When the biggest stories in music news each week revolve around people whose actual involvement in music is questionable–does the name Lindsay Lohan ring a bell?–really big events become that much more stunning.

And so it was this week, when the news bordered on the truly historic on at least two occasions–one sad, and one joyful.

The first, of course, came via the conclusion of the trial of mega-producer Phil Spector in Los Angeles. Spector, perhaps the most famous producer in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, was on Monday found guilty of second degree murder for the 2003 death of actress Lana Clarkson. It was the second trial for Spector after the first, held in 2007, ended in a deadlocked jury, and as verdicts go, it was something of a doozy: the 69-year-old producer may face life in prison when sentencing takes place on May 29th. Spector’s been a part of some of the biggest recordings in the history of pop music, and controversy for him has been nothing new. Check out these fascinating accounts of the producer’s involvement with both the Ramones and Leonard Cohen during the ’70s–well past his commercial peak–for some eye-opening details.

That was the sad news. But even this week’s happy news was bittersweet, since ex-Beatle George Harrison was not around to see the famous well-wishers in attendance at the unveiling of his posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Tuesday. Planted directly in front of the Capitol Records tower–home of the Beatles and Harrison’s American record label–the star was surrounded by an impressive array of well-wishers, including fellow ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh, T-Bone Burnett, actor Tom Hanks, and Monty Python’s Eric Idle. Both Idle and Hanks delivered some heartwarming testimonials to Harrison’s importance as a friend, musician, and human being, and the massive crowd gathered for the event whooped in appreciation as the smell of incense wafted throughout the area.

“He was a beautiful, mystical man living in a material world,” said Harrison’s widow, Olivia, with their son Dhani by her side. The latter–whose resemblance to his father borders on the eerie–uttered the sole words “Hare Krishna” into the microphone and thus said his piece.

Harrison’s former partner McCartney (at right with Olivia Harrison), in attendance with current girlfriend Nancy Shevell, was similarly supportive and, as the only living Beatle in attendance, had to walk the fine line between being a center of attention–the papparazzi were having a field day, shouting his name and snapping photos–and showing respect for his longtime friend and his family.

The same day, Capitol announced they’d be releasing a new Harrison compilation this June, which in three months will be followed by the release of the Beatles’ remastered catalog and the upcoming The Beatles: Rock Band video game. Not a bad year for Beatle fans by any stretch.

While we’re at it–in the spirit of a week dominated by music news about people who rose to fame in the ’60s–word came this week that two bands from that era were reuniting for special one-time-only performances: Poco, who’ll be performing at the Stagecoach festival in Indio, California on April 26th, and the original Amboy Dukes, featuring Ted Nugent, who were scheduled to play at the annual Detroit Music Awards on Friday, April 17th. The latter band rose to fame via the colorful 1968 hit “Journey To The Center Of The Mind,” taken from the album of the same name, and one which also featured–to put Nugent’s entire career in its proper perspective–the probing epic, “Why Is A Carrot More Orange Than An Orange.” Guess that proves all the good songs have already been written!

And finally, back on Planet Earth, there’s always room for “regular” news–and what could more timely than a Miley Cyrus story? This week’s drama featured Jamie Foxx apologizing for a radio routine he’d done in which he suggested the young starlet should “make a sex tape and grow up” after her much-publicized “feud” with Radiohead. Foxx apologized on Tuesday night’s Tonight show, adding that he “didn’t mean it maliciously.” “Sometimes,” he told Jay Leno, ” as comedians, we go too far.” Smart move, Jamie—the poor girl’s only 16. Just wait a few years!

ROME - Rita Levi Montalcini, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, said Saturday that even though she is about to turn 100, her mind is sharper than it was she when she was 20.

Levi Montalcini, who also serves as a senator for life in Italy, celebrates her 100th birthday on Wednesday, and she spoke at a ceremony held in her honor by the European Brain Research Institute.

She shared the 1986 Nobel Prize for Medicine with American Stanley Cohen for discovering mechanisms that regulate the growth of cells and organs.

“At 100, I have a mind that is superior - thanks to experience - than when I was 20,” she told the party, complete with a large cake for her.

The Turin-born Levi Montalcini recounted how the anti-Jewish laws of the 1930s under Benito Mussolini’s Fascist regime forced her to quit university and do research in an improvised laboratory in her bedroom at home.

