Outside the Fence

By Heather Brady

Regional
Police reported dozens of minor crashes in the Fredericksburg area because of the first snowfall of 2009. Yesterday, road crews started applying salt and abrasives to Fredericksburg-area roads once snow began falling, and kept applying the substances all day. By yesterday afternoon, the pavement on Interstate 95 and primary roads like State Route 3, U.S. 17 AND U.S. 1 was mostly clear after 1 to 3 inches of snow fell on the area. Sgt. F.L. Tyler of the Virginia State Police said there were numerous weather-related accidents yesterday on I-95, as well as on secondary roads, but there were no injuries. No more snow is expected for the rest of the week. (The Free Lance-Star, Jan. 28; www.fredericksburg.com)

National
President Obama sought to put pressure on Congress to pass an $825 billion stimulus package hours before the House of Representatives’ vote on the proposal. He met with business leaders concerned about the economy and invited Republican and Democratic congressional leaders to the White House tonight for cocktails. In his morning meeting, Obama told a group of about 100 business leaders that Congress must not delay in efforts to restart the economy and put people back to work. But Republicans in the House appeared not to be persuaded, and GOP House leaders renewed their criticism that the measure has too few tax cuts, is too large and is filled with unnecessary spending. (The Washington Post, Jan. 28; www.washingtonpost.com)

Global
On Tuesday morning, Palestinian fighters detonated a bomb near the fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, killing an Israeli soldier. Israeli gunfire later killed a Palestinian farmer. Israeli officials claim to have killed the bomb attack planner in an airstrike. The attacks mark the worst outbreak of violence since Israel and Hamas established a ceasefire over a week ago following 22 days of war. The killings escalated tension the night before a visit by the Obama administration’s new Middle East envoy, former Senator George J. Mitchell, to Israel and the West Bank. (The Washington Post, Jan. 28; www.washingtonpost.com)