LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We don’t need any hiccups right now in our recovery.”
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire,
a Democrat, as U.S. governors urged Congress to
avert a budget fight that could shut down the federal government or slash spending for states Article, 6A
Discovery arrives at space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Discovery arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday, making its final visit before being parked at a museum.
Discovery should have come and gone last November, but was grounded by fuel tank cracks. It blasted off Thursday with just two seconds to spare after being held up by a balky ground computer.
The linkup occurred 220 miles above Australia.
Discovery, flying on its final voyage, will spend at least a week at the orbiting outpost. It’s carrying a closet-style chamber full of supplies as well as the first humanoid robot to fly in space.
Altogether, there are 12 people aboard the joined spacecraft, representing the United States, Russia and Italy. And in a historic first, four of the five major partners have vessels docked there now, including cargo ships from Japan and Europe.
Jet crashes into river; pilot missing
KINGSTON, N.Y. - A vintage military jet, now privately owned and flown in air shows, crashed into the Hudson River on Saturday as it came in for a landing at an airport in Kingston, authorities said. The pilot was missing and feared dead.
The accident happened on an ice-covered stretch of the Hudson near the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, which spans the river midway between Albany and New York City.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Holly Baker said the aircraft was partially submerged after the crash and the pilot was unaccounted for. Police and other rescuers were on the scene.
Only one person was known to be aboard the plane when it went down.
The jet, a British-made BAC 167 Strikemaster, was headed to Kingston-Ulster Airport from an airfield Johnstown, Pa., when it went down, Baker said.
U.S. chides China for online blocking
WASHINGTON - The U.S. on Saturday tweaked China for its online blocking of the American ambassador’s name.
Searches for Ambassador Jon Huntsman’s name in Chinese on a popular microblogging site called Sina Weibo were met with a message Friday that said results were unavailable because of unspecified “laws, regulations and policies.”
Huntsman, a Republican, is leaving his post and is seen as a potential White House contender in 2012.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in a Twitter posting Saturday that “it is remarkable” that even before Huntsman leaves Beijing, “China has made him disappear from the Internet.”
Snow showers fall in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO - As a Pacific storm coincided with a blast of cold Canadian air over their fair city, San Francisco residents saw snow late Friday, a long-absent visitor for a city accustomed to fog, sweater-weather and other nearly bone-chilling accoutrements.
Predictions had called for the possibility of the first significant snowfall in the city since February 1976, when all of an inch fell, according to the National Weather Service. And just before midnight, several high-lying city neighborhoods, including Twin Peaks, at about 900 feet, reported light snowfall.
The scattering of flakes capped a week-long flurry of activity among civic leaders and commuters, as well as dreams of flying down some of the city’s famous inclines.
All Friday, it looked like that outing might have to wait. The storm brought soaking rain and howling gales in the early hours, but the morning rain gave way to clear skies and, in some quarters, profound disappointment.
But just before midnight, snow showers fell, interrupting local television broadcasts for up-to-the-minute reports.
Meteorologists were reporting the city might get a dusting Saturday as well, as a Canadian cold front lingered over the city and spotty showers moved in from the ocean.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 02/27/2011