Rare October snowstorm wreaks havoc in Northeast

Rare October snowstorm wreaks havoc in Northeast

Trees that were damaged by a snowstorm, then trimmed, stand bare of branches at the edge of Central Park in New York, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. The group that manages Central Park estimates that the New York City park may lose 1,000 trees due to the unprecedented weekend snowstorm.

WAYLAND, Mass. (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of people across the Northeast shivered at the prospect of days without heat or lights after a freak October snowstorm over the weekend, and many towns postponed trick-or-treating Monday in what seemed like a mean Halloween prank to some children.

Families huddled under blankets and winter coats at home or waited out the crisis in shelters as utility crews struggled to fix power lines brought down by the storm. Hundreds of schools closed, giving youngsters one of the earliest snow days on record.

"Such a small storm but such a big disaster," said Marina Shen, who spent Sunday night with her husband and dog at a middle school in Wayland, a Boston suburb of 13,000 where half the homes lost power. Just a few inches fell in Wayland, and most of it had melted by Monday, but overnight temperatures fell below freezing.

"The house is really, really cold. You cannot do anything. It's so dark, cold," Shen said. "Here they give us a hot shower."

From Maryland to Maine, high winds and wet, heavy snow brought down trees, branches and wires Saturday and Sunday. Snowfall amounts ranged from less than inch in some places to 32 inches in the small town of Peru, Mass., in the Berkshire Mountains.

The storm was blamed for at least 20 deaths, including one in Canada. Most were caused by falling trees, traffic accidents or electrocutions from downed wires. Eight people died in Pennsylvania alone.

More than 3 million homes and businesses in the Northeast lost power at the height of the storm. By early Monday night, that number was nearly 1.8 million.

Some of the same areas were hit hard by the rainy remnants of Hurricane Irene just two months ago, but in many places the utility damage was worse this time. The trees had yet to lose their leaves and captured all too much of the snow.

"The leaves on the trees have made whole trees and huge branches come down and taken down more wires," said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. "It's a huge challenge for everybody."

With the temperature rising again, the storm's effects will probably outlast the snow itself.

Christie said he expected 95 percent of the 375,000 customers in New Jersey without power to have it back by Thursday, though he knew that would be little comfort to people shivering in the dark.

"I know if you are without power today, Thursday seems like a long time from now," he said.

Companies brought in crews from other states to help, but with lights out and live wires down all over the place, many communities urged children to skip trick-or-treating or at least postpone it until later in the week.

"I was upset because I really wanted to go trick-and-treating and get candy," said 12-year-old McKenzie Gallasso of South Windsor, Conn., who was deciding whether to be a witch or a werewolf when the phone rang with the bad news that town officials were advising families to call off trick-or-treating. "This year I'll have to eat candy from my mom."

In Berlin, Mass., Glen Mair was trying to find someplace for his two children to go for Halloween after the town canceled trick-or-treating. He said they might go to a condominium complex or a neighboring town.

"This is like a mean practical joke," he said of the storm.

Mercedes Hidalgo of Pompton Lakes, N.J., was disappointed the street would be too dark Monday night to hand out candy.

"I have all the candy since probably three, four weeks ago that I bought it, but honestly, what I did - in the dark, with my flashlight - I was eating chocolate all night to try and warm up," she said.

In addition to ruining Halloween, the storm was turning into a budget nightmare for cities and towns already dealing the costs of Irene.

"There's no question that most municipal budgets are past bending and into breaking," said William Steinhaus, the top elected of official in Dutchess County, in New York's Hudson Valley, which got nearly 2 feet of snow. "Whether it's fuel money or overtime money or salt and sand material items, those line items are all stretched or broke at this point."

Steinhaus also questioned why the New York Department of Transportation wasn't better prepared for the storm after state police had to help more than 100 drivers who got stuck on Interstate 84 and the Taconic State Parkway early Sunday.

Dana Richardson of Malverne, N.Y., and his 82-year-old mother were stranded on the Taconic for 10 hours after setting out from their Long Island home Saturday afternoon and heading upstate to visit relatives in Rhinebeck. He said he saw only one snowplow the entire time.

Police took them to a firehouse, and they eventually were brought to a hotel, where they slept on chairs in the lobby.

"The authorities tried their best, but it seems like they were totally unprepared," said his mother, Dimitra Richardson.

A call to the department was not immediately returned.

Judd Everhart, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, said the agency spent more than $2 million of its $26 million snow-removal budget on keeping state roads clear during the storm.

In some places, commuters were forced to hunt for open gas stations after power outages knocked out the pumps. At a 7-Eleven in Hartford, Conn., two dozen cars waited in a line that stretched into the street and disrupted traffic.

"There's no gas anywhere," said Debra Palmisano of Plainville, Conn. "It's like we're in a war zone. It's pretty scary, actually."

In Allentown, Pa., where downed branches littered yards, Anne Warschauer, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor, refused to leave her home.

"I'm freezing," she acknowledged. But she said she worried about her cat, Pumpkin. A friend urged her to go, saying the power would not be back on until Thursday.

"I'm not going," Warschauer replied. "So let's not talk about that anymore."

Angie O'Connor of Boston said she found it striking that temperatures were in the 80s just a few weeks ago.

"I was swimming in the ocean on Oct. 10," she said. "It does seem awfully early for this."

NATO ends victorious 7-month Libya campaign

NATO ends victorious 7-month Libya campaign

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks to reporters in Tripoli, Libya, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. NATO's top official is praising the Libyans for their "courage, determination and sacrifice" to oust dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and says they have transformed Libya and "helped change the region." Fogh Rasmussen is in Tripoli to mark the end of the alliance's 7-month campaign over Libya, which played a key role in ousting Gadhafi. The NATO mission ends at midnight Monday Libyan time (2200 GMT, 6 p.m. EDT).

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- NATO's triumphant, 7-month air campaign against Libya ended Monday, setting the country on the path to a democratic transition less than two weeks after the capture and killing of ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

The alliance turned down a Libyan request to extend the protective umbrella for a few more weeks, apparently eager to exit on a high note and wrap up a costly mission at a time of financial austerity.

The relatively quick victory in Libya represented a major boost for a Cold War alliance bogged down in a 10-year war in Afghanistan, a 12-year mission in Kosovo and the seemingly never-ending anti-piracy operation off the Somali coastline.

The operation's critics - including Russia, China and the African Union - have argued that NATO misused the limited U.N. resolution imposing a no-fly zone and authorizing the protection of civilians as a pretext to promote regime change.

But with alliance airstrikes helping open the way on the battlefield following a lengthy stalemate, revolutionary forces eventually captured Tripoli in late August and brought an end to the war with the death of Gadhafi on Oct. 20.

"Together, we succeeded. Libya is finally free," NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a joint news conference in Tripoli with Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, Libya's interim leader.

Addressing the Libyans, he said: "You acted to change your history and your destiny. We acted to protect you."

In the past seven months, NATO warplanes flew 26,000 sorties, including more than 9,600 strike missions, destroying more than 1,000 tanks, vehicles, and guns.

U.S. planes flew a quarter of those missions, mostly in support roles such as air refueling and surveillance of the battlefields, while the European allies and four partner nations conducted the vast majority of ground attacks.

As NATO pulled out, Libya's leadership, the 51-member National Transitional Council, was taking another step toward a democratic system, to be operational within two years. The council chose a new prime minister, U.S.-educated electrical engineer Abdurrahim el-Keib, who is to appoint a new government that will pave the way for general elections.

El-Keib, an NTC member from Tripoli with a doctorate from North Carolina State University, said he would appoint the government within two weeks.

The new government will oversee the drafting of a constitution. The NTC started out as an impromptu group of anti-Gadhafi activists, but evolved into a more carefully chosen interim government after the fall of the Gadhafi regime, said Jalal el-Gallal, an NTC spokesman.

Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO chief, suggested the possibility of a future partnership with a democratic Libya, but made clear that NATO is ending its role. Asked about reports of unsecured weapons sites across Libya, Fogh Rasmussen said that "it is now primarily the responsibility of the new authorities in Libya to make sure that weapons are properly secured."

