In the cattle town of Emory in East Texas, the worst drought in state history is threatening a way of life. Scorching temperatures and no rain have forced many ranchers to sell off their stock.

Normally before being brought to market, cattle are penned in a rancher's best pasture to be fattened. The heavier the cow, the more the buyer pays.

Arizona is once again challenging the authority of the federal government. This time the state's attorney general is suing the feds to get out from under the Voting Rights Act, which requires Arizona to get prior approval before changing election rules and maps.

NPR's Carrie Johnson filed this report:

Tom Horne, the top elected lawyer in Arizona, says the landmark 1965 voting rights law is out of date and forces the state to bend to the whim of the federal Justice Department.

Arizona says the law is unconstitutional.

Hurricane Irene is forecast to hit North Carolina hard. The National Hurricane Center says it will be a major Category 3 hurricane as it makes landfall, so state officials have ordered evacuations of the Outer Banks, the barrier islands exposed off the Carolina's Atlantic coast.

As always, there are those who stay put. All Things Considered host Melissa Block spoke to a husband and wife who live in Ocracoke, N.C. and they're planning on weathering the storm at home.

Over the next few weeks, we're producing stories about the business of putting on free concerts, how they work and what they bring to their communities. Last week's Weekend Edition Saturday story covered non-profit concert presenters in New York City.

The polar bear scientist who has spent more than a month suspended from his government job has now been told that he should report back to work on Friday — although NPR has learned that his job is changing and he will no longer manage federal contracts.

"Chuck is planning to go to work. He just doesn't know what the work is going to be," says attorney Jeff Ruch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which is providing legal representation for wildlife biologist Charles Monnett.

Several female police officers from around the world Thursday were tested on their driving and shooting at a Lexington police range.

A small group of officers at this week’s International Association of Women Police Conference underwent training mandated by the United Nations.  Comfort Miah from the west African nation of Ghana worked on her driving skills.  Such driver education would have been helpful in Darfur, Africa….where Officer Miah served previously.

A project meant to connect community leaders in nine central Kentucky counties is being launched Friday.  The ‘Bluegrass Connector Project’ hopes to collect the e-mail addresses of some 40 thousand movers and shakers who work ‘under the radar.’ United Way of the Bluegrass President Bill Farmer says it’s all about getting key people together.

Thousands of same-sex married couples now have hopes of staying together in the U.S. thanks to a change in deportation policy. The government says it will now prioritize deportations, giving lower priority to those with families in the U.S.

And the Obama administration has included same-sex couples in its definition of family.

Left In Legal Limbo

Bradford Wells, 55, a longtime resident of San Francisco, has good days and bad days.

The Food and Drug Administration is telling doctors and patients not to use high doses of the popular antidepressant Celexa anymore because they can raise the risk for potentially harmful changes in heart rhythms.

Hurricane Irene was poised to cause major destruction along the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast over the weekend, and thousands of people were leaving North Carolina's exposed coast Thursday in preparation for the storm's likely first U.S. strike.

"This is everything a hurricane can be, and it's on one of those worst-case tracks for the East Coast," said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.