Fed. government closed due to storm
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Federal offices in the Washington area will be closed to start the week due to the blizzard, and forecasters said another storm could strike the area this week.
The Office of Personnel Management posted a noticed on its Web site notifying employees that offices in the Washington area will be closed Monday and non-emergency workers, including those on pre-approved sick leave, will be excused for their absence for the day.
OPM Director John Berry made the decision following a conference call with local and state officials Sunday. The officials said it would not be safe for workers to commute Monday morning, The Washington Post reported.
The federal government decision will also result in a day off for many in the private sector, which typically follows the federal government's lead on such matters, the newspaper said. The decision to shut down for the day will cost taxpayers about $100 million in productivity losses, the report said.
Air traffic picked up Sunday as Washington dug its way out of a massive blizzard but thousands in the Eastern U.S. remained without power, authorities said.
Three deaths in the Pittsburgh area were being investigated as storm-related, as electric utility officials said more than 300,000 people along the Eastern seaboard were without power due to downed power lines.
Major airports throughout the region began to reschedule flights Sunday. Few passengers were reported stranded because so few flights landed Saturday, The New York Times reported.
The Allegheny County, Pa., Medical Examiner's office said a man and his daughter were found dead Sunday, apparently due to carbon monoxide poisoning from the use of a generator during an electrical outage in McKeesport, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The newspaper said a man was found dead in his Pittsburgh home Saturday night shortly after he had been seen shoveling a sidewalk at his sister's nearby home.
Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania declared states of emergency and officials said they would open shelters for some of the hundreds of thousands of people whose power was knocked out.
Allegheny Power, which supplies electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia, issued a statement to CNN saying: "Since the heavy, wet snow is still bringing trees down, we are still seeing new outages occur. Damage assessment is ongoing, but overall estimated times for the restoration of service have not been determined."
The National Weather service said about 25.5 inches of snow fell at American University in Washington during a two-day span, close to the city's record of 28 inches, while in Philadelphia, a reported 28.5 inches had fallen by Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, forecasters said millions of U.S. residents would feel the effects of a new winter storm crossing the nation this week, which has the potential for significant snow, ice, flooding rain and strong storms.
Accuweather.com said it's the same storm that caused flooding and triggered mudslides in Southern California this weekend. They warned widespread travel disruptions were likely as it spreads eastward, with the same mid-Atlantic region buried by the "Blizzard of 2010" perhaps hit by snow again.
Obama invites GOP to healthcare table
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Sunday said he has invited Republican and Democratic leaders to meet with him to work on healthcare reform.
In an interview with CBS News, Obama said he will meet with leaders of both parties next week to go over ideas and then call another session a few weeks later.
"I want to ask them to put their ideas on the table, and then after the recess, which will be a few weeks away, I want to come back and have a large meeting, the Republicans and Democrats, to go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward," he said.
During the interview, Obama noted an announcement last week by Anthem Blue Cross, a major healthcare insurer in California, that it is increasing premiums for individual purchasers.
"That's a portrait of the future if we don't do something now," he said. "It's going to keep on beating down families, small businesses, large businesses; it's going to be a huge drain on the economy."
Obama said he was frustrated by the slow pace of congressional action on healthcare reform.
"I would have loved nothing better than to simply come up with some very elegant, academically-approved approach to healthcare, and didn't have any kinds of legislative fingerprints on it and just go ahead and have that passed," he said. "But that's not how it works in our democracy."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., issued a statement calling on the White House to scrap "the current health spending bill," The New York Times reported.
"The fact is Senate Republicans held hundreds of town halls and met with their constituents across the country last year on the need for healthcare reform, outlining ideas for the step-by-step approach that Americans have asked for," McConnell said. "And we know there are a number of issues with bipartisan support that we can start with when the 2,700-page bill is put on the shelf."
Five killed in plant blast in Connecticut
MIDDLETOWN, Conn., Feb. 7 (UPI) -- At least five people were killed and dozens more were hurt in an explosion Sunday at a power plant being built near Middletown, Conn., officials said.
Deputy Fire Marshal Al Santostefano said the 11 a.m. EST explosion was being investigated but the blast appears to have occurred as plant operators attempted to purge gas from pipelines, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported.
As many as 100 people were injured in the plant explosion, and four of those were in critical condition following the blast. Santostefano told the Courant there is a possibility additional victims could be trapped in the wreckage of the plant building where the explosion apparently occurred.
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration arrived at the scene Sunday "to conduct a comprehensive investigation."
The shock wave from the explosion site at the Kleen Energy Systems on River Road was so intense homeowners miles away mistakenly assumed the central part of Connecticut had experienced an earthquake, the newspaper said.
Rescue officers attempted to compile a casualty list but were hampered by lack of information about the number and names of workers onsite Sunday.
"There are bodies everywhere," an unidentified witness told the Courant.
Construction on the site was nearing completion prior to the explosion. The plant, which was under construction for several years, is intended to burn natural gas to produce electricity.
Report: Toyota plans new Prius recall
TOKYO, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Toyota Motor Corp. intends to recall more than 300,000 2010 Prius hybrids this week following complaints about brake problems, The New York Times said Sunday.
Citing someone who had been briefed on the decision, the newspaper said the recall would be announced early this week. The report follows a worldwide recall of an estimated 8 million Toyota vehicles because of the possibility accelerator pedals could stick or get hung up in floor mats.
Citing its examination of company records, the newspaper reported Sunday Toyota has often reacted slowly to safety problems, sometimes changing its vehicles without notifying current owners. The reported slow response to problems with gas pedals is part of a pattern in which the automaker has tried to handle problems discreetly and out of the public eye after receiving complaints, making design changes without issuing recalls, the Times said.
With its gas pedal recall, Toyota officials testified to the U.S. Congress they first heard of the pedals sticking to floor mats in spring 2009. But the company later acknowledged it had received such complaints as early as December 2008 and had started installing redesigned pedals on new European vehicles last August, the Times reported.
The newspaper said it took Toyota eight years to start recalling older Hilux Surf cars 4Runners after the company's 1996 move to modify a crucial steering mechanism following consumer complaints.
"We acknowledge that we could have communicated better as a company," James Wiseman, a spokesman for Toyota's United States division, told the Times. "However, we have taken significant steps to address these issues."