Abdul-Jalil confirmed the presence of chemical weapons sites, and said foreign inspectors were arriving later this week to deal with the issue.

Libyan leaders had requested an extension of NATO protection for a few more weeks, but Libyan officials said that was turned down. NATO leaders have repeatedly emphasized that although overall the campaign went very well, the conflict placed a significant burden on some alliance capabilities.

"I think the critical resource that was stretched in the course of this was intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance," Adm. James Stavridis, NATO's top military commander, told The Associated Press in Brussels.

Some senior officers in NATO suggested the alliance needed to extract itself quickly from at least one of those engagements at a time when defense budgets in Europe and the United States are being slashed as part of public spending cuts and other austerity measures designed to deal with the economic crisis.

"Within the alliance ... we're concurrently doing Afghanistan, Libya for the past seven months, the Balkans, piracy (and) a counter terrorism operation in the Mediterranean," said Stavridis, who as the Supreme Allied Commander has ultimate responsibility for the wars and all other operations.

He noted that Libya represented the first completion of a NATO operation.

Asked whether NATO would possibly be providing training for the new Libyan army, Stavridis said that the focus of international assistance to Libya should be on a bilateral basis with Arab and Western nations.

"At the moment there's no discussion with in NATO about a follow-on role," he said. "We're not planning on anything nor have we been tasked with anything at this point."

The ouster of Gadhafi would not have been possible without NATO.

In the early days of the armed rebellion, anti-Gadhafi fighters rapidly seized territory, particularly in Libya's east, but quickly lost ground again, and by late March, Gadhafi's troops were advancing toward the rebellion's stronghold, the eastern city of Benghazi.

NATO interceded, armed with a U.N. Security Council mandate to protect Libyan civilians, and flew its first bombing sorties at the end of March. However, the alliance often appeared to be doing much more than shielding civilians.

It worked closely with revolutionary forces, its airstrikes of regime targets paving the way for rebel advances in those areas. It also widened the range of targets, going not just after tanks and rocket launchers, but also symbols of the Gadhafi regime, including his sprawling residential and government complex, Bab al-Aziziyah, in downtown Tripoli.

At one point, NATO bombed Libyan naval vessels after the Libyan navy tried to mine the harbor of the besieged rebel-held port of Misrata and tried to carry out attacks on shipping there.

With the end of NATO's Libya mission, the alliance has faced some calls to intervene in Syria's uprising.

But Fogh Rasmussen said NATO has no intention to get involved in Syria.

"I can completely rule that out," he said. "Having said that, I strongly condemn the crackdowns on the civilian population in Syria. What has happened in Libya sends a clear signal to autocratic regimes all over the world - you cannot neglect the will of the people."

Black Panther Party Co-Founder Bobby Seale Talks About His Legacy And The Future Of The Party

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Black Panther Party Co-Founder and former chairman Bobby Seale was in town for a 45 year anniversary celebration.

Adequate Healthcare, employment, housing, education, economic parity…just a few of the points Bobby Seale says he and Huey Newton agreed would be the governing principles of the Black Panther Party when they created the group in 1966. He says he and Newton wanted the organization to be anchored in American philosophy, so they took some of the ideas from the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence.

For full story go to:

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Studies challenge wisdom of GOP candidates' plans

Studies challenge wisdom of GOP candidates' plans

FILE - In this Oct. 18, 2011, file photo, Republican presidential candidates Herman Cain, left, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, center, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry are seen before a Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas. Key proposals from the Republican presidential candidates might make for good campaign fodder. But independent analyses raise serious questions about those plans and their ability to cure the nation�s economic and housing woes. The candidates are pushing lower taxes and less regulation in the name of job creation. But employers say poor consumer demand is a far bigger obstacle to new hires.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Key proposals from the Republican presidential candidates might make for good campaign fodder. But independent analyses raise serious questions about those plans and their ability to cure the nation's ills in two vital areas, the economy and housing.

Consider proposed cuts in taxes and regulation, which nearly every GOP candidate is pushing in the name of creating jobs. The initiatives seem to ignore surveys in which employers cite far bigger impediments to increased hiring, chiefly slack consumer demand.

"Republicans favor tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, but these had no stimulative effect during the George W. Bush administration, and there is no reason to believe that more of them will have any today," writes Bruce Bartlett. He's an economist who worked for Republican congressmen and in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

As for the idea that cutting regulations will lead to significant job growth, Bartlett said in an interview, "It's just nonsense. It's just made up."

Government and industry studies support his view.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks companies' reasons for large layoffs, found that 1,119 layoffs were attributed to government regulations in the first half of this year, while 144,746 were attributed to poor "business demand."

Mainstream economic theory says governments can spur demand, at least somewhat, through stimulus spending. The Republican candidates, however, have labeled President Barack Obama's 2009 stimulus efforts a failure. Instead, most are calling for tax cuts that would primarily benefit high-income people, who are seen as the likeliest job creators.

"I don't care about that," Texas Gov. Rick Perry told The New York Times and CNBC, referring to tax breaks for the rich. "What I care about is them having the dollars to invest in their companies."

Many existing businesses, however, have plenty of unspent cash. The 500 companies that comprise the S&P index have about $800 billion in cash and cash equivalents, the most ever, according to the research firm Birinyi Associates.

The rating firm Moody's says the roughly 1,600 companies it monitors had $1.2 trillion in cash at the end of 2010. That's 11 percent more than a year earlier.

Small businesses rate "poor sales" as their biggest problem, with government regulations ranking second, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Of the small businesses saying this is not a good time to expand, half cited the poor economy as the chief reason. Thirteen percent named the "political climate."

More small businesses complained about regulation during the administrations of Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, according to an analysis of the federation's data by the liberal Economic Policy Institute.

Such findings notwithstanding, further cuts in taxes and regulations remain popular with GOP voters. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that most Democrats and about half of independents think "reducing environmental and other regulations on business" would do little or nothing to create jobs. But only one-third of Republicans felt that way.

The GOP's presidential hopefuls are shaping their economic agendas along those lines.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney says his 59-point plan "seeks to reduce taxes, spending, regulation and government programs."

Businessman Herman Cain would significantly cut taxes for the wealthy with his 9 percent flat tax plan. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said in a recent debate, "It's the regulatory burden that costs us $1.8 trillion every year. ... It's jobs that are lost."

The candidates have said little about another national problem: depressed home prices, as well as the high numbers of foreclosures and borrowers who owe more than their houses are worth.

After the Oct. 18 GOP debate in Las Vegas, a center of foreclosure activity, editors of the AOL Real Estate site wrote, "We didn't hear any meaningful solutions to the housing crisis. That's no surprise, considering that housing has so far been a ghost issue in the campaign."

To the degree the candidates addressed housing, they mainly took a hands-off approach. "We need to get government out of the way," Cain said. "It starts with making sure that we can boost this economy and then reform Dodd-Frank," which is a law that regulates Wall Street transactions.

Bachmann, in an answer that mentioned "moms" six times, said foreclosures fall most heavily on women who are "losing their nest for their children and for their family." She said Obama "has failed you on this issue of housing and foreclosures. I will not fail you on this issue." Bachmann offered no specific remedies.

Romney told editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom. Allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up and let it turn around and come back up."

Perry spokesman Mark Miner said the Texas governor's "immediate remedy for housing is to get America working again. ... Creating jobs will address the housing concerns that are impacting communities throughout America."

Bartlett, whose books on tax policy include "The Benefit and the Burden," recently wrote in the New York Times: "People are increasingly concerned about unemployment, but Republicans have nothing to offer them."

The candidates and their supporters dispute this, of course. A series of scheduled debates may give them chances to explain why their proposals would hit the right targets.

Obama cites income gap to push stalled jobs bill

Obama cites income gap to push stalled jobs bill

President Barack Obama answers a reporter's question about the European debt deal as he meets with Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas, not shown, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is banking on a new report detailing the income disparity in the country as further evidence of the need for his $447 billion jobs bill.

A report this past week by the Congressional Budget Office found that average after-tax income for the top 1 percent of U.S. households had increased by 275 percent over the past three decades. Middle-income households saw just a 40 percent rise. For those at the bottom of the economic scale, the jump was 18 percent.

Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday that he would pay for his jobs plan with an added tax on people who make at least $1 million a year.

Senate Republicans have blocked action on the bill, which mixes tax breaks for businesses and public works spending, because they oppose much of the increased spending and the tax on millionaires.

"These are the same folks who have seen their incomes go up so much, and I believe this is a contribution they're willing to make," Obama said. "Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress aren't paying attention. They're not getting the message."

Obama is now trying to get Congress to pass the individual components of the bill. But Senate Republicans also stalled progress on the first of those measures, $35 billion to help local governments keep teachers on the job and pay the salaries of police officers, firefighters and other emergency services workers.

Saying the country cannot wait for Congress, Obama has begun bypassing Congress and taking steps on his own that he says will encourage economic growth.

On Friday, Obama directed government agencies to shorten the time it takes for federal research to turn into commercial products in the marketplace. The goal is to help startup companies and small businesses create jobs and expand their operations more quickly.

The president also called for creating a centralized online site for companies to easily find information about federal services. He previously had announced help for people who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth and for the repayment of student loans. The White House also challenged community health centers to hire veterans.

"We can no longer wait for Congress to do its job," Obama said. "So where Congress won't act, I will."

The congressional report, based on Internal Revenue Service and Census Bureau data, was released as the Occupy Wall Street movement spreading across the country protests bailouts for corporations and the income gap.

In the weekly GOP message, Illinois Rep. Bobby Schilling urged Obama to support bills that Republicans say would help create jobs by blocking various energy and environmental regulations and streamlining administrative procedures. The bills, passed by the Republican-controlled House, await action in the Democratic-run Senate.

Shilling said the bills give the White House and Congress an opportunity to build on the common ground created by the passage of recent free-trade agreements, and a measure to void a law requiring federal, state and many local governments to withhold 3 percent of their payments to contractors until their taxes are paid. Obama included repealing that tax in his jobs plan.

"Republicans have a jobs plan, one with some bipartisan support, but it's stuck in the Senate," said Schilling, owner of a pizza parlor in Moline, Ill. "We're asking President Obama to work with us and call on the Senate to pass the `forgotten 15' to help the private sector create jobs, American jobs desperately needed."

Early storm pelts East Coast with wet, heavy snow

Early storm pelts East Coast with wet, heavy snow

A jack-o-lantern is covered with snow during a rare October snowstorm that hit the Northern New Jersey region, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, in North Bergen, N.J. A classic nor'easter is moving along the East Coast and is expected to dump anywhere from a dusting of snow to about 10 inches throughout the region starting Saturday, a decidedly unseasonal date for a type of storm more associated with midwinter.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- A classic nor'easter was chugging along up the East Coast and expected to dump anywhere from a dusting of snow to about 10 inches throughout the region starting Saturday, a decidedly unseasonal date for a type of storm more associated with midwinter.

Communities inland in mid-Atlantic states were getting hit hardest. Cherry Grove, W.Va., on the edge of the Monongahela National Forest, already got 4 inches of snow overnight, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy snow was falling in western Maryland, and the Frostburg area could receive 8 or 9 inches. Along the Blue Ridge Mountains between Hagerstown and Frederick, significant snowfall was also expected.

Tens of thousands lost power in Pennsylvania, and utilities were bringing in crews from Ohio and Kentucky to help. Officials warned that the heavy, wet snow combined with fully leafed trees could lead to downed tree branches and power lines, resulting in power outages and blocked roads.

A steady midday heavy snow pelted the field at Beaver Stadium in State College, where No. 21 Penn State was to host Illinois. Mother Nature cooperated with calls for a "whiteout," in which fans wear all white to the game in an occasional tradition for big games at the school. A few hours before the midafternoon kickoff, about 3 inches had already fallen.

The heaviest snow, though, was forecast for later in the day into Sunday in the Massachusetts Berkshires, the Litchfield Hills in northwestern Connecticut, southwestern New Hampshire and the southern Green Mountains.

"It's going to be wet, sticky and gloppy," said NWS spokesman Chris Vaccaro. "It's not going to be a dry, fluffy snow."

The storm comes on a busy weekend for many along the Eastern Seaboard, with trick-or-treaters going door-to-door in search of Halloween booty, hunting season opening in some states and a full slate of college and pro football scheduled.

Fans in State College were making the most of what school officials said was the first measurable snowfall for any October home game since records began being kept in 1896. The crowds were thinner, but "the die-hards are here," said T.J. Coursen of Centre Hall, an alum.

"I never thought about not going," said sophomore Tim Tallmadge. "You only get to be in the student section for four years."

The snow failed to deter the travel plans of Dave Baker, who's been going to Penn State football games for 45 years and made the 200-mile drive from Warminster, outside Philadelphia. He merely adjusted his packing list: Out went the breakfast fixings - his group ate early at a restaurant rather than at the tailgate - in stayed the burgers and hot dogs. And the cold came in handy.

"I didn't have to buy as much ice for the beer," he said.

Elsewhere outside the stadium, 11-year-old Cody Carnes of Pittsburgh made a large snowball as he sweated underneath five layers of clothes - a rain slicker, coat, sweat shirt, T-shirt and thermal. Another fan wore a foam Donkey Kong costume headpiece as he walked to a tailgate.

"It keeps my head nice and warm," explained Matt Langston, 25, a graduate student from Harrisburg.

In eastern Pennsylvania, snow toppled trees and a few power lines and led to minor traffic accidents, according to dispatchers. Allentown, expected to see 4 to 8 inches, is likely to break the city's October record of 2.2 inches on Halloween in 1925.

Philadelphia was seeing mostly rain, but what snow fell coated downtown roofs in white. The city was expected to get 1 to 3 inches, its first measurable October snow since 1979, with a bit more in some suburbs, meteorologist Mitchell Gaines said.

"This is very, very unusual," said John LaCorte, a National Weather Service meteorologist in State College. The last major widespread snowstorm to hit Pennsylvania this early was in 1972, he said.

"It's going to be very dangerous," he added.

The storm also led to hours-long delays at several airports Saturday, including Philadelphia's as well as two that serve New York City, Newark Liberty and Kennedy. Flights headed to New York's LaGuardia weren't allowed to depart until midafternoon. The smaller airport in Teterboro, N.J., was closed.

Southern New Jersey was soaked with heavy rains and winds that ranged from 20 to 35 mph Saturday morning, while northern communities awaited the arrival of 5 to 10 inches of snow. Scattered power outages were reported across the state, and Jersey Central Power & Light, which was heavily criticized for being too slow to restore power following Hurricane Irene, had hundreds of workers set to be deployed if needed.

Snow began to fall in bursts in New York City by late morning. It was driving at times, but mixed with periods of rain that prevented any accumulation on the warm pavement. It was accumulating on rooftops and cars by early afternoon.

October snowfall is rare in New York; there have been just three October days with measurable snowfall in Central Park in the last 135 years when record-keeping began, according to the National Weather Service. The largest on record was in 1925 when eight-tenths of an inch fell in Central Park.

Along the coast and in such cities as Boston, relatively warm water temperatures along the Atlantic seaboard could keep the snowfall totals much lower, meteorologist Bill Simpson said, with 1 to 3 inches of snowfall forecast along the I-95 corridor. Washington was expected to get just a dusting.

But October snowfall records could be broken in parts of southern New England, especially at higher elevations, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson said. The October record for southern New England is 7.5 inches in Worcester in 1979.

More than 6 inches of snow could accumulate in parts of Maine on Saturday. Parts of southern Vermont could receive more than a foot of wet snow Saturday into Sunday.

In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned residents that they could lose power due to the anticipated wet, heavy snow.

The first measurable snow in New England usually falls in early December, and normal highs for late October are in the mid-50s.

"This is just wrong," said Dee Lund of East Hampton, who was at a Glastonbury garage Friday getting four new tires for her car before a weekend road trip to New Hampshire.

Lund said that after last winter's record snowfall, which left a 12-foot snow bank outside her house, she'd been hoping for a reprieve.

