The National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families have partnered in a nationwide program offering free admission to museums for active duty military and their families. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and NEA Chairmen Rocco Landesman announced the launch in San Diego.

Internationally acclaimed scholar and writer Simon Schama tells the dramatic stories behind eight cutting-edge masterpieces - eight artist troublemakers in deep trouble, eight stories of disaster and triumph, and eight events that ultimately changed the way the world looks at art. With Schama's trademark style of passionate storytelling, the series uses a mix of dramatic re-enactments, atmospheric location shooting and spectacular art photography to create a cause-and-effect analysis of the creative process, placing viewers in a vortex of visual imagination, individual biography and cultural history. This episode explores the life and art of Jacques-Louis David.

The traditional school year in the San Diego Unified School District will end one week earlier in June next year due to teacher furloughs. That means parents will have to tack-on an extra five days to their child daycare plans in the summer.

Vista school officials say the number of homeless students in their school district has quadrupled over the past three years. There are currently more than 2,500 homeless students in the Vista Unified School District. That's about 10 percent of the overall student population.

The leader of a movement to take DNA samples from all people arrested for felonies visited Carlsbad today. Her visit came as California's DNA sampling law faces a legal challenge.

This time we join explorer Richard Bangs as he delves into how Switzerland’s alpine beauty helped inspire today’s ecotourism movement. Bangs’ quest is to discover the roots of adventure travel and to search for what philosophers and poets of earlier times called "the sublime."

For the second time in less than a week, a migrant has been held for ransom in Tecate. Police there report a woman who intended to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally was held captive while her smugglers extorted her husband.

"Ground War" explores the key technological advances that have defined ground warfare through the ages. From the gladius to the AK-47, from the chariot to the tank, from the trebuchet to the howitzer, and from the battle ramp to the star fort, the series follows the fascinating punch and counterpunch of battle tactics and new technologies. The final episode considers the ways in which armies have used or modified the terrain of the battlefield to their advantage for both defense and attack.

"Ground War" explores the key technological advances that have defined ground warfare through the ages. From the gladius to the AK-47, from the chariot to the tank, from the trebuchet to the howitzer, and from the battle ramp to the star fort, the series follows the fascinating punch and counterpunch of battle tactics and new technologies. This episode tracks the development of artillery from the ancient Greeks through the invention of gunpowder in China, to the very latest generation of big guns and directed-energy weapons.

I attended the Creation Entertainment Weekend of Horrors and got to met Italian maestro Dario Argento.

In the old days, many of us learned to cook from our parents. But in this busy, convenience-driven, modern world, much home cooking has gone by the wayside. We'll look at fun and healthy ways to cook with your kids.

The Black France Film Festival (which I am currently attending and participating in in Paris) has been lively and lots of discussion continues long after the screenings.

BP has repeatedly said it would pay all legitimate claims resulting from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but such promises raise a crucial question: What exactly does "legitimate claim" mean?

The San Diego Chargers get mini-camp underway this week. Joining us on Morning Edition is North County Times sports columnist Jay Paris.

Will the Padres maintain their hold on first place in the National League West? What does Floyd Landis' admission that he used illegal performance enhancing drugs tell us about the world of professional cycling? Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton joins us for a local sports update.

What's the latest news on the Chargers search for a new stadium? Last week, the team unveiled a rendering of what a new downtown stadium might look like, but many questions about the project still remain unanswered. Reporter Liam Dillon, with voiceofsandiego.org, gives us an update.

As if two open legislative seats (77th assembly, 36th senate) were not enough to keep the East County occupied, there is also the flap over the naming of a new high school in Alpine. The proposed name, Ronald Reagan High School, has deeply offended members of the Viejas band, while the near-secret process has angered others.

Culture Lust rounds up some of San Diego's best, most interesting, and most surprising art stories from the weekend so you've got plenty of material for this week's water cooler chatter.

San Diego’s political demographics have been changing over the past decade. Once a reliably Republican town, Democratic voters now outnumber Republican registered voters. The Republican Party has not been able to reverse a trend that began in 2008.

The Department of Homeland Security says San Diego's port could be vulnerable to a terrorist attack But the city has received $1.3 million worth of detection equipment to help counter any threats.