Write an article based on this summary:

– The body of a woman who went missing more than two decades ago has been found—buried under the grave of a World War II veteran. John Sandoval, 52, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Friday and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 1995 death of his estranged wife, Kristina Tournai-Sandoval. As part of a plea deal, the Colorado man told investigators March 22 her remains were buried at a Greeley cemetery. Sandoval found an open gravesite early in the morning on Oct. 20, 1995, that was scheduled for a burial that afternoon. Prosecutors say he dug about 2 feet below the grave and buried Tournai-Sandoval's body, which was wrapped in several layers of industrial-grade plastic. Cemetery workers then unknowingly buried the veteran over her remains, reports the AP. The Greeley Tribune reports Tournai-Sandoval had planned to meet her husband of three years for one last time before finalizing their divorce, in order to discuss an IRS debt. That meeting was to take place Oct. 19, 1995; it was the last day she was seen alive. Detectives found a muddy shovel in Sandoval's car, muddy clothes inside his home, and noticed scratch marks on his face, neck, and chest. Charges were not filed at the time because authorities could not find the body, any witnesses, or a crime scene. Sandoval was convicted in 2010 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. But an appeals court overturned his conviction last year. Prosecutors had been preparing for a new trial when Sandoval offered to give up his wife's location in exchange for taking a life sentence off the table, reports the Denver Post. He could be up for parole as soon as 2028.

John Sandoval, whose first-degree murder conviction in the death of his estranged wife was overturned last year, led investigators to her remains in exchange for a plea deal.

 The remains of Kristina “Tina” Tournai Sandoval have been exhumed from where he buried her beneath a grave in Sunset Memorial Garden cemetery where a World War II veteran was later interred. She was found inside a wrapping 21 inches below the bottom of the grave.

 Sandoval on Friday pleaded guilty in Greeley District Court to second-degree murder. He will serve 25 years in prison and five years on parole. His sentence was dated back to August 2010 when he was convicted of first-degree murder.

 Sandoval, 52, was to face a second trial this week in the Oct. 19, 1995, murder of Tina Sandoval.

 Tina Sandoval’s mother Mary Tournai had reported her missing that day after she didn’t return from a planned meeting with Sandoval.

 “She would have continued to make a difference in the world if she had not been killed by her husband,” Tournai said in a statement during the plea and sentencing hearing Friday.

 The case went cold despite extensive circumstantial evidence pointing to Sandoval, a convicted peeping Tom.

 Tina Sandoval was neither seen nor heard from again, according to a news release by Terasina White, spokeswoman for District Attorney Michael Rourke.

 “If I can’t have you no one else can,” said Rourke, referring to Sandoval’s reasoning for killing his wife.

 In June 2009, Rourke’s predecessor, Ken Buck, filed first-degree murder charges against Sandoval. A jury convicted him in August 2010.

 In March 2016, the Colorado Court of Appeals overturned his conviction and ordered a new trial.

 Sandoval, dressed in a black suit, apologized Friday and expressed his “condolences” to the family.

 But Rourke said Sandoval remained silent for 22 years and only disclosed the whereabouts of his wife’s remains so he could avoid spending the rest of his life in prison. Prosecutors referred to Sandoval as a perverted stalker and murderer.

 “We finally know where Tina is and we can finally lay her to rest the way she deserves,” said her sister, Mary Nerud, 39. “John — you are a murderer.”

 According to a family statement, her parents and siblings wrestled with the idea of a plea agreement, which ultimately would mean Sandoval could be released from prison.

 “Would our decision to accept a plea deal endanger another woman? Could we live with a longer sentence knowing we would likely never recover Tina?

 “We urge all women who are victims of stalking or domestic violence to separate themselves from the immediate danger and to reach out for help,” the statement says.

 Three weeks before the second trial was to begin, Sandoval’s attorneys approached Rouke’s office about the possibility of a plea agreement. Their offer: He would lead investigators to his wife’s remains in exchange for a lighter sentence.

 Rourke’s office contacted family members about the proposed agreement, which was later reached on March 23.

 That same day, Sandoval led authorities to Sunset Memorial Garden cemetery in Greeley and the grave of WWII veteran Arthur Hert. His grave had been one of three that had been dug and were still open on the day Tina Sandoval disappeared, Rourke said.

 “At the moment I looked down and saw we were dealing with the remains of a World War II veteran, I about passed out,” he said.

 Hert’s family in Casper, Wy., was contacted and within 90 minutes, Hert’s son went to the police department and signed a release to allow his father’s grave to be exhumed. Another burial ceremony for Hert was held the following day by Veterans of Foreign Wars.

 Rourke said police had received tips that Sandoval had worked at the same cemetery in 1995 and again in 2005, and tipsters had flagged Hert’s grave. But authorities did not attempt any exhumations then.

 “For 7,826 days, 3 hours and 22 minutes, the location of Tina’s remains has been a mystery,” Rourke said during the plea agreement hearing. “One that has haunted her family and the investigators who worked this case from the minute it was reported, and the community as a whole. While the original conviction served to hold this defendant accountable for the atrocious act he committed, the lingering question as to her whereabouts cast a shadow over this prosecution. Over the course of the last week, we have finally been able to give her family what they so desperately wanted. Tina has been returned to her family and may finally be laid to rest.”

 Her family plans a private burial service for their daughter. ||||| Bob Kuznik tries to collect himself as he addresses the public in a press conference after John Sandoval accepted the plea bargain Friday, March 31, 2017, at the Weld County Courthouse in Greeley, Colo.... (Associated Press)

 Bob Kuznik tries to collect himself as he addresses the public in a press conference after John Sandoval accepted the plea bargain Friday, March 31, 2017, at the Weld County Courthouse in Greeley, Colo. Sandoval pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He led Greeley police to the remains of his wife... (Associated Press)

 DENVER (AP) — A Colorado man who pleaded guilty Friday to killing his estranged wife more than two decades ago recently led authorities to her body, which was buried under the grave of a World War II veteran.

 John Sandoval, 52, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 1995 death of Kristina Tournai-Sandoval.

 As part of a plea deal, he told investigators March 22 the remains were buried at a Greeley cemetery.

 Sandoval found an open gravesite early in the morning on Oct. 20, 1995, that was scheduled for a burial that afternoon. Prosecutors say he dug about 2 feet (0.61 meters) below the grave and buried Tournai-Sandoval's body, which was wrapped in several layers of industrial-grade plastic.

 Cemetery workers then unknowingly buried the veteran over her remains.

 That day, detectives found a wet and muddy shovel in Sandoval's car and muddy clothes inside his home. After he was arrested, investigators noticed scratch marks on his face, neck and chest.

 Charges were not filed at the time because authorities could not find the body, any witnesses or a crime scene.

 "For 7,826 days, 3 hours and 22 minutes, the location of Tina's remains has been a mystery," Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said in a news release Friday. "Over the course of the last week, we have finally been able to give her family what they so desperately wanted."

