Nation Briefly

RAWLINS, Wyo. – A Greyhound bus rolled onto its side on snowy Interstate 80 early Sunday in zero degree temperatures, injuring 39 passengers, after the driver was temporarily blinded by snow thrown up by a passing truck, authorities said.

Nine people were admitted to hospitals.

“He did the best he could,” said passenger Alton Hooks of Tacoma. “He got whited out. He was trying to steer out of it. The road conditions was just terrible.”

The bus was carrying 43 people, including driver David Soraiz, when the accident occurred in the south-central part of the state. The bus started out in Salt Lake City and was bound for Denver with stops in Wyoming.

Soraiz, 51, of Sandy, Utah, told troopers that the bus veered onto the median, and that when he attempted to get back onto the roadway the bus rolled over, said Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Stephen Townsend.

No citations were issued, but the accident remained under investigation, Townsend said.

Oregon: Vitamin C and smoking

Vitamin C supplements can stop most of the vitamin E loss that occurs in smokers, according to a new study by Oregon State University and its Linus Pauling Institute. Smoke creates free radicals – rogue oxygen molecules – that destroy cells and are linked to cancer. Vitamin E can act as a molecule called an antioxidant and reduce the effect of free radicals, but smoking can transform vitamin E into a destructive radical form, researchers say. They found, however, that if adequate levels of vitamin C are present, it can help vitamin E return to nonradical form and continue its protective role in the lungs.

Illinois: Plane hits expressway

A small plane crashed Sunday afternoon onto the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway in suburban Chicago while trying to make an emergency landing, authorities said. No serious injuries were reported, and the plane didn’t hit any vehicles on the highway, said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Ted Vernon.

D.C.: Call for FEMA overhaul

The Federal Emergency Management Agency should be dissolved and rebuilt before the upcoming hurricane season, a Democratic senator said Sunday. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said he favored keeping the agency within the Homeland Security Department. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, in appearances on Sunday morning talk shows, warned against overhauling FEMA with hurricane season only three months away.

The president’s Presidents Day

President Bush will observe the national holiday today talking about energy policy in the Midwest. The president will spend the night in Colorado and talk about energy some more Tuesday at the National Renewable Energy Lab.