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The Associated Press
In a letter to the president of Anthem Blue Cross, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she was disturbed to learn of the planned increases, calling them "extraordinary."
"I believe Anthem Blue Cross has a responsibility to provide a detailed justification for these rate increases to the public," Sebelius wrote.
She said the company should also make public what percentage of customers' premiums go to medical care versus administrative costs.
In a statement, Anthem Blue Cross of California blamed the weak economy and rising health care costs for the rate hike, while pledging to reply to Sebelius' query promptly.
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By PETER JACKSON
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Rep. John Murtha, the tall, gruff-mannered former Marine who became the de facto voice of veterans on Capitol Hill and later an outspoken and influential critic of the Iraq War, died Monday. He was 77.
The Pennsylvania Democrat had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery. He died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., with his family at his bedside, the hospital said.
In 1974 Murtha, then an officer in the Marine Reserves, became the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress. Ethical questions often shadowed his congressional service, but he was best known for being among Congress' most hawkish Democrats. He wielded considerable clout for two decades as the ranking Democrat on the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending.
Murtha voted in 2002 to authorize President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq, but his growing frustration over the administration's handling of the war prompted him in November 2005 to call for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
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Biggest Boeing 747 ever takes flight
The 747-8 freighter lifted off from Paine Field in Everett on Monday -- one day short of the 41st anniversary of the first flight of the first 747 model.
The 747-8 is 250 feet long -- about 18 feet longer than current 747s. It has new wings, engines and technology to make it more fuel-efficient. The new freighter is expected to enter service late this year, while a passenger version is due for delivery in late 2011.
Ariz. prosectors seek gag order on case
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Arizona prosecutors are asking a judge to issue a gag order in their manslaughter case against motivational speaker James Arthur Ray.
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By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Authorities looking for the cause of an explosion that killed five people at a power plant under construction launched a criminal investigation Monday, saying they could not rule out criminal negligence as the cause.
"If everything went right, we wouldn't all be here right now," Middletown Mayor Sebastian Guiliano said. "There's a point where negligence raises to the level of criminal conduct, and that's what we're investigating."
The powerful explosion blew apart large swaths of the nearly completed 620-megawatt Kleen Energy plant as workers for the construction company O&G Industries Inc. were purging a gas line Sunday morning. The blast tore apart sheet metal that covered the plant's sides and left parts of the complex so unstable that rescuers were unable to work Monday because of the danger of collapse.
The mayor said rescue crews had been unable to get to all areas of the plant and he could not say for certain that no more victims would be found. But authorities also said every worker who was assigned to work at the plant at the time of the explosion was accounted for.
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By BRETT ZONGKER
WASHINGTON -- Federal workers and school children got a day off Monday as the Mid-Atlantic region dug out from as much as 3 feet of snow that made travel nearly impossible and knocked out power to tens of thousands of people.
Federal agencies that employ 230,000 in Washington were closed, as were many local governments, businesses and school districts. Utilities warned it could be days before power is restored to everyone.
With more snow expected Tuesday into Wednesday -- as much as a foot in some places and close to another foot and a half in Philadelphia -- stranded travelers wondered when they might escape the icy, gray mess.
At Washington's Reagan National Airport, where flights had resumed after more than two days, the "on time" flights on the departure board started to outnumber the canceled ones by mid-afternoon. But many people still didn't know when they might get out.
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