On Tuesday, the worst nightmare came true for many students in Alabama and Georgia, where a freak winter storm shuttered the bus service stranding the students at school for the night.

School staff and teachers gave students snacks to eat and games to play throughout the long night. One teacher said that younger students are routine-oriented and what happened is very out of the ordinary, which caused some students to be uncomfortable.

Some road conditions were so bad in some of the schools districts that not just buses were kept off road, but parents were told not to drive and pick up their children.

Robert Bentley the Governor of Alabama told news reporters late on Tuesday that officials from the state did not know the total number of students who had been stranded or the number of schools that still had children. However, Bentley promised no matter how many students there were, they would all be watched over and fed.

Close to 600 students were at schools in Birmingham early Wednesday, said that district’s Superintendent.

In the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, Georgia, over 850 students remained at schools after midnight, though the total number had started to decline. Over 200 students and between 15 and 20 staff had settled in for a long night at Marietta High, said on teacher.

One member of the Marietta school board said nearly every school in the district would have children overnight since buses could not travel and parents were stranded at home.

Initially, the Atlanta school system that has over 55,000 students attending public schools, said it had hoped they all would be home no later than 8 pm. However, by 8:30 pm Tuesday night buses were still having problems reaching schools.

Late on Tuesday night, the Atlanta school system said it issued an emergency declaration for the students and staff that remained at the schools. It said that food and security had been continued to be provided at each of its campuses.

One teacher said the students were not causing any problems, but it was the parents who had given them the headaches.

A mother in Germantown, Maryland along with another woman have been accused of killing two children and attempting to kill two others that they believed they were exorcising demonic spirits from that possessed the children, said police.

The children who died – Norell Harris a 1-year old boy and Zyana Harris a 2-year old girl – were found on Friday in their mother’s room on her bed. Both of the children had multiple stabs wounds.

Taniya Harris, 5 a sister and Martello Harris, 8 a brother, were injured but doctors expected both to survive. Police said that the women had thought they were exorcising the demons from the children although it appears no ritual was followed. A police spokesperson said the women thought something bad was happening to the children and they were trying to release it.

The women were identified by police as Zakieya Avery, the mother who is 28 and Monifa Sanford, 21. Sanford lived with Avery. Each of the women was charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of first-degree murder.

Detectives located two knives they believe were used in the gruesome attacks. One knife is similar in size to a paring knife, while the other was larger, said a police spokesperson.

Avery has received counseling for her mental health. She has moved on two occasions recently from Maryland to Ohio then to Germantown.

One of Avery’s relatives said the woman had separated from her spouse. Posts on Facebook on her personal page suggest she believes in God as well as fears Satan.

Avery’s step grandmother told reporters that Avery appeared to take care of her children and loved them. People who gathered outside the home said a person had to be very sick in order to kill someone they have brought into the world.

One neighbor said that on Thursday night he saw signs there might be trouble. He spotted a child by himself inside a car and promptly called 911.

Before officers arrived, two women exited Avery’s home and told the man to mind his own business. They took the child and went into the house.

When police arrived they knocked at Avery’s house, but no one answered. Nothing suspicious was heard or seen. The police called child welfare who said someone would visit on Friday and then the police left.

The following morning the same neighbor spotted other signs of possible trouble. Police entered the home after being called by the neighbor saying he had found a knife near a car door that was left open.

Pop singer Justin Bieber had his house raided on Tuesday as police were investigating a complaint of vandalism at his neighbor’s house in Calabasas, California.

Police found what they believed initially to be cocaine, but later believed was Xanax or Ecstasy. In the process, the police arrested Lil Za a singer friend of Bieber’s on drug possession.

The Sheriff’s Department of Los Angeles County said the drugs were Xavier Smith’s, aka Lil Za, who is 20. He was taken from Bieber’s house in handcuffs and charged with a felony.

While Smith was waiting to post $20,000 bail, police hit him with another felony vandalism charge as he damaged a phone while in lock-up, said a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department. After the incident, police raised the rapper’s bail to $75,000.

Bieber was one of 7 to 8 people in the house early Tuesday during the search related to egg throwing at a neighbor’s home.

Authorities said Bieber did not have any connection with the cocaine that was found by police, a sheriff’s department spokesperson confirmed.

