Source of topic: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aWSWIqRRjPY8
China Hit by 7.9-Magnitude Quake; More Than 8,700 Die
By Aaron Sheldrick and Eugene Tang
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- China was hit by a magnitude-7.9 earthquake, the nation's strongest in 58 years, killing more than 8,700 people. The temblor in Sichuan province shook buildings in Beijing, more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away.
The quake struck at 2:28 p.m., 10 kilometers deep and 90 kilometers west-northwest of the central city of Chengdu, followed by aftershocks including a magnitude-6 quake 15 minutes later, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Chengdu, home to 11 million people, is the capital of Sichuan, site of 40 percent of China's gas deposits and its largest panda reserve.
``The epicenter of today's quake was shallow, which means it released more destructive energy,'' Zhang Guomin, a researcher at the China Seismology Bureau, told the state-run Xinhua News Agency. ``We have to guard against mudslides and collapsing buildings.''
The death toll in the province is at least 8,700, Xinhua said, with as many as 5,000 killed and 10,000 injured in one county, Beichuan. Rescuers recovered at least 50 bodies from the debris of a high school in the city of Dujiangyan, about 100 kilometers from the epicenter, Xinhua said.
As many as 900 students were buried in the rubble.
China allocated 200 million yuan ($28.6 million) for disaster relief, Xinhua said.
Older Buildings
The death toll may rise, Deng Changwen, a spokesman for the Sichuan provincial seismological bureau, was quoted as saying by Xinhua. Rescuers battled their way to reach Wenchua County, near the epicenter, using excavators and cranes to remove debris on the roads, Xinhua reported.
Four military helicopters heading to the area were forced to return because of heavy rain, the news service said.
``The rescue efforts will be focused on the older parts of the city, where there are older buildings that aren't well reinforced,'' Deng said.
The quake was originally reported as magnitude 7.8 before it was revised by the USGS today.
Five other schools collapsed in the province's Deyang City, leaving an unknown number of students buried, Xinhua said. Four students were killed and at least 100 were injured when two schools collapsed in Liangping county of Chongqing municipality, adjacent to Sichuan. Chongqing is about 350 kilometers from the epicenter of the temblor.
Buildings in Beijing shook for more than three minutes and traffic stopped. Construction cranes ceased work, while hundreds of people were seen scrambling to get out of buildings including the China World Tower, one of the tallest structures in the Chinese capital.
Felt in Bangkok
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the capital. Shaking was felt as far as Hong Kong and Bangkok in Thailand, 1,950 kilometers away.
China is to host the Olympics Games in August at more than 30 venues. The frequency of earthquakes in the Beijing area was taken into account during construction, and none of the venues was damaged, Sun Weide, deputy director for the Olympic media, told Agence France-Presse today.
The quake sparked panic in cities and towns across Sichuan and other central provinces, Xinhua said. No damage was reported at the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric dam, Xinhua said.
The quake damaged more than 2,000 China Mobile Ltd. base stations, Vice President Sha Yuejia said in an interview broadcast on state-run China Central Television.
Trading Halted
The Shanghai Stock Exchange said trading in Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., Chongqing Iron & Steel Co. and 43 other listed companies based in Sichuan province and Chongqing city was suspended until they provide investors with trading updates.
The quake may help fuel increases in corn and soybeans after the disaster threatened to disrupt domestic supplies, analysts said.
``The earthquake in China is going to cause major disruption in transportation,'' which could boost demand for U.S. grain and meat imports, said Roy Huckabay, an executive vice president for the Linn Group in Chicago. ``Chinese soybean prices soared overnight,'' a sign of increased demand for available supplies, Huckabay said.
Chinese carriers including China Eastern Airlines Corp. halted flights to some cities hit by the quake.
Pleas for Calm
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who described the earthquake as a ``disaster,'' called for calm, according to state media, while President Hu Jintao issued an order for an immediate response from government agencies, according to Xinhua.
Today's earthquake was the world's strongest since a 7.9- magnitude temblor struck Indonesia in September, according to the USGS. It was the biggest to hit China since a magnitude-8.6 quake struck Tibet in 1950, killing 1,526 people. China's deadliest disaster was a 7.5-magnitude quake that killed 250,000 people in northeastern China's Tangshan in 1976.
The USGS defines an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more as ``major,'' and one above 8 as ``great.''
There are 17 quakes measuring 7 to 7.9 annually worldwide on average, USGS said on its Web site, with five occurring so far this year. On average, there is one temblor annually measuring 8 or more.
``I extend my condolences to those injured and to the families of the victims of today's earthquake in China's Sichuan province,'' U.S. President George W. Bush said in a statement issued by the White House. ``I am particularly saddened by the number of students and children affected by this tragedy. The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the Chinese people, especially those directly affected. The United States stands ready to help in any way possible.''
Skyscrapers Evacuated
Hundreds of employees were evacuated from skyscrapers in the Lujiazui district of Shanghai, the city's financial center, where the stock exchange and banks including Citigroup Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc have offices. No damage was reported.
Sichuan produced about 22 percent of the nation's natural gas output in 2006, according to China National Petroleum Corp. and BP Plc's annual energy report.
To contact the reporters on this story: Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo at asheldrick@bloomberg.net; Eugene Tang in Beijing at eugenetang@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: May 12, 2008 15:01 EDT
Showing posts with label What's going on?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What's going on?. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Lord have mercy! This is tragic...
Source of Topic: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_re_as/myanmar
Red Cross: Up to 128,000 may have died in Myanmar
Red Cross: Up to 128,000 may have died in Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar - The Red Cross on Wednesday boosted its estimate of the cyclone death toll in Myanmar to as many as 128,000 — a much higher figure than the government tally. The U.N. warned a second wave of deaths will follow unless the military regime lets in more aid quickly.
The grim forecast came as heavy rains drenched the devastated Irrawaddy River delta, disrupting aid operations already struggling to reach up to 2.5 million people in urgent need of food, water and shelter.
"Another couple of days exposed to those conditions can only lead to worsening health conditions and compound the stress people are living in," said Shantha Bloemen, a spokeswoman for UNICEF.
A tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal added new worries, but late in the day forecasters said it was weakening and unlikely to grow into a cyclone.
Myanmar's government issued a revised casualty toll Wednesday night, saying 38,491 were known dead and 27,838 were missing.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, however, put the number of dead at between 68,833 and 127,990. It said it arrived at the figure by pooling and extrapolating assessments by 22 other aid groups and organizations in 58 townships.
U.N. officials said there could be more than 100,000 dead.
The Red Cross estimated the number of people needing help after cyclone surged over the low-lying delta on May 3 at between 1.64 million and 2.51 million.
But the junta still refused to accept help from foreign aid experts, who have vast experience in handling humanitarian crises.
