Chilean president says it could take years to rebuild region destroyed by quake and tsunami

DICHATO, Chile (AP) — Chile's president says it will take three years to rebuild the region wracked by an earthquake and tsunami, something all too clear to the people cleaning up this splintered tourist town.

Dichato is nestled between pine-forested hills and a lovely sheltered bay where colorful fishing boats served coastal communities and export companies. Its population of 4,000 triples each January and February with tourists — many were in town when disaster struck — and residents count on that brief summer vacation for much of their income.

The quake and tsunami killed at least 19 people in Dichato and smashed neat wooden houses and small hotels into huge splinter piles. The surge ruined most other buildings in town, which stank Thursday with decomposing fish. One fishing boat marooned far inland was full of rotting octopus.+

President Michelle Bachelet said Thursday that she is confident "Chile will rise" from the devastation — but not as fast as some might want.

She said it could take at least three years to bring the region back.

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Support from influential NYC black leaders may buy time for Gov. Paterson amid scandals

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. David Paterson might have won some time when he received what has become rare support from influential black leaders as he tries to ride out allegations in two scandals that threaten his job and led to the resignation of three top staffers.

Paterson and his administration are seeking to regroup Friday in what one official described as pep talks. Late Thursday night, black leaders in New York City said he deserves his right to due process and should stay in office.

Paterson is facing allegations that he and his staff interfered in a domestic violence case involving a top governor's aide. Also, a state ethics panel has accused him of seeking and accepting World Series tickets from the New York Yankees last year despite a gift ban, then lying to the panel about it.

Paterson lost a third top deputy Thursday when communications director Peter Kauffmann abruptly resigned after weeks of serving as the defending voice of the governor.

"As a former officer in the United States Navy, integrity and commitment to public service are values I take seriously," Kauffmann stated in a brief statement sent on his private e-mail account. "Unfortunately, as recent developments have come to light, I cannot in good conscience continue in my current position."

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Gunman tied to online grievances about feds shoots 2 Pentagon officers, dies from return fire

WASHINGTON (AP) — Resentment of the U.S. government and suspicions over the 9/11 attacks have surfaced in writings by the Californian identified as the gunman who shot two Pentagon police officers before he was mortally wounded in a hail of return fire.

The shooter's death was confirmed early Friday, hours after the Thursday evening assault, as authorities searched for a motive behind the brazen attack. The two officers, grazed by bullets, were treated in a hospital.

The attack unfolded at the subway entrance to the massive Defense Department headquarters, as an eerie calm and silence were broken by the explosion of gunfire.

"He just reached in his pocket, pulled out a gun and started shooting" at point-blank range, said Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon police. "He walked up very cool. He had no real emotion on his face."

The Pentagon officers returned fire with semiautomatic weapons, sending the shooter to the hospital with critical injuries. Beverly Fields, chief of staff of the D.C. medical examiner's office, confirmed the man's death and said his body arrived at her office shortly after midnight.

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It's a snow job: Unemployment report, distorted by storms, likely to be hard to interpret

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government's closely watched monthly employment report will be unusually hard to read this time.

That's because the snowstorms that hammered the East Coast last month occurred on the same week that the government surveys businesses about their payrolls. Employees who couldn't make it to work and weren't paid won't be included on those payrolls. Job losses for February may be artificially inflated by 100,000 or more, economists estimate.

That doesn't mean the report that the Labor Department releases Friday will be dismissed. Economists expect to dig beneath the headline numbers to try to isolate underlying trends.

But given the intense interest in jobs among policymakers, economists and the public, the distortions come at an unfortunate time.

"It's a shame you won't get a clean reading ... when the sustainability of the recovery is uppermost on people's minds," said John Canally, an economist at LPL Financial.

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Obama's final push for health care votes could falter in battle over abortion coverage

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the other side of the obstacle course that President Barack Obama must clear to get his health care overhaul, a final trapdoor is lurking: the divisive politics of abortion.

The issue pits House Democrats against each other just when Obama is calling on them to unite for one last push on health care in a perilous election year. The fate of the sweeping legislation to expand coverage and revamp the health insurance market hangs in the balance.

