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DALLAS (AP) — Schools and buildings from Texas to Georgia were shut down Thursday or prepared to close ahead of freezing rain and snow forecast for much of the Southern U.S. as another burst of plunging temperatures and winter storms threatened to again snarl travel. Texas schools canceled classes for more than 1 million students in anticipation of icy and potentially dangerous conditions that could last into Friday. Closures also kept students home in Kansas City and Arkansas’ capital, Little Rock, while Virginia’s capital, Richmond, remained under a weather-related boil advisory. The cold snap coincided with rare January wildfires tearing through the Los Angeles area, forcing residents to flee from burning homes through flames, ferocious winds and towering clouds of smoke. Texas braces for snow In the Dallas area, crews treated roads ahead of the expected arrival of 2 to 4 inches (about 5 to 10 centimeters) of snow Thursday. Up to 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) was expected farther north near Oklahoma, according to the National Weather Service. Gov. Greg Abbott said the state deployed emergency crews in advance and urged residents to avoid driving in bad weather if possible. Boston native Gina Eaton, who stocked up on groceries in Dallas ahead of the storm, said she has some trepidation sharing roads with drivers unaccustomed to ice and snow. “Even if there is ice, I’m very comfortable driving in it,” Eaton said. “It’s just other people that scare me.” Roads could be slick Friday as 75,000 fans were expected head to AT&T Stadium in Arlington for the college football championship semifinal between Texas and Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Arlington spokesperson Susan Shrock said crews will be ready to address any hazardous road conditions. Southern discomfort A mix of sleet, snow and freezing rain was expected along a stretch from New Mexico to Alabama. Forecasters said the heaviest amounts were likely in parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. The system was expected to push northeastward by Friday with heavy snow and freezing rain all the way to the Virginia and North Carolina coasts. As much as 8 inches (about 20 centimeters) of snow could fall in parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia through Saturday, the weather service said. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced the closure of some state offices on Friday. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said city offices would be closed, with employees working remotely. Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Director Patrick Sheehan said he expected schools across the state to close Friday, although decisions will be made at the local level. The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes ventures south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some experts say such events are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world. The agricultural impact Some parts of Kansas have received nearly an entire year’s average of snow over the past few days, hitting farmers and ranchers “in ways that we haven’t seen in this area for a very, very long time, potentially a lifetime,” said Chip Redmond, a meteorologist at Kansas State University. Calves are especially at risk and can die when temperatures slip below zero. And so much snow in rural areas can keep farmers from reaching herds with food and water In northern Florida, growers were most concerned about ferns that are cultivated for floral arrangements, with Valentine’s Day only a month away. A boil-water order for Virginia’s capital Richmond will remain under the boil-water advisory until at least Friday as officials work to restore the water reservoir system, which malfunctioned after a storm caused a power outage, Mayor Danny Avula said. The city of more than 200,000 was distributing bottled water at 11 sites and delivering it to older residents and others who are unable to get to those locations, officials said. “We’ve got families in the city, they don’t have any water,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Wednesday. “We’ve got young children where mothers are asking, ‘What do I do about baby formula?’” Travel dangers and delays Thousands of flights across the U.S. have been delayed or canceled this week amid the winter storms. Hundreds of car accidents have also been reported this week in Virginia, where three people were killed, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky. Other weather-related fatal accidents have occurred since last weekend in West Virginia, North Carolina and Kansas. Murphy reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press reporters Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City; Charlotte Kramon in Atlanta; Nadia Lathan in Austin, Texas; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Kimberly Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; Chris O’Meara in Tampa, Florida; John Raby in Cross Lanes, West Virginia; Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky; and Julie Walker in New York contributed.

