Reuters: U.S.: Lethal eastern U.S. storms kill 12; millions lose power

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Lethal eastern U.S. storms kill 12; millions lose power Jul 1st 2012, 03:14 1 of 12. People survey storm damage in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington, June 30, 2012. Wind gusts clocked at speeds of up to 79 mph were reported in and around the U.S. capital, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes in the Washington area. Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON | Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:14pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Millions of people across the eastern United States baked in record heat on Saturday after deadly thunderstorms downed powerlines from Indiana to Maryland, killing at least 12 people and leaving over 3 million homes and businesses without power. Emergencies were declared in Washington D.C., Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia because of damage from overnight storms, which unleashed hurricane-force winds across a 500-mile (800-km) stretch of the mid-Atlantic region. President Barack Obama on Saturday authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to coordinate all disaster relief efforts in the storm-ravaged Ohio. The storms' rampage was followed by roasting temperatures that topped 100 Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) in several southern cities, including Atlanta, where the mercury hit 106 degrees (41 Celsius), and Charlotte, North Carolina, where it reached 102 F (38 C), according to Accuweather.com. Restoring power in some areas could take up to a week. Utilities in Ohio, Virginia and Maryland described storm damage to their power grids as catastrophic. "It's going to be a while before some folks get power, and with the heat, that's our big concern," said Bob Spieldenner, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. Six people were killed in Virginia in storm-related incidents, and more than 1 million customers were left without power in the worst outage not linked to a hurricane in the state's history, he said. Two Maryland residents died in the storm, one struck by a falling tree in Anne Arundel County, the other electrocuted after a tree crashed into a house in Montgomery County, said state emergency management agency spokesman Edward Hopkins. In New Jersey, two cousins aged 2 and 7 were killed by a falling tree in a state park. And in eastern Tennessee, heat was blamed for the deaths of two brothers, ages 3 and 5, in Bradley County. They had been playing outside in 105-degree heat. In Maryland, about 800,000 customers were without power with outages reported throughout the state, Hopkins said. Several high voltage transmission lines that carry power long distances were significantly damaged by the storm, he said. "In many cases, it could take up to five to six days for the restoration of services to those lines," he added. Ohio, where one storm-related death was reported, faced similar difficulties. Outages hit two-thirds of the state with about 1 million homes and businesses left without electricity. Governor John Kasich said it could take a week to fully restore power. West Virginia was also hard hit by storm-related outages, with about 614,000 customers without power, said Terrance Lively, spokesman for the state emergency management agency. FEELING THE HEAT Further north, the storm caused outages from Indiana, where 135,000 customers lost power, to New Jersey where Atlantic County declared a state of emergency and at least 206,000 customers were without power. The storm also knocked out Amtrak passenger rail service between Washington and Philadelphia, Amtrak said. Power companies called in crews from utilities in neighboring states to help restore electricity. The widespread power outages came as the National Weather Service forecast more heat and severe thunderstorms across the Ohio Valley, through the mid-Atlantic states and into New York. Blazing temperatures in New York, where thermometer readings were in the 90s on Saturday, came ahead of a possible strike by 8,500 Consolidated Edison workers over a new contract. The union membership has authorized its leaders to call a strike at midnight Saturday, when their collective bargaining agreement expires. If the 8,500 Con Ed workers do walk off, that would leave managers and any crews the company can hire to fix whatever problems arise as 8.2 million New Yorkers crank up their air conditioners to beat the heat. Up and down the East Coast, state and local officials urged residents to seek air-conditioned spaces, drink lots of water and wear light-colored clothing. They also called on people to watch out for those most vulnerable to high heat - the elderly, small children and the mentally ill. "Our biggest concern right now is temperatures going up to 100 degrees today," said Ed McDonough, spokesman for the Maryland emergency management agency. Records for June were broken on Friday in Washington, Atlanta, Nashville, Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky. The temperature hit at least 104 F (40 C) in all four cities, according to the National Weather Service. The high heat prompted the AT&T National golf tournament at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, to close the competition to spectators and volunteers on Saturday. Weather even struck the Internet. The storms disrupted power for Amazon.com Inc cloud computing operations and disrupted online services such as the video streaming website Netflix, photo sharing company Instagram and online pinboard Pinterest, the Wall Street Journal reported. A representative from Amazon could not be reached for comment. Netflix and Pinterest reported on their Twitter pages by early Saturday that they had resolved their problems. (Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Paul Thomasch in New York, Susan Guyett in Indianapolis, Tim Ghianni in Nashville and Alistair Bull in Washington; Editing by Tim Gaynor and Todd Eastham) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Three Boy Scouts among five dead in Wyoming vehicle crash

