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The $90,000 in cash allegedly found in his freezer; the FBI raid of his office; and the conviction of a top aide on bribery charges are just the latest in a long string of stories, scandals and allegations surrounding Rep. William Jefferson.

Many members of Congress want the Veteran's Administration to pay for services to help all 26 million vets affected by a recent data theft. But some consumer groups say the services don't do much good.

Centuries ago, the Silk Road snaked across Asia and Europe. Now the Smithsonian Folklife Festival celebrates the ancient trade route by bringing 350 singers, dancers, artists and storytellers from over 20 countries to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Robert Siegel travels the route for All Things Considered.

Robert Siegel talks with Verity Jennings, a recent graduate of Leeds Metropolitan University in Britain. Jennings' thesis analyzed the popularity of the term "chavs" in hundreds of newspaper stories. While the origins of the word are murky, Jennings says "chavs" has come to refer to British young people characterized by gold jewelry and sportswear, often in a negative light. But she says references to "chavs" may also create a new sense of belonging.

Thousands of Latino students continue to stage walkouts across Los Angeles to protest the proposed toughening of immigration laws. Local authorities and school officials are working to keep the students in class.

Medicare recipients can now sign up to get prescription drug insurance through Medicare. But a confusing array of programs and lack of easily found details are keeping some seniors from figuring out the new system, the biggest change in Medicare since it started 40 years ago.

Host Lynn Neary talks with Tuck & Patti, the husband-and-wife jazz duo from the Bay Area, who have been performing for more than two decades. They do some tunes in Studio 4A at NPR in Washington, D.C. Tuck & Patti's new CD is called Chocolate Moment, released on their own label T & P Records. (For more information, please visit http://www.tuckandpatti.com.)

This past week, composer John Williams joined National Symphony Orchestra conductor Leonard Slatkin at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to open a multi-concert series "Soundtracks: Music and Film." NPR's Liane Hansen visited with the two musicians.

Jacob McMurray is senior curator at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle... and at the Experience Music Project, a music museum. His reading list is heavy on sci-fi, with a bit of rock history, too.

Alcohol-based fuels such as ethanol have been the underdog rivals of the oil industry for more than a century. A look at the history of ethanol and the current frenzy over its potential to kick U.S. oil dependence.