The Year of the Sheep gets a bad rap and is often dreaded by Chinese couples trying to conceive.

The Chinese New Year on Feb. 19 is quickly approaching, and many are thinking of ways to celebrate the Year of the Sheep.

For Chinese couples trying to conceive, however, they are dreading the 2015 holiday.

According to The Washington Post, the upcoming new year gets a bad rap because sheep are raised for slaughter. So, children born in the Year of the Sheep will "grow up to be followers rather than leaders" and live generally unhappy lives, superstitions say.

The LA Times reports that many couples may plan to wait well into the year to plan a family, purposefully so the child will not be born under the doomed zodiac sign. And those who are pregnant are rushing to give birth, as some hospitals have seen increases in caesarean sections.

In May 2014, Chinese health professionals say fertility consultations spiked, and expressed concern that there may be an increase in abortions at the beginning of 2015, The Washington Post reports.

But even so, Professor David Goodman, who is based in Nanjing and author of "Class in Contemporary China," is unconvinced the sheep year will have any impact on China's birth rates, ABC News says.

Professor Goodman explains that most Chinese are realistic and, despite the superstitions, "they also know that if you can afford to send your kid to a good school and live in a good neighborhood then all the superstition in the world won't matter too much."

While some truly believe in the doomed fates of those born under the sheep, others completely disagree. One woman, Li Chunhua, says she was born in the Year of the Sheep and continues to be content with her life.

"Us old people don't believe in this; it's the young people nowadays, who maybe are not properly educated, who do," Chunhua adds.

The man bonded out of jail the next day.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A man is facing felony charges after he tried speeding away from police last week in Syracuse, records show.

Lamero Wright, 30, was driving around 10:20 p.m. Jan. 19 when police tried to pull him over for a traffic violation. Instead of complying, police say he bolted down the street in his Chevy Venture van, according to criminal complaint documents.

Wright tried ramming vehicles in his way, making drivers scramble to avoid being hit by him.

Officers used stop sticks -- triangular rods that pierce a vehicle's tires with spikes -- to try ending the chase, the records show. Wright, however, ran from his van after it was disabled.

Police tackled him to the ground, where they say he refused to put his hands on his head. Officers had to forcefully move his hands from beneath him, they reported.

Wright is charged with felonies for first-degree attempted assault and first-degree reckless endangerment. He's also charged with misdemeanors for third-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer, resisting arrest and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

He bonded out of the Onondaga County Justice Center the next day.

Contact Jolene Almendarez anytime: 315-418-8746 | Email | Twitter | Facebook

The fire broke out at the Henniker Highway Department on Friday night after the plows had finished clearing snow from the streets.

HENNIKER, N.H. -- A fire has destroyed a fleet of snow plows in the small New Hampshire town of Henniker, as another storm approaches that could dump up to a foot more of snow.

View full sizeHenniker Highway Department 

"This puts the town in a bad spot," Henniker Fire Chief Steve Burritt told the Concord Monitor. "The town has a serious problem for snow removal. Not that there isn't a solution, but it's going to be a challenge."

Investigators said the fire apparently originated in the engine of one of the trucks and spread.

State Fire Marshal J. William Degnan said the garage had a full fire alarm system that alerted the Fire Department to the blaze, but firefighters were unable to enter the building to remove the vehicles because of heavy flames and smoke. He said the building was not equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler system that could have reduced the extent of the damage.

The only remaining heavy equipment were two pickup trucks and a front-end loader, which were parked outside and spared from the blaze. No injuries were reported.

The forecast was calling for 8 to 12 inches of snow on Monday, following the recent blizzard that buried parts of New England under several feet of snow.

"It's going to be a real pain if we get snow on Monday," Burritt told the Concord Monitor.

Henniker is a town of about 4,800 people about 20 miles west of Concord.

The woman also faces other charges.

HASTINGS, N.Y. -- A woman is charged with DWI after police say she crashed into a sign dedicated to a state trooper who died at the site in 2012.

Mackenzie L. Fletcher, 27, is charged with DWI, speeding, failure to use a designated lane and not wearing a seatbelt, state police said in a news release.

Officials said Fletcher was driving a 2002 Volkswagen Beetle east around 10 a.m. Jan. 27 on county Route 37 when she lost control on a curve.

View full sizeState police dedicate a sign in 2013 to Trooper Amanda Anna near the spot where she was killed in a crash while patrolling. On Tuesday, another crash destroyed the sign. New York State Police 

Her vehicle hit a guardrail and overturned, landing in a yard at 667 county Route 37, about 15 feet from a creek.

She was taken to Upstate University Hospital in stable condition.

The sign she destroyed was dedicated to Trooper Amanda Anna, who was killed when her patrol vehicle crashed in May 2012.

Anna, 31, of Liverpool, lost control of her patrol vehicle on a curve the night of May 25, 2012. The Chevrolet Tahoe struck a guide rail and rolled several times.

The sign honoring Anna was erected by the state police and the Badge of Honor Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

James "Thumper" Steen and Roger Breckenridge have been implicated by seven new witnesses each in the 1994 kidnapping.

OSWEGO, N.Y. - If the Heidi Allen kidnapping investigation were a numbers game, the three new alleged suspects would be way ahead of the guy who's been sitting in prison for 21 years.

A total of 14 people have come forward over the past two years with evidence linking James "Thumper" Steen, Roger Breckenridge or Michael Bohrer to the crime.

Two people said 21 years ago they heard Gary Thibodeau make an admission - and those were two men who were in jail at the time. One new witness says he heard someone implicate Thibodeau.

Some of the witnesses have testified at a hearing last month to determine whether Thibodeau's 1995 conviction should be overturned.