But not everyone was lamenting the unofficial arrival of winter.

Two Vermont ski resorts, Killington and Mount Snow, planned to start the ski season early by opening one trail each over the weekend, thanks to the recent snow and cold. Maine's Sunday River ski resort also opened for the weekend.

In State College, 14-year-old Mac Charvala and his brother Will, 10, of South Orange, N.J., were using new boogie boards to slide along an inch of slushy snow covering a parking lot, where a slow trickle of cars left plenty of space for them.

"We've never been to a snow game before," said their father, Mike. "It's an adventure. If you don't want to have fun, stay home."

NBA cancels all games through Nov. 30

NBA cancels all games through Nov. 30

NEW YORK (AP) -- The NBA will play a shortened season - if it plays at all - after negotiations to end the lockout again stalled over how to divide the league's revenue.

Commissioner David Stern canceled all November games on Friday, the 120th day of the lockout.

"It's not practical, possible or prudent to have a full season now," said Stern, who previously canceled the first two weeks of the season.

And he repeated his warnings that the offers players have rejected might now get even harsher as the league tries to make up the millions of dollars that will be lost.

"We're going to have to recalculate how bad the damage is," Stern said. "The next offer will reflect the extraordinary losses that are piling up now."

Just a day earlier, Stern had said he would consider it a failure if the two sides didn't reach a deal in the next few days and vowed they would take "one heck of a shot" to get it done.

Although they've narrowed the issues between them to just a handful, the division of revenues remains a huge obstacle.

Owners are insistent on a 50-50 split, while players last formally proposed they get 52.5 percent, leaving them about $100 million apart annually. Players were guaranteed 57 percent in the previous collective bargaining agreement.

"Derek (Fisher) and I made it clear that we could not take the 50-50 deal to our membership. Not with all the concessions that we granted," union executive director Billy Hunter said. "We said we got to have some dollars."

Instead, they'll now be out roughly $350 million, the losses Hunter previously projected for each month the players were locked out. He hoped a full season could be played if a deal were made this weekend, but Stern emphatically ruled out any hope of that now.

"These are not punitive announcements; these are calendar generated announcements," Stern said.

No further talks have been scheduled.

After two days of making some progress on salary cap issues, the two sides brought the revenue split back into the discussion Friday and promptly got stuck on both issues.

Stern said the NBA owners were "willing" to go to 50 percent. But he said Hunter was unwilling to "go a penny below 52," that he had been getting many calls from agents and then closed up his book and walked out of the room.

Hunter said the league initially moved its target down to 47 percent during Friday's six-hour session, then returned to its previous proposal of 50 percent of revenues.

"We made a lot of concessions, but unfortunately at this time it's not enough, and we're not prepared or unable at this time to move any further," Hunter said.

Union president Fisher said it was difficult to say why talks broke down, or when they would start up again.

"We're here, we've always been here, but today just wasn't the day to try and finish this out," he said.

Fisher said there were still too many system restrictions in the owners' proposal. Players want to keep a system similar to the old one, and fear owners' ideas would limit player movement.

And though they might be inclined to give up one if they received more concessions on the other, players make it sound as if they are the ones doing all the giving back.

The old cap system allowed teams to exceed it through the use of a number of exceptions, many of which the league wants to tweak or even eliminate. Hunter has called a hard cap a "blood issue" to players, and though the league has backed off its initial proposal calling for one, players think the changes owners want would work like one.

"We've told them that we don't want a hard cap. We don't want a hard cap any kind of way, either an obvious hard cap or a hard cap that may not be as obvious to most people but we know it works like a hard cap," Hunter said. "And so you get there, and then all of a sudden they say, `Well, we also have to have our number.' And you say, `Well wait a minute, you're not negotiating in good faith.'"

But if players think what's being proposed is a hard cap, here's another warning: Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver won't rule out the league seeking one.

"Our response is then let's have a hard cap, which is what we wanted," he said.

"We don't think it's a hard cap. ... We've all been wasting our time if they believe this is a hard cap. We've been spending literally hundreds of hours negotiating the specifics of a system, where they're now saying is the equivalent of a hard cap. We've been clear from the beginning from a league standpoint we would prefer a hard cap."

When players offered to reduce their guarantee from 57 percent to 53 percent, Hunter said that would have transferred about $1.1 billion to owners over six years. Now, at 52.5, he said that would grow to more than $1.5 billion.

But even a 50-50 split would be too high for some hardline owners, because it would reduce only $280 million of the $300 million they said they lost last season. Owners initially proposed a BRI split that players said would have had them around 40 percent.

Though they will miss a paycheck on Nov. 15, Hunter said each player would have received a minimum of $100,000 from the escrow money that was returned to them to make up the difference after salaries fell short of the guaranteed 57 percent of revenues last season.

The small groups that were meeting grew a bit Friday. Union vice presidents Chris Paul - wearing a Yankees cap for his trip to New York - and Theo Ratliff joined the talks, and economist Kevin Murphy returned after he was unavailable Thursday. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban stayed for the session after taking part Thursday.

Americans spending more with income almost flat

Americans spending more with income almost flat

FILE - In this file photo taken Sept, 29, 2011, Elsy Santiago, left, and her sister Betsy shop at a store in Hialeah, Fla. Consumers boosted their spending in September at three times the pace of the previous month but their incomes barely budged. They financed the gains from savings, sending the savings rate to the lowest level since the start of the Great Recession.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans are making a little more money and spending a lot more.

Under normal circumstances, that would be a troubling sign for the economy. But a closer look at some new government figures suggests another possibility: People are saving less money because they're earning next to nothing in interest.

Saving is already difficult because of more expensive gas and food. It's even tougher because of the lower returns - the flip side of super-low interest rates that the Federal Reserve has kept in place since 2008 to help the economy.

Critics say the Fed is punishing those who play by the rules - those careful enough to set aside money for savings or people who built up a nest egg and are living on fixed incomes that depend on interest.

Americans spent 0.6 percent more in September, three times the increase from the previous month, the government said Friday. Spending was especially strong on durable goods - things like cars, appliances and electronics.

At the same time, what they earned was mostly flat. Pay increased 0.3 percent, and overall income just 0.1 percent. After deducting taxes and adjusting for inflation, income fell for a third straight month.

So to make up the difference, many have cut back on savings. The savings rate fell to its lowest level since December 2007, the first month of the recession - and right about the time the Fed started its dramatic series of interest-rate cuts.

Considering how little you can get for parking your money at a bank, it hasn't been a tough choice.

"Consumers have hit a level of saturation in their savings," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with market research firm The NPD Group. "The propensity is to spend."

The annual yield on six-month certificates of deposit was unchanged this week at 0.23 percent, according to Bankrate.com. Five years ago, it was 3.62 percent. If you put your money in the six-month CD today, you'd make about enough to buy a burger.

Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said the trend could mean more spending by Americans. But it will take robust personal spending - along with improvement in the depressed housing market - to get the economy going again.

Ashworth said his firm is not too concerned with the decline in savings because it partly represents "a sharp decline in debt servicing costs." In other words, low interest rates mean it's cheaper to borrow money.

The Fed began cutting interest rates four years ago at the start of the financial crisis. The rate cuts took the federal funds rate, the key for short-term interest rates, from 5.25 percent down to near zero, where they have stayed since December 2008.

The central bank has said it will keep rates super-low into 2013 as long as the economy stays weak. While that means low returns for savers, it is designed to encourage people and businesses to borrow more.

Many borrowers tend to be young families who are spending most of their income anyway. The loss in interest income tends to hit older households, which are saving for retirement and counting more on bonds and other fixed-income securities.

Consumer spending is closely watched because it accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity. A sharp rise in spending over the summer helped the overall economy grow in July, August and September at the fastest pace in a year.

Still, the economy would have to grow twice as fast to put a dent in the unemployment rate, which has stayed near 9 percent since the recession officially ended more than two years ago.

At the same time savings accounts and other fixed-income investments are paying less, the cost of food and gas has gone up.

Elizabeth Smith, who works in teacher education at the University of Arkansas, has cut her monthly contribution to her retirement savings in half to meet necessities.

