CNN 2009-02-18

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It's time for your NOW IN THE NEWS update, I'm Reggie Aqui, thanks for checking in.

President Obama will sign the much debated economic stimulus¹ bill into law in Denver. The president says his plan will create or save some 3.5 million jobs over the next two years. After he signs it, Mr. Obama will head to Phoenix², where he's gonna talk about helping³ homeowners who face foreclosure. Those of the comments will be held tomorrow.

Meanwhile this afternoon is a deadline for General Motors and Chrysler to submit their financial survival plans to the Treasury⁴ Department and prove that given enough bailout money they can become viable⁵ again. If those plans don't prove viability⁶, the US government could recall the loans.

Layoff⁷ notices could go out today to about 20,000 California state workers. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the action after state legislators failed to pass a budget during a Marathon session Monday. State lawmakers say there're still one vote away from approving 14 billion dollars in tax increases. Without an agreement the state won't be able to pay its bills and fix a 42-billion-dollar budget deficit⁸.

The US army is investigating the death of a teenage girl at Fort Lewis Washington. The 16-year-old girl was found dead inside a barracks along with another girl who was unconscious. A Fort Lewis spokesman says there was no outward sign of physical trauma⁹ on either girl. An army soldier was questioned by investigators¹⁰ but no arrests have been made.

The Salmonella outbreak is now taking a toll¹¹ on the nation's food banks as thousands of pounds of donated food are being thrown out. Staff members are now being forced to spend a lot of their time going through shelves to find recalled peanut products. All these as many food banks already are dealing¹² with shortages due to the struggling economy.

The last of today, more than 600 TV stations around the country have made the switch to digital TV. Congress delayed the official deadline until June because it ran out of coupons¹³ for converter boxes. Officials say 4 million people still need them.

That's a quick look at your headlines right now. Please stick with us here at CNN.com live. We'll have more updates throughout the day.