It insisted Myanmar can handle the disaster on its own — a stance that appeared to stem not from the isolationist regime's ability but from its deep suspicion of most foreigners, who have frequently criticized its human rights abuses and crackdowns on democracy activists.
"The government has a responsibility to assist their people in the event of a natural disaster," said Amanda Pitt of the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs.
"We are here to do what we can and facilitate their efforts and scale up their response. It is clearly inadequate, and we do not want to see a second wave of deaths as a result of that not being scaled up," she said.
Myanmar's prime minister, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, told visiting Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Wednesday that the government was in control of the situation and didn't need foreign experts.
"They have their own team to cope with the situation," Samak said after returning to Bangkok. He said the junta gave him a "guarantee" that there was no starvation or disease outbreaks among survivors.
But critics say the government is woefully lacking in helicopters, trucks and boats as well as planning expertise needed to distribute aid to survivors, who have jammed into monasteries and relief centers or are camping outside.
U.N. agencies and other voluntary groups have been able to reach only 270,000 of the affected people, said Elisabeth Byrs of r the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva.
She said the World Food Program would need 55,000 tons of rice to feed 750,000 people for three months, but the agency had been able to ship in only 361 tons so far.
The junta did grant approval Wednesday for a Thai medical team to visit the delta, said Dr. Thawat Sutharacha of Thailand's Public Health Ministry. If the team goes as scheduled Friday, it will be the first foreign aid group to work in the ravaged delta.
Myanmar has limited the few international aid workers in the country to Yangon, the country's biggest city, and used police to keep foreigners from going to the delta.
The government gave a little ground to demands that it let in more experts. It announced it would allow in 160 relief workers from neighboring countries — India, China, Bangladesh and Thailand. It was not clear whether they would be permitted to go to the delta.
In New York, U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes welcomed the junta's move. But he said it was not enough and demanded that Myanmar open its borders to foreign relief specialists and let outsiders work in the Irrawaddy delta.
"The relief getting through under the kind of restrictions we're operating under is by no means adequate to the task, and it's hard to see how just continuing with the status quo can ever be sufficient in the current critical time period that we're working in," Holmes said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called a meeting of key donors and Myanmar's neighbors to weigh options for speeding aid to cyclone victims.
"Even though the Myanmar government has shown some sense of flexibility, at this time it's far, far too short," he said. "The magnitude of this situation requires much more mobilization of resources and aid workers."
He also expressed frustration that he had not been able to arrange direct talks with the junta's chairman, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, despite repeated phone calls and letters.
While it has kept out all but a few foreign aid workers, the regime has accepted tons of provisions sent by international donors, including the United Nations and the United States.
Five U.S. C-130 military transport planes delivered drinking water, blankets, mosquito nets and plastic sheets Wednesday. Lt. Col. Douglas Powell said 197,080 pounds of provisions had been sent in on eight U.S. flights since Monday.
The State Department renewed an appeal for the junta to allow in outside disaster relief experts and more assistance. "This is not a political issue. This really is simply a humanitarian issue," said deputy spokesman Tom Casey.
The European Union's top aid official, Development Commissioner Louis Michel, said he was not opposed to the idea of parachuting aid into Myanmar, but said he did not think it was workable. Others have suggested unilateral air drops to circumvent the junta's restrictions.
___
Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer and John Heilprin at the United Nations, Matthew Lee in Washington and Sutin Wannabovorn in Bangkok, Thailand, contributed to this report.
"Another couple of days exposed to those conditions can only lead to worsening health conditions and compound the stress people are living in," said Shantha Bloemen, a spokeswoman for UNICEF.
A tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal added new worries, but late in the day forecasters said it was weakening and unlikely to grow into a cyclone.
Myanmar's government issued a revised casualty toll Wednesday night, saying 38,491 were known dead and 27,838 were missing.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, however, put the number of dead at between 68,833 and 127,990. It said it arrived at the figure by pooling and extrapolating assessments by 22 other aid groups and organizations in 58 townships.
U.N. officials said there could be more than 100,000 dead.
The Red Cross estimated the number of people needing help after cyclone surged over the low-lying delta on May 3 at between 1.64 million and 2.51 million.
But the junta still refused to accept help from foreign aid experts, who have vast experience in handling humanitarian crises.
It insisted Myanmar can handle the disaster on its own — a stance that appeared to stem not from the isolationist regime's ability but from its deep suspicion of most foreigners, who have frequently criticized its human rights abuses and crackdowns on democracy activists.
"The government has a responsibility to assist their people in the event of a natural disaster," said Amanda Pitt of the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs.
"We are here to do what we can and facilitate their efforts and scale up their response. It is clearly inadequate, and we do not want to see a second wave of deaths as a result of that not being scaled up," she said.
Myanmar's prime minister, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, told visiting Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Wednesday that the government was in control of the situation and didn't need foreign experts.
"They have their own team to cope with the situation," Samak said after returning to Bangkok. He said the junta gave him a "guarantee" that there was no starvation or disease outbreaks among survivors.
But critics say the government is woefully lacking in helicopters, trucks and boats as well as planning expertise needed to distribute aid to survivors, who have jammed into monasteries and relief centers or are camping outside.
U.N. agencies and other voluntary groups have been able to reach only 270,000 of the affected people, said Elisabeth Byrs of r the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva.
She said the World Food Program would need 55,000 tons of rice to feed 750,000 people for three months, but the agency had been able to ship in only 361 tons so far.
The junta did grant approval Wednesday for a Thai medical team to visit the delta, said Dr. Thawat Sutharacha of Thailand's Public Health Ministry. If the team goes as scheduled Friday, it will be the first foreign aid group to work in the ravaged delta.
Myanmar has limited the few international aid workers in the country to Yangon, the country's biggest city, and used police to keep foreigners from going to the delta.
The government gave a little ground to demands that it let in more experts. It announced it would allow in 160 relief workers from neighboring countries — India, China, Bangladesh and Thailand. It was not clear whether they would be permitted to go to the delta.
In New York, U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes welcomed the junta's move. But he said it was not enough and demanded that Myanmar open its borders to foreign relief specialists and let outsiders work in the Irrawaddy delta.
"The relief getting through under the kind of restrictions we're operating under is by no means adequate to the task, and it's hard to see how just continuing with the status quo can ever be sufficient in the current critical time period that we're working in," Holmes said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called a meeting of key donors and Myanmar's neighbors to weigh options for speeding aid to cyclone victims.
"Even though the Myanmar government has shown some sense of flexibility, at this time it's far, far too short," he said. "The magnitude of this situation requires much more mobilization of resources and aid workers."
He also expressed frustration that he had not been able to arrange direct talks with the junta's chairman, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, despite repeated phone calls and letters.
While it has kept out all but a few foreign aid workers, the regime has accepted tons of provisions sent by international donors, including the United Nations and the United States.