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Three Boy Scouts among five dead in Wyoming vehicle crash Jul 1st 2012, 02:23 By Ruffin Prevost CODY, Wyoming | Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:23pm EDT CODY, Wyoming (Reuters) - A head-on collision in northwestern Wyoming on Saturday killed three older Boy Scouts, a toddler and a man, authorities said. The crash occurred on Highway 120, less than 20 miles south of the town of Meeteetse. It appears a Honda Element SUV with the man, who was in his 50s, and the three Boy Scouts veered into the opposite lane and struck an oncoming recreational vehicle, said Wyoming Highway Patrol Captain Len Declercq. The four were killed, along with a 3-year-old boy in the RV, he said. Speed and alcohol are not believed to be a factor, and it is not known what caused the driver to change lanes, Declercq said. Weather in the region was clear and dry. Two of the Boy Scouts were 17 years old and the third one was around 20, Declercq said. The four people in the Honda Element were returning to Colorado from a Boy Scout camp near Cody, Wyoming, at the eastern edge of Yellowstone National Park. It was not immediately clear who was driving. Two other people in the RV were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were treated and released. Authorities have not released the names of those involved. (Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Mohammad Zargham) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Mormons quit church in mass resignation ceremony

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Mormons quit church in mass resignation ceremony Jul 1st 2012, 01:45 1 of 11. Chelsea Bair reads a declaration of independence from Mormonism during a mass resignation of Mormons from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City June 30, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Jeffrey D. Allred By Jennifer Dobner SALT LAKE CITY | Sat Jun 30, 2012 9:07pm EDT SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - A group of about 150 Mormons quit their church in a mass resignation ceremony in Salt Lake City on Saturday in a rare display of defiance ending decades of disagreement for some over issues ranging from polygamy to gay marriage. Participants from Utah, Arizona, Idaho and elsewhere gathered in a public park to sign a "Declaration of Independence from Mormonism." "This feels awesome," said Alison Lucas, from West Jordan, Utah, who took part in the rally amid soaring temperatures. "I don't know if I would have had the courage except in a group." The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is known for its culture of obedience, and the mass ceremony was a seldom-seen act of collective revolt. After gathering in the park, participants hiked a half-mile up nearby Ensign Peak, scaled in 1847 by church President Brigham Young to survey the spot where his Latter-day Saints would build a city. At the top, those gathered gave three loud shouts of "Freedom," cheered, clapped and hugged. "It's been a hard journey and this is a symbolic end," said event organizer Zilpha Larsen, of Lehi, Utah. "I just hope that it boosts people up and helps them feel more comfortable in their decision." The church bills itself as the one "true" Christian faith, and its theology promises families eternal relationships among those who remain faithful, sealing those gifts through special religious rites. Among the reasons cited by those resigning are the church's political activism against gay marriage and doctrinal teachings that conflict with scientific findings or are perceived as racist or sexist. Others cite inconsistencies in the Mormons' explanation of its own history, including the practice of polygamy. The church renounced plural marriage over a century ago as Utah was seeking statehood. Asked about the resignations, a church spokesman said the church loves and respects each member. "People make their own decisions about the direction they will follow in life," spokesman Michael Purdy said in an email. "While there are very few who take this action, it is sad to see someone choose to leave. We wish them well." The most recent figures show the Mormon church claims 14.4 million members worldwide. The number of those resigning from the church are not publicly reported. 'WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL' Some leaving the church Saturday did so with trepidation, as Mormon culture often stigmatizes those who fall away, leaving some without social or business connections. "It's hard, so we have to be very careful," said Robin Hansen, a participant who said she quit over a "culture of abuse" which she believes is cultivated by church teachings promoting obedience. Hansen said her husband had not joined her in leaving the faith because he works in a church-related business and could lose his job if he doesn't maintain his membership. To resign from the church, Mormons must submit a formal letter asking their names be removed from church rolls, a church instructional handbook for lay leaders published on the Internet in 2010 shows. On Saturday, participants filled a basket with their letters for mailing by Larsen, who split with the church over doubts about the veracity of a translation of ancient Egyptian writings which are included in sacred Mormon texts. A sixth-generation Mormon, Kris Fielding, 35, traveled from Phoenix for the resignation event in part to represent those who do not yet have the courage to do so, he said, including his wife, who worries about reaction from their families. Married in a Mormon temple, Fielding said the couples shared disaffection from their faith is tied in part to their local church leader's response to questions Fielding had about polyandry and polygamy - taking multiple husbands and wives - in the early church. "I went to him looking for a faithful perspective. He called my wife and told her she needed to find a new husband," Fielding said. He said he felt relief after his decision. "The monkey's off the back ... I don't feel like I have to explain myself or the positions of the church anymore." (Editing by Tim Gaynor and Doina Chiacu) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Mourners remember Rodney King as figure of healing

