A major winter storm spread misery from the Deep South, where ice-covered tree limbs snapped and a tornado claimed a life, to the nation’s northeastern tip where snow and ice caused havoc for travelers on Friday. Hundreds of thousands were without electricity. More than a foot of snow fell in parts Pennsylvania, New York and New England on Friday but there were bigger worries about roads and sidewalks freezing over because of plummeting temperatures after the snow blows out to sea late Friday and Saturday. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned residents to stay home if possible to avoid ice-coated roadways and the threat of falling tree limbs in the Hudson Valley and Capital regions. “We’re not out of the danger zone yet,” Hochul said. “The weather is wildly unpredictable.” Utility crews were making progress after about 350,000 homes and businesses were in the dark Thursday in an area stretching from Texas to Ohio. Additional power outages were reported in New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. One of the hardest-hit paces was Memphis, where 120,000 customers were without power in Shelby County alone, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports. Memphis resident Michael LaRosa described cracking and banging as the tree…

With about six weeks until the March 1 primary election, there is some confusion over new laws and mail-in ballots. As of last week in Tarrant County, out of the 2188 mail-in applications, 490 were rejected. In Collin County, out of the 1800 mail-in applications, 150 were rejected.  In Dallas County, out of the 5201 mail-in applications, 549 were rejected. In Denton county, out of the 930 mail-in applications, 264 were rejected. “Look at your application for ballot by mail. It is new this year. If it does not have a space for social security or your driver’s license, that is an old ballot,” said Nicholas Solorzano, Dallas County Elections Dept. Communications Director. One of the issues elections administrators are seeing is mail-in applications using the old form. The new form has a space in the top right-hand corner for new information. You are now required to include either your driver’s license or state-issued id number, or social security number.  However, whatever you enter, must match what you entered when you registered to vote, or your ballot, will be rejected. “You can choose one of the two but recommended to people you use both because let’s say you registered 10 years…

State and federal authorities announced Thursday that they arrested and charged more than two dozen people for taking part in a multistate shoplifting ring that made off with more than $10 million in stolen goods over the past few years, most of which was over-the-counter medications. U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson in Tulsa and Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor announced state and federal charges against 29 defendants. Johnson said 25 of those charged had been arrested and four others were still at large. Prosecutors said the defendants took part in a conspiracy to steal mostly over-the-counter medications from retailers such as Walmart, Costco, Walgreens, CVS and GNC in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. The ringleaders would then arrange for the sale of the items on websites such as Amazon and eBay. “Consumers and businesses incur a high price for thieves who commit larcenies and profit by selling their stolen goods to well-organized theft rings,” said Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin, whose department launched its investigation in 2019 after an organized crime investigator from a pharmacy retailer shared information about bulk thefts from its Tulsa-area locations. “Thieves should take notice. Tulsa is not going to capitulate and allow criminals to disrupt…