Monster snowstorm to blanket more than half of United States

NEW YORK - A massive winter storm hit the US Rockies and Plains on Friday then punched east, with snow set to assault a 1,609-kilometer corridor through the weekend, creating transportation "havoc" in the middle of the country.

The system started as rain from Mexico and turned to snow as it met icy air. Up to 45 centimeters of snow were expected in the Sangre de Cristo mountains south of Denver, according to the National Weather Service.

As the storm heads east, up to 41 cm of snow were likely in western Missouri and St. Louis. Areas to the east could get about 15 cm with ice developing in Kansas, and Arkansas, and up to 10 cm of snow in Washington, DC, before the system heads out to sea late on Sunday, AccuWeather said.

"The storm is expected to create havoc over the central part of the country, then extend eastward into the Mid-Atlantic states," said Randy Adkins, an AccuWeather meteorologist.

The FlightAware.com flight tracking website reported 1,431 flight cancellations on Friday and 12,465 delays, with problems at snow-hit airports like Denver causing knock-on effects around the country.

While the storm will spare the heavily populated Northeast, it likely will disrupt air and auto travel from Kansas City to Indianapolis, and will bring the heaviest snowfall so far this winter to Cincinnati and the Ohio River Valley, said AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Walker.

Although the Kansas City area is expected to get up to 6 inches of snow, it should be over by the time the Kansas City Chiefs begin their National Football League playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday afternoon. 

St. Louis emergency management officials are bracing for auto travel disruptions and possible power outages, but based on current forecasts, are not expecting to be overwhelmed, spokesperson Tracy Panus said.

"This is not the first storm we’ve had in the St. Louis area," Panus, who is with the St. Louis County Police Department of Emergency Management, said by telephone.

As the system moves eastward, it will hand off to a second coastal storm on Sunday that will bring 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) of snow to the Washington, DC, area before it moves off the coast that night, Walker said.

"There could be a period of ice that we’re concerned about across portions of central North Carolina and back into the mountains," he added.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Denver police arrest Uber driver after passenger is shot dead

DENVER - A driver with the ride-sharing service Uber was arrested on Friday for suspicion of first-degree murder after Denver police said he fatally shot a passenger in his vehicle.

Michael Andre Hancock, 29, was being held without bond in the Denver County jail pending the formal filing of charges, according to jail records. It was unclear if he had legal representation.

According to a Denver Police probable cause affidavit, on Friday morning a man later identified as Hancock told a motorist on the side of a highway that he had just shot a rider who tried to attack him.

Police found a sedan stopped perpendicular to traffic on a ramp and a man with gunshot wounds lying on the floor board of the front passenger seat, the affidavit said.

The Denver Medical Examiner’s Office identified the dead man as Hyun Kim, 45.

Police said they removed a semi-automatic pistol from Hancock’s waistband, and later recovered 10 spent 40-caliber cartridges on the shoulder of the highway. Hancock was arrested, but police did not provide further details.

Uber said in a statement that it was “deeply troubled” by the arrest of Hancock, a contract driver with the company for nearly three years.

“Our thoughts are with the families of those involved. The driver's access to the app has been removed, and we will continue working closely with police,” Uber said.

San Francisco-based Uber Technologies Inc has faced criticism over its vetting of drivers.

Last November, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission fined Uber $8.9 million for allowing 57 people to drive for it although they lacked valid driver’s licenses or had committed other offenses that should have disqualified them.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Protesters flock in droves to anti-Trump Women's Marches

NEW YORK - Protestors took to the streets en masse across the United States Saturday, hoisting anti-Donald Trump placards, banging drums and donning pink hats for a second Women's March opposing the president -- one year to the day of his inauguration.

Hundreds of thousands of marchers assembled in Washington, New York, Chicago, Denver, Boston, Los Angeles and other cities nationwide, many donning the famous pink knit "pussy hats" -- a reference to Trump's videotaped boasts of his license to grope women without repercussions.

Protestors hoisted signs emblazoned with slogans like "Fight like a girl" and "A woman's place is in the White House" and "Elect a clown, expect a circus."

The Los Angeles mayor said estimated turnout in the city was 500,000, while New York police estimated about 200,000 protesters.

In Manhattan, a diverse crowd descended on Central Park West, the avenue that borders the city's beloved park and arrives at the foot of the Trump International Hotel -- part of the magnate-turned-commander-in-chief's real estate empire.

"We live in an alternate universe -- it is so bad," said Althea Fusco, 67, who traveled to the city from upstate New York with two neighbors.

"I see an erosion of democracy," she said.

Speakers at the New York rally included activist and actress Rosie Perez and entertainer Whoopi Goldberg, who emphasized that "we are here to say -- as women -- we're not taking it anymore."

Throngs of demonstrators paraded in Los Angeles, where actress Natalie Portman was among the celebrities pumping up the crowd: "Because of you the revolution is rolling."

The marches aim to build on the movement launched last year when more than three million people turned out nationwide to voice opposition to Trump.

The weekend of demonstrations is aimed at translating enthusiasm into political action with the theme "Power to the Polls" -- a message designed to drive voter registrations and maximize women's involvement in the 2018 midterm elections.

The president meanwhile posted a deadpan tweet referencing the rallies protesting his policies, urging people to "get out there and celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months."

"Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March," he wrote.

CANNOT REST 

Many of the demonstrations indeed took place under sunny skies but marchers in Park City, Utah -- where the annual Sundance Film Festival is underway -- braved chilly temperatures and steady snow to make their voices heard, led by celebrities including activist and actress Jane Fonda.

This year's edition of Sundance took on a political bent in light of the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct, a campaign that has rippled through Hollywood and beyond since scores of actresses leveled sexual assault allegations against disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Crowds in the North Carolina city of Charlotte heard an address from its first black female mayor, while Washington protestors rallied at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial and marched to the White House, speaking out on a raft of issues ranging from immigrant protections to racial equality to sexual assault.

"We feel like our work isn't done and that there's so much more that we need to fix," said Tanaquil Eltson, 14, who also participated in Washington's 2017 march.

"I know the world around me isn't happy colors; it's scary. But I'm excited to be able to fix it," she said, clad in a red and blue Superwoman outfit.

Her mother Vitessa Del Prete, a retired US army lieutenant colonel, pointed to the recent flood of sexual abuse and harassment allegations against powerful men that has galvanized women to fight back against injustice.

"I've lived through decades of sexual harassment issues and it's getting better -- but it's nowhere near where it needs to be," the 51-year-old said, sporting a Wonder Woman costume in coordination with her daughter.

"Issues that face women are just not being represented well enough in our country, so it's a privilege to be able to get out here and try to do something from a citizen standpoint."

More than 300 towns and cities had organized anniversary marches and rallies. Other protests are set for Sunday, notably in Las Vegas, as well as in several European cities including Berlin.

"We cannot rest," said Pam Morris in Washington. "We have to keep energized until we overcome this administration."

"We cannot get worn down. We have to be here."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

At least two dead in shooting inside suburban Denver Walmart

THORNTON, Colorado - At least two people were killed and one wounded in a shooting inside a Walmart store in suburban Denver on Wednesday, police said.

Police in Thornton, Colorado, did not immediately release any information about the circumstances of the shooting or who was responsible for the gunfire.

In a Twitter post about 90 minutes after the shooting, police said investigators had confirmed that two men were dead and a woman was taken to a local hospital, but no further details were given.

The situation appeared potentially ominous from authorities' initial reports.

"We've got multiple parties down, we're still trying to ascertain what their conditions are," Officer Victor Avila of the Thornton Police Department told Reuters by telephone not long after police arrived on the scene.

About an hour after the initial alert, police said on Twitter that the threat of gunfire had ended at the store, which was surrounded by police and fire crews.

"At this time this is NOT an active shooter. Active crime scene. We will update as info becomes available," the police department said in that tweet. Confirmation of the two fatalities came about 20 minutes later.

Thornton is city of about 120,000 people roughly 10 miles (16 km) northeast of downtown Denver.

Avila said police were called to the store at about 6:30 p.m. Mountain time (8:30 p.m. ET) and that the gunshots had ceased by the time the first officers arrived at the scene.

A Walmart customer, Aaron Stephens, 44, of Thorton, told Reuters he was inside paying for groceries at a self-checkout stand when he heard gunshots and the sound of ricocheting bullets.

"The employees started screaming and the customers started screaming" as people began to flee the store, he recounted. "I ran out, too, because I didn't want to get shot."

Stephens said he did not see where the shooting had come from and did not see anyone struck by bullets.

Local NBC television affiliate 9NEWS reported that a woman whose son was in the Walmart had told her that he had heard about 30 gunshots and was still inside.

A video posted on Twitter showed the Walmart, which is situated in a large complex of big-box stores and other retail outlets adjacent to U.S. Interstate 25, apparently empty except for police officers with guns drawn.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

LOOK: Obama shoots pool

President Barack Obama shoots pool during a stop in a bar in Denver. The photo was taken by Kevin Lamarque for Reuters.

Obama visited Texas for the first time since the influx of child migrants from Central America overwhelmed border resources. He had talks with Texas Governor Rick Perry aboard his Marine One helicopter and in a group meeting with local officials that Obama called constructive.

In a brief news conference after the meeting, Obama dismissed criticism from Perry, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, that he should personally visit the border region for a first-hand look.

"This isn’t theater. This is a problem. I’m not interested in photo ops. I’m interested in solving a problem," he said.

The president, on a three-day trip out of Washington, is spending much time raising money for Democratic congressional candidates, leading to criticism that he should spend some time visiting the border. Obama said he is getting plenty of information from top advisers who are visiting the area.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com