Local flavor - non political please

[Ban Hammer 13,692]

Decapitated lamb found in Huntington Harbour

Lamb had bra wrapped around its midsection.

#######?

[Marilyn. 340]

roundabouts can be good if you are trying to get dressed while driving..

watch at about 5:00

[chri'stina 190]

http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2008...ower-trash-gas/

The Power Of Trash Gas

By Tony Marrero

Hernando Today

Published: September 4, 2008

Brooksville - There's electricity in them there trash hills.

In fact, it's methane gas, the stuff emitted from decomposing organic material in the absence of oxygen. That means tightly-packed garbage mounds at landfills like the county's northwest landfill facility emit lots of methane, a greenhouse gas that scientists say contributes to global warming.

But a private contractor is putting the finishing touches on a $2 million system at the landfill on U.S. 98 north of Brooksville to trap the gas and convert it to electricity that will be put back on the grid.

"We're excited," said Scott Harper, the county's solid waste services manager. "This is cutting edge stuff."

Timberline Energy of Boulder, Colo., drilled a series of eight-inch well pipes nearly to the bottom of the landfill's two trash pits, or cells. Cell One is 185 feet tall. Cell Two, expected to reach capacity in early 2010, climbs to 160 feet.

The gas, comprised of about 42 percent methane will be sucked by a compressor through the pipes and to a 20-cylinder, 2,200 horsepower Caterpillar generator that will produce 1.6 megawatts of continuous electricity. That's enough for 1,000 homes, said Joe Collum, Timberline's site manager for the project.

The system could produce twice that in about 15 years, when a planned third garbage cell is expected to reach capacity, Collum said. Timberline will install a second generator in a few years to handle the increasing amount of gas.

The company won a competitive bid to sell energy to Seminole Electric Cooperative, the wholesale power supplier to 10 electric distribution co-ops across the state, including Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative. The county will get 3 percent of gross revenues, and 6 percent if the generator cranks more than 100,000 BTUs per year.

It's unclear how much money that will mean in county coffers each year, Harper said. A spokeswoman for Seminole declined to offer specifics on the terms of its contract with Timberline.

Timberline approached the county about two years ago about the project. It was an opportune time, Harper said.

Once landfills reach a certain size, federal guidelines for methane gas emissions kick in. Hernando County will reach that threshold "when the first bag of garbage is thrown into Cell 3," expected in 2010, he said.

"So we're ahead of the curve" when it comes to developing a way to dispose of the gas, Harper said.

Most landfills burn off, or flare, the gas. But more and more in Florida and throughout the country are putting it to good use. Marion County is one, and Timberline has a similar project underway in Sarasota.

Landfills are built on top of a plastic liner to prevent contaminants from leaching into the ground. Once a landfill reaches capacity, another liner is placed on top of the hills.

"When it's capped, it's like a big balloon" from which methane can be extracted for 15 years or more, Collum said.

Collum, a Brooksville resident who used to work at the landfill, will spend 40 hours a week in an adjacent control room full of equipment that monitors the conversion process.

Harper, a veteran of the solid waste field who came to Hernando County two years ago, said it's refreshing to manage a facility that will do more than collect waste.

"We're actually producing something," he said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

[Laura+Tom 2]

This is sad

Bin baby police search websites

The body was found at the waste centre in Peterborough

Police are using social networking websites in a bid to find the mother of a newborn baby girl whose body was discovered at a recycling centre.

They believe the baby, which was found in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, had been left in a Worcester rubbish bin.

Detectives believe the baby's mother may be a teenager who concealed the birth from her friends and family.

Officers have left messages on Myspace, Bebo and Facebook in a bid to find people who may know the mother.

A post-mortem examination on the baby proved inconclusive.

'Mother-in-distress'

Det Insp Adrian Todd, of West Mercia Police, said: "A number of factors are pointing us towards the birth perhaps being concealed by a teenage girl, whose family and friends - and maybe even the father - could be totally oblivious to her plight.

"While we are still keeping an open mind about where this baby came from - and why it was necessary to put her body into the city's waste system - we want to get as many young people as possible thinking about whether they know someone who could be this mother-in-distress."

He said people may have noticed the girl putting on weight, behaving or dressing unusually, stopping attending work, college or school.

He added: "Meanwhile, the mother may be continuing to put herself in danger, both medically and emotionally, if she does not come forward and receive expert help.

"Anyone with even the slightest suspicion should not dismiss any thoughts as being not important."

Anyone with information should contact West Mercia Police or anonymously via Crimestoppers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7598092.stm

Edited September 4, 2008 by LauraUK

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Baby panda doing well, vocalizing often

By LEON STAFFORD

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Zoo Atlanta officials said its new panda is gaining weight and vocalizing often, good signs of his improving health.

In an e-mailed update Wednesday, Dwight Lawson said the male cub is up to 128 grams.

“The cub started Day 4 at a panda-typical 128 grams, adding an impressive 7 percent to his body weight since yesterday, but still small and fragile enough for it to take a few more days and weeks before we can relax,” said Lawson, the zoo’s senior vice president, collections, education and conservation.

To make sure the newborn continues to progress, the staff is removing the cub for frequent check ups, Lawson said. For instance, they checked on him at 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tuesday and again at 3 a.m. on Wednesday.

