A load of new & recent releases being hauled on-air on today's MEDICINE BALL CARAVAN (11am-noon Central Standard, y'all on 88.7FM locally or live stream or archived podcast at www.krvs.org) including Milo Greene, Miike Snow, Mmoths, Sleigh Bells, England In 1819, Last To Know, The Phantom Six and Black Box Revelation. Also: Givers, Spencer Davis Group, Frigg A-Go-Go and early T. Rex.

With the addition of 29 counties in eight states today, there are now 1,297 counties across the nation so stricken by drought and heat that they've been declared natural disaster areas, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack just announced. That's about one-third of all U.S. counties, he said.

Cathie Ryan makes her third Mountain Stage appearance in a show recorded on the shore of Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minn.

In a lawsuit filed today, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights allege the United States violated the Constitution's gurantee of due process when it ordered the targeted killing of three United States citizens.

The groups filed the suit against top military and intelligence officials on behalf relatives of the three Americans who were killed in drone strikes in Yemen last fall.

NPR's Carrie Johnson filed this report for our Newscast unit:

News that first broke in the New York Post would seem to signal that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie isn't going to be the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee.

The Post reports that "the word is going out quietly to Republican activists across New Jersey. ... Gov. Chris Christie is going to be giving the keynote speech" at the GOP convention in Tampa next month.

EARTHBEAT: (7pm-8pm Central Standard) features an hour's worth of both traditional & contemporary sounds from Ethiopia including Girma Beyene, Malatu Astatqe, Mahmoud Ahmed and a few tracks from the just released debut album by Debo Band who performed at Festival Intenational this past April. 

There are many songs and tunes commemorating the landmarks that span our rivers and railways. Every bit as powerful as these physical structures, music is our bridge across time and place and our way to connect with one another. Cross all forms of bridges with us this week.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Every morning, thousands of Cajun French music lovers tune in to KRVS to start their day with Pete Bergeron and "Bonjour Louisiane." Like morning coffee, "Bonjour Louisiane" gets you up and going with traditional Cajun French favorites and the latest releases from talented newcomers. Brush up on your French, find out about the fairs and festivals, and share the "joie de vivre" of French Louisiana.