'Catastrophic' storm heads South

• More than 2,500 flights have been canceled ahead of the storm


• Five are dead in weather-related incidents in Texas, Mississippi, authorities say


• Up to an inch of ice could coat parts of Georgia, more than a foot of snow in the Carolinas


• Utility executive warns power outages could last days

Are you feeling the effects of the winter storm? Share your images and stories with CNN iReport, but only if it is safe to do so.

Atlanta (CNN) -- The coming hours will tell the story across the Southeast. But no one knows yet if the long-anticipated winter storm will live up to the hype.

Families are snug in their homes after baring grocery store shelves. Road crews are staged along nearly empty highways and electric companies are ready to spring into action when power lines go down. Thousands of flights have been canceled.

But will it be enough?

National Weather Service forecasters say this winter storm -- packed with sleet, snow, rain and especially ice -- is different. They call it a potentially "catastrophic event."

"This is one of Mother Nature's worst kind of storms that can be inflicted on the South," Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal told reporters Tuesday afternoon. "That is ice. It is our biggest enemy."

Make no mistake, this is a beast of a storm system. Winter storm warnings, watches and advisories are in place from Texas to Maine. A separate ice storm warning cuts a swath across Georgia's midsection. Up to an inch of ice could coat trees and power lines.

"Widespread and extended power outages are likely as ice accumulates on trees and power lines and brings them down," the warning says. "Please prepare to be without power in some locations for days and perhaps as long as a week."

The threat is very real for a region virtually shut down two weeks ago by a couple of inches of snow. Accumulations of 3 to 5 inches are expected in metropolitan Atlanta, more in the northern suburbs.

The expectations are worse in northeast Georgia and upstate South Carolina.

Residents of Charlotte, North Carolina, were looking at up to a foot of snow, while mountainous southwestern Virginia also could see up to 14 inches.

Transportation woes

The storm system was taking its toll on travel across the region.

Amtrak suspended some of its rail service in the Northeast, South and Mid-Atlantic regions for Wednesday.

Airlines announced more than 2,500 flight cancellations. The hardest-hit airports were Atlanta and Charlotte, according to Flight Aware.com.

Passengers aren't the only ones stuck. Some Delta employees at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport slept on planes overnight because there aren't enough hotel rooms for everyone, the airline said.

Road conditions

Georgia's Department of Transportation put crews on 12-hours shifts to salt, sand and scrape the roadways.

Gov. Deal said the state has brought in an additional 180 tons of salt and sand in an effort to keep roadways open, but he urged his citizens not to put themselves "in jeopardy or danger."

And residents seemed to heed his advice. Tuesday's rush hour traffic was extremely light. Traffic clustered around gas stations and grocery stores, with no one wanting to get caught short.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley dispatched additional Highway Patrol officers to help with the expected accidents and stranded motorists on state highways, her office announced.

Deadly toll

So far, at least five deaths have been blamed on the weather, including three people who died when an ambulance driver lost control on an icy patch of road outside of Carlsbad, Texas.

The ambulance slid off the roadway into a ditch, where it rolled over, caught fire and burned, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. A patient, a paramedic and one other passenger were pronounced dead on scene.

"If you get even a tenth of inch of ice on a road, it's like a skating rink," said Kurt Van Speybroeck, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Dallas.

In Mississippi, where the northern part of the state could see up to four inches of snow, authorities blamed two traffic deaths on the storm.

Travelers get another winter wallop

Outage concerns

As storm moved in overnight, Georgia Power, the state's largest utility warned that hundreds of thousands of customers could be out of power "for days" when ice-laden tree limbs crash onto electric lines, if predictions of up to an inch of ice pan out.

"This has the opportunity to be a huge event when you're talking about the amount of ice you're looking at," Aaron Strickland, the emergency operations chief for the power company, told reporters.

The utility staged fleets of trucks across threatened areas, ready to deploy should their fears become a reality. Teams from Florida, Texas and Ohio helped bolster the local line crews. There was expected to be more than enough work to go around.

CNN's Matt Smith, Chelsea J. Carter, Todd Borek and Sarah Aarthun contributed to this report.

