Round 2: Blizzards hit Mid-Atlantic to New York
WASHINGTON (AP) — Snow, wind and slush hounded eastern commuters early Wednesday as blizzard warnings from Baltimore to New York City heralded the second major snowstorm in less than a week for the region. More than 10 inches of new snow fell before dawn in parts of Maryland. Plows and salt spreaders fought heavy snow in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where the flakes briefly turned to rain to make a slushy mix.
Calif. storm sputters but LA evacuations continue
LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. (AP) — Evacuations are still in effect for more than 500 foothill homes in Southern California even though the storm that spawned them is petering out. Authorities say the threat of a mudslide remains in La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Acton and two canyons in the Angeles National Forest.
Space shuttle Endeavour pulls in at space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Shuttle Endeavour arrived to a warm welcome at the International Space Station early Wednesday, delivering a new room and observation deck that will come close to completing construction 200 miles above Earth. The midnight rendezvous occurred as the two spacecraft sailed over the Atlantic, just west of Portugal. It took longer than normal to lock the shuttle and station together because of the relative motion between the two. The space station's five residents filled the time, before their guests came aboard, by trying out camera angles and interviewing one another.
Ex-Ill. gov. to answer revised corruption charges
CHICAGO (AP) — Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich heads to court Wednesday to answer a revised batch of charges that he schemed to sell or trade President Barack Obama's old Senate seat and swap official favors for campaign money. Federal marshals blocked off the courthouse sidewalk to give Blagojevich a clear path to and from his car and avoid the swirling media frenzy that surrounded him when he appeared in court several months ago.
Ex-Ill. cop's hearing feels like real murder trial
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — Family members, investigators, clergy and even a psychic have spent weeks testifying in a northern Illinois courtroom — and Drew Peterson's murder trial hasn't even started. Initially billed as a preliminary step in the case, an extraordinary hearing to determine what hearsay, or second-hand, evidence jurors will be allowed to hear during Peterson's trial in his third wife's death has turned into a sort of legal dress rehearsal.
NY senator who dragged girlfriend fights expulsion
ALBANY, N.Y (AP) — A Democratic state senator who betrayed his colleagues by joining Republicans in a brief coup and was convicted of a misdemeanor assault charge for dragging his girlfriend around during an argument at his apartment says he'll go back to court to fight his expulsion from the Senate. The New York Senate voted 53-8 on Tuesday night to oust Sen. Hiram Monserrate, a move the lawmaker called an injustice to the people who elected him.
Latest plan to cut farm subsidies likely dead
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — If history and the political lineup are any guides, President Barack Obama's latest effort to cut subsidies for wealthy farmers likely will fare no better than his first try — or his predecessor's attempt. Congress twice overrode President George W. Bush's veto of the 2008 Farm Bill. When Obama tried reforming the system last year, his proposal was dead on arrival on Capitol Hill, where farm state lawmakers largely control the agriculture committees.
Rare earthquake rattles northern Ill.; no damage
CHICAGO (AP) — A small pre-dawn earthquake has hit northern Illinois, startling sleepy-eyed residents as far away as Iowa and Indiana, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 3.8-magnitude earthquake hit about 50 miles northwest of Chicago at 4 a.m. Wednesday. The USGS initially reported the magnitude as 4.3 but later downgraded it.
NY governor says he'll step aside only 'in a box'
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. David Paterson, defying calls from even fellow Democrats to drop out of the race for a full term, said Tuesday that he would leave only if the voters turned him out through the ballot box, or he's carried out "in a box." Paterson spoke to reporters after several days of rumors sweeping the state Capitol about carousing in the governor's mansion, all of which Paterson strongly denied.
Anthem asked to justify rate hike in California
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In his push to move stalled health care reform, President Barack Obama is appealing to American pocketbooks by calling one health insurer's major rate hike in California a harbinger of rising premiums. Anthem Blue Cross' 30 to 39 percent rate hike in California will affect an unknown number of its 800,000 individual policyholders — the insurer has declined giving specifics. But Obama said the rate hike is a sign of what will happen to many Americans without reform.