 Sandoval was convicted in 2010 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. But an appeals court overturned his conviction last year, ruling a judge wrongfully allowed evidence that Sandoval stalked other women, as well as expert testimony correlating stalkers with murderers.

 Prosecutors had been preparing for a new trial when Sandoval acknowledged knowing the location of his wife's body.

 Court records show Sandoval had met with his wife to settle a debt before finalizing their divorce. Before the meeting, she warned family members that if anything happened to her, her husband was responsible. She also arranged to talk with her sister by phone after the meeting. ||||| Almost 2 feet below the concrete plate of Arthur Hert's grave at Sunset Memorial Gardens, the key to the one of Greeley's longest-running mysteries was about to emerge.

 Wrapped tightly in a comforter, covered by a tarp and sealed with duct tape, the body inside was exhumed last week to solve the mystery of where Tina Tournai Sandoval was buried after her husband killed her on Oct. 19, 1995.

 John Sandoval last week led police to this World War II veteran's grave after offering to reveal the remains of his former wife in exchange for a shorter prison sentence. Since his conviction on Aug. 5, 2010, Sandoval had been serving a life sentence. His conviction was overturned on appeal last year, and he was awaiting a second trial.

 On March 7, while awaiting hearings for that second trial on the charge of first-degree murder, Sandoval reached out to prosecutors with the only thing he had to bargain with, said Weld District Attorney Michael Rourke.

 That resulted in an agreement this week in which he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for 25 years in prison. The seven-plus years already served will count toward that. His earliest parole date is estimated to be 2028; upon his release, he will be required to serve five years of parole. Rourke said he and the family both wanted to make sure Sandoval was under lock and key and supervision at least until he reach the age of 70.

 "This is not a man to be thanked," Rourke said in court Friday. "He should receive no additional accolades for his cooperation. He sat in silence for 22 years, hoping and believing he'd gotten away with murder, and only on the eve of a second trial did he come forward and bargain with the only thing he can … and that's Tina's whereabouts."

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 Sandoval had spent his three-year marriage to Tournai Sandoval, who grew up in Windsor and graduated from Windsor High School, stalking women and collecting underwear from women's homes as a trophy he kept in a garbage bag in the garage. Tournai Sandoval left when police came knocking one too many times — especially after an allegation that her husband was stalking women in her car overnight in the summer of 1995.

 More you may want to read

 She moved out in August. By October, she had planned one final meeting with him, to settle an IRS debt during their marriage. She left her overnight nursing job at North Colorado Medical Center at 7 a.m. Oct. 19, 1995, bound for his home in north Greeley. She was never seen again.

 Until Sandoval's March 7 revelation, police had no body, no physical evidence, nor solid DNA evidence, much less a confession or witnesses to Tournai Sandoval's death. Jurors at his first trial said prosecutors eliminated any doubt that Sandoval was the killer during the month-long trial. He was the last to have seen her; he had been known to be stalking her; she disappeared off the face of the earth a little too sudden for a promising young nurse who had just landed her dream job; he had fresh scratch marks all over his torso and neck; and he lied about his alibi, which he concocted in jail with his mother.

 His conviction, however, was overturned by the Colorado Court of Appeals last year. For the past few months, prosecutors had been readying for a second trial.

 Prosecutors considered offering an agreement of a reduced sentence in exchange for the location of the body prior to the first trial, but the family wouldn't accept it.

 But time has taken its toll on the family, weary of continued publicity, and continually reliving the pain associated with the loss of their sister, daughter and aunt.

 "We wrestled with the idea that by giving our consent to a plea deal, Tina's murderer will ultimately be released from prison," said Bob Kuznik, father-in-law to Susan Kuznik, Tina's sister, in a news conference Friday after the hearing. "Given credit for time already served and the prospect of an early release for good behavior while in prison, that day of his release would come much sooner than we might like. Knowing that a second trial could again result in a life sentence without the possibility of parole, at what personal sacrifice do we decline the offer and allow a trial to proceed? Would our decision to accept a plea endanger another woman? Could we live with a longer sentence knowing that we would likely never recover Tina? These were not easy issues for us. In the end, we decided as a family and are at peace with it."

 Police had examined tips about the graveyard burial several years before. On Nov. 1, 1995, then-police detective Brad Goldschmidt followed up on a tip about the possibility of Sandoval hiding his wife's body in an open grave. Sandoval had worked there in 1993 and knew the cemetery's procedures for burial.

 There were three open graves on Oct. 19, 1995. Two had a concrete floor; a third did not. Goldschmidt interviewed an employee of the cemetery who discounted the idea that a body would be hidden in the graves because the concrete vaults had already been placed. The employee said he even looked around the cemetery at possible places to hide her. Nothing was found. It was one of literally hundreds of tips that came in for years that led nowhere.

 Monday morning quarterbacking aside, Rourke and Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner said they were satisfied police 20 years ago did the right thing.

 "There were tips both in 1995 and 2005 about the fact that Sandoval had worked there, there were open graves and perhaps are where they could look," Rourke said in a news conference Friday. "The investigation focused on obtaining information. But for reasons everyone could understand, there were no steps at that point to further investigate or seek to investigate any other grave."

 Rourke said he almost "passed out" when he learned they would have to exhume a World War II veteran's grave. He called the family of the veteran, who drove down the next day from Casper, Wyo. On March 22, the family, along with Greeley police and Weld District Attorney's office members, and the honor guard, posted colors over Hert's casket.

 "We felt that was a fitting way to honor him," Rourke said. Hours later, along with the Evans Veterans of Foreign War post, they gave Hert a proper military burial and placed his casket back in the grave, Rourke said.

 Rourke said on March 24, the Weld County coroner conducted a forensic autopsy on the remains, and the cause of death has not yet been determined. Sandoval did not offer any specifics about the Tounai Sandoval's death. Rourke said he would pursue that question next.

 Just four days prior to her body being exhumed was Tournai Sandoval's birthday. She would have been 45.

 "She would have continued to make a difference in the world," said her mother, MaryEllen Tournai in court Friday, "if she had not been killed by her husband."

 Her family described her in court as brilliant, loving and a gentle soul. Her absence continues to haunt them.

 "Even after 21 years of the horrific and violent murder of Tina, the entire Tournai family regularly experiences shock, numbness and disbelief," said Brian Kuznik, the husband of Tina's sister, Susan Kuznik. "The magnitude of this event and the impact it had on the entire family has proven to be so emotionally difficult, many are unable to stand and share how they feel."

 Tina's elder sister, Kelly Fryan, told Sandoval she prayed for his conversion of heart for many years so he would become a safer member of society and never again victimize another woman.

 "That being said, God called to make sure I'm not only praying but always active in making sure you do not harm another person," she said in the packed courtroom. "I take that calling seriously. I have accepted this task. I will keep a watchful eye over your life so the safety of any community you reside in will be kept."

 Not once did Sandoval look back to anyone in the courtroom Friday. But for the first time, he spoke, offering condolences to the Tournai family.

