The Daily Blog

White Powder Sent to D.C. Schools, but No Anthrax Found So Far.

Letters containing white powder were sent to 20 public schools in Washington, D.C., May 5 — evoking memories of the anthrax scare a decade ago and prompting an immediate response from federal and local investigators.

ABC News reports local firefighters and FBI agents have determined 10 of the 20 schools are safe. The rest of the letters are still being tested, Andrew Ames, a spokesman for the FBI Washington Field office, tells the network.

Five people died from white powder containing the anthrax virus that was sent through the mail in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

No one has reported any illness or injury from this week’s letters, Ames tells ABC. The letters were apparently sent from North Dallas, Texas, the network reports.

What’s the White Stuff on Vanessa Hudgens’ Finger?

A scantily clad Vanessa Hudgens went to Coachella with boyfriend Josh Hutcherson this weekend and photographers snapped the camera-friendly star having a good time.

How good of a time, we may not know exactly. But pics show the Disney starlet’s finger covered in what appears to be a white powder and then sticking that finger into her mouth.
But don’t worry, Baby V fans! PopEater has reached out to Hudgens’ camp for comment and the told us that it’s “white chocolate.”

Phew, Hudgens has avoided another photo scandal.

Teena Marie, Known as ‘Ivory Queen of Soul,’ Dies.

LOS ANGELES — Teena Marie, who made history as Motown’s first white act but developed a lasting legacy with her silky soul pipes and with hits like “Lovergirl,” ”Square Biz,” and “Fire and Desire” with mentor Rick James, has died. She was 54.

The confirmation came from a publicist, Jasmine Vega, who worked with Teena Marie on her last album. Her manager, Mike Gardner, also confirmed her death to CNN.Teena Marie, known as the “Ivory Queen of Soul,” was certainly not the first white act to sing soul music, but she was arguably among the most gifted and respected, and was thoroughly embraced by the black audience.

She was first signed to the legendary Motown label back in 1976 at age 19, working with James, with whom she would have long, turbulent but musically magical relationship.The cover of her album, “Wild and Peaceful,” did not feature her image, with Motown apparently fearing backlash by audiences if they found out the songstress with the dynamic voice was white.

But Marie notched her first hit, “I’m A Sucker for Your Love,” and was on her way to becoming one of R&B’s most revered queens. During her tenure with Motown, the singer-songwriter and musician produced passionate love songs and funk jam songs like “Need Your Lovin’,” ”Behind the Groove” and “Ooh La La La.”

Marie had a daughter and had toured in recent years after overcoming an addiction to prescription drugs.

Widespread White Christmas Expected Across US.

For the second consecutive winter, a cold and stormy December has set the stage for a white Christmas across a significant part of the U.S. While snow cover is not likely to be quite as extensive as it was last year, a late-week storm might cover the ground in a magical white in parts of the East by the end of Christmas Day.

The depth of the current snow cover will guarantee a white Christmas in the Rockies and interior parts of the West, as well as in the northern Plains, much of the Ohio Valley, the Great Lakes and interior parts of the Northeast.Snow cover is spotty or completely lacking in parts of the mid-Atlantic region and coastal Northeast, but meteorologists are watching a late-week storm that could change that. Computer models are projecting a storm to move from the central Plains on early Friday to along the New England coast by later on Saturday, spreading snow along its path.

If this storm track materializes, fresh snow would be dumped from Iowa to parts of the Virginias, with a brand-new snow cover a possibility for the major cities along the Eastern Seaboard, from Washington, D.C., to Boston.Early-week storms moving through the West will increase the snow cover in the mountains of the West and Desert Southwest, expanding snow cover into some regions that are bare.

Even with the additional snow this week, snow cover was a little more extensive last Christmas when the combination of Arctic cold and a southern storm produced an abundance of snow.

Snow cover on Dec. 25, 2009, extended farther to the south in the Southwest and Plains than it will this year, with snow on the ground as far south as Dallas. Snow cover was also deep in the Virginias, Maryland, Delaware and southern New Jersey, following the first of a couple of monster snowstorms in what turned out to be the snowiest winter on record.Typically, a white Christmas is a virtual certainty in the high mountains of the West, the extreme northern Plains and interior parts of northern New England, with a likelihood of greater than 90 percent. The likelihood drops to just 5 to 10 percent along a line extending from the Texas Panhandle to southern Virginia.

This year, a white Christmas is likely in much of the region, where there is just a 26 to 40 percent chance on average.

A white Christmas is generally defined as having an inch or more of snow on the ground.