"Every time I go to the store, butter, cheese and milk are more expensive," she said. Child care costs for her two children have also risen this year.

On the other hand, Smith has benefited from lower interest rates. She and her husband refinanced the mortgage on her home a year ago, which lowered their monthly payments by $200, freeing up more cash.

The Fed's policies are "designed to reward spending and effectively punish savers," said Eric Green, chief U.S. economist at TD Securities.

Turkey survivor emerges from quake rubble

Turkey survivor emerges from quake rubble

Earthquake survivors wait for aid outside their tent on a roadside in Ercis, Van province, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. Rain and snow on Thursday compounded difficulties for thousands rendered homeless in the powerful earthquake that hit eastern Turkey.

ERCIS, Turkey (AP) -- Rescuers, working under floodlights, pulled a 13-year-old boy alive from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building early Friday, over 100 hours after a massive earthquake leveled many buildings in eastern Turkey, killing at least 550 people.

A picture by the state-run Anatolia news agency showed a rescue team carrying, Ferhat Tokay, out of the debris, wearing a neck brace. In other pictures from a field hospital, he appeared conscious and looking at his rescuers.

Tokay's rescue came 108 hours after Sunday's 7.2-magnitude earthquake, the agency said.

The agency said the boy was injured but did not give further details. The collapsed building from which Tokay was rescued was in Ecris, the town worst hit by the quake.

The temblor has killed at least 550 people and injured 2,300 others, according to the country's disaster management, AFAD, website updated Thursday evening. Thousands of homeless in tents were struggling in the bitter cold as rain and snow brought on more hardship.

Television footage on Thursday showed a rescue team cheering and clapping as another young man, wearing a red sweater and strapped to a stretcher, was also carried out of the debris. His eyes were shut most of the time, but he opened them at one point.

The Anatolia agency identified the man as 18-year-old Imdat Padak. He was rescued by an Azerbaijani crew.

Padak was flown to the nearby city of Van and was dehydrated, but in good condition, according to the news agency.

Emergency officials said 187 have been rescued from the rubble. About 2,000 buildings have been destroyed and authorities declared another 3,700 buildings unfit for habitation.

More aid began to reach survivors, with Turkish authorities delivering more tents after acknowledging distribution problems that included aid trucks being looted even before they reached Ercis.

Families who did snag precious aid tents shared them with others. But some people spent a fifth night outdoors huddled under blankets in front of campfires, either waiting for news of the missing or keeping watch over damaged homes.

As survivors gathered pieces of wood to light campfires or stove-heaters, The Red Crescent and several pro-Islamic groups set up kitchens and dished out soup or rice and beans.

Sermin Yildirim, eight months pregnant, was sharing a tent with a family of four who were distant relatives, along with her own twins and husband. Her family was too afraid of returning to their apartment.

"It's getting colder, my kids are coughing. I don't know how long we will have to stay here," Yildirim said. "We were not able to get a tent. We are waiting to get our own."

Muhlise Bakan, 41, was not happy to share her tent with her husband's second wife, Hamide.

"I have four children, she has five," Bakan said. "We were sleeping in separate rooms at our house, and now we are sleeping side by side here."

However, she acknowledged the two women were now "closer" as they struggled together in hard times. Turkish law does not recognize second marriages, but some conservative men in the country's southeast still marry more than one wife in religious ceremonies.

Health problems increased the hardship.

"I am very sick, I need medicine," said Kevsel Astan, 40, who had a kidney transplant four years ago.

She said she was being treated at the state hospital until the quake struck. The damaged hospital was evacuated and doctors were focusing on emergency cases.

Burke Cinar, a sociologist with a Turkish foundation, said the group was trying to get tents for the families of 15 children with leukemia in Ercis.

Looking ahead, Turkey's weather agency predicted intermittent snowfall for the next three days.

Foreign assistance also began arriving. Israel, which has a troubled political relationship with Turkey, sent emergency housing units, blankets and clothing. Britain said it was dispatching 1,000 tents and Germany, Russia, Romania and Ukraine also contributed. A Japanese disaster rescue team was working alongside Turkish rescuers.

Saudi King Abdullah ordered a $50 million donation to help Turkey deal with the aftermath of the quake, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Syrians who had fled across the border to Turkey to escape violence in their homeland donated blood for the injured, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Search and rescue operations ended in the provincial capital of Van, state-run TRT television said. But searchers in bright orange raincoats continued digging through debris in Ercis, 55 miles (90 kilometers) to the north.

They pulled out the bodies of two dead teenage sisters and their parents who were holding hands, and a mother clutching her baby boy, according to media reports.

Two teachers and a university student were rescued from ruined buildings Wednesday. One of the teachers later died in the hospital.

Some media reports said rescuers pulled out a 19-year-old alive early Thursday, but rescue team chief Mustafa Ozden told The Associated Press the youth was rescued on Tuesday.

The region has been rocked by hundreds of aftershocks. On Thursday, a 5.4-magnitude tremor hit the neighboring province of Hakkari, sending people rushing out of buildings in panic. No damage was reported but NTV television said some people were slightly injured trying to escape through windows.

Turkish television stations, meanwhile, organized a joint aid telethon that brought in just under 62 million Turkish Lira ($37 million).

Summer growth calms recession fears: Will it last?

Summer growth calms recession fears: Will it last?

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2011 file photo, a shopper carrying bags is silhouetted at a mall in Los Angeles. The U.S. economy grew modestly over the summer after nearly stalling in the first six months of the year, lifted by stronger consumer spending and greater business investment.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A summer of modest economic growth is helping dispel lingering fears that another recession might be near.

Whether the strength can be sustained is less certain.

The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the July-September quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday. But the growth was fueled by Americans who spent more while earning less and by businesses that invested in machines and computers, not workers.

The expansion, the best quarterly growth in a year, came as a relief after anemic growth in the first half of the year, weeks of wild stock market shifts and the weakest consumer confidence since the height of the Great Recession.

The economy would have to grow at nearly double the third-quarter pace to make a dent in the unemployment rate, which has stayed near 9 percent since the recession officially ended more than two years ago.

For the more than 14 million Americans who are out of work and want a job, that's discouraging news. And for President Barack Obama and incumbent members of Congress, it means they'll be facing voters with unemployment near 9 percent.

"It is still a very weak economy out there," said David Wyss, former chief economist at Standard & Poor's.

For now, the report on U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, sketched a more optimistic picture for an economy that only two months ago seemed at risk of another recession.

And it came on the same day that European leaders announced a deal in which banks would take 50 percent losses on Greek debt and raise new capital to protect against defaults on sovereign debt.

Stocks surged on the European deal and maintained their gains after the report on U.S. growth was released. The Dow Jones rose 340 points to close at 12,209. The Dow hadn't closed above 12,000 since Aug. 1. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is close to having its best month since 1974.

If higher stock prices lead consumers to feel more confident about their wealth, they may spend more. That could help sustain economic growth.

The GDP report measures the country's total output of goods and services. It covers everything from bicycles to battleships, as well as services such as haircuts and doctor's visits.

Some economists doubt the economy can maintain its modest third-quarter pace.

U.S. lawmakers are debating deep cuts in federal spending next year that would drag on growth. And state and local governments have been slashing budgets for more than a year.

Obama's $447 billion jobs plan was blocked by Republicans, meaning that a Social Security tax cut that put an extra $1,000 to $2,000 this year in most American's pockets could expire in January.

So could extended unemployment benefits. They have been a key source of income for many people out of work for more than six months.

Nor is the economy likely to get a lift from the depressed housing market. Typically, home construction drives growth during an economic recovery. But builders have been contributing much less to the economy this time.

Wyss said that the collapse of housing had probably depressed annual growth by as much as 1.5 percentage points in the past two years.

Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist for Capital Economics, predicts that growth will cool in the fourth quarter and next year.

"While our baseline forecast does not include an outright contraction, we expect GDP growth to average a very lackluster 1.5% next year," Ashworth said in a note to clients.

Other economists are a bit more optimistic. The breakthrough in Europe could help, as long as a final deal is implemented. At a minimum, that would remove what many economists had considered a major threat to the U.S. economy.

