7 DEATHS BLAMED ON STORM

7 deaths blamed on storm
DENVER -- A large, fast-moving snowstorm that closed sections of major highways on the Plains on Saturday was blamed for seven traffic deaths, while strong winds in Arkansas cut a 5-mile-long swath of damage, destroying buildings and leaving several people injured. The storms in the Plains knocked out power to more than 145,000 customers and dumped more than a foot of snow on the Upper Midwest. The seven deaths all occurred on slippery Wisconsin roads. Meanwhile, some residents in the southeastern Arkansas city of Dumas were unaccounted for after winds, and possibly a series of tornadoes, blew through and police were making a door-to-door search, authorities said. Emergency crews summoned ambulances from a neighboring county. A Fred's Dollar Store just south of Dumas was left in a tangle of twisted metal and crumbled concrete blocks, and an overturned tractor-trailer rested in its parking lot. A power substation was destroyed and electricity was out in the area.
Virginia lawmakers voteto apologize for slavery
RICHMOND, Va. -- Meeting on the grounds of the former Confederate Capitol, the Virginia General Assembly voted unanimously Saturday to express "profound regret" for the state's role in slavery. Sponsors of the resolution say they know of no other state that has apologized for slavery, although Missouri lawmakers are considering such a measure. The resolution does not carry the weight of law but sends an important symbolic message, supporters said. "This session will be remembered for a lot of things, but 20 years hence I suspect one of those things will be the fact that we came together and passed this resolution," said Delegate A. Donald McEachin, a Democrat who sponsored it in the House of Delegates. The resolution passed the House 96-0 and cleared the 40-member Senate on a unanimous voice vote.
Toddler's insistencepays off for baby sitter
MCDONOUGH, Ga. -- Rhiannon Barnes may be the luckiest 15-month-old ever. Or maybe her baby sitter is the fortunate one. While playing with a thrift store book bought earlier in the day for 25 cents, Rhiannon uncovered 1,300 in cash stuck between the pages. Her baby sitter, Sheila Laughridge, said she bought the book at Rhiannon's insistence and was surprised when the toddler found a brown paper bag full of 100s, 50s, 20s and 10s. Laughridge took the money, which dated as far back as the 1960s, to a local bank, where she received only 300 in exchange because most of the bills were in pieces. The rest of the tattered money was sent to the U.S. treasury department. Rhiannon's mother, Shirley Barnes, joked that she's considering using her daughter's newfound talent more. "What I want to do is put pieces of paper with numbers on them out on the table and have her pick them so that maybe we can win the lottery," she said.
White House bomb drill
WASHINGTON -- Dozens of high-level officials joined in a White House drill Saturday to see how the government would respond if several cities were attacked simultaneously by the type of roadside bombs used against American troops in Iraq. White House homeland security adviser Fran Townsend presided over the three-hour exercise that brought the government's highest-level homeland security officials to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House. All Cabinet agencies were represented by their secretaries or other high-ranking officials, with a total of about 90 participants, said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman. Stanzel said the drill revealed gaps in the government's ability to respond, but also showed that there have been many improvements since Hurricane Katrina exposed federal inadequacies when it devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. For instance, coordination with state and local authorities and the ability to get federal resources in place quickly -- key missteps after Katrina -- appeared much better now, Stanzel said. President Bush went on a bike ride not far from the White House on Saturday morning and did not take part in the test.
Abbas ends Europe tourwith no commitments
PARIS -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ended his European tour Saturday without persuading any country to end crippling economic sanctions based on his power-sharing deal with the rival Islamic militant Hamas. The bright spot in his trip was a promise Saturday from French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy to work with a government that includes Hamas and Abbas' more moderate Fatah party. His comments were more positive than those of other European leaders during Abbas' four-country tour. But Douste-Blazy made no commitments on resuming aid frozen since Hamas won parliamentary elections a year ago.
Associated Press