“Above all, don’t fear difficult moments,” she said. “The best comes from them.”

“I should thank Mussolini for having declared me to be of an inferior race. This led me to the joy of working, not any more unfortunately, in university institutes but in a bedroom,” the scientist said.

Her white hair elegantly coifed and wearing a smart navy blue suit, she raised a glass of sparkling wine in a toast to her long life.

Thursday night at the Lucky Magazine celebration for the launch of Charlotte Ronson’s “Made With Love” swimwear line at the Thompson LES, there was a moment of Lohan-driven Blackberry panic.

Since Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan’s very public breakup a few weeks ago, hotel and event staff had strict orders to keep La Lohan far far away from Samantha’s sister, designer Charlotte Ronson, and Shoshanna Russ’ fete on the hotel’s seventh floor.

(It had been previously reported that Ronson was seeking a restraining order against her once Sapphic starlet, though that was later denied.)

“How did she get in? There was no way she could have gotten past us!” another panicked employee was overheard whispering into her phone.

Reps with clipboards and dark suited men flanked the lobby of the hotel, so how could the waifish redhead have slipped in unnoticed?

Soon, the potential drama was resolved.

“Lindsay Price, not Lindsay Lohan, is here,” another publicist realized. “She’s a good friend of Shoshanna’s.”

Ahhhhh!

And everyone at the party could breathe again.
Source:foxnews

After writing poems about her life, British singer Amy Winehouse now wants to write a book for children and hopes to inspire youngsters with her literary offerings.

“Amy has been writing poems on a regular basis because she wants to write a children’s book one day and for that she believes poems are a practice medium,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted a source as saying.

“Amy has been rejuvenated since living in St Lucia. She loves the atmosphere and has found that it has encouraged her to write again,” the source added.

Winehouse fell in love with St Lucia while on an extended holiday and is now planning to buy a house on the Caribbean island to keep her away from temptations in London and focus more on her writing, hoping that it will help people understand her better.
Source:sify

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — A U.S. journalist in Iran was sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage, her father, lawyer and news reports said Saturday — a sentence that prompted denunciation from the United States.
Roxana Saberi records video in Tehran, Iran, in this photo taken in September 2003.

Roxana Saberi records video in Tehran, Iran, in this photo taken in September 2003.

Reports in Iranian media, including an Iranian judiciary source quoted Saturday by the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency, confirmed the sentence of Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old Iranian-American from North Dakota.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was “deeply disappointed” by the news. “We are working closely with the Swiss Protecting Presence to obtain details about the court’s decision, and to ensure her well-being,” Clinton said in a statement.

The United States will “continue to vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government,” Clinton said. “Ms. Saberi was born and raised in the United States, yet chose to travel to the Islamic Republic of Iran due to her desire to learn more about her cultural heritage. Our thoughts are with her parents and family during this difficult time.”

Saberi’s lawyer confirmed the sentence and vowed an appeal would be launched within 20 days.

“I will definitely appeal the verdict within this period,” Abdolsamad Khorramshahi said.

The case has unfolded as the Obama administration has signaled an inclination to engage diplomatically with Iran, America’s long-term adversary. The countries have been at odds for years over Iran’s nuclear program and Iranian actions and stances in the Middle East, such as the regime’s links to Hamas and Hezbollah and its alleged support of insurgents in Iraq.

Saberi has been living in Iran since 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a journalists’ advocacy group.

She has freelanced for National Public Radio and other news organizations and was writing a book about Iranian culture.

Her press credentials were revoked in 2006 by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which accredits reporters working for foreign news organizations, CPJ reported.

“According to NPR, Saberi continued to file short news items with government permission,” CPJ said.

Saberi was first detained in January, CPJ said, although no formal charges were disclosed.

“She told her family that she was initially held for buying a bottle of wine,” CPJ said on its Web site. “A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said later that Saberi was being detained at Tehran’s Evin Prison for reporting without proper accreditation.”

Political prisoners are often jailed at the prison, CPJ said.

Word that Saberi was charged with espionage emerged on April 8, CPJ said. Hassan Haddad, deputy public prosecutor, told the Iranian Students News Agency that “without press credentials and under the name of being a reporter, she was carrying out espionage activities.”

