QUOTE OF THE DAY “It’s pretty amazing

how this law is touching different

operations. I’m not sure everyone thought that through.” Darrel Fournier, fire chief in Freeport,

Maine, on the healthcare law and how it affects volunteer firefighters and stations that are bracing for what could be significant insurance costs or fines Article, this page

Aspen plane crash kills one, hurts two

DENVER - A fiery plane crash at the Aspen airport Sunday afternoon killed one person and injured two others, one severely, Colorado authorities said.

The three were the only people aboard the plane, said Thomas Wright, a dispatcher with the Pitkin County sheriff’s office.

Ginny Dyche, a spokesman for Aspen Valley Hospital, said the facility admitted two patients who were involved in the crash. She said they were still being evaluated, but she declined to release any other information.

Allen Kenitzer, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, said the aircraft appeared to be a private jet.

The federal spokesman said the plane was arriving from Tucson, Ariz., and crashed upon landing.

Romney: Olympic spirit hurt in Russia

WASHINGTON - Russia’s slide from democratic overhauls and its relationships with international peers threaten to undercut the spirit of the Olympic Games it will host next month, former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Sunday.

Romney, who led 2002’s Winter Games in Salt Lake City, said he also worried about security preparations but said he believes Russia has done everything it can to prevent violence.

“I don’t think any major global event that brings people from all over the world together like that can possibly escape the threat of violence,” Romney said.

Suicide bombings in the Russian city of Volgograd left 34 dead last week just 400 miles from where the Sochi games will be held.

Romney also said Russian President Vladimir Putin has not done enough to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program or push Syrian President Bashar Assad from power.

Asked on Fox News Sunday whether Russia’s behavior undercuts the Olympic games’ spirit, Romney said he thought it did and invoked the 1936 Berlin games.

“Hitler’s presence there, that certainly undercut the Olympic message,” Romney said. “And surely that can happen in our time, theoretically or specifically.”

N.Y. said to plan OK of medical ‘pot’

ALBANY, N.Y. - Joining leaders in a growing group of states that have loosened restrictions on marijuana, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans this week to announce an executive action to allow limited use of the drug, state officials say.

Cuomo’s plan will be far more restrictive than the laws in Colorado or California, where medical marijuana is available to people with conditions as mild as backache. It will allow 20 hospitals across the state to prescribe marijuana to patients with cancer, glaucoma or other diseases that meet standards to be set by the New York Department of Health.

Medical marijuana bills have passed the state Assembly four times only to stall in the Senate.

Cuomo is expected to announce the move Wednesday during his State of the State address.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 01/06/2014