NEW PASSPORT RULES GO INTO EFFECT FOR AIR TRAVELERS

New passport rules gointo effect for air travelers
The new regulations requiring passports were adopted by Congress in 2004 to secure the borders against terrorists. Travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and other airports said they had no complaints about the requirement. "I'd rather be going through a security check than possibly being blown out of the air because of lack of security measures," said John Golden of Columbus, Ga., who was headed to Cancun, Mexico. Starting today, Canadian, Mexican and Bermudan air travelers, as well as U.S. citizens flying home from those countries or the Caribbean, must display their passports to enter the United States. The only valid substitutes for a passport will be a NEXUS Air card, used by some American and Canadian frequent fliers; identification as a U.S. Coast Guard merchant mariner; and the green card carried by legal permanent residents. Active members of the U.S. military are exempt. For now, the rules affect only air travelers. Land and sea travelers will not have to show passports until at least January 2008.
Lake's water level lowered
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Fearing a dam break that could cause catastrophic flooding in Kentucky and Tennessee, the Army Corps of Engineers began lowering the water level on Lake Cumberland on Monday. The measure was aimed at reducing pressure on the weakened 240-foot-high dam, said Lt. Col. Steven J. Roemhildt, commander of the Corps of Engineers' Nashville office. "We must take this emergency action to reduce risk to the public and to the dam itself," he said in a statement. If the Wolf Creek Dam, which is nearly a mile long, were to break, flooding in communities downstream along the Cumberland River could kill people and cause an estimated 3.4 billion in damage, Roemhildt said. Cities along the Cumberland include Nashville, Tenn., whose metro area contains 1.4 million people. Corps spokesman Bill Peoples said failure of the dam was not imminent.
MySpace to distributeAmber Alerts to members
LOS ANGELES -- The social-networking Web site MySpace.com will now distribute Amber Alerts to members notifying them of missing children in their communities. MySpace, a News Corp. unit, is teaming with the National Center for Missing & amp; Exploited Children to distribute the alerts, which are triggered by law-enforcement officials. The online alerts, which will begin today, will be sent to all users in the ZIP codes where it was issued. They will appear in a small text box at the top of a user's portfolio. The user can click on the box for more information, including a photo of the missing child and a description of the suspect. The alerts were named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl killed in Texas in 1996.
Snowstorm hits Arizona
PHOENIX -- A rare snowstorm that surprised Arizona with more than a foot of snow in parts left the state Monday, giving children as far south as Tucson a chance to play in the snow. One of the strongest of the winter, Sunday's storm came as part of a wave of storms that brought snow, ice and strong winds to the Plains region, and also to the Southwest, including Texas and New Mexico. The harsh, frigid conditions were blamed for at least 11 traffic fatalities in the Plains over the weekend. In Colorado, crews looking for a missing snowshoer found his body in a creek southwest of Denver on Monday. In Arizona, more than a foot of snow fell in Forest Lakes, Pinetop and at the Sunrise Ski Resort, among other places in the northern part of the state. Between 1 and 3 inches fell in Flagstaff, said Robert Bohlin, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Southern New Mexico picked up 9 inches of snow Sunday and Monday. In Oklahoma, where an ice storm disrupted power to as many as 125,000 homes and businesses more than a week ago, about 12,500 customers remained without power Monday.
Associated Press