Mecca, California Train Derailment Releases Toxic Plume, Forces Evacuations

Mecca, California Train Derailment Releases Toxic Plume, Forces Evacuations
Date Published: Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

A train derailment in Mecca, California last night resulted in the evacuation of 60 people living near the accident, and ignited fears of a toxic chemical spill. No injuries were reported as a result of the Mecca, California train derailment, but it is still not known when evacuees will be allowed to return home.

The Mecca, California train derailment occurred shortly before 9:00 p.m. yesterday just outside of the southern California desert town, located about 140 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The Union Pacific freight train was traveling from Colton to El Centro, California when 29 cars went off the track. Fifty-three of the Union Pacific train’s cars were full, and some were carrying hazardous chemicals. Investigators from the fire department, Riverside County Hazardous Materials Team, county environmental health officials and Union Pacific were all called to the scene. The derailment damaged about 2,000 feet of track, and a stretch of Highway 11 had to be closed

http://urlet.com/dangerous.lots

Valerie Warner Grows a Spine

Council to hear midyear financial report
Thadeus Greenson The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 03/04/2008 01:19:20 AM PST

The Eureka City Council will receive the city’s mid-year financial report tonight, and hear about the unforeseen expenses the cash-strapped city faces.

Valerie Warner, the city’s finance director,

….{snip}….
 

$63,000 for temporary salaries at the Sequoia Park Zoo and $75,000 allocated to help with the defense of former Police Chief David Douglas, who currently faces involuntary manslaughter charges.

Warner said she will be asking the council to take a formal, public vote on Douglas’ defense allocation. The previous vote came in closed session and Warner said she needs the decision to be read into city minutes in order to make a budget adjustment.

http://urlet.com/duplicate.rationale

Jamaica explores legalising marijuana

 

 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, March 03, 2008 -  Even as the United States State Department points to Jamaica  being a hub for marijuana production and export in the Caribbean, the island’s government has revealed it’s exploring the possibility of making the drug legal.

“We have discussed it, and we are preparing a report to present to the prime minister,” said Deputy Prime Minister Kenneth Baugh who said a seven-member government commission has been researching possible changes to the anti-drug laws.

http://urlet.com/ago.disciplinary

They don’t exactly say free…..

UnitedHealth Group to Provide Immediate Resources for Those Needing Services Related to the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada

• Free NurseLine services available for Southern Nevada residents
• No out-of-pocket costs for UnitedHealth customers requiring testing
• Working with network physicians to support timely access to testing

LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) and its family of companies are working in collaboration with the Southern Nevada Health District to provide resources and support to the Las Vegas community and to its customers affected by the recent health care concerns at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.

The employees of UnitedHealthcare, PacifiCare, SecureHorizons^® and Sierra Health Services understand that many Southern Nevada residents, and certainly those who received care at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, have concerns and questions about the health implications associated with the Health District’s recent findings. As a public service to the community, UnitedHealth Group has made available nurse counseling services to anyone, regardless of his or her health insurance carrier or health insurance status, who would like to speak to a trained health care professional about their concerns. To access this free service, simply call the toll-free help line number 1-800-336-3587 which will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for as long as necessary. Additional resources and information are also available online at www.liveandworkwell.com.

Based on the Southern Nevada Health District’s recommendations, UnitedHealth Group has taken steps to facilitate access to testing for hepatitis C, hepatitis B and HIV and appropriate counseling with no out-of-pocket costs for our health plan members affected by this issue. We are notifying all participating physicians about this emergency policy and requesting their support in implementing it during this critical time.

Plan participants who have additional questions are urged to contact UnitedHealth’s OptumHealth Nurseline at 1-800-336-3587, or they can contact a customer care representative at the number listed on the back of their ID card. Information is also available online at myuhc.com, pacificare.com, securehorizons.com and smalv.com.

The Southern Nevada Health District has posted information on its website at www.SouthernNevadaHealthDistrict.org and a hotline is available at (702) 759- INFO (4636) for people with questions about this notification or hepatitis C.

http://urlet.com/split.hostess

Fremont Gets Default Notices, Survival Threatened

Tue Mar 4, 2008 3:01pm ESTNEW YORK (Reuters) - Fremont General Corp (FMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it has received default notices related to $3.15 billion of subprime mortgages it sold last March and said its survival could be threatened if it were sued.

The Brea, California-based parent of Fremont Investment & Loan said the notices from the mortgage purchasers concern its failure to maintain a $250 million tangible net worth.

….{snip}….

More than 100 mortgage lenders have quit the industry since the current U.S. housing crisis began, and many have gone bankrupt. Subprime mortgages go to people with poor credit.

Fremont made nearly $32 billion of subprime mortgages in 2006, the last full calendar year it offered the product, according to National Mortgage News.

http://urlet.com/quadrillion.love

Treasury Dept. Drops a Dime: Europeans Re-experience Fascism

A Wave of the Watch List, and Speech Disappears
    By Adam Liptak
    The New York Times    Tuesday 04 March 2008

    Steve Marshall is an English travel agent. He lives in Spain, and he sells trips to Europeans who want to go to sunny places, including Cuba. In October, about 80 of his Web sites stopped working, thanks to the United States government.

    The sites, in English, French and Spanish, had been online since 1998. Some, like www.cuba-hemingway.com, were literary. Others, like www.cuba-havanacity.com, discussed Cuban history and culture. Still others - www.ciaocuba.com and www.bonjourcuba.com - were purely commercial sites aimed at Italian and French tourists.

    ”I came to work in the morning, and we had no reservations at all,” Mr. Marshall said on the phone from the Canary Islands. “We thought it was a technical problem.”

