Obama's day: Off to Cleveland

Good morning from The Oval. It's been 31 years since the "Miracle on Ice," when a young U.S. ice hockey team defeated the veteran Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y.

President Obama spends most of today in Cleveland, where he hosts a "Winning the Future Forum" on small business.

"The forum will be an opportunity for the president and his economic team to hear directly from small business owners and leaders about their ideas for how we can continue to grow the economy, put Americans back to work, and win the future," said the White House schedule.

Obama is bringing some prominent aides with him, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Council of Economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, and National Economic Council director Gene Sperling.

The president will make opening and closing remarks at the Cleveland small business forum. In between, he will attend breakout sessions on such items as entrepreneurship, access to capital, workforce development, exports and clean energy.

In other news:

Neither side looks to be backing down in the Wisconsin labor battle, though there are signs that union bonds are fraying.

With Libya in the midst of civil war, four-decade dictator Moammar Gadhafi denies he has fled Tripoli.

Meanwhile, the unrest in Libya and other parts of the Middle East has triggered talk of $5-a-gallon gas in the United States, reports Gary Strauss of USA TODAY.

Egypt looks to seize the assets of former president Hosni Mubarak.

Chicago voters head to the polls today, USA TODAY's Judy Keen reports, with former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel on the ballot.

A major earthquake in New Zealand kills at least 65 people.