Breaking News Thread Version 2.0

[Colorado700R]

BLM looks to raise fees at popular recreation area
December 13th, 2009 @ 9:34pm
By John Hollenhorst
JUAB COUNTY -- Federal officials are proposing a hefty increase in fees at one of Utah's most popular recreation areas.

Depending on which plan you choose, it could nearly double the cost of racing around on the Little Sahara sand dunes.

To some degree, we've all been subsidizing the recreation at Little Sahara whether we go there or not. That's because the place loses money. The shortfall has to be made up by U.S. taxpayers. That's what officials hope to change.

Motorsports enthusiasts flock to Little Sahara, especially on holiday weekends. This year nearly 300,000 people went. Next year the feds want them to pay more for the privilege.

It costs money to run the place for staff, utilities, toilets, camping facilities and other services. However, visitors have not been paying enough to keep it in the black. So the Bureau of Land Management is proposing a significant increase.

"What we're trying to do is kind of pay as we go with our operation out there," said Glenn Carpenter with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. "The new plan is to try to get the revenue that we generate to approximately match the amount that we spend every year. We're not trying to make a lot of money but we are trying to make ends meet."

Under the proposal, the annual vehicle pass would jump from $75 to $120. The one-day pass, which currently costs $8 per vehicle, $10 on holidays, is being scrapped entirely.

Instead there will be a two-day pass for $25, $30 on holidays or a new seven-day pass for $40.

The government does plan to sweeten the deal. Twenty miles of dirt roads in the area will finally get pavement this spring at a cost of $7 million.

Well-publicized crashes this year focused attention on safety issues, especially the crash that killed former Congressman Bill Orton. However, the fee increase will not affect staffing for enforcement and emergencies.

"I think the risks are pretty constant," said Carpenter. "There's additional technology, more horsepower, in some of the vehicles. So they go faster and jump farther. If people exercise some restraint in what it is that they do, then it will still remain a very safe place to go and play."

The BLM is accepting written comments for the next month. The new fee plan is expected to be approved in January and in effect in April.

[Peelz]

argh!  Reading that about pismo dunes too. Rate increase, and tree huggers are pointing fingers. LIke nevermind the thousands of diesel ships and trucks that run in and out of there.

[Hefe]

puking black smoke all the way!

[Spider/Paleface513]

Cincinnati Bengals WR Chris Henry died a few minutes ago on a single car crash on NC. It's believed his girl friend threw him from vehicle. This is sad

[Krandall]

I haven't heard he died yet.

(CNN) -- Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry suffered "life-threatening injuries" after falling out of the bed of a pickup during a fight with his fiancee, police in Charlotte, North Carolina, said Wednesday.

The incident occurred shortly before noon Wednesday, when Henry's fiancee tried to drive off during a "domestic situation," only to have Henry jump into the bed of the truck, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a written statement.

"The domestic situation continued between the operator and Mr. Henry," according to a police statement. Henry "came out of the back of the vehicle" about six-tenths of a mile from the house, police said.

Henry was believed to be in critical condition after the wreck, the Bengals said in a statement on their Web site. Police said Henry was undergoing treatment at the Carolinas Medical Center hospital in Charlotte.

Charlotte is the home of his fiancee's family, the team said.

The 26-year-old receiver has played for the Bengals for five seasons, but has been on the injured reserve list after suffering a dislocated forearm during a November 8 game against the Baltimore Ravens. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Henry caught 12 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns in eight games before being hurt.

[Spider/Paleface513]

Was reported lastnight he's dead but this morning on life support. That was the news in Cincinnati.

[Spider/Paleface513]

Wife just text chanell 12 CBS reports he's dead now.

[Krandall]

dang, sad story..

 

[Hefe]

^that's how my brother died^ (Older bro "tom")

[Spider/Paleface513]

^that's how my brother died^ (Older bro "tom")

Sorry to hear that bro

[Hefe]

long time ago

[Krandall]

nerds

L ANGELES (Reuters) – A first edition of Lewis Carroll's classic book "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There" -- dedicated to the real life Alice who inspired the story -- was sold at a U.S. auction for $115,000, auctioneers said on Thursday.

Southern California-based Profiles in History said the book, the sequel to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", was the highlight of its children's literature sale on Wednesday.

"Through the Looking Glass", published in 1871, includes the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky."

Both works were inspired by 10 year-old Alice Liddell, the daughter of an academic friend of Carroll's.

The edition sold on Wednesday is inscribed in ink "Alice Pleasance Liddell", and was described as having been presented to her by Carroll.

English author Beatrix Potter's personal copy of her work "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" was also sold at the auction, fetching $92,000.

Other highlights included a first edition soft-cover copy of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" -- described as one of only 200 such copies printed -- which sold for $5,750.

[Krandall]

messed up


Police: Brazil boy stuck with needles in rituals
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091218/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_brazil_boy_needles


BRASILIA, Brazil – The stepfather of a 2-year-old boy claimed he pushed 42 "blessed" sewing needles deep into the toddler because his lover told him to while in a trance, saying it would keep the couple together, according to police.

Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, a 30-year-old bricklayer, told detectives the woman would enter a trance and "command him to stick the needles in the boy's body," police inspector Helder Fernandes Santana told The Associated Press by telephone.

The lover, Angelina Ribeiro dos Santos, paid to have the needles measuring up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) blessed by a woman who practiced the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble, and convinced Magalhaes that inserting them into the boy would somehow allow them to be together, Santana said.

Police, however, believe Dos Santos was out for revenge on the boy's mother, though they did not say why.

"According to his confession, he acted under influence of the woman, but it was he who stuck the needles in the boy's body," the inspector said.

One of the needles penetrated the boy's heart, meaning he may need an emergency operation if any bleeding starts, Brazil's Globo TV reported Friday, quoting unnamed hospital sources. The boy also had a fever brought on by a heart infection but he was conscious and in stable condition in an intensive care unit, the network said.

Officials at the hospital in the coastal city of Salvador have said previously that two needles were close to his heart, one was embedded in a lung and others were dangerously close to vital organs. They declined immediate comment on the Globo TV report, saying doctors would hold a press conference later to discuss the boy's condition.

Magalhaes and dos Santos were both arrested, though no charges have yet been filed.

Dos Santos is not believed to be a member of any religious or occult group, and authorities believe she came up with the idea of the rituals on her own, Santana said.

The two were taken to an undisclosed lockup for their own protection after a mob threw stones at the police station where they were being held in the small northeastern city of Ibotirama. It was not immediately clear whether they had legal representation.

Authorities also detained the woman who blessed the needles so she could be questioned, but Santana said he expects she will be released without charge because she did not know how they were being used.

The boy's mother, a maid, took him to a hospital in Ibotirama, population about 25,000, on Dec. 10, saying he was complaining of pain.

After X-rays revealed the cause, the mother told police she didn't know how the needles got inside her son, whose name was not released because of his age.

Police and doctors concluded it would have been impossible for the boy to have ingested the needles — which have been also in his left leg and spread throughout his abdomen.

Afro-Brazilian religions practiced in Brazil have no ceremonies, rituals or practices involving harm to people, said Nelson Inocencio, director of African-Brazilian studies at the University of Brasilia.

He worried that the incident could hurt the image of the religions, of which Candomble is the most popular, and concentrated most in Bahia state.

"What happened to this boy without a doubt could feed into the prejudice against Afro-Brazilian traditions," he said.

[Hefe]

that is just f'd up

[Peelz]

I stick my kids with needles all the time.

start em young.