    It turned out, though, that Mr. Marshall’s Web sites had been put on a Treasury Department blacklist and, as a consequence, his American domain name registrar, eNom Inc., had disabled them. Mr. Marshall said eNom told him it did so after a call from the Treasury Department; the company, based in Bellevue, Wash., says it learned that the sites were on the blacklist through a blog.

Either way, there is no dispute that eNom shut down Mr. Marshall’s sites without notifying him and has refused to release the domain names to him.

….{snip}….

    Mr. Marshall said he did not understand “how Web sites owned by a British national operating via a Spanish travel agency can be affected by U.S. law.” Worse, he said, “these days not even a judge is required for the U.S. government to censor online materials.”

….{snip}….

Last March, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights issued a disturbing report on the OFAC list. Its subtitle: “How a Treasury Department Terrorist Watch List Ensnares Everyday Consumers.”

    The report, by Shirin Sinnar, said that there were 6,400 names on the list and that, like no-fly lists at airports, it gave rise to endless and serious problems of mistaken identity.

    ”Financial institutions, credit bureaus, charities, car dealerships, health insurers, landlords and employers,” the report said, “are now checking names against the list before they open an account, close a sale, rent an apartment or offer a job.”

http://urlet.com/loose.joined

Forgiveness

Forgiving Is Harder For Men

By: Rick Nauert, Ph.D.
      Senior News Editor  

Tuesday, Mar. 4 (Psych Central) — A popular Willie Nelson song makes light of the fact that when a relationship ends, forgiving or perhaps forgetting is a difficult endeavor. New research appears to support the admonition that while forgiveness can be a powerful means to healing, it does not come naturally for both sexes.Men have a harder time forgiving than women do, according to Case Western Reserve University psychologist Julie Juola Exline. But that can change if men develop empathy toward an offender by seeing they may also be capable of similar actions. Then the gender gap closes, and men become less vengeful.

….{snip}….

The researchers found that people of both genders are more forgiving when they see themselves as capable of committing a similar action to the offender’s; it tends to make the offense seem smaller. Seeing capability also increases empathic understanding of the offense and causes people to feel more similar to the offenders. Each of these factors, in turn, predicts more forgiving attitudes.

….{snip}….

Exline found this ability to identify with the offender and forgive also happens in intergroup conflicts in a study that she related to forgiveness of the 9/11 terrorists.

“When people could envision their own government committing acts similar to those of the terrorists, they were less vengeful,” she stressed. “For example, they were less likely to believe that perpetrators should be killed on the spot or given the death penalty, and they were more supportive of negotiations and economic aid.”

http://urlet.com/qatar.thursday

CHP to Assist in Blue Lake- Fallout from Gundersen Accusations

“The California Highway Patrol will be assisting with coverage in the City of Blue Lake Humboldt County Sheriff Gary Philp has requested temporary assistance from the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to assist with coverage in the City of Blue Lake.  Effective immediately, the Humboldt Area CHP office will be responding to investigate traffic collisions within the geographical boundaries of Blue Lake.  CHP assistance will be limited to investigating traffic collisions that involve intoxicated drivers, hit-and-run drivers, injuries, and fatalities.  These services to the City of Blue Lake are without reimbursement for not longer than a 12 month period.

 The assistance will continue through February 28, 2009 or until the City of Blue Lake and/or the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department finds alternative means of providing these services.

 The CHP will not be deployed within the city for the purposes of patrol and traffic enforcement.  However, patrol and enforcement activities will be provided incidental to CHP officers’ normal patrol responsibilities as they travel through the city to other destinations.”

Consumers Get Their Marching Orders from the Pulpinator

The Pulpinator’s pathetic paper printed this editorial today:

“And, if that government rebate check comes your way, by all means use it to buy a flat-panel TV or new washer-dryer. “

http://eurekareporter.com/article/080303-dealing-with-the-slowdown

Bottom line, spend that check baby!  Of course either one of these options will stimulate the economies of China or Singapore or Korea, not the economies of the United States or Humboldt County.  This is Reaganomics in full denial.

Rape Victim Reported Crime to Eureka Police- Ex-Wife Reports Rape Also

Gundersen, alleged second victim were living together, report says

Thadeus Greenson The Times-Standard

Article Launched: 03/04/2008 01:31:19 AM PST

The second woman that David Gundersen is accused of sexually assaulting told investigators she was involved in an intimate relationship with the Blue Lake police chief and said she reported the incident to Eureka police in 1999, according to recently filed court documents.Gundersen has pleaded not guilty to 19 charges, including 12 counts of spousal rape and one count of transporting or kidnapping a second victim with the use of a firearm for the purpose of rape. He remains in the Humboldt County Correctional Facility, held on $1.25 million bail…..{snip}….While planning the couple’s wedding, the woman said she got into an argument with Gundersen after discovering he was still married to his now ex-wife, according to the report.

”Gundersen grabbed Victim 2 with both hands and started pushing her into the living room and then down the hallway towards their bedroom,” the report of the interview states. “Once in the bedroom, Gundersen pushed her on the bed. … At this point, Gundersen took his handgun out of his holster. Victim 2 was threatened by the gun and was concerned what Gundersen was going to do.”

….{snip}….
 

The report states the woman said she left Gundersen the next day, and made a report to Eureka Police Sgt. Len Johnson 19 days later. She told Hislop she never heard back from the Eureka Police Department, according to the report.

http://www.times-standard.com/news/ci_8446451

Investigation report: Gundersen’s ex-wife also alleges drugging, rape

Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard

Article Launched: 03/04/2008 01:28:27 AM PST

Blue Lake Police Chief David Gundersen’s ex-wife told investigators she suspected her former husband drugged and sexually assaulted her while the two were still married in 1998, according to reports in Gundersen’s court file.

http://www.times-standard.com/news/ci_8446438

Thadeus Greenson can be reached at 707-441-0509 or tgreenson@times-standard.com