Morning Edition

The "Marching 100" is the nickname of Florida A&M's band. Controversy surrounds the band after one of its drum majors, Robert Champion, died after a possible hazing incident. The band's longtime director was fired, Champion's family has filed a lawsuit and the school has suspended the band indefinitely.

Peaceful voting in Egypt has given the country's stock market a boost. Cairo's market was closed on Monday when the landmark elections started. When trading opened Tuesday, the benchmark stock index surged more than 5 percent.

The housing crisis has stalled home building but apartment construction is undergoing a bit of a renaissance. There's now a huge pool of people forced to rent because they can't afford to buy a home, or they were a victim of foreclosure. In Denver, there aren't enough apartment vacancies.

The long running NBC comedy series The Office is about a group of workers employed by fictitious paper company Dunder Mifflin. The Wall Street Journal reports that an office supply website called Quill.com has struck a licensing agreement with NBC to sell copy paper using the fictitious brand name.

The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio — pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jamie Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson — will celebrate its 35th anniversary as one of the world's finest chamber-music ensembles this January. For the past 25 years, one of the group's frequent partners has been Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. She says it's always great fun to hand over a new piece.

Texans don't have to leave the state to visit Paris or Port-au-Prince. Just the most exotic among the state's many colorful town names which were dug up by the San Antonio Express-News. There's Uncertain, Texas, and also Nameless. Its founders gave up on a name after the postmaster rejected several choices.

Emma Sullivan, who wrote a disparaging tweet about Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, said Sunday that she is rejecting her high school principal's demand for a written apology.

The dream of high speed rail in California is running into tough realities. Cost estimates have more than doubled — to nearly $100 billion — since the project was approved by voters in 2008. The date of completion has been pushed back to 2030.

The Democratic Republic of Congo holds elections for president and parliament Monday. These are the second elections since a long dictatorship ended in 1997. Elections held in 2006 represented a transition to democracy.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's business news begins with a strong showing for retailers. Consumers spent a record $52.4 billion at stores and on the Internet over the weekend. It's the official start of the holiday shopping season. According to the National Retail Federation, shoppers hunting for Black Friday bargains spent an average of about $400 each, which is a big jump over last year.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: