NPR News

For all of us who want to know when the economy's going to get moving again and when we'll start to see some consistently healthy job growth, the conversation that opened Morning Edition today was enlightening — though not particularly encouraging.

Persistent shortages of life-saving drugs led President Obama to issue an executive order last month to try and ease what one administration official called a "dire public health situation" that has created problems for patient care.

Two new economic indicators:

-- Sales in the retail and food sectors rose 0.5 percent in October from September, the Census Bureau says. They were up 7.2 percent from October 2010.

Bloomberg News says the increase in retail sales was "more than projected as Americans snapped up new Apple Inc. iPhones and demand for automobiles improved."

Good morning.

Our early headines today:

-- New York Police Clear Occupy Wall Street Protesters From Park.

-- Penn State Scandal: More Suspected Victims; Sandusky Says He's Innocent.

Other top stories of the day include:

As former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was being heard on NBC-TV last night declaring "I am innocent of those charges" and that he's not sexually attracted to young boys, The New York Times was landing with a report th