Mark Memmott

An index that's designed to forecast how the economy will be doing in coming months rose a solid 0.9 percent in October from September, the business research group The Conference Board reports. It had risen just 0.1 percent in September and had fallen 0.3 percent in August.

Kurt Budke, coach of the women's basketball team at Oklahoma State University, was killed in the crash of a small plane last night in Perry County, Ark.

Also dead: assistant women's basketball coach Miranda Serna and two others, including the pilot. The coaches had been on a recruiting trip to Arkansas.

As The Oklahoman reports:

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- 'Flickers Of Progress' Prompt Plan For Clinton To Visit Myanmar.

-- Robert Wagner Supports New Look Into Natalie Wood's Death.

It's not the final word, but scientists at the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics report today that "new tests conducted at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of INFN by the OPERA Collaboration, with a specially set up neutrino beam from CERN, confirm so far the previous results on the measurement of the neutrino velocity."

Update at 3:50 p.m. ET: Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine has called the accusations about him "patently false," The Associated Press reports.

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