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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block. The floodwaters have begun to recede in Louisiana and Mississippi as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac move north. Utility companies are scrambling to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers. In some places, floodwaters are hampering the recovery. That includes an area about 30 miles west of New Orleans where we find NPR's Joel Rose.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block. Mitt Romney made a last minute change to his travel plans today. On his first day as the official Republican presidential nominee, he and Paul Ryan were supposed to begin a swing state campaign tour. Instead, while Ryan headed to a previously scheduled event in Virginia, Romney flew to Louisiana.

When asked about their political heroes, RNC delegates in Tampa mentioned people like Ronald Reagan, Susan B. Anthony and Ron Paul. But none mentioned Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney has Clint Eastwood and that now-famous empty chair on his side. But the Republican presidential nominee isn't the only one getting entertainment industry shoutouts this week.

Actors Ashley Judd and Ben McKenzie were campaigning for President Obama in Iowa on Friday ahead of his latest campaign stop in the swing state.

The Albany Bicycle Coalition started in my backyard in 2003 when a small group of mechanically inclined bike enthusiasts-volunteers gathered to learn bike repair skills and repair bikes that were headed to the dump. The rescued bikes were then donated to local organizations for kids.

Eventually we grew and moved into a community center basement, where the focus is on teaching kids skills while improving community relations.

As a tropical storm was gathering strength last week, fears were growing that the fierce winds might knock out Gulf Coast refineries, send gasoline prices soaring and seriously damage the U.S. economy.

But when Hurricane Isaac slammed into the Gulf Coast on Tuesday, it was only a Category 1 hurricane, far weaker than Katrina, the monster storm that hit seven years ago.

The Tryon area has been known as "Horse Country" for almost a century. People here take their equine economy seriously, it's a major source of jobs. Drought conditions and the economy have forced many horse owners into a predicament of how to feed their families and their horses.

So the Hay Pledge was born. Horse owners and hay growers "pledge" 10 bales of hay if asked — unless their supplies are too low to share. Calls for assistance are confidential. Some 500 bales have been delivered in 2012, but winter is coming and that number will go up significantly.

Read Aloud Delaware — headed by Executive Director Mary Hirschbiel and more than 800 volunteers — is making a noticeable impact in Wilmington.

When you read to the same children time and again, Mary says, "you see changes in their vocabulary, their ability to answer in complete sentences, and gradually the ability to have a conversation."

This summer has had its fair share of newsmaking disease outbreaks.

When you can't beat the slowness of late summer as an entertainment season, you can at least embrace it, and that's what we did this week. Dog days of summer winding down, you say? We say it's time to talk about pop culture dogs. Not dogs in the "lousy product" sense, but dogs in the sense of literal, actual dogs. Faithful, friendly, silly, whether the size of an ottoman or the size of a wallet.

Among the little treasures, Stephen is fond of this slightly obscure dog — at least these eight minutes of him.

Seventeen states offer tax incentives to people who donate a kidney, a portion of their liver or bone marrow for transplantation. But a study finds these sweeteners aren't working.

Researchers looked at what happened in the years before and after these tax incentives were passed and found no increase in organ donation rates.

As thousands of residents of the Gulf Coast begin to emerge from the flood waters left behind by Hurricane Isaac, authorities in Louisiana reported two bodies were found Thursday in the ravished Plaquemines Parish.

The Times-Picayune reports Parish President Billy Nungesser said a man and a woman were found in what appeared to be their home.

The paper adds:

What do you do with city kids running the streets? You help them run better. At least, that's what New Life Presbyterian Church in Rochester does.

With funding from the Greater Rochester Health Foundation, the church operates a running program for 25 to 30 neighborhood young people. After eight weeks of training, participants run a 5K race.

Throughout the program, kids learn how to make a commitment, set goals, and be team members. They connect with their volunteer coaches and they experience success and belonging.

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