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Miriam Chamani, a priestess of the Voodoo religion in New Orleans, shares her thoughts on the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. She fled the flooding with her parrot Mango, but now she's back welcoming those seeking her insight.

Matt Amorello quit his position Thursday as chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which controls the Big Dig -- Boston's $15 billion project to redirect highway traffic through the center of the city. Earlier this month, a woman was killed when concrete panels fell from the ceiling of a highway tunnel. Robert Siegel talks with reporter Fred Thys from member station WBUR in Boston.

One of the most popular "bird cams" on the Web is focused on a pair of nesting bald eagles in Canada's British Columbia, near the city of Victoria on Vancouver Island. Fans have watched as two eaglets hatched and are almost ready to leave the nest.

National Guard troops are patrolling the streets of New Orleans, returning to the city they helped stabilize nine months ago, after Hurricane Katrina struck. An upswing in violence, including a quintuple shooting that took place on Saturday, has led to new fears of unrest.

Andrew Goldstein was convicted this week for pushing Kendra Webdale, a woman he never met, into the New York City subway tracks and killing her. His lawyers coaxed him off his medication to show the jury how mentally ill he was, but that wasn't enough for an insanity verdict. NPR's Joanne Silberner reports that this case highlights the difficulties the criminal justice system has in dealing with mental illness.

Iraq's health minister says more than 350 civilians have been killed since the war began, including 36 in Baghdad over the past 24 hours. Most of the victims died in an attack on a commercial district in the city; Iraqi officials blame the bombing on U.S. missiles, but the Pentagon says it did not target the area. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

People think of Las Vegas as Sin City, a version of Disneyland, or maybe a little of both. Director Stephen Ives talks about Las Vegas: An Unconventional History, his new PBS documentary.

Alex Chadwick travels to Berkeley, Calif., where he's introduced to "sliding" -- a form of skateboarding unique to the city. Riders speed down steep hills wearing special gloves for turning and braking.

Lily Tuck is one of the five National Book Awards finalists -- each of them women, each of them writing in New York City. Tuck led the life of a very obscure novelist until she was nominated for Letters from Paraguay. Tuck tells Martha Woodroof about her account of two lovers tangled in a mid-19th century war that wiped out 90 percent of Paraguay's male population.

NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home. (This week's winner is Mary Alice Kohs from New York City. She listens to Weekend Edition on member station WNYC and WSHU in New York.)