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NPR's Jack Speer reports on an agreement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and top accounting firms for guidelines requiring the companies to disclose the value of their consulting contracts with businesses they also audit. Both sides agree the new voluntary rules will help assure investors that they're getting a reliable look at a company's financial health.

In Nebraska, the governor's race has top billing, as polls show a close Republican contest between Charles Herbster, Brett Lindstrom and Jim Pillen.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell is resigning after four years in the agency's top job. His efforts to lift ownership restrictions on media properties earned him critics on both the left and right.

Pentagon top adviser and one of the chief architects of the war in Iraq, Douglas Feith, resigns. Feith, a staunch neo-conservative with close ties to Israel, is a controversial figure, especially for his role in the use of intelligence to justify the war in Iraq.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) reflects on his rise to the top in his new book, Speaker: Lessons from 40 Years in Coaching and Politics. He speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Guest host Jacki Lyden gets a demo of the Web site meetup.com from one of its co-founders, Scott Heiferman. The Web site has helped Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean move to the top of the fundraising list. But it also helps pug lovers, gardeners and knitters, among others, to "meet up."

Two worlds have come together in a rare teaching program at one of the nation's top universities. Students at Stanford University are reaching across a cultural divide to help tutor the Mexican immigrants who clean their classrooms and dorms.

This is going to be a big weekend for college sports. There's basketball -- of course -- but for commentator Bob Cook, the real action is going to be at Bethany College in Kansas. It's the President's Cup, where the top four collegiate chess programs in the nation will compete. But, he says, the tournament's favorites are as disliked in the chess world as any outlaw basketball program.

The Dixie Chicks are one of the top selling country artists of all time. Will Hermes, a senior contributing writer for Spin magazine, says their first CD in three years,Home, has a less commercial sound than their other offerings, but still may be one of the best pop CDs of the year.

Tom Manoff has a review of the CD Reflections of Spain, featuring Spanish music for guitar, played by David Russell. Manoff thinks Russell — who is Scottish, not Spanish — plays with a natural elegance, and is passionate but never over the top.