 "I certainly would like to express my condolences and my apologies to Mike and Mary Ellen (Tournai, Tina's parents), the extended Tournai family for the time it took to convince police where we're at today. The devil hardens hearts of man; if man allows, God is able to soften hearts of men … That's what I pray for."

 Mike Prill, the Greeley Police detective who re-examined the evidence in 2009, and found new angles and witnesses, had agonized with the family throughout the trial and subsequent setbacks. He glared at Sandoval as he walked in, and was led out of the courtroom.

 "I'm happy the family got their baby back," Prill said later. "John now is irrelevant for almost everyone." |||||


P.S. You’ve had a son for 61 years.

 A man in Grand Rapids, Mich. last year learned about a son he never met after finding a letter his wife hid for decades.

 The two finally met on Monday and are catching up on their better-late-than-never bond.

 Tony Trapani, 81, told WXMI he found the letter when he was cleaning out his wife’s filing cabinets after her death.

 The life-changing letter was sent to him more than 50 years ago from the mother of Tony’s then-unknown son, Samuel Childress.

 “I have a little boy. He is five years old now. What I’m trying to say Tony is he is your son,” the long-lost lover wrote in the 1959 letter.

 Childress, now 61, said his mother told him she sent the letter but she figured Trapani just ignored it. He grew up in Pennsylvania thinking his father never wanted to meet him.

 The unexpected new dad now says his wife must have intercepted it and stashed it in the filing cabinet. The two of them, meanwhile, were unable to have their own children.

 “He’s my full son that I’ve had my whole life,” Trapani tearfully told WMXI. “But why my wife hid that letter is beyond me.”

 The letter remained hidden for more than 50 years after Tony Trapani's late wife hid it in a filing cabinet. (WXMI)

 The family is planning a paternity test, just to make sure the belated bombshell in the letter is legit.

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 On a mobile device? Click here to watch video. ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video

 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- An elderly Grand Rapids man has finally met his son.

 The man had tried having kids all his life, but thought it was a life goal he never accomplished.

 "He's my full son that I've had my whole life, but why my wife hid that letter is beyond me."

 A letter was sent by the child's mother more than 50 years ago that told him of his then 5-year-old son. That man is now 61-years-old.

 It was a message believed to have been hidden by his wife for decades.

 Tony Trapani, 81, said that after his wife passed away, he was cleaning out one of her old filing cabinets when he came across the letter.

 Father and son only met for the first time Sunday, and Trapani said he feels like a new dad.

 Samuel Childress was finally able to meet his father for the first time.

 "I always asked my mom, I said, 'Well what does he look like?' She said, 'Well, go look in the mirror.'"

 The letter sent by Samuel's mother back in 1959 is postage stamped on that date.

 "I have a little boy," it reads. "He is five years old now. What I'm trying to say Tony is he is your son. He was born November 13th, 1953."

 Childress said that his mother told him that she had sent the letter, but figured his father was ignoring him.

 Trapani claims that his wife at the time intercepted the letter and hid it in a filing cabinet for decades while the couple couldn't conceive a child on their own.

 "Why my wife didn't tell me," said Trapani. "I don't know. She wanted children. She couldn't have any. She tried and tried."

 "He's my full son that I've had my whole life, but why my wife hid that letter is beyond me."

 Childress said that while growing up, it was his understanding that his father got the letter, but didn't want anything to do with him. He grew up in Pennsylvania, and meeting his father was just a distant thought.

 "Just to know him now is so important to me. It's going to fill that void," he said.

 Father and son are now catching up on a lifetime of memories, making the most out of the time they have left, knowing they can't go back in time or dwell on the secret that kept them apart for so long.

 The family is also planning to have a paternity test done just to be 100 percent sure. |||||

Write a summary.

– An elderly man who's wanted kids his whole life just learned that he's had one—for 61 years. Tony Trapani and his wife tried for years to have their own children, and when he was cleaning out her filing cabinets after her recent death, he discovered a bombshell of a letter from another woman mailed in 1959: "I have a little boy. He is five years old now. What I'm trying to say Tony is he is your son," the woman wrote. Now Trapani, who's 81 and lives in Grand Rapids, Mich., has met his 61-year-old son, Samuel Childress, who grew up in Pennsylvania assuming his father didn't want to know him, reports the New York Daily News. "He's my full son that I've had my whole life, but why my wife hid that letter is beyond me," Trapani tells Fox 17. "I don't know. She wanted children. She couldn't have any. She tried and tried." Chimes in Childress, "Just to know him now is so important to me—it's going to fill that void." They do, however, plan to perform a paternity test to be sure that the big news is more than just a good story. (Speaking of long-lost relatives, this 18-year-old plans to marry her father, with whom she recently reunited.)


Summarize this article:

Administration refuses to grant waiver for 1920 law to speed transport of salt for icy roads

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 The Obama Administration has not approved a waiver that would allow New Jersey quick access to tons of salt for ice-covered roads at a port in Maine despite the state being at dangerously low levels.

 Townsquare Media reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied the state’s request for a waiver of the Jones Act, a 1920 law requiring that all cargo and passengers moving between points in the United States be transported on American vessels.

 A waiver would have allowed New Jersey to get the salt within days from a foreign transport in Searsport, Maine.

 New Jersey Department of Transportation Spokesman Joe Dee told the Washington Free Beacon that a waiver from the Jones Act appears “unlikely.”

 “We were pursuing a waiver, but we’ve been advised we wouldn’t get one,” Dee said. “It seems unlikely we will get it.”

 DHS did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

 The numerous winter storms this year have left New Jersey low on salt to treat their roads.

 “The recent series of winter storms in New Jersey have reduced the supply of rock salt to critically low levels,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R.) wrote in an executive order prior to the latest Nor’easter that hit the state last week.

 “Rock salt is an essential to maintaining safe travel on state, county, local, and interstate roads as a result of the dangerous and icy conditions during these winter storms,” Christie wrote.

 The state is now scrambling to access rock salt.

 “The supplies are tight. We have enough for another storm or two,” Dee said Friday night.

 Another storm hit the state on Saturday, dumping several inches of snow during the day and night, leaving roadways slick and icy.

 Dee said plans now include making multiple trips—as many as four—to transport the salt from Maine to New Jersey. He acknowledged, it will “take us a longer time.” With a waiver the state would have made only one trip to get the 40,000 tons of salt in Maine.

 Municipalities in the past were able to access the state’s stockpile of salt if needed, but the shortage has made such sharing impossible.

 “If a county ran out in the past, we would share salt. Unfortunately, we are not in that position,” said Dee. “That’s not an option.”

 The salt silos in Jersey City were empty. Towns such as Randolph, Fort Lee, and Englewood reportedly had to leave roads untreated. Salting in South Bergen was also curtailed due to its shortage. Monmouth County also ran out of salt as another storm hit on Saturday. Additionally, Morris County was running low and advised its towns to conserve salt.

