NPR 2009-02-21

To say stock market investors 1 are pessimistic as the week winds down would be something of an understatement. All three of the major stock market indexes ended the session lower today. The fresh bear market lows followed remarks from Senate Banking 2 Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, who said that nationalization of some US banks could be needed for a short period. Mark Vitner is a senior economist 3 at Wachovia Corporation. "It seemed irrational 4 to me because no one was talking about nationalizing all of the banks. And nationalization has always been out there. I mean they nationalized Indy Mac earlier or late last year?" The White House quickly responded by saying it strongly believes in the privately 5 held bank system that helped the market recover slightly before the close, however, the Dow was still at its lowest level in more than six years.

Department of Labor 6 said today consumer prices rose in January for the first time since July at a seasonally 7 adjusted rate of three tenths of a percent, NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports.

Slightly higher energy prices helped to push inflation up a bit last month, but the annual inflation level was still at its lowest level in more than 50 years. Year over year, the price of household items remained flat, which is the lowest reading since 1955.

In the past year, the biggest fluctuations 8 in prices came from energy, which rose dramatically in the summer. But after a big slide in recent months, energy prices last month were down more than 20% compared to the previous year. Core prices of household items excluding food and energy rose two tenths of a percent after remaining flat in December. These muted levels of inflation are likely to continue as a severe economic downturn continues to weaken demand for goods, keeping prices down. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is joining the course of elected officials and citizens calling for Senator Roland Burris to resign. Burris is under fire for changing a story of how he came to be appointed to the Senate by impeached 9 former Governor Rod Blagojevich. NPR's David Schaper has more.

Governor Quinn says he has known fellow Illinois Democrat 10 Roland Burris for 37 years, calling him an honorable man. But he says it was a "gigantic mistake” for Burris to take the Senate appointment from disgraced former Governor Blagojevich in the first place. And now that it's apparent, Burris has much more contact with Blagojevich’s associates than he first disclosed, and that he even tried raising money for Blagojevich. Quinn's asking his friend Burris to step down. "There is just too much of a cloud of controversy 11 over this appointment process for any person, such as Senator Burris, to truly carry out the duties that the people of Illinois need from a US Senator at this time.” Quinn is calling on Illinois lawmakers to pass legislation that would establish a special election for all future Senate vacancies 12 including this one if Burris resigns. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100 points to end the week at 7,365. The S&P 500 dropped eight points today.

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A new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency this week that Iran has built up a stockpile of nuclear fuel is being greeted with alarm in Washington. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the report which indicates Iran may have increased its stockpile by a third represents "another lost opportunity" for Iran as it continues to renege on its international obligations. However, the IAEA report did say it believed the discrepancy 13 in the stockpile was a mistake. US has consistently said it suspects Teheran of using what it termed a civilian 14 nuclear program to build an atomic weapon.

A state judicial 15 ethics 16 panel in Texas has charged presiding judge of the state's highest criminal court with violating her duty when she closed the court office on the afternoon that a death row inmate 17 filed a last-minute appeal. More from NPR's John Burnett.

Sharon Keller, presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will go on trial to answer charges that she refused to follow execution-day procedures and that she brought disrepute on the court. Michael Richard was convicted of capital murder in 1987 for sexually assaulting and murdering a 53-year-old nurse after she offered him a glass of water at her home near Houston. He was scheduled to die on September 25, 2007. His attorney claims he was having computer problems and needed an extension to file a last-minute appeal to the state Criminal Appeals Court. Judge Keller acknowledges telling him “we close at five o’clock”. But she says she didn't know he needed 20 more minutes past closing time. The execution of Michael Richard went ahead a schedule. Since then, hundreds of attorneys from around the country have sent complaints about her conduct. John Burnett, NPR News, Austin.