Police say they stole more than 1,000 sewer grates and sold them for scrap.
Two Montgomery County brothers have been charged with stealing $500,000 worth of storm-sewer grates in the region and selling them for about $9,000 as scrap.
Brian Vetrulli, 36, and John Vetrulli, 38, of Gilbertsville, were charged Saturday with theft and related offenses.
Police said an Upper Merion Township officer on routine patrol spotted the brothers in a vehicle matching the description of one used in sewer-grate thefts in Bensalem.
During the traffic stop, the officers saw a large pry bar in the bed of the truck. Brian Vetrulli was found to have an outstanding warrant for theft.
A search of the truck found receipts from as far back as Dec. 14 for more than 1,000 grates that were sold to scrap-metal dealers for $9 each. The grates, which weigh about 100 pounds each, cost $475, according to police. The brothers, who were questioned and confessed to the thefts from Philadelphia, Limerick, Collegeville, Plymouth Meeting, Willow Grove, Abington, Bensalem, Haverford, Broomall, Upper Providence, and Montgomeryville, according to police.
They were remanded to the Montgomery County jail with bail set at $10,000 each.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
F. Y. I.
A Big 'Hullabaloo'
In January 1965, the premiere of the television show "Hullabaloo" was derided as a vile attempt to cash in on the worst of popular music aimed at youth.
The British Bulldog's final days
Fifty years ago this week, British medical experts reported Sir Winston Churchill was dying. He passed away Jan. 24, 1965.
Hail to the chief
On Jan. 20, 1965, Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in for his second term, his first full term, as president of the United States.
In January 1965, the premiere of the television show "Hullabaloo" was derided as a vile attempt to cash in on the worst of popular music aimed at youth.
The British Bulldog's final days
Fifty years ago this week, British medical experts reported Sir Winston Churchill was dying. He passed away Jan. 24, 1965.
Hail to the chief
On Jan. 20, 1965, Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in for his second term, his first full term, as president of the United States.
Real Names
Most of us have our favorite comedians and actors, and have followed their long, illustrious careers. But do we know their real names?
See how many of these stars you can match with their real monikers.
1. Orson Bean A) Aaron Chwatt
2. Robert Blake B) John Sanford
3. George Burns C) Archibald Leach
4. Red Buttons D) Jacob Cohen
5. Tony Curtis E) Nathan Birnbaum
6. Rodney Dangerfield F) Leonard Hacker
7. Redd Foxx G) Issur Danielovitch
8. Buddy Hackett H) Mickey Gubitosi
9. Cary Grant I) Joseph Yule Jr.
10. Kirk Douglas J) Bernard Schwartz
11. Mickey Rooney K) Dallas Burrows
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. K ; 2. H ; 3. E ; 4. A ; 5. J ; 6. D ; 7. B ; 8. F ; 9. C ; 10. G ; 11. I
See how many of these stars you can match with their real monikers.
1. Orson Bean A) Aaron Chwatt
2. Robert Blake B) John Sanford
3. George Burns C) Archibald Leach
4. Red Buttons D) Jacob Cohen
5. Tony Curtis E) Nathan Birnbaum
6. Rodney Dangerfield F) Leonard Hacker
7. Redd Foxx G) Issur Danielovitch
8. Buddy Hackett H) Mickey Gubitosi
9. Cary Grant I) Joseph Yule Jr.
10. Kirk Douglas J) Bernard Schwartz
11. Mickey Rooney K) Dallas Burrows
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. K ; 2. H ; 3. E ; 4. A ; 5. J ; 6. D ; 7. B ; 8. F ; 9. C ; 10. G ; 11. I
What are First Fridays and First Saturdays?
Maybe you didn't go to Catholic schools.
Or maybe you are a recent convert. There's something you've noticed, and it confuses you. It's the "First Friday" and "First Saturday" notation you find in your parish bulletin's Mass schedule. What's that all about? Some hints and keywords: Popular devotions. Apparitions. Optional. Worthwhile.
1. The First Fridays devotion is part of the devotion to the _____________of Jesus.
A) Holy wounds
B) Sacred Heart
C) Precious Blood
D) Divine Mercy
2. Jesus appeared to this saint, asking reparation for all the ingratitude and indifference shown to him by the majority of humanity.
A) St. Joan of Arc
B) St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
C) St. Catherine Laboure
D) St. Faustina Kowalska
3. Jesus asked that reparation for sins be made by receiving Communion on ________ first Fridays of the month in a row.
A) 10
B) Five
C) Nine
D) Seven
4. Jesus told St. Margaret that those who make the nine first Friday Communions will receive which of the following graces?
A) They will die repenant for all their sins
B) They will not die without receiving the last sacraments
C) His Heart will be their refuge in their final moments
D) All of the above
Now For The First Saturdays
5) This devotion was explained and requested by:
A) Our Lady of Fatima
B) Our Lady of Lourdes
C) St. Catherine of Siena
D) St. Therese of Lisieux
6. The practice of the First Saturdays must be done __________ times in a row.
A) Seven
B) Nine
C) Five
D) 10
7. On the five First Saturdays you must receive which sacrament(s)?
A) Communion and confirmation
B) Just Communion
C) Just Confession
D) Communion and confession, although the confession may be made up to a week before or after the Communion. (This is assuming, of course, that you are not in a state of mortal sin ----- in which case it must be made before receiving Communion.)
8. You must pray the Rosary on each of the five First Saturdays, and also do this one other thing:
A) Spend 15 minutes meditating on one or more of the mysteries of the Rosary.
B) Say a prayer of consecration to Our Lady of the Rosary
C) Light a candle in front of Our Lady's statue at church
D) Say the Memorare
9. Most important, all of these actions must be offered for this intention:
A) Conversion of sinners
B) Reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary
C) The intentions of the Holy Father
Learn more about First Saturdays and the message of Fatima
at wafusa.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. B ; 2. B ; 3. C ; 4. D ; 5. A ; 6. C ; 7. D ; 8. A ; 9. B
Or maybe you are a recent convert. There's something you've noticed, and it confuses you. It's the "First Friday" and "First Saturday" notation you find in your parish bulletin's Mass schedule. What's that all about? Some hints and keywords: Popular devotions. Apparitions. Optional. Worthwhile.
1. The First Fridays devotion is part of the devotion to the _____________of Jesus.
A) Holy wounds
B) Sacred Heart
C) Precious Blood
D) Divine Mercy
2. Jesus appeared to this saint, asking reparation for all the ingratitude and indifference shown to him by the majority of humanity.
A) St. Joan of Arc
B) St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
C) St. Catherine Laboure
D) St. Faustina Kowalska
3. Jesus asked that reparation for sins be made by receiving Communion on ________ first Fridays of the month in a row.
A) 10
B) Five
C) Nine
D) Seven
4. Jesus told St. Margaret that those who make the nine first Friday Communions will receive which of the following graces?
A) They will die repenant for all their sins
B) They will not die without receiving the last sacraments
C) His Heart will be their refuge in their final moments
D) All of the above
Now For The First Saturdays
5) This devotion was explained and requested by:
A) Our Lady of Fatima
B) Our Lady of Lourdes
C) St. Catherine of Siena
D) St. Therese of Lisieux
6. The practice of the First Saturdays must be done __________ times in a row.
A) Seven
B) Nine
C) Five
D) 10
7. On the five First Saturdays you must receive which sacrament(s)?
A) Communion and confirmation
B) Just Communion
C) Just Confession
D) Communion and confession, although the confession may be made up to a week before or after the Communion. (This is assuming, of course, that you are not in a state of mortal sin ----- in which case it must be made before receiving Communion.)
8. You must pray the Rosary on each of the five First Saturdays, and also do this one other thing:
A) Spend 15 minutes meditating on one or more of the mysteries of the Rosary.
B) Say a prayer of consecration to Our Lady of the Rosary
C) Light a candle in front of Our Lady's statue at church
D) Say the Memorare
9. Most important, all of these actions must be offered for this intention:
A) Conversion of sinners
B) Reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary
C) The intentions of the Holy Father
Learn more about First Saturdays and the message of Fatima
at wafusa.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. B ; 2. B ; 3. C ; 4. D ; 5. A ; 6. C ; 7. D ; 8. A ; 9. B
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Hearse gets stuck in snow, adding smiles to sorrow
York, Pa.
In a snowy funeral procession, Wayne "Zeke" Smeltzer got to be part of one last driving story.
Smeltzer, 59, a professional painter known for his signature laugh, died Nov. 21 at York Hospital, roughly one month after he was diagnosed with cancer, his family said.
On Wednesday, about 65 people, including family and friends, attended Smeltzer's funeral service at the John W. Keffer Funeral Home.
The family left the funeral home around 11:30 a.m. in the midst of York County's first real snowstorm of the season. Up to 6 inches of snow blanketed parts of the county.
"It was the worst possible time to leave," Joseph Keffer, a supervisor at the funeral home, said Thursday.
About 25 cars followed the hearse carrying Smeltzer's casket.
Just a mile from Salem Cemetery in Lower Windsor Townwhip, Smeltzer's son, Chad, saw his mother's car in front of him start to spin out on a hill in the snow. Then, he saw the hearse already on its way back down the steep hill because it appearently could not make it up either.
Chad said he was angry and frustrated that the weather was preventing the family from getting to drive his mother's car.
And so the procession tried a different route.
They were met with the same result.
The winding back roads were tough to navigate, and the hearse started fishtailing on another steep road.
"In the end, I had to get a good laugh," Chad Smeltzer said. "If Dad was watching, he was having a blast. He had a hundred stories about driving........to watch the hearse spin around, it was fitting for him."
Other family members described the day much the same. Feelings of anger and anxiety were soon replaced with a lighter mood.
"That's the way he would have wanted it to happen," Carissa Spies, Smeltzer's granddaughter, said. When the hearse was stuck, family members got out to push. Someone even laid a jacket on the snowy, wet ground under the tire, Spies said.
Then, a plan was hatched.
Family members carefully moved the casket from the hearse into the back of a pickup. Smeltzer's two grandsons, Shane Gephart, 16, and Damien Smeltzer, 17, sat in the back to make sure the casket didn't slide out. A strap also held it down. A photo shows the two teens in the back of the truck smiling, their dress shirts wet from snow.
"In the end, it all fell together," Chad's wife Kelli said. "Zeke was leaving us his story."
Family members said they eventually made it safely to the cemetery.
On Thanksgiving, they sat down for a big meal. Picture boards showing Zeke Smetlzer were nearby, and the family talked about the prior day's events.
"He wasn't ready to go," Chad Smeltzer said in a phone interview. "I'm sure he had a big smile on his face."
In a snowy funeral procession, Wayne "Zeke" Smeltzer got to be part of one last driving story.
Smeltzer, 59, a professional painter known for his signature laugh, died Nov. 21 at York Hospital, roughly one month after he was diagnosed with cancer, his family said.
On Wednesday, about 65 people, including family and friends, attended Smeltzer's funeral service at the John W. Keffer Funeral Home.
The family left the funeral home around 11:30 a.m. in the midst of York County's first real snowstorm of the season. Up to 6 inches of snow blanketed parts of the county.
"It was the worst possible time to leave," Joseph Keffer, a supervisor at the funeral home, said Thursday.
About 25 cars followed the hearse carrying Smeltzer's casket.
