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California is in the midst of a boom in power plant construction. Most of the plants are in rural Kern county. Tamara Keith reports.

NPR's Fred Wasser tells us about his first bird-watching trip, a search for a Snowy Owl that was spotted in Frederick County, Maryland. The white and fluffy bird breeds in the Arctic tundra and often travels south during the winter months in search of food. According to folklore, a close encounter with this bird could turn your life around.

Commentator Lynn Trenning wonders what happened to the many traditions that were once associated with the American flag.

NPR's Jack Speer takes a look at how mutual funds are weathering the downturn in the stock market. Mutual funds remain a popular way to invest, but when the markets turn bearish, many investors drop funds that focus on quick-growth companies and find shelter in those with a more conservative portfolio.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Michael Williamson of the Washington Post, who was named the Photographer of the Year by the White House News Photographers' Association. (5:51) View some of Williams' photos.

Solar panels and other devices that allow homeowners to generate their own power have been available since the late 1970s. At first, cost and reliability kept them from being widely used. But now the technology behind solar power has improved, and electricity shortages in states like California have caused some consumers to look again to the sun for their power needs. NPR's Andy Bowers reports on the renewed interest in solar power.

NPR's Guy Raz reports on a scandal developing around one of Germany's leaders. Last month German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer gave testimony in a murder trial about his past as a student radical. Now evidence suggests that Fischer may have whitewashed his story, and he is being accused of perjury.

Host Bob Edwards speaks with Kari Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. President Bush is scheduled to speak today at the opening of the new museum, the third component of the National Memorial.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports Israeli troops have been demolishing Palestinian homes and razing fruit and olive groves near Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip in a bid to stop Palestinian attacks on the settlers. There have been loud complaints from human rights activists and others.

Jody Becker of Chicago Public Radio reports on the challenge public schools in Chicago face in teaching a small population of American Indian students - with sensitivity and smartness.