Northwest flooding closes roads, stalls commerce

January 9, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

CENTRALIA, Wash. — Floods, mudslides and avalanches in the Pacific Northwest kept tens of thousands of people from their homes Thursday, brought freight trains to a standstill and stranded hundreds of trucks along the major highways that link Seattle’s busy ports with markets around the country.

The flooding — some of the worst on record in Washington state — was touched off by a combination of heavy rain of 6 inches or more and a warm spell in the mid-40s that rapidly melted the snow in the Cascade Range.

A 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5, the state’s major north-south freeway, was shut down between Olympia and the Oregon line, with one section under 3 feet of water. Avalanches closed I-90, which cuts east from Seattle through the Cascades, along with the two other routes through the mountains. Amtrak service and most freight trains were stopped as well.

Kennedy lacks experience, New York governor says

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. David Paterson said for the first time Thursday that Caroline Kennedy’s lack of legislative experience is a “minus” to her qualifications as a possible appointee to the U.S. Senate.

But the governor, who will appoint a new senator if Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state as expected, also said Kennedy has many positives despite never holding elective office.

“Caroline Kennedy obviously does have a tremendous relationship with [President-elect Barack Obama] that’s certainly a plus,” Paterson said Thursday. “She does not have much political, I mean, legislative experience, which is a minus.”

The Democratic governor said as many as 15 contenders are interested, and he’s already spoken to or interviewed about 10.

Memorial service held for Travoltas’ son in Fla.

OCALA, Fla. — Friends and relatives of John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, gathered Thursday at their central Florida home for a memorial service to honor the couple’s 16-year-old son, Jett.

The couple lives in a sprawling $8 million home in a luxury subdivision with its own airstrip near this small town. Jett died at the family vacation home in Grand Bahama last week.

More than a dozen reporters and photographers gathered outside the Jumbolair Aviation Estates subdivision hours before the afternoon event.

A steady stream of catering trucks and florists entered the complex Thursday. A handful of locals also stopped by out of curiosity or carried bouquets of flowers and handed them to guards at the subdivision’s main gate.

Obama urges delay in digital TV transition

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, arguing that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air channels won’t be ready.

In a letter to key lawmakers Thursday, Obama transition team co-chair John Podesta said the digital transition needs to be delayed largely because the Commerce Department has run out of money for coupons to subsidize digital TV converter boxes for consumers. People who don’t have cable or satellite service or a TV with a digital tuner will need the converter boxes to keep their older analog sets working.

Obama officials are also concerned that the government is not doing enough to help Americans — particularly those in rural, poor or minority communities — prepare for and navigate the transition.

Prosecutors: Madoff was ready to send out $173M

NEW YORK — Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff’s office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month in what is alleged to be the largest financial fraud in history.

The detail was provided in a court filing Thursday as prosecutors argued that Madoff should have his bail revoked and be sent to jail. They said the checks were further evidence that he wants to keep his assets away from burned investors in a more than $50 billion fraud.

Associated Press