NPR 2009-11-04

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carol Van Dam.

Voters in New Jersey 1 and Virginia are electing governors today and several major cities including New York, Houston and Atlanta are choosing mayors. NPR's Kathy Lohr reports.

Virginia helped elected Barack Obama president last year. But this year the Democratic candidate for governor Creigh Deeds was behind in the polls by double digits 2, going into the election against Republican conservative Bob McDonnell, the state's former attorney general. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to win reelection for a third term. He has spent more than 100 million dollars on the race. In Houston, four candidates are competing for the city's top office, including Annise Parker, who could become the city's first openly gay mayor. And in Atlanta, six candidates are vying 3 for mayor. The front runner is city council woman Mary Norwood. If elected, she would become the city's first white mayor since 1974. While her poll numbers have increased since last summer, it may be difficult for any candidate to get a majority of the vote here. And that likely means a December runoff. Kathy Lohr, NPR News, Atlanta.

In Maine and Washington state voters are weighing in on same-sex unions. Maine voters are deciding whether to repeal 4 a bill passed by the legislature and sign it into the law in May that allows same-sex marriages. The contest is considered too close to call. Both campaigns have been working round the clock to get out the vote in this off year election.

President Obama has been meeting with European Union officials today. Iran is likely to be high on the president's agenda. As NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

European Commissioner 5 for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the Europeans and Americans need to keep up a united front to persuade Iran to accept the plan to send its low enriched uranium abroad. "We are disappointed that until now, at the, so to say unclenched fist of President Obama and all the dialogue that has been going on also has not yet led to a clear answer of the Iranians." She said Iran should answer clearly what she called an excellent offer for uranium enrichment in Russia and France. In an interview, Ferrero-Waldner didn't lay out timeline but said patience won't last forever. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

House Republicans have released a health care alternative bill to the Democrats 6 measure that focuses more on lowering costs than expending 7 coverage 8. Unlike the Democrats 1,990-page bill, the GOP slim 230-page bill has no binding 9 to buy insurance and does not ban companies from denying coverage to people with so-called "pre-existing conditions." Republican bill does place caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases.

Chrysler Group says sales in October were down 30% from October of last year. But sales improved 6% from September when the government ended its popular "Cash for Clunkers" program.

On Wall Street, the Dow Industrials are down eight points to 2,057. And the NASDAQ is down two to 1,045.

This is NPR.

Warren Buffet 10 is betting the economy continues to recover. He’s buying the nation's second largest railroad. His holding company Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe in a deal worth some 34 billion dollars. Berkshire Hathaway already owns 22% of the company. Burlington Northern is the biggest hauler of coal and food products in the country.

A new study suggests men with low cholesterol 11 have a lower risk of developing the most aggressive kind of prostate cancer. NPR's Richard Knox has more in the story.

Researches from Johns Hopkins and other centers followed 5,600 men over age 55 for three years. Low cholesterol didn't have anything to do with which ones got prostate cancer but those lack cholesterols below 200 milligrams were almost 60% less likely to have an aggressive and deadly form of cancer. Two hundred milligrams or below is considered the cholesterol goal. The study is published online by a journal called Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. The low cholesterol effect was independent to other factors that affect prostate cancer risk, such as smoking, weight and family history of the disease. The study doesn't say whether cholesterol lowering drugs would decrease the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. But study authors promised to have something on that in the future. Richard Knox, NPR News.

Maryland officials are setting up a hand washing surveillance program at hospitals around the state. Teams of monitors will contribute to a system wide report on the hand washing practices medical staff. The program will use 100,000 dollars in federal stimulus 12 program money. Lieutenant 13 governor Anthony Brown says individuals who fail to scrub up will be penalized 14. He says the state simply wants to raise awareness 15 about the importance of keeping hands clean.