Powerball: 1 winner in NJ drawn for $338M jackpot

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? Powerball and the New Jersey Lottery say on their online sites that one winning ticket was sold in New Jersey for Saturday night's $338.3 million Powerball jackpot.

Neither agency provided details of exactly when or where the winning ticket was sold in announcing on their websites that one ticket was sold for winning numbers: 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31.

Powerball's website said that as of Sunday, the current estimated jackpot was $40 million, or a $25 million cash value. Telephone messages left with the New Jersey Lottery by The Associated Press seeking more details about the ticket were not immediately returned.

Lottery officials say the jackpot entering Saturday night's drawing was the sixth highest in history. The Powerball jackpot was last won in early February.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/powerball-1-winner-nj-drawn-338m-jackpot-055132362.html

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Payroll tax hike doomsday: Stocks, real estate buffer impact

By Martha C. White

Economists predicted catastrophe: As workers started taking home paychecks in January that were 2 percent lighter ? thanks to the expiration of the payroll tax cut ? they thought consumer confidence and spending would tank.

So far, it hasn?t.

Retail sales rose more than analysts expected last month, and consumer confidence rebounded. In a?new survey from Bankrate.com, 48 percent of respondents said they didn?t notice having less money, while 7 percent said it hasn?t affected their finances.

?It was a little anti-climactic,? said Portland, Ore. resident Taraneh Fultz, who works at a distribution company. ?It wasn?t as big a deal as we were actually thinking.? Fultz said she and her husband might return some of the discretionary income they had shaved from their budget in anticipation of the tax increase.

?It wasn?t until I saw my paycheck that I realized how important 2 percent was. That?s not to say it was devastating for us. ... It definitely wasn?t,? said Alex Shorter, who works at a technology company in Atlanta. ?In the grand scheme of things, it hasn?t affected our standard of living.?

?It?s very encouraging. It means other things going on are helping,? said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody?s Analytics. "We are weathering the storm well, at least so far, better than I would have thought."

Zandi cautioned against reading too much into a survey of consumer perceptions, noting that the impact could take longer to manifest, but he said record highs in the stock market and a rebounding real estate market contribute to the so-called ?wealth effect.?

The stock market and higher home values don?t put money into people?s pockets, but people are willing to save less and spend more, Zandi said.

Shorter, who works at the IT company, said his family?s savings are aggressive but that ?ultimately, we are putting a little less into savings as a result of this.?

?The job creation numbers were sufficient to make consumers believe that their economic situation was improving,? said Richard Curtin, director of Surveys of Consumers at the University of Michigan?s Survey Research Center, which publishes a monthly survey of consumer confidence. For February, consumer sentiment rose roughly 5 percent over January?s figure.

?Hours increased and employment increased, so more people had more money in their income even if taxes were higher,? Curtin said.

Only 30 percent of respondents to Bankrate?s survey said they cut spending. This figured prominently among the middle class: 42 percent of respondents with household incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 said they were spending less.

Bryan Smith, a police officer in Haledon, N.J., said his family planned to spend less this year anyway because of rising healthcare costs and a deferred raise. ?You forget it?s there but you got used to that little bit extra,? he said.

That was the idea. The two-year reduction in an employee?s portion of the payroll tax that gets funneled toward Social Security to 4.2 percent from 6.2 percent was a measure designed to trickle-charge rather than to jump start the economy.

In other words: Rather than give Americans a lump sum ? which would be more likely saved or used to pay down debt ? doling out a few bucks more per paycheck increased the odds that they would feed that money back into the economy without really thinking about it.

?That?s the beauty of this approach to doing a stimulus. It?s stealthy,? Zandi, the Moody?s analyst, said.

It was a boost consumers weren?t supposed to notice, so it might not be so surprising that so many didn?t notice its disappearance.

?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/29f6e25b/l/0Llifeinc0Btoday0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C250C174172680Epayroll0Etax0Ehike0Edoomsday0Estocks0Ereal0Eestate0Ebuffer0Eimpact0Dlite/story01.htm

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Gay teen wins right to attend prom with boyfriend

Southern Poverty Law Center

Stacy Dawson, a Missouri high school student, had been told he couldn't attend prom with his boyfriend.