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Mourners remember Rodney King as figure of healing Jul 1st 2012, 00:23 1 of 5. Rodney King's casket is pictured during his memorial service at the Forest Lawn Hall of Liberty in Los Angeles, California, June 30, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn By Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES | Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:23pm EDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hundreds of mourners remembered Rodney King, a symbol of racial tension in Los Angeles and catalyst for sweeping law-enforcement reforms after his 1991 beating by police officers, as a figure of national healing at a public memorial before his burial on Saturday. "He tried to use his scars to heal a nation," the Reverend Al Sharpton told a news conference outside the Forest Lawn Hall of Liberty in the Hollywood Hills, where the remembrance service was held. King was found by his fiancée Cynthia Kelly drowned on June 17 at the bottom of his backyard swimming pool in Rialto, California, a suburb about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. He was 47. Police have said they found no initial evidence of foul play or outward signs of suicide and were investigating King's death as an accident. Results of toxicology and tissue studies were still pending, authorities said, and there were questions about how King, who by all accounts was an avid swimmer, ended up drowning in his own pool. Among the mourners gathered for the 2 p.m. (2100 GMT) service were King's three daughters - Dene, Candice and Tristan. "You rise above your scars to heal. Rodney King was a healer. He turned his scars into stars," Sharpton said. The service was held in the auditorium which was also used for the private 2009 funeral of Michael Jackson before the pop star's public memorial service at the Staples Center. The beating of King, who was black, was caught on videotape and widely replayed. His death came two months after the 20th anniversary of Los Angeles riots triggered by the acquittal of four white police officers prosecuted for the beating. During the racially charged unrest, which killed more than 50 people and caused more than $1 billion in property damage, King famously appealed for calm in a televised appearance in which he asked rhetorically, "Can we all get along?" The case helped bring attention to the issue of racial profiling by law enforcement and led to far-reaching reforms in the Los Angeles Police Department. King, who long struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, financial difficulties and legal problems, had this year published a memoir entitled "The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption." About 300 mourners gathered in the auditorium, where King's gray casket topped with a spray of white flowers was flanked by a large photograph of him smiling warmly. King's daughter Dene, 28, said her father would be remembered for his smile, his heart and his unconditional love. Following the burial, a reception was to be held at the Universal City Sheraton. Two of the four white officers acquitted of state charges by a jury in 1992 were later convicted of federal charges and sentenced to 30-month prison terms. A civil jury later awarded King $3.8 million in damages. One of the jurors was Kelly, who became his fiancée. (Reporting by Steve Gorman; editing by Bill Trott and Mohammad Zargham) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Emails raise questions about former Penn State officials: CNN

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Emails raise questions about former Penn State officials: CNN Jul 1st 2012, 00:17 Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:17pm EDT (Reuters) - Correspondence between senior Penn State University officials show they feared they could be "vulnerable" for failing to report to authorities allegations that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky had abused a boy in a university locker room, CNN reported on Saturday. The Cable News Network's report of the emails comes amid questions about the university's failure to alert police or other authorities to a report by Mike McQueary, then a graduate assistant for the team, that he had witnessed what he believed to be Sandusky molesting a boy in a shower on campus in 2001. Former Athletic Director Tim Curley and former University Vice President Gary Schultz face charges of perjury and failure to report suspected abuse in an alleged cover-up of the 2001 shower incident. Sandusky was convicted this month of molesting 10 boys over 15 years. Reuters was unable to independently confirm existence of the emails referenced in the CNN report and whether they represent the full discussion between the officials. According to CNN, in the wake of the McQueary report, Curley wrote to former Penn State President Graham Spanier and Schultz to discuss the matter. Curley wrote that he wanted to tell Sandusky directly there was "a problem" and that university officials "want to assist the individual to get professional help," CNN reported. The then-athletic director added that if Sandusky did not cooperate, the university would inform outside authorities, according to CNN. Spanier responded that the plan was "acceptable," CNN reported, citing two unidentified sources. "The only downside for us is if the message (to Sandusky) isn't 'heard' and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it," Spanier wrote, according to CNN. "But that can be assessed down the down the road. The approach you outline is humane and a reasonable way to proceed." An attorney for Schultz declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Attorneys for Curley and Spanier could not immediately be reached for comment. CNN said it "does not have the purported emails. However, the alleged contents were made available to CNN." Some contents of the emails were previously reported by NBC. The emails do not mention Sandusky by name, instead referring to him as the "subject" or "the individual," CNN said. But a person with knowledge of the emails told CNN the person was Sandusky. (Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Paul Thomasch) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Ranchers, farmers seeking solutions to U.S. water worries