Brittany Ferries no frills service to Spain

French ferry and holiday company, Brittany Ferries, has announced a cheaper alternative to its traditional Portsmouth services, ­so you will be able to get to Spain, Portugal, the Pyrenees and North Africa from just £169.

Bookings will be taken in a few weeks for a weekend service between Portsmouth and Santander, northern Spain, and five return crossings between Portsmouth and Le Havre, one of which will be freight-only.

One way fares for a car plus two this Spring will start at just £79 to France and £169 (including reclining seats) to Spain.

'It makes us a little anxious to go check our mailbox'

• John Setzer, 74, died after a package exploded in his house


• Former law partner: Setzer was a public servant who specialized in civil cases


• Neighbors say they are nervous to check their mailboxes


• An $8,000 reward has been established for information in the case

(CNN) -- Bewildered residents in rural Tennessee are grappling with fear and confusion as they try to understand why someone would send a bomb to their neighbor.

Retired lawyer John Setzer, 74, died Monday after "an unknown package exploded," the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.

His wife, 72-year-old Marion Setzer, was seriously injured and airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Neighbors told CNN affiliate WZTV the blast was so powerful that it blew out windows and damaged several rooms of the Setzers' house.

A barrage of federal, state and local authorities descended on the neighborhood in Lebanon, Tennessee, about 30 miles east of Nashville. The FBI, U.S. postal inspectors, the Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are also investigating.

So far, they haven't publicly disclosed a motive.

'A dedicated servant'

John Setzer's former law partner, George Cate Jr., said Setzer was a dedicated servant. The two met while serving in the Army Reserve.

Cate couldn't understand why anyone would want to target Setzer and his wife.

"I could hardly believe what I was being told because nothing had happened in my recent times to make me anticipate anything of this kind happening," Cate told WZTV. "John and Marion Setzer are a great couple, and they have dedicated themselves to taking care of other people."

Cate and Setzer became partners at the law firm bearing their names between 1979 and 1991. Setzer worked on general civil cases and also specialized in living trusts, his former partner said.

Cate said Setzer's love of law was hampered by health problems in recent years -- but he still worked from home.

Terrified of the mailbox

On the Setzers' quiet rural street, neighbors were terrified about whether a bomb might arrive in their mailbox. Some told WZTV that officers went house-to-house Monday night to check mailboxes for devices.

"Of course it makes us a little anxious to go check our own mailbox when we see something like this happen, because normally boxes are delivered and mail is delivered, and you don't question it," neighbor Tony Dedman told the affiliate.

Hughen said the calm in the community will never be the same.

"The sanctity of living out here, and a wonderful place for children, has been scarred in some way by this tragic event."

An $8,000 reward is available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the attack. Anyone with information can call 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Man throws dog at football referee in Almeria

A MAN from Olula del Rio has been charged for attempting to attack a football referee by throwing a dog at him.

He was watching a match between Comarca del Marmol y La Cañada Atletico teams at the Juan Jose Rodriguez stadium in the town.

The referee approached the benches towards the end of the game and the man grabbed a dog belonging to another spectator and threw it at him.

The dog fell to the floor from a height of two metres without hitting the intended target. It appeared to be hurt while its owner began fighting with the man who had thrown it. The Guardia Civil had to break them up. The man has been charged with animal abuse.

Severe weather batters Britain and Europe’s Atlantic coast

A BRITAIN left battered and wet with the worst flooding in decades is bracing itself for the biggest Atlantic storm of the year so far.

The rainstorms sweeping the UK has caused the worst flooding in decades and has set the level of the Thames at its highest in over 30 years, while new rainfall threatens to worsen the situation.

The areas hit the hardest by bad weather are in Southwest England, where hundreds of families have been forced to evacuate their homes, while floods have also reached counties near London, crossed by the River Thames.

The Environment Agency maintains 16 "serious” flood alerts - life-threatening- , two of which are in Southwest England and the rest in the Thames area.

In Berkshire and Surrey, just outside the British capital, many residents had to be evacuated by boat in some cases. Train services, vital for millions of British commuters, have also been altered due to the bad weather.

