QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Stay smart. Don’t put your stupid hat on at this point in time.”

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, urging people to stay safe as a winter storm hit the state Article, 1A

Stolen truck kills 1, injures 4 in NYC

NEW YORK - A stolen truck sideswiped a taxi, hit a scooter and then collided with a city bus in the West Village of Manhattan on Wednesday morning, sending both vehicles careering onto the sidewalk where they smashed into a building on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 14th Street.

One person was killed and four others were injured, one critically, according to fire officials.

“What appears to be a stolen box truck was traveling south on Seventh Avenue when it struck an M14 bus,” said Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The driver of the truck survived and was being treated at Bellevue Hospital Center, where he was in custody and being questioned by police, officials said. No charges have been filed.

The bus driver, William Pena, was killed, police said.

Two passengers on the bus were injured, Ortiz said. A street vendor, who was on the sidewalk at the time of the accident, also was seriously injured, Ortiz said.

Scaffolding erected outside the building collapsed around the two vehicles as they plowed onto the sidewalk around 5:30 a.m.

Bombing suspect’s trial set for Nov. 3

BOSTON - A federal judge on Wednesday set Nov.

3 as the start of the trial for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of the deadly bombing of the Boston Marathon last year.

Prosecutors say Tsarnaev, 20, worked with his older brother, Tamerlan, to place two pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line of the marathon on April 15. The explosions killed three people and wounded more than 260.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed after a shootout with the police later that week; Dzhokhar was captured, and last summer was in a 30-count terrorism indictment, to which he pleaded innocent.

He is being held at a federal medical prison center at Fort Devens, Mass., and did not attend the hearing.

Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder authorized prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

The trial date, which was set by District Judge George O’Toole during a hearing Wednesday morning, is far earlier than the fall 2015 trial date that was requested by Tsarnaev’s defense team.

City keeps rent ban for illegal aliens

LINCOLN, Neb. - Officials in a small Nebraska city were preparing Wednesday to enforce voter-approved anti-illegal-immigration rules, despite the threat of costly federal lawsuits after the measure goes into effect.

Fremont officials said police will start enforcing the measure 30 days after the results of a special city election are certified. Nearly 60 percent of voters decided Tuesday to keep the ordinance, which requires renters to get a $5 permit and swear they have legal permission to live in the U.S.

Fremont City Council President Jennifer Bixby said officials would respect the voters’ decision on the measure, which was first approved by a smaller margin in 2010. Critics pushed for the new vote, saying the housing restrictions would be ineffective and might cost Fremont millions of dollars in legal fees and lost federal grants.

They also said it was hurting the city’s image.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 02/13/2014