NORFOLK, Va.  (AP) — The plunging polar vortex brought subfreezing temperatures Tuesday to some of the southernmost points of the U.S., threatening to dump snow on parts of Texas and Oklahoma in the coming days and contributing to a power outage in Virginia’s capital that made the water unsafe to drink. The arctic blast that descended on much of the U.S. east of the Rockies over the weekend has caused hundreds of car accidents, thousands of flight cancellations and delays, and led communities to set up warming shelters, including one at a roller rink. As the cold front moved southward Tuesday, it prompted a cold weather advisory for the Gulf Coast and pushed the low temperature in El Paso, along Texas’ border with Mexico, to 31 degrees (minus 0.5 Celsius), with an expected wind chill factor ranging from 0 to 15 degrees (minus 18 to minus 9 Celsius) early Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Road crews in the Kansas City area, which has received about 11 inches (28 centimeters) of snow in recent days, have struggled to keep up with clearing the area’s streets and highways. “I don’t know what super powers some think snow removal teams have but 2 days of straight snow & ice isn’t going to disappear overnight,” the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, wrote Monday in a Facebook post. In frigid northern Virginia, Carol Grayson said Monday that she wished she had a metal shovel — not her plastic one — as she tried to carve a path for her beagle, Rudy, and sheltie, Emma. The great-grandmother, who declined to give her age, said shoveling through nearly frozen snow that went up to her knees was “like climbing Mount Everest.” Her neighborhood in Alexandria was once populated with teenagers who’d offer to help. But they’ve all grown up and moved away. “We’re not used to it here, and we’re just not prepared,” Grayson said. The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes plunges south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some experts say such cold air outbreaks are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world. Southern discomfort As points north and east dug their way out of snow and ice Tuesday, communities in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas were preparing for their own helping. A low-pressure system was expected to form as soon as Wednesday near South Texas, which could bring several inches of snow to the Dallas area and lower Mississippi Valley, the weather service said. In Texas, crews treated the roads in the Dallas area in anticipation of a storm that was expected to bring up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) of snow on Thursday. As much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) was expected farther north, near the Oklahoma border, said weather service meteorologist Sarah Barnes. Kevin Oden, Dallas’ director of emergency management and crisis response, said Tuesday that “our city is in a preparedness phase.” The storm is expected to make for slick roads Friday as 75,000 fans head to AT&T Stadium in Arlington to watch Texas play Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Arlington spokeswoman Susan Shrock said crews will be ready Friday to address any dangerous road conditions around the stadium. “They’ll be monitoring the road conditions and they’re going to have the salt brine, they’ll have sand and they’ll have equipment on standby to address any icy conditions that might occur,” she said. Parts of southeastern Georgia and northern Florida endured unusually frigid temperatures overnight into Tuesday and were under freeze warnings stretching into Wednesday. The main concern for growers fearful of cold weather in northern Florida in January is the fern crop used for floral arrangements, particularly with Valentine’s Day just a month away. Major damage to citrus trees, which typically occurs when the temperature is 28 degrees (minus 2 degrees Celsius) or below for several hours, was less likely. Florida’s commercial citrus groves are primarily south of Interstate 4, which runs across the central part of the peninsula. Transportation has been tricky An area stretching from the central Plains through the Ohio Valley into the Atlantic is likely to receive more snow and ice for a few days, which could cause the ground covering to melt and refreeze and form black ice, according to forecasters. That could create treacherous road conditions. A Kentucky truck stop was jammed Monday with big rigs that had been forced off of snow-covered Interstate 75 just outside Cincinnati. Michael Taylor, a long-haul driver from Los Angeles carrying a load of rugs to Georgia, said he saw numerous cars and trucks stuck in ditches and was dealing with icy windshield wipers before he pulled off the interstate. “It was too dangerous. I didn’t want to kill myself or anyone else,” he said. Hundreds of car accidents were reported in Virginia, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky, where a state trooper was treated for non-life-threatening injuries after his patrol car was hit. Virginia State Police responded to 650 crashes, some of which were likely storm related, between Sunday afternoon and Monday night, that resulted in three deaths. Police said other weather-related fatal accidents occurred Sunday near Charleston, West Virginia, and Monday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Kansas had two deadly crashes over the weekend. More than 1,000 flights into or out of the U.S. were had been delayed as of Tuesday morning, according to tracking platform FlightAware. On Monday, more than 2,300 flights were canceled and at least 9,100 more were delayed nationwide. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport reported that about 58% of arrivals and 70% of departures had been canceled. The airport announced early Tuesday that it had reopened all runways after closing them Monday evening so that crews could focus on snow removal and prevent refreezing on the airfield. Tens of thousands are without power Many were in the dark as temperatures plunged. About 200,000 customers were without power Tuesday across Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois and Missouri, according to electric utility tracking website PowerOutage.us. In Virginia’s capital, Richmond, a weather-related power outage caused a temporary malfunction in the water system, officials said Monday. The city issued a boil-water advisory to its more than 200,000 residents and promised to get the system back online as quickly as possible. The advisory could be lifted as soon as Wednesday, Mayor Danny Avula said at a news conference. The malfunction forced Virginia’s Capitol and General Assembly buildings to close Tuesday, a day before the start of the legislative session. G. Paul Nardo, clerk for the House of Delegates, told lawmakers and staff in a Tuesday email to vacate the buildings or find somewhere else to go if they were headed to the capital. “The water pressure has gone kaput,” he wrote. Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press reporters Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky; Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky; Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, Julie Walker in New York; Joshua A. Bickel in Cincinnati; Jamie Stengle in Dallas; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Michael Schneider in Orlando; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

WASHINGTON — The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has issued a letter of support for Sean Duffy as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.  The letter was sent by OOIDA president and CEO Todd Spencer to Chairman Ted Cruz and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell.  “The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is the largest trade association representing the views of small-business truckers and professional truck drivers,” Spencer said in the letter. “We have approximately 150,000 members located in all fifty states that collectively own and operate more than 240,000 individual heavy-duty trucks.   “We are writing to express our strong support for Sean Duffy to be confirmed to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Mr. Duffy’s previous support for small-business truckers indicates to us that he will bring the right perspective to the role and work to ensure that DOT’s actions reflect the priorities of America’s professional drivers.”  According to Spencer, during Duffy’s time as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Duffy demonstrated his interest in addressing regulatory burdens affecting small-business truckers. He signed a letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration expressing his support for an OOIDA petition that would have provided relief to small-business truckers from the controversial Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate. This was a common-sense petition that would have addressed the most burdensome regulation ever issued for the trucking industry.  “With this request, Mr. Duffy recognized that regulations should not be one-size-fits-all, and more importantly, that Congress and federal regulators should provide relief to small businesses when regulations have significant costs with little to no benefits,” Spencer said. “We believe this is the appropriate regulatory approach for the Secretary and DOT. Trucking is one of the most heavily regulated industries in America. While compliance with regulations has never been higher, many of these policies have not improved highway safety or efficiency. These ineffective rules have driven up costs for small-business truckers, pushing many safe and experienced operators out of the industry. It is absolutely critical that the Secretary recognize it is not just mega carriers, with huge back offices, support staff, and operating capital, that must comply with these regulations. A significant portion of our members are single-truck motor carriers, and the trucking industry more broadly is overwhelmingly made up of small businesses. About 50% of registered motor carriers operate a single truck, and 85% of carriers operate six trucks or fewer.”  Spencer noted that the men and women operating these small carriers are not only driving truck and managing the day-to-day operations of their business, they must also ensure they are compliant with all federal, state, and local regulations. If confirmed, OOIDA believes that Duffy would guide the department in reviewing overreaching regulations that do nothing to improve safety and make it more difficult for small-business truckers to thrive.  “Since his nomination, Mr. Duffy’s team has reached out to us to better understand the needs of small-business truckers and professional drivers,” Spencer said. “On too many issues, our members’ viewpoint is disregarded in favor of larger carriers seeking to maximize their bottom line or ‘safety advocates’ with little experience in driving truck. We appreciate that Mr. Duffy and his team have solicited our input because, in order for any trucking or transportation policy to be successful, it must have the buy-in from those who will have to comply with the rules.”  Spencer added that OOIDA is encouraged that Duffy has received bipartisan support among Senators for his confirmation. OOIDA focuses on policies that will improve the lives and working conditions of the men and women who make their living behind the wheel. These policies do not fall neatly along partisan lines, and OOIDA believes that the Secretary should fairly consider policies and proposals regardless of any apparent partisan implications.  “Given his demonstrated interest in issues affecting small-business truckers and professional drivers and outreach to better understand these issues, we believe that Mr. Duffy is well-suited to serve as DOT Secretary and ask that you vote to advance his nomination,” Spencer said. 

