N.J.'s Christie opens offices for early voting; paper ballots ready

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• N.J.'s Christie opens offices for early voting; paper ballots ready
• Floodwater pumped from New York's Ground Zero
• Insight: Sandy shows hospitals unprepared when disaster hits home
• Obama: No "red tape" in federal storm response
• NYC's Bloomberg criticizes LIPA power-restoration effort
• Fight over campaign donation audit goes to California top court
• NYC subway operating 80 percent of network, fuel headed to NY area: Cuomo
• New Congress may have old look after election
• Sandy washed away contingency plans across New York region
• Insight: Flooded New York plans to tame the sea, but who pays?
• Border agents in radio contact before fatal shooting: report
• As cold snap looms, Sandy sets NY up for a new fuel crisis
• New Jersey's own Springsteen and Bon Jovi sing for Sandy victims
• Government tries to get fuel to storm-hit Northeast
• NYPD being stretched among many roles in Sandy storm recovery
• Wade says NBA game in NY should have been postponed
• U.S. disaster relief in a race against freezing cold
• New York nanny arrested in slayings of two young children
• U.S. expands Jones Act waiver to boost flows of fuel to Northeast
• Most NYC gas stations now selling fuel: DOE poll
• Factbox: NY-area energy supply chain under strain post-Sandy

N.J.'s Christie opens offices for early voting; paper ballots ready Posted: 03 Nov 2012 01:13 PM PDT (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Saturday said he has ordered county clerks to open their offices on Saturday and Sunday to allow early voting for residents affected by superstorm Sandy. The storm devastated the eastern part of the state, leaving at least 22 dead and more than 1 million customers still without power just three days before the presidential election on Nov 6. Christie said New Jersey residents could get their early voting done over the weekend at the county clerk's office because he ordered the offices to stay open in every county in the state over the weekend. ...

Floodwater pumped from New York's Ground Zero Posted: 03 Nov 2012 02:03 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The memorial and underground museum at the site of the September 11 attacks were being pumped free of floodwater on Saturday, five days after the huge storm Sandy caused the Hudson River to pour into the area known as Ground Zero, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. The construction site sits near the waterfront in lower Manhattan where Sandy produced a record storm surge of nearly 14 feet when it slammed ashore last Monday. "The World Trade Center site was frightening," Cuomo said. ...

Insight: Sandy shows hospitals unprepared when disaster hits home Posted: 03 Nov 2012 11:08 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kim Bondy was in New Orleans seven years ago when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, and scores of patients died in flooded hospitals cut off from power. She never thought that she might face that danger herself. But on Monday night, as superstorm Sandy submerged parts of New York City, Bondy was one of 215 patients evacuated from New York University's Langone Medical Center after basement flooding from the East River cut off its electricity. ...

Obama: No "red tape" in federal storm response Posted: 03 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama told emergency response officials on Saturday to cut through government "red tape" and work without delay to help areas ravaged by monster storm Sandy to return to normal as quickly as possible. "There's nothing more important than getting this right," the president said at a briefing with officials from the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and state and local governments. ...

NYC's Bloomberg criticizes LIPA power-restoration effort Posted: 03 Nov 2012 02:18 PM PDT (Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg lashed out on Saturday at the Long Island-based power company that serves some of New York City's outer neighborhoods for making inadequate progress restoring power to thousands of residents in the dark since superstorm Sandy struck on Monday night. At a press briefing, Bloomberg said the Long Island Power Authority, LIPA, "has not acted aggressively enough" in its power restoration efforts, particularly in bringing electricity back to the Rockaways, a series of beachfront neighborhoods devastated by the storm. ...

Fight over campaign donation audit goes to California top court Posted: 03 Nov 2012 03:57 PM PDT (Reuters) - California's top court will decide whether a state campaign finance regulatory agency can audit a last-minute $11 million out-of-state donation to a political action committee by a group of mystery donors from Arizona, the agency said on Saturday. The California Fair Political Practices Commission said California's Supreme Court was expected to rule by Monday on whether the commission can audit the donation by Arizona-based Americans for Responsible Leadership to two California ballot proposition campaigns. ...

NYC subway operating 80 percent of network, fuel headed to NY area: Cuomo Posted: 03 Nov 2012 07:42 AM PDT (Reuters) - The New York City subway system is now operating along 80 percent of its network, and more of the network will come back on line through the weekend, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday. Addressing concerns about fuel shortages, particularly gasoline, that have hit the New York area since superstorm Sandy struck earlier this week, Cuomo also said 8 million gallons of fuel had been delivered since the New York Harbor reopened. Another 28 million gallons would be delivered this weekend, he said. U.S. ...

New Congress may have old look after election Posted: 02 Nov 2012 10:08 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congress fell to new depths of public disapproval in the past two years, yet no big shake-up of the Senate or House of Representatives is expected in Tuesday's general election. With days remaining before the vote, Democrats were expected to fend off what is seen as a fading Republican challenge for control of the Senate, with a 50-50 tie also a possibility. ...

Sandy washed away contingency plans across New York region Posted: 03 Nov 2012 05:35 AM PDT (Reuters) - As Sandy hammered the northeast United States this week killing more than 100 people, contingency plans were washed away and businesses had to improvise as the storm knocked out power to millions and stranded entire communities. Internet sites were kept online only because an impromptu bucket brigade ferried 5-gallon jugs of diesel fuel up 17 stories to a rooftop generator. Billions of dollars of stock trades were frozen and sidelined. Even the United Nations closed its complex when flood waters knocked out power. ...

