Posts from — August 2009

One of the few decent things for local people is no more, as the PNJ reports The Zoo is gone

After 25 years of bringing smiles to children’s faces, the financially troubled Zoo Northwest Florida is closed permanently.

“There was no long-term commitment from the community,” Bob Switzer, one of the zoo’s owners, told the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council on Wednesday. “We are officially, now, closing the zoo. … We are trying to put together something for the land and the animals.”

As the council discussed a request from the zoo for $125,000, Switzer and the other partners in Animal Park Inc. issued a news release confirming the closure.

Although they didn’t know about the decision, the council did not vote on the allocation because of the lack of a clear plan to make the zoo sustainable.

Ah, yes, it is always about the money. If it isn’t “profitable” it must be eliminated. The “pursuit of Happiness” has no meaning in this area, only the pursuit of the dollar.

My Dad loved the Zoo. He made the drive and took hundreds of pictures at the Zoo. It wasn’t fancy or elaborate like the San Diego Zoo, but it had a nice representative collection, without getting carried away with the big cats. It was a friendly place.

Hurricanes, and the recovery from them, as well as the presence of some people who pursued the buck, were the downfall of the Zoo, but, in the end, it was the local people who refused to give it the support it deserved.

Position: 24.9 N 64.3 W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [310°] near 18 mph [30 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 125 mph [205 kph].
Wind Gusts: 155 mph [240 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 260 miles [415 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 115 miles [185 km].
Minimum central pressure: 943 mb ↓.

It is 510 miles [825 km] South of Bermuda which has issued a Hurricane Watch and Tropical Storm Warning. Bill is a Category 3 storm. The Atlantic Coast from Florida to Nova Scotia will be receiving major increases in wave height related to Bill. If you go to the beach expect rip currents.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Dr. Masters put this up to show the variance of temperatures around the world in July 2009. If you don’t live in North America East of the Rockies, the southern half of South America, European Russia, near the Sea Okhotsk, or on the Chukotski Peninsula, you would call it Global Warming, because for most of the planet, that’s what is happening.

The fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains has now burned over 7,200 acres and is 80% contained at a current cost of $14.8 million.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that the Lockheed Fire nears containment as damage assessments begin, showing the shift in emphasis, and then reports some good news about the the effects of the fire: Recent flames could prompt explosion of manzanita species found nowhere else

SANTA CRUZ — For rare plant biologists, the Lockheed Fire burning in the Santa Cruz mountains is like a long, drawn-out Christmas Eve.

In just a few weeks, fresh manzanita shoots are expected to poke up from many places in the blackened soil. Biologists like Grey Hayes, a Bonny Doon resident for the past 23 years, hope that many of them will germinate from a large, previously dormant seed bank — collected over the past 60 years — that is chock full of fresh starts for species now considered biologically rare and endangered.

The plants have taken so long to come forward, Hayes said, because they require flames to pass over before they can sprout. The last fire burned that area in 1948.

The natural environment has adapted to fire, and even occasionally requires it. Man always wants to adapt the environment to his preferences.

Currently there are 221 engines, 46 crews, 16 dozers, 28 water tenders, 6 helicopters, 6 air tankers, and 2,213 personnel assigned to the fire.

Links: Cal Fire Lockheed Fire page, the Enplan Wildfire Viewer, the Santa Cruz Sentinel local news page, and their map of the Lockheed Fire.

[For more information go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Fires” for all of the posts related to wildfires on this site.]

The fire in the San Rafael Wilderness area has now burned about 89,000 acres and is 75% contained. The emphasis has shifted to the steady, manual, job of dealing with hot spots and finishing off the containment of the fire which is expected in the next couple of days.

There have been 2 minor injuries fighting the fire which has already cost $23 million.

Currently there are 126 engines, 56 crews, 30 dozers, 5 air tankers, 12 helicopters, 59 water tenders and 1,505 total personnel assigned to the fire. Which is a reduction in engines but more crews to finish off the hand work ahead.

Links: The KEYT La Brea Fire article, the Santa Barbara Independent La Brea Fire page, InciWeb La Brea page with a map, KSBY has videos and the Enplan Wildfire Viewer, which used satellite sensors to spot fires.

[For more information go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Fires” for all of the posts related to wildfires on this site.]

Position: 20.7 N 58.9 W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [305°] near 17 mph [28 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 135 mph [210 kph].
Wind Gusts: 160 mph [255 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 230 miles [370 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 85 miles [140 km].
Minimum central pressure: 945 mb ↓.

It is 880 miles [1415 km] South-Southeast of Bermuda. Bill is a Category 4 storm.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

The Miami Herald writes that Florida’s population declines for the first time since 1946

TALLAHASSEE — For the first time since the end of World War II, the growth state of Florida lost population, researchers say, in a sign that the economic recession is even worse than many had feared.

In all, the state lost about 58,000 people from April 2008 to April 2009, according to a new estimate from the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

The decline all but guarantees that state economists will likely revise downward state budget projections released just last week, when they forecast that Florida will receive $147 million less in taxes this budget year than they had previously anticipated.

