Picture taken from Creative Commons courtesy Flickr user Transplanted Mountaineer.

Good evening, I’m Emily Jones, and here are some voices from the week’s news:

“We’re not gonna leave this hill until we kill this bill.”

“The yays are 220, the nays are 215. The bill is passed.” Cheers!

Democrats are cheering the sweeping healthcare reform bill that narrowly passed the U-S House of Representatives Saturday night. But Republicans say the 1.2-trillion-dollar plan will cost too much. The measure would require most people to carry insurance and includes a public option. Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed said on CBS’s Face the Nation the bill still faces a tough battle when it moves to the Senate.

“There’s strong support there, but we are far from the end of the debate in the Senate. It’ll take time, it’ll be careful, thorough, and deliberate. I hope that a public option is part of the final bill.”

Senate Republicans say they’re ready to fight that public healthcare plan. President Obama has said he hopes to sign a final bill into law by the end of the year.

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The country is still mourning Thursday’s deadly attack at Fort Hood, Texas. 13 people died and another 29 were injured when Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire on the base. Authorities are still investigating the attack. Now Fort Hood Deputy Commander Colonel John Rossi says the base is trying to recover.

“Working together, we are going to get through this, and in fact we are transitioning right now from a crisis to a focus on healing.”

Rossi says there will be counselors and support on base for those affected.

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Closer to home, the battle against the H1N1 virus kicked into high gear last week as concern over the flu continued to spread. The Department of Health held its first vaccine clinics at schools statewide on Monday and expects to continue them into December. Meanwhile doctors are reporting more and more visits for flu-like symptoms and schools are seeing high numbers of kids stay home. Officials say worry over the virus is spurring both trends.

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It was a big week in elections, and the voting’s not done yet in Rhode Island. Virginia and New Jersey both voted in Republican governors Tuesday, and Maine voters struck down a state law allowing gay marriage. Here in the Ocean State, Woonsocket elected city council President Leo Fontaine as the city’s new mayor, and Central Falls mayor Charles Moreau won an easy victory for a fourth term. And coming up tomorrow voters in District 10 will decide who fills the State House seat left open by the death Representative Tom Slater in August. RI Future reports Slater’s son Scott is running as a Democrat against Republican Maurice Green and Independent Wilbur Jennings.

The voices you heard were Colonel John Rossi of Fort Hood, Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa, healthcare protestors outside the Capitol Building, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

For WBRU News, I’m Emily Jones!

The BRU Brief airs weekly on 95.5 FM, recapping the week’s top local, national, and international stories, and taking a closer look at the issues of the day in Southern New England. Tune in on Monday nights at 11:00, or stream live at news.wbru.com.