Few are changing their forecast based on the deal because they had already assumed an agreement would be reached.

"The Europeans haven't solved their long-term problems, but they did address the near-term issues and that helps support the belief that we will be able to dodge a U.S. recession," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

Zandi forecasts growth of 1.9 percent for all of 2011 and 2.7 percent in 2012.

Economists think growth in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity, will be restrained until incomes start growing at healthier levels. That is unlikely until hiring picks up.

Consumers powered much of the growth in the third quarter. They spent at an annual rate of 2.4 percent. Many bought more furniture and clothing.

And spending on services rose 3 percent, the most in more than five years. Much of the gain was due to consumers paying more for health care and to cool their homes during an unseasonably hot summer.

Still, spending rose even though after-tax incomes adjusted for inflation fell at a rate of 1.7 percent in the summer. It was the biggest decline since the third quarter of 2009 - just as the recession was ending.

Businesses also helped boost third-quarter growth by stepping up their investment in equipment and software. That category surged 17.4 percent - nearly three times the rate from spring. They also invested more in building, a sign that some businesses could be expanding despite the sluggish economy.

But what would help most is if those businesses hired workers.

"With consumers and businesses spending and exports still growing, the expansion is broad-based and sustainable," said Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors. "If we can only get some better job gains, confidence will begin to return, and we can accelerate the recovery."

Flat tax renews fight on 'trickle-down economics'

Flat tax renews fight on 'trickle-down economics'

FILE - In this Oct. 13, 2011 file photo, Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Redmond, Wash. The flat tax is making a comeback among Republican presidential candidates. Most of the contenders _Mitt Romney's an exception _ offer a variation of the tax plan under which everyone pays the same rate. But a flat tax faces tough opposition in Congress because it tends to favor the rich at the expense of others.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The flat tax is making a comeback among Republican presidential candidates. But it faces tough opposition in Congress because it tends to favor the rich at the expense of other taxpayers, renewing an old debate about "trickle-down economics."

Most of the top GOP contenders - Mitt Romney's an exception - offer a variation of the tax plan in which everyone pays the same rate. Businessman Herman Cain has his 9-9-9 proposal, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry unveiled a 20 percent flat tax on income this week. Even Romney foresees a flatter tax system in the future, though he favors something closer to the current setup in the short term.

The idea of a flat tax has long been championed by conservative politicians as being simple and fair. Publisher Steve Forbes made it a centerpiece of his Republican presidential campaigns in 1996 and 2000. Forbes has endorsed Perry, calling his economic plan "the most exciting plan since (Ronald) Reagan's."

"American families deserve a system that is low, flat and fair," Perry wrote in his tax plan. "They should be able to file their taxes on a postcard instead of a massive novel-length document."

Conservative economists argue a flat tax would promote long-term economic growth by lowering taxes on the people who save and invest the greatest share of their income: the wealthy.

Lowering taxes on the wealthy, however, could prove politically difficult, especially now, with protesters around the country occupying public spaces and calling for the rich to pay more. President Barack Obama and many Democrats in Congress also want higher taxes for the highest-income Americans.

"It's all about political rhetoric," said William McBride, an economist the Tax Foundation, a conservative think tank. "The inevitable result of shifting the tax burden away from saving and investment is that you reduce the tax burden on the rich."

Liberals and many moderates complain that a flat tax is a giveaway to the rich, renewing an old debate over whether the benefits of tax cuts for those at the top trickle down to the rest of the population.

"This idea of lowering taxes on high-income people and somehow middle class people will benefit has been there for a long time," said Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "Obviously it hasn't worked very well."

Flat tax plans by both Cain and Perry have provisions to protect low-income families from tax increases. But that raises questions about who will be left to pay the tab, said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank.

"If you exempt the low-income people from higher taxes, if you cut the taxes for the wealthy, getting the same amount of revenue means the middle class are going to pay more, a lot more," Williams said.

The federal income tax currently has six marginal tax rates, also known as tax brackets. The lowest rate is 10 percent, and it applies to taxable income up to $17,000, for a married couple filing jointly. The top tax rate is 35 percent, on taxable income above $379,150.

"Taxable income" is income after deductions and exemptions, which can greatly reduce the amount that is taxed. There are also many tax credits that can further reduce tax bills.

In all, nearly half of U.S. households pay no federal income tax because their incomes are so low or because they qualify for so many tax breaks, according to the Tax Policy Center. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 pay, on average, 7.2 percent of their income in federal income taxes.

By contrast, the top 10 percent of households, in terms of income, pay more than half of all federal taxes and more than 70 percent of federal income taxes, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Cain's plan would scrap most of the current tax system. He would eliminate the payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, and replace the progressive federal income tax with a flat 9 percent tax on income. He would lower the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 9 percent, and impose a new 9 percent national sales tax. The tax on capital gains would be eliminated.

The only income tax deductions allowed under Cain's original plan were for charitable contributions. He has since said people living below the poverty line - $22,314 for a family of four - would also be exempt from income tax.

Perry's plan would impose an optional 20 percent flat tax. Families could choose between the current tax structure and a new 20 percent tax on income, presumably picking the one that taxes them the least.

Perry's flat tax would preserve deductions for mortgage interest, charitable donations and state and local taxes. It also includes a $12,500 exemption for individuals and their dependents, meaning a family of four could make $50,000 and pay no federal income tax.

Perry's plan would reduce the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 20 percent and would eliminate the tax on dividends and long-term capital gains.

Romney's tax plan would initially maintain the current tax rates, extending sweeping tax cuts that were enacted under former President George W. Bush and extended through 2012 by Obama. Romney would eliminate taxes on capital gains, dividends and interest for taxpayers with adjusted gross income below $200,000. He would push to lower the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 25 percent.

In the long term, Romney would "pursue a conservative overhaul of the tax system that includes lower and flatter rates on a broader tax base."

Obama announces help for student loan borrowers

Obama announces help for student loan borrowers

President Barack Obama speaks about managing student debt during an event at the University of Colorado Denver Downtown Campus in Denver, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. Denver is the final stop on a three-day trip to the West Coast for fundraising and speeches promoting his American Jobs Act.

DENVER (AP) -- President Barack Obama recalled his struggles with student loan debt as he unveiled a plan Wednesday that could give millions of young people some relief on their payments. Speaking at the University of Colorado Denver, Obama said that he and his wife, Michelle, together owed more than $120,000 in law school debt that took nearly a decade to pay off. He said that sometimes he'd have to make monthly payments to multiple lenders, and the debt meant they were not only paying for their own degrees but saving for their daughters' college funds simultaneously.

"I've been in your shoes. We did not come from a wealthy family," Obama said to cheers.

Obama said it's never been more important to get a college education, but it's also never been more expensive. Obama said his plan will help not just individuals, but the nation, because graduates will have more money to spend on things like buying homes.

"Our economy needs it right now and your future could use a boost right now," Obama said.

Obama's plan will accelerate a measure passed by Congress that reduces the maximum required payment on student loans from 15 percent of discretionary income annually to 10 percent. He will put it into effect in 2012, instead of 2014. In addition, the White House says the remaining debt would be forgiven after 20 years, instead of 25. About 1.6 million borrowers could be affected.

He will also allow borrowers who have a loan from the Federal Family Education Loan Program and a direct loan from the government to consolidate them into one. The consolidated loan would carry an interest rate of up to a half percentage point less than before. This could affect 5.8 million borrowers.

Student loans are the No. 2 source of household debt. The president's announcement came on the same day as a new report on tuition costs from the College Board. It showed that average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, compared with a year ago. Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high.

Student loan debt is a common concern voiced by Occupy Wall Street protesters. Obama's plan could help him shore up re-election support among young voters, an important voting bloc in his 2008 election. But, it might not ease all their fears.

Anna Van Pelt, 24, a graduate student in public health at the University of Colorado Denver who attended the speech, estimates she'll graduate with $40,000 in loans. She called Obama's plan a "really big deal" for her, but said she still worries about how she'll make the payments.

