NATIONAL BRIEFS

NATIONWIDE: Shh! Who wants F-35 base?

Plans on where to base the military's next-generation fighter jet, the F-35, concern people from California to Florida to Maine who worry the aircraft are too loud. In Vermont, opponents are especially vocal about the noise of the F-35. South Burlington City Council President Rosanne Greco, a retired Air Force officer, said she favored bringing the F-35 to her community until she read a draft environmental impact statement. F-35 supporters say Greco and others are cherry-picking the report's information without full context. In California, where the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar is to get F-35s in several years, environmental groups question the potential impact on endangered species. Noise concerns have been raised in Arizona, and in Florida's Panhandle.

WASHINGTON: Inauguration: Thrill is gone

Four years and one re-election after Barack Obama became America's first black president, some of the thrill is gone. The ceremony Washington will put on in a few weeks won't be the heady affair it was in 2009, when nearly 2 million people flocked to the National Mall. This time, District of Columbia officials expect from 600,000 to 800,000 people for the public swearing-in on the Capitol steps Jan. 21. Even Obama acknowledges the change: "I think that a lot of folks feel that, 'Well, he's now president. He's a little grayer. He's a little older. It's not quite as new as it was,' " he told supporters during the re-election campaign.

CALIFORNIA: Lone wolf draws attention

The state's lone gray wolf, who came from Oregon, has passed his one-year anniversary as a transplant resident with the same technical accoutrements as some people: a Twitter account and an online site on his travels. A fan, @iamgreenbean, messaged: "We are THRILLED to have you" to the Twitter account @WolfOR7. The anonymous wolf often tweets about eating ungulates, or asking, "Why the fixation with my love life?" In Oregon, a newspaper cartoonist depicted him as a 2012 presidential candidate.