There was no "smoking gun" linking Thibodeau to the abduction of Allen, then 18, from a convenience store in New Haven or her presumed murder. There was no body, no confession to police and no DNA evidence.

Related story: Who's who in the Heidi Allen case

Here's a tally of who's implicated whom:

JAMES STEEN

Seven people say they have evidence linking him to the crime. Steen denies any involvement in the crime. He has not been charged.

James Steen denied having any involvement in Heidi Allen's kidnapping or the concealment of her body while testifying Jan. 13, 2015 at a hearing about the 1994 kidnapping. Steen is serving life in prison for killing his wife and her boyfriend.Gary Walts | gwalts@syracuse.com

Tonya Priest: She says Steen confessed to her in 2006 that he, Breckenridge and Bohrer kidnapped Allen because she was going to report drug dealers to police. Steen told her they killed Allen then hid her remains under the floor of a cabin in the woods off Rice Road in Mexico, Priest said.

Megan Shaw: Steen told her he helped dispose of Allen's body after others kidnapped and killed her, Shaw testified. He did so to join a motorcycle gang, Shaw said Steen told her.

Joe Mannino Jr.: He said Steen admitted hauling a crushed van to Canada that had been used in the Allen kidnapping. Steen and Mannino were in the Oswego County Jail in 2011 when Steen made the admission, Mannino said.

Bill Pierce: He says he saw Steen punch a woman in the back of the head and load her into a van on Easter morning 1994 at the store where Allen was kidnapped. Pierce did not tell authorities until 2014 about what he said he saw.

Ronald Clarke: In October, Clarke told sheriff's investigators that Steen told him a few years after the kidnapping that "Heidi Allen was long gone to Canada."

"He was basically laughing at the sheriffs because he thought they didn't know what they were doing," Clarke said.

Clarke came forward in October after seeing news accounts about Steen's possible involvement. But his written statement wasn't turned over to Thibodeau's lawyers until two weeks ago.
Amanda Braley: She testified that sometime between 2000 and 2006 she overheard Steen telling people, "I will never see a day in prison for what we did to Heidi."

Jennifer Wescott: In a phone call that she didn't know was being recorded and monitored by investigators in 2013, Wescott admitted that Breckenridge, Steen and Bohrer brought the kidnapped Allen to her home in 1994.

ROGER BRECKENRIDGE

Seven witnesses say they have evidence he was involved. Breckenridge denies having anything to do with Allen's kidnapping. He has not been charged.

Roger Breckenridge denied he had any involvement in the 1994 kidnapping and presumed killing of 18-year-old Heidi Allen when he testified Jan. 13. 2015 at a hearing in Oswego, N.Y. Gary Walts | gwalts@syracuse.com

Amanda Braley: At a party at Wescott's family's home in 2003, Breckenridge said "he took that bitch to the scrapyard in a van, they had it crushed and it was shipped to Canada," Braley testified. Breckenridge made similar admissions repeatedly between 2000 and 2006, Braley said.

Chris Combs:. Breckenridge admitted burning her body in a stove and hiding it in a vehicle that was to be scrapped, Combs told investigators recently. Breckenridge told Combs that the kidnapping involved "a local organization that would take care of things/people."

Jennifer Wescott: In addition to the recorded phone call, Wescott told sheriff's investigators in August that shortly after Allen's kidnapping Breckenridge admitted to her that Allen was burned in a wood stove and "taken care of in a van." Wescott also revealed that Breckenridge's sister told her to "keep her mouth shut" about his involvement in Allen's disappearance.

James Steen: He testified that Breckenridge told him 20 years ago that Allen's body was in a crushed vehicle that Steen had hauled to Canada. Steen said he thought Breckenridge was "just blowing steam."

Jessica Howard: She told a Syracuse.com reporter Breckenridge's family has told her he and Steen kidnapped and killed Allen because she was planning to turn them in to police for selling drugs. Howard, who married into the Breckenridge family, said she alerted sheriff's deputies in 2004 and 2011, but they never investigated her allegations.

Cynthia Taylor: She says Breckenridge's ex-wife, Tracy Breckenridge, admitted 21 years ago that in 1994 he and three others had planned a drug deal at the store where Heidi Allen was a cashier. Tracy told Taylor and others that those people "did something to a girl" because the victim was going to snitch on a drug deal, Taylor said in a recent statement to sheriff's investigators.

James Abbott: He says that in 1994 Tracy Breckenridge admitted to him that her then-husband burned Allen's body.

MICHAEL BOHRER

Michael Bohrer testified Jan. 14 and 15, 2015 at a court hearing in Oswego, N.Y., that he had nothing to do with Allen's disappearance. Bohrer admitted that for years he independently investigated the crime. David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com

Tyler Hayes: He testified that Bohrer was telling people at the Liberty Bell bar in Mexico in 2000 that he knew who killed Allen and where her body was. Bohrer started sobbing and said he didn't want to deal with the guilt, Hayes testified.

Danielle Babcock:She testified that, when she worked for Bohrer in 2001 or 2002, he frequently told her and other female employees that "he would do us like he did Heidi."

Jennifer Wescott: She acknowledged in the recorded phone call that Bohrer was with Breckenridge and Steen when they brought the kidnapped Allen to her home in 1994.

GARY THIBODEAU

Three witnesses have implicated him. Thibodeau, 61, was convicted in 1995 of kidnapping and presumably killing Allen. He's serving 25 years to life in prison. He's maintained he's innocent. Thibodeau's brother, Richard, was acquitted by a jury in 1995.