 Middletown, located in Monmouth County, was also very low on salt, according to Township Committeeman and former Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger. He said on Saturday the town was much better off than other surrounding municipalities.

 Middletown was mixing its salt with brine. It also resorted to using sand on it roadways. “We’re doing all of those things to try to stretch out our supplies,” Scharfenberger said. “It is a little scary the prospect of running out. Plowing can only do so much.”

 Neither Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) nor Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) responded to requests for comment.

 The Obama Administration came under fire for not giving a Jones Act waiver in the wake of the Gulf Oil spill. However, they did grant a waiver after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D., N.Y.) requested one to allow fuel supplies to be replenished in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. ||||| As winter ice puts lives at risk on New Jersey roads, Townsquare Media has learned that a 1920 federal maritime law stranded a shipment of road salt at a Maine seaport while urgent requests for a waiver were denied by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

 A salter pre-treats roads in Wall in December. As of February 14, New Jersey has completely run out of road salt for such applications. (Joe Palmer, Townsquare Media NJ)

 Jim Simpson, head of New Jersey’s Department of Transportation, would confirm only that the state’s salt supply is dangerously low and may only last through two more snowfalls, with one expected Saturday. He also confirmed that federal officials were asked for help concerning a 94-year-old law preventing foreign vessels from moving cargo from one U.S. port to another. Meanwhile, New Jersey has been unable to transport 40,000 tons of available road salt in Searsport, Maine in time to meet the urgent need here.

 Townsquare Media has learned federal help was actually refused, literally causing New Jersey’s road salt shipment to miss the boat. A foreign transport sitting ready to load in Searsport is now approaching Port Newark empty, because the Department of Homeland Security denied the state’s request for a waiver of the requirement for an American-flagged vessel.

 Simpson alluded to the situation in an exclusive interview with Eric Scott, aired on New Jersey 101.5 Friday morning but said he was hopeful the federal government would help. But Townsquare Media has learned that the state’s request to Homeland Security, which has granted such emergency waivers in the past, was turned down and New Jersey officials have spend the past week trying to get it reconsidered.

 The law in question is the 1920 Maritime Act, also known as the Jones Act, a measure originally enacted to protect the American shipping industry from foreign competition. In 2012, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York was able to get Homeland Security to waive the requirement in order to facilitate petroleum shipments to the Northeast during the gasoline shortage.

 In his interview on the Townsquare Radio Network Friday morning, Simpson said: “I’ve got a shipload of salt, 400 miles from here.” He added: “The only thing that we’ve been able to define as an American flag vessel would take us a month to get the salt here when I can have the salt here in a day and a half.”

 Further details obtained by Townsquare paint an even stranger picture. The longer, slower solution described by Simpson for getting the road salt from Maine to Port Newark would involve two barges that would not only take at least three weeks to make the trip but would also be able to carry only 10,000 tons each, leaving half the shipment still stuck in Maine. Worse yet, while New Jersey waited unsuccessfully for a federal waiver, at least one available transport ship, under a Marshall Islands flag, was docked in Searsport ready to accept all 40,000 tons. Instead, the “bulk carrier”, called the Anastasia S, is now en route to Port Newark empty.

 David Matthau contributed to this report.

 UPDATE: Thomas A. Allegretti, chairman of the American Maritime Partnership (AMP) released the following statement Friday afternoon after reading this report:

 “America’s domestic maritime industry is responding to a last minute request for road salt to help the people of New Jersey. The industry is joining with other modes of transportation and road salt providers to ensure the state has the resources it needs amid widespread demand. New Jersey has filed a request for a Jones Act waiver for a foreign-flagged vessel and we are confident it will be considered fairly and appropriately in accordance with federal law.”

 HEAR THE SIMPSON INTERVIEW:

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 “I’ve got a shipload of salt, 400 miles from here, with a ship sitting empty at the dock that can bring it to Newark and we’re working with the federal government because we don’t have an American flag vessel,” Simpson said. “And there’s this ‘Jones Act’ that’s about a hundred years old that says if you’re moving any products from the United State to the United States on the water, you have to have an American flag on the vessel. And the only thing that we’ve been able to define as an American flag vessel would take us a month to get the salt here when I can have the salt here in a day and a half.” Discussions with federal officials may lead to “a favorable ruling” on the matter Friday, he said. “That’s the kind of stuff that we’re dealing with.” The Jones Act, also known as the Maritime Act of 1920, is a U.S. trade protection measure that has occasionally been waived in emergency situations, such as the 2012 gasoline shortage in the Northeast, according to a report that year by WNYC.org. Read More: Winter is $500M Hit to NJ Economy, Official Says | http://nj1015.com/winter-is-500m-hit-to-nj-economy-official-says/?trackback=tsmclip |||||

– In a season of seemingly endless snow, New Jersey towns are running out of rock salt—and 40,000 tons of the stuff is supposed to be on its way. Trouble is, the shipment is stuck in Maine because the vessel that would carry it doesn't have an American flag, as is required by the 1920 federal Maritime Act, which states that any shipment from one US port to another must be on a US-made ship piloted by a US crew, to help ensure a thriving merchant-marine fleet, New York Times reports. "We were pursuing a waiver" to the law, "but we've been advised we wouldn't get one," a rep for New Jersey's transportation department tells the Washington Free Beacon. The Maine shipment may now arrive in several installments, the transportation spokesman says. One possibility would see a pair of barges carrying the salt in a weeks-long process, says the head of the department, per New Jersey 101.5. Meanwhile the East Coast has been hit by three winter storm systems in one week, and New Jersey officials have barely enough salt for one more storm, the Morning Call reports. The situation is "as frustrating as frustrating can be. People aren't getting the services they need," Jersey City's mayor tells the Daily News. "We need salt and some help with Mother Nature."


– He might not get a full military funeral, but Parkland school shooting victim Peter Wang will get a nod from the US Army. The 15-year-old old Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps member who held doors open for students and staff fleeing bullets at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week will be honored with a Medal of Heroism, presented to his family at a memorial service Tuesday, reports the Daily Beast, which notes the medal is given to those whose actions "involved the acceptance of danger and extraordinary responsibilities." A medal was presented to relatives of 14-year-old JROTC member Alaina Petty at a memorial service Monday—the Florida Attorney General's Office is covering funeral costs for all 17 shooting victims—and will be given to 14-year-old Martin Duque's family on Saturday, the Army says. Alex Schachter, another 14-year-old killed in the shooting, is being honored with a scholarship fund totaling more than $125,000 as of this writing. It's designed to "fund increased security at schools" and help students "experience the joys of music," according to a GoFundMe page. Another arranged by the Broward Education Foundation has raised $1.7 million to be used "to provide relief and financial support" to victims and family members, who've received free transportation from JetBlue Airways. "We've all cried a lot—first in horror, but then because of the outpouring (of) generosity and compassion," BEF marketing director PeJay Ryan tells Fox News. Some 18 comfort dogs trained by Lutheran Church Charities are also providing relief. They "are good listeners and have a unique way of knowing when people are hurting," says CEO Tim Hetzner.