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Ranchers, farmers seeking solutions to U.S. water worries Jun 30th 2012, 19:26 By Carey Gillam BLOOMING GROVE, Texas | Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:26pm EDT BLOOMING GROVE, Texas (Reuters) - Texas cattle rancher Gary Price knows what it is like to worry about water. With 2,500 acres of rough range land situated about an hour south of Dallas, Price relies on rain-fed soils to provide the hearty grass forage he needs to fatten his cattle. When the animals are sold at grocery meat counters, every pound of flesh spells potential profit for Price's family. "Ranching is really mostly about water and grass. So you've got to look at ways to control water," Price said in an interview at his 77 Ranch, where temperatures over 100 degrees drive his cattle into the shade every day and have spurred swarms of hungry grasshoppers. A recent stretch of devastating drought in Texas and fears of ongoing water scarcity across many parts of the United States are pushing Price and others in ranching and farming into new frontiers of water conservation. In Price's case, that means teaming up with a corporate partner, water-thirsty MillerCoors Brewing Co. The second-largest U.S. brewer has been helping him build fences for new grazing rotations and plant native prairie grasses that grow thick, retain rainwater and limit runoff. Corporate America's concerns about water availability are not new, but of late they are growing. More than 40 international corporate leaders met in June in Rio De Janeiro to reaffirm the need for concerted action to address a growing water crisis. Across the globe, water consumption has tripled in the last 50 years, and at least 36 U.S. states are anticipating some areas of water shortages by 2013, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Farming alone consumes 70 percent of all fresh water used around the world. With that in mind, public and private interests working on water conservation have started pushing partnerships with farmers and ranchers to protect water quantity and quality. The work is starting in Texas but is intended to spread nationwide. INVEST IN FARMING PRACTICES In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would fund $2.8 million for improved land and water management practices like those on Price's land, providing incentives to farmers in an area of Texas that targets 152,309 acres. "It is not going to be one organization or one company or one government that is going to solve this problem. It is going to take all of us collectively," said Kim Marotta, MillerCoors director of sustainability. MillerCoors acted after an internal assessment showed that three of its eight U.S. breweries, including one in Fort Worth, Texas, faced potential water shortages. The company is working on water conservation at its breweries, but also is identifying large agricultural water users near its breweries and asking to partner with them on conservation. "We're just starting that work," Marotta said. "You have to start farm-by-farm." The moves come as water gains stature as an critical asset, a must-have resource that everyone from farmers to investment fund managers need to control. At MillerCoors, for example, it takes about 4 gallons of water to make 1 gallon of beer. The Texas efforts follow the 2011 drought that cost state agriculture more than $7 billion in losses. Last year was the driest year in state history. While some parts of Texas have since received rain, the drought appears to be spreading to the U.S. Midwest and to parts of the southern Plains again as scorching heat and cloudless skies burn up crops and pasture. "You have to do more with less," said Ken Klaveness, executive director of Trinity Waters, a non-profit conservation group focused on the 512-mile-long Trinity River, which supports water needs for over 40 percent of Texans. "If you want your business to be here 15 to 20 years from now, you need to be proactive," Klaveness said. Projects with farmers can range from planting of grasses with deeper root systems that hold water and reduce erosion to installing high-tech monitoring stations in pastures. FARMERS, RANCHERS CHANGING TECHNIQUES Farmers are being asked to change irrigation techniques and equipment and plant a mix of different crops. Ranchers are asked to alter the ways they rotate their cattle grazing. MillerCoors is also working with 800 barley farmers in Idaho to alter their irrigation practices in ways that use less water. MillerCoors will not disclose how much it is spending, but Marotta said the effort was a high priority. The company has worked with Trinity Waters and groups like the Sand County Foundation, a Wisconsin-based non-profit that works with landholders to improve natural habitats. Though he has long worked on ways to preserve water on his ranch, Price says creating a 40-acre wetland and planting more native grasses in recent years with the outside funding has helped make him better prepared for the Texas droughts. Three of Price's pastures now sport large metal contraptions containing computers that monitor rainfall and runoff through varying types of grass. Though results are not yet in, the hope is that