Five U.S. C-130 military transport planes delivered drinking water, blankets, mosquito nets and plastic sheets Wednesday. Lt. Col. Douglas Powell said 197,080 pounds of provisions had been sent in on eight U.S. flights since Monday.
The State Department renewed an appeal for the junta to allow in outside disaster relief experts and more assistance. "This is not a political issue. This really is simply a humanitarian issue," said deputy spokesman Tom Casey.
The European Union's top aid official, Development Commissioner Louis Michel, said he was not opposed to the idea of parachuting aid into Myanmar, but said he did not think it was workable. Others have suggested unilateral air drops to circumvent the junta's restrictions.
___
Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer and John Heilprin at the United Nations, Matthew Lee in Washington and Sutin Wannabovorn in Bangkok, Thailand, contributed to this report.
When ants attack...
Source of this Topic: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_re_us/texas_ants
By LINDA STEWART BALL, Associated Press Writer
DALLAS - In what sounds like a really low-budget horror film, voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and messing up computers.
The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as "crazy rasberry ants" — crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on.
"They're itty-bitty things about the size of fleas, and they're just running everywhere," said Patsy Morphew of Pearland, who is constantly sweeping them off her patio and scooping them out of her pool by the cupful. "There's just thousands and thousands of them. If you've seen a car racing, that's how they are. They're going fast, fast, fast. They're crazy."
The ants — formally known as "paratrenicha species near pubens" — have spread to five Houston-area counties since they were first spotted in Texas in 2002.
The newly recognized species is believed to have arrived in a cargo shipment through the port of Houston. Scientists are not sure exactly where the ants came from, but their cousins, commonly called crazy ants, are found in the Southeast and the Caribbean.
"At this point, it would be nearly impossible to eradicate the ant because it is so widely dispersed," said Roger Gold, a Texas A&M University entomologist.
The good news? They eat fire ants, the stinging red terrors of Texas summers.
But the ants also like to suck the sweet juices from plants, feed on such beneficial insects as ladybugs, and eat the hatchlings of a small, endangered type of grouse known as the Attwater prairie chicken.
They also bite humans, though not with a stinger like fire ants.
Worse, they, like some other species of ants, are attracted to electrical equipment, for reasons that are not well understood by scientists.
They have ruined pumps at sewage pumping stations, fouled computers and at least one homeowner's gas meter, and caused fire alarms to malfunction. They have been spotted at NASA's Johnson Space Center and close to Hobby Airport, though they haven't caused any major problems there yet.
Exterminators say calls from frustrated homeowners and businesses are increasing because the ants — which are starting to emerge by the billions with the onset of the warm, humid season — appear to be resistant to over-the-counter ant killers.
"The population built up so high that typical ant controls simply did no good," said Jason Meyers, an A&M doctoral student who is writing his dissertation on the one-eighth-inch-long ant.
It's not enough just to kill the queen. Experts say each colony has multiple queens that have to be taken out.
At the same time, the ants aren't taking the bait usually left out in traps, according to exterminators, who want the Environmental Protection Agency to loosen restrictions on the use of more powerful pesticides.
And when you do kill these ants, the survivors turn it to their advantage: They pile up the dead, sometimes using them as a bridge to cross safely over surfaces treated with pesticide.
"It looked like someone had come along and poured coffee granules all around the perimeter of the rooms," said Lisa Calhoun, who paid exterminators $1,200 to treat an infestation of her parents' home in the Houston suburb of Pearland.
The Texas Department of Agriculture is working with A&M researchers and the EPA on how to stop the ants.
"This one seems to be like lava flowing and filling an entire area, getting bigger and bigger," said Ron Harrison, director of training for the big pest-control company Orkin Inc.
Source of this Topic: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_re_us/texas_ants
By LINDA STEWART BALL, Associated Press Writer
DALLAS - In what sounds like a really low-budget horror film, voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and messing up computers.
The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as "crazy rasberry ants" — crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on.
"They're itty-bitty things about the size of fleas, and they're just running everywhere," said Patsy Morphew of Pearland, who is constantly sweeping them off her patio and scooping them out of her pool by the cupful. "There's just thousands and thousands of them. If you've seen a car racing, that's how they are. They're going fast, fast, fast. They're crazy."
The ants — formally known as "paratrenicha species near pubens" — have spread to five Houston-area counties since they were first spotted in Texas in 2002.
The newly recognized species is believed to have arrived in a cargo shipment through the port of Houston. Scientists are not sure exactly where the ants came from, but their cousins, commonly called crazy ants, are found in the Southeast and the Caribbean.
"At this point, it would be nearly impossible to eradicate the ant because it is so widely dispersed," said Roger Gold, a Texas A&M University entomologist.
The good news? They eat fire ants, the stinging red terrors of Texas summers.
But the ants also like to suck the sweet juices from plants, feed on such beneficial insects as ladybugs, and eat the hatchlings of a small, endangered type of grouse known as the Attwater prairie chicken.
They also bite humans, though not with a stinger like fire ants.
Worse, they, like some other species of ants, are attracted to electrical equipment, for reasons that are not well understood by scientists.
They have ruined pumps at sewage pumping stations, fouled computers and at least one homeowner's gas meter, and caused fire alarms to malfunction. They have been spotted at NASA's Johnson Space Center and close to Hobby Airport, though they haven't caused any major problems there yet.
Exterminators say calls from frustrated homeowners and businesses are increasing because the ants — which are starting to emerge by the billions with the onset of the warm, humid season — appear to be resistant to over-the-counter ant killers.
"The population built up so high that typical ant controls simply did no good," said Jason Meyers, an A&M doctoral student who is writing his dissertation on the one-eighth-inch-long ant.
It's not enough just to kill the queen. Experts say each colony has multiple queens that have to be taken out.
At the same time, the ants aren't taking the bait usually left out in traps, according to exterminators, who want the Environmental Protection Agency to loosen restrictions on the use of more powerful pesticides.
And when you do kill these ants, the survivors turn it to their advantage: They pile up the dead, sometimes using them as a bridge to cross safely over surfaces treated with pesticide.
"It looked like someone had come along and poured coffee granules all around the perimeter of the rooms," said Lisa Calhoun, who paid exterminators $1,200 to treat an infestation of her parents' home in the Houston suburb of Pearland.
The Texas Department of Agriculture is working with A&M researchers and the EPA on how to stop the ants.
"This one seems to be like lava flowing and filling an entire area, getting bigger and bigger," said Ron Harrison, director of training for the big pest-control company Orkin Inc.
Source of this Topic: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_re_us/texas_ants
Friday, May 9, 2008
Source of this Topic: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080509/ap_en_mu/music_dmx_arrested;_ylt=Au_JlqrMb6YDWWmd6hPcGp5xFb8C
Rapper DMX arrested for drugs, animal cruelty
By BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago
PHOENIX - DMX was arrested on drug and animal-cruelty charges following an overnight raid on the rapper's house Friday, authorities said.