Expand this summary.

PARKLAND, Florida — The U.S. Army has given medals to three Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets killed in the Parkland school shooting last week, a spokesperson told The Daily Beast on Tuesday.

 The Medal of Heroism was presented to the family of Alaina Petty at a memorial service on Monday, the Army said, and will be given to the family of Peter Wang during his memorial service today. Martin Duque’s family will be given the medal on Saturday, the Army added. The medal recognizes cadets whose performance “involved the acceptance of danger and extraordinary responsibilities.”

 All three students were allegedly killed by a fellow JROTC member, Nikolas Cruz, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday.

 During the shooting, Wang, 15, held open a door to allow his fellow classmates to escape to safety. Students told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “He is so funny, caring and selfless.’’ Wang’s older cousin added, “He is so brave.”

 Petty, 14, was “excited to be part of the female color guard team and every day she would come home and tell me all the fun things she had learned,” Petty's mother told the Sun Sentinel. Duque, also 14, was remembered by family members as a football fan and a regular churchgoer, the Miami Herald reported. “He was sweet, affectionate and loved by his entire family. But above all else, he was my little brother,” Duque's brother Miguel wrote on a GoFundMe page to help cover additional funeral expenses.

 Military veterans are expected to attend Wang’s funeral on Tuesday.

 —Elisha Brown contributed to this report ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Less than a month after a gunman opened fire at a high school in Kentucky, the nation is grappling with yet another school shooting.

 Wednesday’s massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killed at least 17 people and wounded over a dozen others. The suspected gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, set off fire alarms to lure hundreds of students out of their classrooms so he could open fire with a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle.

 Cruz was captured about an hour later in Coral Springs, roughly a mile away from the school. The following day, Cruz told authorities he shot "students that he saw in the hallways and on school grounds," according to an arrest affidavit.

 “There really are no words,” Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said the day of the shooting.

 But in wake of the tragedy, the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012, the Broward community has received an outpouring of support.

 Read on to see what’s being done to help the shooting victims, their families, the local community and beyond.

 Comfort dogs arrive in Broward County

 At least 18 “comfort” dogs and 33 handlers arrived in Broward County from across the country, Tim Hetzner, the president and CEO of the nonprofit ministry Lutheran Church Charities (LCC), told Fox News.

 Jacob, a doe-eyed Golden Retriever, was first on the scene. He spent the day comforting students and faculty at the high school.

 “Dogs are good listeners and have a unique way of knowing when people are hurting,” he said.

 Like Jacob, all dogs used in LCC’s comfort dog program are Golden Retrievers – a breed chosen by the organization because “goldens are lovers by nature,” Hetzner said. LCC trains the dogs for 16 to 18 months and then places them in affiliated churches, schools and other ministries across the country.

 The dogs, which are trained to the level of a service dog, travel across the U.S. with their handlers whenever there is a crisis.

 While the dogs are there to comfort the students and faculty at the high school, their services are also available to parents, first responders and anyone in the Broward community “struggling with what took place.”

 “We go where we’re invited," Hetzner said. “We’re there to serve people and show mercy and compassion.”

 To help offset transportation costs, you can donate here.

 Donate to the victims' fund

 The Broward Education Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money for the public schools in Broward County, has set up an official GoFundMe donation page for the victims of the Stoneman Douglas shooting.

 As of Monday morning, the fund received more than $1.5 million of its $2 million goal – a significant increase from its initial goal of $300,000. The foundation will continue to increase the goal each time it's met, PeJay Ryan, the director of marketing at the Broward Education Foundation, told Fox News.

 All of the proceeds will go to those affected by the tragedy, Ryan said, as well as anyone who may need grief counseling.

 “We’ve all cried a lot - first in horror, but then because of the outpouring generosity and compassion.” - PeJay Ryan

 Memorial bracelets to honor the victims are also being created. And the foundation worked with Bank of America to set up a text-to-donate option as well, she said. To donate to the Stoneman Douglas fund, text PARKLAND to 20222.

 “We are in a unique position here, no one expected this to happen,” said Ryan. “We’ve all cried a lot – first in horror, but then because of the outpouring generosity and compassion.”

 You can donate to the GoFundMe campaign here.

 Additionally, at least one scholarship fund has been set up in the name of one of Wednesday's shooting victims.

 If you live in Florida, consider donating blood

 If you live in Florida, a local blood center is asking for your help, especially if your blood type is O negative.

 “While the immediate blood needs have been met, there is a need to replenish the area's O negative blood supply. O negative is the universal blood type and is used to treat trauma patients,” OneBlood said in a statement.

 As of Feb. 19, at least four shooting victims were still being treated at local hospitals.

 To donate, find a location here.

 Florida attorney general vows to cover funeral expenses

 Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced Wednesday that her office would pay for the funeral expenses of the 17 victims who died as a result of the shooting.

 "We will pay for the funeral expenses of these poor victims," Bondi said. "We will take care of it."

 Free transportation for victims’ families

 JetBlue Airways is providing free transportation for family members of victims who are traveling to Florida, the airline announced in a blog post.

 “This week’s events are felt by all of our 21,000 crewmembers, many of whom live in, work from and travel through the Broward County area, home to our Focus City, Fort Lauderdale," JetBlue said. "We want to do our part to help the community, and support South Florida through this difficult time."

 Volunteers in the Family Assistance Center will help people book the free travel, the airline said.

 Once the families have arrived in Florida, ride-sharing service Lyft will provide free ground transportation in partnership with JetBlue, spokesperson Campbell Matthews confirmed to Fox News, adding the company is "heartbroken by the tragedy."

 JetBlue is also partnering with the Florida Panthers hockey team to hold a blood drive on Feb. 22.

 Fox News' Kaitlyn Schallhorn and Shira Bush contributed to this report. ||||| Alex Schachter, 14, resided in Parkland, Florida for the last eight years. Alex was tragically killed during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018. Alex was one of the first students to be killed when the shooter unlawfully entered the Freshman building armed with an AR-15 that he aimed through a window outside of his classroom, preying on the defenseless and senselessly taking Alex and his classmates away from their family and friends forever.

 Alex Schachter was a sweet and loving boy. As a freshman, Alex loved the marching band and played the trombone and baritone as part of the Eagle Regiment Marching band - the top marching band in the state of Florida! He is survived by his heartbroken parents, three siblings, grandparents and countless cousins, aunts, uncles and friends.

 In an effort to protect our children and our teachers, this fund has been created in order to raise funds to support a nationwide school safety commission spearheaded by Alex’s father Max Schachter. The goal of this safety commission will be to bring together the leaders and experts in our nation who are at the forefront of keeping students, teachers and administrators safe in their schools. Additionally, the Schachter family will be using the Alex Schachter Scholarship fund Foundation 501(c)(3), created in Alex's memory, to support increased safety measures and building enhancements that can be implemented to make schools safer across our nation. Please help keep Alex’s spirit alive by keeping future generations of children safe at school.

