’port’ Of Exploration

Semyon Varlamov leads Avalanche past Flames

Blue Angels plan for 1812 tribute Two U.S. Navy Blue Angels jets, seen from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, N.J., execute a survey flight Monday over the Statue of Liberty. The two F/A-18s flew practice runs to familiarize and evaluate a potential flight course for the upcoming War of 1812 commemoration during this year&rsquo;s Fleet Week celebration in May.
 
 AP PHOTO 
 

BALTIMORE 
No winners identified yet
The record-breaking Mega Millions jackpot climbed to $656 million on Monday, though no one holding one of the three winning tickets has come forward yet to claim a share of the prize, officials said. 
Three tickets &mdash; one each in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland &mdash; will split the jackpot, which officials said Monday was higher than previously estimated. It is now at $656 million, after sales from the 44 state lotteries were totaled, up from the previously reported $640 million. That means each winner would receive roughly $218 million apiece before taxes. 
Winners in all three states have several months &mdash; in the case of Kansas, a year &mdash; to claim the prize. Both Maryland and Kansas allow winners to remain anonymous, though the winner in Illinois will be identified.
 
ORLANDO, Fla. 
Family wants federal probe
The parents of a black teenager who was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer asked federal officials Monday to expand their investigation to look at the prosecutor who recused himself in the case. 
Trayvon Martin&rsquo;s parents allege in a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Justice that State Attorney Norm Wolfinger met with the Sanford police chief within hours of the teen&rsquo;s death and that together they overruled a detective&rsquo;s recommendation that the shooter, George Zimmerman, be charged with manslaughter. The letter claims a lead investigator filed an affidavit stating that he didn&rsquo;t find Zimmerman&rsquo;s story credible. 
WASHINGTON 
Court OKs strip searches
Jailers may perform invasive strip searches on people arrested even for minor offenses, an ideologically divided Supreme Court ruled Monday, the conservative majority declaring that security trumps privacy in an often dangerous environment. 
In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled against a New Jersey man who was strip searched in two county jails following his arrest on a warrant for an unpaid fine that he had, in reality, paid. 
The decision resolved a conflict among lower courts about how to balance security and privacy. Prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, lower courts generally prohibited routine strip searches for minor offenses. In recent years, however, courts have allowed jailers more discretion to maintain security, and the high court ruling ratified those decisions. 
MOSCOW 
31 killed in jet crash
A plane that crashed Monday into a snowy field in Siberia, killing 31 people, appears to have been improperly de-iced, but there was no indication that negligence caused the crash, Russia&rsquo;s civil aviation chief said. Investigators said evidence so far suggests a technical failure as the cause.
The twin-engine turboprop belonging to UTair crashed shortly after takeoff from the snowy western Siberian city of Tyumen with 43 people aboard. Twelve people have been hospitalized in serious condition.
The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya head Alexander Neradko as saying there was evidence &ldquo;that the treatment of the plane with de-icing agents was not done at the necessary level.&rdquo;