WASHINGTON — The civil rights movement will come alive in song at the White House on Wednesday night, when President Obama plans to celebrate Black History Month with a star-studded concert.

CHICAGO — A coveted high-profile position was unexpectedly available Monday morning: the job of Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Illinois.

While they dig out from an epic snowstorm on Friday and Saturday, road crews and utility workers across the Mid-Atlantic States may be facing a Sisyphean struggle. They are likely to be digging out all over again after another heavy snowfall that is forecast to start Tuesday afternoon.

WASHINGTON — Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, a gruff ex-Marine who used his immense power in military spending to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to his hard-luck district and who became an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, died on Monday. He was 77.

WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON — Senator Richard C. Shelby, Republican of Alabama, on Monday night lifted most of the nearly 70 holds he had placed on President Obama’s nominations to posts that require Senate confirmation.

Responding to pleas from immigration judges and lawyers who say the nation’s immigration courts are faltering under a crushing caseload, the American Bar Association called Monday for Congress to scrap the current system and create a new, independent court for immigration cases.

Ask conservatives why they love Sarah Palin so and they will often say it is because she is so “authentic.”

SILVERTHORNE, Colo. — A small group of West African men who came to the Rockies in search of economic opportunity are embroiled in a dispute with Wal-Mart, accusing it of a raft of discriminatory actions. Most say they were dismissed because supervisors wanted to give their jobs to local people in need of work.

NEW YORK — I’ve been thinking about Eddie Leung. He had lunch with me the other day at his factory in Dongguan, China, and appeared wearing a black yarmulke. “All my friends are Jewish,” he said.

To the Editor:

The first phase of the long-delayed dredging of toxic chemicals from the Hudson River is over. The polluter, General Electric, and the Environmental Protection Agency have issued separate reports evaluating the six-month cleanup, which was designed as a trial run for a much larger second phase that will finally rid the river of PCBs, industrial lubricants that have poisoned its mud and fish for generations.

To the Editor:

To the Editor:

There is a great tendency in this country to refuse to see what is right in front of everybody’s eyes.

President Obama has made a welcome break with the Bush administration’s disregard for enforcing antitrust law. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have become more aggressive about questioning mergers and challenging monopolies and anticompetitive behavior.

Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

Regarding “On Israel-Palestine, no more of the same ” by Yossi Alpher (Views, Feb. 3): A dramatic change in Washington’s approach is indeed required to secure peace in the Middle East. But I don’t share Mr. Alpher’s view that putting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on a back-burner and pursuing an Israeli-Syrian accord would be productive.

The New York Times said in editorials for Tuesday, Feb. 9``

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(Sofia Journal)

(ART ADV: Photos NYT 38 and NYT 39 are being sent to NYT photo clients. Nonsubscribers can purchase one-time rights by calling: 1-888-603-1036 or 1-888-346-9867.)

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John Anderson and Sharon Rapoport estimate they spend $400 a month, or close to $5,000 a year, keeping their family of four entertained at home.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google is trying once again to capture some of the momentum surrounding social networking companies like Facebook and Twitter by adding new features to Gmail, its popular e-mail service.

Four championships in four years is enough to breed a sense of invulnerability in a race team.

Omar Vizquel had a team, but someone else had his number.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — While the bulk of attention after the New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts focused on quarterback Drew Brees and cornerback Tracy Porter — two Saints with improbable journeys whose career performances came in the most important game either had ever played — the path of Sean Payton was just as, if not more, unlikely.

As the Knicks slogged through another too-little, too-late rally Saturday night, the franchise’s confused priorities were on full display.

Miami Gardens, Fla.