The biggest Atlantic storm of the year, however, is due today, with renewed rainfall and strong winds expected on the Southwest.

In Spain, a new storm originating in the Atlantic has put most of the peninsula under alert for strong winds, waves and snow.

How to seize back your democracy

• Ben Cohen, Larry Cohen: 2014 elections will see huge campaign donations, spending


• They say Citizens United ruling helped open gates to flood of outside spending to sway vote


• They say citizens now think corporations, super PACs control democracy


• Cohens: Public financing of campaigns would restore voice, trust of Americans

Editor's note: Ben Cohen is the co-founder of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and the founder of the StampStampede.org campaign, whose goal is to help build the movement to amend the Constitution to get money out of politics. Larry Cohen is president of the 700,000-member Communications Workers of America. CWA, Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and the NAACP are conveners of the Democracy Initiative, with more than 40 organizations and 25 million members working for a 21st-century democracy.

(CNN) -- The 2014 midterm elections are quickly shaping up to be the most obscenely expensive ever. As more and more outside groups shell out an unlimited amount of campaign cash -- while accepting bottomless contributions from big business and anonymous wealthy donors -- stockpiling huge amounts of campaign cash has become a political arms race.

Even so, this is the year concerned Americans can begin to turn it all around and get big money out of politics. Together, "we the people" can stamp out big money in politics.

If we don't act now, we're in trouble. The Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision was a key ruling in opening up the gates to a torrent of spending by super PACs. Outside groups spent a whopping $2 billion in the 2012 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission figures, compared with $298,549,659 in 2008.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics' analysis of super PACs and politically active nonprofits, by November of last year these groups had burned through $20.6 million, more than three times the $6.3 million they'd laid out by the same point in the last election.

"Dark money" organizations -- 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) nonprofits such as Americans for Prosperity or The League of Conservation Voters, which aren't required to disclose the names of their donors -- have nearly quintupled their spending of two years ago.

And right now, the nation is awaiting the Supreme Court's decision in another case, McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, which is challenging caps on the total amount that a wealthy donor can directly give to all PACs, campaigns and parties combined -- what's known as "aggregate contribution limits." If the court strikes down contribution limits, one affluent donor would be able to give more than $3 million in direct contributions. Currently, individual donor contributions are capped at $123,200 -- more than double the median family income in America.

What's one impact of all this money?

Many Americans are becoming convinced that their votes don't count, that our political process is controlled by the biggest bankroll, and that money, not the public interest, sets policies and priorities in government. Big money gives a big voice to the wealthy and corporations, at the expense of the rest of us. It threatens the democratic voice that is the foundation of our country. Freshman representatives in Congress are asked to spend nearly half their time raising money, many providing special interest lobbyists and elites with unprecedented access. These special interests can afford to pay $5,000 a plate for politicians' fund-raising breakfasts, or for such things as ski trips, pheasant hunts and luxury golf tournaments.

A new era in campaign finance

Money stamping campaign

Romney: Rules don't make a lot of sense

This access shapes the issues that members of Congress care about. It inevitably promotes a "pay to play" government that leaves other citizens out in the cold and makes the public increasingly cynical that elections matter.

What are the steps we must take to restore our political process to one determined by "we the people"?

Public financing of campaigns would restore the political voice of small contributors and the belief that the votes and voice of ordinary Americans count. Last week, Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Maryland, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, introduced "government by the people" legislation that will empower "we the people" as small donors to fight back against big money in politics.

With a "Freedom from Influence Fund," financed by closing corporate tax loopholes, the bill would give small donors a $25 refundable tax credit, and match contributions of $150 or less at a rate of 6 to 1. This effort is similar to a public finance measure introduced in New York state, and other jurisdictions also are looking at this public financing model. Already 16 states, 500 municipalities and over 140 members of Congress are on record in support.

While local and national advocates are driving key reforms, every citizen -- Democrats, independents and Republicans -- can help build the movement to get money out of politics by legally stamping messages like "Not to be Used for Buying Elections" on their paper currency. On average, a dollar bill stays in circulation for approximately two and a half years and is seen by 875 people. So as more stamped bills enter the marketplace, we can create a massive visual demonstration of support for reforms -- support that our elected representatives will no longer be able to ignore.