By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

An openly gay Missouri teenager has won the right to attend high school prom with his boyfriend after threatening legal action, the district superintendent said Friday.

Stacy Dawson, a 17-year-old senior at Scott County Central High School in Sikeston, Mo., had been told last year that he couldn't bring his boyfriend due to a line in the school's handbook that said "students will be permitted to invite one guest, girls invite boys and boys invite girls."

When Dawson questioned the policy, he was told by a school administrator that the school board would not consider revising it, according to The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil rights organization representing Dawson. So on Thursday -- Valentine's Day -- Dawson had The Southern Poverty Law Center send a letter to Scott County Central High and the school district threatening legal action.

One day later, the district had good news for Dawson: They were removing the offending line from their handbook, and said the line was never meant to be exclusive in the first place.

"I found out why the stipulation in the student handbook was originally put in there, and it's rather innocent, to be honest," Alvin McFerren, Scott County Central School District superintendent, said. "This was during a time 10-15 years ago that the previous administration was having issues with some of the students trying to come in on either the single rate or the couple rate. They implemented that to make sure they couldn't circumvent the rates that students were supposed to pay as they entered into our dances."

McFerren said Dawson will be allowed to go to prom with his boyfriend.

"It was never intended to be a discriminatory thing," he said. "We want an educational environment for all of our kids and we're not ever going to discriminate as to whether or not the board has the policy and we don't do that based on sexual orientation. Period."

McFerren said he felt the community, which has just over 360 students in the entire district, would take the change well.

"We are a family," McFerren said. "We're such a small school that I don't feel as if there will be any negative reactions whatsoever. It was never intended to be a policy that would create any controversy in the first place."

In its letter, the law center alleged that under a 1969 Supreme Court decision -- Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District -- Dawson's school could not legally censor his right to free expression, including the right to express himself by taking a same-sex date. The Tinker ruling declared that students don't ?shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gates.?

The letter also cited a more recent case out of Mississippi, where a girl sued her high school over a ban on same-sex couples at the prom in 2010. Constance McMillen ultimately won the case against Itawamba County Agricultural High School after a federal judge ruled that the school district violated her constitutional rights to freedom of speech by not allowing her to wear a tuxedo and bring her girlfriend to the prom.

Prom is scheduled for April 20. Dawson's lawyer said his family and classmates were supportive of him in his quest to go.?

"Stacy is such a brave and lovely young man," Alesdair Ittelson, a staff attorney at the law center, said. "He encountered this problem, did his research, came to us and said, 'I really want to do something about this,' and we're so proud and honored to be able to fight for his rights in this matter. He has a supportive family and he believes that the other kids at his school want him to be able to attend the prom with his boyfriend."

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/16975038-gay-teen-wins-right-to-attend-prom-with-boyfriend?lite

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Putin's anger flares over Sochi Oly cost overruns

SOCHI, Russia (AP) ? A year before the 2014 Winter Olympics are to begin, President Vladimir Putin has demanded that a senior member of the Russian Olympic Committee be fired, apparently due to cost overruns in host city Sochi.

The current price tag for the Sochi Games is 1.5 trillion rubles ($51 billion), which would make them the most expensive games in the history of the Olympics ? more costly even than the much-larger Summer Olympics held in London and Beijing.

The games at the Black Sea resort of Sochi are considered a matter of national pride and one of Putin's top priorities.

Putin's decision came after he scolded officials over a two-year delay and huge cost overruns in the construction of the Sochi ski jump facilities.

The Russian official involved, Akmet Bilalov, had a company that was building the ski jump and its adjacent facilities before selling its stake to state-owned Sberbank last year.

During his tour of Olympic venues, Putin fumed when he heard that the cost of the ski jump had soared from 1.2 billion rubles ($40 million) to 8 billion rubles ($265 million) and the project was behind schedule.

"So a vice president of the Olympic Committee is dragging down the entire construction? Well done! You are doing a good job," Putin said Wednesday, seething with sarcasm.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told reporters Thursday that Putin had recommended that the Russian Olympic Committee fire Bilalov, one of its six vice presidents.

