NPR 2009-09-02

President Obama today pointed 1 to growth in the manufacturing sector 2 as evidence the nation's economy is on the right track. NPR's Scott Horsley has more.

 The nation's manufacturing sector grew last month for the first time in more than a year and a half. An index compiled by the Institute for Supply Management showed better-than-expected manufacturing growth with strong new orders for manufactured goods both here and abroad. President Obama hailed the new data during an appearance in the White House Rose Garden. "This means greater production of transportation equipment like cars, and electronic equipment like computers and appliances. And it means these companies are starting to invest more and produce more. And it is a sign that we're on the path to economic recovery.” The growth in manufacturing has so far not translated to an increase in factory jobs. Mr. Obama says his administration won't let up until Americans who are looking for work can find it. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

 Residents along the southern Baja Peninsula are battening down the hatches today as Hurricane Jimena moves closer. While weakening slightly overnight as it bears down on an area that includes some popular resorts, Jimena is still a Category 3 hurricane. The storm is expected to pass west and north of Los Cabos where officials have been working to convince 10,000 people to seek shelter. Another 20,000 are expected to be evacuated 3 from other areas of the peninsula. Already the storm’s outer bands are being felt with high waves and heavy rain. At last tour, Jimena was about 100 miles south of Los Cabos and is expected to make landfall in the early hours of tomorrow.

 Station fire burning out of control in the Angeles National Forest continues to grow, topping 121,000 acres. We get the latest from Hettie Lynne Hurtes of member station KPCC in Los Angeles.

 It's the largest fire to overrun Los Angeles since 1897. But while it is growing, it's apparently 4 not growing as fast as it has been. It expanded by only 16,000 acres overnight as compared with a 43,000-acre expansion the day before. Officials say humidity is helping 5. Meanwhile Governor Schwarzenegger has added yet another Southern California county to a list of five under emergency declarations, the latest, San Bernardino. So far the fiscally-strapped state has spent over 105 million of its 182-million-dollar emergency firefighting fund and has applied 6 for federal grants to ease the financial burden. As for the largest fire, the station fire, it's not expected to be contained before September 15th. For NPR News, I'm Hettie Lynne Hurtes in Los Angeles.

 Major automakers are weighing with their August sales numbers which in some cases were boosted by the government's Cash for Clunkers program. Ford 7 says its sales were up 17%, Honda also saw higher sales numbers. However, both Chrysler and GM, lacking large supplies of smaller fuel efficient vehicles, saw sales drops.

 On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 185 points. The NASDAQ lost 40 points today.

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 Former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge 8 is continuing to say that people are over-reading an assertion in his new book that politics played a role in discussions about raising the nation's terror alert level just before the 2004 elections. Ridge says while the source is of debate, the alert level was not raised; so it was not an issue. On another topic, Ridge says former Vice 9 President Dick Cheney was wrong when he said the interrogation technique known as “waterboarding” is not a torture. “I do think waterboarding is an extreme form of torture. But I disagree with this administration; particularly the Attorney General with the notion that some of those methods of enhanced enforcement should be... we should be barred from using them. “Ridge made those remarks at NPR's “Talk of the Nation”. Ridge’s book is entitled The Test of Our Times: America under Siege.

 Two astronauts from space shuttle Discovery will spend the next few hours outside the International Space Station on a spacewalk. The crew members will begin work to replace part of the outpost’s cooling system. Pat Duggins of member station WMFE reports.

Astronauts Nicole Stott and Danny Olivas will spend about six and a half hours on their spacewalk. Their biggest job is to disconnect an ammonia cooling tank from the space station’s outer framework. The box-shaped tank is covered in white protective fabric 10. Discovery has a new tank in its payload bay to replace the one Stott and Olivas will tinker with. The ammonia supply of the station is critical since it helps to channel excess heat from the outpost out into space through radiator 11 panels sticking out from the complex. The spacewalk will also retreat experiment packages from the outside of the station, each one contains samples of various metals and materials which have been exposed to the environment of space. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins in Orlando.

 Crude oil futures 12 prices fell for a second straight day. Benchmark crude was down $1.91 a barrel to end the session at $68.05 a barrel in New York.