President Barack Obama has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York City as his first appointment to the Supreme Court, The New York Times reported. If confirmed, Sotomayor, 54, would replace Justice David Souter and become the third female justice and the first Hispanic justice to serve on the Supreme Court. Other finalists were U.S. Appeals Judge Diane Wood of Chicago, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Sotomayor’s inspiring personal story of being born to Puerto Rican parents and raised in Bronx public housing projects before graduating from Yale Law School played a role in Obama’s decision, and he said she is someone who possesses “a rigorous intellect, a mastery of the law.” Republicans may have little hope of blocking confirmation in the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Friedman Billings Ramsey raised Principal Financial Group Inc.’s rating to “outperform” from “market perform,” Reuters reported. Though the insurer will likely experience significant credit losses in its low-rated commercial-mortgage-backed securities and corporate debt portfolios, the brokerage said, it expects the company will have enough capital to cover its remaining losses. Principal was able to raise $1.1 billion of equity and $745 million of debt capital in recent weeks. Friedman also raised Principal’s stock price target to $27 from $20, as well as increasing price targets on StanCorp Financial Group Inc., AFLAC Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc.’s stocks.

The city of Des Moines and structural consulting firm Shuck-Britson Inc. inspected Principal Park last week after pieces of precast concrete decking fell to the concourse floor while a few employees were working at the stadium. The concrete had loosened and fallen along the bottom surface of about a 10-foot-by-1-foot portion of a second-floor slab. Nobody saw the material fall. After inspection, the stadium was deemed safe for continued use, though cracks in slabs under a few other decking areas were noted, causing the staff to temporarily restrict access to certain areas. Additional testing and structural monitoring will continue to be conducted and needed repairs will be made as soon as possible, the city said in a press release.

The Des Moines Public Works Department’s resurfacing programs are scheduled to begin this week. Seventy-three lane miles of streets will be resurfaced this year. A schedule of planned roadway improvements is available at www.dmgov.org under “Hot Topics,” “2009 Public Works Street Projects.”

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller National Home Price index released today showed that home prices fell 19.1 percent in the first quarter, the biggest drop in the index’s 21-year history, the Associated Press reported. Home prices have declined 32.2 percent since their peak in the second quarter of 2006.

After its annual shareholders meeting last week, FBL Financial Group Inc. named Roger Brooks a new Class A director, filling a current board vacancy. Brooks is the retired CEO and chairman of AmerUs Group Co., which Aviva plc acquired. At the meeting, shareholders elected six Class A directors and five Class B directors to one-year terms. The board declared a cash dividend of 6.25 cents per share on its class A and B common stock, payable on June 30 to shareholders of record as of June 15.