VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) –
Thousands of Russians rallied against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s government on Saturday in a string of protests fueled by sharp falls in living standards since the economic crisis hit.

A coalition of opposition groups declared a national “Day of Anger” with some 50 rallies tapping into rising discontent at unemployment, higher bills and transport taxes. Protests across the country mixed local issues with anger at the ruling party.

While Kremlin critics have been heartened by a series of protests in recent months, they have been unable to consolidate their forces.

“The mood has changed, but it has not yet turned into a movement,” said Masha Lipman, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank of the rise in protests.

But despite their scattered nature, the Kremlin is genuinely worried by the rallies, she said.

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FARGO, N.D. – Before this flood season, officials in Fargo asked homeowners to clear paths in their yards so that firm and straight walls of sandbags could be placed to protect their homes. One resident cut down his tree. Another went so far to use a torch to melt the ice off his ground.

Last year, Fargo wasn’t so prepared. Homeowners put sandbags right on top of snow instead of the bare ground, allowing water to seep underneath and in some cases, causing dikes to collapse. Other less-sturdy barriers toppled over, and floodwaters flowed into homes.

The flood-weary city is well versed in flood preparation because it’s learned from its mistakes, especially after last year’s record-breaking flood. As a result, many here feel they’ve already won the flood fight against the Red River even though it’s not expected to crest for a few more days.

“Our people our quite euphoric,” Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker said Thursday as he tried to mute the celebration. “It’s probably premature to be too euphoric.”

The National Weather Service is forecasting the river to crest Sunday at 20 feet above the flood stage, meaning the overflowing river waters could threaten homes, parks and roads in several low-lying neighborhoods.

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CHICAGO – Affiliates of the once mighty liberal activist group ACORN are remaking themselves in a desperate bid to ditch the tarnished name of their parent organization and restore federal grants and other revenue streams that ran dry in the wake of a video scandal.

The letters A, C, O, R and N are coming off office doors from New York to California. Business cards are being reprinted. New signs with new names are popping up in front of offices.

The breakaways are trying to shed the scandal that emerged six months ago when videos showed some ACORN workers giving tax tips to conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute. But while their names are different, most groups have kept the same offices and staff.

That, critics say, means the groups really haven’t started anew and severed all ties to ACORN, which faced accusations of mismanagement and rampant voter registration fraud well before the video brouhaha sent even longtime Democratic backers scattering.

Even the national office of ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, doesn’t blame affiliates for bolting from under its umbrella — conceding its entire 40-state network has been devastated by what backers characterize as right-wing attacks.

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NEW YORK – Getting people to pay for news online at this point would be “like trying to force butterflies back into their cocoons,” a new consumer survey suggests.

That was one of several bleak headlines in the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s annual assessment of the state of the news industry, released Sunday.

The project’s report contained an extensive look at habits of the estimated six in 10 Americans who say they get at least some news online during a typical day. On average, each person spends three minutes and four seconds per visit to a news site.

About 35 percent of online news consumers said they have a favorite site that they check each day. The others are essentially free agents, the project said. Even among those who have their favorites, only 19 percent said they would be willing to pay for news online — including those who already do.

There’s little brand loyalty: 82 percent of people with preferred news sites said they’d look elsewhere if their favorites start demanding payment.

“If we move to some pay system, that shift is going to have to surmount significant consumer resistance,” said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the project, part of the Pew Research Center.

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