 This page has been set up by the family of Alex Schachter in Parkland, Florida. In addition to launching a safe school initiative, a portion of funds raised will be used to help students experience the joys of music and foster the importance of music education. Thank you all for your support and generosity.

 Share Tweet 28k shares on Facebook shares on Facebook ||||| Update 6/30 - Broward Education Foundation's official Stoneman Douglas Victims’ Fund has stopped accepting donations to this GoFundMe as of Saturday, June 30 at 11:59PM EST. As we've mentioned before, this GoFundMe will remain open so we can update you on our progress and as a record of what thousands and thousands of caring people accomplished together in support of the victims' families, survivors and those impacted by the tragedy. Distribution of funds, as directed by the volunteer Stoneman Douglas Victims' Fund Steering Committee, will commence in July. To view the Committee's Final Protocol for fund distribution, please visit http://stonemandouglasvictimsfund.org

 From our hearts to yours, thank you.

 Update 3/15 - The Stoneman Douglas Victims’ Fund Steering Committee was announced this afternoon. Led by former U.S. Senator George LeMieux, this group of volunteer community, business and civic leaders will work closely with the National Center for Victims of Crime to establish protocols, timelines and procedures for distributing funds. The complete list of steering committee members can be found at www.stonemandouglasvictimsfund.org

 This is a very sensitive, complex and thoughtful process and one that the committee takes very seriously. The committee will create a draft protocol for distribution of funds and will host Town Hall meetings for public input. The goal is to help the victims’ families, survivors and those impacted by this horrific atrocity as much as possible, and as quickly, fairly and efficiently as possible.

 In situations involving mass violence, the needs are great, so we will continue to accept donations for through June 30 with distributions taking place in July.

 Our sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of our donors. While nothing can erase the memory of that day, nor the loss of a loved one, your compassion, generosity and support is a testament to the inherent goodness in our society.

 If you or a loved one were affected by the event on February 14, 2018 and have questions about disbursements from Stoneman Douglas Victims' Fund, please fill out this contact form on the National Center for Victim's of Crime website here: https:// nationalcompassionfund.org/ funds/parkland-contact/

 Original 2/15 - Broward County Public Schools district is dealing with the unimaginable tragedy that unfolded on February 14th at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. There are no words to express the sorrow that we are all feeling.

 Donations raised here will be used to provide relief and financial support to the victims and families of the horrific shooting.

 Together with Superintendent Robert Runcie, the School Board of Broward County, Broward County Mayor Beam Furr and Commissioners, Broward Legislative Delegation and Broward County Public Schools family, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, as well as the entire Marjory Stoneman Douglas community.

 In response to the mass shooting, the Foundation, the National Center, and GoFundMe are collaborating to serve victims by maximizing resources and ensuring a victim-centered, transparent distribution process. Broward Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit direct support organization solely dedicated to raising funds for Broward County Public Schools, will serve as the central repository for the Stoneman Douglas Victims’ Fund and will organize a local steering committee responsible for setting the fund’s distribution policy. The National Center for Victims of Crime, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a leading authority on how victims are compensated for loss, will advise the committee, assist with ongoing fundraising efforts, administer victim application and vetting processes, and coordinate the distribution of proceeds from the Foundation’s official GoFundMe campaign, other fundraisers, and third-party donation sources. GoFundMe will advise the Foundation and support both ongoing fundraising and distribution of proceeds to victims and their families.

 In consultation with the National Center, the Foundation will form the steering committee that includes local leaders, and victim representatives to ensure that the voices of the victims are heard, as they are integral to the distribution process. Experts with experience in mass crime victim compensation and the needs of crime victims will also be asked to serve in a volunteer capacity. The fund and committee are completely transparent, and the committee will inform the public of its deliberations in the distribution of funds.

 There are no platform fees for using GoFundMe, so 100% of the funds collected after payment processing charges will go directly to the victims and families. GoFundMe has also donated $50,000 to the Fund to cover the committee’s and the National Center’s operating costs associated with developing and implementing the distribution plan so that 100% of the donations can be distributed directly to the victims and their families.

 Thank you for your support.

  |||||


WATCH: Cameras Capture Corvettes Being Sucked Into Sinkhole

 Security cameras were rolling Wednesday when a sinkhole opened up underneath the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. As we reported earlier, eight of the iconic sports cars were sucked down into a hole about 40 feet deep.

 The museum has now posted videos of the hole opening up, the cars disappearing and what it looks like inside the pit. The museum's YouTube channel is here, and we'll embed several of the clips, which include different views of the collapse.

 National Corvette Museum YouTube

 National Corvette Museum YouTube

 National Corvette Museum YouTube

 Meanwhile, The Louisville Courier-Journal says there's no timetable at this point for when the cars will be removed from the hole and repairs are made to that wing of the museum. Engineers need to be sure it's safe to work inside the pit. ||||| A video tour of the National Corvette Museum, the exhibits and what the Museum has to offer, from the new Library and Archives to expanded Corvette Store, 50s-themed Corvette Cafe and much more! The Museum is located at I-65 exit 28 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Just 1-hour north of Nashville and less than 2-hours south of Louisville. The Museum is the 'Gateway to All Things Corvette!' |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– The National Corvette Museum is eight vehicles short thanks to yesterday's amazing car-chomping sinkhole, and now security video shows the first moments of the collapse in Bowling Green, Ky., reports NPR. Things are still a mess inside the museum, and there's no word yet on when workers will be able to retrieve the cars and assess the damage, reports the Louisville Courier-Journal. You can see more images at the museum's YouTube channel.


Article:

Doubt — and a reportedly royal severed head — haunts a murky corner of forensic science these days, as researchers squabble over an unearthed packet of mummified remains thought to have belonged to King Henry IV of France.

 The mystery has produced a frightful case of regret among two researchers who were part of the first team to investigate the purportedly royal noggin. This week, French pathologist Geoffroy Lorin de la Grandmaison and Leslie Eisenberg, an American forensic anthropologist, wrote to the British Medical Journal and urged the retraction of the 2010 study that first identified the disembodied head as belonging to Henry.

 At the heart of the macabre drama is an embalmed head with several vertebrae still attached. The remains were found in 1919 in the Royal Basilica of St. Denis outside Paris and reportedly secreted away by a civil servant. Reappearing almost a century later, the specimen still had its soft tissue and organs intact, right down to the open mouth and partially closed eyes.

 On the basis of CT imaging and digital facial reconstruction, French medical examiner and forensic osteo-archaeologist Philippe Charlier and a multidisciplinary team — including Eisenberg and Lorin de la Grandmaison — in 2010 identified the head as that of the charming and rakish monarch known variously as "the Green Gallant" and "Good King Henry."

 Even a mushroom-like growth on his nose and evidence of a pierced right ear seemed to point to King Henry IV. Though beloved by most of his people, the Bourbon monarch was assassinated in 1610 after 21 years on the throne.