Just a mile from Salem Cemetery in Lower Windsor Townwhip, Smeltzer's son, Chad, saw his mother's car in front of him start to spin out on a hill in the snow. Then, he saw the hearse already on its way back down the steep hill because it appearently could not make it up either.
Chad said he was angry and frustrated that the weather was preventing the family from getting to drive his mother's car.
And so the procession tried a different route.
They were met with the same result.
The winding back roads were tough to navigate, and the hearse started fishtailing on another steep road.
"In the end, I had to get a good laugh," Chad Smeltzer said. "If Dad was watching, he was having a blast. He had a hundred stories about driving........to watch the hearse spin around, it was fitting for him."
Other family members described the day much the same. Feelings of anger and anxiety were soon replaced with a lighter mood.
"That's the way he would have wanted it to happen," Carissa Spies, Smeltzer's granddaughter, said. When the hearse was stuck, family members got out to push. Someone even laid a jacket on the snowy, wet ground under the tire, Spies said.
Then, a plan was hatched.
Family members carefully moved the casket from the hearse into the back of a pickup. Smeltzer's two grandsons, Shane Gephart, 16, and Damien Smeltzer, 17, sat in the back to make sure the casket didn't slide out. A strap also held it down. A photo shows the two teens in the back of the truck smiling, their dress shirts wet from snow.
"In the end, it all fell together," Chad's wife Kelli said. "Zeke was leaving us his story."
Family members said they eventually made it safely to the cemetery.
On Thanksgiving, they sat down for a big meal. Picture boards showing Zeke Smetlzer were nearby, and the family talked about the prior day's events.
"He wasn't ready to go," Chad Smeltzer said in a phone interview. "I'm sure he had a big smile on his face."
Question & Answer
How long does the Christmas season last?
The Church's real Christmas season starts on Christmas Day and lasts until the Baptism of Our Lord.
By celebrating the whole season, you can make your Christmas joy last long after you've taken down the tree. Here are some highlights of the season:
Feast of the Holy Family, December 28th.
Gather for a special meal with family or make contact with out-of-town relatives.
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, January 1st.
Dedicate a special rosary to the Blessed Mother asking her to help you grow in love and trust.
The Epiphany, January 4th.
The example of the Magi homoring Jesus has become a symbol of sharing him with the world. This is our chance to think about the way we live so that we can better reveal Christ to our world.
The Baptism of Our Lord, January 11th.
Baptism is our entry into the Kingdom. Take time this day to renew your Baptismal vows and decide what you can change in your life to help you live as Christ did.
The Church's real Christmas season starts on Christmas Day and lasts until the Baptism of Our Lord.
By celebrating the whole season, you can make your Christmas joy last long after you've taken down the tree. Here are some highlights of the season:
Feast of the Holy Family, December 28th.
Gather for a special meal with family or make contact with out-of-town relatives.
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, January 1st.
Dedicate a special rosary to the Blessed Mother asking her to help you grow in love and trust.
The Epiphany, January 4th.
The example of the Magi homoring Jesus has become a symbol of sharing him with the world. This is our chance to think about the way we live so that we can better reveal Christ to our world.
The Baptism of Our Lord, January 11th.
Baptism is our entry into the Kingdom. Take time this day to renew your Baptismal vows and decide what you can change in your life to help you live as Christ did.
Feasts & Celebrations
December is when we prepare for and celebrate Christ's birth and the miraculous events surrounding it.
December 8 ----- Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
On this Holy Day of Obligation, we attend Mass to commemorate that Mary was conceived in St. Anne's womb without original sin.
December 12 ----Our Lady of Guadalupe (1531).
The Blessed Mother appeared to St. Juan Diego, also Native American. She asked to have a chapel built for her, and had him carry roses in his tilma (cape) to the bishop as a sign. When he emptied his tilma before the bishop, it retained the image of the Blessed Mother.
December 27 ----St. John ( 1st century).
An apostle and friend of Jesus, St. John was known for his fiery temper. He once asked Jesus if he could call down fire from heaven on an inhospitable town. Later in his life, he and St. Peter asked the Holy Spirit to come down on the Samaritans.
December 8 ----- Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
On this Holy Day of Obligation, we attend Mass to commemorate that Mary was conceived in St. Anne's womb without original sin.
December 12 ----Our Lady of Guadalupe (1531).
The Blessed Mother appeared to St. Juan Diego, also Native American. She asked to have a chapel built for her, and had him carry roses in his tilma (cape) to the bishop as a sign. When he emptied his tilma before the bishop, it retained the image of the Blessed Mother.
December 27 ----St. John ( 1st century).
An apostle and friend of Jesus, St. John was known for his fiery temper. He once asked Jesus if he could call down fire from heaven on an inhospitable town. Later in his life, he and St. Peter asked the Holy Spirit to come down on the Samaritans.
From Scripture
Luke 2:22-40
Look for the Lord
To the uninformed observer, Jesus' birth was unremarkable and his family quite ordinary. When it came time to present him in the temple, his parents couldn't afford the customary offering of a lamb and gave to two pigeons as an offering of the poor. As faithful jews, they did what was required by their faith to thank God for the gift of their child.
Yet, when Joseph and Mary presented their new baby in the temple, Simeon immediately recognized him as the Messiah. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, he prophesied that Jesus was to be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel."
Simeon was not alone in recognizing the Lord in the temple. Anna was also filled with the Holy Spirit. Her faith in God's promises gave her hope. The hope God places in our hearts gives us a desire for the kingdom of Heaven. The Holy Spirit reveals the presence of the Lord to those who want to know him, to receive him, and to be with him forever.
Look for the Lord
To the uninformed observer, Jesus' birth was unremarkable and his family quite ordinary. When it came time to present him in the temple, his parents couldn't afford the customary offering of a lamb and gave to two pigeons as an offering of the poor. As faithful jews, they did what was required by their faith to thank God for the gift of their child.
Yet, when Joseph and Mary presented their new baby in the temple, Simeon immediately recognized him as the Messiah. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, he prophesied that Jesus was to be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel."
Simeon was not alone in recognizing the Lord in the temple. Anna was also filled with the Holy Spirit. Her faith in God's promises gave her hope. The hope God places in our hearts gives us a desire for the kingdom of Heaven. The Holy Spirit reveals the presence of the Lord to those who want to know him, to receive him, and to be with him forever.
Christmas is our epiphany
"Epiphany" is defined as a sudden revelation or insight. The celebration we call "The Epiphany" commemorates the moment when three foreign kings visited the newborn Jesus and experienced the revelation that he was a divine king.
The visit of the Magi was prophesied in the Old Testament. "The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts, the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him" (Psalm 72:10-11). "Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord" (Isaiah 60:6). St. Matthews recorded that they brought three gifts : gold ------- the gift for a king
frankincense ----- the gift for a priest
myrrh ------- a burial ointment
The kings witnessed to the presence of the Messiah on Earth, and the fulfillment of God's promise of a Savior. Christmas is our reminder that God is always faithful.
Christmas is our epiphany into God's eternal love.
The visit of the Magi was prophesied in the Old Testament. "The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts, the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him" (Psalm 72:10-11). "Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord" (Isaiah 60:6). St. Matthews recorded that they brought three gifts : gold ------- the gift for a king
frankincense ----- the gift for a priest
myrrh ------- a burial ointment
The kings witnessed to the presence of the Messiah on Earth, and the fulfillment of God's promise of a Savior. Christmas is our reminder that God is always faithful.
Christmas is our epiphany into God's eternal love.
Why Do Catholics Do That?
Why do Catholics say Mary was born without Original Sin?
The Catechism teaches that God gave Mary all the gifts necessary for her to become mother of our Savior. In fact, when the angel Gabriel addressed Mary as "full of grace" in Luke 1:28, he means that Mary had the special divine help necessary for the task ahead.
While we are cleansed of original sin at Baptism, Pope Pius IX infallibly affirmed that Mary's role in Jesus' work was so crucial that it kept her from original sin at the outset.
The Catechism teaches that God gave Mary all the gifts necessary for her to become mother of our Savior. In fact, when the angel Gabriel addressed Mary as "full of grace" in Luke 1:28, he means that Mary had the special divine help necessary for the task ahead.
While we are cleansed of original sin at Baptism, Pope Pius IX infallibly affirmed that Mary's role in Jesus' work was so crucial that it kept her from original sin at the outset.
Give as God gave at Christmas
We give because God gave. God gave us his son, so every December we imitate him by giving gifts to our loved ones.
What about gifts for God?
God gave the gift of himself.
God was the first Christmas gift, lying in a manger. In his image, we are called to give the gift of ourselves to him. Go to Mass every Sunday and in between, too. Kneel in adoration before the tabernacle or in a Perpetual Adoration chapel. Go to Confession to stay connected.
Give the gift of love.
God loves freely whether or not we love in return. He asks us to share love with others. Give others your undivided attention. Put down the cellphone in meetings, in conversations, and definitely at Mass. Listen when someone has a problem. Put people before things.
Give the gift of prayer.
Are your prayers like a letter to Santa -------- lists of wants and needs? God already knows all that. Instead, pray for friends or loved ones who aren't active in their faith. Offer Rosaries for those who are sick. Ask God for guidance and thank him for his goodness.
Give the gift of help.
Don't forget your parish where God's work is done. Help clean the church, teach a class, shovel snow, support a ministry. Without you, God's work won't get done.
What about gifts for God?
God gave the gift of himself.
God was the first Christmas gift, lying in a manger. In his image, we are called to give the gift of ourselves to him. Go to Mass every Sunday and in between, too. Kneel in adoration before the tabernacle or in a Perpetual Adoration chapel. Go to Confession to stay connected.
Give the gift of love.
God loves freely whether or not we love in return. He asks us to share love with others. Give others your undivided attention. Put down the cellphone in meetings, in conversations, and definitely at Mass. Listen when someone has a problem. Put people before things.
Give the gift of prayer.
Are your prayers like a letter to Santa -------- lists of wants and needs? God already knows all that. Instead, pray for friends or loved ones who aren't active in their faith. Offer Rosaries for those who are sick. Ask God for guidance and thank him for his goodness.
Give the gift of help.
Don't forget your parish where God's work is done. Help clean the church, teach a class, shovel snow, support a ministry. Without you, God's work won't get done.
One Minute Meditations
St. Nicholas
Legends abound about this saint but we know that he was orphaned at a young age when his wealthy parents died. Generous to a fault, he reportedly threw money down a chimney to enable a poor man's daughters to marry. This is the image that makes him the model for Santa Claus. As bishop of Lycia (now Turkey), he fought against heresies plaguing the Church in the fourth century. He was devoted to charity and the protection of the weak.
Pray for Peace
In the midst of your celebration of Christ's birth, please pray that all nations will come to respect life from conception to natural death.
Believing vs. Understanding
When Mary heard she would give birth to the Son of God, she didn't understand but trusted anyway, "Be it done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). She knew that we don't have to understand to believe that God can do the impossible.
Legends abound about this saint but we know that he was orphaned at a young age when his wealthy parents died. Generous to a fault, he reportedly threw money down a chimney to enable a poor man's daughters to marry. This is the image that makes him the model for Santa Claus. As bishop of Lycia (now Turkey), he fought against heresies plaguing the Church in the fourth century. He was devoted to charity and the protection of the weak.
Pray for Peace
In the midst of your celebration of Christ's birth, please pray that all nations will come to respect life from conception to natural death.
Believing vs. Understanding
When Mary heard she would give birth to the Son of God, she didn't understand but trusted anyway, "Be it done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). She knew that we don't have to understand to believe that God can do the impossible.
