Archives May 2020

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

On Monday, five people were injured after a Boeing 737-400, operated by Adam Air, overshot the runway today while landing at Hang Nadim Airport on the island of Batam in Indonesia.

The aircraft skidded 75 metres (245 feet) into a grassy field after touching down in rainy conditions. Damage was done to the right wing, hydraulics and main landing gear. The plane came to rest with the nose in the air and leaning towards the right.

Of the 176 passengers (one source says 174) and crew on board, five passengers required treatment for neck and head injuries.

Adam Suherman, president of the airline, said the plane had skidded 10 metres beyond the extreme end of the runway. He also gave the time of the crash as 10:40 and noted that the plane was currently resting on soft ground.

Suherman gave the registration of the aircraft as PK-KKT. This would make the aircraft the one Boeing gave the serial number 24353 and owned by CIT Group Incorporated.

Adam Air spokesman Danke Drajat described the plane as having been in “good condition” at its last major inspection in December. He suggested the weather condition may be to blame for the crash, the third to strike the budjet carrier in just over a year. On New Year’s Day in 2007 Flight 574 crashed into the sea, leaving 102 missing, presumed dead. The following month the fuselage of Flight 172 cracked in half during a hard landing. Both involved Boeing 737 aircraft.

Pantun Banjarnahor, Hang Nadim Airport’s chief of operations, said that visibility was adequate for a safe landing. The airport was closed for over two hours. It is unclear how many flights were affected.

The National Transportation Safety Committee is investigating.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

In a settlement, hailed by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a “historic civil rights settlement,” the county government for Westchester County, New York has agreed to spend US$51.6 million to build 750 affordable housing units that will primarily be offered to non-white minorities.

The settlement is the result of a federal lawsuit filed by the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York (ADC) against the county under the False Claims Act, which alleged that the county was negligent in its oversight of federal funds that it received from HUD for community development which stipulated that it “affirmatively further fair housing.” The ADC suit which claimed $180 million in damages, also said the county failed to build affordable housing and reduce segregation in some of the more affluent communities.

Prior to the settlement, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Westchester had failed to analyze the effect of race in relation to access to fair housing when it applied for HUD funds.

The county redistributed the federal funds to town and village governments, and the court concluded it did so without ensuring that guidelines were being followed or considering where the affordable housing was being placed.

Westchester County admitted no wrongdoing and says it has “for many years considered the impact of race on affordable housing,” according to County Executive Andrew Spano.

Westchester County will also pay $8.4 million as a fine to the federal government and $2.5 million to cover legal expenses of the ADC.

630 of the 750 housing units must be built in communities which are less than 3% black and less than 7% Hispanic. The county will be required to market the homes “aggressively” to minorities, though federal law prevents them from being offered exclusively to certain races.

The case is a landmark for HUD and the way that the Obama administration will use the government agency.”This is about expanding the geography of opportunity for families who may have been limited in their housing choices. The agreement we announce today demonstrates Westchester County’s commitment to make sure its neighborhoods are open to everyone, regardless of the color of their skin,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “This agreement signals a new commitment by HUD to ensure that housing opportunities be available to all, and not just to some.”

“This is consistent with the president’s desire to see a fully integrated society,” said HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims. “Until now, we tended to lay dormant. This is historic, because we are going to hold people’s feet to the fire.”

It is not yet decided where the affordable housing will be placed, but Westchester County has a number of towns and hamlets which qualify under the stipulated racial requirements, including Chappaqua, which is noted as the official residence of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.

“Some constituents have had strong reactions, but that’s just based on what they read in the papers and what the headlines are,” said County Legislator Peter Harckham. “But there are no details yet to get excited about.”

“I certainly approve of nondiscriminatory policy for housing,” Alan Harrow, a resident of Somers, told The Journal News. “Looking at it from my own point of view, I moved into this very rural area, and if there’s suddenly a large housing development and 200 families there, it’s probably something I won’t really welcome.”

Sunday, July 17, 2016

The following is the second edition of a monthly series chronicling the U.S. 2016 presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after an overview of the month’s biggest stories.

In this month’s edition on the campaign trail: the effect of the Brexit vote on the US presidential election is examined; a well known businessman and sports team owner pitches his candidacy for vice president; and Wikinews interviews the winner of the American Independent Party California primary.

