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The life of Renaissance astronomer Galileo Galilei has inspired a musical work. "The Starry Messenger," composed by Glenn McClure, debuts Saturday night in upstate New York. The project was inspired by Dava Sobel's book Galileo's Daughter.

Michele Norris says she's had enough of chatty dolls, singing globes and anything else with a talking microchip. All those annoying playthings make her wonder: Why are toys so loud?

Federal agents in Milford Township, Mich., a western Detroit suburb, are digging up a horse farm searching for any sign of the remains of former union leader Jimmy Hoffa. Hoffa disappeared in 1975. The farm is known as a place where organized-crime figures used to hang out.

Melissa Block and Michele Norris read from listeners' letters and e-mails. Among this week's topics: our series on legal immigration, David Schaper's story on the good side of urban sprawl, and Michele Norris's piece about the 25th anniversary of the death of Bob Marley.

Here's a way to travel, without suffering the high prices of fuel these days: Read one of Alan Cheuse's summer reading book picks. One of them is bound to move you someplace beyond your beach chair.

In Florida, Hazel Haley has been teaching English at Lakeland High School since 1939. She's been teaching in the same classroom since 1952! She's retiring this year and the community is grateful for her long service. In some cases, she's taught three generations of the same family. Robin Sussingham of member station WUSF reports.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee decides not to recommend approval of a new drug for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The committee was considering modafinil, a drug used to treat narcolepsy. This comes against a backdrop of increased safety concerns about drugs already used to treat ADHD.

Hundreds of recent trips made by White House officials are underwritten by private entities. According to a report by the Center for Public Integrity, the total spent over one seven-year span totaled nearly $1.5 million.

Drugs to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder prompt continued debate. An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration has recommended "black box" warnings for all, but a second panel, made up mostly of child psychiatrists and pediatricians, says the dangers do not merit such a warning.

Mother Goose made sugar plums famous in the early 16th century. But the nursery rhyme clearly refers to more than just a tasty piece of fruit. Plum had the meaning of something very special, a prize of treasure or loot. In Britain it even came to be used as a reference for a specific amount of money, 100,000 pounds. However it is used, it always refers to something sweet.