Gary Thibodeau consults with his lawyer Lisa Peebles at a court hearing in Oswego, N.Y., about the 1994 kidnapping of Heidi Allen. Thibodeau is the only person convicted of the crime. His brother, Richard, was acquitted by a jury in 1995. David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com

Robert Baldasaro: He says Thibodeau made admissions when they were both inmates at a Massachusetts jail shortly after the kidnapping. "He told me 'the police back in New York think me and my brother kidnapped a girl from a convenience store, but they will never prove it,'" Baldasaro testified.

James McDonald: He was another Massachusetts jail inmate who testified in 1995 that Thibodeau admitted that that he used cocaine with Allen. No other witness said Allen was a drug user.

James Abbott: He says Tracy Breckenridge told him in 1994 that a Thibodeau worked together with her husband to burn Allen's body in an outdoor furnace. In a statement to sheriff's investigators, Abbott did not identify which Thibodeau brother he was talking about.

Christopher Bivens. He testified in the Thibodeaus' trials that he was driving by the D&W Convenience store Easter morning when he saw two men leading a young woman to a van, and that one of them had her in a bear hug. Bivens testified that a rust spot and the van's bumper allowed him to positively identify the van as Richard Thibdoeau's. In previous statements to police, Bivens said he was uncertain of the van's make or color, and he hadn't remembered the rust spot or bumper.

He did not identify either of the Thibodeaus as the men he saw at the scene.

Nancy Fabian. She testified in the Thibodeaus' trials that she saw a van swerving behind her as she drove on Route 104 in Mexico Easter morning, and that the male driver of the van was reaching behind him as if to push something down. She later identified Richard Thibodeau's van as that vehicle.

She did not identify either of the Thibodeaus as the man in the van.

Contact John O'Brien at jobrien@syracuse.com or 315-470-2187

Thomas Erwin, Syracuse district fire chief and a longtime firefighter, has died. Watch video

Thomas Erwin, Syracuse fire district chief and a longtime firefighter, died at Crouse Hospital Saturday night surrounded by his family.

Erwin, 51, of North Syracuse, had continued working until Christmas while battling lung and bone cancer that had spread to his brain. When he could no longer drive, his colleagues picked him up so he could come to work, said his daughter, Danielle Erwin.

On Wednesday, Thomas Erwin watched his 17-year-old daughter graduate in a special ceremony from his hospital bedside (video). The ceremony was arranged and conducted as a surprise for Danielle and her dad by Bishop Grimes High School administrators and a teacher.

"It meant the world to me,'' Danielle said.
 
Thomas Erwin, who had been back and forth from the hospital several times in the last few months, enjoyed seeing the Syracuse.com article about the graduation ceremony Friday night, family members said. On Saturday, however, his condition deteriorated.

"He is in a much better place now,'' Danielle Erwin said. "Pain free, and fighting fires probably."

Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

The increase in cancellations began late last summer after the Justice Department prioritized the tens of thousands of Central American migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, most of them mothers with children and unaccompanied minors.

SAN ANTONIO -- Thousands of immigrants seeking legalization through the U.S. court system have had their hearings canceled and are being told by the government that it may be 2019 or later before their futures are resolved.

Some immigration lawyers fear the delay will leave their clients at risk of deportation as evidence becomes dated, witnesses disappear, sponsoring relatives die and dependent children become adults.

The increase in cancellations began late last summer after the Justice Department prioritized the tens of thousands of Central American migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, most of them mothers with children and unaccompanied minors.

Immigration lawyers in cities that absorbed a large share of those cases, including New York, San Antonio, Los Angeles and Denver, say they've had hearings canceled with little notice and received no new court dates. Work permits, green cards, asylum claims, and family reunifications hang in the balance.

Denver immigration lawyer David Simmons said he's never seen such a standstill in nearly 30 years of practice. "There is no maneuverability," he said. "It's as if we have no court at all."

One of Simmons' clients, Maximiano Vazquez-Guevarra, 34, recently won his appeal to become a legal permanent resident. But his case still needs to go in front of an immigration judge one last time, and it has been pulled from the docket.

Vazquez, who is from the Mexican state of Guanajuato, entered the U.S. illegally in 1998. He has been fighting deportation since 2011, when he came to authorities' attention after his second driving under the influence charge. He lives in suburban Denver with his American wife, Ashley Bowen, and their 6-year-old daughter, and they are expecting their second child in August.

Meanwhile Vazquez's brother in Mexico is dying of kidney failure, and Vazquez can't leave the country. "It's sad," Vazquez said in a telephone interview. "I feel bad not seeing him, to say one last goodbye."

Before July, only immigrants in detention were considered a priority for the courts. Under the new policies, unaccompanied minors and families facing deportation also have priority status, regardless of whether they're in detention.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Justice Department body that oversees the nation's immigration courts, could not say precisely how many hearings had been canceled. But it said more than 415,000 immigrants who are not in detention have cases pending.

Hearings are being rescheduled for Nov. 29, 2019, as a way to keep cases on the docket, said Lauren Alder Reid, legislative and public affairs counsel for EOIR. Most, however, are likely to receive other dates -- either earlier or later, as docket times become available, she said.

Simmons said thousands of non-priority cases in Denver alone have had hearings canceled.

When the surge hit last summer, immigration courts there were already short two judges because of retirements. Two of the three remaining Denver immigration judges are hearing, via videoconference, cases of families detained in a new detention center in South Texas. The third Denver judge is hearing cases involving unaccompanied minors who've been placed with relatives.

David Martin, a law professor at the University of Virginia who worked for two Democratic presidents, criticized Congress and the Obama administration for not funding more immigration judges.

"You fund more investigators, more detention space, more border patrol, almost all of these are going to produce some kind of immigration court case," he said. "You are putting a lot more people into the system. It's just going to be a big bottleneck unless you increase the size of that pipeline."

