MIAMI — Hurricane Katia has weakened to a Category 3 storm as it moves across the Atlantic Ocean after briefly becoming a Category 4 system. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Katia’s maximum sustained winds early Tuesday have decreased to near 125 mph (205 kph). The hurricane center says some fluctuation in strength is possible over the next 24 hours followed by slow weakening. Forecast maps show Katia veering to the northeast, away from the U.S. in the coming week, but the hurricane center says large swells from the hurricane could affect the East Coast, Bermuda, the Greater Antilles and parts of the Bahamas over the next few days. Read full article > >

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Hurricane Katia weakens to a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds as it crosses the Atlantic

Swaths of the Northeast still submerged under water face an arduous recovery as hundreds of homes remain clogged with mud and crushed roads isolate deluged communities.

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East Coast has long recovery ahead

Brazil’s economic boom is causing drug-related violence to migrate to the northeast as traffickers seek new markets, experts say.

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As Prosperity Rises in Brazil’s Northeast, So Does Drug Violence

MONTPELIER, Vt. — New England towns battled floods of historic proportions, utility crews struggled to restore power to 5 million people along the East Coast, and big-city commuters coped with transit-system disruptions Monday as the rainy remnants of Hurricane Irene finally spun into Canada. The death toll climbed to 35 people in 10 states after a number of bodies were pulled from the floodwaters in the Northeast. The storm never became the big-city nightmare forecasters and public officials had warned about. But it toppled trees and power lines and washed away roads and bridges — some of them well inland from the coastal areas that bore the brunt of Irene’s winds. Read full article > >

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After Irene: Vermont battles raging floods; death toll rises to 35

The torment from Irene isn’t over as parts of the Northeast grapple with dangerous floodwaters, widespread power outages and stranded residents.

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Irene leaves damaging floods, widespread destruction

As the winds died down and the storm passed through the Northeast, an extraordinary onslaught of flooding is still playing out as some rivers continue to rise in an already waterlogged region.

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With Shocking Speed, Floods Turn Deadly

The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut ordered states of emergency as a storm headed toward the Northeast.

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New York Region Prepares for Hurricane Irene

Thou shalt not steal. Even in the age of Twitter and texting, that is set in stone and, indeed, an article of faith for many people. Yet within the past few days, up have popped security camera images of swarms of young people ransacking the snack aisles of convenience stores in Germantown and, more recently, in Northeast in the District. They do not deign to pay. Read full article > >

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District mayor decries shoplifting; Montgomery police say 7-11 ‘flash mob’ used word of mouth, not social media.

Thou shalt not steal. Even in the age of Twitter and texting, that is set in stone and, indeed, an article of faith for many people. Yet within the past few days, up have popped security camera images of swarms of young people ransacking the snack aisles of convenience stores in Germantown and, more recently, in Northeast in the District. They do not deign to pay. Read full article > >

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District mayor decries shoplifting; Montgomery police say 7-11 ‘flash mob’ used word of mouth, not social media.

Hundreds of hospitals are routinely performing a type of chest scan that experts say should be used rarely, subjecting patients to double doses of radiation and driving up health-care costs. In a double CT scan, patients get two imaging tests consecutively: one without dye and the other with dye injected into their veins. Providence Hospital in Northeast Washington and nearly one of every six hospitals in Virginia were among those performing double scans particularly frequently, according to the most recently published government Medicare data, from 2008. Read full article > >

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Many hospitals overuse double CT scans, data show

While many entrepreneurs stalled or failed in the recession, Craig Appelbaum defied convention. He launched his first business — a design gallery — from a most unlikely corner: Trinidad, the hardscrabble neighborhood in Northeast Washington. Within a year, he managed to shake up the elite world of contemporary design and turn the luxury-furniture market business model on its head. Read full article > >

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Craig Appelbaum’s Industry Gallery, District’s home for 21st-century design

Will the White House get its favorite Republican candidate? Last October, top White House adviser David Plouffe told reporters of the 2012 GOP contest: “These guys are going to be running through hoops to please the far-right folks who are kind of the acolytes of Sarah Palin. Now maybe she’ll be running herself. Something tells me we won’t get that lucky.” He might be wrong. The former Alaska governor launches a tour of the Northeast this weekend in what could be the first sign of a presidential run. Read full article > >

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West Wing briefing: Why Democrats would like Palin to run

House Republicans want to dismantle Amtrak, giving private investors the task of building and operating high-speed rail service between Washington and Boston. They believe that an infusion of private capital would enable the system to be built in 10 years, a third of the time that Amtrak projects for completion of the $117 billion project , and that service would improve if operations were put in the hands of a for-profit company. At a hearing Thursday, House Transportation Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-Fla.) condemned Amtrak as having “one of the most dismal records on earth for any rail service, particularly in the Northeast Corridor.” Read full article > >

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House GOP proposal would privatize high-speed rail along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor

The Northeast will receive almost $800 million in federal funding to updgrade rail service along the heavily traveled corridor, according to an announcement made Monday by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The money is a portion of more than $2 billion in awards being distributed across the country. More than half the money for the Northeast, $450 million, will go to Amtrak to upgrade rail service between New York and Washington. The project will upgrade power systems and other equipment along a busy segment of track between Morrisville, Pa., and New Brunswick, N.J. Read full article > >

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NE to receive $800 million in federal rail funds

Rescue workers continued digging through rocky earth more than 6,000 feet underground Sunday in an attempt to locate a 53-year-old man trapped when the roof of the northeast Idaho mine he was working in collapsed.

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Progress made in search for miner