She appeared before a Revolutionary Court on Monday for a one-day trial that was closed to the public, CPJ said, quoting an Iranian judiciary official.

Her father, Reza Saberi, told NPR on Saturday he believes his daughter was coerced into making damaging statements. He said the verdict was issued Wednesday.

The court, which didn’t meet Thursday and Friday, reconvened Saturday. Reza Saberi said his daughter was brought to the court, but he wasn’t allowed to enter.

A lawyer later told him she was sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage.

Reza Saberi said his daughter had earlier wanted to go on a hunger strike but she was persuaded not to. However, he said there is a chance she might do so now in light of the verdict.

Reza Saberi said his daughter is “very weak and frail.”

“She is quite depressed about this matter and she wants to go on hunger strike. If she does, she’s so frail it can be very dangerous to her health.”

Others also denounced the verdict.

“Roxana Saberi’s trial lacked transparency and we are concerned that she may not have been treated fairly,” said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, the CPJ Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “We call on the Iranian authorities to release her on bail pending her appeal.”

Vivian Schiller, NPR’s president and chief executive officer, said the network is “deeply distressed by this harsh and unwarranted sentence.”

“Saberi has already endured a three-month confinement in Evin Prison, and we are very concerned for her well-being. Through her work for NPR over several years, we know her as an established and respected professional journalist.

“We appeal to all of those who share our concerns to ask that the Iranian authorities show compassion and allow her to return home to the United States immediately with her parents.”

North Dakota lawmakers slammed the conviction.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad called the ruling “preposterous,” adding that the “charges against her are baseless.”

“She was tried in a secret trial without her attorney even being present. That is a travesty of justice.”

U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan called the ruling “a shocking miscarriage of justice.”

“The Iranian government has held a secret trial, will not make public any evidence, and sentenced an American citizen to eight years in prison for a crime she didn’t commit,” the Democratic senator said.

U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-North Dakota, said he was “dismayed at the verdict from the secret trial of Roxana Saberi.”

“We know Roxana to be a fine young woman of intelligence and integrity and I hope based on humanitarian considerations she will be allowed to return to the United States.

“I am humbled by the brave efforts of Roxana’s parents who traveled from Fargo to Tehran, and I will continue to work closely with them in an effort to secure her release.”

Feature Story News, the stringer service that employed Roxana Saberi in Iran, also denounced the action.

Simon Marks, president and chief correspondent, called the conviction a “miscarriage of justice — or what passes for justice in modern Iran.”

“Roxana moved to Iran in February 2003 to offer global audiences balanced, objective coverage of news developments in the Islamic Republic. Since then, she has always honored journalistic principles of the highest professional standard.

“We note that no evidence to support charges of espionage has ever been furnished by the authorities in Iran. We can only conclude that absolutely none exists.”

More than 10,000 people signed a CPJ petition calling for due process and her release as soon as possible. CPJ said it handed the petition in March to Iran’s Permanent Mission to the the United Nations.
Source:Cnn

NEW YORK - Gary Sheffield joined the 500-homer club, and Luis Castillo drove in the winning run with a two-out single in the ninth inning that gave the New York Mets a 5-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.

Ryan Braun hit a three-run homer to give Milwaukee a 4-3 lead in the sixth before Sheffield tied it the next inning off Mitch Stetter, who was facing his first batter in relief of starter Dave Bush.

Sheffield, a nine-time All-Star, was on as a pinch hitter and sent a full-count pitch an estimated 385 feet for his first hit of the season.

“Now that I’m in the club it’s like getting your degree. Nobody can take that away from you,” Sheffield said.

After squandering a bases-loaded opportunity in the eighth, Carlos Delgado doubled off Seth McClung (0-1) to start the ninth. Delgado scored on Castillo’s single to short, when a diving J.J. Hardy couldn’t deliver the throw to first in time to get Castillo.

Castillo was mobbed by his teammates after he touched first base.

New York’s revamped bullpen gave up just one hit over the final four innings, with J.J. Putz (1-0) pitching a perfect ninth for his first win with the Mets.

At 40 years, 143 days, Sheffield became the fourth-oldest player to hit 500 home runs behind Willie McCovey (40 years, 171 days), Eddie Murray (40, 194) and Ted Williams (41, 291).