scientists monitoring the results will be able to determine which grasses are most effective and approximately how much water they help prevent from running off. Price also has new fencing and a showcase variety of the water-trapping native prairie grasses. The grasses grow so thick and lush even with scarce rainfall that his pastures have a marked distinction from those of his nearby neighbors who have cultivated more typical bermuda grasses. By preventing erosion and runoff when it does rain, and holding more moisture in the soil, Price is improving his ability to feed his cattle without costly supplemental hay. He is also reducing sediment contamination of nearby streams. Klaveness said many other landowners are moving to make similar improvements on their lands, including more than 100 who have applied for government grants for the work. "We have over 200,000 acres of landowner interest we are getting ready to mobilize," he said. "The water we have is finite. We can't make more." (Editing by Peter Bohan and Philip Barbara) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Mining claim markers killing millions of birds in U.S. West

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Mining claim markers killing millions of birds in U.S. West Jun 30th 2012, 19:02 By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho | Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:02pm EDT SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Millions of birds have died and millions more are in danger from an obscure but widespread hazard in 12 Western states - uncapped plastic pipes used to mark many of the 3.4 million mining claims on public lands, wildlife advocates say. Migratory birds from western meadowlarks and mountain bluebirds to screech owls and woodpeckers are mistaking the open ends of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, pipes for natural hollows suitable for nesting, roosting or congregating to generate body heat. Doomed birds enter the PVC pipes, which average 4 inches in diameter and stand about 4 feet high, but become trapped as they fail to gain traction on the smooth interior surfaces and cannot extend their wings to fly out of the narrow cavities. They eventually succumb to starvation or dehydration. Federal land management officials acknowledge the threat, estimated by the American Bird Conservancy as responsible for at least 1 million bird deaths a year, although mining industry representatives say wildlife advocates exaggerate the problem. PVC piping - durable, cheap and easily visible - became the material of choice for the flagging of mining claims in the West over the past several decades, wildlife managers said. Those claims have proliferated under a century-old law that permits private citizens to stake rights to gold, silver and other "hard-rock minerals" on federal property administered by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Mining claim boundaries must be marked but the nation's hard-rock mining law - which dates to the 1870s and was enacted in part to promote development and settlement of the Western frontier - leaves it to states and mining districts to regulate how those delineations are made. Government land managers insist they take bird mortality from PVC pipes very seriously and are assessing the full extent of bird die-offs across hundreds of millions of acres of BLM land and national forests. "We're in clear acknowledgment of the issue and will be examining what guidelines or polices may be needed for structures that place birds at risk," said Chris Iverson, assistant director of wildlife for the Forest Service. The BLM is looking at ways to coax, rather than mandate, changes in how mining claims are staked. "We would expect to see a more immediate change with partnering rather than regulating," said Geoff Walsh, a BLM migratory bird liaison. Possible steps include encouraging prospectors, through a letter or web-based campaign, to replace PVC pipes with solid markers such as wooden posts. PUBLIC EDUCATION, VOLUNTEER EFFORTS Government agencies, aware for years that uncapped PVC pipes were killing birds, have to date relied on public education to curtail the deaths, officials said. But with populations declining among nearly two-thirds of all bird species found in the United States, the federal government is obliged by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to prevent the incidental deaths of migratory birds and even to penalize violators, said Darin Schroeder, vice president with the American Bird Conservancy. "This is a very significant bird mortality threat. Not only does the government have a legal responsibility, it has an ethical one," he said. The conservancy's Robert Johns said the deaths came to his group's attention in recent weeks amid reports that volunteers in Nevada were removing the hollow markers beginning in November 2011 under a provision of a 2009 state law. Johns has since sought more information from wildlife agencies in the West. "Every stone I turned over revealed more bad things," he said, conservatively estimating the potential number of uncapped pipes at 10 million. Laura Skaer, executive director of the Northwest Mining Association, said bird groups are blowing the issue out of proportion. "The estimates are just laughable to us," she said. "Unless they are really old claims that haven't been renewed, you're not going to find any PVC pipes." Birders argue the Western landscape is littered with them. The trend is pronounced in Nevada, which is home to 1 million mining claims, many of them inactive, according to the BLM. A 1993 law in Nevada sought to reduce bird deaths by requiring capped pipes but the caps were routinely displaced or damaged by the elements, wildlife managers said. John Hiatt, conservation chairman of the Red Rock Audubon Society in Las Vegas, said volunteer efforts to remove the PVC pipes hardly register in areas of a state where the white-colored markers appear "as far as the eye can see." Nevada Department of Wildlife biologist Christy Klinger said the agency has freed up funds and gained donations from mining outfits to hire crews to remove pipes. "But the problem is immense; how do you tackle that?" Klinger said. "Even if we had the manpower to do it, it will take years and years." (Editing by Steve Gorman and Bill Trott) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Fort Bragg shooting victim identified as decorated war veteran

