Weekend America

Coming Home

This weekend, about 700 marines are returning to their home base in 29 Palms, California. Twenty-Nine Palms is a small, desert town and the influx of marines has a big impact on the community. Weekend America's Pat Loeb has been following the military town during wartime. Her last story was about deployments. Now we see what happens when the marines come home.

My Blue Heaven

Ben Perrin is a drifter, or perhaps a reformed drifter. Before he bought 100 acres of blueberry barrens in Maine, he says he lived in 42 different states. So each summer, Ben invites drifters to come pick blueberries at his farm. He sticks to traditional, non-mechanized farming methods. Independent producer Joshua Gleason pays a visit to the traditional drifter blueberry farm.

Jazz Music Pick

Bill and critic Nate Chinen listen to the newest from jazz musician Ornette Coleman. Coleman has been performing his own style of free jazz for almost 50 years, and Nate says his latest album, "Sound Grammar," will not disappoint.

Sustainability

Leaf Peepers

Did you know that the state of New Hampshire has 22 official peepers on its payroll? Leaf peepers, that is, and it's their job to scout the best fall color and report back to the authorities. Weekend America's Shannon Mullen heads to the New Hampshire White Mountains for a scenic drive with a senior leaf peepers.

Turning Leaves

The leaves are changing on the pine trees in the Colorado Rockies, and actually, it's not such a good thing. Bill talks with forester Mike Harvey from the Colorado State Forest Service. He says climate change may be part of the problem, but the biggest culprit is bad forest management.

Serious Leisure

Radio producer Julie Small started dancing for fun about eight years ago. Now she has ballet on Mondays, Latin groove on Tuesdays and Thursdays, bellydancing on Wednesdays and Fridays and Flamenco on Sundays. Let's just say Julie is serious about her leisure time. She invites us to join the dance as she tries to figure out how her hobby became so important to her identity.

The Westward Expansion

Two hundred years ago today, explorers Lewis and Clark returned to St. Louis, Missouri after a 3-year, 8,000-mile journey. In the spirit of keeping history alive, several descendants of Lewis and Clark set out to recreate the trip completely. Weekend America sent Collin Campbell to the Missouri River to see how it went.

The Art of the Mix

The idea behind a CD club is simple: 12 people get together, each gets a month. When it's your month, you make a mix CD, give it a nice cover, burn 11 copies and snail mail them out. Weekend America listeners started their own CD club a year ago called the Penguins. After sharing music all year, the members are meeting for the very first time on our airwaves to answer important questions: What do we know about a person based on their musical tastes? What is the art of mix? And who here doesn't like Neko Case?

Sexual Assault on Campus

Things are different for the current crop of American college students. They take notes on laptops and field calls all over campus. But some things haven't changed, like partying. College is still a time when many kids try new things, like alcohol, drugs and sex. This combination has created a hazard for women on campus. Various studies suggest as many as one in five college women will be sexually assaulted during her college years. Most of them will know their attacker. Few of them will report it. And there will be a high correlation with alcohol.

Rosh Hashanah Camp

The traditional observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, includes going to synagogue. But at the Isabella Freedman Center in Falls Village, Connecticut, for Rosh Hashanah, people will be hiking, canoeing and doing yoga. What does this have to do with the Jewish New Year? Independent Producer Dan Bobkoff went to find out.