Friday, January 9, 2015
How Low Can You Go?
Try to form eight common, uncapitalized words by adding at least one letter on each side of the given letters. The fewer letters you add, the better your score. So the first word could be DELUDE, a score of 3 (three added letters), but there's a better answer with a score of only 2 (two added letters). Plural nouns and verbs ending in a single S are not allowed.
Can you match our score of 20?
____________LUD__________ ________WHI_______
____________OMI__________ ________UBT_______
____________NLE__________ ________HYT_______
____________LEI___________ ________ORL_______
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How Low............?
Our lowest scores :
ELUDE (2) AWHILE (3)
COMIC (2) SUBTLE (3)
INLET (2) RHYTM (3)
SLEIGH (3) WORLD (2)
Can you match our score of 20?
____________LUD__________ ________WHI_______
____________OMI__________ ________UBT_______
____________NLE__________ ________HYT_______
____________LEI___________ ________ORL_______
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How Low............?
Our lowest scores :
ELUDE (2) AWHILE (3)
COMIC (2) SUBTLE (3)
INLET (2) RHYTM (3)
SLEIGH (3) WORLD (2)
F. Y. I.
State Stats
Nebraska is the birthplace of the Reuben sandwich.
A Home Apart
The Quaker parrot is the only parrot to build a nest.
Lore Has It
If you stick your hands in your pocket while walking past a graveyard, your parents will be protected.
Still on the Books
In Hialeah, Florida, ambling and strolling is a misdemeanor.
Quotable
by Thomas Merton, Trappist monk, writer and mystic (1915-1968)
"The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little."
Bird Call
A male ostrich can roar like a lion.
Nebraska is the birthplace of the Reuben sandwich.
A Home Apart
The Quaker parrot is the only parrot to build a nest.
Lore Has It
If you stick your hands in your pocket while walking past a graveyard, your parents will be protected.
Still on the Books
In Hialeah, Florida, ambling and strolling is a misdemeanor.
Quotable
by Thomas Merton, Trappist monk, writer and mystic (1915-1968)
"The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little."
Bird Call
A male ostrich can roar like a lion.
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (2014 in Review)
Hottest Year Yet
Early calculations indicated that 2014 was likely to be the hottest year on average worldwide since records began. As the year drew to a close, it had already surged ahead of 1998 and 2010, which tied for the hottest years in modern times. Deke Arndt, climate monitoring chief for NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, says the global heat is driven by the recent extraordinary warmth of the world's oceans.
Magnetic Weakening
Earth's magnetic field weakened during the year, possibly leaving the world more vulnerable to cosmic radiation and charged particles from the sun, scientists said. Initial readings from a new three-satellite observation network for the planet's magnetic field also revealed that the magnetic north pole is drifting southward toward Siberia.
Earthquakes
Northern Chile was jolted on April 1 by a "great" earthquake that killed six people and triggered a tsunami that smashed dozens of boats near the offshore epicenter.
* The San Francisco Bay Area's strongest quake in 25 years killed one person, sparked fires and inflicted hundreds of millions of dollars in damage around the city of Napa on Aug. 24.
* A 6.9 magnitude temblor centered near the Mexico-Guatemala border on July 7 killed four people in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
* At least 617 people perished in southwestern China's Yunnan province as a 6.1 magnitude temblor caused widespread destruction on Aug. 3.
* Eight people were killed on Sept. 27 when a 4.9 magnitude quake wrecked buildings in Peru's southern village of Misca, near Cusco.
Tropical Cyclones
The Philippines was ravaged by five deadly cyclones. Forty people were killed when Tropical Storm Lingling raked the southern island of Mindanao in mid-January. Tropical Storm Kajiki killed three others two weeks later as it cut through the same part of the country devastated by Typhoon Haiyan late the previous year. Typhoons Rammasun and Hagupit, and Tropical Storm Fung-Wong, left a total of 51 people dead across the eastern and northern Philippines.
* Cyclone Ian wreaked catastrophic damage on Jan. 10 to the South Pacific island nation of Tonga. One person died, and about $4 million in damage was reported due to the storm.
* High winds and flooding from Typhoon Halong killed 10 people and injured nearly 100 others as the storm raked southern Japan on Aug. 9-10.
* Typhoon Phanfone left at least seven dead when it drenched much of Japan two months later.
Eruptions
Flying stones, poisonous gas and superheated ash killed 57 people in Japan's worst volcanic disaster in 90 years. The victims had climbed Mount Ontake before it erupted without warning on Sept. 27.
* Periodic violent blasts throughout the year from Sumatra's Mount Sinabung left 16 people dead and wiped out large tracts of crops. More than 3,000 people were forced into evacuation shelters for several months.
* A powerful explosion on Feb. 14 from Indonesia's Mount Kelud volcano killed four people near Bali when the roofs of their homes collapsed beneath the weight of accumulated ash.
* A long flow of lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano set one home ablaze in November and destroyed a few other structures around Pahoa.
Ill Wind
Scientists say wind currents blowing out of northeastern China could be the main carriers of a mysterious childhood disease that was first identified in 1961 and can lead to a fatal heart condition. Research at the Kawasaki Disease Research Center at the University of California, published in May, suggests an airborne toxin in seasonal winds could be infecting children in Japan and as far away as Hawaii and California. Kawasaki disease has been found to peak only when winds originate from a vast cereal-farming region in northeastern China.
Earliest Earth
Scientists announced in May that a zircon crystal discovered in Western Australia during 2010 has been accurately determined to be 4374 billion years old by two independent methods. That makes it the oldest rock ever discovered on the planet. The gem was formed only about 100 million years after the world was covered by a magma ocean.
Other Ebola Victims
The Ebloa virus that has killed more than 6,800 people in West Africa this year has also devasted the continent's wild ape population. Ecologist Peter Walsh with the University of Cambridge says he observed that 90 to 95 percent of the gorillas he was studying disappeared during two earlier Ebola outbreaks. He warned that Ebola, and human diseases, are joining the bush meat trade as the primary reasons the apes are vanishing. Infections have exploded among wild primates, mainly from humans encroaching into isolated habitats.
Early calculations indicated that 2014 was likely to be the hottest year on average worldwide since records began. As the year drew to a close, it had already surged ahead of 1998 and 2010, which tied for the hottest years in modern times. Deke Arndt, climate monitoring chief for NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, says the global heat is driven by the recent extraordinary warmth of the world's oceans.
Magnetic Weakening
Earth's magnetic field weakened during the year, possibly leaving the world more vulnerable to cosmic radiation and charged particles from the sun, scientists said. Initial readings from a new three-satellite observation network for the planet's magnetic field also revealed that the magnetic north pole is drifting southward toward Siberia.
Earthquakes
Northern Chile was jolted on April 1 by a "great" earthquake that killed six people and triggered a tsunami that smashed dozens of boats near the offshore epicenter.
* The San Francisco Bay Area's strongest quake in 25 years killed one person, sparked fires and inflicted hundreds of millions of dollars in damage around the city of Napa on Aug. 24.
* A 6.9 magnitude temblor centered near the Mexico-Guatemala border on July 7 killed four people in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
* At least 617 people perished in southwestern China's Yunnan province as a 6.1 magnitude temblor caused widespread destruction on Aug. 3.
* Eight people were killed on Sept. 27 when a 4.9 magnitude quake wrecked buildings in Peru's southern village of Misca, near Cusco.
Tropical Cyclones
The Philippines was ravaged by five deadly cyclones. Forty people were killed when Tropical Storm Lingling raked the southern island of Mindanao in mid-January. Tropical Storm Kajiki killed three others two weeks later as it cut through the same part of the country devastated by Typhoon Haiyan late the previous year. Typhoons Rammasun and Hagupit, and Tropical Storm Fung-Wong, left a total of 51 people dead across the eastern and northern Philippines.
* Cyclone Ian wreaked catastrophic damage on Jan. 10 to the South Pacific island nation of Tonga. One person died, and about $4 million in damage was reported due to the storm.
* High winds and flooding from Typhoon Halong killed 10 people and injured nearly 100 others as the storm raked southern Japan on Aug. 9-10.
* Typhoon Phanfone left at least seven dead when it drenched much of Japan two months later.
Eruptions
Flying stones, poisonous gas and superheated ash killed 57 people in Japan's worst volcanic disaster in 90 years. The victims had climbed Mount Ontake before it erupted without warning on Sept. 27.
* Periodic violent blasts throughout the year from Sumatra's Mount Sinabung left 16 people dead and wiped out large tracts of crops. More than 3,000 people were forced into evacuation shelters for several months.
* A powerful explosion on Feb. 14 from Indonesia's Mount Kelud volcano killed four people near Bali when the roofs of their homes collapsed beneath the weight of accumulated ash.
* A long flow of lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano set one home ablaze in November and destroyed a few other structures around Pahoa.
Ill Wind
Scientists say wind currents blowing out of northeastern China could be the main carriers of a mysterious childhood disease that was first identified in 1961 and can lead to a fatal heart condition. Research at the Kawasaki Disease Research Center at the University of California, published in May, suggests an airborne toxin in seasonal winds could be infecting children in Japan and as far away as Hawaii and California. Kawasaki disease has been found to peak only when winds originate from a vast cereal-farming region in northeastern China.
Earliest Earth
Scientists announced in May that a zircon crystal discovered in Western Australia during 2010 has been accurately determined to be 4374 billion years old by two independent methods. That makes it the oldest rock ever discovered on the planet. The gem was formed only about 100 million years after the world was covered by a magma ocean.
Other Ebola Victims
The Ebloa virus that has killed more than 6,800 people in West Africa this year has also devasted the continent's wild ape population. Ecologist Peter Walsh with the University of Cambridge says he observed that 90 to 95 percent of the gorillas he was studying disappeared during two earlier Ebola outbreaks. He warned that Ebola, and human diseases, are joining the bush meat trade as the primary reasons the apes are vanishing. Infections have exploded among wild primates, mainly from humans encroaching into isolated habitats.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Dec. 26, 2014)
Old Waters of the Deep
More water than is contained in all of the world's rivers, wetlands and lakes combined has been found hiding many miles beneath the surface, and scientists say it's the oldest water on the planet. A study presented at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco also revealed that the water is reacting with the Earth's crust to release hydrogen, a potential food source that could be supporting subsurface life forms never before seen by humans. The planet's oldest water, collected 1.5 miles down a deep mine in Canada, has been estimated to be between 1 billion and 2.5 billion years old. The researchers used data from 19 different mine sites to measure how much hydrogen was being produced and thereby estimate the volume of the deep water, University of Toronto geobiologist Barbara Sherwood Lollar says the hunt for life in the deep crust is now a priority.
Meteor 'Radar'
Scientists may have discovered a new and revolutionary method to provide Earth with advance warning of potenially dangerous space rocks that could take aim on our planet. By carefully observing changes in streams of plasma from the sun or particles in the solar wind, new research suggests, it could be possible to identify small but threatening near-Earth objects like the Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013. The technique would rely on the magnetic field disturbances that occur in the solar wind when it interacts with positively charged particles left over from collisions of larger objects orbiting the sun. UCLA researchers say existing spacecraft instruments could map these disturbances over long periods of time, revealing which objects pose the greatest threats to Earth.
