Talk.