The 37-year-old rapper, whose given name is Earl Simmons, initially tried to barricade himself in his bedroom but emerged when a SWAT team entered his north Phoenix home during the 3 a.m. raid, sheriff's spokesman Capt. Paul Chagolla said.
The arrest and search warrants stemmed from indictments for felony drug possession and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. He made an initial court appearance Friday where bail was sent at $7,500, said his local attorney, Cameron Morgan. Morgan said he expected bail to be posted quickly.
The indictment stems from an August search of the rapper's home prompted by reports of dogs being abused on his property. Detectives seized 12 pit bull dogs, dug up remains of three others and found marijuana on the rural property.
During Friday's raid, officials said more drugs were found and weapons seized and additional charges were possible.
Simmons' New York lawyer, Murray Richman, said he told his client to expect such a raid after his efforts to make DMX available to law enforcement were rebuffed.
"I anticipated it, I explained to my client what was going to happen," Richman said. He said he believed evidence did not support the charges of animal cruelty, which has been a major focus of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
"I think that the animal cruelty is not going to be able to be established," Richman said, "and I think that this is Sheriff Joe's moment."
A statement from Arpaio said someone of DMX means "has no excuse for not providing proper care for his animals."
Sheriff's deputies made a series of visits to the rapper's home in August after receiving reports of neglected pit bulls. They found a caretaker who had been hired to look after the animals.
Richman said DMX was not in Arizona in the weeks leading up to the initial raid.
The rapper has had previous run-ins with the law, including an arrest Tuesday by the Arizona Department of Public Safety after speed-enforcement cameras captured him going 114 mph on a suburban Phoenix freeway.
In June 2006, Scottsdale police cited him for carrying a concealed handgun outside a nightclub.
He also served 70 days in jail in 2005 for violating his parole following a 2004 incident in which he posed as an undercover federal agent and crashed his sport utility vehicle through a security gate at Kennedy International Airport.
DMX recorded the 1999 hit single "Party Up (Up in Here)." His last album, "Year of the Dog ... Again," was released last year.
Source of this Topic: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080509/ap_en_mu/music_dmx_arrested;_ylt=Au_JlqrMb6YDWWmd6hPcGp5xFb8C
Rapper DMX arrested for drugs, animal cruelty
By BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago
PHOENIX - DMX was arrested on drug and animal-cruelty charges following an overnight raid on the rapper's house Friday, authorities said.The 37-year-old rapper, whose given name is Earl Simmons, initially tried to barricade himself in his bedroom but emerged when a SWAT team entered his north Phoenix home during the 3 a.m. raid, sheriff's spokesman Capt. Paul Chagolla said.
The arrest and search warrants stemmed from indictments for felony drug possession and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. He made an initial court appearance Friday where bail was sent at $7,500, said his local attorney, Cameron Morgan. Morgan said he expected bail to be posted quickly.
The indictment stems from an August search of the rapper's home prompted by reports of dogs being abused on his property. Detectives seized 12 pit bull dogs, dug up remains of three others and found marijuana on the rural property.
During Friday's raid, officials said more drugs were found and weapons seized and additional charges were possible.
Simmons' New York lawyer, Murray Richman, said he told his client to expect such a raid after his efforts to make DMX available to law enforcement were rebuffed.
"I anticipated it, I explained to my client what was going to happen," Richman said. He said he believed evidence did not support the charges of animal cruelty, which has been a major focus of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
"I think that the animal cruelty is not going to be able to be established," Richman said, "and I think that this is Sheriff Joe's moment."
A statement from Arpaio said someone of DMX means "has no excuse for not providing proper care for his animals."
Sheriff's deputies made a series of visits to the rapper's home in August after receiving reports of neglected pit bulls. They found a caretaker who had been hired to look after the animals.
Richman said DMX was not in Arizona in the weeks leading up to the initial raid.
The rapper has had previous run-ins with the law, including an arrest Tuesday by the Arizona Department of Public Safety after speed-enforcement cameras captured him going 114 mph on a suburban Phoenix freeway.
In June 2006, Scottsdale police cited him for carrying a concealed handgun outside a nightclub.
He also served 70 days in jail in 2005 for violating his parole following a 2004 incident in which he posed as an undercover federal agent and crashed his sport utility vehicle through a security gate at Kennedy International Airport.
DMX recorded the 1999 hit single "Party Up (Up in Here)." His last album, "Year of the Dog ... Again," was released last year.
Source of this Topic: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080509/ap_en_mu/music_dmx_arrested;_ylt=Au_JlqrMb6YDWWmd6hPcGp5xFb8C
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Is it Mother Nature doing this or God? Who is controlling the weather? Can we arrest them?
Marcus Comments: "My teacher taught me that whatever you see happening afar off will be at your doorstep tomorrow. When you see tragedies happening like this in the world do you ever think about those people for even a moment and the great sadness and devastation that this unfortunate event has caused. We are seeing calamity after calamity in the world and there is more on the way. What's going on? Why is this happening? Why is the weather so out of control?What do you think?"
Myanmar cyclone death toll soars past 22,000:
state radio
state radio
YANGON, Myanmar - The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 on Tuesday and more than 41,000 others were missing as foreign countries mobilized to rush in aid after the country's deadliest storm on record, state radio reported.
Up to 1 million people may be homeless after Cyclone Nargis hit the Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma, early Saturday. Some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are wiped 
out, the World Food Program said.
Images from state television showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of water in the Irrawaddy River delta region, which is regarded as Myanmar's rice bowl.
"From the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge," Mac Pieczowski, who heads the International Organization for Migration office in Yangon, said in a statement.
Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns wielding knives and axes joined Yangon residents Tuesday in clearing roads of ancient, fallen trees that were once the city's pride. And soldiers were out on the streets in large numbers for the first time since the cyclone hit, helping to clear trees as massive as 15 feet in diameter.
President Bush called on Myanmar's military junta to allow the U.S. to help. The White House said the U.S. will send more than $3 million to help cyclone victims, up from an initial emergency contribution of $250,000.
"We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who have lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation. But in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country," he said.
Bush spoke at a ceremony where he signed legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's military regime has signaled it will welcome aid supplies for victims of a devastating cyclone, the U.N. said Tuesday, clearing the way for a major relief operation from international organizations.
But U.N. workers were still awaiting their visas to enter the country, said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"The government has shown a certain openness so far," Byrs said. "We hope that we will get the visas as soon as possible, in the coming hours. I think the authorities have understood the seriousness of the situation and that they will act accordingly."
The appeal for outside assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling generals, who have long been suspicious of international organizations and closely controlled their activities. Several agencies, including the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, have limited their presence as a consequence.