"As far as Bilalov is concerned the president voiced his decision yesterday: People who don't make good on their obligations at such a scale cannot head the Olympic movement in our country," he said.

Most countries that host the Olympics use public funds to pay for most of the construction of the sports venues and new infrastructure like roads and trains. The Russian government, however, has gotten state-controlled companies and tycoons to foot more than half of the bill.

Both the companies and the tycoons understand the importance of maintaining good relations with Putin, who has a lot of prestige riding on the success of the Sochi games.

Kozak said the costs constantly increased for the ski jump project because Bilalov's company did not properly check the land and, as a result, picked a geologically challenging plot.

"His calculations failed," Kozak said.

The Russian Olympic Committee was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that Bilalov's future can only be decided by a session of its executive committee.

Despite these setbacks, Russian officials on Thursday went to great lengths to reiterate that everything in Sochi was now on schedule.

"As IOC members and we stated yesterday, it is already clear that we have succeeded with this immense and possibly the most immense project in Russia's modern history," Kozak said.

Taking a cue from Putin, however, Russian officials sought to play down the high costs. Kozak said the government spent no more than 100 billion rubles ($3 billion) on the Olympic venues and the immediate infrastructure.

The government has spent a total of $13 billion so far, and expects to spend about $18 billion overall before the games begin, Kozak has said previously.

On Thursday, Kozak said it was unfair to compare Sochi's budget to that of previous Olympic games because Russian organizers had to build most of the vital and costly infrastructure that was needed ? roads, railways, tunnels, gas pipelines ? from scratch.

No Russian officials went near the topic of possible corruption, even though Russian business is notoriously plagued by it. Russia last year ranked 133rd out of 176 in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, along with countries such as Kazakhstan, Iran and Honduras.

Although there were no documented cases of corruption directly linked to Olympic construction in Sochi, a dozen officials from the Sochi government have been slapped with charges of corruption in the past year.

Kozak and Sochi officials insist that they're keeping the situation under control and that no money is being stolen at Olympic sites.

Sochi organizers also sought to assuage fears that the 2014 Games may fall victim to a warm and snowless winter ? or a howling blizzard.

Temperatures at Sochi's Krasnaya Polyana ski resort hovered at 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius) on Thursday, and reached 66 degrees F (19 C) in the coastal city of Sochi.

That's after a cold snap the previous week in which athletes competed in test events amid snowstorms as temperatures dipped to 20 degrees F (-6 C).

Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the local organizing committee, said Sochi boasts one of one Europe's largest snow-making systems and also has equipment that can store snow throughout the summer and protect slopes and tracks from rain and fog. More than 400 snow-making generators will be deployed on the slopes.

He said Sochi has special equipment that can make snow even in temperatures up to 59 degrees (15 C).

"Snow will be guaranteed in 2014," Chernyshenko declared.

Warm temperatures and rain disrupted some of the snowboarding and freestyle skiing events at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

The countdown celebrations were to culminate later Thursday in a star-studded ice show at one of the Olympic arenas, attended by Putin and IOC President Jacques Rogge.

Also Thursday, tickets for the games went on sale online in Russia. The prices range from a low of 500 rubles ($17) to a high of 50,000 rubles ($1,700). Organizers said about 40 percent of the tickets would be priced under 3,000 rubles ($100). The total number of tickets put on sale was not disclosed.

In a bid to combat ticket scalping, Sochi organizers said they would limit the number of tickets that can be bought by one person. For the most popular events, such as the opening ceremony and top ice hockey games, the limit would be four tickets per person.

Sochi organizers will also require visitors to apply for a special spectator pass without which they will not be able to access the venues.

The games run from Feb. 7-23, 2014.

___

Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed to this report from Moscow.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/putins-anger-flares-over-sochi-oly-cost-overruns-161010424--oly.html

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Facebook vs. Google: It's on in search

FORTUNE -- When Google unveiled free word processing and spreadsheet apps back in 2007, the company wasn't trying to immediately topple Microsoft's Office suite. After all, Google's apps were?and still are?inferior to powerful programs like Word and Excel. But their launch was the beginning of a long-term campaign to nibble away at one of Microsoft's core franchises. In fiscal 2012 Microsoft's business division, which includes Office, brought in $24 billion. But there is little doubt that it would be even larger had Google not offered a cheaper alternative now used by millions of businesses.

