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Commentator Frank Deford says former baseball player Willie Aikens didn't get the presidential commutation he deserves. Aikens is currently serving time in prison on a first time offense for selling crack cocaine.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli visits the Vatican's tailor, where bolts of scarlet silk and wool are being sewn into more than 40 special cassocks. They'll be worn by new cardinals, who are taking their vows today in Rome. It's traditional for cardinals to be garbed in brilliant red.

NPR's Pam Fessler reports from Saint Louis, Mo., where she is accompanying President Bush as he tries to make the case for his education and tax cut proposals. Mr. Bush also visited Ohio today.

Film director Stanley Kramer has died at a California hospital. He was 87. Kramer was famed for his work on classic films including Inherit the Wind, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, and High Noon.

NPR's Anne Garrels examines how some residents of Russia are having difficulty proving their citizenship. The country had promised that anyone from the former Soviet Union could apply for Russian citizenship. But officials have rescinded that offer, leaving countless former Soviet citizens wondering about their immigration status.

Linda Wertheimer talks with Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, one of the groups leading opposition to President Bush's plan to cut federal taxes. Greenstein says the tax cut is too large, and would not do enough to help people with middle and lower range incomes.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports that environmentalists have been crusading against the Mafia to restore the beauty and ecological health of Lake Pergusa.

Outgoing Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak reversed course yesterday and announced he would not join the cabinet of Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports that Barak's decision deals a blow to Sharon's hopes of establishing a national unity government, and leaves Barak's Likud party in disarray.

Illinois Central College is breaking ground on a new $12 million Workforce Sustainability Center in East Peoria.

NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has handed out a ruling that clears the way for schools to sue athletic associations in order to fight recruiting restrictions and penalties. The court ruled 5 to 4 that such actions represent an unfair restriction of the schools' First Amendment rights.