Northwest Herald from Woodstock, Illinois • Page 5

Northwest Herald NWHerald.com STATE AMD NATION Monday, March 9, 2009 Page 5A Recession on track to outpace '80s slide Uf1, riiirA AP photo going to be a long-lasting, substantial downturn." For months, headlines have compared this recession with the one that began in July 1981 and ended in November 1982. In January, reports showed 207,000 manufacturing jobs vanished in the largest one-month drop since October 1982. Major automakers' U.S. sales extended their deep slump in February, putting the industry on track for its worst sales month in more than 27 years. Struggling homebuild-ers have just completed the worst year for new home sales since 1982.

There are 12.5 million people out of work today, topping the number of jobless in 1982. sions each lasted 16 months. Unemployment hasn't reached 1982 levels and the gross domestic product hasn't fallen quite as far. But the hurt from this recession is spread more widely and uncertainty about the country's economic health is worse today than it was in 1982. Back then, if someone asked if the nation was about to experience something as bad as the Great Depression, the answer was, "Quite clearly, said Murray Weidenbaum, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Reagan White House.

"You don't have that certainty he said. "It's not only that the downturn is sharp and widespread, but a lot of people worry that it's By DEB RIECHMANN The Associated Press WASHINGTON Factory jobs disappeared. Inflation soared. Unemployment climbed to alarming levels. The hungry lined up at soup kitchens.

It wasn't the Great Depression. It was the 1981-82 recession, widely consid-efed America's worst since the Depression. That painful time during Ronald Reagan's presidency is a grim marker of how bad things can get. Yet the current recession could slice deeper into the U.S. economy.

If it lasts into April as it almost surely will this one will go on record as the longest in the postwar era. The 1981-82 and 1973-75 reces Onlookers watch as authorities investigate the scene Sunday at Maryville First Baptist Church after a man shot a pastor to death and injured others at the church. Pastor shot dead during service Orszag says economy is 'weak' NEWS BRIEFS treasury Dept gains 3 more appointments WASHINGTON -President Obama has chosen three people to join the senior ranks of the Treasury Department The White House on Sunday said Obama was nominating David S. Cohen to be assistant secretary in dealing with terrorist financing; Alan B. Krueger for assistant secretary for economic policy; and Kim N.

Wallace as assistant secretary for legislative affairs. All three are now subject to Senate confirmation. Man crushed to death in vehicle accident MARKHAM-Authorities in the southern Chicago suburb of Markham said a man was crushed to death Saturday when he was pinned against a truck while apparently trying to start his own vehicle. The Cook County medical examiner identified the victim as 48-year-old John Lockhart of Dolton. Teachers pair up for space mission CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

The space shuttle flight Wednesday night of Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold II will mark the first time two former teachers have rocketed into space together. And during the two-week construction mission to the international space station, both will attempt multiple spacewalks the most dangerous job in orbit. Storms throw bus onto Indiana building INDIANAPOLIS -Strong winds from severe thunderstorms raked parts of the Midwest on Sunday, tossing a school bus onto a building, destroying or damaging homes, and cutting off power to thousands of customers in Indiana and Illinois. Footage from WTHR-TV in Indianapolis showed a school bus lying atop a flattened building in Fayette-ville, where a tornado was reported. Wire reports lus should have a chance to work before officials ask Congress to consider a "I don't think we should be chasing our tail, constantly revising assumptions," Orszag said.

"Let's see what hap sumes the economy will grow at about 3.2 percent. Given climbing unemployment, shrinking credit and a general frustration over a crumbling economy, that now seems unrealistic. Orszag acknowledged the federal budget is "uglier than we would like," but he blamed most of the spending on last year's budget process and defended Obama's decision to go forward with it without seeking more changes. "This is like your relief pitcher coming in into the ninth inning and wanting to redo the whole game," he said. "Next year, we will be the starting pitcher and the game is going to be completely different." By PHILIP ELLIOTT The Associated Press WASHINGTON The White House's top budget official declared on Sunday that "fundamentally, the economy is weak" while saying the administration's own financial predictions could need a revision by midyear.

Peter Orszag, President Obama's Office of Management and Budget director, said in TV interviews that the economic downturn has been years in the making but cautioned that the new administration wasn't yet looking at a second economic stimulus package. Orszag said the already-in-place $787 billion stimu- Peter Orszag White House budget director his sermon about finding happiness in the workplace -titled "Come On, Get Happy" and managed to run halfway down the sanctuary's side aisle before collapsing, Cunningham said. Two parishioners tackled the gunman as he pulled the knife, and all three were stabbed the gunman suffered "a pretty serious wound to the neck" while one parishioner had lower back wounds, Trent said. Churchgoers knocked the gunman between sets of pews, then held him down until police arrived, said member Don Bohley, who was just outside the sanctuary when the shooting began. "People came running out and told us to call 911," said Bohley, 72.

Authorities didn't know whether Winters, a married father of two who had led the church for nearly 22 years, knew the gunman. Police described the gunman as a 27-yearold from nearby Troy but would not release his name pending possible charges. "We don't know the relationship between the gunman and pastor, why he's here or what the circumstances came about that caused him in the first place to be here," Illinois State Police Master Trooper Ralph Timmins said. Trent said investigators found no immediate evidence of a criminal background for the suspect. He said police were investigating whether a red Jeep parked outside the church belonged to the man.

By JIM SUHR The Associated Press MARYVILLE A suburban St. Louis pastor shot and killed during his Sunday sermon deflected the first of the gunman's four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray of paper into the air in a horrifying scene parishioners initially thought was a skit, police said. The gunman strode down the aisle of the sprawling First Baptist Church shortly after 8 a.m., exchanged words with the Rev. Fred Winters, then fired a .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol until it jammed and churchgoers wrestled him to the ground as he brandished a knife, Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent said. None of the about 150 parishioners seemed to recognize the 27-year-old gunman, and investigators did not know details of Winters' conversation with him, Trent said, but they planned to review an audio recording of the service.

Some parishioners said Winters might have greeted the gunman and asked if he could do anything for him. "We thought it was part of a drama skit when he shot, what you saw was confetti," said parishioner Linda Cunningham, whose husband is a minister of adult education at the church. "We just sat there waiting for what comes next not realizing that he had wounded the pastor." Winters had stood on an elevated platform to deliver pens, let it work. We'll have a mid-session review later in the year. We'll have an opportunity to revise the assumptions at that point." That revision, though, seemed unavoidable.

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