Facebook (FB) is taking a page from Google's (GOOG) playbook. The social networking giant on Tuesday unveiled a search service. It is not aimed at toppling Google from its perch as the king of Web search any time soon. Instead, it is the opening round in a long-term campaign to erode Google's monopoly over the most powerful and profitable business on the Internet. If successful, Facebook's so-called "graph search" will offer users an alternative to Google that may work better for many types of queries. In due time, it could turn into a tidy business for Facebook.

"Graph search is not Web search," Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's co-founder and chief executive, said during a packed press conference at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.

Indeed, Facebook only searches for things that have happened on its sprawling site. For now, it concentrates on four types of searches: people, photos, interests and places. But the types of queries possible with Facebook's new service are innovative and useful. Users can "find friends who like soccer" or "find friends who like soccer in your hometown." Users can find all the photos they've liked or all the photos their friends have taken in Paris. They can find restaurants in San Francisco liked by friends who are locals, or by friends who are Indian?say if they're in the mood for spicy food. Users can't do that on Google.

MORE:?7 social networks to watch in 2013

The promise of this kind of service?which, by the way, was built by a team of 50 engineers led by two ex-Googlers?is enormous. For starters, it could broaden the utility of Facebook, turning it from a tool of interaction into one that helps users discover new things. And Google, which is trying to be the place where people find not only other Web pages, but also restaurants or plumbers or HD televisions, should be worried. (Google declined to comment.)

Yet Facebook's caution?graph search is still in beta or test mode, and is only being rolled out to a very small fraction of the site's more than 1 billion users?is warranted. The company's demo was dazzling, but the queries were for users who were also Facebook employees. These are Facebook "super-users" who likely check in every place they go, and click the Like button on every book, song or brand they, well, like.

I'd venture a guess that the majority of Facebookers are more parsimonious in their usage of the site and may not regularly share what they're reading or listening to, let alone recommend their plumber, dentist or contractor to their closest 500 friends. Without that information, their contribution to the search graph will be limited. I have hundreds of Facebook friends, yet the answer to the query "pizza places in Oakland that my friends like" was hardly satisfying?it listed just one result. (Regular Facebook users can request access to graph search here.)

And of course, Google has never been known for taking its eye off the ball when it comes to search. The company already has a social network in Google+. While it lacks the level of activity that Facebook enjoys, it could readily serve as the basis for Google to build a rival graph search service. (As?Fortune?chronicled in its 2011 cover story, this battle has been a long time coming.)

MORE:?19 incredible Apple secrets

The biggest understatement of the press conference may well have been Zuckerberg's response to the question of monetization. "This could potentially be a business over time," he said. For now, graph search has no ads. But if people start searching for restaurants of stores in large numbers, plenty of those businesses will be willing to pay Facebook in exchange for preferential placement in search results. Zuckerberg said Facebook would focus on improving the product, and rolling it out on mobile phones and in other languages, before it considers taking ads.

"This is one of the coolest things that I think we have done in a while," Zuckerberg said. Many Facebook analysts agree. If Facebook appeared beleaguered after its disastrous IPO, Zuck's crew is gunning for Google again, reminding its biggest rival that while it was down for while it certainly wasn't out.

Oh, and as the two giants battle it out in the coming years, there is bound to be collateral damage. On Tuesday, shares of Yelp (YELP), which risks being tripped up by Facebook's graph search sooner than Google will, dropped more than 6%.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/fortunebrainstormtech/~3/s3njY50qeak/

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Local sports briefs

Rugby

The Essex County Youth Rugby Football Club is holding an open sign-up and informational meeting for all U19 (15- to 18-year-olds) and U15 (12- to 14-year-olds) Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held at the West Newbury Town Annex located at 381 Main Street.