San Antonio's immigration courts, which like Denver's are handling a large number of unaccompanied children and detained families, also have seen the cancellations of all non-detainee hearings, which are not considered priority.

Lance Curtright, a San Antonio lawyer, said hearings have been postponed for hundreds of cases his firm is handling. Longtime green card holders facing deportation over minor crimes or procedural issues are going to suffer needlessly, along with their families, he said.

"This is their home, and they don't know if they are going to be forcibly removed from it," he said. "And they are not going to get any resolution on that until 2019."

Limbo does not jeopardize all immigrants facing deportation as many are still able to work under existing permits until their cases can be heard. The delays might even provide some immigrants with weaker petitions more time to build a stronger case.

"Moving the docket back four years to some people will be devastating," said Anthony Drago, an immigration lawyer in Boston. "To other people it's, wow, four years in the United States."

Asylum seekers, who often have had to leave behind families in countries ravaged by war and violence, are among the hardest hit, said Bryan Johnson-Xenitelis, an immigration lawyer in New York. His firm has had eight case hearing cancellations so far, including that of a severely disabled young man from Ukraine with an asylum petition. Another dozen asylum claims at his firm have not been scheduled.

Many fear that cases like these will linger indefinitely at the bottom of the pile if there's another wave of Central American migrants.

"Starting May or June, there is likely going to be another surge of unaccompanied kids or families," said Manoj Govindaiah, a lawyer for the San Antonio-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. "Presumably this issue is going to continue."

A Twitter user from Buffalo snapped a photo of the cakes, which are in the shape of deflated footballs.

On this Super Bowl Sunday, Wegmans is proving that one man's scandal is another man's dessert.

The Buffalo location of the grocery store is taking a sweet jab at Deflategate with their "Tom's Deflate Cake," a chocolate cake in the shape of a deflated football, The Buffalo News reports.

Twitter user Dennis Brown tweeted a photo of the cake display to ESPN Business Reporter Darren Rovell saying, "getting my cake for the big game tomorrow! Wegmans in Buffalo is awesome!"

@darrenrovell getting my cake for the big game tomorrow! Wegmans in Buffalo is awesome! pic.twitter.com/viDIL0CVda

— Dennis Brown (@deno716) January 31, 2015

The misshapen cakes are poking fun at Tom Brady and the New England Patriots' deflating of game balls during the AFC Championship game, The Buffalo News explains. Deflategate has been an ongoing topic of discussion in the wake of Super Bowl XLIX.

One Buffalo News reader adds that the cakes were also sold in Massachusetts locations. However, the cakes were removed after employees called the corporate offices complaining.

Allie Healy | ahealy@syracuse.com 

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Sunday said being gay is akin to choosing to drink alcohol or use profanity -- lifestyle choices he says are appealing to others but not to him.

WASHINGTON -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Sunday said being gay is akin to choosing to drink alcohol or use profanity -- lifestyle choices he says are appealing to others but not to him.

The former Baptist pastor, who is weighing a second run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, also claimed that forcing people of faith to accept gay marriage as policy is on par with telling Jews that they must serve "bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli." That dish would run afoul of kosher rules in the same way Huckabee sees asking Christians to accept same-sex marriages.

"We're so sensitive to make sure we don't offend certain religions, but then we act like Christians can't have the convictions that they have had for over 2,000 years," Huckabee said.

Huckabee has made cultural issues the cornerstone of his likely White House bid. The former Baptist pastor is counting on social conservatives and evangelicals who have great clout in early nominating Iowa to help him.

His comments about gays and lesbians seem targeted at the conservative corners of his party.

Yet he also included a pitch for inclusion in his remarks.

Huckabee said he appreciates different viewpoints on gay marriage, adding that he has gay friends.

"I accept a lot of people as friends maybe whose lifestyle I don't necessarily adhere to, agree with or practice. Doesn't mean that I can't have a good relationship with anyone or lead them or govern them," Huckabee said.

But he remained steadfastly opposed to rights for gays and lesbians, although research has found a biological basis for their attraction to others of the same sex.

"I don't chuck people out of my circle or out of my life because they have a different point of view. I don't drink alcohol, but, gosh, a lot of my friends, maybe most of them, do. You know, I don't use profanity, but, believe me, I have got a lot of friends who do," Huckabee said.

"Some people really like classical music and ballet and opera. It's not my cup of tea. I would like to think that there's room in America for people who have different points of views without screaming, shouting and wanting to shut their businesses down."

Such rhetoric is central to Huckabee's efforts to engage social conservatives.

In recent weeks, Huckabee has picked fights with the White House over President Barack Obama's friendship with Beyonce Knowles. Huckabee says the Obama daughters should not treat the entertainer as a role model because she is overly sexual.

In his latest book, Huckabee also says Beyonce's husband, rapper Jay-Z, is more of a "pimp" than a spouse.

Huckabee spoke on CNN's "State of the Union."

Find out how measles spreads and what precautions you can take in avoiding the viral disease.

Measles, a highly contagious respiratory disease, is spreading throughout the U.S. On Friday, health officials said a New York college student who now has measles recently traveled across the state on a train, The Associated Press reports. As some may have been exposed to the disease, officials want people to be aware.

Damian Dovarganes | The Associated Press 

The AP continues to report that the state Health Department said Friday that the student took an Amtrak train from New York City's Penn Station to Albany and then to Niagara Falls on Jan. 25. As of Friday, the state has had three cases of measles for 2015.

According to ABC News, the outbreak began in December 2014 and has infected at least 84 people in 14 states, including at least 5 people who were immunized. Here is what we know about measles:

How can you catch measles?