With fewer Floridians, classrooms will likely be a little emptier than forecast. Already, the state had projected that, in the current budget year, nearly 10,000 fewer kids would be in class.

That estimate is likely to change now as well, and it could mean trouble for teachers because classroom funding is pegged to class size.

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Buffalo Springfield [Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Jim Messina, and Bruce Palmer in 1966]
For What Its Worth [video, but ignore the visuals as they are Jefferson Airplane album covers.]

There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down

There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down

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Does anyone remember when in the confirmation process of Attorney General Eric Holder it was mentioned that the law firm that he worked for, Covington & Burling, had George W. Bush and the Republican National Committee on its client list? Since he made $2 million last year from the firm, and that list would certainly point to potential conflicts of interest, it seems odd that I don’t remember it being mentioned.

I do remember calls for Bill Clinton to reveal all of his clients for Hillary Clinton’s confirmation, but nothing like that for Mr. Holder.

Legal Schnauzer out of Alabama wonders: Are Holder’s GOP Ties Subverting Justice in Political Prosecutions?

Is this the reason Republican Ted Stevens, who pretty much admitted he did what he was indicted for, got a pass, but Democrat Don Siegelman can’t seem to even get a look?

Is this the reason, the Department of Justice isn’t interested in pursuing any charges concerning the Hedgemony’s misdeeds?

Wasn’t the Obama vetting process supposed to be super-thorough with extra invasiveness?

I guess CHANGE in the Department of Justice was too much to HOPE for.

The fire in the San Rafael Wilderness area has now burned about 88,650 acres and is 75% contained. A significant portion of the rapid increase in the acreage is do to back fires.

Investigators now say that the La Brea Fire was started by a cooking fire at a drug trafficking camp.

InciWeb Notes: “An evacuation order is still in place for the 23 threatened residences on Foothill Road in Cotton Canyon. Two structures have been destroyed by the La Brea Fire one was the non-operational White Oaks Ranger Station and the other a hunter’s cabin.”

There have been 2 minor injuries fighting the fire, which has already cost $6.3 million.

Currently there are 126 engines, 56 crews, 30 dozers, 5 air tankers, 12 helicopters, 59 water tenders and 2,078 total personnel assigned to the fire.

The Martin Mars water scoop aircraft is now on station, using Cachuma Lake for refilling its tanks.

Links: The KEYT La Brea Fire article, the Santa Barbara Independent La Brea Fire page, InciWeb La Brea page with a map, KSBY has videos and the Enplan Wildfire Viewer, which used satellite sensors to spot fires.

[For more information go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Fires” for all of the posts related to wildfires on this site.]

The fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains has now burned over 7,100 acres and is 80% contained. The weather has been cooperating, with lighter than expected winds. So far only 5 injuries have been reported and 2 outbuildings have been damaged and one destroyed by the fire.

There are still a half dozen residence threatened on Warnella Truck Trail, and about 20 people displaced from the Warnella and Blodgett area.

The primary fuels are redwood and pine trees. The area is mountainous with few roads for access.

Currently there are 238 engines, 34 crews, 29 dozers, 27 water tenders, 14 helicopters, 6 air tankers, and 2,172 personnel assigned to the fire. To date cost $12.8 million.

Links: Cal Fire Lockheed Fire page, the Enplan Wildfire Viewer, the Santa Cruz Sentinel local news page, and their map of the Lockheed Fire.

[For more information go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Fires” for all of the posts related to wildfires on this site.]

Position: 17.2 N 53.4 W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [295°] near 15 mph [24 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 125 mph [200 kph].
Wind Gusts: 155 mph [250 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 45 miles [75 km].
Minimum central pressure: 952 mb ↓.

It is 555 miles [895 km] East of the Lesser Antilles Islands. These are direct readings from a Hurricane Hunter flight.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

I have a post about dealing with the ash after a wildfire that people find useful: Cleaning Up.

If you have large animals and outdoor water troughs that have ash in them, if you can’t flush them out, you can add lemon juice, vinegar, even beer, to lower the pH. Wood ash is caustic, as in you add wood ash to water to make lye. If you have a pool chemical kit, there should be a pH test included to check the standing water outside that your animals might drink from. Buying one if you don’t have one, would be cheaper than a vet visit.

The current raving going on among politicians seem to be missing the rather important point that access to health care is quite often the difference between life and death.

About 20,000 Americans die every year because they have no access to health care. Almost 100,000 die from medical mistakes. Almost 100,000 die from infections they acquire in our hospitals. Is this “The Best Health Care In The World?”

The political decisions in the US Senate are being made by 6 people from the Finance committee. Who gave them the power to do this? When did the Constitution or the people decide this was a good idea?

I saw this yesterday – Democratic senator: Public health insurance option dead

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A key Senate negotiator said Sunday that President Obama should drop his push for a government-funded public health insurance option because the Senate will never pass it.

Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota said it was futile to continue to “chase that rabbit” due to the lack of 60 Senate votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

If the Senate Majority Leader cannot command that the 60 members of the Democratic Caucus, that were supplied to him by voters, vote for cloture, no matter how they vote on a bill, they need a new leader. If you have 60 members in your caucus, every bill a majority wants in the Senate, should get a vote.

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