“Lun Lun is demonstrating excellent maternal behavior,” Lawson said. “Our intention is to increase the time between these exams as our confidence grows in the cub’s progress.” The cub was born at 10:10 p.m. Saturday. He is the second cub of giant panda mom Lun Lun. Her daughter Mei Lan was born in 2006 and will celebrate her second birthday Saturday.

Zoo officials first removed the baby from Lun Lun’s care late Monday after she put it down twice, an unusual occurrence for pandas who are extremely protective of their offspring the first few weeks of life. When the panda was put down the second time, it was not moving or vocalizing, scaring officials.

Lun Lun has handled the interval removals of her offspring better than zoo officials expected, Lawson said.

“She does show some agitation when the cub is removed, but settles quickly when the keepers offer her water and sugar cane,” he said. “She responds to the cub immediately when it’s returned, cradling and nursing the cub without missing a beat.”

Why Lun Lun released the cub so early in its development and why its temperature and health declined so suddenly Monday are still unknown, Lawson said.

“In all likelihood, we will not know for sure,” he said. “The last 18 hours indicate that Lun Lun is producing enough milk and appropriately caring for the cub. The cub has also been vigorous in his vocalizations and has been suckling enough to continue to put on weight.”

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/s...oo_atlanta.html

[panamania79 2]

Please share one thing that's happening or has happened in your local community.

A copy and paste from a local newspaper website, for example. Or anything.

Let's keep it non-political, if possible.

I thought you wanted some stuffed quohogs (giant clams) from RI or something.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Please share one thing that's happening or has happened in your local community.

A copy and paste from a local newspaper website, for example. Or anything.

Let's keep it non-political, if possible.

I thought you wanted some stuffed quohogs (giant clams) from RI or something.

You're funny

[panamania79 2]

Please share one thing that's happening or has happened in your local community.

A copy and paste from a local newspaper website, for example. Or anything.

Let's keep it non-political, if possible.

I thought you wanted some stuffed quohogs (giant clams) from RI or something.

You're funny

You said local flavor.I was going to sent you some RI delicacies.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

$93,000 haul didn't take 20-year-old suspect far

It probably wasn't too difficult for law officers to pinpoint who might have stolen more than $93,000 from an International Bank of Commerce branch in Castle Hills early Aug. 11.

Someone turned the security alarm off and on using a code assigned to a bank employee; $3,256 vanished from the employee's bank teller drawer; and $90,000 was gone from the bank vault (except the marked bills that can be traced after a robbery), according to federal court documents.

What's more, surveillance videotape showed two people leaving the bank at 2:05 a.m. Aug. 11 — and one was identified by the bank as a person resembling teller Andrea Nicole Clawson, 20. The heist took nine minutes.

A federal grand jury indicted Clawson on Wednesday on a charge of theft by a bank employee. The FBI arrested her Aug. 25 upon her return to San Antonio from a road trip with a childhood friend, according to a criminal complaint affidavit unsealed Wednesday.

The affidavit said another bank employee discovered the money missing after the bank opened for business Aug. 11. After observing the clues linking the missing money to Clawson, the unnamed employee called Clawson's cell phone but couldn't reach her, the affidavit said.

About 11 a.m. that day, the affidavit said, that employee received a text message from Clawson's cell phone that said: “In hospital. Car accident. Battery dying.â€

FBI agents later learned from relatives of Clawson and the childhood friend that the pair took a cross-country trip. The friend, Matthew Frank Nunelly, is under investigation as “a possible accomplice,†said federal prosecutor Richard Durbin, who heads the U.S. attorney's office's criminal division. Nunelly has not been charged.

IBC spokesman Danny Garza refused to say how long Clawson worked for the bank or what she did but said that IBC is cooperating with authorities.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_new...s_indicted.html

Edited September 5, 2008 by wife_of_mahmoud

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Pillows, TV remote stolen from Plainsboro home

PLAINSBORO —About $340 in property was reported stolen from a Windrows Drive residence in late August, police said.

The stolen items include two Tempur-Pedic pillows and a TV remote control.

[chri'stina 190]

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Hmmmm...this is what passes for news in Burbank (courtesy of the Burbank Leader):

Digging into the arts

Inaugural festival at Woodbury University hosts a wide variety of wares and preaches diversity, creativity.

By Alison Tully

Artists from Burbank showed their talent Saturday at Woodbury University’s inaugural arts festival, “Can You Dig It!”

Burbank resident Sarkis Alvandi displayed and raffled off his abstract ink drawings.

University student Armen Tutundzhyan sold some of his artwork, and textile professor Meredith Jackson sold her brightly colored handmade scarves.

The festival was one of the university’s welcome week events and was organized to unite Los Angeles artists for a day of diversity, creativity and education.

The event featured an array of entertainment, such as a cultural and educational play performed by Culture Clash and a live poetry reading by Cyn da’ Poet.

Visitors also got the chance to view roaming photography by the Culture Creators and a Peace in Iraq Photo Project by Azul.

Hit + Run also helped visitors screen-print white T-shirts with their choice of six prints, including peace signs as well as an image of the school.

Other people picked up cans of spray paint to try their hand at graffiti on small poster boards.