Giraffe Decline
One of world's most iconic and beloved animals is rapidly disappearing from the plains and forests of Africa, according to a new warning by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. The charity says the population of wild giraffes has plummeted by more than 40 percent over the past 15 years, down from about 140,000 animals across Africa in 1999 to 80,000 today. "It's a silent extinction," the group's director told ABC News. Even though it is illegal to hunt giraffe, the animal's meat is highly prized for its sweet taste. Animal rights groups say that on average, more than 100 wild giraffes are slaughtered each day.
Eruption
An eastern Indonesian volcano erupted without warning on Dec. 19, spewing columns of ash and flows of lava down its flanks. The inital blast from Mount Gamalama, on Ternate Island in North Maluku province, caused nine hikers on the mountain to be injured as they scrambled to safety. Thick ash from the eruption blanketed the main airport of the nearby provincial capital of Ternate, forcing all arrivals and departures to be canceled for days.
Earthquakes
A sharp temblor centered high in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal shook a wide area of that country and neighboring parts of India. Residents across the Indian state of Bihar fled buildings in panic as the region shook for approximately five seconds.
* Earth movements were also felt in the India-Myanmar border region, islands of Indonesia's Molucca Sea, northeastern New Zealand, Japan's eastern Hokkaido Island and the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
Storm Evacuation
A group of at least five golden-winged warblers "evacuated" nesting areas in eastern Tennessee about one or two days before last April's devastating tornado swarm swept across the region. The weather was calm when the birds rushed southward toward the Gulf Coast, hundreds of miles away. Writing in the journal Current Biology, researchers from several institutions say they made the discovery because a group of warblers had been tagged with "geolocators" long before the outbreak. It's believed the birds were able to sense infrasound from the deep rumble that tornadoes were generating hundreds of miles away. Such sounds are well below human hearing and were probably being produced by twisters tearing across states to the west a day or two before the avian evacuation. The tags indicated that the warblers returned to their Cumberland Mountains breeding area soon after the tornadoes passed.
Toothy Attack
For the second holiday season in a row, swimmers trying to escape the mid-summer heat in northeastern Argentina have been bloodied in a string of attacks by a type of piranha. The most savage of the 10 palometa attacks so far this month injured 23 people on a beach in Garupa, located on a tributary of the Parana River, about 450 miles north of Buenos Aires. The ADN Sureste news agency reports the carnivorous fish apparently gnawed through a net erected to keep the beach safe from such attacks. Last Christmas, about 60 people downstream in Rosario were bitten by palometas.
More water than is contained in all of the world's rivers, wetlands and lakes combined has been found hiding many miles beneath the surface, and scientists say it's the oldest water on the planet. A study presented at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco also revealed that the water is reacting with the Earth's crust to release hydrogen, a potential food source that could be supporting subsurface life forms never before seen by humans. The planet's oldest water, collected 1.5 miles down a deep mine in Canada, has been estimated to be between 1 billion and 2.5 billion years old. The researchers used data from 19 different mine sites to measure how much hydrogen was being produced and thereby estimate the volume of the deep water, University of Toronto geobiologist Barbara Sherwood Lollar says the hunt for life in the deep crust is now a priority.
Meteor 'Radar'
Scientists may have discovered a new and revolutionary method to provide Earth with advance warning of potenially dangerous space rocks that could take aim on our planet. By carefully observing changes in streams of plasma from the sun or particles in the solar wind, new research suggests, it could be possible to identify small but threatening near-Earth objects like the Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013. The technique would rely on the magnetic field disturbances that occur in the solar wind when it interacts with positively charged particles left over from collisions of larger objects orbiting the sun. UCLA researchers say existing spacecraft instruments could map these disturbances over long periods of time, revealing which objects pose the greatest threats to Earth.
Giraffe Decline
One of world's most iconic and beloved animals is rapidly disappearing from the plains and forests of Africa, according to a new warning by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. The charity says the population of wild giraffes has plummeted by more than 40 percent over the past 15 years, down from about 140,000 animals across Africa in 1999 to 80,000 today. "It's a silent extinction," the group's director told ABC News. Even though it is illegal to hunt giraffe, the animal's meat is highly prized for its sweet taste. Animal rights groups say that on average, more than 100 wild giraffes are slaughtered each day.
Eruption
An eastern Indonesian volcano erupted without warning on Dec. 19, spewing columns of ash and flows of lava down its flanks. The inital blast from Mount Gamalama, on Ternate Island in North Maluku province, caused nine hikers on the mountain to be injured as they scrambled to safety. Thick ash from the eruption blanketed the main airport of the nearby provincial capital of Ternate, forcing all arrivals and departures to be canceled for days.
Earthquakes
A sharp temblor centered high in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal shook a wide area of that country and neighboring parts of India. Residents across the Indian state of Bihar fled buildings in panic as the region shook for approximately five seconds.
* Earth movements were also felt in the India-Myanmar border region, islands of Indonesia's Molucca Sea, northeastern New Zealand, Japan's eastern Hokkaido Island and the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
Storm Evacuation
A group of at least five golden-winged warblers "evacuated" nesting areas in eastern Tennessee about one or two days before last April's devastating tornado swarm swept across the region. The weather was calm when the birds rushed southward toward the Gulf Coast, hundreds of miles away. Writing in the journal Current Biology, researchers from several institutions say they made the discovery because a group of warblers had been tagged with "geolocators" long before the outbreak. It's believed the birds were able to sense infrasound from the deep rumble that tornadoes were generating hundreds of miles away. Such sounds are well below human hearing and were probably being produced by twisters tearing across states to the west a day or two before the avian evacuation. The tags indicated that the warblers returned to their Cumberland Mountains breeding area soon after the tornadoes passed.
Toothy Attack
For the second holiday season in a row, swimmers trying to escape the mid-summer heat in northeastern Argentina have been bloodied in a string of attacks by a type of piranha. The most savage of the 10 palometa attacks so far this month injured 23 people on a beach in Garupa, located on a tributary of the Parana River, about 450 miles north of Buenos Aires. The ADN Sureste news agency reports the carnivorous fish apparently gnawed through a net erected to keep the beach safe from such attacks. Last Christmas, about 60 people downstream in Rosario were bitten by palometas.
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Dec. 19, 2014)
Eruption Destruction
The strongest eruption of the Cape Verde volcano Pico do Fogo in decades has obliterated two villages and poses a threat to an old-growth forest preserve. A vast blanket of hardened lava now engulfs the villages of Portela and Bangeira on Fogo Island, located off the coast of West Africa. "The lava front, more than 500 meters (1,640 feet) north of outlying houses in Bangeira a week ago, has swept over much of the village and continues to move forward," said Arlindo Lima, who heads the civil protection services. He added that the lava gained quite a lot of ground on Dec. 14, and was heading toward the lush Monte Velho forest reserve and an area that produces the island's famed Fogo coffee. "It's more than a century and a half of history that has literally been wiped out," said local journalist Arlinda Neves. She added that some of the destroyed buildings dated back to the 1860s.
Bengal Bonanza
The increasing number of powerful tropical cyclones to strike India in recent years inflicted catastrophic destruction, but they have also brought a bonanza to some fishermen along the Bay of Bengal coast. The day after Cyclone Hudhud slammed into the states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha in October, fishermen hundreds of miles away in Assam took advantage of the massive schools of fish driven into the Brahmaputra River by the storm. A year earlier, Cyclone Phailin sent a huge number of hilsa to the Dhubri area, where catches were 10 times larger than normal. Fisherman told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the hilsa, related to herring, is typically hard to catch. But in the weeks following both cyclones, it was like the fish were attracted to the nets.
Spill Disaster
A massive oil spill near an Israeli nature preserve has become the worst environmental disaster in that country's history. More than 1.3 million gallons of crude oil polluted an area near the Gulf of Aqaba port of Eilat after a break occurred earlier this month in the 153-mile Trans-Israel pipeline. More than 80 people in the area were hospitalized from inhaling benzene fumes generated by evaporation of the oil. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) says it has attempted to keep birds from the spill area, but warns it could take years for all of the pollution to be removed. "We don't have experience with something of this scale," said INPA spokesperson Tali Tenenbaum. Her agency warned that any rainfall could quickly spread the disaster.
Earthquakes
The nine tremors to strike western parts of Dallas, Texas, within the past month have area residents and some geologists pointing the finger at a nearby gas well and an accompanying wastewater injection well. All of the tremors, including the lastest 2.7 magnitude jolt, have occurred within a small area of adjacent Irving, just to the west of Dallas Love Field.
* In an unusually quiet week for worldwide seismic activity in populated areas, earth movements were also felt in central New Jersey and western North Carolina.
Tropical Cyclone
Tropical Storm Baakung formed from an area of disturbed weather over the Indian Ocean, about 750 miles southwest of Java. The storm was a threat to only shipping lanes in the region and never strengthened into a significant weather feature.
Turtle Strandings
Wildlife rescue volunteers in Cape Cod have become overwhelmed during the past month by the nearly 1,200 stranded sea turtles that lingered too long this fall in the cooling waters of the North Atlantic. Nearly all were young Kemp's ridley turtles, the most endangered turtle species, and were in a state of shock from exposure to the cold. Once rescued, the turtles are taken to the Wellfleet Audubon Society and the New England Aquarium for further treatment. Many have since been driven or airlifted to other aquariums as far away as Texas for safe-keeping until they are healthy enough to be released.
Vanishing Reindeer
Reindeer populations around the world are declining at an alarming rate, which new research says is due to a number of factors. The study by China's Renmin University School of Environment and Natural Resources says it found the 28 percent decline in the country's tundra and woodland reindeer since the 1970s is mainly because of inbreeding, poaching, climate change and natural predators. "Bears, wolves and lynx are the three main predators of reindeer, and may kill as many as a third of reindeer calves each year," said the report, published in the journal for Nature Conservation. But poachers who hunt for antlers are causing more than half of abnormal deaths, the study said. Earlier research found declines in various other reindeer herds around the Arctic varied from 31 percent to 97 percent. Scientists say that natural 40- to 60-year population cycles could be behind the wide range of decline.
The strongest eruption of the Cape Verde volcano Pico do Fogo in decades has obliterated two villages and poses a threat to an old-growth forest preserve. A vast blanket of hardened lava now engulfs the villages of Portela and Bangeira on Fogo Island, located off the coast of West Africa. "The lava front, more than 500 meters (1,640 feet) north of outlying houses in Bangeira a week ago, has swept over much of the village and continues to move forward," said Arlindo Lima, who heads the civil protection services. He added that the lava gained quite a lot of ground on Dec. 14, and was heading toward the lush Monte Velho forest reserve and an area that produces the island's famed Fogo coffee. "It's more than a century and a half of history that has literally been wiped out," said local journalist Arlinda Neves. She added that some of the destroyed buildings dated back to the 1860s.
Bengal Bonanza
The increasing number of powerful tropical cyclones to strike India in recent years inflicted catastrophic destruction, but they have also brought a bonanza to some fishermen along the Bay of Bengal coast. The day after Cyclone Hudhud slammed into the states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha in October, fishermen hundreds of miles away in Assam took advantage of the massive schools of fish driven into the Brahmaputra River by the storm. A year earlier, Cyclone Phailin sent a huge number of hilsa to the Dhubri area, where catches were 10 times larger than normal. Fisherman told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the hilsa, related to herring, is typically hard to catch. But in the weeks following both cyclones, it was like the fish were attracted to the nets.
