Nation briefs 6A

Snowy and rainy winter ends East Coast drought

PHILADELPHIA -- A snowy and rainy winter has pulled the East Coast out of its five-year drought, replenishing lakes and aquifers from Georgia to Maine.

Coastal states averaged about 25 percent more precipitation than the typical 3 to 4 inches a month from October to March, according to the National Weather Service. Virginia recorded its 10th wettest winter in 108 years and Maryland its 11th.

In Georgia, all the moisture has been a mixed blessing. It sweetens the world-famous Vidalia onion but also prevents farmers from spraying for destructive bacteria and fungi.

Chicago's business district now no-fly zone

CHICAGO -- Federal officials Saturday imposed a no-fly zone over downtown Chicago after repeated requests from city officials.

New York City and Washington, D.C., also have no-fly zones.

The Federal Aviation Administration restriction bars small planes from flying over the city's business district, including the 110-story Sears Tower. Commercial flights to O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport are not affected.

A similar zone imposed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was canceled in April 2002 despite Daley's protests.

Ruling: Enron employees to pay own program fees

HOUSTON -- A bankruptcy judge has decided that current Enron Corp. employees, and not the company, must pay for the management of workers' retirement plans.

The company and the U.S. Labor Department wanted to have Enron continue paying the nearly $4 million a year to an independent overseer of three retirement plans. Creditors, who are trying to get as much back out of the deflated former energy trading giant as possible, wanted to shift the cost to workers.

Employees, who are locked into the plans, will pay an average of $320 per year, according to the company.

Some hijacked Cuban passengers to go home

MIAMI -- Some passengers from a Cuban airliner that was hijacked and diverted to Florida were to return home Saturday, officials said.

Jacqueline Becerra, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami, said some of the 24 Cuban passengers and six crew members would return, but did not specify how many.

U.S Customs spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said a "small" number of Cubans have decided to stay in the United States, but did not specify a number. Cubans who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to remain.

-- From wire reports

In an apparent attempt to seek asylum, six men wielding knives diverted the DC-3 from its domestic flight plan Wednesday night and landed in Key West under an escort of fighter jets and a U.S. Customs helicopter.

They are jailed on federal air-piracy charges punishable by a minimum of 20 years in prison.

Report: California's health system is in disarray

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's public health system is in such disarray that residents are threatened as much by something like a flu epidemic as they are by a bioterrorism attack, according to a report due next month.

An independent commission set out to gauge the state's bioterrorism preparedness found that the system can't so much as track drug-resistant tuberculosis or contaminated fruit juice.

In the report, obtained by The Los Angeles Times, the Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy blamed the problems on a lack of funds and coordination among state agencies.

The 13-member panel called for the creation of a state public health department, a confidential disease-reporting system and the tracking and treatment of diseases by deputized, uniformed officers.

New Mexico lawmakers give nod to day honoring extraterrestrial culture

SANTA FE, N.M. -- Believers in space aliens, rejoice!

New Mexicans can now celebrate every second Tuesday in February as "Extraterrestrial Culture Day" after a Roswell lawmaker's proposal won approval in the House.

Some lawmakers scoffed at the idea. But the sponsor of the memorial, Rep. Daniel Foley, R-Roswell, said life on other planets -- if you believe in it -- surely has its own set of cultural beliefs.

"They have some sort of culture, whether it's something we understand or not," he said.

The measure, approved Friday, claims extraterrestrials have contributed to recognition of New Mexico. The state has been associated with little green men for more than half a century, staring in 1947 with a purported UFO crash that came to be known as the Roswell Incident.

Foley suggests that a copy of the memorial be transmitted into space with the intent that it be received as a token of peace and friendship.

Memorials express the opinion of the Legislature and do not have the force of law. Only one house must approve them, and they do not require the governor's signature.