Lacrosse

Triton Youth Lacrosse registration is open Jan. 31. Visit Triton?s website at www.tri-lax.com. If you have questions, call Tom Galligan at 617-548-1407 or email trilax@comcast.net.

Swimming

The YWCA Greater Newburyport will expand its Junior Breakers Swim Development Program with the new Junior Breakers Black Program. To qualify for Black Program a swimmer must be able to swim 200 yards, non-stop, wall to wall, demonstrating the front crawl stroke using rotary breathing and open turns and flip turns. Swimmers should be comfortable diving and swimming under water. Junior Breakers Black meets on Monday and Wednesday, from 4:45 to 6 p.m. Tryouts for both the Junior Breakers Orange and Black can be arranged by contacting Ilene H. Grady at igrady@ywcanewburyport.org.

Baseball/Softball

The Salisbury Youth Baseball/Softball League will hold registration Jan. 23 (5 to 7 p.m.) at Salisbury Elementary or Jan. 26 (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.) at Play Ball in Salisbury. The cost for coed instructional baseball is $95. The cost for baseball/softball is $115 per child, and $95 for each additional child.

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The Byfield-Newbury Baseball/Softball League is open for registration at www.byfieldnewburylittleleague.com. All players in grades 1 to 6 are required to attend the evaluations on Jan. 26 at Governor?s Academy. Call Kim Watson at 978-270-8814 for more information.

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Amesbury Girls Youth Softball League is holding sign-ups for the 2013 season. Girls from Amesbury and South Hampton who are in grades 3 through 8 are invited to play in the league. Registration is being held at Play Ball in Salisbury Jan. 19 and Feb. 16 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Register by January 19 and pay $50. Tryouts will be March 23. Visit http://www.agysl.org/. Contact Jill Hooper at jill.tyler@verizon.net for more information.

Hockey

The Friends of Newburyport Hockey will be co-hosting a fundraiser with Triton in efforts to raise funds for the construction of a new locker room at the Graf Rink. The event will be held Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Elks Lodge immediately following the Triton/Newburyport hockey game (puck drops at 4 p.m.). Tickets for the event are $50 and will include a buffet dinner, silent auction as well as live entertainment provided by ?The Old Brigade?, who opened for the Dropkick Murphys last year for St. Patrick?s Day. Tickets will be available at the door; however, due to the level of interest, we suggest purchasing them prior to the event. For ticket information and silent auction donations, please contact friendsofnewburyporthockey@gmail.com

Running

The 20th Annual Frigid Fiver 5-Mile Road Race will take place Feb. 3 at noon at Newburyport?s Michael?s Harborside. All race profits will go to local charities. This race will again be sponsored by the Rotary Club of Newburyport. Applications are available at Newburyport?s Ric Bayko?s running store and the Boston Running Store. You can also register at Active.com. Please go to joppaflatsrunningclub.com for additional details or email mjfiene@msn.com.

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The Frosty Knuckle 5K will be Feb. 16 at 10 a.m. at the Hobo Cafe in Salisbury Beach. The registration closing date on Active.com will be Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. The cost is $20 pre-registration or $25 on race day.

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The Winner?s Circle Running Club Boston Training Run Series includes eight runs of increasing distances, held at two-week intervals, spanning the Boston training time frame. To make sure you don?t get bored, each run will be hosted by different WCRC members at different locations. All WCRC members are invited to participate, whether or not you are running Boston. Shorter courses will also be designed for each session for those not interested in marathon distances. Hosts are needed for Jan. 13, Jan. 27, Feb. 10, Feb. 24, March 10 and March 22. Check www.runthecircle.org on the ?Running? tab for information. If you would like to host, contact Mike McCormick at 978-382-0738 or mamcc12@gmail.com.

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The Snowflake Series Running Camp with Nancy McCarthy is designed to motivate runners and walkers to continue their fitness programs outdoors all through the winter, increase their speed and endurance, and have some fun. The Snowflake Series meets at the Plum Island Coffee Roasters at 8 a.m. on Sunday mornings beginning Jan. 20 for five weeks. Contact Nancy McCarthy at 978-499-0993 or e-mail Nancy@getrealfitness.com for further information.

Learn to Skate

The Graf Rink, in cooperation with the Merrimack Valley Skating Club, is accepting applications for its Learn to Skate and Tiny Tots programs. Classes will run on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Please visit www.grafrink.com for more detailed information such as class times and cost.

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Newburyport Youth Hockey is running a holiday special accepting registrations for its Learn to Skate Program at a cost of $75. The program is open to boys and girls from ages of 3 to 9 and runs through the end of February. Classes are Sunday mornings from 10 to 10:50 a.m. at the Graf Rink. Any questions, call Dick Tierney at 978-465-0128.

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Triton Youth Hockey is accepting applications for its Learn to Play Hockey program. LTPH is open to boys and girls from area towns ages 4 through 10. The program runs for 10 sessions on Saturday mornings at 8 a.m. at the Graf Rink. The sessions begin Jan. 19. The cost is $99 per child. Contact Jon Lindholm (jon.lindholm@kraft.com) for registration questions. More details can be found at www.tritonyouthhockey.com.

Source: http://www.newburyportnews.com/sports/x1746078892/Local-sports-briefs

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Sandy aid package moving toward House votes

This Jan. 3, 2013 photo shows a beach front home that was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy resting in the sand in Bay Head, N.J., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. House conservatives opposed to more deficit spending chip away at a $50.7 billion Superstorm Sandy aid package by seeking spending cuts in other programs to pay for recovery efforts and stripping money for projects they say are unrelated to the Oct. 29 storm. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

This Jan. 3, 2013 photo shows a beach front home that was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy resting in the sand in Bay Head, N.J., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. House conservatives opposed to more deficit spending chip away at a $50.7 billion Superstorm Sandy aid package by seeking spending cuts in other programs to pay for recovery efforts and stripping money for projects they say are unrelated to the Oct. 29 storm. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

In this Jan. 3, 2013, file photo, an unsafe for human occupancy sticker is attached to a home that was severely damaged two months ago by Superstorm Sandy in Bay Head, N.J. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, blasted his party's "toxic internal politics" after House Republicans initially declined to approve disaster relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy. He said it was "disgusting to watch" their actions and he faulted the GOP's most powerful elected official, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. The Republican Party seems as divided and angry as ever. Infighting has penetrated the highest levels of the House GOP leadership. Long-standing geographic tensions have increased, pitting endangered Northeastern Republicans against their colleagues from other parts of the country. Enraged tea party leaders are threatening to knock off dozens of Republicans who supported a measure that raised taxes on the nation's highest earners. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., right, accompanied by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y, enter a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, to discuss Superstorm Sandy aid. The first large aid package for victims of the deadly Superstorm Sandy started moving through the U.S. Congress on Friday, as the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved $9.7 billion to pay flood insurance claims. A Senate vote was expected later in the day. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2013, file photo, Kim Baker works to clean up her Superstorm Sandy damaged home in Seaside Heights, N.J. Conservatives and watchdog groups are mounting a "not-so-fast" campaign against a $50.7 billion Superstorm Sandy aid package that Northeastern governors and lawmakers hope to push through the House the week of Jan. 14, 2013. Their complaint is that lots of that money actually will go toward recovery efforts for past disasters and other projects unrelated to the late-October storm. The measure bill includes $150 million for what the Commerce Department described as fisheries disasters in Alaska, Mississippi and the Northeast, and $50 million in subsidies for replanting trees on private land damaged by wildfires. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)

National Guardsmen Specialist Ivan Pimentel, left, and PFC Harry Cadet walk along the beach past a destroyed house during a break in their work in the Rockaways, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in New York. The guardsmen said they were working with the New York City Office of Emergency Management going door-to-door to determine if residents needed portable heaters or other items to in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Using portable personal tablets, they said they could provide residents with a heater within 30 minutes. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The House moved toward action Tuesday on a $50.7 billion Superstorm Sandy aid package that Northeast lawmakers hoped could be approved despite attempts by fiscal conservatives to eliminate unrelated projects and to gain offsetting spending cuts to cover the costs of the bill. Amendments offered by opponents of full funding set up a faceoff on the emergency spending package, with Northeast lawmakers in both parties eager to provide recovery aid for one of the worst storms ever to strike the region.

