Local Archives - Page 10 of 13

After Seven-Foot Great White Attacks Swimmer, Manhattan Beach Considers Fishing Ban

16Jul

By rocitoutNo Comments

Local

After Seven-Foot Great White Attacks Swimmer, Manhattan Beach Considers Fishing Ban

After Steven Robles, 50, was attacked by a seven-foot juvenile great white shark while swimming off Manhattan Beach, California over July 4th weekend, Manhattan Beach Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Powell and California state wildlife officials are considering a permanent ban on any fishing activity from the beach's popular pier. Many in the Manhattan Beach community are blaming fishing bait for bringing in the shark. Immediately following the attack on Mr. Robles, officials placed a moratorium on fishing from the pier, pending consultation with wildlife experts and a vote by the City Council. The Ban Stands on Faulty Logic Frankly, that Manhattan Beach would consider putting the blame for a natural occurrence on the heads of local fishermen is asinine. Shark attacks are so exceedingly rare that ...

Residents Across the Country Gear Up to Fight Invasive Bermuda Grass Once More

10Jul

By rocitoutNo Comments

Local

Residents Across the Country Gear Up to Fight Invasive Bermuda Grass Once More

With good landscaping comes a sometimes difficult pest to control: invasive species. According to Chillico the Gazette, many people will need to gear up to fight back against Bermuda grass this summer. The invasive weed is important to fight in its early stages -- sprayed early, it can be eliminated. Wait too long, though, and the plant goes dormant, rendering sprays ineffective. The Bermuda grass has muddled many a once-beautiful landscape. They can quickly take over first lawns, then shrub and flower beds. Bermuda grass is anchored by a strong root system that can go many feet down into the soil -- and it's the root system that makes the plant difficult to eliminate once it has established itself. Few herbicides have much effect on this green invader. Bermuda grass is currently ...

Biologists Urge People to Buy Firewood Locally, Prevent Spread of Invasive Species

10Jul

By rocitoutNo Comments

Local

Biologists Urge People to Buy Firewood Locally, Prevent Spread of Invasive Species

Could firewood be a carrier for invasive species? According to international biologists, this is often the case both locally and around the globe.On Manitoulin Island, Ontario, biologists are working to prevent the spread of invasive species, and preserve the current ecology. The crew there says that tourism has been a big part of bringing invasive species onto the island. “It can easily be transported on the tires and under the sides of recreational vehicles, bottom sides of boots, even on pets and bicycle tires,” says Eric Labelle, part of the Ontario Invading Species Awareness Program. “So it's important to try to clean these items before you got to the next region, or you could be transporting the invasive species.” One big carrier of invasive species, he points out, is firewood....

Students Express Relief at UF’s Decision to Add Central Air Conditioning to Dorms

10Jul

By rocitoutNo Comments

Lifestyle, Local

Students Express Relief at UF’s Decision to Add Central Air Conditioning to Dorms

Florida is one of the hottest states in the U.S., with average summer temperatures in the 80s and 90s throughout the summer months. It might seem like Florida is one of the few states where you can expect air conditioning to be in every building, especially for places like schools and stores. For many University of Florida students, though, relief has only just arrived. According to The Alligator, a local Gainesville paper, all UF residence halls will have finally received central air conditioning by 2015. For many students, the change will provide welcome relief from the high temperatures that frequently drive students into cooler libraries and halls to study. "If these dorms change, their popularity would change because they would cater to today’s living," reflects Sara Wedemeyer, a 19...

Texas Jail Orders New Locks After Inmates Figure Out How to Open the Old Ones

9Jul

By rocitoutNo Comments

Local

Texas Jail Orders New Locks After Inmates Figure Out How to Open the Old Ones

About 120 inmates have had to be transferred out of the Van Zandt County Jail, located about 50 miles outside of Dallas, because the locks had been tampered with, according to CBS Houston. Sheriff Michael Lindsey Ray says that the inmates were able to figure out a way to compromise the locks. Jail staff agrees, saying that one inmate figured out how to pick the locks, and taught other inmates how to follow suit. "The inmates were able to gain access out of their secured cells, out into the hallway and then out of the hallway... really out into the parking lot,” says Chief George Flowers. He says that it was first noticed by the control room, who saw a sheet moving through the hallway. The inmates, after breaking the locks, had traveled under sheets so that they could not be identified b...

