• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's governors are becoming prominent voices in the fight to cut the federal deficit, warning that Capitol Hill's latest budget stalemate is radiating fresh waves of uncertainty that threatens economic progress in their states.
• Gathered in Washington for the annual meeting of the National Governors Association, Republican and Democratic state leaders joined on Friday to condemn massive spending cuts -- known as the "sequester" -- set to begin on March 1. White House officials warned that inaction could lead to widespread flight delays, shuttered airports, off-limit seashores and hundreds of thousands of furloughed employees spread across dozens of states.
• "It is not helpful when Congress and the president and the administration have such partisan gridlock," said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican and former member of Congress. "Because their gridlock has real repercussions on the families ... it has real repercussions on our states and our economies."
• Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, said the nation "cannot afford to put at risk jobs and the recovery."
• "The only thing that's standing in the way of prosperity right now is the games being played by the Republicans in Congress," he said following a meeting between Democratic governors and President Barack Obama.
• ___

• YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- Federal and state officials say six underground tanks holding toxic and radioactive wastes are leaking at the country's most contaminated nuclear site in south-central Washington, raising concerns about delays for emptying the aging tanks.
• The leaking materials at Hanford Nuclear Reservation pose no immediate risk to public safety or the environment because it would take perhaps years for the chemicals to reach groundwater, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday.

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