NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : 23 States Hit by Cold to Get Heating Aid

The 23 states that have taken the brunt of this winter’s icy blast will receive $300 million in federal emergency home-heating aid, President Clinton announced. The money will be distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services under a new formula intended to channel aid to those states that have had the worst weather and also have large numbers of low-income households. The targeted states, in the East and Midwest, had January temperatures totaling 100 “degree days” more than their 30-year average. Degree days are a measure of cold. The higher the number of degree days, the colder the weather.