From NPR News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham.

 

　　President Obama has told residents of coastal communities in New Jersey that they are stronger than the super storm that devastated the area last fall. Obama spoke after checking out rebuilding efforts in the state today.

 

　　"We are gonna keep doing what it takes to rebuild all the way and make it better than it was before, make it stronger than it was before, make it more resilient than it was before."

 

　　The president was accompanied by New Jersey’s GOP Governor Chris Christie who says a lot of work remains be done.

 

　　"So many more of our families who need to get back in their homes. So many more of our businesses who need to get back up and running and employ people, still so many."

 

　　Super storm Sandy caused $38 billion in damage.

 

　　Home prices in the nation's largest cities are up nearly 11% over the past year. That's the largest increase in seven years. But economist Mark Vitner with Wells Fargo says much of the rise was fueled by investors snapping up houses rather than by families buying homes to live in.

 

　　"The home ownership rate is continuing to drop, and actually the number of homeowners has declined by 91,000 over the last year. So we actually have fewer home owners stay even though prices are up."

 

　　The biggest gains we’ve seen in Phoenix, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

 

　　Consumer confidence in the US economy has risen to its highest level in more than five years. NPR's John Ydstie says the gains and the Conference Board’s index of consumer attitudes exceeded economists' expectations.

 

　　A Board spokesperson says that consumers who earlier in the year were worried about higher taxes and federal spending cuts are now showing more optimism. Rising stock prices and home values along with steady job growth are contributing to that optimism. Job growth has averaged over 200,000 a month in the past half a year. That's 15% stronger than in the preceding six months. Investors hope more confident consumers will continue to push their spending higher.

 

　　That would boost economic growth and profits. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

 

　　The US Supreme Court has let stand the lower court ruling that blocks Indiana from stripping Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood because abortions are among the medical services offered by the organization. NPR's Nina Totenberg says although no federal funds are permitted for abortions, some joint federal state Medicaid money is paid to Planned Parenthood to provide women with preventive services, such as birth control.

 

　　More than a dozen states have enacted or considered laws that bar Planned Parenthood from receiving any Medicaid payments for treating poor women. The laws target the organization because it also provides privately funded abortion services in about 3% of its cases. Six federal courts have ruled the targeted defunding because of that is illegal. Ending the first of these cases to reach the high court, the justices without common declined to intervene, leaving intact the lower court ruling in favor of Planned Parenthood.

 

　　That's the NPR's Nina Totenberg.

 

　　This is NPR News from Washington.

 

　　Federal prosecutors are accusing an online currency exchange firm of running a $5 billion money-laundering operation. An indictment filed in federal court in New York says the firm Liberty Reserve’s digital currency operation helps cyber criminals around the world. US Attorney Preet Bharara, "It became the bank of choice for the criminal underworld." Authorities in the US, Spain and Costa Rica have seized bank accounts and arrested five people.

 

　　The state of Mississippi today is marking the 50th anniversary of a civil rights sit-in at a Woolworth's five-and-dime store lunch counter. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports the site will become part of a trail highlighting the state’s pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement.

 

　　Fifty years ago, a racially mixed group sat out to integrate the whites-only lunch counter at the Woolworth's in downtown Jackson, Mississippi's capital city. The sit-in was met by an angry white mob who beat protesters and drenched them with ketchup and other condiments. Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers helped organize the sit-in and an ongoing boycott of segregated businesses. Two weeks after the violence at Woolworth's, Evers was gunned down outside his Jackson home. The store’s been closed for decades, but a historical marker was unveiled on the site. It's part of the Mississippi Freedom Trail commemorating the people and events that helped break down the Jim Crow South. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.

 

　　Colorado's governor has signed six laws to regulate and tax recreational marijuana use in that state. One of the measures sets a limit for drivers similar to the blood-alcohol standard for drunk driving. Taxes for pot users could range up to 25%. Colorado voters approved a constitutional amendment last year, making recreational marijuana use legal in that state.

 

　　I'm Craig Windham, NPR News.