Hola N&Cers, a fine puzzle today, though the grid fill proceeds pretty rapidly once the "common source" of the 10 is discovered. The "HELP IN ALLEGED COD AREA" seemed unnecessary. One major error - the "state capital" referenced in 9d is NOT a state capital!
We got 5 inches of snow yesterday, so I'm off to clean off cars & driveways. I thought it was spring?