A blast of snow, ice, wind and plunging temperatures stirred up dangerous travel conditions in parts of the central U.S. on Sunday, as a disruptive winter storm brought the possibility of the “heaviest snowfall in a decade” to some areas. Snow and ice blanketed major roadways in nearly all of Kansas, western Nebraska and parts of Indiana, where the state’s National Guard was activated to help any motorists who were stuck. At least 8 inches of snow were expected, particularly north of Interstate 70, as the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Kansas and Missouri, where blizzard conditions brought wind gusts of up to 45 miles per hour (72.42 kilometres per hour). The warning extended to New Jersey for Monday and into early Tuesday. “For locations in this region that receive the highest snow totals, it may be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade,” the weather service said early Sunday. About 63 million people in the U.S. were under some kind of winter weather advisory, watch or warning on Sunday, according to Bob Oravec with the National Weather Service. Gary Wright wore a parka as he chipped away at a thick coating of ice on his SUV Sunday in a slippery apartment parking lot in mid-Missouri. He said he will work remotely for the University of Missouri-Columbia on Monday, but wanted to scrape off his vehicle as an excuse to spend a little time in the snow. He’s also in the market for boots for his two older dogs, who “won’t budge at all” when their paws hit the cold ground. The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole. People in the U.S., Europe and Asia experience its intense cold when the vortex escapes and stretches south. Studies show a fast-warming Arctic is partly to blame for the increasing frequency of the polar vortex extending its icy grip. Snow and ice in the forecast, and even possible tornadoes In Indiana, snow fully covered portions of Interstate 64, Interstate 69 and U.S. Route 41, prompting Indiana State Police to plead with motorists to stay off the roads as plows worked to keep up with the pace of the precipitation. “It’s snowing so hard, the snow plows go through and then within a half hour the roadways are completely covered again,” Sgt. Todd Ringle said. A section of I-70 was closed in central Kansas by Saturday afternoon. Roughly 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow had fallen in parts of the state, with snow and sleet totals predicted to top 14 inches for parts of Kansas and northern Missouri. In Kentucky, Louisville recorded 7.7 inches (19.5 cm) of snow on Sunday, a new record for the date that shattered the previous mark of 3 inches (7.6 cm) set in 1910. Lexington, Kentucky, also set a snowfall record, with 5 inches (12.7 cm). Parts of upstate New York saw 3 feet (0.9 meters) or more of snow from a lake effect event expected to last until late Sunday afternoon. The storm was forecast to move into the Ohio Valley and reach the Mid-Atlantic states later Sunday and into Monday, with a hard freeze expected as far south as Florida. Damaging winds brought down trees across the Deep South. The weather service issued tornado warnings Sunday in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Car wrecks proliferate as storm hits The weather service warned that road travel could be “very difficult to impossible.” By Sunday, hundreds of car accidents had been reported in Virginia, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky, where a state trooper was treated for non-life-threatening injuries after his patrol car was hit on Interstate 65. At least 600 motorists were stranded in Missouri, that state’s highway patrol said. Highways in northeastern Kansas were closed due to “impassable” conditions, according to the state’s Transportation Department. The closures included roughly 220 miles (354 kilometers) of the state’s main artery, Interstate 70, from the Missouri border into central Kansas. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who declared a state emergency ahead of the storm, said state buildings would be closed Monday. “We see far too many wrecks out there for people that do not have to be on the roads, so I want to ask: Stay inside. Stay safe with your family,” the governor said. Virginia State Police reported at least 135 crashes as the storm entered the state Sunday. A handful of injuries were reported, but no fatalities. Air and rail travel also snarled The storms also caused havoc for the nation’s railways, leading to numerous cancelations. More than 20 cancelations were planned on Sunday, 40 for Monday and at least two for Tuesday. “If local authorities are telling people not to travel, it’s counterintuitive to try to run a full slate of services when people are being told to stay home,” Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari said. The Midwest was hit especially hard. A train between Chicago and New York and several regional trains between Chicago and St. Louis were among those canceled Sunday. Nearly 200 flights in and out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport were canceled, according to tracking platform FlightAware. Temperatures dip, though no records break Starting Monday, the eastern two-thirds of the country will experience dangerous, bone-chilling cold and wind chills, forecasters said. Temperatures could be 12 to 25 degrees (7 to 14 degrees Celsius) below normal. In Chicago on Sunday, temperatures hovered in the teens (minus 7 to 10 Celsius) and around zero in Minneapolis, while dropping to 11 below in International Falls, Minnesota, on the Canadian border. The Northeastern states are more likely to experience several days of cold following what has mostly been a mild start to winter, said Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. A plume of cold air coming down from Canada is likely to result in a cold but dry week, he said. The cold air will likely grip the eastern half of the country as far south as Georgia, Palmer said, with parts of the East Coast experiencing freezing temperatures and lows dipping into the single digits in some areas. Wind might also pick up as the week gets going, making for potentially dangerous conditions for people exposed to the elements for long periods of time, Palmer said. Disruptions extend southward The National Weather Service predicted 8 to 12 inches (about 20 to 30 centimeters) of snow for the Annapolis, Maryland, area, with temperatures remaining below freezing throughout the weekend. In a statement on X, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency Friday ahead of the storm and encouraged residents to vote before the state’s special elections on Tuesday. Similar declarations were issued in Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, West Virginia and in central Illinois cities. Classes canceled School closings were likely to be widespread Monday. Districts in Indiana, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky were already announcing cancelations and delays on Sunday afternoon. Kentucky’s Jefferson County Public Schools canceled classes, extracurricular activities and athletics Monday for its nearly 100,000 students. The day would have been students’ first one back after winter break. “This is a traditional snow day with no online learning,” the district announced.

