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Kim Chandler/Associated Press

  • A dangerous winter storm combining high winds and ice is blasting through parts of the U.S. Southeast. The storm knocked out power Sunday to tens of thousands of customers, felled trees and coated roads with treacherous ice. Highway patrols reported hundreds of vehicle accidents. In Florida, a tornado ripped through a trailer park. Three minor injuries were reported. Significant icing caused problems in North Carolina, while Virginia State Police said traffic stood still for hours on Interstate 81 in Roanoke County due to an accident.
  • A federal judge has blocked the U.S. Treasury from enforcing a provision of the American Rescue Plan that prohibited states from using the pandemic relief funds to offset new tax cuts. U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler ruled Monday that Congress's exceeded its power under the Constitution in putting the so-called tax mandate on states. Thirteen states had filed a lawsuit in federal court in Alabama challenging the provision of the pandemic relief package. The American Rescue Plan steered $200 billion in relief funds to states but specified that states could not use it as a means to cut taxes and then use the federal relief dollars to offset the revenue reduction.