The Barbershop guys weigh in on the News Corps phone hacking scandal, the Roger Clemens case, and the relevance of "Boyz N the Hood" as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. Host Michel Martin speaks with author Jimi Izrael, civil rights attorney Arsalan Iftikhar, syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette and NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik.

The military's four-legged warriors now have a more hopeful future in store.

Military working dogs were once euthanized when their service days were over.

But, their fate is changing as military and civilian families pressure the Defense Department to make it easier for handlers to adopt their canine colleagues.

Looking out over Camp Pendleton's K-9 training field in California, Marine Cpl. Daniel Cornier shares stories about Chaak, the dog he deployed with to Afghanistan.

His words are halting and emotional.

A marijuana plantation of nearly 300 acres has been found by Mexican forces in the Baja California desert more than 150 miles south of Tijuana. Army Gen. Alfonso Duarte told reporters Thursday that the giant plot was staffed by about 60 people and could produce around 120 tons of marijuana when harvested. Duarte said the the plants would be burned.

"We have a unique opportunity to do something big" and put the federal government's fiscal books in order for the next decade or so, President Obama said this morning at a White House news conference where he again laid out his view of where things stand in deficit-reduction talks with Republican leaders.

The campaign manager for independent gubernatorial Gatewood Galbraith has resigned. Blogger and political activist Ralph Long announced Friday he is leaving the campaign to pursue other interests, but he remains a supporter of the perennial candidate and running mate Dea Riley. “I may work in other political campaigns at some future date but there are no definite plans at this time,” he told Kentucky Public Radio via e-mail. 

Antismoking advocates have pressed movie makers to cut smoking from films that can be seen by kids, arguing the evidence shows Hollywood's aura encourages children to light up.

And the long-running campaign is paying off.

On-screen depictions of smoking in popular movies rated G, PG, and PG-13, dropped 72 percent to 595 in 2010 compared with 2,093 in 2010.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., questioned officials Wednesday as to how two Iraqi refugees made their way to Bowling Green before eventually being arrested on terrorism charges. In a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Paul said he believes the most serious threats of terrorism to the country come from travel, refugee and student visas.

A year ago, U.S. dairy farmers were worried about a souring in demand for their products overseas. Mexicans weren't buying as much dehydrated milk. In China, demand was down for American pizza cheese.

Kirk Siegler of member station KUNC reported for All Things Considered that dairy farmers were having some of the toughest times they'd ever faced.

Kentucky residents could feel the effects locally if Washington, D.C., politicians can’t come up with a solution to raise the debt ceiling by the beginning of August - although one state economist doubts the severity of the situation would be as bad as some have predicted. John Garen, the Gatton Endowed Professor of Economics at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, said there have been temporary disruptions of government business in the past. In those events, which are typically very brief, some federal employees are furloughed and offices are closed, he said.

The $584 million foundation remediation project at Wolf Creek Dam is now more than halfway complete, according to David Hendrix, the Nashville Corps of Engineers project manager, and at 55 percent is still slated for a December 2013 finish. That word came late last week after the Corps invited several media outlets from Russell and surrounding counties as well as a TV news crew from Nashville to take a tour and view work progress on the giant structure.