Sheffield pumped both arms in the air as he began to round the bases, with cameras flashing throughout Citi Field. He touched home plate and pointed to the sky with both arms before hugging on-deck batter Jose Reyes.

He then received congratulatory hugs and high-fives from his new teammates, who came out of the dugout as fans gave Sheffield a prolonged ovation. He raced up the dugout steps for a curtain call, waving his helmet to the crowd of 36,436.

“That was just a great reception,” Sheffield said. “I was so numb at that time.”

The homer, the second as a pinch-hitter, tied the score at 4-all. It was caught by Chris Matcovich, a 22-year-old Mets fan from Suffern, N.Y., wearing a Keith Hernandez jersey.

Known as much for his outspoken personality as he is for a vicious swing that made him one of the most feared hitters in the game, Sheffield joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Frank Robinson and Reggie Jackson as the only players with 500 homers and at least 2,500 hits, 1,500 RBIs and 200 stolen bases.

Sheffield was 0-for-4 with three walks for the Mets before the home run. He made his first start of the season Wednesday after signing with New York on April 4, a few days after the Detroit Tigers suddenly released him.

New York was coming off its first series loss at Citi Field, but went ahead 3-0 in the first inning behind a sacrifice fly from Delgado, a walk to Ramon Castro with the bases loaded and an RBI single by Castillo.

Livan Hernandez couldn’t hold the lead, though, and gave up seven hits and four runs in five-plus innings, including Braun’s first homer of the season.

Notes: Sheffield’s first pinch-hit homer came on July 20, 1994, for Florida. … The Mets placed C Brian Schneider on the 15-day DL because of a muscle strain in his back. They purchased the contract of Omir Santos from Triple-A Buffalo to fill his spot. … The Mets gave the city’s new archbishop, Timothy Dolan, a jersey before the game. Dolan was at the game with his predecessor, Cardinal Edward Egan.

INDIO, Calif. - Energized by the desert air and memory of his late wife, a playful and passionate Paul McCartney riffed on “Foxy Lady,” led an after-midnight “Hey Jude” singalong and dedicated songs to his former bandmates at the Coachella music festival that kicked off Friday.

McCartney took off his black jacket five songs in and didn’t put it back on for the next 29, strutting the stage in boots, black pants, a white shirt and suspenders that he tugged at wryly.

“It’s going to be a good weekend, dear,” he told the crowd of thousands gathered for the three-day festival, which erupted in cheers with the first chords of Beatles tunes like “Eleanor Rigby.” It was McCartney’s first appearance at a U.S. festival as a solo artist.

In the 2 1/2-hour set, including two encores, McCartney dedicated “Long and Winding Road” and “My Love Does It Good” to his late wife Linda, who died at the couple’s ranch at Tucson, Ariz., 11 years earlier to the day.

“It’s an emotional day for me. That’s good, that’s OK,” he said, pounding his chest. “Lot of heart, lot of emotion.”

Before a moving performance of “Blackbird,” he noted that it had been written in response to the 60s civil rights movement. “Now you’ve got President Obama. Yeah, you know we’ve come a long way.”

Switching from serious to cheerily self-aware, he led call-and-response chants only to wave them off quickly as “messing around,” and dismissed signs held by front-row fans - including one that asked for his guitar pick.

“No! It’s mine!” McCartney said. “Anyway, if I make a mistake, I can blame the signs.”

There were mistakes. McCartney was proficient but sometimes out-of-sync with the four-man band backing him. But he clearly enjoyed himself, plowing through songs from his “Fireman” album, “Band on the Run” from the Wings, and Fab Four favorites like “Back in the USSR,” “Paperback Writer” and, for the finale, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

McCartney launched brightly into “Something” with only his voice and a ukulele he said was given to him by George Harrison, before his band mates and the crowd joined in.

The first day of the festival also featured Morrissey, Leonard Cohen, the Hold Steady, Franz Ferdinand and the Ting Tings. It drew a number of young Hollywood stars to this desert city southeast of Palm Springs.