Spill Disaster
A massive oil spill near an Israeli nature preserve has become the worst environmental disaster in that country's history. More than 1.3 million gallons of crude oil polluted an area near the Gulf of Aqaba port of Eilat after a break occurred earlier this month in the 153-mile Trans-Israel pipeline. More than 80 people in the area were hospitalized from inhaling benzene fumes generated by evaporation of the oil. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) says it has attempted to keep birds from the spill area, but warns it could take years for all of the pollution to be removed. "We don't have experience with something of this scale," said INPA spokesperson Tali Tenenbaum. Her agency warned that any rainfall could quickly spread the disaster.
Earthquakes
The nine tremors to strike western parts of Dallas, Texas, within the past month have area residents and some geologists pointing the finger at a nearby gas well and an accompanying wastewater injection well. All of the tremors, including the lastest 2.7 magnitude jolt, have occurred within a small area of adjacent Irving, just to the west of Dallas Love Field.
* In an unusually quiet week for worldwide seismic activity in populated areas, earth movements were also felt in central New Jersey and western North Carolina.
Tropical Cyclone
Tropical Storm Baakung formed from an area of disturbed weather over the Indian Ocean, about 750 miles southwest of Java. The storm was a threat to only shipping lanes in the region and never strengthened into a significant weather feature.
Turtle Strandings
Wildlife rescue volunteers in Cape Cod have become overwhelmed during the past month by the nearly 1,200 stranded sea turtles that lingered too long this fall in the cooling waters of the North Atlantic. Nearly all were young Kemp's ridley turtles, the most endangered turtle species, and were in a state of shock from exposure to the cold. Once rescued, the turtles are taken to the Wellfleet Audubon Society and the New England Aquarium for further treatment. Many have since been driven or airlifted to other aquariums as far away as Texas for safe-keeping until they are healthy enough to be released.
Vanishing Reindeer
Reindeer populations around the world are declining at an alarming rate, which new research says is due to a number of factors. The study by China's Renmin University School of Environment and Natural Resources says it found the 28 percent decline in the country's tundra and woodland reindeer since the 1970s is mainly because of inbreeding, poaching, climate change and natural predators. "Bears, wolves and lynx are the three main predators of reindeer, and may kill as many as a third of reindeer calves each year," said the report, published in the journal for Nature Conservation. But poachers who hunt for antlers are causing more than half of abnormal deaths, the study said. Earlier research found declines in various other reindeer herds around the Arctic varied from 31 percent to 97 percent. Scientists say that natural 40- to 60-year population cycles could be behind the wide range of decline.
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Dec. 12, 2014)
Quickening Extremes
The number of outbreaks of extreme heat and cold around the world during the past three decades increased more rapidly than the rate of global warming, which scientists say is fueling the trend. Researchers at the U.K.'s University of East Anglia looked at temperature records from 1881 to 2013 before coming to the conclusion. They found that the occurrence of unusually cold periods had been increaseing at a faster rate than heat waves until 30 years ago. But the trend reversed beginning in 1983, with extreme heat events becoming more frequent. The study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, also looked at trends during the "pause" in global warming since 1998. The researchers say that while a 16-year period is too brief to draw conclusions about trends, they found that warming continued at most locations on the planet during those years. But they concluded that the overall global warming was offset by strong cooling during the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere. New findings indicate that the record melt of the Arctic ice cap has been responsible for the recent colder winters in part of North America, Asia and Europe.
Lava Damage
Lava from erupting Pico do Fogo has destroyed building in two Cape Verde villages. This is the volcano's first eruption in 19 years. Lava pouring into Portela destroyed two churches and inflicted heavy damage to dozens of homes, a hotel and a school. The nearby town of Bangaeira later suffered lava damage to muluiple apartment buildings as well as a guesthouse. More than 3,000 people have fled their homes since the volcano first began rumbling on Nov. 22, off the coast of West Africa.
Prescribed Pollution
Some of the most widely used anti-inflammatory drugs, which are inadvertently finding their way into the environment, have been shown to significantly affect crop growth. Researchers from the University of Exeter say this is especially worrisome because waste management systems are unable to remove drugs like diclofenac and ibuprofen from sewage in treatment plants. Sewage sludge is increasingly being used as fertilizer, while waste water is often used to irrigate crops. The researchers focused on lettuce and radish plants and how several commonly prescribed drugs affected them. They found that drugs from the fenamic acid class affected the growth of radish roots, while ibuprofen had a strong influence on the early root development of lettuce.
Deadly Typhoon
One of the year's strongest tropical cyclones cut a path of destruction across central and northern parts of the Philippines, leaving at least 27 people dead in its wake. Typhoon Hagupit wrecked thousands of homes in Eastern Samsr province, where maximum sustained winds of 130 mph were recorded. The storm weakened considerably after it left Eastern Samar on a slow path toward Manila. The typhoon also spared parts of the Philippines devastated by Typhoon Haiyan last year. It was one of the strongest typhoons on record, killing more than 6,000 people.
Earthquakes
A few items were knocked off shelves when a 6.6 magnitude quake struck parts of Panama and neighboring Costa Rica. It was the strongest of three tremors to occur there in a three day period.
* Earth movements were also felt in western Guatemala, St. Lucia and other islands of the eastern Caribbean, eastern Romania, islands of the eastern Aegean Sea and in far eastern Papua New Guinea.
El Nino Arrives
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) became the first weather bureau in the world to declare that the El Nino ocean warming in the tropical Pacific has returned. The phenomenon occurs every few years and causes a variety of weather shifts around the world. The JMA declaration came as the strongest Pacific storm to strike California since the last El Nino five years ago was roaring onshore. Various weather agencies around the world have issued conflicting El Nino forecasts over the past few months, but JMA meteorologist Ikuo Yoshikawa said on Dec. 10 that it emerged between June and August.
Big City Custodians
A new study finds that armies of ants are keeping New York City clean by eating food litter left by the pedestrians who walk the streets of the city that never sleeps. Writing in the journal Global Change Biology, a team of researchers reveals how ants and other arthropods on a stretch of just 150 blocks of median strips in Manhattan can remove the equivalent of about 60,000 pounds of hot dogs or 600,000 potato chips each year. Lead researcher Elsa Youngsteadt from North Carolina State University says the insects are helping New Yorkers by competing with rats for food. "You may not like ants, but you probably like rats even less," she told The New York Times.
The number of outbreaks of extreme heat and cold around the world during the past three decades increased more rapidly than the rate of global warming, which scientists say is fueling the trend. Researchers at the U.K.'s University of East Anglia looked at temperature records from 1881 to 2013 before coming to the conclusion. They found that the occurrence of unusually cold periods had been increaseing at a faster rate than heat waves until 30 years ago. But the trend reversed beginning in 1983, with extreme heat events becoming more frequent. The study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, also looked at trends during the "pause" in global warming since 1998. The researchers say that while a 16-year period is too brief to draw conclusions about trends, they found that warming continued at most locations on the planet during those years. But they concluded that the overall global warming was offset by strong cooling during the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere. New findings indicate that the record melt of the Arctic ice cap has been responsible for the recent colder winters in part of North America, Asia and Europe.
Lava Damage
Lava from erupting Pico do Fogo has destroyed building in two Cape Verde villages. This is the volcano's first eruption in 19 years. Lava pouring into Portela destroyed two churches and inflicted heavy damage to dozens of homes, a hotel and a school. The nearby town of Bangaeira later suffered lava damage to muluiple apartment buildings as well as a guesthouse. More than 3,000 people have fled their homes since the volcano first began rumbling on Nov. 22, off the coast of West Africa.
Prescribed Pollution
Some of the most widely used anti-inflammatory drugs, which are inadvertently finding their way into the environment, have been shown to significantly affect crop growth. Researchers from the University of Exeter say this is especially worrisome because waste management systems are unable to remove drugs like diclofenac and ibuprofen from sewage in treatment plants. Sewage sludge is increasingly being used as fertilizer, while waste water is often used to irrigate crops. The researchers focused on lettuce and radish plants and how several commonly prescribed drugs affected them. They found that drugs from the fenamic acid class affected the growth of radish roots, while ibuprofen had a strong influence on the early root development of lettuce.
Deadly Typhoon
One of the year's strongest tropical cyclones cut a path of destruction across central and northern parts of the Philippines, leaving at least 27 people dead in its wake. Typhoon Hagupit wrecked thousands of homes in Eastern Samsr province, where maximum sustained winds of 130 mph were recorded. The storm weakened considerably after it left Eastern Samar on a slow path toward Manila. The typhoon also spared parts of the Philippines devastated by Typhoon Haiyan last year. It was one of the strongest typhoons on record, killing more than 6,000 people.
Earthquakes
A few items were knocked off shelves when a 6.6 magnitude quake struck parts of Panama and neighboring Costa Rica. It was the strongest of three tremors to occur there in a three day period.
* Earth movements were also felt in western Guatemala, St. Lucia and other islands of the eastern Caribbean, eastern Romania, islands of the eastern Aegean Sea and in far eastern Papua New Guinea.
El Nino Arrives
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) became the first weather bureau in the world to declare that the El Nino ocean warming in the tropical Pacific has returned. The phenomenon occurs every few years and causes a variety of weather shifts around the world. The JMA declaration came as the strongest Pacific storm to strike California since the last El Nino five years ago was roaring onshore. Various weather agencies around the world have issued conflicting El Nino forecasts over the past few months, but JMA meteorologist Ikuo Yoshikawa said on Dec. 10 that it emerged between June and August.
Big City Custodians
A new study finds that armies of ants are keeping New York City clean by eating food litter left by the pedestrians who walk the streets of the city that never sleeps. Writing in the journal Global Change Biology, a team of researchers reveals how ants and other arthropods on a stretch of just 150 blocks of median strips in Manhattan can remove the equivalent of about 60,000 pounds of hot dogs or 600,000 potato chips each year. Lead researcher Elsa Youngsteadt from North Carolina State University says the insects are helping New Yorkers by competing with rats for food. "You may not like ants, but you probably like rats even less," she told The New York Times.
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Dec. 5, 2014)
A World of Change
Earth has already undergone significant climate and environmental changes since world leaders first gathered to try to solve global warming more than two decades ago. Diplomats from more than 190 nations are now meeting in Lima, Peru, to prepare for a new treaty slated to be signed next year to finally reduce greenhouse gas emissions ------ albeit many years from now. An Associated Press survey found that worldwide CO2 emissions are up 60 percent, sea level has risen 3 inches and the average global temperature is up 0.6 degree Fahrenheit since 1996. Almost 5 trillion tons of ice that once covered Greenland and Antarcitica also have melted during the period. The number of climate, water and weather diseasters each year has more than doubled, compared to the period from 1983 to 1992. "Simply put, we are rapidly remaking the planet and beginning to suffer the consequences," Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton, told the A.P.
Earthquakes
A sharp tremor centered near the Arizona resort of Sedona tossed items off shelves and caused some furniture to topple.
* Earth movements were also felt in northwestern Montana, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, south-central Alaska, northern Chile and metropolitan Melbourne, Australia.
Tropical Cyclones
Category-5 Typhoon Hagupit was bearing down on the northern Philippines late in the week with sustained winds of nearly 165 mph.
* Tropical Storm Sinlaku drenched south-central Vertnam and northeastern areas of Cambodia.