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Fort Bragg shooting victim identified as decorated war veteran Jun 30th 2012, 17:48 Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:48pm EDT (Reuters) - A soldier at the Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Army base fatally shot by another member of his unit was identified on Saturday as Lieutenant Colonel Roy Tisdale, a highly decorated veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Tisdale, 42, commander of the 525th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, was killed on Thursday by another member of his unit, who then turned the gun on himself. The shooter, who has not been identified, was in critical condition. A third soldier, Specialist Michael Latham, 22, suffered a non-life threatening wound. Tisdale, who graduated from Texas A&M University in 1993, took command of the battalion in January of 2012, the Army said in a statement on Saturday. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Commendation Medal, among others, the Army said. The shooting occurred as Tisdale gathered his unit for a safety briefing that was really more of a "stay safe" talk before the July 4th holiday. The alleged shooter was facing court martial for allegedly stealing a tool box worth nearly $2,000 from the motor pool, and could have been dishonorably discharged if found guilty, an Army official previously said. (Reporting by Paul Thomasch; Editing by Bill Trott) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Airbus' Alabama plant to create 2,500 construction jobs

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Airbus' Alabama plant to create 2,500 construction jobs Jun 30th 2012, 16:13 An Airbus A380 aircraft is displayed at the 2008 Farnborough International Air Show, Hampshire, southern England July 13, 2008. Credit: Reuters/Alessia Pierdomenico By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON | Sat Jun 30, 2012 12:13pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Airbus should create about 2,500 construction jobs to build a new $600 million airliner assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama, and 400 to 500 full-time jobs once production starts in 2017, a source familiar with the plans said on Saturday. The European planemaker, owned by EADS, is poised to announce plans to build the plant for its single-aisle A320 passenger jet that will begin producing four planes a month in 2017, according to multiple people familiar with the plans. The announcement may come as early as Monday. Over the longer term, the facility is also expected to attract a number of key suppliers to the region, including jet engine makers and companies that produce key aircraft components that require on-site quality control, the sources said. Historically, aerospace manufacturing facilities result in at least twice the direct employment at the plant. But the initial job opportunities in Mobile will be focused on the building trades, with some estimates projecting creation of about 2,500 jobs over the next three to four years, said one of the sources. The new plant may result in more jobs for the Mobile region than an earlier Airbus plan to assemble some commercial freighters there. Airbus had offered to build the assembly plant there to sweeten EADS' bid for a $35 billion military refueling plane contract it first won in 2008, but then lost to Boeing Co during a bitterly contested rematch last year. One local official told Reuters on Friday that the plant would create a significant number of direct jobs, and could attract many other companies that would provide components for the new passenger planes. That's good news for a state that is projected to lose over 24,000 jobs if Congress fails to avert an additional $500 billion in defense spending cuts due to take effect in January - on top of $487 billion in cuts already slated over the next decade. The cuts already slated will affect Australia's Austal, since the Navy is sharply curtailing its order for the company's Joint High Speed Vessel, which is also built in Mobile. The new plant will also help beef up the state's annual aerospace and defense revenues of around $7.8 billion a year, according to an estimate included in recent study by Deloitte. The Mobile plant will be the second assembly facility outside Europe for Airbus's most popular jet. Airbus produces 37 planes a month between France and Germany, and 3 a month in China. By the end of this year, it plans to reach 38 in Europe and 4 in China. EADS also builds helicopters in Columbus, Mississippi. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Philip Barbara) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Rodney King funeral set for Saturday in Hollywood Hills

Reuters: U.S. Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Rodney King funeral set for Saturday in Hollywood Hills Jun 30th 2012, 14:30 Rodney King smiles during a discussion for his memoir entitled ''The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption'' at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles April 21, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Danny Moloshok

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Reuters: U.S.: Seattle's new landmark Great Wheel opening on waterfront