 That was just the beginning of his misfortune. In 1793, marauding revolutionaries sacked Paris' churches and desecrated the graves of many a purported royal. Legend had it that Henry's remains got the same treatment that befell his descendant Louis XVI: Dead or not, it was off with his head.

 But researchers from the University of Leuven in Belgium were not so sure the head belonged to Good King Henry.

 Obtaining a sample of the mummified tissue, they conducted a genetic analysis and compared it with DNA samples given by three male descendants of the House of Bourbon. Analyzing the Y chromosome of the three descendants, as well as genes that reveal matrilineal descent, they found clear similarities among the three descendants. But none of those matched the DNA of the disembodied head.

 The team further compared the Y chromosome taken from the mysterious head with that taken from a blood-soaked handkerchief said to contain the genetic material of Louis XVI. (That "sample" was collected on Jan. 21, 1793, when a spectator at La Place de la Revolution in Paris thrust out the cloth to capture blood gushing from Louis' headless body.) The two samples did not match.

 Though widely used in genealogical research, paternity testing and forensics, the Y chromosome's pattern of repeated DNA letters is not as definitive a test of genetic relatedness as are the patterns found on other chromosomes. So perhaps this still was Henry's head?

 "Impossible!" declared Jean-Jacques Cassiman, an emeritus professor at the University of Leuven and coauthor of the Belgian team's study, whose results were published in the European Journal of Human Genetics this month.

 The findings came on top of an earlier dismissal by French historian Philippe Delorme. Among other things, Delorme noted that the head bore no sign of craniotomy, as would be typical for a member of the royal family at that time. In such an esteemed person, craniotomy incisions would have been made in life (as a treatment for infection, head trauma and other ills) and in death (as a means to harvest "rondels," diskettes of bony tissue that were subsequently worn around the neck as an amulet).

 Charlier, the lead investigator of the 2010 study, has been stout in defense of his findings. Illegitimacy — not of his methods but among many princelings of the French court — may explain the genetic mismatch, Charlier has argued. Extramarital liaisons among members of the court make it "hopeless," he said, to ascertain lineage using DNA tests over so many generations.

 Such protests have failed to discourage defections from Charlier's team of researchers. Hence this week's letter by two of Charlier's coauthors and two others who have challenged the 2010 findings, saying that "robust scientific arguments ... negate the conclusions."

 "The retraction of the article is now justified, as a rigorous scientific anthropological study should have excluded the hypothesis (and the findings) that the head belonged to" Henry, the four wrote.

 Nailing down the identity of long-lost bones is tricky, and disputes among forensic scientists are common, said Alison Galloway, a forensic anthropologist at UC Santa Cruz who has followed, but not been involved in, the royal kerfuffle.

 "The original analysis looked good," Galloway said. But Charlier's team should have known that its conclusions would be challenged, she said.

 "If you had a group of 100 skulls — all men of European ancestry, let's say — and you had a photograph of a person, about 10 of those skulls could superimpose pretty well on that photograph," she said. Although facial reconstruction makes for great visuals in a TV drama, "it's a technique much better used to exclude somebody" than to identify him definitively.

 With grieving relatives, criminal defendants and judges looking on, forensic scientists typically stick with conclusions that will hold up in a court of law. Only rarely do their disputes become the object of royal speculation and historical ghost stories.

 Charlier's investigation, and the ensuing fracas, may be more of a divertissement than a serious professional debate, Galloway said. "Why are we so worried about whether it's Henry's head?"

 melissa.healy@latimes.com ||||| Crawl of outlinks from wikipedia.org started March, 2016. These files are currently not publicly accessible. Properties of this collection. It has been several years since the last time we did this. For this collection, several things were done: 1. Turned off duplicate detection. This collection will be complete, as there is a good chance we will share the data, and sharing data with pointers to random other collections, is a complex problem. 2. For the first time, did all the different wikis. The original runs were just against the enwiki. This one, the seed list was built from all 865 collections. ||||| This photo dated Thursday Dec. 16, 2010 and provided by Galaxie Presse shows what is believed to be the head of former French King Henry IV pictured in the 1930s. A 400-year-old skull that French researchers believe was the head of celebrated King Henri IV was squirreled away for decades in the attic of a now-retired public servant, and now has been handed over to one of his Bourbon dynasty descendants. (AP Photo/Galaxie Presse) NO SALES Three years ago, French researchers declared that a centuries-old mummified head was that of the beloved King Henri IV. But now a new study says, "Non!"

 The original conclusion was based largely on facial reconstruction techniques and signs the skull had injuries similar to those suffered by the monarch. The new study looked at DNA instead.

 It found a genetic mismatch between the head and three living male relatives of the 17th-century French king. The researchers concluded the head didn't come from anybody in the royal lineage.

 Henri IV was one of France's best-loved kings, credited with bringing religious peace to the country and building Parisian landmarks like the Pont Neuf bridge during his reign from 1589 to 1610. He was the first of the Bourbon monarchs and grandfather of the Sun King Louis XIV.

 It's "impossible" that the head belongs to Henri IV, said Jean-Jacques Cassiman, an emeritus professor at the University of Leuven, one of the authors of the new study. The research was published online Wednesday in the European Journal of Human Genetics.

 The same study also found a blood sample previously attributed to King Louis XVI, one of Henri's descendants, lacked any royal ties. Louis XVI died on the guillotine during the French Revolution and many spectators reportedly soaked their handkerchiefs in the king's blood. But Cassiman and colleagues found the lingering traces of powdered blood on the handkerchief they tested did not match the Bourbon family DNA.

 Cassiman said he wasn't sure who the head or the blood sample belonged to. The DNA from both failed to match samples from other royal families on record.

 This is a schematic representation of the paternal line of the three living Bourbons and the French kings Henry IV and Louis XVI. Credit: KU Leuven

 Amid the frenzy of the French revolution, the royal tombs at Saint Denis near Paris were dug up and some accounts claim Henri IV's head got chopped off and stolen. Cassiman and his co-authors dispute that Henri was decapitated and believe the king is still buried in Saint Denis after the tombs were resealed in 1817.

 "That is impossible to verify," said Michael Rowe, a senior lecturer in European history at King's College London, who was not connected to either study. He said there wasn't much evidence one way or the other to suggest what happened to Henri's head. But Rowe said that Henri IV's reputation as one of France's best kings might have saved his body from decapitation. "If the revolutionaries were going to spare any of the kings, it would have been Henri IV."

 This is a schematic representation of the maternal line of the French kings Henry IV and Louis XVII. Credit: KU Leuven

 Philippe Charlier, author of the 2010 study that identified the head as Henri IV, dismissed the new research. He said he and colleagues have found an exact match between a three-dimensional comparison of the ancient head and Henri IV's death mask. He said the work will be published soon in a forensic journal.

 Charlier added there were numerous doubts about the paternity of various kings in the Bourbon line, which might explain why there was no link between the DNA of modern-day descendants and the ancient head.

 "It is hopeless to try to match a family tree and a series of genetic links (over) such a long period," he said in an email.