"By the time I graduate, my interest rate is going to be astronomical, especially when you don't have a job," Van Pelt said. "So it's not just paying the loans back. It's paying the loans back without a job."

The White House said the changes will carry no additional costs to taxpayers.

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., his party's ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a statement that while he supports efforts to help struggling graduates, the president's plan was crafted behind closed doors and "we are left with more questions than answers."

Last year, Congress passed a law that lowered the repayment cap and moved student loans to direct lending by eliminating banks as the middlemen. Before that, borrowers could get loans directly from the government or from the Federal Family Education Loan Program; the latter were issued by private lenders but basically insured by the government. The law was passed along with the health care overhaul with the anticipation that it could save about $60 billion over a decade.

The change in the law was opposed by many Republicans. At a hearing Tuesday, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who chairs a subcommittee with oversight over higher education, said it had resulted in poorer customer service for borrowers. And Senate Republicans issued a news release with a compilation of headlines that showed thousands of workers in student lending, including those from Sallie Mae Inc., had been laid off because of the change.

Today, there are 23 million borrowers with $490 billion in loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Program. Last year, the Education Department made $102.2 billion in direct loans to 11.5 million recipients.

Death highlights women's role in Special Ops teams

Death highlights women's role in Special Ops teams

This undated photo provided by the North Carolina National Guard shows 1st Lt. Ashley White from Alliance, Ohio. White was killed Oct. 22, 2011, by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Last weekend, White died in combat in southern Afghanistan, the first casualty in what the Army says is a new and vital wartime attempt to gain the trust of Afghan women. White, like other female soldiers working with special operations teams, was assigned duties that would be awkward or impossible for her male counterparts, such as frisking burqa-clad women.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Army 1st Lt. Ashley White died on the front lines in southern Afghanistan last weekend, the first casualty in what the Army says is a new and vital wartime attempt to gain the trust of Afghan women.

White, like other female soldiers working with special operations teams, was brought in to do things that would be awkward or impossible for her male teammates. Frisking burqa-clad women, for example.

Her death, in a bomb explosion in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar, underscores the risks of placing women with elite U.S. special operations teams working in remote villages.

Military leaders and other female soldiers in the program say its rewards are great, even as it fuels debate over the roles of women in combat.

"We could do things that the males cannot do, and they are starting to realize that," says Sgt. Christine Baldwin, who like White was among the first groups of women deployed to Afghanistan this year as specially trained "cultural support" troops.

Male soldiers often cannot even speak to an Afghan woman because of the strict cultural norms that separate the sexes and the tradition of women remaining behind closed doors most of the time. Forcing the issue has yielded only resentment, military officials say, and has jeopardized the trust and cooperation of villagers. From the start of the war 10 years ago, Afghans have especially resented the practice of "night raids" in which male foreign soldiers enter and search homes, the traditional sanctum of women.

"We could search the female, find out the other half of the information," Baldwin said in an interview. "If you're missing half of the lay of the land, how effective are you in engaging the populace?"

That question was eight years in the making. It arose from the frustration of U.S. commanders who realized two years ago that as they tried to apply the principles of counterinsurgency - protect civilians and enlist them to reject insurgents and provide intelligence - they weren't reaching the majority of the Afghan population.

Now, the first female soldiers are serving in commando units. They are trained to ferret out critical information not available to their male team members, to identify insurgents disguised as women and figure out when Afghan women are being used to hide weapons.

U.S. women have been on the front lines in Afghanistan since the war began, and over time they have been used to reach out to the Afghan population through health care initiatives and other programs. They have traveled with Army soldiers and Marines throughout the warfront, often to assist in development projects or as part of psychological operations - what are now called MISO, or military information support operations.

But as elite special operations teams fanned out across the country doing counterinsurgency "stability operations" in the small villages, they complained to their superiors that they weren't reaching the women and children who make up as much as 71 percent of the population.

`We waited too long to get to this," says Command Sgt. Maj. Ledford Stigall. "We had a lot of people focused on the kill and capture, and it really took someone to say, hey it's not about kill, capture, it's about developing a country that can take care of itself."

"Women have a voice," he said. "They can influence the men in their society."

In 2009, under pressure from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Gen. David Petraeus, then the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, the Army began to develop Cultural Support Teams.

Last November, the first group of women went through a grueling five-day assessment that tested their physical and military skills, their problem-solving and writing abilities and their psychological and mental fitness. Those that passed moved on to a six-week training program.

And in January, the first group of 28 women deployed to Afghanistan with Army Rangers and Special Forces teams.

They went in two-woman teams as part of larger special operations units - usually numbering about a dozen. And they were designed to go out on patrols and into the villages with the special operators to help build relations with the communities by engaging with the Afghan women.

In the process, they could also glean valuable intelligence about the people in the region, information they might not be able to get from the men.

Capt. Adrienne Bryant was in the first group that deployed.

Down in Helmand Province with a team of Marine special operations forces, Bryant said, the initial response from the population was tepid.

But on her first patrol, the team introduced her and her CST teammate to a village elder.

"He had been constantly abused by the Taliban, had been kidnapped and returned and he didn't want to work with coalition forces anymore because of the fear the Taliban was going to retaliate," said Bryant, in an interview.

Bryant and her teammate talked to him about what they could do for the women of his village, including the medical assistance and the skills training - like sewing - they could bring. And he was interested.

"Helmand was a pretty conservative area, women aren't really seen out much, they don't shop. So we had to disguise our sewing program, we ran it in conjunction with our clinic," said Bryant, who is from Virginia. "In case the women were being scrutinized because they were coming to learn a skill from us, they had cover by coming on clinic days."

Baldwin, of San Diego, was sent up north with an Army special operations team in Kunduz Province. The women they encountered were hesitant at first.

"We'd go out on patrol and be all kitted up and they were almost fearful, but once we took off that helmet, and put on the scarf, they would recognize that it was a female and the fear would be gone," she said.

Both Baldwin and Bryant said the Afghan women and children at their meetings grew from a few to dozens. Neither said they ever felt they were in immediate danger during their eight-month deployment, although they knew what was possible.

"Any day that they're walking into a village and engaging with the population they are at the same risk as those Special Forces, SEALs, or special operators they're detailed to. So I would say it is not for the weak-kneed," said Michael Lumpkin, the principal deputy assistant defense secretary for special operations. "These women are on the front lines in very austere locations."

White, 24, from Alliance, Ohio, was among the 34 CST members to go to Afghanistan in the second group, and she was assigned to a Ranger unit. The Ohio native and two Rangers were killed when their assault force triggered a roadside bomb. In a press release Monday, U.S. Army Special Operations Command said White "played a crucial role as a member of a special operations strike force. Her efforts highlight both the importance and necessity of women on the battlefield today."

Pentagon leaders know that the CSTs draw attention again to the ongoing debate over women on the battlefield, even though these are not technically combat roles.

The women in the CSTs, said Stigall, have proven to be critical assets.

"They were able to get (Afghan) women to talk about issues the men were too proud to talk about," said Stigall, who worked with the first group of teams in Afghanistan earlier this year. "The women were able to get a pulse on the community that we couldn't get from the men."

And, he acknowledged, there were instances where the CST women were able to identify a man dressed in women's clothing, or a woman carrying a weapon, and alert their male team members.

Lumpkin said that so far commanders agree the program has been a success. The third group of women is about to begin training, and the tentative plan is to have 25 permanent Army CST teams by 2016.

"When 71 percent of the population are women and children, you have to have buy-in from a greater number of people in the villages to really connect with them, and to understand really what's going on. Because of that female-to-female connection, that can be achieved," said Lumpkin.

He added, "We're coming late to the table, but we've recognized the value (of the program) and I think this will transcend beyond Afghanistan ... I don't see them going away any time soon."

Just in time for the holidays, a bad economic mood

Just in time for the holidays, a bad economic mood

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2011 file photo, a woman and child leave a mall with purchases in Culver City, Calif. Consumers' confidence in the economy fell in October to the lowest it's been since 2009 when the U.S. was in the middle of a deep recession, according to a report released Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011, by a private research group.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Americans say they feel worse about the economy than they have since the depths of the Great Recession. And it's a bad time for a bad mood because households are starting to make their holiday budgets.

