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ByAdamBeam The Associated Press FRANKFORT, KY. Snow swirled sideways in Ken- tucky and the typically bus- tling state capital of Frank- fort came to a frozen halt Monday as a storm wal- loped parts of the South, which unlike the Northeast, had been mostly spared this winter. That all changed with a mix of snow, sleet and freez- ing rain across the region, making roads treacherous and knocking out power to thousands of people. Luck- ily, the storm arrived on a holiday, Presidents Day, when many schools and businesses were already closed and the morning commute was not as busy. Officials also made cer- tain roads were prepared this year after Southern cit- ies — most notably Atlanta — were caught off guard a year ago when a winter storm stranded thousands of people on interstates overnight. Raleigh suffered a similar fate last year. Still, some weren't quite ready for the winter blast. RL Doss said he had al- ready used his 1987 GMC Suburban — which can haul up to three-quarters of a ton with ropes and chains — to rescue several people and their cars on the hills surrounding Frankfort. Cars were fishtailing and sliding off the slick roads. "I look at it this way. Ev- erybody is trying to get out, to get their last bit of food and stuff, getting home from work and people leav- ing for work and stuff, and it happens," he said, shiver- ing in a pair of tan overalls pulled over a hooded sweat shirt. Glancing at his truck, the burgundy behemoth, he said: "I like to see what the truck can do and what it can't do. I push it to its limits." In the Northeast, which has been slammed by seem- ingly endless snow, the white stuff stopped falling but the temperatures were bitterly cold. New York City came close to breaking a 127-year-old record when the temperature in Central Park hit 3 degrees, just 2 de- grees above the record set in 1888, said Jeffrey Tongue, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said the latest snow storm left one person dead, apparently due to a heart at- tack while shoveling snow. A partial roof collapse at an eight-building apart- ment complex in Ports- mouth, New Hampshire, left 500 to 700 people look- ing for warmth. In New Jer- sey, a 66-year-old woman who had been drinking at a benefit was found dead in the snow, just two doors from her home. Firefighters working on a blaze in Phila- delphia left behind a build- ing coated in icicles. No one was hurt. West Virginia getting hit hard bythesnowstormwhen a train carrying crude oil de- railedabout30milesCharles- ton. At least one tanker went into the Kanawha River and nearby house caught fire. It wasn't clear if the winter storm had anything to do with the crash. The storm was headed toward the Carolinas over- night, and then expected to march through the Mid-At- lantic and Northeast. Kentucky Gov. Steve Bes- hear urged people to stay home if possible. By Mon- day afternoon, 9 inches of snow had fallen in Louis- ville and other parts were buried under a foot of snow. In central Kentucky, home to much of the state's signature thoroughbred in- dustry, horses kept warm by galloping through the deep snow, pausing occasionally to shake it off from their thick winter coats. Ned Toffey, general manager of Spendthrift Farm in Lex- ington, said the horses en- joy running in the snow be- cause it gives them a nice cushion as opposed to the harder, packed earth. Arkansas, where tem- peratures plummeted from the 70s on Saturday to highs in the 30s a day later, had nearly 30,000 people with- out power at the peak of the storm. Roads were slushy and traffic was moving slowly in Tennessee. Justyn Jack- son, a meteorologist with the National Weather Ser- vice in Nashville, said the last bad winter storm in the city was 2010 when up to 4 inches of snow fell. "A lot of cities up North, they deal with this several times during the winter. It's really not uncommon for them at all," Jackson said. "Down here, especially in Nashville, although it's not rare, it certainly on aver- age happens once or twice a winter." Georgia officials were taking no chances, bring- ing in more personnel to the state operations cen- ter and pre-treating roads with a mixture of salt and water. Atlanta was ex- pected to get rain, dodg- ing any icy or snowy con- ditions. Up to a quarter of an inch of ice could accu- mulate in a handful moun- tainous northern counties. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory says he hopes the government is "over-pre- pared and underwhelmed." It's been almost a year since a winter storm dumped as much as 22 inches of snow in the North Caro- lina mountains and pelted the eastern part of the state with ice. In Raleigh, much like Atlanta, many aban- doned their cars alongside the road or in parking lots — if they could navigate. John Moore, a meteo- rologist with the National Weather Service in Mem- phis, said he believes Ten- nessee was prepared in part because of the embarrass- ing scene that paralyzed At- lanta last year. "We got the word out ahead of time to let people know, that even if we're not expecting a lot, still check your forecast before you leave home in the morning because stuff can change so quickly," he said. WINTER BLAST Storm slams the South; bitter cold freezes Northeast MIKELAWRENC—THEGLEANER With no school in Henderson County, Ky., Will Adams, 14, makes his way along Martin Luther King Blvd. in Henderson, Ky., to visit a friend as a winter storm makes it's way through the area dumping 8-10inches of snow. The Associated Press DURHAM,N.C. Agrandjury in North Carolina indicted a man Monday on three counts of murder in the shootings of three young Muslims in what authori- ties have said was a dispute over parking spaces. Television stations WRAL and WTVD re- ported a grand jury in Dur- ham County handed up the indictments Monday for 46-year-old Craig Hicks. No one answered a phone call from The Asso- ciated Press at the court- house. Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Moham- mad Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister, Razan Moham- mad Abu-Salha, 19, were all found dead in their Chapel Hill condominium last week. Hicks was their neighbor, and others who lived nearby said he had frequent problems with where people parked in the complex near the Uni- versity of North Carolina. Police in Chapel Hill have said they have not un- covered any evidence Hicks acted out of hatred for his neighbor'sfaith,buttheirin- vestigation continues. The FBI is also investigating. Hicks, 46, is scheduled to be in court on the mur- der charges March 4. Hicks described him- self online as a "gun tot- ing" atheist. Search war- rants listed a dozen fire- arms taken from his home, including four handguns, two shotguns and six ri- fles — as well as a large amount of ammunition. He was carrying a pistol when he turned himself in several hours after the Feb. 10 shooting. Family members of the victims have said they were executed with shots to the back of the head. Police have not discussed specifics on how they were killed. MUSLIM DEATHS Ma n in di ct ed o n 3 counts of murder in NC By Kimberly Hefling and Julie Carr Smyth The Associated Press STOCKPORT, OHIO Sixth- grader Kayla Hunter con- siders herself pretty tech savvy. She has a computer at home unlike about half her classmates at her el- ementary school. And it matches up well with the one she'll use this week to take a new test linked to the Common Core standards. Still, the perky 11-year- old worries. During a recent practice exam at her school in Ohio, she couldn't even log on. "It wouldn't let me," she said. "It kept saying it wasn't right, and it just kept loading the whole time." Her state on Tuesday will be the first to administer one of two tests in English lan- guage arts and math based on the Common Core stan- dards developed by two sep- arate groups of states. By the end of the school year, about 12 million children in 29 states and the District of Columbia will take them, us- ing computers or electronic tablets. The exams are expected to be more difficult than the traditional spring standard- ized state exams they re- place. In some states, they'll require hours of additional testing time because stu- dents will have to do more than just fill in the bubble. The goal is to test students on critical thinking skills, requiring them to describe their reasoning and solve problems. Thetestshave multimedia components, written essays and multi-step calculations needed to solve math prob- lems that go beyond just us- ing rote memory. Students in some states will take adap- tive versions in which ques- tions get harder or easier de- pending on their answers. But there's been contro- versy. The tests have been caught up in the debate play- ing out in state legislatures across the country about the federal role in education. Al- though more than 40 states have adopted Common Core, which spells out what read- ing and math skills students should master in each grade, several have decided not to offer the tests — known as the Smarter Balanced As- sessment Consortium, and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC. Some states are introducing other new state standardized tests this year. The Common Core tests fulfill the requirement in the federal No Child Left Behind law for annual testing in reading and math in grades three to eight and again in high school. But as Congress seeks to rewrite the educa- tion law, there's debate over whether the tests should be required by Washington, and whether students are being tested too much. Par- ents in pockets of the coun- try have joined a movement to "opt out" of these stan- dardized tests. Questions also have been raised about students' key- boarding skills and schools' computer capacities. In the Appalachian foot- hills where Kayla attends Morgan South Elementary School, administrators and teachers worry that they don't have the bandwidth to provide reliable Internet connectivity on testing day. Both tests offer a paper op- tion. PARCC officials antici- pate that about a quarter of students will use the paper version; Smarter Balanced officials estimate roughly 10 to 20 percent will take it on paper. Just eight days before the test, the Morgan Lo- cal School District in rural southeastern Ohio ordered 200 more Chromebooks, which worked best during the practice run. The week before the test, Kayla and her classmates huddled in pairs sharing what devices were available at the school. "They'll be more comfortable with the technology, but it is a worry of mine that, as far as the content that's on it, there's still stuff I could be doing to prepare for the test," says their teacher, Carrie Young. Trisha Kocanda, superin- tendentoftheWinnetkaPub- lic Schools in Illinois, told parents that she's concerned about the length of the tests and the "excessive rigor." "We grow wary," Kocanda said,adding,thattheybelieve "this test continues the over- emphasisonstandardizedas- sessmentsasevaluationtools for students and schools." Officials from the testing groups stand by the tests. In each of the states, students will see something that's fa- miliar and something that's "new, different and exciting," saidTonyAlpert,executivedi- rector for Smarter Balanced. "Smarter Balanced took the best of what states had in their previous systems and we made sure each state had access to that," Alpert said. COMMON CORE Ear buds, computers needed for standardized tests TY WRIGHT — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sixth-grade teacher Carrie Young, back center, answers questions fromher students about an exercise on their laptops as they practice for the Common Core State Standards Test at Morgan Elementary School South in Stockport, Ohio. 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