A Decade to Warm
It takes 10 years for a single greenhouse gas emission to wield its greatest warming influence on the atmosphere, rather than the several decades previously believed, according to new research. Scientists from the Camegie Institution for Science combined data on how quickly oceans, plants and other natural elements absorb CO2 with information from climate models used in the lastest U.N. climate models assessment. They found the average time a single CO2 emission reached its greatest warming was 10.1 years, and reaffirmed that most of its warming then lingers for more than a century. "This means if we avoid an emission, we avoid heating that would otherwise occur this decade. This will benefit us and not just our grandchildren," wrote researcher Ken Calderia in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
Early Frogspawn
An unusually mild November in the U.K. has encouraged some frogs to reproduce five months ahead of schedule in the earliest frogspawn observed for nearly a decade. Frogs typically lay their eggs in March across Britain, followed by the appearance of tadpoles about a month later. The earliest occurrence of frogspawn was on Oct. 26, 2005. "This year, I first saw frogspawn was on 21 November, which is early, but not unheard of in a Cornish context," said Rachel Holder, the ranger who first spotted the frogspawn on Cornwall's Lizard Peninsula. She added that the "gamble of getting ahead in the breeding game must be worth taking, and the risk of a severe cold snap which could freeze the spawn is worth braving." Other species of plants, insects and animals have been observed responding to climate change.
Japanese Eruption
Japan's Mount Aso spewed out chunks of lava for the first time in 21 years, causing flight cancellations in the south of the country. A column of ash and vapor soared almost 5,000 feet into the atmosphere. Ash and smoke damaged nearby crops and even reached the city of Kumamoto, more than 25 miles from the volcano. Mount Aso's caldera is one of the largest in the world, dominating the landscape of the country's main southern island of Kyushu. The volcano erupted several times between 1945 and 1993, with volcanic activity often continuning for months at a time.
Snake House
A total of 310 garter snakes have been removed from the home of an unnamed Saskatchewan family after the serpents invaded the basement, kitchen and even some upstairs bedrooms. Snake experts were called in after the Camadian prairie family from outside Regina captured 221 of the snakes on their own, but saw quite a few others they couldn't easily reach. It's believed the snakes were looking for a place to winter and came in through cracks in the foundation that grew wider after the basement flooded last spring. It's also possible some of the snakes were freed at a nearby nature preserve, while others are being cared for beneath heat lamps over the winter at the Salthaven West wildlife center in Regina. The family says the snakes are more of a nuisance than terrifying. They asked to remanin anonymous so other family members and friends could visit without fear.
Earth has already undergone significant climate and environmental changes since world leaders first gathered to try to solve global warming more than two decades ago. Diplomats from more than 190 nations are now meeting in Lima, Peru, to prepare for a new treaty slated to be signed next year to finally reduce greenhouse gas emissions ------ albeit many years from now. An Associated Press survey found that worldwide CO2 emissions are up 60 percent, sea level has risen 3 inches and the average global temperature is up 0.6 degree Fahrenheit since 1996. Almost 5 trillion tons of ice that once covered Greenland and Antarcitica also have melted during the period. The number of climate, water and weather diseasters each year has more than doubled, compared to the period from 1983 to 1992. "Simply put, we are rapidly remaking the planet and beginning to suffer the consequences," Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton, told the A.P.
Earthquakes
A sharp tremor centered near the Arizona resort of Sedona tossed items off shelves and caused some furniture to topple.
* Earth movements were also felt in northwestern Montana, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, south-central Alaska, northern Chile and metropolitan Melbourne, Australia.
Tropical Cyclones
Category-5 Typhoon Hagupit was bearing down on the northern Philippines late in the week with sustained winds of nearly 165 mph.
* Tropical Storm Sinlaku drenched south-central Vertnam and northeastern areas of Cambodia.
A Decade to Warm
It takes 10 years for a single greenhouse gas emission to wield its greatest warming influence on the atmosphere, rather than the several decades previously believed, according to new research. Scientists from the Camegie Institution for Science combined data on how quickly oceans, plants and other natural elements absorb CO2 with information from climate models used in the lastest U.N. climate models assessment. They found the average time a single CO2 emission reached its greatest warming was 10.1 years, and reaffirmed that most of its warming then lingers for more than a century. "This means if we avoid an emission, we avoid heating that would otherwise occur this decade. This will benefit us and not just our grandchildren," wrote researcher Ken Calderia in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
Early Frogspawn
An unusually mild November in the U.K. has encouraged some frogs to reproduce five months ahead of schedule in the earliest frogspawn observed for nearly a decade. Frogs typically lay their eggs in March across Britain, followed by the appearance of tadpoles about a month later. The earliest occurrence of frogspawn was on Oct. 26, 2005. "This year, I first saw frogspawn was on 21 November, which is early, but not unheard of in a Cornish context," said Rachel Holder, the ranger who first spotted the frogspawn on Cornwall's Lizard Peninsula. She added that the "gamble of getting ahead in the breeding game must be worth taking, and the risk of a severe cold snap which could freeze the spawn is worth braving." Other species of plants, insects and animals have been observed responding to climate change.
Japanese Eruption
Japan's Mount Aso spewed out chunks of lava for the first time in 21 years, causing flight cancellations in the south of the country. A column of ash and vapor soared almost 5,000 feet into the atmosphere. Ash and smoke damaged nearby crops and even reached the city of Kumamoto, more than 25 miles from the volcano. Mount Aso's caldera is one of the largest in the world, dominating the landscape of the country's main southern island of Kyushu. The volcano erupted several times between 1945 and 1993, with volcanic activity often continuning for months at a time.
Snake House
A total of 310 garter snakes have been removed from the home of an unnamed Saskatchewan family after the serpents invaded the basement, kitchen and even some upstairs bedrooms. Snake experts were called in after the Camadian prairie family from outside Regina captured 221 of the snakes on their own, but saw quite a few others they couldn't easily reach. It's believed the snakes were looking for a place to winter and came in through cracks in the foundation that grew wider after the basement flooded last spring. It's also possible some of the snakes were freed at a nearby nature preserve, while others are being cared for beneath heat lamps over the winter at the Salthaven West wildlife center in Regina. The family says the snakes are more of a nuisance than terrifying. They asked to remanin anonymous so other family members and friends could visit without fear.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Nov. 21, 2014)
Solar Lightning
While recent findings point to the likelihood of more lightning around the world as the planet warms, other resesarch suggests lightning strikes in some areas are already affected by solar activity. In a report published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, scientists say the orientation of the sun's magnetic field plays a significant role in the number of lightning strikes, at least in the United Kingdom. "What we found was there is significantly more lightning in the U.K. when the field is pointing towards the sun than when it's pointing away, which was surprising," said lead author Matt Owens from the University of Reading. He believes that the sun's pushing or pulling on Earth's magnetic field lets energetically charged particles filter down into the atmosphere, triggering the lightning. Owens and colleagues found that between 2001 and 2006, there was a 50 percent increase in thunder and lightning in Britain when the solar magnetic field pointed away from Earth.
Record Ocean Warmth
A 13-year pause in the overall warming of the world's ocean surface ended earlier this year with the average global mean sea surface temperature soaring to the warmest ever recorded. "The 2014 global ocean warming is mostly due to the North Pacific, which has warmed far beyond any recorded value and has shifted hurricane tracks, weakened trade winds and produced coral bleaching in the Hawaiian Islands," said climate scientist Axel Timmermann of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He says sea-surface temperatures started to rise quickly in January across the North Pacific, followed by a surge of very warm water from the western Pacific to the eastern Pacific along the equator.
Starfish Killer Revealed
The cause of a massive dieoff of more than 20 species of starfish along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California may have been identified. Since June 2013, millions of what marine biologists refer to as sea stars have wasted away from disease that causes their limbs to pull away from their bodies and their organs to extrude through their skin. "They basically fall apart into a pile of goo on the bottom of the seafloor," said Cornell University biological oceanographer Ian Hewson. He and colleagues say the deaths are likely due to a parvovirus dubbed the sea star-associated densovirus. Hewson suggests the tiny virus has gone mainly unnoticed at low levels for many years, but has been found in museum samples taken from the Pacific in 1942, 1980, 1987 and 1991. Cornell ecologist Drew Harvell told Reuters the outbreak is "probably the largest epidemic in marine wildlife that we know of."
Earthquakes
A sharp temblor centered beneath northern Indonesia's Molucca Sea sent people fleeing buildings in several nearby cities. It also generated a small tsunami that failed to cause any damage.
* Earth movements were also felt in New Zealand's North Island, southern Greece, southern Scotland, northwestern Montana and northwestern Nevada.
Tropical Cyclone
The season's first cyclone in the northwestern Indian Ocean formed from an area of disturbed weather to the south of the remote U.S. Diego Garcia military base. Cyclone Adjali briefly produced sustained winds of about 60 mph before slowly losing force.
Alaskan Eruption
An unusually powerful blast from Alaska's second most active volcano sent a column of ash soaring high above the Alaska Peninsula for several hours. The eruption of Pavlof, located about 625 miles southwest of Anchorage, prompted aviation officials to briefly warn aircraft flying near the volcano of the ash hazard. The Alaska Volcano Observatory said the eruption was much more energetic than any Pavlof has produced in the last decade or so. The major eight-hour blast was preceded by a lower-level eruption that began three days earlier. Geologists say the remote volcano has erupted more than 40 times in recorded history, including eruptions earlier this year and in 2013.
Heat Casualties
Thousands of fruit bats fell dead from trees in one area of eastern Australia as a heat wave pushed temperatures as high as 111 degrees Fahrenheit. The dead mammals, also known as flying foxes, piled up on the ground in Casino and the Richmond Valley of northern New South Wales, where wildlife officials warned residents not to touch the animals due to the danger of catching viruses or other illnesses. Hundreds of infant bats left orphaned were being cared for by animal-rescue workers who said they were overwhelmed by the environmental disaster. "Some areas along the riverbank are inaccessible, and the stench from the rotting carcasses will be quite unbearable for some time yet," council manager John Walker told Sydney's The Daily Telegraph. Last January, an unprecedented heat wave in neighboring Queensland killed as many as 100,000 flying foxes.
While recent findings point to the likelihood of more lightning around the world as the planet warms, other resesarch suggests lightning strikes in some areas are already affected by solar activity. In a report published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, scientists say the orientation of the sun's magnetic field plays a significant role in the number of lightning strikes, at least in the United Kingdom. "What we found was there is significantly more lightning in the U.K. when the field is pointing towards the sun than when it's pointing away, which was surprising," said lead author Matt Owens from the University of Reading. He believes that the sun's pushing or pulling on Earth's magnetic field lets energetically charged particles filter down into the atmosphere, triggering the lightning. Owens and colleagues found that between 2001 and 2006, there was a 50 percent increase in thunder and lightning in Britain when the solar magnetic field pointed away from Earth.
Record Ocean Warmth
A 13-year pause in the overall warming of the world's ocean surface ended earlier this year with the average global mean sea surface temperature soaring to the warmest ever recorded. "The 2014 global ocean warming is mostly due to the North Pacific, which has warmed far beyond any recorded value and has shifted hurricane tracks, weakened trade winds and produced coral bleaching in the Hawaiian Islands," said climate scientist Axel Timmermann of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He says sea-surface temperatures started to rise quickly in January across the North Pacific, followed by a surge of very warm water from the western Pacific to the eastern Pacific along the equator.
