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RALEIGH, N.C. -- North and South Carolina readied hundreds of National Guardsmen as the rainy remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto approached, prompting fears of severe flooding.

Forecasters said Ernesto could drench the eastern half of North Carolina with as much as seven inches of rain on Thursday and Friday. A separate storm system arriving ahead of Ernesto also threatened to soak the region.

"We could get a clobbering today," National Weather Service forecaster Phil Badgett said.

Ernesto weakened to a tropical depression while crawling north through Florida. Its winds were less a concern to emergency officials than the prospect of downpours.

Ernesto moved off the Florida coast late Thursday and could regain tropical storm strength. Forecasters predicted the storm's center would be near the South Carolina coast late Thursday. From there, it was forecast to cut across the state's easternmost corner, then ride into central North Carolina.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect from Cocoa Beach, Fla., to the Wilmington area of southeastern North Carolina.

"We know we're going to get a lot of rain. We know this is going to be a water event," North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley said.

Easley activated 150 National Guardsmen and ordered the State Emergency Response Team to prepare for flooding and power outages. Guard troops in South Carolina were on standby, Lt. Col. Pete Brooks said.

Lawmakers to help

decide gas pipeline deal

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Gov. Frank Murkowski says he expects to hear from legislative leaders in the next few days on whether they want a third special session to work on a $25 billion North Slope natural gas pipeline deal.

If both legislative chambers agree to move the contract forward in another session, negotiations on a pipeline deal for the first time would include members of the House and Senate picked by legislative leaders, Murkowski said at a news conference Wednesday.

"If we have a favorable response from the House and Senate, it would be my intention to call special session September 19th," he said.

Murkowski must give 15 days of notice for a special session, and would face a Labor Day deadline to meet the date for a special session.

Senate committee

hearing triggers debate

AURORA, Colo. -- A Senate committee hearing on immigration, headed by Colorado Republican Wayne Allard, triggered a debate even before it got started Wednesday when critics questioned the purpose and the list of invited witnesses.

Allard, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said he wants Colorado to have a voice in the immigration debate and wants to pin down how legislation pending in Congress will affect state and local budgets and personnel.

Critics, including Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., derided the hearing as nothing more than election-year politics because the Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform in May after months of debate and hearings.

Controller during crash

had only two hours of sleep

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The lone air traffic controller on duty the morning Comair Flight 5191 crashed had only two hours of sleep before starting work on the overnight shift, a federal investigator said Wednesday.

National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said the controller had only nine hours off between work shifts Saturday. That was just enough to meet federal rules, which require a minimum of eight hours off between shifts, Hersman said.

The controller, a 17-year veteran whose name has not been released publicly, worked from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. He came back to work at 11:30 p.m. on the same day to begin an eight-hour overnight shift.

The commuter jet crashed Sunday morning, in the final hours of the controller's shift, while trying to take off from Blue Grass Airport.<