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Officials in Marion say the massive redevelopment is on track, but one of the three main developers has already dropped out, facing a slew of lawsuits

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today reported a case that's likely to raise new questions about the safety of the nation's blood supply. A Utah man repeatedly tested negative for HIV when he donated plasma even though he was apparently infected with the AIDS virus, according to the CDC. Officials say the case is extremely unusual and the blood supply remains very safe. But NPR's Joe Neel reports that the Food and Drug Administration wants blood banks to start using a new, more accurate test to reduce even further the chances of becoming infected with HIV through a blood transfusion from such donors.

Host Bob Edwards talks to Clarence Wyatt, co-chair of the debate steering committee at Center College in Danville, Kentucky, about the possibility that his college and town won't be the site of a Vice-Presidential debate after all. The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates had scheduled one for October 5th, but the Bush- Cheney campaign omitted Danville from its list of approved venues. The town has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours in preparing for the event.

Orlando de Guzman reports U-S diplomats and law enforcement officials are in the Philippines, trying to obtain the release of a 24-year-old American taken hostage by a brutal group of Muslim separatists. Jeffrey Schilling of Oakland, California, is the latest of dozens of foreigners to be kidnapped by rebels. He was abducted from a shopping center in Zamboanga City, by the group known as Abu Sayaf. The same group beheaded two school teachers earlier this year when demands for their release were not met. Nonetheless, the U-S State Department says the US will not pay ransom, change policies, release prisoners or make any concessions that reward hostage-taking.

Ralph Nader talks about "Republicrats" who see the world through the same corporate prism. And for generations, Third Party candidates from both the left and the right have said the two major parties are two halves of the same power structure -- different mostly in name and tradition. This year, as the major parties try to appeal to the political center, they often sound alike. Yet it can be argued that the two parties stand for specific philosophies that are farther apart than they have been in half a century. A new poll by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard has found that voting for one or the other means choosing between distinct outlooks on the issues. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

At the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Robert Siegel asked the question What do you want to hear from Governor Bush tonight? to several delegates on the floor of the First Union Center last night. Some delegates want to hear about faith-based organizations, appointing future Supreme Court justices. Some people want Bush to continue on themes of unity, compassion, and inclusion. Some delegates want him to avoid topics like abortion and impeachment. And some people say it's not so much what he should say, but how he should appear to the American people -- confident, compassionate, authentic.

Eric Lander, founding director of the Broad Institute, a biomedical and genomic research center, discusses the future of medicine.

have reached an out-of-court settlement under which the state no longer will shackle prisoners together on chain gangs. The Southern Poverty Law Center had sued Alabama in federal court, charging the practice violated the Constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Under the agreement, Alabama will continue to use prisoners on road crews, and their ankles will be shackled together, but they won't be chained to other inmates.

NPR's Michael Skoler visits Kikwit, Zaire almost a year after the ebola (ee-BOH-lah) epidemic broke out there. The virus appeared in May last year and is usually fatal. The epidemic was stopped but left 244 people dead. Scientists from the U-S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are testing samples of tens of thousands of insects and animals taken from the forest where the virus originated but still have not found the source. Hospital workers in Kikwit are still reluctant to treat patients, and while many people have overcome their fear of the disease, there remain superstitions and misinformation among the population.

Robert speaks with Natan Sharansky (nah-TAHN shah-RAN-skee), Israeli Minister of Industry and Trade and the leader of the Yisrael Ba'Aliya (yis-rai-ELL bah-ah-lee-YAH) Party, about yesterday's 11-7 Israeli Cabinet vote to endorse the Hebron agreement. Although the party's votes were split, Sharansky says that Yisrael Ba'Aliya is the party of the center and has a special role in helping to build a consenus among Israelis. The former Russian dissident also says that both Palestinians and Jewish settlers in Hebron must accept the tough truth that they will have to make compromises.