If we care about a truly representative government and political process, one that engages and encourages the electorate to participate, then we must take action to get big money out of politics.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion .

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ben Cohen and Larry Cohen.

Don't believe all you hear about 'sugar'

Andy Briscoe, head of the Sugar Association, says the media often confuse natural sugar for high-fructose corn syrup.

• Andy Briscoe says media reports involving natural sugar are often misleading


• Briscoe contends recent studies linking excess sugar to poor health are inadequate


• Too often, he argues, headlines confuse sucrose -- or sugar -- with high-fructose corn syrup

Editor's note: Andy Briscoe is the president and CEO of the Sugar Association.

(CNN) -- Just about every time an article about "sugar" is published, I get frustrated because of the effort by some to falsely target sugar.

Although reporters often ask the Sugar Association for scientific facts and data regarding sugar to use in their stories, the information we provide is rarely included. Often, it's completely ignored because it does not support the preconceived focus of their article.

Thus, a tremendous amount of factual, scientifically verified information about all-natural sugar (sucrose) is being left out of today's conversation. And, sugar, the natural version, is too often confused with the more prevalent man-made sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup.

That's misleading for consumers. And it's bad for advancing a real debate about solving the serious problem of obesity in America.

Opinion: The sweet secret that could kill you

I'm talking about a legitimate, credible discussion, supported by government data and independent scientific research, not hysteria and misinformation. Those using inflammatory and baseless phrases like "toxic" are often more concerned with a sound bite to sensationalize an article or TV appearance, and their claims have more to do with boosting their social media following or selling books than resolving genuine issues of public health. Targeting sugar alone is disingenuous, at best.

The most recent example of this trend is a study that appeared in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, and the media storm that ensued, condemning sugar as a contributing factor to cardiovascular disease.

Consider this: The authors of the study itself concede that an observational study like theirs is not proof of cause and effect. The authors fail to note the weakness of the self-reported data they used to estimate intake levels of "added sugar."

This inadequacy is demonstrated by the fact that study participants self-reporting higher levels of physical activity had a greater, not the expected lower, risk of cardiovascular disease. And the study's authors also simplistically lumped together all caloric sweeteners as "added sugar" rather than identifying them individually (more on this in a minute).

Yet that didn't stop headlines like "Sugar tied to fatal heart problems" or "Eating too much sugar may be killing you."

Report: Sugar raises heart concerns

Put down that sugar!

Can Oreos be as addictive as cocaine?

Sugar not only makes you fat, it may make you sick

These headlines -- and many others resulting from the study -- underscore the problem consumers are facing when seeking factual information on health.

Having worked with the U.S. sugar industry for more than a decade, I am becoming more and more dismayed by those habitually providing a megaphone for what "some" folks are saying while barely giving a thought to whether these claims reflect a consensus view that is either prevailing among qualified experts or is scientifically correct.

Although obsessing about sugar as "the" problem in our diets gives headline writers everywhere the chance to grab our attention with provocative puns, it undermines the worth of important work regarding other dietary and health concerns. It takes the focus and resources away from us supporting scientifically verified, proven interventions dealing with obesity.

The fact is that American per capita consumption of real sugar (sucrose) is lower now than it was 40 years ago by approximately one-third (34%). So of all the things we need to worry about in this world, "higher" consumption of sugar is not among them. Because we've been consuming less of it for decades.

And when critics talk about consumption of "sugar-sweetened" or "sugary beverages," they are often inaccurately lumping sugar -- from sugar cane and sugar beets -- with man-made sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup.

Sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, for example, are different sweeteners. They are molecularly different. With U.S. Department of Agriculture data showing that more than 90% of the caloric sweetener used in beverages in the United States is such corn syrup, not sugar, how can the media, or anyone, continue to call them "sugar-sweetened beverages"?

So Americans just need to remember: Only sucrose, or sugar, is sugar. Sugar has been consumed safely for centuries and, when consumed in moderation, has been and should continue to be part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. That's a fact.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on http://ift.tt/1bl3g0P.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Andy Briscoe.