Fall’s colors are supposed to be reds, oranges and browns, but in the northeast, white is the dominating shade.

A freak October nor’easter, a hard storm that blows in from the south and combines with the cold winds of the north and can be as severe as a hurricane, rolled into the northeast United States, causing power to more than 3 million homes and businesses to be cut off on Sunday. The severity of the storm, which dumped close to 2 feet of snow in some areas, was made worse due to the heavy snow landing on the still-leaf laden trees, causing branches to break and fall into power lines.

Massachusetts was one of the hardest hit states, with Plainfield receiving 27 inches of snow. Roads, trains and airline travel was also knocked out, and while children across the region were thrilled at the idea of an early snow day or two, Halloween plans were complicated.

McCracken County releases projections for high school

The new McCracken County High School appears to be a big one. School officials released the school’s projected population in the fall of 2013 as 1,857 students in grades 9-12. The consolidated high school, which will combine Lone Oak, Reidland and Heath, will include five educational “houses” where students will center their core classes throughout their high school careers.

Pumpkin patch yields dividends for second-grader

St. Mary second-grader Ramsey Ramage has big ideas and put them to use this fall. Ramage, along with his family, planted a pumpkin patch for the fifth year on his family’s farm, raising about 1,000 pumpkins this year. Ramage helped come up with marketing plans and also donated some of his proceeds to the school library, as well as giving many pumpkins away.

“I just think there are so many kids doing great things,” Ramsey said. “We have good ideas, too. I want people to notice.”

Teen of the Week

Haley Massad is the Mid-Continent University Teen of Week. The senior at Paducah Tilghman High School is fluent in English and Spanish and hopes to study Arabic, the language of her father, a native of the African country of Lebanon. Massad is already a world traveler, having spent time in Spain, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, and she and her mother, a Spanish teacher, have hosted a foreign exchange student as well. In May, a Teen of the Year will be chosen from the weekly winners, earning a four-year, $2,500 scholarship to Mid-Continent University.