Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Officials from the Chicago, Illinois bomb squad and arson squad were earlier investigating a suspicious package found near two Chicago schools which forced their evacuation. It was later determined that the package was dynamite and the bomb and arson unit carried out a successful controlled detonation and issued the all clear at 3:45 p.m. local time.

According to ABC7 news volunteers cleaning up a lot behind the Randolph School discovered a package that they believe to be dynamite. According to Chicago Breaking News a package was found near railway lines in the West Englewood neighbourhood of Chicago. It was later determined to be a pack of commercial grade explosives which were dumped near to the lines. As a precaution the Randolph School and the South Side Occupational Academy high school were evacuated.

The bomb and arson unit later detonated the package and issued the all clear at around 3:45 p.m. local time, no injuries were reported as a result of the incident. The police are still trying to determine how the explosives reached the area.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Nine people died in New Zealand after a small tourist plane crashed on Saturday afternoon on the West Coast of the South Island, killing all on board. The aircraft, a Fletcher FU24 owned by a local sky diving company, crashed and caught fire at 13:15 local time soon after taking off from the Fox Glacier Airport to carry out tandem skydiving over the Fox Glacier. The cause of the accident is not yet known, but the plane banked, dipped, smashed nose-first into the ground, and burst into flames.

There were four overseas tourists on the plane, from Australia, England, Germany, and Ireland. The five New Zealanders were the pilot and four divemasters. Police spokeswoman Detective Sergeant Jackie Adams said that the victims were so badly burned that members of the police disaster team had to be called in to assist. She was trying to track a group of tourists who were to have gone on the flight, but wanted to go together as a group so let those who died go ahead of them.

The plane crash was the worst in New Zealand for nearly 17 years. The regional coroner Richard McElrea was travelling to the crash scene to begin inquiries, and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission has dispatched a team of six investigators. The probes may take a year to complete. There was a similar crash near Fox Glacier when a helicopter crashed killing seven people in October 1994, and a crash near the nearby Franz Josef Glacier in October 1993 which killed 9 people. Because of the earthquake in Christchurch the bodies had to be sent to the Auckland morgue rather than the nearer Christchurch morgue.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The UK’s Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) announced today a grant of £4.6 million towards the restoration of Lews Castle on the Western Scottish island of Stornoway. Estimates suggest approximately £14 million (US$ 21.9m, € 16.2m) will be spent to restore and convert the Victorian era property into a museum with four-star hotel accommodation.

Originally built as a home for James Matheson, who made his fortune in the Chinese and Indian opium trade, the castle has lain empty, and on the at-risk register, since the late 1980s. A gap of £1.6 million in required funding remains a concern the local Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (previously, Western Isles Council) is actively seeking help from both Europe and the Scottish government.

Council leader Angus Campbell intends to press the Scottish Government on the final funding; “it would be a huge shame if all the other funding is lost”, he said. “We are optimistic about getting some European funding, which is absolutely crucial, and are asking the Scottish Government to close the funding gap.” Campbell describes what would be the first UK museum with Gaelic as its primary language as “a generational project” with benefits throughout the communities of the Outer Hebrides. Local MSP Alasdair Allan commended the council’s efforts to save Lews Castle saying they, and other agencies, “have been working tirelessly to progress plans that would ensure Lews Castle becomes both a cultural and economic asset to the islands.”

Throughout its colourful history, the castle was at one time owned by William Lever who founded Unilever. Before gifting the castle to the local people in 1923, Lord Leverhulme invested in electric lighting, central heating, an internal telephone system, and the extension of the ballroom for social gatherings. In World War II, the castle was the base for a Naval hospital and squadron of amphibious biplanes. Post-war, it spent 30 years as a technical college and school.

