NPR 2011-11-07

 In Connecticut: "We're disappointed, discouraged, tired." Chet Matczak from Tariffville, Connecticut expressed the frustration 1 of thousands who have been without power for eight days. Power crews are still working after a freak October snowstorm took down trees and power lines. As of this morning well over 100,000 people were still without power. Governor Dannel P. Malloy told reporters today he's frustrated 2 and angry.

 
"As you know, at least ten people have died as a result of the storm, many have been cold and many more have been inconvenienced. This should not have happened and my job is to find out why it did and most importantly, my job is to make sure that this does not happen again."
 
Connecticut Light & Power is promising 3 to restore service to 99% of affected 4 customers by midnight.
 
House Speaker John Boehner says he will do everything he can to make sure the so-called congressional super committee is successful. As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, a deadline for action is drawing near.
 
The super committee has just over two weeks to come up with a plan to cut the deficit 5 by $1.2 trillion or face automatic cuts. Boehner appeared on ABC's "This Week" and said he would be open to a revenue increase. 
 
"I believe that we can create revenue out of fixing our tax code and bring that revenue to the table, as long as our colleagues on the other side of the aisle 6 are serious about cutting spending."
 
Boehner didn't budge 7 on his opposition 8 to new or increased taxes on the rich. He said his biggest regret this year is failing to strike a deficit-cutting deal with President Obama over the summer. Tamara Keith, NPR News.
 
While just about every lobby group in town and environmental groups are watching the work of that super committee, NPR's Jeff Brady tells us environmentalists believe the oil industry could help out with some fiscal 9 relief. 
 
If your US senator or representative is on the super committee, there likely will be ads running on your TV soon. That's the counter calls for increased taxes on big oil from people like Melinda Pierce of the Sierra Club. 
 
"They are some of the biggest and most profitable industries in our economy."
 
So Pierce thinks the super committee should get rid of tax breaks oil and natural gas companies currently enjoy. But Marty Durbin with the American Petroleum 10 Institute says that would be unfair.
 
"These are the same types of cost recovering mechanisms 11 available to manufacturers and others throughout the economy."
 
The oil industry argues higher taxes would hurt one of the few industries in the US that's still hiring. Jeff Brady, NPR News.
 
A critical meeting between the Greek prime minister and the leader of the opposition has concluded in Athens at issue the formation of an interim 12 government. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has said he will step aside once an agreement is reached. The European Union is counting on Greece to resolve its political and debt crisis.
 
This is NPR News.
 
In Nigeria, scores of people have been killed in the northeast, the result of attacks by a radical 13 Muslim sect 14. A Nigerian Red Cross official is predicting the number of dead will rise. At St. Peter's Square in Rome today, Pope Benedict condemned 15 the violence. The sect in Nigeria Boko Haram was to implement 16 strict Shariah law across Nigeria, which has a predominantly Christian 17 south and a Muslim north.
 
The men for air travel during the upcoming holiday season is down this year. But as NPR's David Schaper reports that doesn't mean prices are coming down.
 
The Air Transport Association is expecting a 2% drop in the number of travelers flying this Thanksgiving.
 
That 2% drop translates into about 37,000 fewer people per day are expected to take to the skies during the Thanksgiving holiday period.
 
The industry group's Steve Lott says the soft economy is weakening leisure travel demand but he says that doesn't mean there'll be a lot of planes with empty seats.
 
"Airlines have been working to better match capacity with demand. And we're actually seeing fewer seats available or fewer flights operating this Thanksgiving compared with last Thanksgiving. 
 
And that plus higher fuel cost is pushing up airfares this holiday season. David Schaper, NPR News.
 
Occupy Wall Street protesters in Atlanta and Honolulu clashed with authorities this weekend. Several Atlanta demonstrators who refused to orders to stay on the sidewalk were arrested. Honolulu authorities say they have apprehended 18 several protesters who tried to set up camp at a local park.
 
I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.