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WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is cancelling tours of the White House beginning Saturday, citing staffing reductions prompted by automatic budget cuts that began to take effect last Friday.

A late-winter storm barrelled through the Midwest, snarling air travel in and out of Chicago, and it will soon take aim at busy airports around Washington, D.C.

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine - Maine wardens say a 17-year-old skier who was found alive and well at Maine's Sugarloaf ski resort Tuesday.

TULSA, Okla. - As an Oklahoma transplant — a native New Englander who moved here for love — I've had fun getting to know the Sooner State.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A 34-year old heli-skiing guide has died in a backcountry accident on a mountain near Haines. Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said Monday that Christian Arcadio Cabanilla was killed Sunday.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Science bested history in North Carolina tourism choices last year, with the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences toppling the Biltmore mansion and gardens to become the most popular museum or historic site to visit in the Tar Heel State.

ST. LOUIS - A Learjet with landing gear problems circled an airport outside St. Louis for about an hour and a half Monday before it was diverted to St. Louis-Lambert International Airport, where it safely made an emergency landing.

RALEIGH, N.C. - For decades, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I hung in a small garden gift shop on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Legend had it that the piece was rare — it depicted the monarch as an old woman — but some art experts disagreed.

WASHINGTON - Washington's famous cherry tree blooms are expected to be at their best between March 26 and March 30. National Park Service cherry tree expert James Perry made the prediction Monday.

WASHINGTON - Washington's famous cherry tree blooms are expected to be at their best between March 26 and March 30. National Park Service cherry tree expert James Perry made the prediction for the peak bloom time at a press conference Monday.