By Brendan O’Brien CHICAGO (Reuters) -Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses were without power on Friday after a winter storm dumped sleet and heavy snow on a wide swath of the central United States this week, and more treacherous weather threatened parts of the Plains and New England. More than 370,000 customers were without power from Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee up through Ohio and into New York, Poweroutage.us reported on Friday, after an ice storm downed power lines and trees across the area on Thursday. Memphis Light, Gas and Water said more than 130,000 customers were without powe…