House Democrats opposed to abortion, as well as their counterparts who support abortion rights, are resisting funding restrictions on the procedure spelled out in the Senate health care overhaul bill. But the plan Democratic leaders have worked out for the health care endgame calls for House Democrats to pass that same Senate bill, with little prospect of changing the abortion language.

Although each chamber is also supposed to pass a companion package of agreed-upon changes, abortion funding is not among them. It doesn't appear likely to be included.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi vented her frustration Thursday, telling reporters she will not stand for health care legislation getting dragged down in a battle over abortion. "This is not about abortion," said Pelosi, D-Calif. "This is a bill about providing quality affordable health care for all Americans."

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You say tomato, restaurants say sorry: Fla.'s freezing temps cause tomato shortage

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A frigid Florida winter is taking its toll on your sandwich. The Sunshine State is the main U.S. source for fresh winter tomatoes, and its growers lost some 70 percent of their crop during January's prolonged cold snap.

Wholesale prices are up nearly five times over last year. That means you can say goodbye to the beefsteaks on that burger and prepare to pay more than usual for the succulent wedges in your salad.

At Costello Sandwich and Sides in Chicago, which uses 10 to 15 cases of tomatoes a week and is now paying $25 a case instead of $15, customers can expect to get a bit less tomato on their sandwiches. The shop hasn't raised prices or stopped serving tomatoes altogether, but manager Matthew Villareal says he can see the tomatoes are soft when the prep cooks are cutting them.

"The tomato prices definitely have gone up and the quality isn't so great either," he said. "We just kind of eat the cost."

An unusually cold January in Florida destroyed entire fields of tomatoes — along with some green beans, sweet corn and squash. The cold scarred the tomatoes, damaged their vines, and forced many farmers to delay their harvest.

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White House nearing recommendation for military trial for Khalid Sheik Mohammed, 4 others

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House advisers are nearing a recommendation for President Barack Obama to choose a military trial for self-professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four of his alleged henchman, senior administration officials said Thursday.

The review of where and how to hold a Sept. 11 trial is not over, so no recommendation is yet before the president and Obama has not made a determination of his own, officials said. The review is not likely to be finished this week.

Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss private deliberations.

The matter is at the White House after Attorney General Eric Holder decided in November to transfer Mohammed and the four other accused terrorists from the prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to New York City for civilian trials. Initially supported by city officials, the idea was later opposed because of costs, security and logistical concerns.

When opposition ballooned further into Congress and an attempted Christmas airline bombing brought massive scrutiny to Obama's terrorism policies, the administration said it would review Holder's trial decision and consider all options for a new location.

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Voters bid farewell to 4 'American Idol' hopefuls, leaving 16 contenders to sing again

NEW YORK (AP) — College student John Park and gospel singer Jermaine Sellers were sent home Thursday along with female semifinalists Michelle Delamor and Haeley Vaughn as "American Idol" voters trimmed the field to 16 rivals on the Fox singing competition show.

Park, a 21-year-old from Northbrook, Ill., said he left the show with no regrets when he heard the bad news from host Ryan Seacrest.

Joining Park out the door was Sellers, a 27-year-old from Joliet, Ill.

"In God there is no failure," Sellers said. "So I leave here happy."

Also getting the boot were Vaughn, a 16-year-old high school student from Fort Collins, Colo., and Delamor, 22, of Miami, Fla.

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With salary cap gone, NFL free agency steps into the unknown

NEW YORK (AP) — Into the great unknown.

The NFL has begun the final season of its contract with the players union by eliminating the salary cap. Free agency started Friday with no ceiling on spending for teams, and no floor, either.

Predictions on how free agency without a salary cap will turn out are pointless. Will teams go on wild spending sprees? Will some operate on the cheap because there is no payroll minimum? Will players who became unrestricted this year find lots of bidders or few?

Might the union scream collusion if teams shy away from big-money deals when there's virtually no cutoff on spending — ironic considering how the salary cap was designed to protect ownership?

With team owners so willing to enter this twilight zone, could the salary cap be gone for good? Will it become a divisive issue in negotiations that will lead to no football in 2011?