Disasters

Gov. Pawlenty said Friday that the state will seek a federal disaster declaration because of drought conditions. He says it appears about 50 of the state's 87 counties qualify for disaster assistance because of the late-summer drought. Some House Democrats say the governor should also start putting together a state disaster relief package.

Roseville police officials continue their investigation of Sunday's fatal crash and multiple collisions involving an 88-year-old driver. Two people are dead. Three more were treated at a Saint Paul hospital, including the driver. The Roseville crashes are prompting calls to evaluate increased testing of elderly drivers in Minnesota.

Most areas of the state have not received a heavy rain since the July 4th weekend. The hot and dry weather since then has led to a sharp decline in the state's crop conditions. Farmers are losing money each day it doesn't rain.

Lights and air conditioners flipped on across a wide swath of the northeastern United States and southern Canada on Friday, but the creaky power grid that blacked out millions of people encountered new problems as it struggled back to life. Three deaths were linked to the blackout.

While the Northeast went black, the lights stayed on in Minnesota in part because it was too far away and a damage control mechanism worked by isolating the massive blackout that swept from New York to Detroit.

Ranchers in western South Dakota are watching a storm system very carefully. The storm rolling across the plains this week, is crucial. In a region that's seen two years of drought, any snow or rain in the forecast could break the billion dollar drought.

Documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board appear to lessen the likelihood that airframe icing played a role in the October 2002 crash that killed U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone and six others, but raised new questions about the Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport's guidance beacon.

Live from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, coverage of the memorial service for the seven astronauts killed as their space shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry on Saturday.

Thousands of people, led by President Bush, gathered in grief at the home of NASA's Mission Control Tuesday to honor the seven men and women who perished in the Columbia space shuttle disaster. Bush took a message to the astronauts' families: Their sacrifice was not in vain; America's space exploration will go on.

Live coverage of press briefings from NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on the investigation into the cause of Saturday's Columbia disaster. National Public Radio's Neal Conan and Joe Palca host. NASA engineers are trying to determine how space shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry. They say conditions in the shuttle's final minutes point to a possible problem with its critical heat-protection tiles. NASA says new evidence shows that the temperature on Columbia's left side shot up and the ship was buffeted by greater wind resistance before it disintegrated over Texas, killing all seven astronauts aboard.