David J Fazekas

The Takeaway's sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, headed to Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, NY for the U.S. Open. He came away with a number of observations, including how players distract themselves, like Frenchman, Gael Monfils who played soccer on the court before his match.

The combat mission in Iraq officially ends today, but the question about what we've accomplished there will remain for years. We hear from veterans of the war, and ask them what they felt they personally accomplished there. 

The U.S. Open began yesterday, and a number of storylines are appearing. Who will take advantage on the women's side of the absence of Serena Williams and Justine Henin? And can Rafael Nadal win his first U.S. Open title and complete his Career Grand Slam? Diane Pucin is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and she's in New York following the Open. She helps us take a look at the week's big matches.

Picher, Oklahoma, was like many other towns in the United States in the early 20th Cenutry. It became a boomtown after lead and zinc were found in its ground. But by the 1970s, it ran dry, and the mining companies left, leaving Picher with a mound of pollution. It soon became a Superfund site. Residents were then offered money by the government to leave, and soon the police department and local government were disbanded. However, some residents, like John Garner, decided to stay in his hometown.

Existing home sales got knocked out yesterday, plummeting a record 27 percent in July from the previous month, according to the National Association of Realtors. Purchases dropped to an annual pace of 3.83 million homes, the lowest rate since 1999.  Many blame the end of a government tax credit as the reason for the poor home sales.

Another month, another economic indicator is being released and examined. Today existing home sales numbers are being released by the National Association of Realitors, and predictions from economists and experts are looking pretty grim. Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, Louise Story, explains how these numbers may affect us and our economy.

With the NFL season just a month away, The Takeaway's sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin previews what to expect on the field. He focuses on NFC North, where Brett Favre is sticking it out for at least one more season with the Minnesota Vikings; and the NFC West, where a heated quarterback battle is brewing.

The "City of Brotherly Love" is making no friends in the blogosphere these days. Bloggers in Philadelphia have been receiving letters from the city asking them to pay $300 for a business privilege license. This has bloggers fuming, as most of them never even come close to making a profit. Sean Barry, has earned only $11 in the two years he's been running his blog, Circle of Fits, and thinks it's ridiculous he has to pay $300 for something he sees as his hobby, not a job.

It will be five years to the day, this Sunday, that Hurricane Katrina swept in and ravaged the Gulf Coast. All this week we'll be looking at how communities and local culture has changed since the hurricane. Mississippi recieved less attention than New Orleans, but the state was devastated when the hurricane hit. Mississippi saw over 200 dead in Katrina's wake, with over 5,000 homes destroyed and $125 billion in estimated damage.

A number of economic indicators are due out this week, including existing and new home sales, and 2nd quarter GDP figures — all are expected to plummet. Charlie Herman, economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC Radio, is describing this as a "slowdown" this week: "Right now, we're in the slow days of summer. The president is on vacation and Congress is in recess," he says.

The Wright County Egg company, based in Iowa, recalled 152 million eggs yesterday due fears of salmonella contamination. This brings the grand total to 380 million, after another recall back on August 13. Marion Nestle is an acclaimed nutritionist from New York University and the author of "Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety." She says that this isn't the first time the Wright County Egg company has found trouble with the FDA, and that salmonella should not be difficult to prevent.

On August 20, 1940 Adolf Hitler and his Nazi army looked unstoppable. With the United States still remaining neutral in the war, Great Britain was the soul protector of Europe. The country was being constantly bombarded by German air raids, and morale was low when UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill took the microphone and uttered these famous words: Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

He used to be bound for the Hall of Fame, but now seems more likely to go to prison. The seven-time Cy Young Award Winner, Roger Clemens was indicted on six counts by a federal grand jury yesterday, for allegedly lying to Congress, with statements like this, "let me be clear, I have never taken steroids or HGH."

According to White House officials, combat in Iraq ends on August 31, 2010, yet Brian Stelter, media reporter for The New York Times, wouldn't blame you if you thought that yesterday was the official end to Operation Iraqi Freedom. All the news channels, led by MSNBC, reported that the last U.S. combat brigade left Iraq yesterday. We'll take a look, along with Brian, at the media's coverage of yesterday's historic event.

The Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins today. For hundreds of millions of Muslims, this means no eating, no drinking (not even water), and no sex during daylight hours. Those are the basic rules most of us know or have heard about Ramadan, but there are some things that you may not know about the holy month. Ramadan also means big business.

Voters in Colorado and Connecticut head to the polls today to vote in primary elections. In Colorado, incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, who was endorsed by President Obama, is facing a surprisingly hard primary battle. A loss could bring insight into how voters feel about Washington and President Obama. Kirk Johnson, Denver bureau chief for The New York Times, joins us with the latest from the Centennial State.

The Labor Department's jobs report for July, released last Friday, showed overall unemployment stayed the same at 9.5 percent, but that the economy lost 5,600 temporary jobs. This ended nine months of gradual increases. Concerned economists say temporary jobs can be seen as a leading economic indicator of how businesses will proceed in the hiring of permanent workers. 

While private employers added 71,000 in July, the economy lost 131,000 jobs overall and unemployment remained unchanged at 9.5 percent. Many of the job losses were due to the expected reduction in Census Bureau staff. The numbers put increased pressure on Washington to find ways to help the economy.

Lakshman Achutan, managing director of the Economic Cycle Research Institute, analyzes the report and what it could mean for you and where jobs are headed in the months ahead.

Tennessee held Republican primaries for governor yesterday, along with a number of House primaries. The race for governor got national attention last month when Tennessee's Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey made controversial remarks about Islam in a video later published on YouTube. 

"Now, you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, a cult, whatever you want to call it," he continued. "But certainly we do protect our religions, but at the same time, this is something we are going to have to face."

The Senate handed President Barack Obama a victory yesterday as they passed a test vote on a $26 billion spending bill. The bill combines $16 billion in Medicaid funding and $10 billion in layoff prevention. Takeaway Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, has the details.