'An Incredibly Unusual Event': Snow, Ice Trap Weary Travelers

Megan VerHelst
Updated ·5 min read
Drivers wait for the traffic to be cleared Tuesday as cars and trucks are stranded on sections of Interstate 95 in Virginia. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Drivers wait for the traffic to be cleared Tuesday as cars and trucks are stranded on sections of Interstate 95 in Virginia. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

ACROSS AMERICA — Good morning! It’s Wednesday, Jan. 5. One day before the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, so much has changed. Among them: how Capitol police are facing an unprecedented number of threats against lawmakers. Meanwhile, here are the other headlines we’re following today:

  • The search for what caused a devastating Colorado wildfire has narrowed.

  • Only about 4 in 10 Republicans recall the Jan. 6 insurrection as a “very violent” event.

  • Betty White’s death had nothing to do with the COVID-19 booster shot, her agent said.

  • A North Carolina state trooper was killed Monday when his brother, a fellow state trooper, lost control of his vehicle and struck him.

Drivers rationed their gasoline, shared snacks and water, and slowly began to ease off a 50-mile section of Interstate 95 in Virginia that was paralyzed for more than 20 hours by a snowstorm.

On Tuesday afternoon, Virginia Department of Transportation crews started to escort trapped drivers off I-95, one of the country's busiest highways that also carries commuters directly to the nation’s capital. By evening, the last cars were removed from the highway.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said crews were overmatched by the rapid snowfall. "We were prepared for the storm that was predicted," he said in a news briefing late Tuesday afternoon. "This was an incredibly unusual event."

Marvin Romero of New York was among those who wound up stuck overnight on I-95. His 8- and 10-year-old daughters were with him.The family spent the night on the highway by sleeping in their car.

"I was completely surprised," Romero told Patch. "To wake up in the middle of the highway, it's a weird, odd feeling." »I-95 Shutdown Endfs, Drivers Escape VA Highway After 20+ Hours Stuck In Snow, via Fredericksburg Patch

Colorado Fire Origin Search Narrows

Investigators seeking the cause of the Colorado wildfire that destroyed nearly 1,000 buildings have narrowed their search to an area near Boulder, but it could be days or weeks before details are released, the sheriff said Monday.

The search is focused on an area where a passerby captured video of a burning shed on the day the fire began, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle told a news briefing. »Investigators Narrow Search For Origin Of Colorado Wildfire, via Boulder Patch

Jan. 6 ‘Not Very Violent’: GOP

The fighting — so primitive and ferocious that one Capitol Police officer described it as "medieval" and another as a "trip to hell" — left more than 100 law enforcement personnel injured, some beaten with their own weapons. Yet nearly a year after the Jan. 6 siege, only about 4 in 10 Republicans recall the attack by supporters of then-President Donald Trump as very violent or extremely violent, according to a new poll. » Fewer Than Half Of Republicans Say Jan. 6 Was Very Violent: Poll, via Across America Patch

Booster Didn’t Take Betty White: Agent

Betty White's New's Year's Eve death at age 99 had nothing to do with a COVID-19 booster shot despite false rumors spreading on social media, her agent confirmed Monday. The rumor appears to stem from a fabricated quote attributed to White saying she had just received her booster shot three days before she died. »Betty White's Death Not Linked To COVID Booster Shot, Agent Says, via Hollywood Patch

‘Asking For A Friend’

If you want to take on 2022 with the accuracy, elegance and poise of a proper wordsmith, don't even think about "circling back" to this year's compendium of phrases courtesy of Lake Superior State University's annual tongue-in-cheek Banished Words List. This year's No. 1 offender: "Wait, what?" »'Wait, What?' And 'No Worries' Among Phrases To Leave In 2021, via Across America Patch

More national headlines on Patch, other news websites:

Around ‘The Patch’

A law enforcement family in North Carolina is dealing with an unimaginable tragedy: One brother accidentally killed the other in a traffic stop Monday night, via Charlotte Patch

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to sue the federal government over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to a letter to members of the Texas National Guard, via Austin Patch

A high school biology teacher accused of giving a teenager a COVID-19 shot without his mother's consent has been reassigned from her classroom duties, via New Hyde Park, New York, Patch

More local news:

Dogs Day Rescue in DeKalb County has been sharing updates on Will the dog who was found engulfed in flames last month. (Photo by Dogs Day Rescue)
Dogs Day Rescue in DeKalb County has been sharing updates on Will the dog who was found engulfed in flames last month. (Photo by Dogs Day Rescue)

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This article originally appeared on the Across America Patch