The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The ability to find solid blocks of time

to do nothing but prepare for debate is almost impossible for a president.The world doesn’t wait

for debate prep.”

Dan Pfeiffer,

White House communications

director, on President Barack Obama’s preparation for this week’s debate Article, this pageI-405 closes in LA;

traffic woes few

LOS ANGELES - Construction crews were on schedule and traffic tie-ups were minimal in Los Angeles on Saturday, making for a smooth start to Carmageddon II, the sequel to last year’s shutdown of one of the nation’s busiest freeways.

A 10-mile stretch of Interstate 405 was shut throughout the weekend as part of a $1 billion construction project. Officials said demolition was nearly complete and that they expect to reopen the freeway as planned Monday morning.

For the most part, drivers steered clear of the freeway.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa tried to rebrand the weekend as “Carmaheaven,” a chance for everyone to explore their own neighborhoods.

As temperatures climbed into the 90s, those who couldn’t resist a trip to the beach said traffic progressed smoothly.

For weeks Los Angelenos have been warned to avoid the area on the city’s west side.

Obama to GOP:

Pass housing bill

WASHINGTON - Citing historically low mortgages, President Barack Obama pressed Republicans to back housing policies that the White House says would help struggling homeowners refinance their debts and prevent foreclosures.

Obama is blaming congressional Republicans for not passing legislation he proposed in February that would lower lending rates for millions of borrowers who have not been able to get out from under burdensome mortgages. Republicans have objected, citing among other things the estimated $5 billion to $10 billion cost of the proposal.

“Here we are - seven months later - still waiting on Congress to act,” Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address.

In the Republican weekly address, Arizona congressional candidate Vernon Parker said the U.S. corporate tax rate is pushing jobs overseas. He said he agrees with GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, “that we need to stop all the looming tax hikes and develop a pro-growth tax code that brings jobs home and keeps jobs here.”Lax security raises

test-score doubts

ATLANTA - The federal government has no standards to protect the integrity of the achievement tests it requires in tens of thousands of public schools, and test security among the states is so inconsistent that Americans can’t be sure those all-important test scores are legitimate, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The newspaper surveyed the 50 state education departments and found that many states do not use basic test security measures designed to prevent cheating. And nearly half of the states, the newspaper found, make almost no attempt to screen test results for irregularities.

That kind of lax oversight contributed to the cheating scandal that swept Atlanta schools in 2009, the newspaper said in a story that appeared online Saturday. Evidence of widespread cheating is now emerging across the nation.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 09/30/2012

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