USA DAWN: NEWS AND UPDATES

WASHINGTON —Two New Jersey members of the U.S. House want Gov. Chris Christie to respond to a government watchdog report that questioned how the state spent $43 million in Hurricane Sandy housing funds. Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th Dist.) and Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-9th Dist.) said Christie needs to account for the money spent on the housing programs and make sure that future funding is properly handed out. They plan to release a letter at a press conference in Moonachie on Friday. New Jersey had awarded a three-year, $67.7-million contract to Hammerman and Gainer Inc. to distribute funds for three housing programs, but ended it after one year following complaints by homeowners about inept management, poor communication and long delays. The state wound up paying $43.5 million. "We want answers for the folks who were left without homes," Pallone and Pascrell said in a joint statement. "We want a...

Hurricane Mathew could brush Florida as a major hurricane before churning past the Carolinas this weekend, but the storm is now expected to turn out to sea before reaching the mid-Atlantic. A cold front forecast to advance across Maryland on Saturday is expected to help steer the storm off the North Carolina coast toward Bermuda, instead of up the coast, forecasters said. "Uncertainty increases as Matthew starts to track east-northeast and away from the coast into Sunday," meteorologists at the National Weather Service's Baltimore/Washington forecast office wrote early Wednesday. "At this time ... coastal areas of the Mid-Atlantic have the best chance to see affects from Matthew," they wrote. Hurricane Matthew could brush Florida as a major storm but is expected to turn out to sea before reaching Maryland. (NOAA/National Hurricane Center) Matthew was passing through the sparsely populated islands of the southern Bahamas early Wedn...