It might not be all doom and gloom, though. Sometimes what people say about the economy and how they behave are two different things.

Consumer confidence fell in October to the lowest since March 2009, reflecting the big hit that the stock market took this summer and frustration with an economic recovery that doesn't really feel like one.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said its index of consumer sentiment came in at 39.8, down about six points from September and seven shy of what economists were expecting.

The reading is still well above where the index stood two and a half years ago, at 26.9. But it's not even within shouting distance of 90, what it takes to signal that the economy is on solid footing.

Economists watch consumer confidence closely because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity. The index measures how shoppers feel about business conditions, the job market and the next six months.

It came exactly two months before Christmas, with retailers preparing for the holiday shopping season, their busiest. Almost twice as many people now expect a pay cut over the next six months as expect a raise.

"If people think their income is declining, they're not going to be inclined to spend," said Jacob Oubina, an economist at RBC Capital Markets.

Economists point out that consumer confidence is not as simple as a single number, though. The feelings people express about the economy do not always track how they actually spend money.

In September, for example, despite feeling bad about the economy, people increased their spending on retail goods by the most since March. More people bought new cars, a purchase people typically make when they are confident in their finances.

The percentage of Americans who plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months, such as a television or washing machine, rose to 46 percent, up from 41 percent. Exactly half plan to take a vacation in the next six months, up from 47 percent.

Marc Rosenberg, CEO of SkyBluePink Concepts, a toy marketing company, said he looks for broader trends in the monthly consumer confidence numbers but doesn't pay attention to the monthly changes.

"I think it is nice background music," he said.

It's still not a very happy tune. Jessica Jarmon was laid off from her job in social work in March. For the past three months, she has worked a temp job in the same industry, but that ended last week.

She has a job interview Wednesday morning, but she said it's hard to tell whether the economy is getting better or not.

"You hear about one company creating 16,000 jobs, and then you hear about another company laying off 10,000 jobs. Maybe, at best, we are just breaking even," said Jarmon, who lives in Philadelphia.

Mark Vitner, senior U.S. economist at Wells Fargo, said he will probably trim his forecast for holiday revenue in the retail industry based on Tuesday's figure.

Vitner said the persistent gloomy headlines about the economy may lead people to say they feel worse about things than their own situations would suggest. They might have a good job and stable finances, for example, but still report feeling sour.

But the decline in confidence is "too significant to get away from it," he said. "Consumers are losing hope that strong growth is around the corner."

Higher earners are also starting to lose confidence, a bad sign because they account for a disproportionate amount of spending. The confidence index for people making more than $50,000 has dropped six months in a row.

"The upper income brackets have weathered the recession and recovery better than most citizens, and declining confidence among this group is certainly unwelcome," Dan Greenhaus, an economist at the brokerage BTIG, said in a note to clients.

Consumer confidence had been recovering fitfully since hitting an all-time low of 25.3 in February 2009, but has taken a turn for the worse as Americans worry about high unemployment, rising prices for food and clothes and an overall weak economy.

The index is based on a survey conducted Oct. 1-13 of about 500 randomly selected people nationwide.

It was three days after the survey got under way, on Oct. 4, that the stock market began a remarkable rally. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 12 percent in three weeks, from the Oct. 3 close through Monday's trading.

The Dow fell almost 2 percent Tuesday, not just because of consumer confidence but because investors are worried about corporate earnings and about whether Europe can find a solution to its crippling debt problem.

The last time consumer confidence was this weak was also the turning point for the stock market in its severe downturn during the recession. It was in March 2009 that the Dow bottomed out at 6,547.

The survey found that a growing number of Americans are worried about making less money over the next six months. The proportion of people expecting a pay cut is about nine percentage points higher than those who expect a raise, the biggest gap since April 2009, Oubina said.

Turks weep as survivors, bodies pulled from rubble

Turks weep as survivors, bodies pulled from rubble

Emergency workers carry a youth they rescued from the rubble and debris of a collapsed building in Ercis, eastern Turkey, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Dozens of people were trapped in mounds of concrete, twisted steel and construction debris after hundreds of buildings in two cities and mud-brick homes in nearby villages pancaked or partially collapsed in Sunday's 7.2-magnitude earthquake in eastern Turkey.

ERCIS, Turkey (AP) -- Distraught Turkish families mourned outside a mosque or sought to identify loved ones among rows of bodies Monday as rescue workers scoured debris for survivors after a 7.2-magnitude quake that killed at least 279 people.

Rescue teams with generator-powered floodlights worked into the night in the worst-hit city of Ercis, where running water and electricity were cut by the quake that rocked eastern Turkey on Sunday. Unnerved by over 200 aftershocks, many residents slept outside their homes, making campfires to ward off the cold, as aid organizations rushed to erect tents for the homeless.

Victims were trapped in mounds of concrete, twisted steel and construction debris after over a hundred buildings in two cities and mud-brick homes in nearby villages pancaked or partially collapsed in Sunday's earthquake. About 80 multistory buildings collapsed in Ercis, a city of 75,000 close to the Iranian border that lies in one of Turkey's most earthquake-prone zones.

Cranes and other heavy equipment lifted slabs of concrete, allowing residents to dig for the missing with shovels.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said the quake killed 279 people and injured 1,300, though search-and-rescue efforts could end as early as Tuesday. Authorities said 10 of the dead were students learning about the Quran at a religious school that collapsed.

Grieving families cried outside an Ercis mosque.

"My nephew, his wife and their child, all three dead. May God protect us from this kind of grief," resident Kursat Lap said.

Bodies were still being pulled from the rubble late Monday. Dozens were placed in body bags or covered by blankets, laid in rows so people could search for their missing relatives.

"It's my grandson's wife. She was stuck underneath rubble," said Mehmet Emin Umac.

Several other men carried a child's body wrapped in a white cloth as weeping family members followed behind.

Still, there were some joyful moments. Yalcin Akay was dug out from a collapsed six-story building with a leg injury after he called an emergency line on his cell phone and told the operator where he was, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported. Three others, including two children, were also rescued from the same building in Ercis 20 hours after the quake struck.

Two other survivors were trapped for over 27 hours.

Abdurrahman Antakyali, 20, was brought out of a crumbled Internet cafe after an eight-hour-long joint rescue effort by Turkish and Azerbaijani teams. His father and brother wept with joy as he emerged, Anatolia reported.

Tugba Altinkaynak, 21, had been at a family lunch with 12 other relatives when the temblor hit. Four relatives were pulled out alive earlier but her mother and the others were still missing late Monday. Altinkaynak, who was conscious and covered in dust, was brought out on a stretcher and rushed to an ambulance.

Aid groups scrambled to set up tents, field hospitals and kitchens to help the thousands left homeless or too afraid to re-enter their homes. Many exhausted residents spent a second night outside.

"We stayed outdoors all night, I could not sleep at all, my children, especially the little one, was terrified," said Serpil Bilici of her 6-year-old daughter, Rabia. "I grabbed her and rushed out when the quake hit. We were all screaming."

The bustling, larger city of Van, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) south of Ercis, also sustained substantial damage. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who inspected the area, said "close to all" the mud-brick homes in surrounding villages had collapsed in the temblor that also rattled parts of Iran and Armenia.

Leaders around the world, including President Barack Obama, conveyed their condolences and offered assistance, but Erdogan said Turkey was able to cope for now. Azerbaijan, Iran and Bulgaria still sent aid, he said.

Among those offering help were Israel, Greece and Armenia, who all have had issues in their relations with Turkey.

The offer from Israel came despite a rift in relations following a 2010 Israeli navy raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine Turks dead. Greece, which has a deep dispute with Turkey over the divided island of Cyprus, also offered to send a special earthquake rescue team.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties due to tensions over the Ottoman-era mass killings of Armenians and the conflict in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey lies in one of the world's most active seismic zones and is crossed by numerous fault lines. In 1999, two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7 struck northwestern Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.

Istanbul, the country's largest city with more than 12 million people, lies in northwestern Turkey near a major fault line, and experts say tens of thousands could be killed if a major quake struck there.