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NPR's Don Gonyea reports that Ford Motor Company has been forced to close three assembly plants, idling some 6,800 workers. The plant closings were made necessary because of a UAW strike at a key parts-manufacturer, Johnson Controls, Inc. The company makes seats for Ford's popular Expedition model. The UAW and Johnson Control are still negotiating, but there were no reports of progress.

NPR's David Welna reports from Orange, Texas, where a dozen residents took part in a role-playing exercise as a congressional committee trying to divvy up the federal budget. The group concluded that the $1.6 trillion tax cut proposed by President George Bush wasn't a prudent idea until the national debt is paid off.

An experiment with 6-year-olds found they worked harder doing a repetitive task when they pretended to be Batman or Dora the Explorer.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 long ideological lines that the First Amendment bars Colorado from “forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees.”

The House Democrats' $1.9 billion security plan includes more than $730 million to reimburse the National Guard and other agencies for the Jan. 6 attacks. It's fate is unclear in the Senate.

Media ethicist Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute has been named NPR's public editor, an in-house advocate for listeners and newsroom watchdog.

Tri-Valley schools in Downs have found a new superintendent. Tri-Valley plans to name its high school principal, Ben Derges, to the district's top job at its next meeting in January.

More than 2,500 champion show dogs have descended upon Madison Square Garden for the 129th Westminster Kennel Club's dog show. One of the top African-American handlers in the sport is there, hoping to make history. Allison Keyes reports.

The dark comedy by David Hare chronicles the tangle of diplomatic maneuvers leading to the war. It hints that President Bush and top advisers intended to invade Iraq even before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Before Hurricane Katrina hit land, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FEMA Director Michael Brown and other top agency officials received e-mails warning that Katrina posed a dire threat to New Orleans and other areas. Yet one FEMA official tells NPR little was done.