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NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Abidjan on the saga of an overloaded freighter carrying nearly four thousand people who fled the recent fighting in Liberia. The leaky vessel set out from Liberia nine days ago, but has been sailing up and down the west African coast, as Ivory Coast and Ghana have refused to accept the refugees. Today Ghana allowed the ship to dock, but many of whom are suffering from dysentery. The reluctance of west African nations to accept more refugees follows warnings from diplomats that the international community may abandon Liberia if its warring factions fail to make peace. (3:00) CUTAWAY 1A 0:59 1B 4. JURY REFORM - In Los Angeles, Virginia Biggar reports on a soon-to-be-released report on how to reform the California jury system. Reform has been on the legal agenda for years, but the OJ Simpson trial highlighted many flaws in the system, say critics. Recommendations for change vary from paying jurors more to punishing potential jurors for avoiding jury duty.

Storyteller Kevin Kling has a hitchhiking tale to tell. He gets picked up by Otto a man with bad knees and a few other problems.

NPR's John Neilsen reports that Marion Barry, mayor of the District of Columbia, returned after a two week sabbatical for spiritual and physical rejuvenation. While the mayor was away, rumours swept the city that Barry had had a relapse into drug or alcohol abuse. Today, Barry says he may not have explained his absence in the clearests terms, and blamed the media for overplaying the story.

Linda Wertheimer talks with NPR's Lynn Neary in Wilmington Delaware, where a panel of Episcopal bishops ruled that church doctrine does NOT specifically ban the ordination of non-celebate homosexuals. The ruling means that a retired bishop who ordained a non-celebate gay man in 1990 will NOT have to face a heresy trial. Today's opinion by a special panel of Episcopal bishops did NOT deal with the church's position on the morality of homosexual relationships.

on the British government's decision to allow a Saudi Arabian dissident to remain in their country, and the possible fall out for Britain's defense industry.

Linda speaks with Loren Siegel, the Director of Public Education at the American Civil Liberties Union. They'll discuss the legal implications of the latest cases challenging community notification laws.

Scott Horsley of member station KPBS talks to sailors in San Diego, where the apparent suicide of naval chief of operations Admiral Michael Boorda has hit especially hard. Boorda was well-known in San Diego, where enlisted men and women saw him as one of their own.

Scott speaks with Donald Miller, author of "City of the Century," the story of how 19th century Chicago transformed itself into the city of the future. (11:55) -- "City of the Century" published by Simon and Schuster.

Noah talks with Chuck Culpepper, a sports columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader, about Rick Pitino's decision to keep his job as the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's basketball team. Pitino had been offered a five-year, thirty million dollar deal with the New Jersey Nets, which would have made him the head coach of that team, as well as the director of basketball operations. Culpepper claims that Pitino's reluctance to move comes as no surprise, even though Pitino hails from the New York-New Jersey area, and the deal would have included partial ownership of the Nets. Pitino has claimed that he likes the sense of community that Lexington provides, as opposed to the center-less sprawl of the New Jersey suburbs.

On the eve of Saturday's "Stand For Children" march in Washington DC, NPR's Margot Adler looks at some of the issues underlying the discussion about how to best address children's issues in this country. While the march has been billed as a non-partisan event based on an issue everyone would seem to support--children's welfare--in fact, our country has always been deeply conflicted about our attitudes toward children. Children's issues usually end up being intertwined with our attitudes toward their parents, and thus our disagreements over race, class and government have a lot to do with the way children are raised in this country.