Allowing any major influx of foreigners could carry risks for the military, injecting unwanted outside influence and giving the aid givers rather than the junta credit for a recovery.
However, keeping out international aid would focus blame squarely on the military should it fail to restore peoples' livelihoods.
Some aid agencies reported their assessment teams had reached some areas of the largely isolated region but said getting in supplies and large numbers of aid workers would be difficult.
The cyclone came only a week ahead of a key referendum on a constitution that Myanmar's military leaders hoped would go smoothly in its favor, despite opposition from the country's feisty pro-democracy movement. However, the disaster could stir the already tense political situation.
State radio also said that Saturday's vote would be delayed until May 24 in 40 of 45 townships in the Yangon area and seven in the Irrawaddy delta, which took the brunt of the weekend storm. It indicated that the balloting would proceed in other areas as scheduled.
The decision drew swift criticism from dissidents and human rights groups who question the credibility of the vote and urged the junta to focus on disaster victims.
Myanmar's generals have hailed the referendum as an important step forward in their "roadmap to democracy." It offers the first chance for voters to cast ballots since 1990, and the probability is high they will approve the constitution — a legal framework the country has lacked for two decades.
But critics, including the United Nations, the United States and human rights groups, question whether it will lead to democracy.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Its government has been widely criticized for suppression of pro-democracy parties such as the one led by Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years.
At least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained when the military cracked down on peaceful protests in September led by Buddhist monks and democracy advocates.
Washington has long been one of the ruling junta's sharpest critics for its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
out, the World Food Program said.Images from state television showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of water in the Irrawaddy River delta region, which is regarded as Myanmar's rice bowl.
"From the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge," Mac Pieczowski, who heads the International Organization for Migration office in Yangon, said in a statement.
Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns wielding knives and axes joined Yangon residents Tuesday in clearing roads of ancient, fallen trees that were once the city's pride. And soldiers were out on the streets in large numbers for the first time since the cyclone hit, helping to clear trees as massive as 15 feet in diameter.
President Bush called on Myanmar's military junta to allow the U.S. to help. The White House said the U.S. will send more than $3 million to help cyclone victims, up from an initial emergency contribution of $250,000.
"We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who have lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation. But in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country," he said.
Bush spoke at a ceremony where he signed legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's military regime has signaled it will welcome aid supplies for victims of a devastating cyclone, the U.N. said Tuesday, clearing the way for a major relief operation from international organizations.
But U.N. workers were still awaiting their visas to enter the country, said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"The government has shown a certain openness so far," Byrs said. "We hope that we will get the visas as soon as possible, in the coming hours. I think the authorities have understood the seriousness of the situation and that they will act accordingly."
The appeal for outside assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling generals, who have long been suspicious of international organizations and closely controlled their activities. Several agencies, including the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, have limited their presence as a consequence.
Allowing any major influx of foreigners could carry risks for the military, injecting unwanted outside influence and giving the aid givers rather than the junta credit for a recovery.
However, keeping out international aid would focus blame squarely on the military should it fail to restore peoples' livelihoods.
Some aid agencies reported their assessment teams had reached some areas of the largely isolated region but said getting in supplies and large numbers of aid workers would be difficult.
The cyclone came only a week ahead of a key referendum on a constitution that Myanmar's military leaders hoped would go smoothly in its favor, despite opposition from the country's feisty pro-democracy movement. However, the disaster could stir the already tense political situation.
State radio also said that Saturday's vote would be delayed until May 24 in 40 of 45 townships in the Yangon area and seven in the Irrawaddy delta, which took the brunt of the weekend storm. It indicated that the balloting would proceed in other areas as scheduled.
The decision drew swift criticism from dissidents and human rights groups who question the credibility of the vote and urged the junta to focus on disaster victims.
Myanmar's generals have hailed the referendum as an important step forward in their "roadmap to democracy." It offers the first chance for voters to cast ballots since 1990, and the probability is high they will approve the constitution — a legal framework the country has lacked for two decades.
But critics, including the United Nations, the United States and human rights groups, question whether it will lead to democracy.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Its government has been widely criticized for suppression of pro-democracy parties such as the one led by Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years.
At least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained when the military cracked down on peaceful protests in September led by Buddhist monks and democracy advocates.
Washington has long been one of the ruling junta's sharpest critics for its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
The history of Abortion / My God this is horrible...
Someone shared this with me in an email so I thought I would pass it right along to you the viewers of this Blog. This Blog is devoted to sharing knowledge, wisdom and understanding on all kinds of subjects....
In the early middle ages abortion was induced by herbs and manipulation and was used as a form of birth control in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It was generally accepted in Europe, in the early months of pregnancy. Later on in the 19th century many changed their view on abortion in the Roman Catholic Church. It was completely prohibited under any circumstance. In the Muslim community it was also prohibited unless the woman was sexually abused or the woman’s health was at risk. During the 19th century, in England and the United States antiabortion laws were passed. Many people became liberal toward the situation in the 20th century. After several debates and court hearings the three types of abortion was finally legalized under a Supreme Court ruling in 1973.
The types of abortion being Therapeutic abortion, Spontaneous abortion and abortion in general. Therapeutic abortion is an induced abortion performed to preserve the health or life of the mother. Spontaneous abortion is a miscarriage that is used to signify delivery of a nonviable embryo or fetus due to fatal or maternal factors, as opposed to purposely induced abortion. Abortion in general is a expulsion of the products of conception before the embryo or fetus is viable.
There are six ways to perform an abortion. The first one being RU-486. This is a drug given to the mother after her first missed period, that blocks the progesterone ( a crucial hormone during pregnancy). Without the progesterone the developing baby receives no food, fluid, and oxygen, so the baby can no longer survive. Then a second drug is given, which causes the uterus to contract and the baby is then expelled from the womb. Secondly is the Aspiration abortion. This type of abortion is done by stretching the cervical muscle and cutting into the uterus, the baby is then sucked out in pieces into a small bottle. The third type of abortion is Dilation and Curettage. This procedure a curette is inserted into the uterus and the baby the placenta is cut into pieces and scraped out into a basin. The fourth abortion (being the cruelest) type is a Dilation and Evacuation abortion. With this procedure the abortionist must dilate the cervix before the abortion. The abortionist then inserts a pliers-like tool through the cervix into the uterus and begin to tear the body apart, until the only the baby’s head is left. Then the skull is crushed and pulled out. The abortionist reassemble the body parts to make sure the baby is fully out of the uterus. The fifth abortion type is the Prostaglandin abortion. This abortion is done by injecting a feticide (a drug that kills the fetus) into the babies heart due to complications of the mother. After this procedure the abortionist administer prostaglandin and a dead baby is delivered. Lastly is the Dilation and Extraction abortion. This type of abortion the baby is positioned in the breech position (feet first faced down). The abortionist hooks their fingers over the babies shoulders and insert surgical scissors into the base of the baby’s skull, and a suction is inserted into the baby’s skull and the brain is sucked out. Many of these types of abortions are not force upon the patients. It is only by choice or to help save the mothers life.
