NATIONAL STORIES

NEW YORK (AP) -- A trio of better-than-expected economic reports are boosting hopes for the fledgling economic recovery.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The new Navy assault ship USS New York, built with World Trade Center steel, has arrived in its namesake city with a 21-gun salute near the site of the 2001 terrorist attack.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's Election Day 2009. Two states are electing governors in what could be seen as a very early test of President Barack Obama's political influence.

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Co. says its October sales rose 4.7 percent over the same month last year, a sign that the U.S. auto market was starting a slow recovery from its yearlong slump.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Authorities say more remains have been discovered at the Cleveland home of a convicted rapist, raising to at least 10 the number of bodies that have been found there.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the recession apparently over, the Federal Reserve held a key interest rate at a record low and again pledged to keep it there for an "extended period" to foster the fragile economic recovery.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The City of Vancouver has handed over the athlete's village to Olympic officials with 100 days to go before the games begin.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Attorneys for John Allen Muhammad have released a May 2008 letter in which the mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area proclaims his innocence.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- State health officials said nine Indiana residents died last week from swine flu, a surge that's nearly doubled the state's swine flu fatalities to 19 since June.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Three workers at a major North Carolina hospital are gone after failing to get vaccinated against the seasonal flu.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's retailers are reporting mixed sales results for October.

MIAMI (AP) -- Ida has reached hurricane force as it nears Nicaragua's mainland.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (NBC) -- California's corrections secretary apologized Wednesday for mistakes made in Phillip Garrido's parole supervision, while the state police union deflected blame.

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- An Army psychiatrist set to be shipped overseas opened fire at the Fort Hood Army post Thursday, authorities said, a rampage that killed 12 people and left 31 wounded in the worst mass shooting ever at a military base in the United States.

NEW YORK (NBC) -- There's fresh anger over the shortage of H1N1 vaccines after reports several Wall Street firms have already received doses, ahead of many hospitals.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- The city of Boulder plans to discuss whether to implement a four-month freeze on applications for marijuana dispensaries.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- His name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow officer says he fought his deployment to Iraq and argued with soldiers who supported U.S. wars. He required counseling as a medical student because of problems with patients.

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- The top commander at Fort Hood is crediting a civilian police officer for stopping the shooting rampage that killed 13 people at the Texas post.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wal-Mart is upping the ante heading into the holiday season, trimming the online preorder prices of some upcoming DVDs following last month's price cut on books.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- His name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow officer says he fought his deployment to Iraq and argued with soldiers who supported U.S. wars.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says new figures showing national unemployment has hit the double-digit mark are regretful and says he's working hard to restore the struggling economy.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Only about a third of adults who have tried to get a swine flu vaccine have been able to get it, according to a new national poll released Friday.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Police in Orlando say a gunman has been apprehended after killing one person and injuring five others at a downtown office building where he was let go two years ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats acknowledged they don't yet have the votes to pass a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system, and signaled they may push back the vote until Sunday or early next week.

FORT HOOD, Texas (NBC) -- The investigation is intensifying at Fort Hood, Texas, and so are the emotions at the nation's largest military post.

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- A chaplain exhorted hundreds of mourners gathered at a candlelight vigil to not give up hope as Fort Hood and its surrounding community looked to each other for comfort after an Army psychiatrist allegedly went on a deadly shooting spree at the military base.

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A 1-year-old girl is back with her mother a year after the Mexico City doctors who delivered her allegedly sold her to another woman.