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NEWS Airlines already canceled more than 380 flights for today because of the nor’easter that rolled up the East Coast. They canceled more than 1,300 Wednesday, mostly in the New York City area. Follow
travel.usatoday.com for the latest in cancellations. Also look online for news and photos of the snow and rain hitting the same area ravaged last week by Superstorm Sandy. NEWS Jared Loughner will be sentenced today after he earlier pleaded guilty to the Tucson mass shooting that wounded former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Loughner pleaded guilty to 19 counts in August, nearly two years after he killed six people and wounded 13 others during a Congress on Your Corner event outside a shopping center. The plea agreement allows the mentally disturbed 24-year-old to avoid the death penalty, but he likely will spend the rest of his life in federal prison.
NEWS China’s ruling Communist Party formally begins its week-long People’s Congress today to usher in a new group of leaders. It meets in secret to select the handful of men who will lead China for the next 10 years, but some of what will happen is already known. Check usatoday.com to find out more. MONEY Mutual funds columnist JohnWaggoner explains what could be called one of the so-called rocks of the looming “fiscal cliff” — the possible effects of higher tax rates on stocks that pay dividends. It could cost investors. MONEY The Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims today.
LIFE We recap tonight’s elimination shows of NBC’s The Voice and Fox’s X Factor. Look for the latest at usatoday.com/life.
SPORTS It has been a year of triumph and turbulence for Dale Earnhardt
Jr., and the overarching theme seems to be one of maturation, sometimes in the face of adversity. The introverted star of NASCAR has been moving into the realm of public speaking. Today, Earnhardt is speaking at a high school in Kansas and USA TODAY Sports shadows him.