If the final tranche of funding is secured, in 2014 the castle will become the first-ever archive facility in the Western Isles. The collections of Museum nan Eilean (MnE) could move from their current home into the castle; items held by the National Archives of Scotland could return to their native isles. And, modern facilities would permit collections from the National Museum of Scotland and the British Museum – such as the Lewis Chessmen – to be exhibited there.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

A Russian teenager has accomplished an unprecedented feat in the history of world aviation. He flew a distance of 1,300 kilometres in a wheel well of a Boeing 737 and lived. The fifteen year old Andrey Scherbakov spent two hours in the wheel well of the airplane at extreme temperature of ?50° centigrade. The rear wheels do not go all the way into the plane; the wheel merely retracts into an opening and remains exposed. The boy managed to bypass security at the Perm city airport to hide in the plane as it took off. Airport workers found the boy after the plane had landed at Moscow. He had collapsed on the tarmac.

The boy was delivered to the hospital by the airport staff and is said to be in a critical condition. His arms and legs were so severely frozen and swollen that the rescuers were not able to remove his coat and shoes. There is a probability that his hands may have to be amputated. However, according to the medical staff at the hospital, it is nothing short of a miracle that the boy survived the ordeal. The Boeing 737 has a cruising speed of 900 kilometres per hour and was flying constantly at an altitude of 10,000 metres for two hours. As a result, the boy suffered severe frostbite in both of his hands. Doctors in Ural city would have to remove his fingertips, which contracted gangrene after they had frozen, but they were committed to do everything within their power to stop it from spreading.

When Scherbakov finally came to his senses, he told the police that he had run away from his family so as to escape his alcoholic father. He said that he was wandering around the territory of the airport and noticed a hole in the fence. He fell asleep during his examination of the stowaway of the plane. He woke up when the plane was already flying. It is curious how the inspection staff and the technicians found nothing on their inspection of the aircraft just before the flight. The boy claims that he fainted soon after and came around only when the plane had landed in Moscow after traveling hundreds of kilometres from Perm.

The airport did not confirm the report. However, Moscow’s air and water transport control department said that the claim was true. A department spokesperson said that the incident happened on Friday, and the boy’s parents were immediately informed and flew into the capital on the same day.

Stowaways in wheel wells risk freezing to death after take-off or being crushed when the wheels retract. This year, a body was found in the wheel well of a jet in San Francisco after a flight from Shanghai and another body was found in Atlanta after a flight from Dakar, Senegal.

See the discussion page for instructions on adding schools to this list and for an alphabetically arranged listing of schools.

Due to the damage by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding, a number of colleges and universities in the New Orleans metropolitan area will not be able to hold classes for the fall 2005 semester. It is estimated that 75,000 to 100,000 students have been displaced. [1]. In response, institutions across the United States and Canada are offering late registration for displaced students so that their academic progress is not unduly delayed. Some are offering free or reduced admission to displaced students. At some universities, especially state universities, this offer is limited to residents of the area.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

24-year-old Aman Kassaye, of no fixed abode, is to face a charge of attempted murder for his alleged role in an armed robbery that netted £40 million ($65 million) worth of jewelry from a London store.

Kassaye is the seventh man to be charged, and is also facing prosecution for conspiracy to rob the Graff store in New Bond Street, false imprisonment, and using a handgun to resist arrest. He will appear at Wimbledon magistrates court on Monday.

The other six men have already been remanded in custody until October 23, when they will appear at Kingston Crown Court. All are facing charges of conspiracy to rob, and two of them are also charged with a firearms offense.

43 diamond rings, watches, and bracelets were taken from the store. The theft occurred when two armed and suited men walked in and took an employee hostage. It has been reported they used prosthetic masks made from liquid latex but police have not confirmed this. Amateur footage also shows a shot was fired. No-one was injured.

The robbery is one of the biggest the United Kingdom has seen. After the crime a string of getaway vehicles was used, with police believing several more offenders assisted with this stage of the plan. Although The Telegraph claims no stolen property has yet been recovered, this is also unconfirmed by police.