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Just days before Hurricane Katrina hit, officials from state, local and federal agencies were hearing that this could very likely be the big one -- the one they knew could devastate the city. But National Guard troops still waited for an official plan and a chain of command to be established.

The District of Columbia has developed plans to deal with a terrorist attack or a natural disaster. But much depends on local neighborhood officials, and some are not so confident about their ability to cope.

George McKee Elsey quietly witnessed and participated in the making of American history as an aide to two presidents — Roosevelt and Truman. Now 88, he tells his story in An Unplanned Life.

Florence Nightingale once warned about a major cruelty inflicted on sick people: unnecessary noise. And despite advances in medicine, researchers say today's hospitals are still as noisy as bus stations. But at Johns Hopkins Hospital, engineers are trying to create some peace and quiet.

A group that started out protesting illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexican border now is trying to shut down day laborers' centers sanctioned by local governments across the country. "The Minutemen" group says the centers help illegal immigrants.

As we reach the end of the year, U.S. poet laureate Ted Kooser joins host Melissa Block to read a reflection — in prose — on welcoming in a new year, from his book Local Wonders.

As the extent of Hurricane Katrina's threat to New Orleans became evident, trucks with water and ice were not positioned as planned. And when they were finally told to move, they were sent hundreds of miles away from most of the people in need.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The movie is loosely based on a true story from the 1970s about a priest on trial for the death of a young woman from an exorcism he performed. It stars Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson.

The Department of Energy has been quietly working on a grand plan for nuclear power to be included in next year's budget. Ideas for the Global Nuclear Energy Initiative include reprocessing nuclear fuel so it can be re-used in reactors -- a process the United States abandoned earlier.

Patients who don't want to go to the doctor -- or are unable to go -- have an alternate resource for medical tests. Commercial testing companies provide exams for cholesterol, HIV or DNA without a prescription.