NPR 2010-09-03

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

Traces of oil are stretching out from the site of a rig explosion today off the Louisiana coast, the second blast since April. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says the platform operated by Mariner 2 Energy is still burning.

"The company has told us they strongly suspect what we see burning now are some of what was in storage on that platform. But again, we don't have any independent verification."

NPR's Kathy Lohr reports the platform is south of Vermilion Bay, about 200 miles west of April's BP oil rig blast.

The Coast Guard says about a mile-long oil sheen has spread outward from the Vermilion oil platform, which is owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy. The platform is in about 340 feet of water, not as deep as the BP rig that gushed 3 oil for more than three months. No one was killed in this accident. All 13 crew members were rescued from the water. The platform was undergoing maintenance work and was not producing oil at the time of the accident. A statement from Mariner says the company is working with regulatory authorities and response to the explosion and will begin an investigation 4 into the cause. Kathy Lohr, NPR News.

The sound of wind and rough surf whipped up by approaching Hurricane Earl, a Category 3 storm now on track to reach North Carolina by overnight. People are being urged to evacuate 5, but NPR's Jon Hamilton in South Nags 6 Head says a lot of people are choosing to stay with their properties though, they're still worried.

They say they are quite concerned about it that many of them have been out at the edge of the ocean, looking at the storm surge. They're aware of what storm surge can do and they've seen their houses have water swirling 7 around the pilings before, so I wouldn't say they're taking it lightly. They just believe that they're going to get through this one all right.

NPR's Jon Hamilton reporting.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have begun a new peace process amid widespread skepticism. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports on the talks launched at the State Department today.

Middle East envoy 8 George Mitchell says he and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will go to the region later this month for the next round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He says Israeli Prime Minister Banjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plan to meet every two weeks and set out a framework which he described as the fundamental compromises needed for a final peace deal.

"I felt that it was a very constructive 9 and positive mood, both in terms of their personal interaction and in terms of the nature of the discussion that occurred."

Netanyahu and Abbas also met privately 10 without US mediators and without their aids. Mitchell says the US will put its full weight behind the talks. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.

On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average up 50 points at 10,320; in trading of about three billion shares at last check NASDAQ was up 23 at 2,200.

This is NPR News.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the controversial Arizona lawman has been sued by the Justice Department. NPR's Ted 1 Robbins reports the government says Arpaio's department failed to cooperate with a civil rights probe.

The Justice Department has been investigating Arpaio for more than a year among the allegations that his Maricopa County Sheriff's Department discriminates 11 against Hispanics and conducts unconstitutional searches and seizures 12. The government asked Arpaio's office for jail and arrest records. The two sides went back and forth 13 for weeks over which records the sheriff would turn over. Arpaio has been successfully sued in the past by individuals over his jail procedures. He's probably best-known for putting inmates 14 in pink underwear and now for his sweeps in the Phoenix 15 area targeting illegal immigrants. Ted Robbins, NPR News, Tucson.

The Labor 16 Department says initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped slightly last week but remain well above levels that are considered a sign of healthier economy. That report out today comes on the eve of the department's release of its monthly employment data. Productivity in the spring, meanwhile, fell by the largest amount in nearly four years while labor costs increase. Signaling, companies may have reached the limits of squeezing more work out of fewer workers. Labor Department says productivity dropped at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the April to June quarter. That's doubled 0.9 percent decline originally reported a month ago.

An update from Wall Street: Dow Jones Industrial Average up 50 points at 10,320 at last check; NASDAQ rising 23 at 2,200; S&P 500 up ten at 1,090.