May 17, 2019

California will get snow and possibly two months worth of rain from back-to-back-to-back 'atmospheri

Source: CNN



California is on track to get more rain in a week than it sees in two months, all from unseasonal storm systems rolling through. The National Weather Service's San Francisco office said that through May 22 the state is expected to get 150-200% of its normal monthly rainfall. It's all thanks to a series of "atmospheric rivers" that will set up over the Pacific Ocean, moving into California. Atmospheric rivers suck up water vapor from the ocean, transport it along narrow regions in the atmosphere and then dump precipitation in massive amounts on land, supercharging storm systems.

The second of three "rivers" is setting up still offshore, but it'll start bringing rain and snow to California on Friday through Saturday. Then a third system, albeit weaker, will move through the state next Wednesday to help push precipitation totals over record amounts. While the lower elevations will see rainfall, the Sierra Nevada will see even more snowfall. Some areas could see up to 30 inches of snow through Friday morning. The southern portion of the mountain range is already under a winter weather warning and officials say travel will be impossible at times.

Expected high winds won't help travel conditions either and are likely to cause power outages and down trees. These storms are unusual because they normally happen in winter. In fact, atmospheric rivers are responsible for pulling much of California and Arizona out of drought. The first atmospheric river moved through on Wednesday and is already dissipating. Before it did, it set daily rainfall records across the state. Venado, California, got 5 inches in one day, making it the wettest day in May in its history. The previous record for the northern California town was 3.28 inches on May 18, 2005.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/16/us/california-atmospheric-rivers-wxc/index.html

May 11, 2019

Police shoot 17 year old girl armed with knife

I'm surprised this is hardly in the news. Guess our society doesn't care anymore since it happens too often now.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/17-year-girl-brandishing-chefs-knife-apologizes-officer/story?id=62953191

May 8, 2019

Florida man arrested after refusing to remove 'obscene' sticker from window

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LAKE CITY, Fla. — Authorities say a Florida man was jailed after refusing to remove an obscene sticker from his truck's window.

The Lake City Reporter reports that 23-year-old Dillon Shane Webb was arrested Sunday and charged with misdemeanor counts of violating the state's obscenity law and resisting an officer without violence.

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office says a deputy pulled Webb over near Lake City because of a sticker that crudely described his sexual appetites. The deputy initially cited Webb for obscenity with a notice to appear in court.

Officials say the deputy then told Webb to alter the sticker to change the derogatory part, but Webb refused, citing his First Amendment right to free speech. That's when the deputy charged Webb with resisting and took him to jail.

Webb was later released on $2,500 bond. Jail records didn't list an attorney.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/crime/florida-man-arrested-after-refusing-to-remove-obscene-sticker-from-window/77-a82d0bb3-d0d9-43e6-a90c-26b6876a7497

May 6, 2019

16-year-old Boy Scout collapses, dies hiking in Arizona desert

PHOENIX -- No charges are expected after a 16-year-old Boy Scout died while on a troop hiking trip in the Arizona desert, authorities said Friday.

Joshua White, an active member of Troop 99, was on a training hike with two adults leading a small group of Scouts in Picacho Peak State Park last Saturday. On the 90-degree day, the group started off with plenty of water but ran out at some point on the second half of their hike.

White showed signs of extreme dehydration and died on the way down, authorities said. It remained unclear if the lack of water led to the boy's death or if he had some other medical issue.

The hikers called 911 but the boy was unconscious by the time a park ranger arrived. Two adults and one child were also evaluated by paramedics for exhaustion, but did not need to be taken to a hospital, officials said.

"When we arrived on scene, our crews had to hike about a mile in," Capt. Patrick Calhoun with the local fire department explained. "A park ranger was already on scene, trying to perform resuscitative efforts."

White was a member of the junior varsity football team at Estrella Foothills High School in Goodyear, a suburb west of Phoenix. A memorial service was scheduled for May 10.

"Scouting was an important part of Joshua's life, and we know the Scouts and leaders in the troop loved Joshua," his family said in a statement. "Joshua, the other Scouts and their leaders were experienced hikers and fully prepared for the activities they had planned last weekend. Our prayers are for everyone affected, and we appreciate the support from the community as we ask for privacy during this difficult time."

Andy Price, CEO of the Boy Scouts' Grand Canyon Council, released a statement saying the organization is saddened by the teen's death and is providing support for the family and the scouting community. He did not immediately respond Friday to a call seeking additional comment.

https://abc7chicago.com/16-year-old-boy-scout-collapses-dies-hiking-in-arizona-desert/5285441/

April 25, 2019

Gov. Newsom calls for investigation into California's high gas prices

Source: SF Chronicle



Gov. Gavin Newsom directed the California Energy Commission to look into possible irregularities in the state’s gas prices, which have recently soared above $4 per gallon. “Independent analysis suggests that an unaccounted-for price differential exists in California’s gas prices and that this price differential may stem in part from inappropriate industry practices,” Newsom wrote in a letter to the commission on Monday. “These are all important reasons for the Commission to help shed light on what’s going on in our gasoline market.”