Anne Hathaway was spotted in the VIP area wearing patterned harem pants and a cardigan, while Morrissey’s set drew the attention of “Twilight” actor Robert Pattinson, wearing skinny cut-off jeans, and Kirsten Dunst in a short-sleeve mini-dress. Kate Bosworth, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Chloe Sevigny and Zoe Kravitz were also spotted in the VIP area.

Police reported 18 arrests for drug- and alcohol-related crimes, and fire officials took three patrons to hospitals.

Las Vegas-based The Killers and M.I.A., a replacement for Amy Winehouse, headline a more youthful Saturday lineup. My Bloody Valentine and The Cure cap off Sunday night.

The recession has forced music festivals nationwide to lower prices or downsize, and three-day, $269 tickets to Coachella were available on a layaway plan. Single-day tickets were $120 at the door. Organizers have not yet announced attendance or ticket sales.

OAKLAND, Calif. - A westward dash to power electricity-hungry cities by cashing in on the desert’s most abundant resource - sunshine - is clashing with efforts to protect the tiny pupfish and desert tortoise and stinginess over the region’s rarest resource: water.

Water is the cooling agent for what traditionally has been the most cost-efficient type of large-scale solar plants. To some solar companies answering Washington’s push for renewable energy on vast government lands, it’s also an environmental thorn. The unusual collision pits natural resources protections against President Barack Obama’s plans to produce more environmentally friendly energy.

The solar hopefuls are encountering overtaxed aquifers and a legendary legacy of Western water wars and legal and regulatory scuffles. Some are moving to more costly air-cooled technology - which uses 90 percent less water - for solar plants that will employ miles of sun-reflecting mirrors across the Western deserts. Others see market advantages in solar dish or photovoltaic technologies that don’t require steam engines and cooling water and that are becoming more economically competitive.

The National Park Service is worried about environmental consequences of solar proposals on government lands that are administered by the Bureau of Land Management. It says it supports the solar push but is warning against water drawdowns, especially in southern Nevada. In the Amargosa Valley, the endangered, electric-blue pupfish lives in a hot water, aquifer-fed limestone cavern called Devil’s Hole.

“It is not in the public interest for BLM to approve plans of development for water-cooled solar energy projects in the arid basins of southern Nevada, some of which are already over-appropriated,” Jon Jarvis, director of the Park Service’s Pacific West Region, wrote to the BLM director in Nevada.

Jarvis’ e-mail from February, obtained by The Associated Press, noted that the rare pupfish’s dwindling numbers prompted Nevada to ban new groundwater allocations within 25 miles of the pool.

Jarvis urged the BLM to promote technologies that use less water and hold off on permits until it finishes its assessment of the solar program next year. The BLM tried suspending new applications last year but relented under pressure from industry and advocates of renewable energy.

“Water is a big concern and the desert tortoise is a major concern, and the amount of site preparation is a concern,” said Linda Resseguie, a BLM project manager. The government in reviewing each project wants to make careful decisions over what it considers “a potentially irreversible commitment of lands,” she said.

Water is among the complications in deserts where more than 150 solar applications have been submitted for hot spots in Nevada, California, and Arizona, plus a few in New Mexico.

Companies are wrestling with routes for long-distance transmission lines and habitat for the threatened desert tortoise. They also are worried about a proposal being developed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., for a Mojave national monument, which could put up to 600,000 acres off-limits alongside already protected park and military lands. It could affect at least 14 solar and five wind energy proposals.

The Spanish-owned energy company, Iberdrola, has submitted 12 applications in four states. Its solar managing director, Kim Fiske, said her company is planning to use photovoltaic technology in Amargosa Valley but elsewhere will evaluate each site’s feasibility for water. Photovoltaic systems use conducting material to convert sunlight directly to electricity and need only nominal amounts of water to wash their solar panels, compared with the traditional steam-turbine solar that uses much larger volumes of water for cooling towers.

“Water usage is becoming the larger issue. Some companies still want wet cooling and say it’s less efficient to do dry cooling, and they need 10 percent more land to get the same output,” said Peter Weiner, an attorney representing solar companies. Some are exploring hybrid systems that use water during the hottest part of the day.

The government won’t say how much water would be needed by applicants because those proposals are still in flux. But National Park Service hydrologists last fall tallied more than 50,000 acre feet per year - nearly 16.3 billion gallons - proposed by applications in Amargosa Valley alone, or enough to supply more than 50,000 typical American homes. Nevada previously said the basin could support only half that. Since then, some companies have dropped out or switched to photovoltaics, making that estimate of 16.3 billion gallons outdated.

