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Electricity deregulation was supposed to bring Californians lower prices. Instead they've gotten higher prices and unreliable service. Scott Horsley of member station KPBS reports on why this happened, including mistaken judgements in planning the big change and the fact that electricity cannot be stored to meet market demand.

Robert Siegel talks with John A. Kitzhaber, the Governor of Oregon, about his call for an energy summit. The Governor wants to meet with Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and the Governor of Washington State about the federal government order forcing northwest electric utilities to sell power to California. Kitzhaber opposes the order. He says it was made without consultation with the states, and will makes a bad situation worse.

Commentator David Frum ponders Hillary Rodham Clinton's latest real estate and book deals. Frum wonders if the soon-to-be former First Lady has seen her last scandal as she embarks upon her term as Senator from New York.

NPR's Ted Clark reports that Israelis and Palestinians are in Washington for separate talks with US officials. The goal is to restart the stalled Mideast peace process.

Rachel Gotbaum reports that the nation's emergency rooms are getting more and more crowded, and many hospitals are turning away patients because they don't have the staff to treat them.

Commentator Andrew Weis suggests president-elect George W. Bush should pardon President Clinton. Weis says the move would assure support for Bush from both Democrats and Republicans.

NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports that Eva Cassidy a Washington, D.C., singer who died two years ago, has since become something of a star in Britain and a cult favorite in the United States.

Josh Rogers of New Hampshire Public Radio reports on the financial hardship faced by many lower and fixed income people in the northeast due to high heating oil prices this winter. There's a limited amount of available fuel assistance, and many politicians are asking for additional federal funding to help out.

NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports that the Bridgestone/Firestone company is blaming a faulty tire design and manufacturing processes at an Illinois factory for defective tires linked to 148 traffic deaths. After a four-month investigation, the tire maker cited the design of the 15-inch ATX tires and the unique way the rubber was processed at its Decatur, Illinois, plant. But the report also puts some blame on the Ford Explorer. Many of the accidents involved Explorers fitted with the Firestone tires. The report says Ford's recommended pressure for the tires was too low.

NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on the largest study to date on cell phones and the risk of cancer. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute looked at the risk of brain cancers among people who were regular users of cell-phones for an average of about three years. They found no evidence that regular users had a higher rate of brain cancer - but the scientists say some of the findings are troublesome enough to warrant further research. The study appears in tomorrow's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.