Thursday, February 2, 2006

Bathurst Regional Council, the local government responsible for the city of Bathurst and its surrounds in Central Western New South Wales, Australia yesterday revealed it had received a development application for the new Bathurst Base Hospital.

The new hospital is to be built behind the current hospital on the same site and is expected to cost the New South Wales government AUD96 million. The Bathurst Hospital will be the first in the Bathurst-Orange-Bloomfield redevelopment project.

The new hospital will have 149 beds, up from 85 for the current hospital. The hospital will also feature a mental health unit – previously psychiatric patients had to travel to Orange to the Bloomfield Hospital for treatment.

The Bathurst Hospital is expected to have state-of-the art facilities and will share some services with the to be constructed Orange Base Hospital.

The Bathurst Regional Council has approved the demolition of 12 buildings on the hospital site for enabling works. The hospital site is heritage listed although council decided that as the buildings do not contribute to the streetscape they may be demolished.

The demolitions are expected to take place late next month and will take around six weeks to complete. A temporary driveway will then be built to replace the current service entry for food and linen as it will become part of the work site.

Upon completion of the new hospital, the current ward block will be demolished leaving the original building from the late 19th century intact. The original building is expected to become an education centre and consulting rooms.

The original building was opened in 1834. Since then the facility has undergone numerous upgrades and add-ons, with the present ward block being opened in stages from 1978 to 1982.

Other buildings expected to be retained include the Daffodil Cottage (a cancer care centre) and the original Nurse’s quarters known as Poole House.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The polygamist family at the center of the new TLC reality television series Sister Wives are now the subject of a criminal investigation. Yesterday, following Sunday’s debut of Sister Wives, police in Lehi, Utah, where the show is set, announced they are investigating Kody Brown and his four wives for possible charges of bigamy.

Sister Wives focuses on Brown, his four wives—Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn—and his 13 children and three step-children. The family has said they are participating in the show to bring more public awareness to polygamist families and fight societal prejudices.

Brown has claimed the arrangement is not illegal because he is only legally married to Meri, and the other marriages are only spiritual unions. However, Lehi police said yesterday that state laws identify bigamy through cohabitation, not just legal contracts. The department plans to turn their findings over to the Utah Attorney General’s office at the conclusion of their investigation.

TLC contacted the state attorney general’s office before the series was broadcast in anticipation of potential legal issues. The office has not explicitly stated they will not charge the Browns, but has stated they do not have the resources to prosecute polygamists unless they are suspected of serious crimes, like child abuse and child trafficking.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Carbon monoxide poisoning is thought to have been the cause of the deaths of three people and one Jack Russell dog in a caravan park in Cornwall in South West England. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) were alerted to the incident in Tremarle Home Park in the town of Camborne at 12:56 UTC on Saturday.

Inspector David Eldridge said Devon and Cornwall Police were alerted to the caravan park incident after “a helper had been unable to get a reply from an elderly couple who lived in the caravan”. He said that upon their arrival, “We were able to see that there was a figure sat in a chair but they were unresponsive to knocks at the door.” CFRS workers called to the area “forced entry into the property and found that the three occupants were all dead”, Inspector Eldridge said. A hazardous material advisor was also present at the scene in North Roskear. The Health and Safety Executive is now investigating the incident but the deaths are not considered as being of a suspicious nature.

The three fatalities have been identified as Audrey Cook, aged 86, her husband Alfred, aged 90, and Maureen, their 46-year-old daughter. David Biggs, a member of Camborne Town Council, said the incident came as “a shock” to him; Tremarle Home Park is “a well established facility and is very well run”, according to him. Biggs described the loss of three lives as an “appalling tragedy”.

The incident came five days after Cornwall Council announced its Family Placement Service would launch a joint venture with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service to place carbon monoxide detectors in the houses of foster carers. The programme, entitled ‘Be Gas Safe’, has seen 200 carbon monoxide detectors and 2000 leaflets to raise awareness about carbon monoxide being given to CFRS. Mark Blatchford, Group Manager of CFRS, said: “We have seen a big increase in the number of carbon monoxide incidents in Cornwall over recent years”. He described carbon monoxide detectors as being “as important as a smoke alarm as it provides a valuable early warning”.