Nevada’s policy and legal mandates restrict water in the driest areas. California regulators warn that wet-cooled projects face an uphill climb. The two under review there so far on government land use minimal water. First up is Oakland, Calif.-based BrightSource Energy’s five-square mile, air-cooled, mirror complex near the Mojave National Preserve.

In Arizona, most solar proposals are away from populous areas with the most water restrictions.

Water is “a hot button for everybody,” said Fiske. “Everyone is concerned about water. It’s probably one of the biggest issues.”

WASHINGTON - In a whirlwind week of change, President Barack Obama jettisoned Bush administration policy on greenhouse gases, shone an unforgiving light on its support for torture as an interrogation tactic and eased its restrictions on Cuba.

But there are limits, even to this new president’s power, and a campaign pledge to seek a ban on assault weapons is an early casualty as a result.

And while the promise of change was arguably Obama’s single most powerful asset in last year’s campaign, the week demonstrated anew how carefully he calibrates its impact.

“We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history,” the president said in a statement that accompanied the release of once-secret memos outlining torture techniques the Bush administration allowed.

“But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.”

That was designed as a reassurance to the CIA employees who carried out waterboarding, which simulates drowning, and the other harsh interrogation techniques that former President George W. Bush once sanctioned and that Obama has now banned - much as his decision to leave combat troops in Iraq a few months longer than he once promised was a bow to the Pentagon.

“I will always do whatever is necessary to protect the national security of the United States,” he said in a statement on the torture memos that could easily have been written about the troop withdrawal.

Attorney General Eric Holder added one more assurance, announcing the administration would pay legal expenses for anyone in the intelligence agency who needs a lawyer as a result of carrying out interrogations covered by the memos.

Holder also formally revoked every legal opinion or memo issued during Bush’s presidency that justified interrogation programs, a largely symbolic step since Obama had already said his administration would not rely on them.

The release of the documents had been the subject of a long, fierce debate, with a deadline looming as the result of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

No lawsuit drove the timing of the new Cuba policy, which was released in the run-up to Obama’s first presidential trip to Central America. And here again, Obama went further than some wanted and not as far as others had hoped.

Under the new policy, the administration lifted restrictions on Cuban-Americans who want to travel and send money to their island homeland and freed U.S. telecommunications companies to seek business there.

Some of the changes specifically undid what Bush had imposed: tightened travel restrictions on Americans wishing to visit relatives in Cuba; limiting payments to immediate family; and bans on seeds, clothing, personal hygiene items, veterinary medicines and - later - cell phones from humanitarian parcels.

But the broader embargo remains in place as it has since the Kennedy administration, its existence meant now as then to prod the Cuban government into democratic reforms.

In response to the announcement, Cuban President Raul Castro said he is ready to put “everything” on the table in talks with Americans, including questions of human rights and political prisoners. If so, that would mark a change from decades of Cuban insistence that those issues were not subject for discussion.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pronounced Castro’s comments an overture, and said, “We are taking a very serious look at how we intend to respond.”

Still, despite sentiment within the 15-member Caribbean Community to lift the U.S. embargo, Jamaica’s prime minister, Bruce Golding, said the organization had agreed not to push Obama too hard on the issue.

By contrast, there was little that was nuanced about the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement Friday that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases emitted by cars and many industrial plants “endanger public health and welfare.”

It was prompted by a Supreme Court ruling two years ago that said greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act and must be regulated if found to be a danger to human health or public welfare.

Confronted with the high court’s decision, the Bush administration stalled, leaving for Obama an issue he was only too happy to seize. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said while the agency is prepared to move forward with regulations under the Clean Air Act, the administration would rather defer to Congress.

“The (EPA) decision is a game changer,” said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who is involved in drafting legislation to limit greenhouse emissions.

For all the changes Obama has piled up since taking office 87 days ago, his retreat on assault weapons is hardly unique. He has already yielded on other relatively minor issues, giving in to veterans groups during the budget debate, for example.