The CDC says measles lives in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person and can spread through coughing and sneezing.

It's important to note that the measles virus can live for up to two hours on a surface or in an airspace where the infected person coughed or sneezed. If other people breathe the virus-ridden air or touch a contaminated surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected, the CDC explains.

To put it in prospective, measles is contagious to the point that if one person has the virus, 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected.

What are the signs and symptoms of measles?

Measles usually starts with a fever and then a cough, runny nose and red eyes, Mercury News reports. A rash of tiny red spots breaks out and appears first at the head and then the rest of the body.

How can you prevent measles?

According to ABC News, the CDC recommends doses of two MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) shots that will provide 99 percent protection. Just a single dose will protect 95 percent of people from the virus.

Learn more about the measles vaccination on the CDC's page.

The $4 trillion budget that President Barack Obama sends Congress on Monday proposes higher taxes on wealthier Americans and corporations, and an ambitious $478 billion public works program for highway, bridge and transit upgrades.

WASHINGTON -- The $4 trillion budget that President Barack Obama sends Congress on Monday proposes higher taxes on wealthier Americans and corporations, and an ambitious $478 billion public works program for highway, bridge and transit upgrades.

The grab-bag of proposals, many recycled from past Obama budgets, already is generating fierce objections from Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress for the first time in his presidency. They will move ahead on their own, mindful they eventually must strike a deal with Obama, whose signature is needed for the budget to become law.

The spending blueprint for the 2016 budget year that begins Oct. 1 emphasizes the same themes as Obama's State of the Union address last month, when he challenged Congress to work with him on narrowing the income gap between the very wealthy and everyone else.

In documents obtained by The Associated Press, Obama lays out the country's first $4 trillion budget -- $3.999 trillion before rounding -- with proposed spending supported by $3.5 trillion in revenues.

The projected budget deficit would be $474 billion, slightly higher than the $467 billion forecast by the Congressional Budget Office for 2016. For the budget year that ended Sept. 30, the actual deficit was $483 billion. That was a marked improvement from the $1 trillion-plus deficits during Obama's first years in office, when the country was struggling to emerge from a deep recession.

The CBO sees the deficits rising for the rest of the decade, once again topping $1 trillion by 2025 as spending surges in the government's big benefit programs with the retirement of millions of baby boomers.

Obama's budget does not make major changes in politically popular programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Republicans are promising action in their budget plans.

Obama's six-year $478 billion public works program would provide upgrades for the nation's highways, bridges and transit systems, in an effort to tap into bipartisan support for spending on badly needed repairs.

Half of that money would come from a one-time mandatory tax on profits that U.S. companies have amassed overseas, according to White House officials who spoke on condition of anonymity before the budget was released.

The tax on accumulated foreign profits would be set at 14 percent, significantly lower than the current top corporate rate of 35 percent.

The administration wants to overhaul corporate taxes by ending certain tax breaks and lowering rates, a challenging task that Obama and Republican leaders insist they are ready to tackle.

Higher taxes on the wealthy and on fees paid by the largest financial institutions would help raise $320 billion for low- and middle-income tax credits. Obama also is calling for a $60 billion program for free community college for qualified students and an $80 billion child care initiative.

"What I think the president is trying to do here is to, again, exploit envy economics," said Rep. Paul Ryan, the new chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. "This top-down redistribution doesn't work."

But Ryan, R-Wis., also told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he was willing "to work with this administration to see if we can find common ground on certain aspects of tax reform."

The White House believes it has some leverage on taxing foreign earnings by linking the revenue to construction projects that potentially could benefit the states and districts of virtually every member of Congress.

The administration's budget last year proposed a smaller four-year bridge and highway fund, relying on taxing accumulated foreign earnings, but without specifying a formula.

This time, the budget will call for a one-time 14 percent mandatory tax on the up to $2 trillion in estimated U.S. corporate earnings that have accumulated overseas. That would generate about $238 billion, by White House calculations. The remaining $240 billion would come from the federal Highway Trust Fund, which is financed with a gasoline tax.

At issue is how to get companies to bring back some of their foreign earnings to invest in the United States.

The current 35 percent top tax rate for corporations in the United States, the highest among major economies, serves as a disincentive. Many U.S. companies with overseas holdings simply keep their foreign earnings abroad and avoid the U.S. tax.

Under Obama's plan, the top corporate tax rate for U.S. earnings would drop to 28 percent. Foreign profits would be taxed at 19 percent, with companies getting a credit for foreign taxes paid.

Obama's budget will propose easing painful, automatic cuts to the Pentagon and domestic agencies with a 7 percent increase in annual appropriations. For 2016, he wants a $38 billion increase for the Pentagon; many Republicans support that.

But his demand for a nearly equal amount for domestic programs sets up a showdown that may not be resolved until late in the year.

Another centerpiece of the president's tax proposal is an increase in the capital gains rate on couples making more than $500,000 per year. The rate would climb from 23.8 percent to 28 percent.

Obama wants to require estates to pay capital gains taxes on securities at the time they are inherited. He also is trying to impose a 0.07 percent fee on the roughly 100 U.S. financial companies with assets of more than $50 billion.

Obama would take the $320 billion that those tax increases would generate over 10 years and funnel them into middle-class tax breaks. His ideas: a credit of up to $500 for two-income families, a boost in the child care tax credit to up to $3,000 per child under age 5, and overhauling breaks that help pay for college.

Altogether, the White House calculates that Obama's tax increases and spending cuts would cut the deficit by about $1.8 trillion over the next decade, according to people briefed on the basics of the plan.

The tax increases, especially the increase on capital gains, bring in far more over the longer term, helping the White House claim it would stabilize the debt in relation to the size of the economy for 25 years.