Starfish Killer Revealed
The cause of a massive dieoff of more than 20 species of starfish along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California may have been identified. Since June 2013, millions of what marine biologists refer to as sea stars have wasted away from disease that causes their limbs to pull away from their bodies and their organs to extrude through their skin. "They basically fall apart into a pile of goo on the bottom of the seafloor," said Cornell University biological oceanographer Ian Hewson. He and colleagues say the deaths are likely due to a parvovirus dubbed the sea star-associated densovirus. Hewson suggests the tiny virus has gone mainly unnoticed at low levels for many years, but has been found in museum samples taken from the Pacific in 1942, 1980, 1987 and 1991. Cornell ecologist Drew Harvell told Reuters the outbreak is "probably the largest epidemic in marine wildlife that we know of."
Earthquakes
A sharp temblor centered beneath northern Indonesia's Molucca Sea sent people fleeing buildings in several nearby cities. It also generated a small tsunami that failed to cause any damage.
* Earth movements were also felt in New Zealand's North Island, southern Greece, southern Scotland, northwestern Montana and northwestern Nevada.
Tropical Cyclone
The season's first cyclone in the northwestern Indian Ocean formed from an area of disturbed weather to the south of the remote U.S. Diego Garcia military base. Cyclone Adjali briefly produced sustained winds of about 60 mph before slowly losing force.
Alaskan Eruption
An unusually powerful blast from Alaska's second most active volcano sent a column of ash soaring high above the Alaska Peninsula for several hours. The eruption of Pavlof, located about 625 miles southwest of Anchorage, prompted aviation officials to briefly warn aircraft flying near the volcano of the ash hazard. The Alaska Volcano Observatory said the eruption was much more energetic than any Pavlof has produced in the last decade or so. The major eight-hour blast was preceded by a lower-level eruption that began three days earlier. Geologists say the remote volcano has erupted more than 40 times in recorded history, including eruptions earlier this year and in 2013.
Heat Casualties
Thousands of fruit bats fell dead from trees in one area of eastern Australia as a heat wave pushed temperatures as high as 111 degrees Fahrenheit. The dead mammals, also known as flying foxes, piled up on the ground in Casino and the Richmond Valley of northern New South Wales, where wildlife officials warned residents not to touch the animals due to the danger of catching viruses or other illnesses. Hundreds of infant bats left orphaned were being cared for by animal-rescue workers who said they were overwhelmed by the environmental disaster. "Some areas along the riverbank are inaccessible, and the stench from the rotting carcasses will be quite unbearable for some time yet," council manager John Walker told Sydney's The Daily Telegraph. Last January, an unprecedented heat wave in neighboring Queensland killed as many as 100,000 flying foxes.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Weird News
Trailer owner caught red-handed
Gardena, Calif. ---------------------- When officers found a stolen Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer statue, they certainly said its shiny nose was glowing.
The 200-pound statue had been pilfered nearly two weeks ago from its perch atop a sign marking an upscale Southern California neighborhood, where a reindeer figure has been a seasonal fixture for half a century.
"It was remounted and lit up as if it was their own Christmas decoration," Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Mark Moffett said after the statue was recovered atop a trailer home in the city of Gardena. The homeowner was arrested.
Boyfriend accidentally sold her Tempurrrpedic
Portland, Ore. ------------------------ When an Oregon man sold his girlfriend's mattress set for $100 because she was moving in with him, he didn't realize her cat was hiding inside.
Roy Dufek helped strap the mattress and box spring to the top of the buyer's car. When he went back inside his girlfriend's suburban Portland home, Camo the cat was nowhere to be found.
After a 20-minute search, Dufek called his girlfriend, Hayley Crews, who told him Camo liked to hide in a hole in the box spring.
Dufek and Crews have searched the mattress buyer's home and yard, and they've set up an animal trap with food and water in the garage where the buyer stored the mattress. They even rented a thermal camera to search the neighborhood.
A week later, Camo's still missing. Dufek and his girlfriend are offering a $200 reward to whoever finds him.
Folks give up bling-bling to help poor
Boston ----------------------------------- In Massachusetts, it's not just the treetops that are glistening this holiday season. It's also the jewelry that's being dropped in Salvation Army's red kettles.
The charity says donors dropped wedding and engagement rings into a kettle in Weymouth, south of Boston. And a bracelet, diamond ring and diamond pendant were contributed in the central city of Fitchburg.
The latest gifts come after a widow gave her wedding rings in memory of her husband, and another widow redeemed them with a gift of $21,000. Then an Australian woman who recently moved to Boston gave a diamond cross pendant.
Good grief, would ya stay out of the pond?
Easthampton, Mass. ------------------ Massachusetts fire officials have come to the rescue of a capsized kayaker who may have been trying to install a Charlie Brown cutout on a raft that holds a Christmas tree at the center of a pond.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that Easthampton firefighters rescued the man as he was clinging to the raft.
Fire Chief David Mottor says a 3-foot-tall cutout depicting the likeness of cartoon character Charlie Brown was found in his kayak.
Mottor says a practical joke isn't worth losing a life. He says the water temperature was in the low 40s, cold enough to cause hypothermia.
Gardena, Calif. ---------------------- When officers found a stolen Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer statue, they certainly said its shiny nose was glowing.
The 200-pound statue had been pilfered nearly two weeks ago from its perch atop a sign marking an upscale Southern California neighborhood, where a reindeer figure has been a seasonal fixture for half a century.
"It was remounted and lit up as if it was their own Christmas decoration," Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Mark Moffett said after the statue was recovered atop a trailer home in the city of Gardena. The homeowner was arrested.
Boyfriend accidentally sold her Tempurrrpedic
Portland, Ore. ------------------------ When an Oregon man sold his girlfriend's mattress set for $100 because she was moving in with him, he didn't realize her cat was hiding inside.
Roy Dufek helped strap the mattress and box spring to the top of the buyer's car. When he went back inside his girlfriend's suburban Portland home, Camo the cat was nowhere to be found.
After a 20-minute search, Dufek called his girlfriend, Hayley Crews, who told him Camo liked to hide in a hole in the box spring.
Dufek and Crews have searched the mattress buyer's home and yard, and they've set up an animal trap with food and water in the garage where the buyer stored the mattress. They even rented a thermal camera to search the neighborhood.
A week later, Camo's still missing. Dufek and his girlfriend are offering a $200 reward to whoever finds him.
Folks give up bling-bling to help poor
Boston ----------------------------------- In Massachusetts, it's not just the treetops that are glistening this holiday season. It's also the jewelry that's being dropped in Salvation Army's red kettles.
The charity says donors dropped wedding and engagement rings into a kettle in Weymouth, south of Boston. And a bracelet, diamond ring and diamond pendant were contributed in the central city of Fitchburg.
The latest gifts come after a widow gave her wedding rings in memory of her husband, and another widow redeemed them with a gift of $21,000. Then an Australian woman who recently moved to Boston gave a diamond cross pendant.
Good grief, would ya stay out of the pond?
Easthampton, Mass. ------------------ Massachusetts fire officials have come to the rescue of a capsized kayaker who may have been trying to install a Charlie Brown cutout on a raft that holds a Christmas tree at the center of a pond.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that Easthampton firefighters rescued the man as he was clinging to the raft.
Fire Chief David Mottor says a 3-foot-tall cutout depicting the likeness of cartoon character Charlie Brown was found in his kayak.
Mottor says a practical joke isn't worth losing a life. He says the water temperature was in the low 40s, cold enough to cause hypothermia.
Weird News
Santa on caffeine-kick feelin' extra generous
Barnstable, Mass. --------------------- A generous mystery man has made the holiday season a little brighter for employees of two Massachusetts coffee shops.
A man wearing a cowboy hat walked into Marylou's in Hyannis and handed the worker behind the counter 15 envelopes, each containing a crisp $100 bill.
Manager Victoria Grandy tells the Cape Cod Times "Merry Christmas" was printed in red on the front of each envelope.
One employee said he resembled Santa Claus.
A man, believed to be the same person, but this time wearing a ball cap, handed over eight envelopes containing $100 bills to the workers at the Dunkin' Donuts at the Cape Cod Mall.
No snow in Alaska? This blows
Anchorage, Alaska ------------------- A week before Christmas, Alaska's largest city should look like a postcard wonderland, and the last place you'd expect to see equipment making snow.
A picturesque northern winterscape is hardly the reality there as a spate of weird weather lingers in Anchorage, which is almost 2 feet behind the snowfall totals typical by this time.
For the most part, it's even been too warm to make snow for local ski haunts because the machines would churn out slush. However, a slight dip in temperatures allowed the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage to manufacture powder late this week on trails at the city's kincaid Park. That will have to do until nature provides its own supply.
Embalmed head turns up in woods
Pittsburgh ----------------------------- Police in western Pennsylvania are hoping that a sketch artist's rendering will help them identify the embalmed head of a woman found in the woods last week.
Economy Borough police Chief Michael O'Brien tells the Associated Press that the drawing isn't completed, but will be released to media outlets once it is.
The head appears to be that of woman in her late 60s or early 70s, but police have no idea where it's from.
Police are contacting medical schools to see if the head is from a cadaver, and are entering DNA into an FBI database for missing persons.
Running death trial to continue
Birmingham, Ala. --------------------- A state appeals court refused to dismiss a capital murder charge against an Alabama woman jailed in the running death of her 9-year-old granddaughter, potentially setting the stage for her trial early next year.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a challenge by Joyce Garrard, who is accused of forcing Savannah Hardin to run until she collapsed as punishment for a lie about eating candy.
Garrard, 49, of Boaz has been held since March 2012, but the court rejected defense claims that two trial delays violated her constitutional right to a speedy trial.
A;uthorities contend Garrard forced the girl to run for hours outside her home in rural northeast Alabama. The child collapsed and died later in a hospital.
Barnstable, Mass. --------------------- A generous mystery man has made the holiday season a little brighter for employees of two Massachusetts coffee shops.
A man wearing a cowboy hat walked into Marylou's in Hyannis and handed the worker behind the counter 15 envelopes, each containing a crisp $100 bill.
Manager Victoria Grandy tells the Cape Cod Times "Merry Christmas" was printed in red on the front of each envelope.
One employee said he resembled Santa Claus.
A man, believed to be the same person, but this time wearing a ball cap, handed over eight envelopes containing $100 bills to the workers at the Dunkin' Donuts at the Cape Cod Mall.
No snow in Alaska? This blows
Anchorage, Alaska ------------------- A week before Christmas, Alaska's largest city should look like a postcard wonderland, and the last place you'd expect to see equipment making snow.
A picturesque northern winterscape is hardly the reality there as a spate of weird weather lingers in Anchorage, which is almost 2 feet behind the snowfall totals typical by this time.
For the most part, it's even been too warm to make snow for local ski haunts because the machines would churn out slush. However, a slight dip in temperatures allowed the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage to manufacture powder late this week on trails at the city's kincaid Park. That will have to do until nature provides its own supply.
Embalmed head turns up in woods
Pittsburgh ----------------------------- Police in western Pennsylvania are hoping that a sketch artist's rendering will help them identify the embalmed head of a woman found in the woods last week.
Economy Borough police Chief Michael O'Brien tells the Associated Press that the drawing isn't completed, but will be released to media outlets once it is.
The head appears to be that of woman in her late 60s or early 70s, but police have no idea where it's from.
Police are contacting medical schools to see if the head is from a cadaver, and are entering DNA into an FBI database for missing persons.