Police Use Social Media to Catch Car Jacking Criminal

7Jul

By rocitoutNo Comments

Local

Police Use Social Media to Catch Car Jacking Criminal

Could social media help nail a thief? According to Fox40, it worked well enough to catch one crook this week. Police in Placerville, CA, were able to catch a carjacker thanks to the help of Facebook postings. This past Monday afternoon, Kenneth Krohn, the alleged thief, saw a crime of opportunity and took his chance. A woman leaving her car in a parking garage stepped away from the car, while leaving her keys in the ignition. Before she could come back to it, Krohn jumped into the front seat and started it up. The woman attempted to stop him from leaving in the vehicle, and he knocked her down while driving away. It was a quick getaway, but not so quick that surveillance in the parking garage wasn’t able to capture a picture of him in the car. Detectives working the case posted the p...

Glass Floor of Willis Tower Cracks Beneath Startled Visitors

7Jul

By rocitoutNo Comments

Local

Glass Floor of Willis Tower Cracks Beneath Startled Visitors

Visitors to Chicago's Willis Tower often enjoy standing on the building's glass enclosures, which extend out from the side of the 103rd floor, allowing people who can overcome a fear of heights to see themselves "above" the city. This week, though, one group of visitors to the Sky Deck were more than a little startled when, after getting up from sitting to pose for a photograph, the glass beneath them started to shatter. "We see it completely just shatter all the way through, and at that point, all four of us just completely rushed right out of it," said Tony Saldana, who was visiting Chicago at the time. According to Willis Tower officials, however, the glass itself didn't actually crack -- only its protective coating did. The coating, when damaged, cracks in order to protect the glass...

Elderly Man Goes Missing for 72 Hours After Taking Wrong Turn Coming Home

2Jul

By rocitoutNo Comments

Local

Elderly Man Goes Missing for 72 Hours After Taking Wrong Turn Coming Home

One family in Colorado Springs, Colorado got a scare this weekend after 83-year-old Albert Tumblin went missing after driving to a local store to purchase a birthday card for his daughter. Tumblin left the home at 2 p.m. Friday. Hours later, Tumblin still hadn't shown up, and his family was left wondering what could have happened, or where he could be -- fearing the worst. Tumblin, though, had simply become disoriented. The elderly father suffers from mild dementia and lost track of where he was. "I just made the wrong turn and kept going," he said in an interview with KRDO News. "I couldn't realize what direction or where I was going." After becoming disoriented, Tumblin continued to drive, only to be pulled over at 4 a.m. Saturday morning by an officer who suspected DUI. The office...

Thief Breaks In, Uses Victim’s Computer, and Forgets to Log Off Facebook

27Jun

By rocitoutNo Comments

Local

Thief Breaks In, Uses Victim’s Computer, and Forgets to Log Off Facebook

Facebook led police to a burglary suspect in Dakota County, Minnesota. Authorities arrested Nicholas Wig, 26, for breaking into a man's home and stealing a credit card, cash, watch, checkbook, and keys. "His undoing, they said, was that he logged into his Facebook account on homeowner James Wood's computer and forgot to log out," ABC News reports. Wood discovered a strange Facebook account, "Nick Dub," still logged onto his computer, along with other signs of a recent break-in -- including an unlocked door and a missing window screen. Later that same day, Wood identified the man walking along the street. He recognized him from his Facebook photos. Police arrested Wig and matched the watch the suspect he was wearing to the one stolen from Wood's home. Authorities charged Wig "with burgl...

Youngstown State Constructions to Include Terrazzo

20Jun

By rocitoutNo Comments

Local

Youngstown State Constructions to Include Terrazzo

School is out for the summer at Ohio's Youngstown State University. Now that students have gone home, it's time for the construction workers to move in for a planned series of renovations and new constructions that will cost around $10 million. “This is one of the most-aggressive construction seasons we’ve had in a long time,” Richard White, associate director of planning and construction at Youngstown State, told trustees at a committee meeting earlier this month. According to a June 16 article in The Vindicator, the construction will include completion of the Veterans Resource Center on Wick Avenue, which will cost $1.25 million on its own; several roof renovations across campus; elevator upgrades and more. “They aren’t big-dollar jobs, but they’re spread out,” John Hyden, execu...