In the news

WORLD

PYONGYANG, North Korea – Bill Richardson, the New Mexico governor who has undertaken diplomatic missions to countries at odds with the United States, began a rare visit to isolated North Korea Sunday to recover remains of American servicemen killed in the Korean War.

The four-day trip, which has been endorsed by the Bush administration, comes days before a crucial deadline in a recent nuclear disarmament accord. But Richardson, a Democratic candidate for president, said he had no intention of negotiating nuclear matters.

“It could be the signal of an improved relationship,” Richardson said of the discussions to secure U.S. remains.

“The North Koreans always consider protocol very important. They like to be considered a major power in the region,” he told The Associated Press on the flight to the capital Pyongyang.

North Korea made a breakthrough agreement on nuclear disarmament on Feb. 13, raising hopes for an end to a long-running standoff with the United States and regional powers. The agreement set an April 14 deadline for the North to shut down its main nuclear reactor.

NATION

ATLANTA – An unseasonable cold snap put a chill on Easter Sunday services across the Southeast and much of the rest of the country, moving some events indoors and adding layers over spring frocks.

The usual courtyard service at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Columbia, S.C., had to be moved indoors, said the Rev. Michael Bingham. Sunday morning lows in Columbia dropped to the upper 20s, the National Weather Service said.

“Our musicians are worried about their fingers,” he said Saturday as the church’s plans were being changed.

Across much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation, Easter celebrants swapped frills, bonnets and sandals for coats, scarves and heavy socks. Baseball fans huddled in blankets and, instead of spring planting, backyard gardeners were bundling their crops.

Two weeks into spring, Easter morning temperatures were in the upper 30s along the Gulf Coast and in the single digits in northern Minnesota and the Dakotas. Atlanta had a low of 30 degrees, with a wind chill of 23, the weather service said. The same reading put a chill on New York City’s Fifth Avenue, celebrated in song for the traditional Easter Parade of spring finery.

STATE&LOCAL

HERNDON – This northern Virginia town plans to send at least seven officers to a federal program that trains police officers to enforce U.S. immigration laws, despite concerns from critics.

Herndon could become the first locality in the Washington area to start such training. The town already has been accepted into the federal program, and the Town Council voted unanimously last month in favor of the partnership with the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Under the program, state and local law enforcement agencies will work with ICE to identify and detain immigration offenders.

“It’s like a tool in a toolbox,” Herndon Police Chief Toussaint E. Summers Jr. said. “It gives officers another tool.”

Nationwide, ICE has formed 50 similar partnerships in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee, agency spokesman Michael Gilhooly said. In the greater Washington area, Culpeper and Prince William counties are considering signing up.

ICE funds the five-week training and related costs such as travel, but each jurisdiction must pay its officers’ salaries, Gilhooly said.