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Astronaut Randolph Bresnik is a new dad again, after launching into space and taking a spacewalk, all for the first time.

Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving the central sacrament of the church because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy said in a newspaper interview published Sunday.

Highway safety has improved through better vehicle technology, smarter road designs and reformed behaviors, such as reduced drunken driving. But fatalities are still high: In 2008, more than 37,000 people were killed in crashes involving motor vehicles. This week, as the holiday travel season begins, NPR will explore these issues.

Journalist Charles Sabine watched his father die from the degenerative illness Huntington's disease. After watching his brother struggle with the disease for years, Sabine decided to be tested. "Nothing that I've experienced compares with that test in terms of the terror that it inflicted on me," he says. Sabine says his young daughter does not have the Huntington's gene.

The University of Akron said it could ask new workers for a DNA sample to run background checks. But an anti-discrimination law that went into full effect Nov. 21 prevents employers from requiring workers to share genetic information.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid needs 60 votes — that's every Democrat and both Independents — to clear the way for a vote on historic heath care legislation Saturday. The final two Democrats fell in line Saturday afternoon — Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. But the holdouts still expressed strong reluctance about the "public option" in Reid's bill.

Senate Democrats pushed through a procedural wall Saturday night and formally opened the floor debate on their effort to overhaul the nation's $2.5 trillion health care system. The Senate mustered 60 votes, the exact number required to prevent a Republican filibuster against consideration of the bill, in a straight party-line vote.

These days, if you want to find a fling, a friend or a cheap used sofa, you might check Craigslist. But decades before Craig Newmark posted his first list, computer users all over the country were connecting through electronic bulletin boards.

The historic health care overhaul plan proposed by Congressional Democrats makes its way to the Senate for a test vote tonight. The sweeping legislation sets the stage for a showdown between Republicans and a fragmented Democratic majority. Sixty votes are required to advance the bill toward full debate. Host Scott Simon speaks with Sen. Dick Durbin, the majority whip of the Senate.