Many of us in today’s society are not aware of how many lives are being killed by way of abortion. Each year about 1,500,000 babies are killed by way of abortion and each day the rate of abortion is increasingly high. Between the years of 1973-1996 a total of 35,273,792 children were aborted. Currently 1 in every 4 of our generations are not living due to abortions and 1 in every 6 women had abortions.
It is very important that we are aware of the importance of planning parenthood. If many of us in today’s society promoted avoiding non-marital sex, a numerous amount of women could avoid considering abortion or killing a young innocent baby as being an option. This will decrease the loss of lives each year.
But due to the lack of positive influence in their lives this is not considered in most cases. Abortion or neglect of the child is then an option as a result of unplanned parenthood. So the mother is either left to take care of her child in most cases, which is not sufficient for the child because the baby is not receiving the proper care that is needed from both parents. The mother is then left to only three options, to work to help provide for her family and not create a bond with her child, give her child up for adoption or an abortion. Now the child is neglected by both parents.
It was recently reported that many women who have abortions are most likely to commit suicide, than those who did not have abortions. But many are not aware that this will effect them mentally in the long run. On the physical side many women who had an abortion their first pregnancy was at higher risk of getting breast cancer than the average woman by 1.7%. If a women had aborted her child her second, third or fourth pregnancy she had an even higher risk by 4.0 times.
Many women who were victims of breast cancer did not know that it was as a result of their abortion.
Those same women who were at a higher risk of breast cancer, also dealt with the psychological and emotional trauma. Knowing that they were another statistic by killing another innocent child and they had to deal with it for the rest of their lives. Oft-times these kinds of thoughts lead to depression, alcohol and drug abuse and mental health issues. This is what causes our children in today’s society to be violent, cold-hearted and rebellious. Many of us want the luxury of sex but not responsibility, so we think that abortion is the way, not knowing that the child that is in your womb could be the greatest blessing ever or a gift from God. The women today who get abortions don’t see the consequences of damaging her body mentally and physically and her child’s body physically, until later on in the future. It all ends with suicide or a severely damaged mind.
Many are left in the dark of what produces the thought of abortion. It starts from being raised in a singled-family household. When the parents neglect the child because their was no commitment in the beginning of the relationship. So the child is left to bond with a child care provider not knowing why their parents are not there.
It is essentially important that a commitment is established, in a relationship between male and female, before the decision to be sexually involved is made. The reason is simple, the responsibility of providing for their child(ren) oft-times men decide to neglect their child(ren) and leave the women with the decision of whether or not she desires to bear the responsibility of raising her child(ren) alone, with very little financial assistance. However, the decision to abort should not be an option, with the exception of rape, incest or any health risk. By allowing women to continue to make the decision to abort, society is promoting recreational sex and negligence of men. This is why parents, teachers, the artistic community and diverse organizations should emphasize this especially to the youth because a quarter of the abortions performed per year are by women under twenty; who are most likely not married. This epidemic will not end until we as a society and nation discipline ourselves by promoting strong and healthy relationships, especially to our youth.
In September of 1975, a woman took a pregnancy test and it came back positive. This was very difficult for her to deal with, knowing she already had two sons and was single. She had no financial help because the father of her two sons walked out on her and failed to take care of them as he should. So she decided that she would abort her child. Between the months of September 1975 and January of 1976 she attempted to abort her child three times, and each time she failed at doing so. On April 21,1976 her baby girl was born, two months premature. Later on that following year in 1977 the baby’s mother passed away, and her father and grandmother took care of the baby and her two brothers. As the baby grew up, as a young girl her father explained to her what her mother attempted to do. The situation did not become clear to her until she was eighteen, married and five months pregnant. She did some research and retrieved her mothers medical records, which stated that her mom tried to terminate her unborn child three times. At this moment she knew she would not make the same mistake her mother did. Today Amy is twenty-five years old and is happy with a family and is now speaking out against abortion. If their were not as many abortions today, their could be many successful people in this world today just like Amy. So before you make a decision such as, abortion think it over because you might regret it in the future.
Bibliography
http://www.afterabortion.info/news/teens2.htm%20Pg.1
Priscilla K.Coleman, “Resolution of Unwanted Pregnancy During Adolescence. Through Abortion Childbirth: Individual and Family Predictors and Psychological Consequences.”
Journal of Youth and Adolescence (2006)
Howe HL, Senie RT, Bzduch H. Herzfeld P (1989) ET.AL, “Int.J. Epidemiol. 18:3004
http://www.afterabotion.info/news/suicide205.html%20Pg.1
M.Gissler et.al, “Injury Deaths, Suicides and Homicides Associated with Pregnancy, Finland 1987-2000, “European J.Public Health 15(5):459-63 (2005)
M.Gissler et.al, “Pregnancy Associated Deaths in Finland 1987-1994 definition problems and benefits of record linkage, “Acta Obsetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 76:651-657(1997)
DC Reardon et. Al, “Deaths Associated With Pregnancy Outcome;A record Linkage Study of Law Income Women, “Southern Medical Journal 95(8):834-41 (2002)
M.Gissler et.al, “ Methods for Identifying Pregnancy- Associated Deaths: population-baseddata from Finland 1987-2000,” Paediatr perinat Epidermiol 18(6);448-55(2004)
Louis Farrakhan “ A Torchlight for America” Pg.109-111 FCN Publishing Company Chicago,Illinois
http://www.abortionfacts.com/ Pg.1-3 Performed abortion types, Heritage House 174
http://www.abortionfacts.com/ Pg.1, Heritage House 174 ‘A True Survivor Story”.
Abortion and the effect it has on today’s society.
________________________________________
I. History behind abortions.
A. When abortions were legalized.
B. The three types of abortions
C. Six ways abortions are preformed
II. What you need to know about abortions.
A. Statistics
III. The importance of planning parenthood.
A. Avoid premarital sex
B. The results of unplanned parenthood
C. The importance of commitment between male and female
IV. The havoc that abortion has caused.
A. The aftereffect of abortion.
1. Suicide
2. Breast Cancer
3. Psychological and emotional trauma
B. Circumstances in which thoughts of abortion are conceived.
1. Singled family households
2. The neglect of men
3. Sexual abuse
Saturday, May 3, 2008
The ignorance continues - "Lollipop" Starring Lil Wayne
Source of this Topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=740d8sTpM7U
Marcus comments: "I'm not downing rap music and hip hop culture. I grew up listening to it and have watched the enemy hi-jack the music and turn it into what it is today. Now, I simply wish to expose it to as many people, particulary parents who are oblivious to the kinds of messages that are being introduced to their wonderful children through mp3 players, cd players, cable and internet. You have to ask yourself, "What is coming into my child's heart and mind as they ingest this kind of music? And even more importantly is what will be coming out of my child's mouth tomorrow if they continue to listen to this kind of music. For it is not what goes into a man or woman that defiles them, it's what comes out of them. Lil Wayne is one of the hottest rappers out there today and our children love him. He is on I would say at least 60 percent of the new music that's out there. You need to pay attention to him. I hope that you are not so naive as an adult that you think that they are actually referring to an actual lollipop. Remember the great master teacher, Jesus, shared with us, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he and so is she."
