Thursday, October 30, 2008

• The Race to the House
• What Early Voting Could Mean in This Election
• What's Happening with The Bailout?
• LA Prosecutors Drop Charges Man Who Served 10 Years in Prison
• The Gulf Coast's Dead Zone

Click here for Headlines Package - Donate
Click here for 13 Meg Version - Donate
Click here for Dial-Up Version - Donate

The Race to the House

All 435 members of Congress are up for re-election. In 2006, the Democrats picked up 31 seats, giving them the majority – not only making it easier to pass Democratic legislation, but allowing them to control the agenda, chair committees, and have more members on those committees. Democrats hope Tuesday's election gives them an even bigger majority in the House. Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell has the story.

What Early Voting Could Mean in This Election

According to the United States Election Project, more than 17.5 million people have voted early or absentee so far. Being able to vote absentee started in the Civil War when soldiers were able to mail in their ballots to their families for them to submit; but early voting is a relatively new phenomena. FSRN's Karen Miller looks at how early voting has impacted the election so far, and what it could mean for the final outcome.

What's Happening with The Bailout?

So far, the massive economic bailout has taken the form of the Treasury buying preferred stock in a number of financial institutions. Initially the Treasury put $250 billion in a number of banks, with another disbursement this week. And while more and more people around the nation feel the pinch from increasing foreclosures and the credit crunch, the Commerce Department confirmed that the national GDP is down 0.3 percent for the third quarter – that's the biggest dip in seven years. FSRN spoke with Josh Bivens from the Economic Policy Institute about the bailout.

LA Prosecutors Drop Charges Man Who Served 10 Years in Prison

Los Angeles County District Attorneys dismissed all pending charges against Mario Rocha. Rocha was 16 years old when he was tried as an adult and winded up serving 10 years behind bars for a murder he says he didn't commit. Albert Pfaffman has the story.

The Gulf Coast's Dead Zone

As the weather starts to cool down along the US Gulf Coast, a yearly phenomenon known as the Dead Zone begins to shrink. The Gulf Coast Dead Zone is a massive area of water near Louisiana and Texas, where most marine life cannot live at the bottom due to low oxygen levels. Shannon Young recently traveled to New Orleans to find out more about this yearly occurrence.

Back to homepage