QUOTE OF THE DAY “All the things [the National Security Agency] wanted to do are now

radioactive, even though they were good ideas.” Cybersecurity expert James Lewis, speaking on the fallout caused by leaks from ex-National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden Article, 1A

Six more weeks of winter in forecast

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa.- Emerging from his lair on Super Bowl Sunday, groundhog Punxsutawney Phil couldn’t predict the winner of the big game but his handlers said he was sure of his weather forecast: There will be six more weeks of winter.

Pennsylvania’s famed groundhog was roused at 7:28 a.m. Eastern time Sunday and, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, directed handler Bill Deeley to a scroll that contained the prediction.

As usual, thousands of fans turned out on Groundhog Day to see the furry rodent.

Legend has it that if the groundhog sees his shadow on Feb. 2, winter will last another six weeks. If he doesn’t see it, spring will come early.

In reality, Phil’s prediction is decided ahead of time by a group called the Inner Circle, whose members don top hats and tuxedos for the annual ceremony on Gobbler’s Knob, the tiny hill in the town for which he’s named about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Woman in SUV kills 3, injures 4

BRADENTON, Fla. - Three people are dead and four others have been hospitalized after a woman backed her sport utility vehicle into a group of people Sunday outside a Florida clubhouse, authorities said.

The crash happened outside the Sugar Creek Country Club at 11:20 a.m. in Bradenton, about 45 miles south of Tampa. Residents had gathered for church services inside the building, which is located in a mobile-home community, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Gregory Bueno said.

A police report says that the accident does not appear to be alcohol-related.

The report says Dorren Landstra, 79, was backing out of a parking spot, pulled forward and needed more room to clear another parked vehicle. At that point, Landstra’s SUV began backing again and struck seven people.

Patient-in-stairwell inquiry results told

SAN FRANCISCO - Nurses at a San Francisco hospital did not heed doctors’ orders to maintain a constant watch on a patient who ended up leaving her room and was found dead in a locked stairwell 17 days later, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The newspaper cited the results of a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services investigation.

After Lynne Spalding was admitted to San Francisco General Hospital for a bladder infection and disorientation Sept. 19, a doctor had instructed staff there in writing to “never leave patient unattended,” the newspaper reported.

The next day, after Spalding had wandered into a nursing station speaking incoherently, a doctor reminded a nurse that the woman needed around-the-clock observation. The staff’s notes on Spalding, however, simply indicated that she was supposed to be monitored only with “close observation,” and the nurse who had spoken with the doctor acknowledged she never updated the instructions, the Chronicle said.

Spalding, 57, disappeared a day later.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 02/03/2014