IN BRIEF

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

Search continues for Japanese balloonist

The U.S. Coast Guard was continuing its search Saturday for a Japanese hot-air balloonist who disappeared over the Pacific Ocean south of the Aleutian Islands.

Michio Kanda, 58, a world-record holder, vanished Thursday about 435 miles south of Adak Island.

The Coast Guard said Saturday that searchers were en route to the area, which is where the balloonist last made contact with his support team.

Kanda's red and black balloon, the Starlight, is 15 stories tall and nearly 150 feet wide. It is the largest hot-air balloon in existence and the second-largest ever built, according to the Japan Balloon Federation.

The balloon is outfitted as a basket with a capsule to protect Kanda from cold temperatures. It contains cold-weather emergency gear such as immersion suits, floating survival capsules, a heater and an emergency locator beacon.

SANTA FE, N.M.

Richardson to watch game with Bill Clinton

Former President Bill Clinton will watch the Super Bowl Sunday with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who recently dropped out of the Democratic presidential contest and whose backing has been actively sought by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

The former president and Richardson planned to watch the game together at a private residence in Red River, a community of about 500 people in the mountains of northern New Mexico with a small ski area that attracts winter visitors.

Richardson, a Hispanic, is widely popular in his home state, one of 22 holding Democratic nominating contests on Super Tuesday. Richardson has not indicated whether he will endorse a candidate before Tuesday.

Hillary Clinton said she'll take a break in Minneapolis to watch the game.

SAN FRANCISCO

Train, stuck overnight, moves on to Chicago

The train that had to stay parked overnight on snowy tracks high in the Sierra Nevada is chugging along again en route to Chicago, an Amtrak spokeswoman said.

Two of Amtrak's California Zephyr trains and about 400 passengers were initially stranded Friday night after a large snowplow fell through a trestle and onto the tracks, blocking the rail.

One San Francisco area-bound train was pulled to Reno and its 165 passengers were put up in a hotel or bused to their destinations, Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero said.

The other train, which was headed from the Bay Area to Chicago, remained in the mountains. About 60 people were taken by bus back to the San Francisco Bay Area overnight and 155 chose to stay on the heated train and sleep either in their seats or in reserved sleeping cars.

The tracks were cleared early Saturday and the train got going again just before 8 a.m. The passengers are scheduled to arrive in Chicago Monday morning, about 16 hours behind schedule.

Passengers interviewed by a newspaper relayed differing stories of the experience. Some, who had sleeping cabins, said they were comfortable and not put out, while others felt neglected during the ordeal.