Insight: Flooded New York plans to tame the sea, but who pays? Posted: 02 Nov 2012 10:13 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Jeroen Aerts, a Dutchman tasked with crafting a plan to defend New York City from flooding, first looked at its coastline seven years ago, he was taken aback by how vulnerable it was. Unlike some of the other large cities around the world, such as London and Amsterdam, that have comprehensive flood defense systems with levees and storm surge barriers, New York was completely at the mercy of the elements. ...

Border agents in radio contact before fatal shooting: report Posted: 02 Nov 2012 07:55 PM PDT PHOENIX (Reuters) - A probe into the killing of a Border Patrol agent in an apparent "friendly fire" death has revealed he was in radio contact with other agents on the scene before the fatal shooting last month in southern Arizona, local media reported. A report on Friday from the Cochise County Sheriff's Office said agent Nicholas Ivie and two fellow agents involved in the pre-dawn incident were responding to a tripped sensor near the U.S.-Mexico border, Phoenix television station ABC15 said on its website. ...

As cold snap looms, Sandy sets NY up for a new fuel crisis Posted: 02 Nov 2012 09:15 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Northeast residents lucky enough to have a roof after Hurricane Sandy struck now face a new problem: a heating oil shortage and widespread power outages mean some homes may go cold as the weather turns wintry. A cold snap in the New York City area - with daily low temperatures set to drop into the upper 30s Fahrenheit (2-4 degrees Celsius) early next week - is raising concerns that residents of the storm-stricken areas of New York, New Jersey or Connecticut could be left without heat as they recover from one of the worst storms in U.S. history. ...

New Jersey's own Springsteen and Bon Jovi sing for Sandy victims Posted: 02 Nov 2012 08:53 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey natives Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi joined Staten Island-born Christina Aguilera and others on Friday in a televised benefit concert for victims of Sandy, the storm that killed more than 100 and devastated parts of the U.S. Northeast. The commercial-free one-hour telecast, "Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together," included appearances by Sting, Billy Joel, Jimmy Fallon, Steven Tyler, Mary J. Blige, Tina Fey, Jon Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Bacon and Danny DeVito. ...

Government tries to get fuel to storm-hit Northeast Posted: 02 Nov 2012 08:23 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government on Friday sought to ease the fuel crunch paralyzing the storm-struck Northeast saying the military would buy motor fuel and truck it there and allow foreign tankers from the Gulf of Mexico to deliver oil products. The Department of Homeland Security waived the Jones Act, a law that normally prohibits foreign-flagged vessels from shipping gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products, from the Gulf of Mexico to Northeastern ports. ...

NYPD being stretched among many roles in Sandy storm recovery Posted: 02 Nov 2012 07:28 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - On a narrow spit of land in Jamaica Bay, Queens, one resident erected a wooden sign in front of an open garage: "Looters will be crucified - God help you." From concerns about crime in storm-darkened neighborhoods, to rescue efforts that continue days after superstorm Sandy battered the U.S. Northeast, the New York Police Department has been stretched to respond to one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit the region. ...

Wade says NBA game in NY should have been postponed Posted: 02 Nov 2012 08:57 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The healing powers of sport are a contentious issue, with the line between uniting and dividing a thin one easily crossed, as the organizers of the New York Marathon learned on Friday. The marathon was canceled because the public demanded it. Race officials had misjudged the mood of a city recovering from the devastation caused by superstorm Sandy and suddenly athletes from other sports were second guessing themselves. ...

U.S. disaster relief in a race against freezing cold Posted: 03 Nov 2012 06:11 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fuel supplies headed toward disaster zones in the U.S. Northeast on Saturday and a million customers regained electricity as near freezing temperatures threatened to add to the misery of coastal communities devastated by superstorm Sandy. President Barack Obama, neck-and-neck in opinion polls with Republican rival Mitt Romney three days before the general election, told emergency response officials to cut through government "red tape" and work without delay to help ravaged areas return to normal as quickly as possible. ...

New York nanny arrested in slayings of two young children Posted: 03 Nov 2012 06:14 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York nanny suspected of slaying two young children of a Manhattan couple last month was arrested on Saturday and charged with murder in their stabbing deaths, New York's deputy police commissioner said. The nanny, Yoselyn Ortega, was arrested following a bedside interview at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center where she remains hospitalized for apparent self-inflicted wounds, Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said in a statement. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Writing By Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Peter Cooney)

U.S. expands Jones Act waiver to boost flows of fuel to Northeast Posted: 03 Nov 2012 04:40 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Saturday expanded a waiver on shipping requirements to allow foreign-flagged vessels to carry components used in the production of gasoline in a bid to boost supplies to the storm-stricken East Coast. The temporary lifting of the Jones Act - which requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be flagged domestically - allows for foreign ships to carry petroleum products or other feedstocks, blending components, and additives needed for refiners to make completed fuels, the Department of Homeland Security said in a press announcement. ...

Most NYC gas stations now selling fuel: DOE poll Posted: 03 Nov 2012 02:21 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most filling stations in the New York City metro area now have supplies of gasoline available for sale, as energy supply lines are restored following the huge storm Sandy this week, according to a survey released on Saturday by the U.S. Department of Energy. Of the New York area gas stations polled in the survey, 62 percent reported having gasoline supplies available for sale on Saturday, up from 33 percent on Friday. The information was collected by the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration, or EIA, the statistical arm of the DOE. ...

Factbox: NY-area energy supply chain under strain post-Sandy Posted: 03 Nov 2012 12:48 PM PDT (Reuters) - The New York area's energy network remained under strain on Saturday, six days after Hurricane Sandy shut down pipelines, fuel terminals and refineries and left millions without power in the country's most densely populated region. Retail gasoline stations in the Greater New York Metro Area were still facing severe disruptions, with lines at operating filling stations in select cases stretching to hundreds of vehicles. Police were dispatched to maintain order at filling stations. ...

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