A reporter for Al-Jazeera English was released from an Egyptian prison and deported Sunday after more than a year behind bars, but his two Egyptian colleagues remained jailed in a case widely condemned as a sham by human-rights groups.

CAIRO -- A reporter for Al-Jazeera English was released from an Egyptian prison and deported Sunday after more than a year behind bars, but his two Egyptian colleagues remained jailed in a case widely condemned as a sham by human-rights groups.

Australian Peter Greste was whisked away on a flight to Cyprus. His release came as a welcome surprise to fellow reporters and activists who spent months pressing for his freedom.

But rights groups and Greste's Qatar-based broadcaster called on Egypt to release the other two defendants in the case, which has hindered the country's international standing as it struggles to recover from the political unrest and economic collapse caused by the 2011 uprising.

Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed were arrested in December 2013 over their coverage of the violent crackdown on Islamist protests following the military overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi.

Egyptian authorities accused them of providing a platform for Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, now declared a terrorist organization. But authorities provided no concrete evidence. The journalists and their supporters insist they were doing their jobs during a time of violent upheaval.

The three were widely seen as having been caught up in a regional power struggle between Egypt and Qatar, which funds Al-Jazeera and had been a strong backer of Morsi. Greste's release follows a thawing of ties between Cairo and Doha.

"Hard to believe but YES @PeterGreste is a free man," his brother Andrew wrote on Twitter.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who had been negotiating for Greste's release, said Monday that the 49-year-old journalist had told her by telephone from Egypt that he was desperate to return to his family in the Australian city of Brisbane after spending 400 days in custody.

"He was immensely relieved and he was desperate to come home to Australia and reunite with his family," Bishop told reporters in Sydney. "From my discussion with him, he was very keen to be back on a beach and lying in the sun in Australia," she said.

Greste had been given short notice that he was being released "unconditionally," Bishop said.

"We moved as fast as we could to make arrangements for his immediate departure," she said.

An Egyptian prison official and the nation's official news agency said Greste was released following a presidential "approval." The official and an Interior Ministry statement said he was released under a new deportation law passed last year. The law appeared to have been tailored to the Al-Jazeera case.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. There was no word on the fate of the other two defendants.

Acting Al-Jazeera Director General Mostefa Souag said the Qatar-based network "will not rest until Baher and Mohamed also regain their freedom."

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, welcomed the news of Greste's release but said "nothing can make up for his ordeal" and called for the others to be released.

"It is vital that in the celebratory fanfare surrounding his deportation the world does not forget the continuing ordeal" of his co-workers.

Canada also welcomed the "positive developments," saying it was hopeful that Fahmy's case would be "resolved shortly," according to a statement from the office of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Consular.

The three were convicted on terrorism charges and for spreading false information, faking reports to show that the country was on the verge of civil war and aiding the Brotherhood's goal of portraying Egypt as a failed state.

Mohammed received an additional three years for his possession of a spent bullet he had picked up as a souvenir. Three other foreign reporters received 10-year sentences in absentia. Twelve other co-defendants were sentenced to between seven and 10 years, some of them in absentia.

An appeals court overturned their verdict in January and ordered a retrial. No date has been set for the case.

During the five-month trial, prosecutors presented no evidence backing the charges, at times citing random video footage found with the defendants that even the judge dismissed as irrelevant.

The Al-Jazeera journalists' arrest was part of a broad crackdown against Islamists in which hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested following the ouster of Morsi. Many of the leading activists behind the 2011 uprising that brought down President Hosni Mubarak have also been jailed for violating a law banning unauthorized protests.

According to a law passed late last year, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi -- who as military chief overthrew Morsi amid popular protests against the Islamist leader's yearlong rule -- has the power to deport foreign defendants or convicts if it's considered to be in the interest of national security. The law was seen as providing a potential legal instrument with which to free the journalists.

El-Sissi had repeatedly said he wants to end the case, which has prompted a storm of international criticism.

Greste, 49, had only been in Egypt for a few weeks when he was detained. Fahmy had taken up his post as an acting bureau chief only a couple of months before his arrest.

After freelancing in Britain, Greste joined the BBC as its Afghanistan correspondent in 1995. The following year, he covered Yugoslavia for Reuters before returning to the BBC.

He spent more than a decade with the British broadcaster, reporting from across Latin America, the Middle East and Africa before joining Al-Jazeera in 2011 -- the year he won a prestigious Peabody Award for a BBC report on Somalia. Greste's hometown is Brisbane, Australia, but he now lives in Nairobi.

Fahmy, 40, has reported for CNN and the New York Times. He had to put off his marriage plans because of the trial.

Mohammed's wife gave birth to a child while he was in prison. He will not benefit from the deportation law because he does not have another nationality. His wife, Jehane, said she couldn't imagine that his colleagues would be set free while he languishes in jail.

"They should all be set free. It is the same case," she told The Associated Press. "Or is this about foreigners and Egyptians?"

Steven A. Olender, a 57-year-old self-employed contractor, was released after his arrest.

UTICA, N.Y. -- A self-employed contractor is accused of taking money from multiple customers with the promise of home improvement projects, but then never completing the jobs or returning the money, state police said.

Steven A. Olender, 57, of Pinecrest Road, Whitesboro, was charged Saturday with third-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree grand larceny and first-degree scheme to defraud, all felonies.

Olender is accused of stealing about $6,100 from his customers, all who lived in Oneida County, state police said. He was arraigned in New York Mills Village Court and released. Olender is scheduled to appear at 9 a.m. Monday in Utica City Court.

State police say they want to hear from anyone else who may have had a similar incident with Olender. Anyone with information can call state police at (315) 736-8802.

