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Residents of LaPorte, Ind., the hometown of Jeffrey Ake, holds a candlelight vigil for the 47-year-old American contractor who is being held hostage in Iraq.

President Bush focused on his proposals for reforming Social Security during a trip to Rochester, N.Y., Tuesday. The president has worked to distance himself from events on Capitol Hill, including the recent filibuster battle.

Katrina, which first struck Florida last week as a tropical storm, is now a powerful Category 5 hurricane churning in the Gulf of Mexico, pointed at New Orleans. Eric Blake of the National Weather Service updates Liane Hansen on the storm's progress.

North Korea's official news agency says nearly 190,000 people are being isolated for treatment across the country.

Pepper pellets, bean bags, tasers and other so-called "less lethal weapons" are gaining popularity with police departments around the country, especially for crowd control. But the death of a young woman in Boston last fall led investigators to conclude in a report that law-enforcement agencies need more training on how to use the weapons safely. Athena Desai of member station WBUR reports.

What kind of house can you buy with $206,000 -- the national median? In the more subdued Milwaukee real estate market, Wisconsin Public Radio's Chuck Quirmbach finds a suburban house with 3 bedrooms, a garden and more than enough garage space.

Cindy Whitehawk and her husband have been selling what they claim are the world's smallest wallets for seven years. But the small-business owners got more orders than they bargained for when their wallets were recently featured by national media outlets.

Murray A. Lightburn is the composer, lead guitarist and guiding force behind the band The Dears, one of the latest moody, orchestral pop-rock bands from Canada sweeping the alternative music scene.

A young American girl living with her father in Europe finds evidence that Dracula was real, and may be hunting them. Elizabeth Kostova's first novel created a bidding war in the publishing industry.

News and Notes with Ed Gordon concludes its three-part roundtable series on the art and business of African-American music. This week, we talk with three professionals who've been on the business and creative sides of the music industry — and who know all too well the business of music.