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Brush fires in Southern California have consumed about 20,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. But Frank Stolz of NPR station KPCC says temperatures are down, and so are winds.

Myla Goldberg, author of the best-selling novel Bee Season, talks to host Melissa Block about her new book, Wickett's Remedy. It's set in Boston in 1918, at the outset of the flu epidemic that would kill more than 20 million people around the world in two years.

House Republicans' choice to take over Tom DeLay's duties, Roy Blunt, is known by politicians from both parties for his "velvet" approach. But he has been dogged by his own ethics questions. Host Melissa Block talks to Deirdre Shesgreen, Washington correspondent for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

New Orleans residents scattered after Hurricane Katrina are anxious to return and see what has become of their homes. Residents of New Orleans East are planning to drive back, even though officials have yet to approve their return.

Rick Moody, author of The Ice Storm, has just published his first novel in seven years. The Diviners satirizes the entertainment industry, circa 2000. Moody tells Linda Wertheimer the book should be read like a TV series.

The small community of Cameron Parish, La. is under water following Hurricane Rita; trees have been stripped and the city's water tower is one of the few structures still standing. Lizzie O'Leary of Red River Radio reports.

NPR's Adrian Florido talks with Benjamin Torres Gotay, a reporter and columnist for Puerto Rico's El Nuevo Dia, about recent arrests of elected officials related to corruption.

The Nobel in chemistry is awarded for a technique that produces new organic compounds. The method has become one of chemistry's most important reactions, leading to the creation of a wide variety of compounds, from new drugs to fuel additives.

Mayor Ray Nagin announces that New Orleans must lay off up to 3,000 of its city employees -- or about half the work force. The cuts would amount to a savings of $8 million. He said the city will be unable to pay those workers after Oct. 14, because of the financial impact of Hurricane Katrina.

Frenchman Yves Chauvin and Americans Robert Grubbs and Richard Schrock win the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Their research shows how to custom-make molecules for cheaper, cleaner chemicals and drugs to combat major diseases.