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Seattle's new landmark Great Wheel opening on waterfront Jun 30th 2012, 04:41 By Laura L. Myers SEATTLE | Sat Jun 30, 2012 12:41am EDT SEATTLE (Reuters) - Seattle's latest tourist landmark, a 17-story Ferris wheel billed as the tallest to go into year-round operation in the United States, opened to the public on Friday, giving riders a new panoramic view of the city and its environs. The towering, white "Great Wheel" features 42 enclosed gondolas with space for up to 252 passengers total. The 175-foot-tall (53-metre-tall) wheel cost $20 million and was constructed as part of a private-sector initiative to revitalize Seattle's waterfront. While the 212-foot-high (66-metre-high) Texas Star is taller, it only operates during the annual State Fair of Texas in Dallas. Seattle's new wheel "is like a baby London Eye," said 32-year-old co-owner Kyle Griffith, referring to London's famed 443-foot-high (135-meter-high) wheel along the Thames River. The London Eye is Europe's tallest Ferris wheel. The tallest in the world, Singapore's 541-foot (165-metre) Singapore Flyer, is more than twice as high as Seattle's newest attraction. The Great Wheel was designed to draw visitors to the Pacific Northwest city's gritty waterfront, often framed by fog and drizzle, amid worries that a traffic-clogging construction project underway nearby would keep tourists away. That project, a $3.1 billion, 1.7-mile (2.7-km) deep-bore tunnel, is being built to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, an elevated 1950s-era north-south artery. The new tunnel is scheduled to open between late 2015 and early 2016. "Our whole idea was to create an attraction that was a neat thing to make people want to come down to the waterfront," said Griffith, vice president of Great Western Pacific Inc. The wheel opened to the public after an afternoon ceremony attended by about 1,000 invited guests, including Mayor Mike McGinn and family of the developers. The University of Washington's Husky Marching Band played for the crowd, and its musicians were among the first to ride the attraction. "It's the bling that Seattle needed," said Patty Chasman, 60, after taking her first ride. Said Anna Lynn Heine, 12, "I could see everything." 'ICON DU JOUR' Seattle's wheel weighs more than 280,000 pounds (127 tonnes)and extends 40 feet over Puget Sound's Elliott Bay at Pier 57. The pier has a storied history. A Japanese freighter docked at the location in 1896, opening trade between Seattle and Asia. A year later, the steamship Portland arrived, bearing a "ton of gold" from northwest Canada's Klondike, thus launching an Alaska Gold Rush, as Pier 57 lore would have it. Each enclosed gondola on the wheel is equipped with heating and air-conditioning and seats six passengers for the 12-minute, three-spin ride. One car features a glass floor and red leather seats, and will host special-occasion dinners and cocktails, Griffith said. Tourism officials hope the Great Wheel will lure some of Seattle's 9.9 million annual overnight visitors to its central waterfront, a 1.5-mile (2.4-km) walk from the Space Needle, the city's most famous attraction. Globally, high-tech wheel rides are undergoing a resurgence after being out of vogue for 30 years, analyst Dennis Speigel, president of Ohio-based International Theme Park Services Inc, told Reuters. "Wheels are now the 'icon du jour,'" Speigel said. On Staten Island, New York, plans are in the works for a 600-foot-tall (183-metre-tall) "observation wheel" to become the world's tallest. Two new wheels also are under discussion in Las Vegas, Speigel said. Developers broke ground on one, a 500-foot-tall (152-metre-tall) wheel in March 2011 across from the Mandalay Bay resort and casino. Another opened in South Carolina's Myrtle Beach last year. "Overseas, they're all getting taller and taller. In the next 10 years we'll see a 1,000-foot-high (300-metre-high) wheel," Speigel said. (Editing by Mary Slosson, Steve Gorman and Mohammad Zargham) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Storm hits Washington DC area, thousands without power

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Storm hits Washington DC area, thousands without power Jun 30th 2012, 03:58 WASHINGTON | Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:58pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A powerful storm hit the U.S. capital on Friday, downing trees with wind gusts of up to 79 miles per hour, topping hurricane force levels and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes in the Washington area. WJAL Television reported one fatality in Fairfax County, Virginia, after a tree fell on a car. Bands of rain lashed the city and winds toppled power lines and littered the streets with tree limbs as the fast-moving storm, which started in the Midwest after a day of severe heat, reached Washington and its suburbs late in the evening. WTOP radio said more than 800,000 people in the Washington area were without power. The Washington Post said it had reports of winds gusting up to 79 miles per hour in Reston, Virginia. There were power outages in several Washington Metro stations, the Post said, after a day of extreme heat across the southern and eastern United States. A flash flood warning was issued in Fredrick County, Maryland, until 1:15 a.m. on Saturday, and severe storm warnings were issued in areas between Washington and the Chesapeake Bay to the east. WUSA television in Washington said "thousands of trees" and tree branches were likely downed by the storm. The storms had swept across much of the Midwest during the afternoon and early evening, moving at speeds estimated at 50 mph. Temperature records for the month of June were broken on Friday in Washington, Atlanta and Louisville, Kentucky. In all three cities, the temperature hit at least 104 F (40 C), according to the National Weather Service. (Reporting by Mohammad Zargham and Eric Walsh; editing by Todd Eastham) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: U.S.: Obama pledges federal aid on Colorado wildfire visit

