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Hurricane Rita is gaining strength as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico, with current sustained wind speeds topping 135 miles per hour. Forecasters expect the Category Four storm to hit the Gulf coast of Texas or western Louisiana by early Saturday.

The Bush administration has made Social Security reform a top priority in its second term. In arguing for partial privatization of the system, the president and his supporters warn of dire consequences unless something is done. Bush's critics say he is arguing for overly drastic measures. NPR Don Gonyea reports.

Hes considered the top American male alpine snowboarder. In July 2000, he underwent a liver transplant to cure a serious and rare degenerative liver ailment. Klug was back on the slopes within months, competing in the World Cup races. Snowboarding made its Olympic debut at the 1998 Nagano games. Klug began skiing at the age of two. He was born and lives in Colorado. For more information, go to www.chrisklug.com.

Producer Ben Shapiro brings us another installment in the New York Works series, about jobs that are slowly disappearing from the city of New York. Today we meet Charlie Zimmerman, who works for Rosenwach Wood Tanks. Rosewach is one of the few companies left that maintains water tanks on top of many New York buildings.

Now on her fourth decade at the top of the country music scene, Dolly Parton recently joined Morning Edition host Bob Edwards in the NPR studios to talk about her childhood, her long, lucrative career and her latest CD, Halos & Horns. Listen to Parton's convincing take on one of rock 'n' roll's sacred cows, Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."

Turkey's top general says he won't send large-scale forces into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq unless troops patrolling the border regions are attacked. The announcement reassures Turkey's NATO allies and Kurdish leaders, who oppose any large Turkish deployment in Iraq. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

Voters headed to the polls Tuesday for statewide primaries in Ohio and Indiana. In Ohio, an open Senate contest has top billing.

Top officials from the Bush and Clinton administrations tell the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks that they had no specific intelligence before the attacks suggesting terrorists might hijack airliners and crash them into the World Trade Center. But last year, Congress published a report saying a number of warnings detailing the attacks were ignored. Hear NPR's Danny Zwerdling.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry, has named a search committee to vet his short list of potential running mates. But choosing a vice presidential candidate isn't easy, and history is full of selections that didn't turn out the way the top of the ticket intended. Hear NPR's Mara Liasson.

President Bush insists that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will stay in his cabinet despite revelations of Iraqi prisoner abuse at the hands of U.S. troops. Top Democrats are calling for Rumsfeld to resign. The defense secretary is to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee Friday. Hear NPR's Don Gonyea, NPR's Michele Norris and Sen. Jeff Sessions.