What effect does this kind of song and music video have on the behavior of a high schooler, a middle schooler, or an elementary school student or even a pre school student? It doesn't matter whether the listener is male or female. All I know is that I work within school systems throughout America and I see the devastating effects that these songs are having on our young people. These songs are corrupting the hearts and minds of our youth culture making them falsely believe that they don't have to do something to have something. Many young men and women are so caught up in hip hop culture and what it has come to represent that they don't desire to do anything or be anything of any real value."
What's your opinion, we'd like to know...
Source of this Topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=740d8sTpM7U
Marcus comments: "I'm not downing rap music and hip hop culture. I grew up listening to it and have watched the enemy hi-jack the music and turn it into what it is today. Now, I simply wish to expose it to as many people, particulary parents who are oblivious to the kinds of messages that are being introduced to their wonderful children through mp3 players, cd players, cable and internet. You have to ask yourself, "What is coming into my child's heart and mind as they ingest this kind of music? And even more importantly is what will be coming out of my child's mouth tomorrow if they continue to listen to this kind of music. For it is not what goes into a man or woman that defiles them, it's what comes out of them. Lil Wayne is one of the hottest rappers out there today and our children love him. He is on I would say at least 60 percent of the new music that's out there. You need to pay attention to him. I hope that you are not so naive as an adult that you think that they are actually referring to an actual lollipop. Remember the great master teacher, Jesus, shared with us, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he and so is she."
What effect does this kind of song and music video have on the behavior of a high schooler, a middle schooler, or an elementary school student or even a pre school student? It doesn't matter whether the listener is male or female. All I know is that I work within school systems throughout America and I see the devastating effects that these songs are having on our young people. These songs are corrupting the hearts and minds of our youth culture making them falsely believe that they don't have to do something to have something. Many young men and women are so caught up in hip hop culture and what it has come to represent that they don't desire to do anything or be anything of any real value."
What's your opinion, we'd like to know...
Source of this Topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=740d8sTpM7U
The ignorance continues - "Bust it Baby Video Remix featuring Plies and Ne-yo
Source of this Topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOZHZLabAm8
Marcus Comments: "Here is the video as I promised in the last post. When the world see these kinds of images its no wonder people think about our people the way they do. You would to if you were made to see images of a particular segment of our society as a dope smoking, drug selling, msyoginistic, big pimpin, sex fiend. We'd better pay more attention to what is going into the hearts and minds of today's youth population. This stuff is very instructive..."
What's your opinion, we'd like to know?
Source of this Topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOZHZLabAm8
Marcus Comments: "Here is the video as I promised in the last post. When the world see these kinds of images its no wonder people think about our people the way they do. You would to if you were made to see images of a particular segment of our society as a dope smoking, drug selling, msyoginistic, big pimpin, sex fiend. We'd better pay more attention to what is going into the hearts and minds of today's youth population. This stuff is very instructive..."
What's your opinion, we'd like to know?
Source of this Topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOZHZLabAm8
Is it God or Mother Nature doing this?
Source of this topic: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080503/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather
Twisters tear up parts of 4 states; 8 killed in Arkansas
By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 52 minutes ago
DAMASCUS, Ark. - Violent storms unleashed tornadoes, high winds and hail in four central states and killed eight people in Arkansas, including a teenager who died when a tree fell into her bedroom as she slept.
The storms late Thursday and early Friday ripped off roofs and toppled train cars near Kansas City, Mo.; pelted parts of Oklahoma with hail; and knocked over tents at a popular open-air market in east Texas. Severe thunderstorms were moving into Kentucky and could make for a wet Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Greg Carbin, a meteorologist for the national Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said as many as 25 tornadoes may have cut through stretches of Oklahoma, Arkansas, eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
Six of those killed were in two north-central Arkansas counties, Conway and Van Buren, that also saw fatalities from a devastating tornado Feb. 5. Gov. Mike Beebe declared those counties and five others disaster areas.
"This year it just seems like we're getting pounded," Van Buren County Sheriff Scott Bradley said.
He said a man, a woman and a preschool-age child died when the storm hit their house just south of Bee Branch.
"There wasn't anything left," Bradley said. "It was demolished."
Another child who lived at the home had already left for school, escaping injury.
A father and two sons died in Conway County when a possible tornado hit their mobile home. A twister demolished a chicken farm in Center Springs, leaving thousands of dead birds on the ground.
Near the Oklahoma line in a working-class neighborhood of Siloam Springs, a 15-year-old girl died in the early morning when apparent straight-line winds toppled a tree into her family's mobile home. She and her 10-year-old brother were sleeping in bunk beds; the boy survived with minor injuries.
"She was on (the top bunk). He was on bottom. When it fell it just crushed her and pinned her on top of him," with a mattress between them, said Chad Tilghman, who lives across the street and helped pull the boy from the storm debris.
The seventh death was reported in Pulaski County, south of Little Rock.
More than a dozen injuries were reported, and about 350 homes were damaged or destroyed in several Arkansas counties.
Around the Van Buren County town of Damascus, deputies, firefighters and volunteers were going farm-to-farm to check on everyone.
Just north of town the wind knocked the roof off a new church that has yet to hold its first service. Members of a work crew ran inside the Southside Baptist Church after a neighbor warned them of the coming storm; they later exchanged soaked clothes for white choir robes.
Nearly 6,000 homes and businesses lost power in Arkansas, and about 40,000 lost power at the peak of the storms in the Kansas City area, where two small tornadoes touched down and several minor injuries were reported.
Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser said 100 homes suffered significant damage in the city alone. Damage was also reported in the suburbs and in Lawrence, to the west. An 18-wheeler was blown over on Interstate 29 in Riverside, near five empty train cars that were toppled.
In northeast Kansas City, dozens of homes had chunks of their roofs missing, and trees were knocked from their roots and lying along the roads and in ditches. Police blocked off roads around the damaged neighborhoods Friday.
A twister ripped the roof off 74-year-old Ann Johnson's duplex in the suburb of Gladstone.
"The ceiling actually came down on top of her while she was in bed," said her daughter, Cindy Hopkins.
