the news in brief

(MCT) DUBLIN, Ohio – Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are neck and neck heading into a pivotal… (MCT) DUBLIN, Ohio – Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are neck and neck heading into a pivotal primary showdown today in Ohio and Texas, two delegate-rich states where Clinton held leads just weeks ago, according to two new polls released Sunday.

Clinton leads in Ohio by 47-43 percent. Obama leads in Texas by 46-45 percent. Those standings are both within the polls’ 4 percentage-point margin of error – meaning that either one could be ahead in each state. And nearly one in ten of likely voters remains undecided in each state, more than enough to swing Tuesday’s results in either direction.

The surveys’ slightly different results reflect growing anxiety about the economy and the different and diverse demographics in the two states.

Clinton, desperate for wins to stop Obama’s momentum since he’s run off with 11 straight victories, has the edge among voters concerned about the economy, particularly in Ohio. She also has a 2-1 lead among Hispanics in Texas, while he has a 9-1 lead among African-Americans in both states.

Should both states go for Obama, they would stretch his winning streak to 13 and put enormous pressure on Clinton to quit. Her own campaign has called them must-win states.

If Clinton were to pull off victories in both, that would break Obama’s momentum, restore credibility to her campaign and could give her new energy heading into their next big showdown in Pennsylvania, which votes April 22.

Clinton leads in Ohio among women, voters over 50 years old, union members, whites and registered Democrats.

Obama, the Illinois senator, has the edge among men, voters under age 50, African-Americans and independents. The Texas poll was sponsored by McClatchy Newspapers, MSNBC and the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. The Ohio poll was sponsored by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Both surveys were executed by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, Inc. – Steven Thomma, McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT) BAGHDAD – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday became the first Iranian head of state to visit Iraq in three decades and immediately became the focus of demonstrations that underscored Iraq’s sectarian split.

In Fallujah, Sunni Muslim protesters demonstrated against his visit, calling him the killer of Iraqi children. Iraq’s Sunni vice president showed up late for a reception for Ahmadinejad hosted by Iraq’s Kurdish president.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Shiite ruling elite, many of whom had been taken refuge during Saddam Hussein’s time in Shiite Iran, listened to Ahmadinejad without need of translation into Arabic, clearly comfortable hearing his Farsi.

American officials stayed far away from the visiting Iranian delegation. At a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, Ahmadinejad claimed that “Iraqis don’t like Americans.” Maliki didn’t challenge the assertion.

Ahmadinejad’s trip was a visible sign of what have been growing economic and cultural ties between the two countries since American-led forces toppled Saddam. At an afternoon press conference with Maliki, Ahmadinejad dismissed longstanding U.S. accusations that Iran trains, funds and arms Shiite militias in hopes of destabilizing Iraq.

“You can tell Mr. Bush that accusing others will increase the problems for America in the region and will not solve the problem,” he said. “The Americans have to accept the facts of the region. Iraqi people do not like Americans.”

When asked if Iran and Iraq trusted one another, Ahmadinejad took another swipe at the Americans.

“If you look to the two peoples, Iranian and Iraqi, we can see they have a joint history, culture and geography,” he said. “If they don’t trust each other in spite of all these characteristics in common can they trust countries which are 12,000 kilometers away from Iraq and Iran?”

Maliki welcomed Ahmadinejad and called his visit “the first visit of its kind.” He said the visit would “deepen” the relationship between the two nations. – Leila Fadel, McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT) NEW YORK – The seconds wink by relentlessly on the large digital clock in Rob Hess’s conference room: 766 days, 13 hours, 15 minutes, 58 seconds remaining at this particular moment in late November.

The countdown clock is there to remind Hess, head of New York’s Department of Homeless Services, how long he has to make good on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s promise to cut by two-thirds the number of New Yorkers living on the streets.

Bloomberg’s charge to Hess had the hard simplicity of a battlefield command: Reduce the numbers from 4,200 to “below 1,429” by the end of 2009. Period.

Hess estimates that 3,500 people now live on the streets of the city’s five boroughs, with 35,636 – 6,946 single adults, 9,327 families – in shelters.

The motto of Bloomberg’s plan is “Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter.” It de-emphasizes emergency shelters, focusing instead on quickly moving homeless people into permanent housing and then providing support to help them deal with addiction and other problems.

According to a study analyzing rental costs around the country, a New York City resident must earn at least $20.56 an hour – nearly triple the minimum wage – to afford a basic efficiency apartment. For many homeless people who get Social Security disability benefits for mental or physical reasons, that apartment would cost 50 percent more than their average monthly benefit of $690.

Bloomberg has launched a Housing First initiative tailored for such families to quickly get them out of shelters – or help keep them in their homes if an emergency arises.

For families in shelters whose breadwinners are working but do not earn enough to pay rent, the city will pay up to 90 percent of an apartment’s fair-market rental for up to two years.

Participants must do three things: Open a checking account and make a $50 minimum monthly payment to their landlord, open a savings account and deposit 10 to 20 percent of rent, and try to increase work hours and income.

When the family can make it on its own, the city returns $600 – the rent paid for a year – to put in savings as a “rainy day fund.” It also matches whatever else they saved. – Joseph A. Slobodzian and Jennifer Lin, The Philadelphia Inquirer

(MCT) SAN JOSE, Calif. – Mention air pollution, and what comes to mind? Factories. Oil refineries. Auto tailpipes.

Now San Francisco Bay Area smog regulators are trying to crack down on another source that they say is just as significant, even if beloved: home fireplaces.

Citing growing medical research that soot causes more severe health problems than was previously realized, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is proposing a ban on all wood burning in fireplaces and wood stoves in the nine Bay Area counties during winter “Spare the Air” nights.

The agency’s statistics show that wood smoke is the largest source of particle pollution in the region. But its proposed crack down is sparking passionate debate.

If approved, fireplace police would enforce the rules, and neighbors would be encouraged to report neighbors.

The district will hold 10 public meetings in March and April on the draft rules.

Supporters compare wood smoke dangers to that of cigarette smoke and note natural gas fires are much cleaner.

Critics call the proposal bureaucracy run amok.

Elevated levels of soot can cause asthma attacks, heart problems and respiratory ailments. Santa Clara County, with the largest population, emits more particle pollution than any Bay Area county.

There are an estimated 1.7 million fireplaces and woodstoves in the Bay Area. – Paul Rogers, San Jose Mercury Newsbriefs