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous, colourless, tasteless and odourless gas which is created when such carbon-based fuels as oil, gas, coal and wood are not completely incinerated. The human body’s capacity to hold oxygen in the blood can be reduced by inhalation of the gas, which in turn may cause death. The Gas Safe Register has said dizziness, headaches, queasiness, lack of ability to breathe, fainting and losing consciousness are all symptoms of a person experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Scientists at the UK’s Newcastle University have published their research into the effect of neonicotinoid chemicals on the brains of honeybees in the Journal of Experimental Biology. The findings determined that chemicals such as imidacloprid and coumaphos did impair bee learning and memory.

Wikinews interviewed Dr. Sally Williamson, who co-authored the findings with Dr. Geraldine Wright, about how they went about confirming their hypothesis regarding the effects of different pesticides on honeybees and their learning abilities.

The Wikinews Q&A can be read below:

((Wikinews)) What is your role at the Newcastle University? And are you the lead study? When and where did you publish your findings?

Dr. Sally Williamson: I am a research associate in the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University, working in the laboratory of Dr. Geraldine Wright. The paper was co-authored by myself and Dr. Wright, and was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology last month.

((WN)) What did your research involve?

DSW: The research involved feeding the pesticide imidacloprid, and the mite treatment coumaphos, to honeybees, then carrying out a learning and memory experiment. The learning experiment relies on a phenomenon called the Proboscis Extension Reflex (PER) whereby the bee extends its proboscis (sticks out its tongue) to receive a meal when the antennae are touched with sugar solution. In the lab, we can blow a floral scent at the bee at the same time as delivering the sugar solution- soon, the bee learns to extend its proboscis in response to the scent, having learned that this particular scent indicates a sugar reward. We then tested the bees’ memory, by comparing the PER response to both the trained scent, and a different novel scent.

((WN)) What prompted your research into the effect of chemicals such as neonicotinoids and coumaphos with regards to the interference of insect’s ability to learn?

DSW: The target of the pesticide imidacloprid is an acetylcholine receptor which is found in brain regions associated with learning and remembering olfactory information. Coumaphos inhibits the breakdown of acetylcholine at these same synapses. Therefore, we predicted that both compounds would affect olfactory learning, and that the effects of both compounds delivered together would be additive.

((WN)) What conditions did you test your hypothesis under?

DSW: We had a control group of bees fed sugar solution alone, then we had a group fed sugar solution containing low levels of imidacloprid, a group fed sugar solution containing coumaphos, and a group of bees fed sugar solution containing both imidacloprid and coumaphos. The pesticides were present at very low levels, similar to those which might be present in the nectar of flowers treated with imidacloprid, or to the levels of coumaphos which might be in the pollen and honey stores of a coumaphos-treated hive.

((WN)) For how long have you been conducting your investigation?

DSW: The investigation was mainly carried out from June-September 2011, then the data analysis and interpretation was carried out during the winter. In bee research, most of the lab work is carried out in a summer season when the bees are flying, then we spend the winter doing statistical analysis and writing up our results.

((WN)) Was the outcome as you expected?

DSW: We found that imidacloprid and coumaphos both impaired learning, and that they did indeed have an additive effect on learning impairment when administered together. A rather surprising finding on the memory test results was, that the bees could not tell the training odour, and a novel odour, apart- they responded to both equally, not preferring the odour associated with the sugar reward over the other odour which should have no rewarding associations.

((WN)) Did you work alongside anyone else in your research? Was any part of the investigation most difficult?

DSW: I worked alongside Dr. Wright who is the head of our research group, and also alongside students and staff performing different bee experiments focused on bee nutrition. We also had close links with our collaborators Dr Chris Connelly and Dr Mary Palmer at Dundee University, who have recently published a study on actual bee brains, supplying data about what the same pesticides do to the neurons when actually applied directly to the brain areas of the bee involved in learning and memory. The main difficulty involved in our study was that it involved a 6-day experimental protocol, performed every week for several months, so it was quite intensive! Another difficulty of bee work is, it is very weather dependant- if it rains or is cold, the bees aren’t out foraging and the experiment has to be postponed until the weather improves.