Newsom asked the commission to provide a preliminary analysis by May 15. The commission announced it would start the probe immediately. Issues at California refineries have contributed to the high prices, according to gas price tracker GasBuddy, which recorded the average price at $4.03 in California and $4.10 in San Francisco on Tuesday. That’s more than $1 per gallon higher than the national average. A group of state lawmakers, including several from the Bay Area, sent a letter to Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office in January asking for an investigation into gas prices. The request was spurred by the “final report” of the Petroleum Market Advisory Committee, which was formed by the Energy Commission in 2014.

According to the letter, the report found that after accounting for the state’s gas tax, fuel blend and greenhouse gas reduction costs, prices in California since February 2015 had a “continuous and significant unexplained differential compared to the rest of the country.” Before a fire at an Exxon Mobil refinery in Torrance (Los Angeles County) in 2015, gas price spikes following refinery problems tended to be of shorter duration, according to Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

“From 1996 until the February 2015 Exxon Torrance refinery explosion in Southern California, our gasoline price premium tracked closely with our higher taxes and production costs,” Borenstein wrote in a blog post in 2017. “Occasional refinery outages spiked prices, but they returned to the expected differential within a month or two, because that’s how long it takes to import our special blend from refineries outside the state. The 2015 Torrance explosion, however, has been a different story.” Borenstein estimated the “mystery surcharge” has cost consumers $20 billion.



Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Newsom-calls-for-investigation-into-13789550.php

April 24, 2019

Attorneys say Arkansas woman fatally shot husband over porn channel

PINE BLUFF, Ark — (AP) - Prosecutors told jurors that an Arkansas woman "flew into a rage" and fatally shot her 65-year-old husband after seeing a satellite television bill that showed a pornography channel had been added.

Testimony continues Tuesday in the capital murder trial for 69-year-old Patricia Hill. She's accused of killing her husband, Frank Hill, last July at their Pine Bluff home, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of Little Rock.

According to the Pine Bluff Commercial, deputy prosecutor Holden Raines told jurors Monday that Patricia Hill had previously canceled the pornography channel but that she shot her husband twice after seeing a bill that showed the channel had been added again.

Defense attorney Bill James says doctors will testify to Patricia Hill's mental state and that she viewed pornography as a "personal affront."

https://www.thv11.com/article/news/crime/attorneys-say-arkansas-woman-fatally-shot-husband-over-porn-channel/91-d609cbc9-7712-4406-9e40-376d3cc706ff

April 22, 2019

Three children of Danish billionaire killed in Sri Lanka attacks

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark’s richest man Anders Holch Povlsen and his wife lost three of their four children in the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka, a spokesman for Povlsen’s fashion firm said on Monday.

The spokesman declined to give any further details but Danish media said the family had been on holiday in Sri Lanka.

A string of bombings at churches and luxury hotels across Sri Lanka killed 290 people and wounded about 500 in Sunday’s attacks. A senior investigator said on Monday that seven suicide bombers had taken part in the attacks.

Povlsen is the owner of fashion firm Bestseller, which includes brands like Vero Moda and Jack & Jones, and is the majority stakeholder in online retailer Asos while also holding a big stake in Zalando.

He owns more than 1 percent of all the land in Scotland, according to Forbes.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lanka-blasts-denmark/three-children-of-danish-billionaire-killed-in-sri-lanka-attacks-idUSKCN1RY0IB

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April 20, 2019

Billionaires raced to pledge money to rebuild Notre Dame. Then came the backlash.

PARIS — The eventual reconstruction of Notre Dame is now a foregone conclusion. Within hours of the fire that destroyed much of the cathedral on Monday, donors pledged more than $1 billion to restore the Parisian icon to its former glory.

Even before the smoke had cleared, luxury goods magnate Francois-Henri Pinault announced his family would donate 100 million euros ($112 million) to the effort. Not to remain on the sidelines, his rival Bernard Arnault — the chief executive of LVMH and the richest man in Europe — pledged twice that amount on Tuesday morning. The Bettencourt Meyers family, which controls L’Oreal, quickly matched that pledge. And Patrick Pouyanne, chief of executive of French oil giant Total, offered another $112 million.

Officials are still assessing the extent of the damage, so the cost of Notre Dame’s reconstruction remains unknown, but these and the many other donations coming in should pretty well cover it. In the meantime, the cascade of cash that materialized overnight to save the cathedral has raised eyebrows in France, still in the throes of a crippling protest over rising social inequality and whose leader is regularly decried as the “president of the rich.”