The crash took the lives of Robert Hoag, 71, of Bloomfield and his wife, Elaine, 63.

EAST BLOOMFIELD, N.Y. -- A husband and wife died after a two-car crash south of Rochester, state police said Sunday.

The accident Friday morning on state Routes 5 and 20 in the town of East Bloomfield in Ontario County took the lives of Robert Hoag, 71, of Bloomfield and his wife, Elaine, 63.

They were killed when their vehicle spun into the oncoming lane and was struck by another vehicle, police said.

Robert Hoag was pronounced dead soon after the crash at Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua. Elaine Hoag was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester in critical condition and died later that day.

State police said the driver of the other vehicle was not injured and had no passengers.

Devi Mariah Ostler's labor started Saturday before she got in the car, but soon became overwhelming and she called 911.

SALT LAKE CITY -- A pregnant Utah woman driving herself to the hospital gave birth to a healthy, nearly 10-pound baby boy on the side of an interstate highway, police said.

Devi Mariah Ostler's labor started Saturday before she got in the car, but soon became overwhelming and she called 911, Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Jalaine Hawkes said.

On a recording of the call, Ostler is initially calm, telling the dispatcher that she's on the freeway, but soon interrupts herself to say her water broke.

"I'm trying to get over into the other lane -- I need to push!" she said. She told the dispatcher her name and described her car, then said: "The baby is coming!"

The 32-year-old expectant mother pulled over on the side of Interstate 15 as dispatcher Brittney Chugg talked her through the labor, telling her to lay her seat back, breathe and even hold the baby's head so he wasn't born too fast.

"We knew. We just knew it was going to happen. There was going to be a baby on the side of the freeway right then," said Chugg at a news conference Sunday, according to the Deseret News.

Police Chief Jean Loveland from the nearby town of Willard and Utah Highway Patrol trooper Josh Carr sped to the spot. Less than a minute after their arrival, she gave birth to a 9.9-pound baby boy. Cars can be heard speeding by on the recording as the baby is born and wrapped in a sweat shirt.

View full sizeMariah Ostler meets Brittney Chugg, the 911 dispatcher who answered Ostler's call for help when she realized she was about to deliver her baby on the freeway, during a press conference at Brigham City Community Hospital in Brigham City, Utah, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015. AP Photo/The Deseret News, Chelsey Allder 

"He came right out in my hands," said Carr, who told her the gender of the baby for the first time. "It was very emotional. Probably next to my own children's' birth, it was a very satisfying moment in my career."

He is her third child.

Ostler, of Mantua, said the contractions started as she was driving her 6-year-old son at her mother's house, and when they didn't stop she started driving herself to the hospital.

"I knew the baby was coming and it doesn't help to panic. So, I just stayed calm and said, 'Well, if I deliver it on my own then I deliver it on my own. If somebody gets here, somebody gets here. The baby is here. There's not much more I can do about it,'" she said Sunday.

She had not picked a name for the baby as of Sunday.

The mother and baby were taken in good condition to the hospital in Brigham City, about 60 miles north of Salt Lake City.

"Everyone is really feeling good," Hawkes said. The baby was due on Tuesday.

Roadside births happen occasionally in the state, especially in rural areas where it's harder to get to a hospital quickly, Hawkes said.

Troopers are all equipped with a delivery kit, and when babies are born healthy it's a happy occasions for emergency crews as well.

Another Utah woman gave birth to twins on the side of Interstate 80 in June 2013.

In that case, 39-year-old mother Lynette Hales was 30 weeks pregnant and taking a last getaway in the Nevada gambling town of Wendover near the Utah border when she went into labor. The first baby had difficulty breathing at first, but both baby boys were flown to a hospital in fair condition.

McAvan's Pub and its patrons "victims of circumstance," police said.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The skies were clear and the snow hadn't started falling yet, but the parking lot outside McAvan's Pub on Tipperary Hill in Syracuse was jam-packed Sunday afternoon.

Inside, regulars joked about the "Deflategate" controversy surrounding the New England Patriots, hours before Super Bowl XLIX. They laughed and drank with friends.

They also were quick to defend this neighborhood bar -- a bar where many locals come to play pool or shoot darts or be with friends -- hours after a man shot five people inside McAvan's Pub.

Syracuse police have said 22-year-old Michael Morris abducted his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint Saturday night from a market on Bellevue Avenue, and threatened to kill her. Morris, a parolee recently released from prison, ordered his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint to bring him to McAvan's Pub at 1217 W. Fayette St., Syracuse, where her family was celebrating a birthday, police have said.

About 12:50 a.m. Sunday, Morris opened fire on the bar, striking five people, including his ex-girlfriend's brother, police have said. Two victims are in critical condition and another two victims are in serious condition. Another has been released from the hospital.

Morris, of 1613 W. Onondaga St., Apt. 2, Syracuse, left the bar and was arrested a short time later at his home. He was charged with second-degree kidnapping, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree criminal possession of weapon and five counts of second-degree attempted murder, all felonies, and second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor. He was sent to the Onondaga County jail, awaiting arraignment.

Back at McAvan's Pub Sunday afternoon, patrons and employees didn't have much to say about what happened hours earlier. But they wanted others to know this is a place where neighbors come; not a place where trouble starts. Syracuse police agree.

"The problem was brought to the bar; the bar didn't cause the problem," Syracuse police Lt. Eric Carr said. "We have not had a history of problems with that bar. The bar and its patrons were victims of circumstance."

O'Brien has been investigating the kidnapping for eight months. He has written a series of stories about three possible new suspects.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse.com reporter John O'Brien will answer readers' questions about the 1994 Heidi Allen kidnapping in a live online Q&A at noon Monday.

