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One of several tax cuts passed by Congress this summer -- a repeal of the tax on estates -- was formally dispatched from Capitol Hill to the White House today -- but not by the usual means. The document made its way down Pennsylvania Avenue on board the tractor of Lynn Cornwell, a cattle rancher from Montana. President Clinton has said he will veto the repeal, and Congress is not expected to muster the votes to override him. But Congressional Republicans are determined to keep the issue in the public eye. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

Jackie Northam of Chicago Public Radio reports that more than two weeks after Firestone began recalling millions of its tires, there's now a desperate scramble for replacements. Fingers of blame are pointing in many directions. Federal investigators say 62 people have died in car accidents that may have been caused by peeling tire treads.

Nearly a third of the American workforce works a temporary or part-time job, or hires on as an independent contractor. For many workers, these arrangements provide the flexibility and freedom they never had in traditional jobs. But many "free agents" struggle to obtain benefits and professional stability. As David Molpus reports, a new study finds that organizations are emerging to help workers cope with the change, but there are still lots of bumps in the system.

On the campaign trail yesterday, Presidential nominees George W. Bush and Al Gore criticized each other's tax cut proposals. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on Bush's comments; NPR's Madeleine Brand reports on Gore's.

NPR's Snigdha Prakash reports that at least 50,000 of the striking Verizon Communications workers are back on the job today as the two-week strike against the largest local phone company winds down. The unions said they were happy with terms of the deal, which gives them better pay and better benefits; more important, from their perspective, the unions have increased their ability to organize the company's wireless and Internet divisions. Analysts say the settlement is being closely watched by telecommunications industry.

NPR's Sarah Chayes reports from Basque country of northwest Spain on the recent wave of terrorist attacks by the ETA separatist movement. Thousands of Spaniards turned out today to the two latest victims -- two police officers killed by a bomb yesterday. Militants say ETA broke an 18-month cease-fire, because the government failed to make any overtures to the guerrillas during the truce. But moderate Basque politicians, including some who initially supported the ETA movement years ago, say extremists hijacked the separatist cause.

David Greenberger reviews the new CD from The Glands, a band from Athens, Georgia. You could classify them as indie-rock, but they like to avoid adhering to any stylistic direction, and are all over the map musically. Some songs sound like LA pop songs from the mid-60s, others are atmospheric psychedelia, and others still have a modern rock sound. (4:00) The Glands' new self-titled CD is on the Capricorn Records label.

NPR's Tovia Smith reports that more family courts are ruling that children in custody cases should spend equal with both divorcing parents. For example, a Massachusetts judge decided recently that a five-year-old boy should spend alternating years with his divorcing mother and father. Fathers' rights groups approve of the trend; critics say it favors parents' rights over the best interests of children.

In the fourth and final part of a series of essays about his life in France, Commentator David Sedaris talks about his April in Paris based on his own experiences in the City of Light, collected in Me Talk Pretty One Day.

Some researchers have been advising parents to reduce the fat in their children's diets to reduce the kids' risk of developing heart disease. But young children -- especially infants -- need some fat in their diets for normal growth. Now, NPR's Jon Hamilton reports a study of a group of children indicates that low fat diets may NOT have a negative effect on their growth.