Reuters: U.S. Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Obama pledges federal aid on Colorado wildfire visit Jun 30th 2012, 03:46 1 of 6. U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to the media during his visit to fire damaged homes in the Mountain Shadow neighborhood in Colorado Springs, June 29, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing By Keith Coffman and Jeff Mason COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. | Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:46pm EDT COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday promised federal assistance for Colorado's worst-ever wildfire as he toured damage caused by the blaze, which has killed two people, destroyed hundreds of homes and forced the evacuation of 35,000 residents in and around the state's second-largest city. Obama began his three-hour visit with an Air Force One fly-over of the area left devastated by a blaze that has raged for a week near the base of the famed Pikes Peak mountaintop, while fire crews, taking advantage of more favorable weather, gained additional ground against the flames. The so-called Waldo Canyon Fire unleashed its greatest fury on Tuesday night when, stoked by strong, erratic winds, it roared into foothill communities in the northwestern corner of Colorado Springs and threatened the U.S. Air Force Academy campus in town. Lighter winds since then have helped firefighters, numbering over 1,000 by week's end, make greater headway in corralling the flames. By Friday afternoon, they had managed to carve containment lines around 25 percent of the fire's perimeter, up from 15 percent on Thursday. As of Friday, the fire had scorched nearly 17,000 acres of timber and brush, much of it in the Pike National Forest west of Colorado Springs, a city of more than 400,000 inhabitants about 50 miles south of Denver. While fire officials said 20,000 homes remained threatened by the blaze, evacuation orders were lifted for some of the estimated 35,000 residents chased from their dwellings earlier this week. But progress against the blaze was accompanied by grim news as authorities confirmed the full extent of destruction from Tuesday's firestorm - 347 homes destroyed, most of them in the upscale subdivision known as Mountain Shadows. The tally of homes consumed by the Waldo Canyon blaze ranks as the most on record for Colorado, surpassing the 257 homes destroyed recently by a much larger blaze north of Denver. Aerial photos of devastation unleashed by the fire showed large swaths of neighborhoods reduced to gray ash - one house after another obliterated while adjacent dwellings survived mostly unscathed. Also on Friday, Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey said a second body was found in the debris of a burned-out home. The discovery of the first was announced late on Thursday. Their deaths bring to six the number of people who have perished so far this year in a Colorado wildfire season described by the governor as the worst ever in the state. FIRE ACROSS THE WEST "This has been a devastating early fire season for Colorado. This community, obviously, is heartbroken by the loss of homes," Obama said to reporters as he walked along a street of burned-out houses. "We're lucky, because of the quick action that's been taken, that we haven't seen a lot of loss of life." Obama's motorcade drove through a neighborhood dotted with houses that remained intact next to others that had burned to the ground, rolling past the melted remains of a children's play area and shells of cars destroyed in the inferno. The president capped his trip by visiting with evacuees at an emergency shelter operated by the American Red Cross. One of them, Angi Stoffel, 39, recalled the terrifying moments before she and her family were forced to flee. "The grass back behind our house has been burned, so I guess we're kind of close," she said. "That first night was horrible. It was very scary, so we went all the way to Pueblo just to get away and try to get our thoughts together and get a game plan." Waldo Canyon was among nearly 50 large, uncontained wildfires being fought across the United States, the bulk of them in 10 western states - Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, South Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and even Hawaii, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. As of Thursday, 21 heavy airplane tankers continued to fly in and out of firefighting action across the Western states, joining 170 helicopters, 550 fire engines and more than 8,800 personnel on wildfire lines around the country, said White House spokesman Jay Carney. He said about half of all active federal wildfire-fighting resources were currently staged in Colorado. Obama announced that federal money would be made available to local agencies and individuals affected by the fire. "We have been putting everything we have into trying to deal with what is one of the worst fires we've seen here in Colorado," Obama said, speaking at a fire station where he shook hands with firefighters and praised them for their courage. But he added: "We've still got a lot more work to do." While authorities began allowing some evacuees to return Thursday night, hundreds of residents from neighborhoods caught in the heart of a major firestorm on Tuesday remained displaced. The FBI is investigating whether any of the wildfires were started by criminal activity, but the cause remains unknown. The fire menacing Colorado Springs follows a recent string of suspected arson fires in a neighboring county, but officials said they had no indication the blaze was deliberately set. Although federal authorities say the fire season got off to an early start in parts of the Northern Rockies, the number of fires and acreage burned nationwide is still below the 10-year average for this time of year, according to fire agency records. (Additional reporting by Joseph O'Leary and Ellen Miller; Writing by Mary Slosson; Editing by Paul Simao and Todd Eastham) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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