Pressed by Mexican President Felipe Calderone to help stem the flow of military-style assault weapons from the United States, Obama said he still believed that the ban made sense. Any yet, he added: “None of us are under any illusion that reinstating that ban would be easy.” He said he would focus instead on using existing laws to stop the flow of weapons prized by elements of the Mexican drug trade.

If anything, Obama’s closest allies in Congress are probably relieved.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California signaled as much several weeks ago after Holder said the administration wanted to renew a ban that lapsed and that the powerful National Rifle Association opposes strenuously.

“One good place to start would be to enforce the laws that are on the books right now,” she said on Feb. 26. “And I think the evidence points this out, that the Bush administration was not enforcing law.”

DENVER - A spring storm was weakening after dumping up to 3 feet of snow on the foothills west of Denver - stranding hundreds of people in shelters and forcing the closure of an 80-mile stretch of Interstate 70.

Transportation officials shut down I-70 between Vail and Golden in the late afternoon Friday because of wet, heavy snow and multiple accidents.

The American Red Cross opened a second shelter in Idaho Springs late Friday after its first shelter there filled to capacity with more than 300 people, said Jim Rettew, a spokesman for the organization’s Mile High Chapter.

The stranded travelers didn’t all get cots, but many got snacks, and most were in good spirits, he said.

“Some are trying to sleep, some are talking, some are eating, some are on the phone,” Rettew said. “When this kind of thing happens, everyone just makes the best in trying circumstances.”

The Colorado National Guard escorted a caravan of volunteers and supplies to the shelters after Clear Creek County declared an emergency and asked for state assistance. County officials were working to set up one or two more shelters in Georgetown.

It was unclear when the interstate would reopen. The spring storm had dumped up to 3 feet of snow on the foothills by Friday night but was starting to weaken, forecasters said.

The area was expected to see only another 2 to 5 inches through noon Saturday, said meteorologist Frank Cooper of the National Weather Service’s Boulder office.

“It’s very, very hard to speculate as to when traffic is going to be allowed back on the road,” Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman Fritz Homann said early Saturday. “There seems to be a lull in the storm, but whether the second wave comes in as advertised will be anybody’s guess.”

Homann added that some motorists were still stuck on I-70 at Hidden Valley early Saturday, but crews were working hard to get them out.

“This is a big storm, but it is a spring storm in the Colorado Rockies, and that is something that CDOT has dealt with before,” he said. “We have all our resources poised and ready to go.”

Winter storm warnings across the state were expected to last until midday Saturday, with an additional 1 to 3 inches possible in the metro area and along the Front Range, the weather service said.

On Friday, heavy, wet snow closed highways, canceled flights, caused power outages and forced school closures in parts of Colorado and Wyoming. Snow accumulations of 3 to 4 feet were recorded in the mountains, with 4 to 6 inches measured in Denver.

United Airlines, the dominant carrier at Denver International Airport, canceled 76 flights. The airport urged travelers to check with their airlines before leaving home.

Numerous traffic accidents were reported across Colorado, and Trooper Gilbert Mares of the State Patrol said he knew of one fatality. He said a person was killed late Friday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash on Colorado 52 in Weld County, near Fort Lupton. Details on the victim were not immediately available.

U.S. 40 over Berthoud Pass, the main road to the Winter Park ski resort, was shut down Friday evening because of a pair of avalanches. A spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation said no injuries were reported in those incidents. The agency said Berthoud Pass and Vail Pass would remain closed overnight.

Power lines weighed down by snow tripped system circuit breakers and knocked out electricity to 9,600 Xcel Energy customers in Evergreen and 4,600 people in Nederland, 25 miles west and 35 miles northwest of Denver, respectively, said Joe Fuentes, a spokesman for the utility. Some of those customers were expected to be without power overnight, but crews were working around the clock, he said.

About 2,600 customers also lost power in Denver.

Nearly 3 feet of snow had fallen by Friday afternoon in Rocky Mountain National Park about 60 miles northwest of Denver, forcing officials to close its Beaver Meadows and Fall River entrances because snowplows couldn’t keep up.

Many suburban Denver schools sent students home early Friday, and at least three Colorado Springs-area high schools delayed weekend proms because of the storm.

The University of Northern Colorado in Greeley moved its football scrimmage to Tuesday because of snow, while Colorado State University canceled its Saturday spring game.