TRENTON, N.J. — Republican Chris Christie was sworn in Tuesday as New Jersey's 55th governor, vowing to deliver the far-reaching change he said voters elected him to bring about.

Christie takes over a state plagued by the nation's highest taxes, a deficit that could hit $10 billion by July and unemployment near 10 percent.

His swearing in marked a reminder of President Barack Obama's vulnerability on the same day Republican Scott Brown won the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by the late Edward Kennedy in liberal Massachusetts.

Christie, a 47-year-old former federal prosecutor, ran on a platform of smaller government and took shots at Corzine, a former Wall Street executive, for what he called poor economic stewardship.

Christie takes charge of a government dominated by Democrats waiting to see exactly how he will balance the budget without breaking his campaign pledge to not raise taxes and to roll back others.

HONOLULU — Stuck with the nation's shortest school year, Hawaii lawmakers will consider proposals for longer and more school days when this year's legislative session opens today.Setting standards for instructional time would prevent future budget cuts and labor union negotiations from reducing student learning time, which is what happened when teacher furloughs slashed this school year and next by 17 days.Hawaii doesn't currently require a minimum amount of instructional days or hours. That's part of the reason island schools have only 163 annual school days through May 2011, while many school districts across the nation have a 180-day school year.

MESQUITE, Texas — A 4-year-old Texas boy disciplined for having long hair has returned to his class with a brand new 'do.Pre-kindergartner Taylor Pugh rejoined his classmates at his suburban Dallas elementary school on Tuesday.Elizabeth Taylor says her son's hair is still long, but now she's styled it in a double French braid pinned up at the base of his neck. The school principal approved the style.The boy typically wears his hair long and had been sequestered from classmates at Floyd Elementary School in Balch Springs since late November.The long hair violates the school district's dress code. It says boys' hair must be kept out of the eyes and cannot extend below the bottom of earlobes or over the collar of a dress shirt.

LOS ANGELES — After two days of lightening, flooding and even a tornado, officials tried to get ahead of the next round of powerful storms that are pummeling Southern California by ordering evacuations in mudslide-prone foothill neighborhoods.Los Angeles police officers went door-to-door in the Tujunga neighborhood late Tuesday, handing out flyers and asking residents of about 200 homes to be out of their homes by Wednesday morning.With debris basins full and the fire-scorched soil saturated, Los Angeles County fire officials plan to issue mandatory evacuation orders for about 600 homes beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday in anticipation of the third and longer drenching.The foothills have received almost 5 inches of rain since Sunday and Wednesday's storm is predicted to drop 4 to 8 inches on the area, Department of Public Works Director Gail Farber said.