Winter weather has hammered the state of Missouri over the weekend. In fact, as of around 9 p.m. local time, the Missouri State Highway Patrol closed a section of Interstate 29 in both directions between Rockport and U.S. 71. (Between mile marker 110 and 56). MSHP said the closure was necessary because of treacherous conditions and that they would be looking for stranded motorists in that stretch. The weather and its affect on the roads has been an issue for Missouri all weekend. Earlier Sunday, the MHP gave a report as to the number of incidents statewide since the beginning of the weather event early Saturday morning. “From the Bootheel to Kansas City, we’re responding to calls for help,” MSHP stated on Facebook. “Missouri Department of Transportation and other road crews are hard at work, but conditions are still extremely dangerous.” As of Sunday night, the highway patrol had responded to 2,084 calls for service, 1,043 stranded motorists, 356 crashes and 31 injuries, and one fatality. Fortunately, there had been no fatalities reported as of 6 p.m. CST. According to an Associated Press report, snow and ice blanketed major roadways in nearly all of Kansas, western Nebraska and parts of Indiana, where the state’s National Guard was activated to help any motorists who were stuck. At least 8 inches of snow were expected, particularly north of Interstate 70, as the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Kansas and Missouri, where blizzard conditions brought wind gusts of up to 45 miles per hour (72.42 kilometres per hour). The warning extended to New Jersey for Monday and into early Tuesday. “For locations in this region that receive the highest snow totals, it may be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade,” the weather service said early Sunday.

Road conditions were deteriorating Saturday in the central U.S. as a winter storm brought a mix of snow, ice and plunging temperatures, with forecasts calling for the dreaded combo to spread eastward in the coming days. “Winter returned,” declared Bob Oravec, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland. The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually stays penned up around the North Pole, spinning like a top. But sometimes it escapes or stretches down to the U.S., Europe or Asia — and that’s when large numbers of people experience intense doses of cold. Studies show a fast-warming Arctic gets some of the blame for the increase in polar vortex stretching or wandering. Snow and ice are in the forecast By Saturday evening, widespread heavy snow was likely between central Kansas and Indiana, especially along and north of Interstate 70, where there’s a high chance of at least 8 inches of snow (20 centimeters). Part of the interstate was closed in central Kansas by Saturday afternoon. The storm will then move into the Ohio Valley, where severe travel disruptions are expected. It will reach the Mid-Atlantic states on Sunday into Monday. A hard freeze is even expected as far south as Florida. Severe thunderstorms, with the possibility of tornadoes and hail, also are possible ahead of the storm system’s cold front as it crosses the Lower Mississippi Valley, the National Weather Service warned. Car wrecks start as storm hits A fire truck, several tractor-trailers and passenger vehicles overturned west of Salina, Kansas. Rigs also jackknifed and went into ditches, said Trooper Ben Gardner of the Kansas Highway Patrol. He posted a video showing his boots sliding across the highway blacktop like an ice-skating rink. “We are in it now,” Gardner said as he drove to the scene of an accident. “The game has started.” Freezing rain in Wichita, Kansas, sent authorities to multiple crashes Saturday morning. Police urged drivers to stay home if possible and watch out for emergency vehicles. A state of emergency was declared in neighboring Missouri by Gov. Mike Parson. Whiteout conditions may make driving dangerous to impossible, forecasters warned, and heighten the risk of becoming stranded. Getting ready to ride out the storm Stores in Wichita were filled with shoppers stocking up on groceries in advance of the storm, and warming centers opened in churches and libraries. Several businesses closed across the Kansas City area, and the school district in suburban Independence, Missouri, announced it might need to cancel classes for one or more days. “Get where you’re going now & stay put. If you must travel, consider packing a bag & staying where you’re headed,” the Missouri Department of Transportation urged in a message on X. The agency warned Friday that a shortage of workers could hamper the ability to clear roads. In Ohio, crews in Columbus already treated major roadways with anti-icing liquids. Temperatures dip but no records break Starting Monday, hundreds of millions of people in the eastern two-thirds of the country will experience dangerous, bone-chilling air and wind chills, forecasters said. Temperatures could be 12 to 25 degrees colder than normal (7 to 14 degrees Celsius) as the polar vortex stretches down from the high Arctic. In Chicago on Saturday, temperatures hovered in the teens (minus 7-10 Celsius) and around zero in Minneapolis (minus 18 C), while dropping to 14 below (minus 25 C) in International Falls, Minnesota, on the Canadian border. While those cold temperatures aren’t setting any records, they’re causing problems nonetheless. Disruptions extend southward Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency Friday evening ahead of the storm, noting it could impact Virginia residents’ ability to vote in the state’s special elections on Tuesday. In a statement on X, the governor encouraged residents to vote early on Saturday in special elections before winter weather arrives. In Maryland’s historic state capital near the Chesapeake Bay, local officials asked residents to remove vehicles