NPR 2011-09-07

 A mass shooting at a restaurant in Carson city, Nevada this morning reportedly is blamed for at least three deaths and a number of injuries. We have the latest from NPR's Ted Robbins. 

 
Witnesses say a man drove up to an IHOP in a strip mall this morning. They say he pulled out an automatic rifle and shot a man on a motorcycle, then he walked inside the restaurant and began shooting. One witness says the man then left the IHOP and began firing into other businesses in the strip mall. Police and FBI agents arrived at the scene. Carson City sheriff Kenneth Furlong says the gunman shot himself, others are in surgery at a local hospital. Ted Robbins, NPR News.
 
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is in North Los Vegas this hour, calling for a lower corporate tax rate and for eliminating capital gains taxes as part of the plan to lift the struggling economy and create jobs. 
 
More than 1000 homes across Texas are damaged or destroyed as a result of the growing number of wild fires burning in the central and eastern section of the state. Majority of losses were in Bastrop, a county near Austin where one fire wiped out hundreds of homes. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate. The flames were fueled by tinder-dry conditions and high winds generated by tropical storm Lee. 
 
Thousand are without power and schools are closed today in parts of the South dealing with the remnants of Lee. From member station WPLN Blake Farmer reports some areas have measured record rainfall.
 
Gauges in Chattanooga Tennessee have been filled more rains than any other 24 hour period, ten to eleven inches in some spots. Mocksville's also seen a historical rainfall and is still coming down. Rivers and creeks are starting to flood, rising above roads in southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. Forecaster has expected the worst of the flooding will happen today since the ground is saturated. Wind was the problem in Georgia yesterday, chainsaws and tarps are coming out after the slow-moving storm, spun up suspected tornados and damaged some 100 homes North Atlanta. In Alabama as many as 200,000 lost power after the storm blew through Birmingham. From NPR News, I'm Blake Farmer in Nashville.
 
Storms and wild fires apparently make for captivating images in space. NASA Astronaut Ron Garan is aboard the International Space Station where he's taking pictures of the forces of Mother Nature from 240 miles up.
 
It was scary from it up here as well, you know, it's just, you know when you see these massive storms, you see how powerful they are, it's just really unsparing from up here, it's terrifying.
 
The crew on the orbiting outpost say ground controllers are figuring out how best to leave the complex running, such as what lights to leave on in case it needs to be temporarily vacated. This is after a Russian rocket carrying supplies to the outpost failed during lift-off two weeks ago and delayed other planned launches. 
 
The Dow is down 170 points at 11,067. This is NPR News.
 
Thousands of jobs could be at stake if members of Congress don't act quickly to extend a transportation bill when they return. As NPR's Tamara Keith tells us the deadline is September 30th.
 
All Congress needs to do is passing an extension of the transportation funding bill to keep projects humming. It's something they've done many times before. But there are still concerns something could go wrong, because before the recess, Congress failed to pass a FAA funding extension, forcing furloughs, and that was supposed to be simple too. Jack Basso is the COO of the American Associations of State Highway and Transportation officials.
 
Naturally when you see that, it gives you some concern, but I think just all of the discussions we've had seem to be very positive and getting this taken care of. 
 
Both Republicans and Democrats have indicated they don't plan to hold up the extension. Tamara Keith, NPR News, the capital.
 
Service sector firms have accounted for the majority of the U.S. work force, such as health care, hospitality and financial service companies, is showing signs of improvement. The Institute for Supply Management finds the sector rose at a slightly faster pace in August than the month before. Its index reading for services remains above 50 which indicates expansion, but overall, the service sector is still considered too weak to turn the economy around.
 
Here's the latest from Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 169 points a 1.5% at 11,072, paring back earlier losses in the day. NASDAQ down 30, more than 1% at 2,451.
 
I'm Lakshmi Singh NPR News.