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Commentator Frank Deford has words of praise for Jerry West, who's retiring from a 40-year career in basketball, as player, coach, and executive. West announced on Monday that he's retiring as Vice President of Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Host Howard Berkes continues the second part of a two part story on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Mormon Militiamen killed over a hundred Arkansas settlers on a Southern Utah field in 1857...and now the Mormon Church is working to put the matter to rest. The Church has not accepted blame for the incident, but it has built a new monument on the site. Some descendents of both the travelers and the militiamen say the gesture is helping them come to terms with what happened a hundred and forty-seven years ago.

Charles Michael Ray South Dakota Public Radio reports on an annual biker rally that brings new life to a struggling mid-western town.

Commentator Baxter Black talks about a professional homeless person and her dog.

Howard Berkes talks with author Stephen Pyne about a series of wildfires that burned through the rockies in 1910.

NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports on Firestone's announcement today that it is recalling six-and-a-half million tires of a type that has been linked with 46 deaths. The tires are used on light trucks and sport utility vehicles, and have been blamed in accidents that involved the tread separating from the tire casing. The incidents have occurred mainly in southern states in hot weather. Most of the tires have been installed on Ford Explorers.

Host Howard Berkes talks to Ted Sorensen, former special counsel and speechwriter to President John F. Kennedy, about the selection this week of Senator Joseph Lieberman to be Vice President Al Gore's running mate. Sorensen was part of Kennedy's 1960 campaign, the last time a candidate's religion played a role in an election. Kennedy had to fight anti-Catholic bias to win the Democratic nomination and the presidency.

NPR's Debbie Elliott reports that other countries are following the example set in the U.S. and suing tobacco companies to recover health care costs. Cases are already pending in South America, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Noah talks to Tod Marks, Senior Editor at Consumer Reports Magazine, who writes the monthly Recalls column. They discuss the process of recalling consumer products. He says the number of people who respond to a recall tends to rise with the price of the item. He also says automobiles are the easiest item to recall, because there are records of who bought them.

A new report from the Surgeon General calls for sweeping measures to reduce tobacco use. Among them: higher taxes on tobacco products and tighter regulation of marketing and sales. NPR's Jon Hamilton has a report.