US East Coast battens down the hatches ahead of blizzard

BOSTON (AP) — Last-minute shoppers cleared grocery shelves and raided snow blower dealers Friday along the U.S. East Coast ahead of a storm expected to drop heavy, fast-falling snow on some of the nation's biggest metro areas, including Philadelphia, New York and Boston.Officials from Virginia to Massachusetts rushed to declare snow emergencies, impose parking bans and restrict travel in advance of a system expected to drop wet snow at rates as high as 5 inches per hour. The storm threaten