President Obama started a three-day bus tour of the Midwest in Minnesota Monday. At a town hall meeting in Cannon Falls, Minn., he talked about jobs and the economy.

Broker and financial adviser Jim Lacamp has been in the business long enough to remember when Americans had little stake and even less interest in the stock market.

It was a time when "people had a pension and profit-sharing plan that was run by [their] company," says Lacamp, senior vice president at Fort Worth, Texas-based Macro Portfolio Advisors. "They might see what a stock did on the news, but it didn't really have an impact on their daily lives."

A man dies in Louisiana after being bitten by a rabid vampire — bat, that is. It sounds like an episode of "True Blood," HBO's series that follows the fictional doings of Louisiana vampires.

But no, this was an actual missive from Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the journal of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention covering all things infectious and deadly.

In Germany, a dairy cow named Yvonne's death-defying escape — and continued success in eluding capture — has become an incandescent symbol of freedom and animal dignity. Okay, that may be hyperbolic. But how else to explain scores of visitors to Zangberg, the Bavarian commune Yvonne calls home, or the 10,000-euro reward offered for her safe return?

America's two largest hot dog makers face off in a district courthouse in Chicago today, in a case that may determine the limits companies must observe when putting down their competition in advertisements.

The quibble started in 2009, when an Oscar Mayer ad campaign directly targeted Ball Park Franks, with the claim "We are tastier." As proof, it cited a "national taste test" — organized by Oscar Mayer. The folks at Ball Park weren't satisfied.

An Egyptian judge adjourned the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak and banned live broadcasts of it, today. As NPR's Mike Shuster reported this morning, the judge struggled to maintain control of the courtroom and Mubarak, who is charged with corruption and of ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters earlier this year, said only one world: "Present."

Classes begin next week at Eastern Kentucky University, but a combination pep rally/reality check took place Monday on the Richmond campus. The fall annual convocation drew hundreds of faculty and staff. President Doug Whitlock says to expect about 16-thousand-500 students. Although that’s about the same as last year, Whitlock sees positives in the numbers.

The 12 members of the Super Committee are responsible for finding $1.2 trillion of savings by November. Guest host Tony Cox speaks with one of the members, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), about the committee's ability to address debt reduction. Clyburn says everything is on the table for compromise.

Over the weekend, Minn. Rep. Michele Bachmann won Iowa's Ames Straw Poll, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced his White House run while former Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty withdrew. President Obama is also starting his bus tour of the Midwest. Guest host Tony Cox discusses presidential politics with Republican strategist Ron Christie and Salon.com's Joan Walsh.

The oil leak at the Gannet Alpha platform off the Scottish coast has spilled "several hundred tons of oil" into the North Sea said the U.K.'s Department for Energy and Climate Change.

Royal Dutch Shell, which owns the platform, said it estimates 1,300 barrels have been spilled and said it was "significant." The AP adds: