State capitols boarded up, fenced off, patrolled by troops
A double row of chainlink fencing circles the Arizona state capitol. Windows on the Illinois and Ohio statehouses have been boarded up. National guard troops in camouflage and flak jackets and heavily armed state troopers were stationed at state capitals across the U.S. In advance of protests planned for Sunday.
With the FBI warning of potential for violence at all state capitols, the ornate halls of government and symbols of democracy looked more like heavily guarded U.S. embassies in war-torn countries.
Governors have declared states of emergency, closed capitols to the public and called up troops ahead of Presidentelect Joe Biden’s inauguration next week.
They are trying to avoid a repeat of the mob rioting that occurred Jan. 6, when supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, leaving a Capitol Police officer and four others dead.
Details were vague, but demonstrations were expected at state capitols beginning Sunday and leading up to Biden taking the oath of the office Wednesday.
Signs of ramped-up security were in abundance from Atlanta to Sacramento, California, throughout the week.
SWAT officers stood guard at the Georgia State Capitol. A bomb detecting dog sniffed its way through the capitol in Jackson, Mississippi. State troopers were poised on the roof of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. Sections of temporary fencing that encircled many state capitols were locked together in Sacramento with handcuffs.
Wind, rain, heavy snow batter New England, eastern Canada
BURLINGTON, VT. » A storm lashed parts of New England and eastern Canada on Saturday with heavy rain, snow and wind, leading to power outages and slick roads.
About 15,000 homes and businesses were without electricity at the height of the storm in Vermont, the hardest-hit U.S. state, and thousands of outages were reported elsewhere across the region, officials said.
“The snow is wet, heavy and slippery, which makes travel and restoration conditions tough,” said Mike Burke, chief of field operations at Green Mountain Power in Vermont.
A foot or more of snow was possible across higher elevations of northern New England, and wind gusts as high as 50 to 60 mph (80 to 96 kph) were expected along the Maine coast, said Michael Clair, of the National Weather Service in Maine.
Gusts of 70 mph (112 kph) were recorded at the Isle of Shoals, about 2 miles off New Hampshire, and New Hampshire’s Mount Washington recorded a gust of 118 mph (190 kph) at the summit, the weather service said.
Much of eastern Canada was pounded with steady snowfall.
Locations that didn’t get snow could see 1 ½ to 2 inches (4 to 5 centimeters) of rain, Clair said.
$640 million Powerball drawing up next as big jackpots grow
DES MOINES, IOWA » Lottery players’ second chance to win big — really big — this weekend comes with Saturday’s drawing for a $640 million Powerball top prize, the eighthlargest jackpot ever.
The odds of winning are one in 292.2 million.
No one beat the odds for Friday’s $750 Mega Millions top prize. What had marked fifth-largest-ever jackpot is now estimated to grow to $850 million, which would be the thirdlargest of all time. The next Mega Millions drawing is Tuesday.
It had been nearly two years since a lottery jackpot has grown so large. No one has won either game’s top prize in months.
The listed jackpot amounts refer to winners who opt for an annuity, paid over 30 years. Winners nearly always choose cash prizes, which for Powerball would be $478.7 million. The estimated cash prize for the next Mega Millions jackpot is $628.2 million.
Mega Millions and Powerball are both played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is offered in Puerto Rico.
Semeru volcano on Indonesia’s Java island spews hot clouds
JAKARTA, INDONESIA » Mount Semeru, the highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java, spewed hot clouds as far away as 4.5 kilometers (nearly 3 miles) on Saturday.
There were no immediate evacuations, but the National Disaster Mitigation Agency warned people who live in the villages on the slopes of the 3,676-meter (12,060-foot)high mountain to be vigilant in looking for signs of danger.
Agency spokesperson Raditya Jati said that people around the river basin on the slopes of the mountain should beware of high rainfall intensity that can trigger lava floods.
Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center did not raise Semeru’s alert status, which already had been at the third-highest level since it began erupting in May. The volcano spewed hot ash for 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) in early December, triggering panic among villagers.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 250 million people, sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Government seismologists monitor more than 120 active volcanoes.
A strong earthquake shook Indonesia’s Sulawesi island early Friday, killing at least 46 people.