The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “Washington remains paralyzed in a staring contest with neither side appearing to blink

anytime soon, and it seems highly likely that the federal government will stay closed through the week.” Chris Krueger, a Washington analyst for Guggenheim Securities, on the impasse between the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate and President Barack Obama over conditions tied to reopening the government and raising the debt limit Article, 1AConcrete chunk lowered safely in NYC

NEW YORK - A concrete weight that dangled for hours Monday from a crane 40 floors above a Manhattan street, leading officials to close a long swath of a major thoroughfare as a precaution, finally made it to the ground just before the evening rush hour started.

The heavy cube made it to the pavement about 3:30 p.m.

New York time on 57th Street after workers spent hours lowering it inch by inch. The crane had been frozen with its load in midair since about 7 a.m., when a generator stopped working, said Mike Lucas, a construction field supervisor.

The street’s closure created gridlock in an especially bustling part of Manhattan and raised fears that the weight could spiral out of control amid a forecast of strong storms that hit the city shortly after the weight reached the ground.

The street reopened to traffic and pedestrians afterward.

The crane was being used in the construction of a luxury high-rise going up near Carnegie Hall and was the same site where a crane’s boom collapsed and dangled dangerously during superstorm Sandy.

Consumers lose access to insurance site

NEW YORK - Consumers couldn’t access parts of the U.S. government’s online health-insurance exchange Monday, after a weekend of technical upgrades failed to eliminate delays in the system at the heart of the Affordable Care Act.

The federal website, meant to serve people in 36 states, was still delivering error messages to users trying to create accounts. While most of the 14 states running their own health exchanges ran better, New York’s website had problems registering some consumers.

The exchanges debuted Oct. 1 and are supposed to help millions of uninsured Americans buy subsidized coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The federal site has been hamstrung by long wait times and crashes, with President Barack Obama blaming a surge of interest that exceeded expectations. Amid the delays, the administration said it was starting to improve the system.

“The work done to increase access to healthcare.gov in light of the overwhelming demand is beginning to show results,” Joanne Peters, a spokesman for the Health and Human Services Department, said in an email. “Call center wait times are seconds, not minutes, and people have been enrolling over the phone 24/7.”Arizona plans to restrict voting process

PHOENIX - Arizona plans to implement a dual-track voting system allowing people who register to vote without submitting proof of citizenship to cast ballots only for federal offices - such as Congress - but not for state or local offices, officials said Monday.

Secretary of State Ken Bennett will implement the system recommended under an opinion issued Monday by Attorney General Tom Horne, Bennett spokesman Matt Roberts said.

“Because Arizona law requires a registration applicant to provide evidence of citizenship, registrants who have not provided sufficient evidence of citizenships should not be permitted to vote in state and local elections unless a dual registration system is invalid under the federal or state constitution,” Horne said in his opinion.

In 2014, the only federal offices on Arizona ballots will be U.S. House seats.

S.D. ranchers count cattle lost in storm

PIERRE, S.D. - A record-breaking storm that dumped 4 feet of snow in parts of western South Dakota left tens of thousands of people without electricity Monday and ranchers bracing for heavy losses as they assess how many of their cattle died during the unseasonably early blizzard.

The weekend storm was part of a powerful weather system that also buried parts of Wyoming and Colorado with snow, and spawned destructive tornadoes in Nebraska and Iowa. At least four deaths were attributed to the weather, including a South Dakota man who collapsed while cleaning snow off his roof.

Cattle ranchers throughout western South Dakota were reporting losing between 20 percent and 50 percent of their herds, and early estimates suggest the region may have lost 5 percent or more of its cattle, said Silvia Christen, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.

National Guard troops were helping utility crews pull equipment through the heavy, wet snow to install new electricity poles in western South Dakota, where more than 22,000 homes and businesses remained without power Monday afternoon, according to utility companies.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 10/08/2013

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