In the Nation

LOS ANGELES - A preliminary report Friday by the city administrative officer estimates that the nearly two-month Occupy LA encampment at City Hall cost the budget-strapped city at least $2.3 million, but officials said the sum was expected to grow by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The latest tab adds to costs tallied by cities nationwide that have been dealing with the anti-Wall Street movement. An AP survey of 18 nationwide cities through mid-November found that the protests had cost local taxpayers a total of at least $13 million.

The Los Angeles report requested by the City Council includes an estimate of more than $1.6 million in overtime for police, the Department of General Services, and the Office of Public Safety. - AP

SEATTLE - Scuffles broke out and police were brought in to quell unrest that nearly turned into riots across the nation Friday following the release of Nike's new $180 Air Jordan basketball shoes - a retro model of one of the most popular Air Jordans ever made.

The mayhem stretched from Washington state to Georgia and was reminiscent of violence that broke out 20 years ago in many cities as the shoes became popular targets for thieves. It also had a decidedly Black Friday feel as huge crowds of shoppers overwhelmed stores for a must-have item.

In suburban Seattle, police used pepper spray on about 20 customers who started fighting at the Westfield Southcenter mall. A man, 20, was stabbed when a brawl broke out in line among shoe buyers at the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City, N.J. In Richmond, Calif., crowds waiting to buy the Air Jordan 11 Retro Concords at the Hilltop Mall were turned away after a gunshot rang out about 7 a.m. - AP

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Heavy snow from a winter storm blanketed parts of the West on Friday, stranding motorists throughout New Mexico and delaying holiday travelers trying to fly in and out of Albuquerque and Denver.

The snow and high winds struck the region Thursday and forced dozens of drivers off Interstate 40 after severe conditions made driving in western New Mexico nearly impossible.

Grants, N.M., and parts of western New Mexico were slammed with more than a foot of snow by Friday morning, the National Weather Service reported. A winter storm warning for the state expired in the afternoon, but meteorologists said the snow wasn't expected to clear up until the weekend. Some parts of the state saw 17 inches of snow as police responded to dozens of minor accidents. No major injuries were reported. - AP

The CIA said its internal watchdog found nothing wrong with the spy agency's close partnership with the New York Police Department and no laws broken.

San Francisco firefighters scrambled Friday to replace toys lost when the city's biggest blaze in more than seven years left 43 people homeless at the height of the holiday season. The cause of the fire, near the city's historic Alamo Square, was not yet known.