from emergency snow routes in the city of Annapolis and announced plans to open several garages Sunday for complimentary parking. The National Weather Service is forecasting 8 to 12 inches (about 20 to 30 centimeters) of snow for the Annapolis area, with temperatures remaining below freezing throughout the weekend. In Baltimore, an extreme weather alert was issued alerting agencies to provide shelter and assistance for those in need. City officials said wind chills were expected to dip to 13 degrees overnight Saturday and remain in the teens through Tuesday. In Louisiana, crews on land and water were racing to find a manatee that was spotted in Lake Pontchartrain before the cold temperatures hit. The manatee was first seen New Year’s Eve in the Mandeville area. While manatees are common in the area during the summer months, winter sightings are a concern since the animals can begin to experience cold stress symptoms when the temperature gets below 68 degrees (20 Celsius). “We are doing everything we can to get our hands on this animal,” said Gabriella Harlamert, stranding and rehab coordinator for Audubon Aquarium Rescue in New Orleans.

GREENVILLE COUNTY, SC — A big rig driver is facing numerous charges after he allegedly told law enforcement during a traffic stop in Interstate 85 that he had an explosive device inside his truck. The incident shut down I-85 for nearly five hours on Thursday. The incident occurred around 2:45 p.m. in Greenville County, South Carolina according to a release from the South Carolina State Patrol. SCSP said the reason for the traffic stop was a missing license plate on the truck that is registered to Globe Transport. When the driver, identified as Ahmad Jamal Khamees Alhendi, 28, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, indicated that there was an explosive device inside the commercial vehicle, all six lanes of I-85 were subsequently shut down as the threat was investigated by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, SLED, and the FBI. The tractor-trailer was cleared and all lanes of I-85 were reopened at approximately 7:40 p.m. on Thursday evening. Alhendi was taken into custody at Greenville County Detention Center and is charged with the following: Breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature: Conveying false information about a bomb threat: Operating/permitting an unregistered vehicle 

LAS VEGAS (AP) — One person died and seven others were injured Wednesday when a Tesla Cybertruck that appeared to be carrying fireworks caught fire and exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel, authorities said. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Clark County Fire Department officials told a news conference that a person died inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck and they were working to get the body out. Seven people nearby had minor injuries and several were taken to a hospital. The fire in the valet area of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas was reported at 8:40 a.m., a county spokesperson said in a statement. According to a law enforcement official, the truck was rented via the Turo app and appeared to have a load of fireworks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. A Turo spokesperson did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday afternoon on X that “we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself. All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.” “The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now,” Musk said in an earlier post on the platform after attending a New Year’s Eve party at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. “We’ve never seen anything like this.” Law enforcement officials have not ruled out terrorism as a possible motive, a person familiar with the matter said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation. “I know you have a lot of questions,” Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge for the FBI’s Las Vegas office, told reporters. “We don’t have a lot of answers.” President Joe Biden was briefed on the explosion. The truck explosion came hours after a driver rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 10 people before being shot to death by police. In Las Vegas, witness Ana Bruce, visiting from Brazil, said she heard three explosions. “The first one where we saw the fire, the second one, I guess, was the battery or something like that, and the third was the big one that smoked the entire area and was the moment when everyone was told to evacuate and stay away,” Bruce said. Her travel companion, Alcides Antunes, showed video he took of flames lapping the sides of the silver-colored vehicle. The 64-story hotel is just off the Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping mall. Eric Trump, a son of the president-elect and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, posted about the fire on the social media platform X. He praised the fire department and local law enforcement “for their swift response and professionalism.” Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An Army veteran driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group wrought carnage on New Orleans’ raucous New Year’s celebration, killing 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revelers before being shot dead by police. The FBI said it is investigating the attack early Wednesday in the city’s famed French Quarter as a terrorist act and does not believe the driver acted alone. Investigators found multiple improvised explosive devices, including two pipe bombs that were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by the Associated Press. The bulletin, relying on information gathered soon after the attack, also said surveillance footage showed three men and a woman placing one of the devices, but federal officials did not immediately confirm that detail and it wasn’t clear who the individuals in the video were or what connection they may have had to the attack. The rampage turned festive Bourbon Street into macabre mayhem. In addition to the dead, more than 30 people were injured. Pedestrians fled to safety inside nightclubs and restaurants. One man watched in horror as authorities placed a tarp over his friend’s body after she was hit and thrown some 30 feet (9 meters). A college football playoff game between Georgia-Notre Dame at the nearby Superdome was postponed until Thursday. A Georgia student was critically hurt in the attack, university president Jere Morehead said. “This is not just an act of terrorism. This is evil,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said. The driver “defeated” safety measures in place to protect pedestrians, she said, and was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.” The FBI identified the driver as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, and said it is working to determine Jabbar’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations. “We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said at a news conference. Deadly explosions also rocked Honolulu on New Year’s Eve and Las Vegas hours after the New Orleans attack, though authorities have not said if they’re related. In New Orleans, authorities said, Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck onto a sidewalk, going around a police car that was positioned to block vehicular traffic. A barrier system meant to prevent vehicle attacks was undergoing repairs in preparation for the Super Bowl, which is scheduled to take place there in February. Police killed Jabbar after he exited the truck and opened fire on responding officers, Kirkpatrick said. Three officers returned fire. Two officers were shot and are in stable condition, police said. Investigators recovered a handgun and AR-style rifle, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A photo circulated among law enforcement officials showed a bearded Jabbar wearing camouflage next to the truck after he was killed. The intelligence bulletin obtained by the AP said he was wearing a ballistic vest and helmet. The flag of the Islamic State group was on the truck’s trailer hitch, the FBI said. “For those people who don’t believe in objective evil, all you have to do is look at what happened in our city early this morning,” U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican, said. “If this doesn’t trigger the gag reflex of every American, every fair-minded American, I’ll be very surprised.” Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant. Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, said he saw the truck “barreling through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air.” Parsons said he heard gunshots and ran through a gruesome aftermath of bleeding and maimed victims. “Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering,” Parsons told the AP. “People crying on the floor, like brain matter all over the ground.” His friend, 18-year-old aspiring nurse Nikyra Dedeaux, was among the people killed. Parsons said he called hospitals and the morgue, searching for answers about the location of Dedeaux’s body. He later called her family to deliver the grim news. “I hadn’t had time to cry up until I called her mother and she asked me, ‘Where’s my baby,’” Parsons said. “That broke me.” Gov. Jeff Landry urged people to avoid the area, which remained an active crime scene. Hours after the attack, several coroner’s office vans were parked on the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets, cordoned off by police tape with crowds of dazed tourists standing around, some trying to navigate their luggage through the labyrinth of blockades. “We looked out our front door and saw caution tape and dead silence and it’s eerie,” said Tessa Cundiff, an Indiana native who moved to the French Quarter a few years ago. “This is not what we fell in love with, it’s sad.” Nearby, life went on as normal in the city known to some for a motto that translates to “let the good times roll.” At a cafe a block from where the truck came to rest, people crowded in for breakfast as upbeat pop music played. Two blocks away, people drank at a bar, seemingly as if nothing happened. President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters in Delaware, said he felt “anger and frustration” over the attack but that he would refrain from further comment until more is known. “My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” Biden said in a statement. “There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.” The attack is the latest example of a vehicle being used as a weapon to carry out mass violence, a trend that has alarmed law enforcement officials and that can be difficult to protect against. If confirmed as IS-inspired, the attack would represent the deadliest such assault on U.S. soil in years. FBI officials have repeatedly warned about an elevated international terrorism threat due to the Israel-Hamas war. In the last year, the FBI has disrupted other potential attacks inspired by the militant group, including in October when agents arrested an Afghan man in Oklahoma accused of plotting an Election Day attack targeting large crowds. Tucker reported from Washington, D.C. and Mustian reported from New York. Associated Press reporters Stephen Smith, Chevel Johnson and Brett Martel in New Orleans; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Alanna Durkin Richer and Zeke Miller in Washington, D.C.; and Darlene Superville in New Castle, Delaware, contributed to this report.