ST. LOUIS (AP) — A gusty winter storm that slammed southern Illinois on Wednesday could have been reason enough for Renee Galen to stay home. The Albion City Hall worker's SUV sat buried under 18 inches of snow in her driveway, and the small town's roads were all but impassable to everything except snow plows.

So she hitched a ride with one.

Galen, the deputy collector for the community of 1,900 residents near the Indiana border, was the only one who made it in Wednesday, which was the last day residents could declare they were running for local office in the spring elections.