Cold Weather

Neither the frigid weather in the eastern part of the nation nor the California earthquake stalled the auto industry's momentum in January. Figures released by the auto makers Thursday show total car and truck sales--including vehicles built in the United States and abroad--were up 14.3% for the month. January's cold typically makes it a slow month for auto sales, and analysts were expecting worse results because of record low temperatures. Big Three vehicle sales combined were up 14.

The stock market tried to regain its upward momentum Monday, but the bulls were hampered by an afternoon sell-off tied to stock index futures. In other trading, crude oil prices rebounded after last week's slide. The newly invigorated dollar held its ground against the euro. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed with a gain of 11.11 points, or 0.1%, at 10,499.18, after being up as much as 80 points at midday.

While cold blustery winds swirled through Los Angeles on Thursday, lines for hot meals got longer on Skid Row, the free blankets were gone by midday, and downtown shelters were filled. At the same time, a group of homeless activists launched a campaign to pressure Los Angeles County to keep its emergency shelters for the homeless open continuously for 60 days this month and early next year, rather than only on the coldest days. "This is an issue of life and death.

The most important football game of the season -- the AFC championship game, which some are sure to call the real Super Bowl -- probably will be played outdoors on what could well be the coldest day of the winter in Pittsburgh on Jan. 23. That became probable last Sunday when the 14-1 Steelers won the home-field edge through the playoffs.

UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince continues to progress toward starting against Temple in the EagleBank Bowl on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Prince, who injured his right shoulder in the game against USC, was cleared by team trainers Tuesday morning after treatments and tests. He then took the majority of the reps with the first team in practice. One concern Coach Rick Neuheisel has is how Prince's shoulder will be affected by the cold weather in Washington. Highs are expected to be about 40 degrees during the game, according to forecasts.

Despite blustery temperatures hovering in the mid-50s -- or perhaps because of them -- thousands of spectators in hats, scarves and mittens lined the sidewalks of Hollywood and Sunset boulevards Sunday night to loudly blow horns and cheer on the 73rd annual Hollywood Christmas Parade.

Jeff Feagles was born in Anaheim, went to high school in Phoenix and played football at the University of Miami. He remembers the day the Hurricanes traveled to Cincinnati for a game when the temperature was 35 degrees. "The cold weather was all we talked about the week before," he said. "And when we got there, we thought that was cold." Now, Feagles knows better. These days, 35 degrees means bring a light sweater. In Foxboro, Mass., in December, 35 is balmy.

First came the footprint. Then a series of them. Then a boy's rain-soaked striped shirt laid out on a log. By Tuesday afternoon, a four-member search team, one of dozens scoping the thickly forested San Bernardino National Forest, had the boy — alive, though tired and hungry. "Thank you … you saved me," the boy said in a low voice. Joshua Robb, an autistic 8-year-old who had been missing for more than 24 hours after running away from his elementary school in Twin Peaks, was found in "pretty good shape" in a rugged ravine 1 1/2 miles from the school, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department officials said.

The cold snap gripping much of the nation is draining supplies of home heating oil, raising prices and causing spot shortages of the fuel, industry officials said Thursday. Consumers are paying as much as $1 a gallon in parts of the Northeast, and some oil companies are taking steps to ensure there's enough oil to go around. Exxon USA, Mobil Corp. and Star Enterprise, a Texaco Inc.