LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

“If I break my wrist, I lose my house.”

Susan Zimmerman, 62, a freelance writer in Cleveland whose three part-time jobs do not pay benefits Article, this page

127th Groundhog Day hints at early spring

WASHINGTON - Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow Saturday morning in central Pennsylvania and didn’t see his shadow, which according to legend signals an early spring for the U.S.

Temperatures hovered at 8 degrees under overcast skies as the groundhog’s handlers removed him from his stump-shaped shelter in Punxsutawney, a town about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

A crowd of thousands gathered to celebrate the 127th annual staging of the weather tradition, according to the Groundhog Club, which conducts the event atop Gobbler’s Knob.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seems to agree with Phil.

It forecasts either average or above-average temperatures for the U.S. for February, March and April, with the exception of the Pacific Northwest and northern Plains.

Nebraska official resigns after disclosures

LINCOLN, Neb. - Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy resigned Saturday after “breaking the public trust,” Gov. Dave Heineman said.

Heineman announced Sheehy’s resignation in a hastily called news conference Saturday morning. Heineman said the resignation followed disclosures made in a public-records request, but declined to discuss what those disclosures were.

The Omaha World-Herald reported that Sheehy resigned after it raised questions about improper cellphone calls to four women, none of whom were his wife, during the past four years. The paper said in its online editions Saturday that it discovered Sheehy made thousands of late-night calls to the women on his state-issued cell phone.

Sheehy, a Republican, had been considered the front-runner in the 2014 gubernatorial race and had been endorsed by Heineman.

Last July, Sheehy’s wife, Connie Sheehy, filed for divorce after nearly 29 years of marriage. Her divorce filing stated the “marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken.”

Escaped murderer found in Illinois home

CHICAGO - Two days after a stunning series of errors allowed a convicted murderer to walk out of a Chicago jail where he did not need to be in the first place, police recaptured the man at a northern Illinois home where he was found watching TV.

Steven Robbins, 44, put up no resistance Friday night as police burst through the door of a townhome in Kankakee, about 60 miles south of Chicago, said Cook County sheriff’s office spokesman Frank Bilecki.

The mistaken release of the prisoner, who was serving a 60-year sentence in Indiana for murder, focused attention on an antiquated corner of the criminal justice system that still relies extensively on paper documents instead of computers in moving detainees around and keeping tabs on their court status.

Bus driver in abduction case mourned

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. - As the standoff with a man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage continued Saturday, a nearby community prepared to bury the bus driver who was shot to death when the episode started to unfold five days ago.

Charles Albert Poland Jr., a 66-year-old man known around his town as Chuck, was described by folks in his hometown of Newton as a humble hero who gave his life Tuesday to protect the children on his bus.

Authorities said Jim Lee Dykes - a Vietnam-era veteran known as Jimmy to his neighbors -boarded a stopped school bus filled with 21 children Tuesday afternoon and demanded two boys between 6 and 8 years old. When Poland tried to block his way, the gunman shot him several times and took one 5-year-old boy - who police say remains in an underground bunker with Dykes.

Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said in a briefing with reporters Saturday that Dykes has told them he has blankets and an electric heater in the bunker. Authorities have been communicating with Dykes through a ventilation pipe to the bunker.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 02/03/2013