CONCEPCION, Chile – Rescuers edged their way toward quake victims trapped in a toppled apartment block early Sunday even as looters stole food and robbed banks after one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Chile.

Authorities put the death toll from Saturday’s magnitude-8.8 quake at about 300, but believed the number would grow. They said 1.5 million Chileans were affected and 500,000 homes severely damaged by the mammoth temblor.

A tsunami caused by the quake that swept across the Pacific killed several people on a Chilean island and devastated over coastal communities near the epicenter, but caused little damage in other countries, after precautionary evacuations of hundreds of thousands of people. The tsunami warning was lifted a day after the earthquake.

President Michelle Bachelet, who leaves office March 11, declared a “state of catastrophe” in central Chile. “It was a catastrophe of devastating consequences,” she said.

Officials said earlier they h

MONDAY, MARCH 1
UNC WRITERS’ CONFERENCE, 7 p.m. University Center, Panorama Room, 11th Avenue and 20th Street, Greeley. Michael Thomas, winner of the 2009 IMPAC Dublin Award.
HOMEWORK HELP, 4-7 p.m., Lincoln Park Library, 919 7th St., Greeley. Homework Help Tutors are available to help fifth- to 12th-grade students with their homework. Details: (970) 506-8497.
MUNCHKIN MONDAYS, 10-10:45 a.m., Dayspring Christian Academy, 3734 20th St., Greeley. Free storytime for children and parents. Details: (970) 584-2608 or www.DayspringEagles.org.
LONGS PEAK SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR, 5:15-7 p.m., University Center Ballrooms, UNC, Greeley. Middle and high school students will showcase their scientific and creative talents, and interact with professionals of industry and academia, as well as the collegial population. Open to the public. Details: (970) 351-2976.
FARR NON-FICTION BOOK CLUB, 1 p.m., Farr Regional Library, 1939 61st Ave., Greeley. Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Gr

Clouds and chillier weather return to the state today. This latest weather maker moves pretty well to the south of us, so we’re probably not going to get much in the way of snow across the northern front range.
But if you’re planning a trip down to Denver, be ready to drive through a little bit of snow and rain mix in the afternoon, and of course, make sure you have the winter coat. High temperatures will be in the upper 30s across the northern Front Range.
Late tonight the snow will taper off from north to south. Greeley, Fort Collins, Longmont and Windsor will most likely only get a light dusting, while Longmont, Boulder and most of the metro area get an inch or two. That could be just enough to slow your drive time if you’re taking Interstate 25 south.
No worries for the mountains, for now. Snow should be light and out of the area by evening. The week ahead will be mild and mostly dry with highs in the 40s to near 50.

Bob Small was 3,000 miles away, on the opposite coast, when he learned that his marine electrician job back in Seattle’s Puget Sound had gone bust.
His employer of 10 years, one of the largest firms on Whidbey Island, ran into financial problems and shut down in November 2007. Small, a Naval reservist, was seven months into a year-long reserves hitch with a combat helicopter unit in Norfolk, Va., when he heard the news from friends back in Washington.
The Evans native began thinking about what he should do next. With several family members still in the Greeley area, “I thought, ‘Why not start fresh back in Colorado?’ ” Small said.
A new career path was Small’s best option, considering the bureaucratic snags awaiting him in landlocked Colorado’s electrician market.
“Going from the marine industry, none of your hours are recognized toward a license for residential” work, he said.
Small, 49, would have to start from scratch – a five-year process j

Angelo Aguilera and the rest of his fellow Kodak workers saw the signs coming.
More and more competitors were coming out with similar products. More and more companies were shipping jobs overseas. The health insurance rates kept going up, when at one time Kodak’s health care was enviable.
Still, when Kodak announced it was closing the division where Aguilera worked as a production trainer for 29 years, he admits it was a shock.
“We were completely unprepared for it,” Aguilera said. “You’re walking around and seeing the look on others’ faces. There was a lot of disbelief.”
Aguilera of Eaton tells his story in Aims Community College, as teachers and advisers stop by his table and make him laugh. He tries not to dwell on his last year at Kodak. It was a tough time. He still says the company was a good place to work, and he liked his job as someone who trained others how to operate the complicated machines needed to produce film.
But Aguilera now looks at that