"I urge my colleagues to show fundamental humanity and pass the bill today," said Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., noting it has been more than seven weeks since the storm struck.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., complained that billions of dollars would go for projects that are not urgently needed.

"It's supposed to be for emergency repairs," said McClintock.

The base $17 billion bill by the House Appropriations Committee is aimed at immediate Sandy recovery needs, including $5.4 billion for New York and New Jersey transit systems and $5.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief aid fund.

Northeast lawmakers will have a chance to add to that bill with an amendment by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., for an additional $33.7 billion, including $10.9 billion for public transportation projects.

The Club for Growth, a conservative group, is urging lawmakers to oppose both Sandy aid measures. Sandy aid supporters, nonetheless, voiced confidence Monday they would prevail. The Senate passed a $60.4 billion Sandy aid package in December with bipartisan support.

Lawmakers emerging from a private meeting of House Democrats Tuesday morning said they were urged to support the bill despite imperfections.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said after the meeting that he believed the full Sandy measure would pass. He said he was expecting about 50 Republican votes for the $33 billion portion of the measure, and he said he believed the votes would be there for the $17 billion portion and to defeat a GOP across-the-board spending cut amendment as well.

"I think we'll be all right," he said.

Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said Congress had waited far too long to act, 79 days after the storm struck.

"It is imperative that we pass this package today," said Lowey.

The House is considering 13 amendments, including one requiring spending offsets and four seeking to strike money for some projects either not directly related to Sandy or not seen as emergency spending.

As with past natural disasters, the $50.7 billion Sandy aid package does not provide for offsetting spending cuts, meaning the aid comes at the cost of higher deficits. The lone exception is an offset provision in the Frelinghuysen amendment requiring that the $3.4 billion for Army Corps of Engineers projects to protect against future storms be paid for by spending cuts elsewhere in the 2013 budget.

Sandy aid supporters are most concerned about the amendment by conservative Reps. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., Tom McClintock, R-Calif., Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., to offset the $17 billion base bill with spending cuts of 1.6 percent for all discretionary appropriations for 2013.

Northeast lawmakers said passage of the Mulvaney amendment could complicate prospects for quick action on the broader Sandy aid package in the Senate, which passed a $60.4 billion aid package with bipartisan support that does not have offsetting spending cuts.

Other amendments set for floor debate would cut $150 million for Regional Ocean Partnership Grants, $13 million for the National Weather Service ground readiness project, $1 million for the Legal Services Corporation and $9.8 million for rebuilding seawalls and buildings on uninhabited islands in the Steward McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in Connecticut.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, planned votes on both the $17 billion base bill and the Frelinghuysen proposal for $33.7 billion more. He's responding both to conservatives who are opposed to more deficit spending, and to pointed criticism from Govs. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., and Chris Christie, R-N.J., who are fuming because the House hasn't acted sooner.

Boehner decided on New Year's Day to delay a scheduled vote after House Republicans rebelled over a bill allowing taxes to rise on families making more than $450,000 a year because it included only meager spending cuts. Christie called the speaker's action "disgusting."

The Senate's $60.4 billion bill on Sandy relief expired with the previous Congress on Jan. 3. But about $9.7 billion was money for replenishing the government's flood insurance fund to help pay Sandy victims, and Congress approved that separately earlier this month. Whatever emerges from the House this week is scheduled for debate in the Senate next week after President Barack Obama's second inauguration.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has spent about $3.1 billion in disaster relief money for shelters, restoring power and other immediate needs after the Oct. 29 storm pounded the Atlantic Coast with hurricane-force winds and coastal flooding. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were the hardest hit.

Sandy is the most costly natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and was blamed for 140 deaths. The storm damaged or destroyed 305,000 housing units in New York and more than 265,000 businesses were disrupted there, officials have said. In New Jersey, more than 346,000 households were destroyed or damaged and more than 40,000 families remain living out of their homes, according to officials.

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Associated Press reporter Alan Fram contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-15-Superstorm%20Aid/id-228565460919415b8852f13daf4deadd

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