“Of course, I find it nice, this solidarity,” said Ingrid Levavasseur, a leader of the yellow vest movement that has protested inequality in a series of often violent Saturday demonstrations since mid-November. The stream of donations essentially confirmed the movement’s broader social critique, Levavasseur said.

“If they can give tens of millions to rebuild Notre Dame, then they should stop telling us there is no money to help with the social emergency,” Philippe Martinez, head of the CGT trade union, said on Wednesday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/billionaires-raced-to-pledge-money-to-rebuild-notre-dame-then-came-the-backlash/2019/04/18/7133f9a2-617c-11e9-bf24-db4b9fb62aa2_story.html?utm_term=.be54ddab9474

April 16, 2019

Baby T'rex goes on sale on eBay, sparking paleontologists' outcry

You wouldn’t normally associate the world of dutiful natural history preservation with sporadic bursts of all-caps letters and exclamation points – or at least not until last month, when the fossil of an infant Tyrannosaurus rex, potentially the only in existence, went on sale on eBay for the “buy it now” price of $2.95m. The listing reads: “Most Likely the Only BABY T-Rex in the World! It has a 15 FOOT long Body and a 21” SKULL with Serrated Teeth! This Rex was very a very dangerous meat eater. It’s a RARE opportunity indeed to ever see a baby REX…”

The skeleton, estimated to be 68m years old, was first discovered in 2013, on private land in Montana. It became the property of the man who discovered it, Alan Detrich, a professional fossil hunter. In 2017, Detrich lent the fossil to the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, where it was still on display when Detrich made the surprise decision to put it up for auction. Analysis of the skeleton may help to settle a major debate in palaeontology over whether small Tyrannosaurs from North America are infants or should have the separate classification of Nanotyrannus. Such research may now be impossible with the fossil likely to end up in a private collection.

The Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology (SVP) has criticised both Detrich, who will be taking an important specimen outside the reach of scientific study, and the university, for helping to inflate the price of the fossil, acting as a shop window for professional buyers. In an open letter published last week, SVP’s members said that it was regrettable that the fossil was exhibited before it could be studied. “That action, which brought the fossil to the attention of hundreds or thousands of visitors, potentially enhanced its commercial value,” they wrote. “Museums seldom have the budget for purchase of increasingly expensive privately collected specimens.”

The University of Kansas has subsequently said they were unaware of Detrich’s plans to put the skeleton up for auction. In a statement the museum’s director, Leonard Krishtalka, said the exhibit has now been removed and returned to Detrich, and they have asked for any association with the museum to be removed from the listing. So far no one has expressed interest in paying the asking price, although there is the option to make an offer, and the item has more than 100 people “watching” it. Any museums hoping they might be able to shell out for a quick study and then send it back will be disappointed – Detrich has specified a no returns policy.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/apr/16/baby-t-rex-for-sale-ebay-paleontology-outcry

April 13, 2019

Gas prices in California skyrocket to over $4 a gallon with no end in sight

At one of the busiest intersections in Sherman Oaks, California -- drivers sit bumper-to-bumper, searching for a good deal on a tank of gasoline. They pass one gas station, then another, and then a third -- as they gradually begin to accept the new norm in the Golden State: Fuel is about $4 per gallon.

"It's too high," said Los Angeles resident Keith Adams, as he topped off his small SUV. "Today, it's going to cost me 50 to 60 dollars, and usually it costs me 35-40 bucks." For Adams, who drives across the Los Angeles basin each day, this week's spike means thinking twice before hitting the road. "I have to monetize, and figure out how I need to drive when I'm making these long journeys," he said. "I fill up a lot. I'm going to be extra careful. I may not spend as much time just driving around. I may pull to the side (to handle business)."

This is just the beginning for car-centric California, as prices are expected to continue increasing as Memorial Day weekend approaches. Two major factors play into sudden sticker shock at the pump, says AAA spokesperson Jeanette Casselano. "There's a switch over to a summer blend (of gasoline), which is a more expensive fuel for refineries to produce, and that extra cost is passed along to motorists at the pump," she said.

Concurrently, unplanned -- and planned -- refinery maintenance tightens the number of gasoline stocks available.
"So when stocks are going down, amid a time there's a pretty robust demand, you're going to see gas prices increase," Casselano said. The average price in California stands at $3.87 per gallon of regular-grade gas, creeping up 22 cents from one week ago, according to AAA. The state's average one month ago was just $3.31. Prices in metropolitan areas are even higher. In Los Angeles and Long Beach, drivers are paying about $3.94 per gallon. San Franciscans are forking over close to $3.96. The national average is $2.76 per gallon.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/10/business/california-four-dollar-gas/index.html