Johnson was able to roll out from under the collapsed debris but cut her foot on glass from a shattered window. A neighbor who heard her yells helped nurse the wound until paramedics arrived. Johnson, whose cut required seven stitches, remained at the hospital Friday afternoon.
"The fact that she is alive is the greatest gift," said Hopkins, of Richmond.
Tornadoes appeared to touch down in at least three east Texas towns, uprooting trees, flipping cars and yanking down power lines.
A tornado hit Canton, Texas, as visitors began to show up for a popular open-air market that draws thousands each month. The winds toppled tents and snapped power lines, but the market was soon back in business.
Three people in Canton were taken to hospitals; two had been at the market and had reported chest pains. City Secretary Julie Seymore said that no major injuries were reported and that overall damage was minimal.
At least three tornadoes raked central and northern Oklahoma, including one in Osage County near Tulsa that was an estimated 100 yards wide, but no serious injuries were reported there. A home was destroyed and about a dozen others were damaged in northeastern Oklahoma, and a hotel under construction near Tulsa was destroyed.
The storms moved into Kentucky and Tennessee on Friday evening, and other severe weather developed in Illinois, forcing the cancellation of more than 200 flights at Chicago's busy O'Hare International Airport.
A day before the Kentucky Derby, some race fans at Churchill Downs sought shelter Friday when the storms arrived in Louisville. The Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of far western Kentucky, and meteorologist John Gordon said two more waves of storms were expected Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
Rain was possible until about 6 p.m. EDT Saturday, just as the race is scheduled to start, but Gordon said he didn't think it would be extreme enough to affect the race.
Churchill Downs spokesman John Asher said the track was monitoring the weather but didn't anticipate heavy rain to interrupt racing.
"This track handles water as well as any track in the country," he said.
___
Associated Press Writers Kelly P. Kissel in Siloam Springs, Ark., Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and Andale Gross in Gladstone, Mo., contributed to this report.
Source of this topic:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080503/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather
Twisters tear up parts of 4 states; 8 killed in Arkansas
By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 52 minutes ago
DAMASCUS, Ark. - Violent storms unleashed tornadoes, high winds and hail in four central states and killed eight people in Arkansas, including a teenager who died when a tree fell into her bedroom as she slept.
The storms late Thursday and early Friday ripped off roofs and toppled train cars near Kansas City, Mo.; pelted parts of Oklahoma with hail; and knocked over tents at a popular open-air market in east Texas. Severe thunderstorms were moving into Kentucky and could make for a wet Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Greg Carbin, a meteorologist for the national Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said as many as 25 tornadoes may have cut through stretches of Oklahoma, Arkansas, eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
Six of those killed were in two north-central Arkansas counties, Conway and Van Buren, that also saw fatalities from a devastating tornado Feb. 5. Gov. Mike Beebe declared those counties and five others disaster areas.
"This year it just seems like we're getting pounded," Van Buren County Sheriff Scott Bradley said.
He said a man, a woman and a preschool-age child died when the storm hit their house just south of Bee Branch.
"There wasn't anything left," Bradley said. "It was demolished."
Another child who lived at the home had already left for school, escaping injury.
A father and two sons died in Conway County when a possible tornado hit their mobile home. A twister demolished a chicken farm in Center Springs, leaving thousands of dead birds on the ground.
Near the Oklahoma line in a working-class neighborhood of Siloam Springs, a 15-year-old girl died in the early morning when apparent straight-line winds toppled a tree into her family's mobile home. She and her 10-year-old brother were sleeping in bunk beds; the boy survived with minor injuries.
"She was on (the top bunk). He was on bottom. When it fell it just crushed her and pinned her on top of him," with a mattress between them, said Chad Tilghman, who lives across the street and helped pull the boy from the storm debris.
The seventh death was reported in Pulaski County, south of Little Rock.
More than a dozen injuries were reported, and about 350 homes were damaged or destroyed in several Arkansas counties.
Around the Van Buren County town of Damascus, deputies, firefighters and volunteers were going farm-to-farm to check on everyone.
Just north of town the wind knocked the roof off a new church that has yet to hold its first service. Members of a work crew ran inside the Southside Baptist Church after a neighbor warned them of the coming storm; they later exchanged soaked clothes for white choir robes.
Nearly 6,000 homes and businesses lost power in Arkansas, and about 40,000 lost power at the peak of the storms in the Kansas City area, where two small tornadoes touched down and several minor injuries were reported.
Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser said 100 homes suffered significant damage in the city alone. Damage was also reported in the suburbs and in Lawrence, to the west. An 18-wheeler was blown over on Interstate 29 in Riverside, near five empty train cars that were toppled.
In northeast Kansas City, dozens of homes had chunks of their roofs missing, and trees were knocked from their roots and lying along the roads and in ditches. Police blocked off roads around the damaged neighborhoods Friday.
A twister ripped the roof off 74-year-old Ann Johnson's duplex in the suburb of Gladstone.
"The ceiling actually came down on top of her while she was in bed," said her daughter, Cindy Hopkins.
Johnson was able to roll out from under the collapsed debris but cut her foot on glass from a shattered window. A neighbor who heard her yells helped nurse the wound until paramedics arrived. Johnson, whose cut required seven stitches, remained at the hospital Friday afternoon.
"The fact that she is alive is the greatest gift," said Hopkins, of Richmond.
Tornadoes appeared to touch down in at least three east Texas towns, uprooting trees, flipping cars and yanking down power lines.
A tornado hit Canton, Texas, as visitors began to show up for a popular open-air market that draws thousands each month. The winds toppled tents and snapped power lines, but the market was soon back in business.
Three people in Canton were taken to hospitals; two had been at the market and had reported chest pains. City Secretary Julie Seymore said that no major injuries were reported and that overall damage was minimal.
At least three tornadoes raked central and northern Oklahoma, including one in Osage County near Tulsa that was an estimated 100 yards wide, but no serious injuries were reported there. A home was destroyed and about a dozen others were damaged in northeastern Oklahoma, and a hotel under construction near Tulsa was destroyed.
The storms moved into Kentucky and Tennessee on Friday evening, and other severe weather developed in Illinois, forcing the cancellation of more than 200 flights at Chicago's busy O'Hare International Airport.
A day before the Kentucky Derby, some race fans at Churchill Downs sought shelter Friday when the storms arrived in Louisville. The Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of far western Kentucky, and meteorologist John Gordon said two more waves of storms were expected Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
Rain was possible until about 6 p.m. EDT Saturday, just as the race is scheduled to start, but Gordon said he didn't think it would be extreme enough to affect the race.
Churchill Downs spokesman John Asher said the track was monitoring the weather but didn't anticipate heavy rain to interrupt racing.
"This track handles water as well as any track in the country," he said.
___
Associated Press Writers Kelly P. Kissel in Siloam Springs, Ark., Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and Andale Gross in Gladstone, Mo., contributed to this report.
Source of this topic:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080503/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather
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