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Obama unveils middle-class friendly ideas WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring America's middle class is ''under assault,'' President Barack Obama unveiled plans Monday to help hurting families pay their bills, save for retirement and care for their kids and aging parents. His com- ments previewed Wednes- day's State of the Union Address. Obama's proposals won't create jobs, but he said they could ''re-estab- lish some of the security that's slipped away.'' His remarks aimed to lift the nation's dour mood and show he is in touch with the daily struggles of mil- lions of people as resent- ment runs high about lost jobs and the economy. The initiatives amount to a package of tax cred- its, spending expansions and new mandates on employers to encourage retirement savings by workers. Most of them will be included in Obama's budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, and they will require approval from Congress. Obama will release that budget Feb. 1. The president's latest rollout of ideas served as a preview of his prime- time State of the Union address. The economic elements of that speech will also cover Obama's plans to boost job creation and reduce swelling bud- get deficits — areas of concern to the public. Obama's address will outline his second-year agenda across a spectrum of issues, including tighter rules on Wall Street behavior and a push for financial disci- pline in Washington. He also is expected to touch on the controversial issue of gays in the military. Suicide blasts kill at least 37 in Iraq BAGHDAD (AP) — Suicide bombers struck in quick succession Mon- day at three Baghdad hotels favored by West- ern journalists in well- planned assaults that killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 100. The attacks were another blow to an Iraqi government already struggling to answer for security lapses that have allowed bombers to carry out massive attacks in the heart of the Iraqi capital since August, raising serious questions about the country's stability ahead of the March 7 par- liamentary elections. The blasts were launched over a span of 15 minutes, shortly before Iraq announced it had hanged Saddam Hus- sein's notorious hench- man ''Chemical Ali'' and gave rise to speculation about possible links to the attacks. The first explosion struck near the Sheraton Hotel, along the Abu Nawas esplanade across the Tigris River from the Green Zone. The force of the blast toppled a row of 10-foot, 7-ton concrete blast walls protecting the site, tore cars apart and damaged a number of other buildings. Twisted metal and shards of glass littered the lawns and courtyards of the popular fish restau- rants along the river. Fears about personal impact of health care WASHINGTON (AP) — Fears about President Barack Obama's health care overhaul increased significantly in Decem- ber, according to a new poll released as the legis- lation's future hangs in doubt. The monthly poll out Monday from the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation mea- sured consumers' views of how a remake would affect their own finances and access to care, among other things. It was conducted between Nov. 28 and Dec. 20, in the run-up to the Senate's Christmas Eve passage of sweeping health care legislation that brought Congress closer than ever before to enact- ing a comprehensive revamp of the nation's medical system. That effort was cast into tur- moil last week when a GOP victory in Massa- chusetts' special Senate election robbed Democ- rats of their filibuster- proof supermajority. The survey shows a majority are following the health care debate in Con- gress — and their trepida- tion is evidently growing as they do. Nonetheless, people still think that Obama should address the issue as part of dealing with the nation's economic slump, although the percentage of people who say that it's very important for Obama to do so has slipped from 56 percent in the survey conducted in September, to 49.5 percent in this month's report. Among the poll's other findings: Plane tumbles out of sky off Lebanon BEIRUT (AP) — The first sign of trouble was a flash of light on the hori- zon Monday — and then witnesses said the Boeing 737 tumbled like ''fire falling down from the sky'' into the stormy Mediterranean Sea. All 90 aboard were feared dead in the pre- dawn crash. Lebanon's leaders ruled out terror- ism while investigators collected witness accounts in hopes they could provide clues. Avia- tion experts cautioned it was too early to know what brought down the Ethiopian Airlines jet — particularly without the black boxes. Many people were giv- ing DNA samples to help identify the remains of their loved ones; one man identified his 3-year-old nephew by the boy's over- alls. ''Please find my son,'' pleaded Zeinab Seklawi, whose 24-year-old son Yasser was on Flight 409, which was headed to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. At the Government Hospital in Beirut, Red Cross workers brought in bodies covered with wool blankets as relatives gath- ered nearby. No survivors had been found by night- fall, and the health minis- ter told reporters 21 bod- ies were recovered. Marla Pietton, wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon, was among those on board, according to the French Embassy. Flow of quake survivors figured in recovery plan MONTREAL (AP) — An effective recovery strategy for Haiti must take into account a sud- den rush of thousands of quake survivors from Port-au-Prince into the countryside, where the economy cannot sustain them, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday. Clinton, speaking to reporters during a break in a daylong conference intended to review and improve the delivery of short-term aid as well as chart a course for long- term recovery, said she was encouraged by the analysis of Haitian Prime Minister Jean- Max Bellerive. He told the conference that the exodus from Port-au- Prince has added a new twist to the post-quake challenge. ''The distribution of people (and) their needs have changed,'' Bel- lerive said. ''We have to reassess the whole country,'' in terms of job creation and requirements for hous- ing. At a closing news conference, Clinton said the U.S. would host an international donors conference for Haitian relief in March at U.N. headquarters in New York. Clinton told the con- cluding news confer- ence that it would be unwise to organize a donors conference now, in the absence of a reli- able assessment of Haiti's needs and a solid roadmap for how to coordinate and execute an international recov- ery plan. Biden's son will not seek Senate seat DOVER, Del. (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden's eldest son, Delaware Attorney Gen- eral Beau Biden, dealt another body blow to the flailing Democratic Party on Monday, announcing that he will not run for the Senate seat long held by his father. The younger Biden said he needs to remain focused as attorney gen- eral on a high-profile criminal scandal involv- ing a pediatrician accused of sexually assaulting several patients. Prosecutors believe Dr. Earl Bradley, who was arrested in December, may have molested more than 100 children over the past decade. ''The reality is, it became increasingly clear over the last sever- al weeks that it was impossible to mount a Senate campaign in the face of dealing with both the prosecution in Lewes as well as the things I need to do, our office needs to do, for victims,'' Biden told The Associated Press. Some political observers believe there was more to Biden's decision than staying true to a 2006 campaign promise to crack down on child predators. ''As always, they tell part of the truth, but not the whole truth,'' said University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato. ''This is going to be a very tough year for Democrats, and that would have included even Beau Biden in Delaware.'' Peterson's 4th wife was sure husband would kill her JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — The fourth wife of for- mer Illinois police offi- cer Drew Peterson was sure her husband would kill her, even telling a neighbor days before her disappearance in 2007 that ''I'm already dead,'' according to tes- timony at a hearing on Monday. The neighbor sobbed uncontrollably at times as she spoke during the hearing meant to deter- mine what, if any, ''hearsay'' evidence prosecutors can use dur- ing Peterson's upcom- ing trial on charges he murdered his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004. Sharon Bychowski told the court that she found Stacy Peterson, then 23, crying outside her suburban Chicago home. She explained how she had packed 10 boxes of Drew Peter- son's clothes and asked her husband, 30 years her senior, to leave. But he'd refused. 10A – Daily News – Tuesday, January 26, 2010 • Your loved one NEVER leaves our care. • For your peace of mind, we personally perform cremations on site. • No hidden charges. If cremation is your choice, there really is no other choice for you than the cremation experts at Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers. Contact us today so we may answer your questions. Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers Funerals • Cremations • Prearrangements 816 Walnut Street | Red Bluff (530) 527-1174 www.chapeloftheflowers.net Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers owns and operates the only on-site crematory in Tehama County. Is cremation your choice? 528-8000 413 Walnut St., Red Bluff In your jewelry box do you have broken chains, rings or have lost one earring? 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