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the U.S., will long be remembered for actions taken during his presidency that spanned 1977 through 1980. Among his historic actions were the transfer of control of the Panama Canal to the Republic of Panama, the signing of a peace accord between enemies Egypt and Israel and the establishment of normal diplomatic relations with China. Carter’s legacy, however, was marred by historic high inflation, interest and unemployment rates and by the Iranian takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in November 1979 that included the taking of 53 hostages. Exactly one year later, as the hostage crisis remained unsolved, Carter lost his bid for a second term when Ronald Reagan was elected to replace him. Carter was a champion of free-market economics and called for government deregulation of transportation industries to promote competition and reduce rates. One result, the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, changed trucking as we knew it. Carter’s goal of reduced freight rates due to increased competition was achieved, but that competition resulted in the demise of hundreds of motor carriers, many of them unionized. Driver pay plummeted as well, while the current boom and bust freight cycle in the trucking industry was born. Prior to deregulation, trucking companies applied for routes from the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and were required to submit proof that the route was needed. If the applicant could show that the route was new or that the carrier serving the route wasn’t able to handle the demand, authority might be granted, but only for specific products. Before that happened, however, the ICC would notify current carriers, giving them the opportunity to increase service to the area before adding new truckers. Carriers who already serviced a territory could file objections to each application and did so frequently in an effort to quash competition. Even when authority was granted, it was often tightly restricted with the carrier prohibited from adding additional stops, for example. Each carrier was required to file rates with the government 30 days prior to the effective date, and those rates couldn’t be lower than already-established rates. A new carrier could purchase an existing route or territory from another carrier, but the price was often astronomical, and any agreements had to be approved by the ICC. The system was cumbersome, expensive, and corrupt. The Motor Carrier Regulatory Reform and Modernization Act, commonly known as the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, eliminated most of the restrictions on cargoes that could be carried and allowed carriers to publish their own rates. Routes or territories were completely deregulated, so that almost any carrier could serve any territory desired. Entry into the freight marketplace became much easier, and many current carriers can point to an expansion of their fleets after the law was passed. Carter signed the bill into law on July 1, 1980. “The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 will bring the trucking industry into the free enterprise system, where it belongs,” he said at the signing. “It will create a strong presumption in favor of entry by new truckers and expanded service by existing firms.” During his administration, laws were passed deregulating the airline and rail industries as well as trucking. These laws, according to an October 1 article by Phil Gramm published in the Wall Street Journal, “unleashed competition and spawned the invention and innovation that gave America the world’s most efficient transportation and distribution system.” The WSJ article credited the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 with reducing the cost of moving goods, as a share of the U.S. gross domestic product, by 50%. Fred Smith, founder and now-retired CEO of Federal Express (now FedEx) said that Carter was unappreciated for his leadership in these efforts, adding, “These farsighted changes were the great achievement of the Carter presidency.” Unquestionably, there were negative consequences resulting from the Act. As increased competition drove freight rates downward, large carriers, many of them unionized, could not compete with the lower rates. Some familiar carriers of the early 70’s such as Consolidated Freightways (CF), Pacific Intermountain Express (P.I.E.) and Transcon Lines eventually closed their doors. Campbell’s 66 Express, the carrier with camel character “Snortin’ Norton” on each trailer with the company’s motto “humpin’ to please” lasted six years into deregulation. It’s interesting that a president from a political party that is known for being pro-union would support legislation that severely impacted union membership numbers, but Carter was conservative in many of his viewpoints. His determination to reduce government control wouldn’t be popular in his party today. He chose to put the country ahead of political affiliations. Driver pay and benefits were driven downward by regulation, too. An analysis by Business Insider showed that median wages for truck drivers have declined by 21% since 1980, with sharper declines in some areas. An annual truck driver salary of $38,000 in 1980 would be worth nearly $145,500 in today’s dollars, when inflation is factored in. There are few drivers earning that amount today as some carriers struggle to hire enough drivers to keep their trucks running. Carter’s far-sighted goal of increased transportation competition has been transformative in the U.S. economy. More choices in carriers, as well as reduced rates, has been credited with the creation of “big box” stores that are common today, such as Walmart, Home Depot and others. Cheaper freight rates help keep the cost of consumer commodities lower, helping the economy grow while also helping to curb inflation, two goals that Carter mentioned at the bill signing. Today’s trucking industry has undergone many changes in the past 35 years, but none as impactful as the deregulation Carter signed into law in 1980.