Ukraine: The US is accusing Russia of taking direct part in an all out assault on the eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve before a ceasefire was supposed to take hold. The fighting is being described as intense.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a prepared statement that, “The Russian military has deployed a large amount of artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems around Debaltseve, where it is shelling Ukrainian positions. We are confident that these are Russian military, not separatist systems.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin had insisted in the ceasefire talks on having 70 hours before the shooting stops at midnight. It was a canny move to allow rebels to seize more ground. And, of course, Putin denies his troops are involved even while Russian bodies are being sent home.

Nation: Oregon’s 4^th term Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned yesterday in the midst of a political and possibly criminal crisis over his fiancée’s involvement in his administration. The 67-year-old governor’s fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, has been living in the executive mansion. Investigators were questioning whether she was advising the governor on clean energy issues even while working as an advisor on the subject.

Kitzhaber released a statement saying, “I am confident that I have not broken any laws nor taken any actions that were dishonest or dishonorable in their intent or outcome.” But he did quit.

>Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has put a stop to all executions in his state until he is able to review a report commissioned in 2011 to review the death penalty. This puts a hold on the execution of a man named Terrance Williams who was convicted of a murder that took place in 1984. Williams would have been Pennsylvania’s first execution since 1999. The state has 186 inmates on death row.

Obamacare: Under threat of rising penalties, the Obama administration appears to have flogged the public into signed up for healthcare. The administration says it is close to its Sunday deadline for signups. The penalty for a single adult without healthcare coverage is $95 this year, rising to $695 in 2016. The goal is to have 9.1 million premium-paying enrollees by the end of the year.

Don’t Cry for Me: The prosecutor who replaced the murdered Alberto Nisman has renewed the case against Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, accusing her of helping to cover up for a 1994 bombing of a Jewish center carried out by Iranians. An outraged cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich called the prosecution “the biggest judicial coup d’etat in the history of Argentina to cover the real perpetrators of the crime.”

The Obit Page: Gary Owens, the real radio and television announcer who played a caricature of a radio and television announcer on the late 60s sketch comedy series “Laugh In,” has died at age 80. Holding his hand over his right ear he would earnestly announce that the show was coming to you from “beautiful downtown Burbank.”

>Stan Chambers, a reporter who was a fixture at the Los Angeles television station KTLA for more than 60 years, has died at age 91. Chambers was on the air at the dawn of television news. In 1949 a little girl fell down a well in San Marino. KTLA and Chambers had Los Angeles riveted for 27 hours until the story reached a sad ending. He covered every major event in Los Angeles in his time. Chambers broke the story of the infamous Rodney King beating and the resulting Los Angeles riots. Always a gentle and hard working presence in the news, Chambers had retired only in 2010.

Anchorman: As he sits out the first week of a six-month suspension from NBC News, every word and report by the 55-year-old anchorman Brian Williams is being scrutinized by NBC and other news outlets. The Huffington Post was first to question Williams’ claim that in 2003 at the start of the Iraq War he flew into Baghdad with the secretive SEAL Team 6. In a follow-up, military spokesmen and former SEALS told CNN they don’t carry reporters into a fight … ever.

Also under scrutiny, Williams’ claims that he met the Pope and that he was present the night the Berlin Wall came down. What’s interesting … and ominous … is that no one from NBC News is defending Williams either on the record or off.

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