Running death trial to continue
Birmingham, Ala. --------------------- A state appeals court refused to dismiss a capital murder charge against an Alabama woman jailed in the running death of her 9-year-old granddaughter, potentially setting the stage for her trial early next year.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a challenge by Joyce Garrard, who is accused of forcing Savannah Hardin to run until she collapsed as punishment for a lie about eating candy.
Garrard, 49, of Boaz has been held since March 2012, but the court rejected defense claims that two trial delays violated her constitutional right to a speedy trial.
A;uthorities contend Garrard forced the girl to run for hours outside her home in rural northeast Alabama. The child collapsed and died later in a hospital.
Yes, Marie, there is still a you-know-who
'Twas the week before Christmas almost half a lifetime ago ---------- Dec. 20, 1988 -------- when Inquirer city editor Fran Dauth walked over to my desk in the newsroom with a letter in her hand and a look on her face, "What do you think?" she asked, handing me the letter.
"Is this for real?" I asked. At the time, I was writing a daily metro column called "the Scene", which was frequently the place where readers flights of fancy found a receptive perch.
In other words, "the Scene" was a nut-job magnet.
But this letter was disturbing for its difference. This was written by a child. There was a return address on the envelope and a listed phone number, so I called that afternoon around 4 o'clock and a little girl answered.
"Hello, is this Marie?"
She sounded much younger than her years. Hers was the tiny, sweet voice of Christmas past, a tonic of innocence for ears sharpened to cynical points by the grindstone of insincere words.
Was this letter part of a school assignment? I asked. Had her parents helped her write it? No, the little girl said, she had written the letter by herself because she thought the newspaper would have the answer.
Well, it was a very good letter, I told her. Thank you, she replied. I promised that I would try to find an answer. Thank you, she said again. Thank you, she said again. Goodbye.
I looked at the letter for a long time, and I wished that she had asked about something easy, the theory of aerodynamics, perhaps, or why water in lakes doesn't sink into the ground. Instead, she wrote:
Dear Editors,
I am 9 and in fourth grade. I am the smartest person in the class. There are a lot of things I don't know. I am writing this letter to ask you a question. I have heard that there is no such thing as Santa Claus. I have heard that there was a Santa Claus but there isn't now. I have also heard that there really is a Santa Claus. Which of these is true?
Sincerely,
Marie Stanek,
Woodlynne, N.J.
Twenty-six years ago, I was foolish enough to attempt an answer.
I wrote:
I am not the smartest person at the newspaper, Marie, but that's OK because you don't have to be smart to understand the truth about Santa Claus. Before I answer your question, I must tell you about another little girl who wrote to a newspaper years before you, your parents, and maybe even your grandparents, were born.
Her name was Virginia O'Hanlon, and she was just one year younger than you when she wrote to the editors of the New York Sun. Virginia was also confused by the things she had heard about Santa Claus, and a wise editor named Francis P. Church answered her by writing, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
"He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give your life its highest beauty and joy."
But terrible things have happened in the world since Virginia wrote her letter, Marie, things beyond the imagination of the wisest or worst of men and women. Perhaps you have seen some of these terrible things on TV or in books.
Perhaps you have seen the faces of children whose eyes have lost the hope of ever seeing Santa Claus, or of knowing love. How could Santa exist in a world where so many children live in pain and die in despair?
How could he not? Marie, the world needs Santa Claus now more than ever.
But what is Santa Claus ? This, I think, is where your confusion sets in. You've been told that there is a Santa, that there once was a Santa but there isn't one anymore, and that there never was a Santa.
My answer may confuse you even more, Marie, because all three are true.
Is there a Santa Claus who flies around the world in a sleigh pulled by reindeer bringing toys to children? Absolutely! That Santa is as real as real as you or me. But that Santa exists only if you believe.
And Santa knows if you believe in him the same way he knows if you've been naughty or nice. Santa knows these things because (and this is the important part) he lives in your heart. He lives in the hearts of everyone who will let him.
How? I don't know. He's Santa, he can do these things.
Oh, sure, he lives at the North Pole, too, but that's only because that's where he goes when children and parents stop believing. It's awfully cold up there, but Santa doesn't mind so much because there are so many warm hearts to snuggle inside on bleak Arctic nights when the winds howls of hate and the ice groans beneath the weight of human sorrow.
This is the secret of Santa Claus. If you believe, then Santa exists; if you stop believing, Santa no longer exists. Not within your heart, anyway. He goes to the North Pole and waits for the arrival of newborns, or for the return of innocence to hearts filled with doubt.
Santa forgives. He's an easy touch, and his bags are always packed.
My city editor told me that when she was a little girl, she would ask her mother if there was a Santa Claus and her mother would reply, "There is if you want there to be." My city editor said that she did not think that was a good answer when she grew older, she realized how true it is.
Yes, Marie, there is a Santa Claus, and he lives in a house to which you have the only key.
"Is this for real?" I asked. At the time, I was writing a daily metro column called "the Scene", which was frequently the place where readers flights of fancy found a receptive perch.
In other words, "the Scene" was a nut-job magnet.
But this letter was disturbing for its difference. This was written by a child. There was a return address on the envelope and a listed phone number, so I called that afternoon around 4 o'clock and a little girl answered.
"Hello, is this Marie?"
She sounded much younger than her years. Hers was the tiny, sweet voice of Christmas past, a tonic of innocence for ears sharpened to cynical points by the grindstone of insincere words.
Was this letter part of a school assignment? I asked. Had her parents helped her write it? No, the little girl said, she had written the letter by herself because she thought the newspaper would have the answer.
Well, it was a very good letter, I told her. Thank you, she replied. I promised that I would try to find an answer. Thank you, she said again. Thank you, she said again. Goodbye.
I looked at the letter for a long time, and I wished that she had asked about something easy, the theory of aerodynamics, perhaps, or why water in lakes doesn't sink into the ground. Instead, she wrote:
Dear Editors,
I am 9 and in fourth grade. I am the smartest person in the class. There are a lot of things I don't know. I am writing this letter to ask you a question. I have heard that there is no such thing as Santa Claus. I have heard that there was a Santa Claus but there isn't now. I have also heard that there really is a Santa Claus. Which of these is true?
Sincerely,
Marie Stanek,
Woodlynne, N.J.
Twenty-six years ago, I was foolish enough to attempt an answer.
I wrote:
I am not the smartest person at the newspaper, Marie, but that's OK because you don't have to be smart to understand the truth about Santa Claus. Before I answer your question, I must tell you about another little girl who wrote to a newspaper years before you, your parents, and maybe even your grandparents, were born.
Her name was Virginia O'Hanlon, and she was just one year younger than you when she wrote to the editors of the New York Sun. Virginia was also confused by the things she had heard about Santa Claus, and a wise editor named Francis P. Church answered her by writing, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
"He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give your life its highest beauty and joy."
But terrible things have happened in the world since Virginia wrote her letter, Marie, things beyond the imagination of the wisest or worst of men and women. Perhaps you have seen some of these terrible things on TV or in books.
Perhaps you have seen the faces of children whose eyes have lost the hope of ever seeing Santa Claus, or of knowing love. How could Santa exist in a world where so many children live in pain and die in despair?
How could he not? Marie, the world needs Santa Claus now more than ever.
But what is Santa Claus ? This, I think, is where your confusion sets in. You've been told that there is a Santa, that there once was a Santa but there isn't one anymore, and that there never was a Santa.
My answer may confuse you even more, Marie, because all three are true.
Is there a Santa Claus who flies around the world in a sleigh pulled by reindeer bringing toys to children? Absolutely! That Santa is as real as real as you or me. But that Santa exists only if you believe.
And Santa knows if you believe in him the same way he knows if you've been naughty or nice. Santa knows these things because (and this is the important part) he lives in your heart. He lives in the hearts of everyone who will let him.
How? I don't know. He's Santa, he can do these things.
Oh, sure, he lives at the North Pole, too, but that's only because that's where he goes when children and parents stop believing. It's awfully cold up there, but Santa doesn't mind so much because there are so many warm hearts to snuggle inside on bleak Arctic nights when the winds howls of hate and the ice groans beneath the weight of human sorrow.
This is the secret of Santa Claus. If you believe, then Santa exists; if you stop believing, Santa no longer exists. Not within your heart, anyway. He goes to the North Pole and waits for the arrival of newborns, or for the return of innocence to hearts filled with doubt.
Santa forgives. He's an easy touch, and his bags are always packed.
My city editor told me that when she was a little girl, she would ask her mother if there was a Santa Claus and her mother would reply, "There is if you want there to be." My city editor said that she did not think that was a good answer when she grew older, she realized how true it is.
Yes, Marie, there is a Santa Claus, and he lives in a house to which you have the only key.
Christmas Outlawed
Did you know that from 1644 to 1660 England passed laws prohibiting the celebration of Christmas. Churches were closed, the celebration of Mass was also forbidden. During this time the popular song Twelve Days of Christmas was composed as a secret code to pass on the faith to children. The symbols and numbers found in the song refer to various beliefs of our faith.
See the underlined terms below and guess what they stand for.
The Twelve Days Of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree.
On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me Two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Four Calling Birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Five Golden Rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Six Geese-a-Laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Seven Swans a-Swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the eight day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Eight Maids a-Milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the nineth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Nine Ladies Dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Ten Lords a-Leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the eleven day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Eleven Pipers Piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the twelve day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Twelve Drummers Drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
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Twelve Days Of Christmas
Did You Figure Our The Secret Codes?
Secret Codes to pass on the Catholic Faith and truths during persecution of Elizabeth I -------- 1644.
True Love ---------------- Christ
Pear Tree --------------- Cross
Two Turtle Doves -------- Old & New Testament
Three French Hens -------- Holy Trinity
Four Calling Birds -------- 4 Gospels
Five Golden Rings - First Five Books of the Old Testament
Six Geese a Laying --- ------- Six Days of Creation
Seven Swams a Swimming ----- Seven Sacraments
Eight Maids a Milking ----- Eight Beatitudes
Nine Ladies Dancing ------Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Ten Lords a Leaping ------ Ten Commandments
Eleven Pipers Piping ----- Eleven Faith Apostles
Twelve Drummers Drumming - Twelve Truths of Faith in the Creed
See the underlined terms below and guess what they stand for.
The Twelve Days Of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree.
On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me Two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Four Calling Birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Five Golden Rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Six Geese-a-Laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Seven Swans a-Swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the eight day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Eight Maids a-Milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the nineth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Nine Ladies Dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Ten Lords a-Leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the eleven day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Eleven Pipers Piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
On the twelve day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Twelve Drummers Drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese-a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
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Twelve Days Of Christmas
Did You Figure Our The Secret Codes?
Secret Codes to pass on the Catholic Faith and truths during persecution of Elizabeth I -------- 1644.
True Love ---------------- Christ
Pear Tree --------------- Cross
Two Turtle Doves -------- Old & New Testament
Three French Hens -------- Holy Trinity
Four Calling Birds -------- 4 Gospels
Five Golden Rings - First Five Books of the Old Testament
Six Geese a Laying --- ------- Six Days of Creation
Seven Swams a Swimming ----- Seven Sacraments
Eight Maids a Milking ----- Eight Beatitudes
Nine Ladies Dancing ------Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Ten Lords a Leaping ------ Ten Commandments
Eleven Pipers Piping ----- Eleven Faith Apostles
Twelve Drummers Drumming - Twelve Truths of Faith in the Creed
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