LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

“For all the complaining everyone does, people really came through.”

Rich Dinsmore, 65, of Newport, R.I., on the emergency response to the snowstorm in the Northeast Article, 1A

Ex-defense chief: Monitor drones

WASHINGTON - Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday that there should be an outside check on the power of a president to order drone strikes on U.S. citizens.

Gates, a former CIA director who was defense secretary under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, said decisions to execute Americans should be subject to some outside review, perhaps by a panel of judges or by Congress.

“I think that the rules and the practices that the Obama administration has followed are quite stringent and are not being abused,” Gates said on CNN’s State of the Union.

“But who is to say about a future president?”

Obama has increased the use of drones to attack terrorists in the Middle East. Last week, the debate over the administration’s use of drones intensified as the Senate held a confirmation hearing for John Brennan, the president’s counterterrorism chief, to become head of the CIA.

Lawmaker fears rise of hackers

The U.S. is vulnerable to cyber-attacks that could shut down financial services or destroy information that companies need for daily operations, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday.

Rep. Mike Rogers said 95 percent of private-sector networks are vulnerable and most have already been hit.

The Michigan Republican said hackers have stepped up attacks since the fall, and he points to China and Iran.

“They’re taking blueprints back, not just military documents, but civilian innovation that companies are going to use to create production lines to build things,” Rogers said.

Rogers said on CBS’ Face the Nation that the U.S. government has, essentially “set up lawn chairs, told the burglars where the silver is ... and opened the case of beer and watched them do it.”

A bipartisan bill to shore up the nation’s cyber-defenses passed the House, but died in the Senate in the last Congress. Similar legislation could be introduced again as early as this week.

Copter crash kills three in California

LOS ANGELES - Authorities said three people were killed in a pre-dawn helicopter crash in a rural area of northern Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles County Fire dispatcher Robert Diaz said the crash occurred about 3:40 a.m. Sunday at the Polsa Rosa Ranch in Acton. Diaz said everyone on board died.

The three people have not been identified.

Philip Sokoloski, a spokesman for FilmL.A., which processes filming permits for location shootings in the Los Angeles region, said a production company had been approved to use a helicopter for a reality-TV show. The shoot was scheduled to go from Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning.

Permit paperwork shows Bongo Inc. was working on an untitled military-theme program. Records also show Crossbow Helicopters received approval to participate in filming from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Television footage showed mangled wreckage in a rugged canyon area near Soledad Canyon Road.

According to its website, Polsa Rosa is a “movie ranch” where film crews can use a variety of terrains as well as two airstrips.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 02/11/2013