O'Brien has been investigating the kidnapping for eight months. He has written a series of stories about allegations against three new possible suspects: James Steen, Roger Breckenridge and Michael Bohrer. O'Brien has also conducted a prison interview with Gary Thibodeau, the man convicted by a jury in 1995 of the kidnapping and presumed killing of Allen.

On Tuesday, a hearing will resume in Oswego County Court before Judge Daniel King to determine if Thibodeau's conviction should be vacated and a new trial held. Thibodeau, who has been in prison for 20 years, maintains he is innocent.

O'Brien and syracuse.com reporter Douglass Dowty will be in Oswego on Tuesday to cover the hearing live.

Allen, 18, was kidnapped Easter morning 1994 while she worked at a convenience store in New Haven in Oswego County. Her remains have never been found.

You can submit questions for O'Brien in the box below beginning at 11:45 a.m. Monday or at any time during the live session.

View live updates on mobile app or RSS reader »

The investigation is part of a looming report from the state's Inspector General's office, the Daily News' Ken Lovett reports.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- State investigators are looking into whether New York State Thruway Authority officials used work phones to set up meetings with prostitutes, the New York Daily News reports.

The investigation is part of an expected report from the state's Inspector General's office, Ken Lovett reports.

"But now two sources from outside the IG's office with knowledge of the investigation say it pertains to prostitution," Lovett writes. "It's unclear how many people are being looked at. But sources say it is believed that at least one and maybe more used their office phones or work cellphones to arrange the meetings."

Late last year, two top Thruway officials stepped down with little explanation. Former state budget direction, Robert Megna, has taken over as acting director. Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney has been nominated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to become chairwoman of the Thruway's board.

Contact Teri Weaver anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2274

Since Heastie became the head of the Bronx Democratic Party, four lawmakers from the borough have been charged with political corruption, the Daily News reports.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Assemblyman Carl Heastie, 47, is poised to replace Sheldon Silver as the next leader of the New York State Assembly

The Democrat from the Bronx told reporters over the weekend he doesn't know much about Upstate, he likes the Dallas Cowboys, and he'd rather play basketball (point guard) than schmooze at dinners and bars in Albany, the Buffalo News reported.

He's pledged not to work any outside jobs if elected as speaker, according to the Gannett News Agency.

By some accounts, Heastie is a quiet lawmaker, sponsoring few pieces of legislation and unlikely to say much on the Assembly floor. He's sometimes reluctant to talk to the press.

He's also an effective power broker, shaking up his own party in the Bronx in 2008 in an effort to allow more voices to weigh-in on political decisions. Since becoming the Bronx Democratic chairman, four lawmakers have been arrested on corruption charges, the New York Daily News reports.

Like many state lawmakers, it's possible to follow some of his political contributions onto the Assembly floor. Capital New York took a deep look at Heastie's campaign finance reports and found $60,000 in unitemized expenses.

"A Capital analysis of the three most recent years of member items shows that $383,400, more than 45 percent of the money awarded by Heastie, went to either organizations that contributed to his re-election efforts or to programs whose project director donated to the assemblyman," Bill Mahoney wrote.

Heastie's campaign spending drew the attention of an anti-corruption commission (led by Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick), but Heastie has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Friday morning, Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, announced he would support Heastie for speaker.

Assemblyman Al Stirpe, D-Cicero, has joined a group of about two dozen Democratic lawmakers calling for more openness and shared decision-making within the closed-door caucus. The group has not endorsed any of the three candidates running for speaker: Heastie, Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit; or Cathy Nolan, D-Queens. The caucus is scheduled to meet privately with Heastie today.

On Friday, Silver, D-Manhattan, submitted a letter announcing he would resign as speaker, effective at 11:59 p.m. today.

The Assembly is back in session in Albany today. As of Friday, the plan was to elect Morelle, the chamber's second in command, as speaker only until Feb. 10 to allow lawmakers time to decide who to support as a permanent speaker.

At the same time, support for Heastie grew last week.

What's next? Stay tuned. I'll have updates throughout the day.

Contact Teri Weaver anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2274

What would Bill Murray say?

Rise and shine campers! Don't forget your booties because it's cold out there -- and it's going to be cold for a lot longer.

Punxsutawney Phil came out on Groundhog Day 2015 and saw his shadow, promising six more weeks of winter. The famous prognosticating rodent's "forecast" was announced just before 7:30 a.m. at Gobbler's Knob in Punsxutawney, Pennsylvania.

According to an old German legend, if a groundhog sees his shadow on Feb. 2, winter will last another six weeks. If not, spring comes early. (Of course, the calendar always puts the start of spring at March 20, the vernal equinox.)

Of course, "Groundhog Day" star Bill Murray would argue winter would last longer.

"You want a prediction about the weather, you're asking the wrong Phil. I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life," he said in character as weatherman Phil Connors.

The 1993 movie, co-starring Andie MacDowell, showed Murray's character reliving the same day -- Groundhog Day -- over and over again in the small town 65 miles outside of Pittsburgh.

According to The Associated Press, Phil's weather prediction is actually decided before he "sees" his shadow on Groundhog Day. Records show he's called for an extended winter 102 times since 1887, and forecasted an early spring only 17 times.

Of course, Phil's track record is not to be trusted in Syracuse and Central New York. From 2004 to 2013, there was no correlation between his predictions and the actual weather: In the five warmest periods after Feb. 2 over that stretch, Phil called for a late spring; in the coldest six weeks, in 2007, he promised an early spring.

Other states have their own tiny meteorologists. Georgia's groundhog, General Beauregard Lee, Ohio's Buckeye Chuck and New York's Staten Island Chuck don't always agree, either.