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It's been a stunning fall for California's largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Company. The company played a crucial role in California's fabled economic growth, and its clout was once unmatched in the state. But California's electricity crisis has been punishing for the utility. Its future now depends largely on a bankruptcy court judge. NPR's Elaine Korry has the story.

Three days after the Peruvian Air Force downed a small plane carrying a missionary family, military and diplomatic officials on two continents are still trying to sort out what happened. In Washington today, Bush administration spokesmen said the CIA had been involved in the drug interdiction effort that killed an American woman and her infant daughter. But they said the CIA-operated surveillance plane had no part in the decision that led to the tragedy. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.

The 28th annual International Ramp Cook Off happens this coming weekend in Elkins, West Virginia. Commentator Michael Ivey says ramps are related to onions, garlic and leeks, but they're stronger and zestier. And they inspire a wide range of reactions.

Linda Wertheimer interviews Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Policy under President Clinton. He is now president of McCaffrey Associates. They discuss the U.S. relationship with Peru and the war on drugs.

The U.S. says a tape recording of the cockpit conversation in an American surveillance plane over Peru proves the crew tried to stop the shoot down of a missionary plane by the Peruvian Air Force. An American missionary and her 7-month-old daughter were killed when a Peruvian fighter mistook their plane for a drug smuggling aircraft. Robert Siegel talks to NPR's Pentagon Correspondent Tom Gjelten.

In most states, if you are poor and disabled, you can get Medicaid -- the state-run medical care program for the poor that is partly financed by the federal government. But in Indiana, it's not necessarily so. In Indiana, if there is a treatment that would fix your disability, such as a hip replacement or open heart surgery, you are not considered disabled. That's true even if you can't afford the treatment. NPR's Barbara Bradley reports on this catch-22, and how the Indiana Supreme Court may finally decide a case on the issue that has been in the courts since 1992.

NPR's Mara Liasson examines President Bush's first 100 days in office by comparing them to his predecessor's first 100 days. He's generally receiving good marks from presidential scholars and political analysts, but the public still has some reservations.

A New Jersey state supreme court justice will not face impeachment proceedings. Justice Peter Verniero is accused of misleading the public about the use of racial profiling by state police, but a top lawmaker has said he will block any attempt at impeachment. Eugene Sonn reports from member station WHYY in Philadelphia.

NPR's Madeline Brand reports on the House debate over the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act." The bill passed in the House by a vote of 252-to-172. President Bush has said he'll sign it if it crosses his desk.

Commentator Stephen Lynch is the pop culture critic at the Orange County Register. He says after actor Robert Downey Jr.'s latest arrest, attempts to portray him as a tragic Shakespearean hero don't make sense. He's not that great an actor.