Following law enforcement’s news conference regarding the search of Bieber’s home and subsequent arrest of Smith, officials said the drug was thought to be Ecstasy or Xanax and not cocaine.

Nevertheless, Smith could spend up to 3 years behind bars if he is tried and convicted of felony cocaine possession. However, possession of Ecstasy only carries a maximum sentence of less than one year.

Bieber, who is 19, is being investigated after his neighbor alleged someone from the Bieber house threw raw eggs at his home last Thursday.

A video of the incident that was leaked to the press seems to have a voice in the background similar to Bieber’s

Bieber was not questioned and did not give a statement about the alleged vandalism while his house was searched.

Jeffrey Schwartz his irate neighbor claims he witnessed Bieber from his balcony on the second floor. Schwartz called the police following the incident, said Bieber had thrown 20 eggs or more and caused over $20,000 in damages to his wood and plaster exterior.

This is not the first run-in Bieber has had with Schwartz. In another incident, Schwartz claims Bieber spit in his face.

On Monday, authorities in Florida said they had charged a retired police captain with fatally shooting a man following an argument over texting messages on a mobile phone inside a movie theater.

A spokesperson with the Pasco County Sheriff’s office said two couples were watching a movie on Monday in Wesley Chapel, Florida just to the north of Tampa, when gunshots rang out.

Curtis Reeves, who is 71, asked that Chad Oulson, 43, stop texting on his mobile telephone, and an argument ensued.

Oulson and Nichole, his wife, were rushed to a nearby hospital where the man died. Injuries his wife sustained were said to be non-life threatening.

The spokesperson from the sheriff’s department said a deputy who was off-duty detained Reeves while waiting for police to arrive. Police charged Reeves with murder in the second degree.

A spokesperson from the Tampa Police Department said that Reeves had been a captain at his time of retirement from that department back in 1993. Reeves has a son who is currently a police officer in Tampa, said police.

The shooting took place in Wesley Chapel’s Cobb Theatres. The two men argued, said witnesses when Oulson was texting while the previews were being shown prior to the movie, Lone Survivor being played.

Police could not believe that something so tragic would happen just because an individual was texting.

One witness, who was inside the theater, said the shooting victim told the shooter he was texting his daughter who was just 3-years old. The witness said popcorn was thrown and then the shot rang out.

The parent company of Cobb Theatres released a statement that said the company was saddened by the events and that their thoughts as well as prayers were with the two victims and their families.

The theater was closed following the shooting and investigators started their investigation. The theater said that it was a top priority to maintain the security, safety and comfort of moviegoers and the incident has caused them to be heartbroken.

Wesley Chapel is a town of 45,000 located north of Tampa.

In the U.S., the flu season has begun to get worse with the sickness now spreading into more than 35 states, up from the 25 the previous week, according to the Center for Disease Control that released a report on Friday.

Lyn Finelli an expert on flu with the CDC said in the weekly reports on flu that the season has yet to peak, but it is still too soon to determine if it will be worse than what is considered normal.

Thus far, the numbers are not as high as last year. The amount of people that have visited doctors for flu symptoms climbed to over 4% of all visits to the doctor last week, which was near double from just two week before.

North Carolina health officials reported on Thursday that the death toll due to seasonal flu had increased by 2 to 21. Of the deaths, 19 were young or middle-age adults, of which most had underlying medical conditions. Just two of the deaths reported were in people older than 65.

State officials in health said the flu activity was widespread in many states since the middle of December. The season usually does not peak until late January and into February.

Health officials in Washington said on Friday that the state had 11 deaths this season. King County had accounted for five deaths, which is expected since it is the population center for the state. Last season, there were 54 flu deaths officially reported for Washington.

Officials in Washington said the number of deaths was not unusual but that the department urged everyone older than 6 months to be vaccinated.

In Nevada, there have been five deaths in Washoe County, while two-middle aged people and one elderly person died in Clark County.

Officials said people could still have a flu vaccination. Even though the season peaks in January or February, officials warned that it continues many times into spring.

Besides getting a vaccine, it is recommended that people wash their hands frequently, cover their mouths and nose when sneezing and cough to stop as much as possible the spread of germs.