 Frank Ruehli, of the University of Zurich and the Swiss Mummy project, agreed there could be questions about paternity in the Bourbon line and also raised concerns about the authenticity of the ancient DNA samples, as he said it was very difficult to get good data from a sample several centuries old.

 "The best would be to look at (Henri IV's) heart as well," he said. "If you have multiple tissues from the same body showing the same results, that would be a positive identification," he said. Ruehli said given the lack of complete data, it was impossible to know for sure whom the head belonged to.

 Charlier said the mummified head is currently in a Parisian bank vault awaiting reburial but that there are no exact plans yet.

 Explore further: Dried squash holds headless French king's blood, study finds

 More information: www.nature.com/ejhg

  |||||
What is a summary?

– Forensic researchers have a royal dispute on their hands: They can't agree on whether a mummified head belongs to France's Henry IV, explains the Los Angeles Times. The question seemed settled in 2010 when a team of researchers used facial-reconstruction techniques to conclude that it was indeed "Good King Henry," who was assassinated in 1610. But now a second team of scientists says it isn't so because DNA tests don't match Henry's living relatives. They wrote this week to the British Medical Journal urging a retraction of the earlier study, and, in fact, two members of the 2010 team agree that their conclusions were faulty. Not so, says the lead researcher from 2010. He explained to phys.org in an earlier story that it's useless to make conclusions based on DNA results in part because the French royals were such philanderers. "It is hopeless to try to match a family tree and a series of genetic links (over) such a long period," he said. Until things get settled, the mummified head is resting in a bank vault in Paris. (In other mummified news, click to read about a big find in Peru's capital.)


Here is a news article: On Monday night, thousands of people lined the streets of Soho to remember and honour those who lost their lives in the Orlando shooting, which took place in Pulse, an LGBT nightclub.

 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and London Mayor Sadiq Khan were among those in attendance. LGBT people and supporters stood in silence to remember the victims, holding banners and signs with Pride slogans, such as 'Not Afraid'.

 49 rainbow coloured balloons - one for each person killed - were released into the air as people clapped and cheered after the silence - and then the chorus began to sing. ||||| In the aftermath of the mass shooting that took place in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, vigils have been held across the world to pay tribute to the victims.

 The London vigil took place Monday night.

 SEE ALSO: Tributes pour in across the UK for victims of the Orlando shooting

 London Gay Men's Chorus joined thousands of other people at Old Compton Street, where they sang Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" to an emotional crowd. |||||
A summary of this is?

– Love is pouring into Orlando from around the world—including some 4,000 miles away in London. Among those to gather at a vigil in the city's Soho district Monday—in memory of those killed at Pulse nightclub—was the London Gay Men's Chorus, which performed a moving rendition of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" that "will send shivers down your spine," per Mashable. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, in attendance along with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, described a "sense of solidarity," per the Telegraph. "Love, in the end, defeats this crime, because it's stronger," he said.


Here is a news article: The interview segments on The Colbert Report are usually little more than an excuse for host Stephen Colbert to show off his virtuoso in-character improvisational skills, while the guests play along with varying degrees of success.

 On Tuesday night’s Report, however, Colbert met his quick-witted match in Pussy Riot, the punk band whose members were imprisoned, then released, for insulting Russian President Vladmir Putin. Their feat was all the more impressive for the fact that they conducted the interview through a translator, which at first seemed like it might become drag on the interview.

 Instead, the responses from Pussy Riot members Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina were so sharp, funny, and at times poignant, that the presence of the translator only served to hang the viewer on every word. They talked about their imprisonment and release, took shots at Putin, daring him to put them back in jail, and provided alternately hilarious and sobering commentary on the state of Russia’s anti-gay laws. Sometimes, it seems, humor isn’t lost in translation, it is revealed.

 Here’s the video of Colbert’s interview with Pussy Riot, in two parts, from Comedy Central:

 Part Two:

 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||
A summary of this is?

– Two newly released members of Pussy Riot tell the New York Times that they're kicking around the idea of running for political office in Russia. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, currently visiting the US as part of an international tour, also made clear that they have no intentions of tamping down their outspoken ways. “This is certainly not the time for us to be afraid," says Tolokonnikova. "The situation in Russia has gotten so much worse. And if we couldn’t keep quiet about it then, then we certainly won’t keep quiet about it now." Alyokhina adds that the support they received from around the world made them feel free even while imprisoned. “In light of that, it’s kind of silly to talk about having to go through that a second time as something that would instill fear in us.” The interview is fairly routine stuff, but not-so-routine was their visit to the Colbert Report, where Stephen Colbert "met his quick-witted match," observes Mediaite. Sample response when asked about Vladimir Putin: "We have different ideas about a bright future, and we don't want a shirtless man on a horse leading us" into that future. Watch it here.


Summarize this article:

In a scathing bit of reportage from Bloomberg Businessweek we discover that retailer Target had received word that its security system had been compromised nearly two weeks before it moved to act on the information.

 In fact, last year Target hired FireEye, a security firm, to watch their servers for malware. The firm, which has a Bangalore-based response team, informed Target HQ in Minneapolis that someone had hacked the company on November 30. And no one did anything about it.

 In short, according to Bloomberg, “for some reason, Minneapolis didn’t react to the sirens.”

 The piece, as a whole, is delightfully detailed. It describes Target’s security system as well as FireEye’s “honeypot” servers that fooled attackers into thinking they had dropped into running servers but instead let them fool around in a sandboxed environment while FireEye watched. Then things got a little hairy.

 The breach could have been stopped there without human intervention. The system has an option to automatically delete malware as it’s detected. But according to two people who audited FireEye’s performance after the breach, Target’s security team turned that function off. Edward Kiledjian, chief information security officer for Bombardier Aerospace, an aircraft maker that has used FireEye for more than a year, says that’s not unusual. “Typically, as a security team, you want to have that last decision point of ‘what do I do,’ ” he says. But, he warns, that puts pressure on a team to quickly find and neutralize the infected computers.

 What this points to, in the end, is inaction on the part of Target and a clear effort by FireEye to shore up its reputation. If Target couldn’t be bothered to delete the malware, this piece suggests it’s not FireEye’s fault. While it never devolves into throwing anyone under the bus, it’s clear Target’s CIO Beth Jacob, who resigned last week, bore the brunt of the blame.

 It just goes to show you that the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley. You can read Businessweek’s piece here. ||||| Target was prepared for its massive hack in November and knew of it early on, but did nothing to stop it, according to a report.

 A Bloomberg Businessweek claims that, months prior to the attack, the retailer installed a $1.6 million malware detection tool from FireEye. Target also had a group of security specialists in Bangalore monitor the system at all hours. On Nov. 30, the Bangalore team got an alert and notified Target's security team in its Minneapolis headquarters. For some reason, however, that team did nothing about an attack that would eventually compromise up to 40 million customers' credit card data. (Target later revealed that personal information like email addresses and phone numbers had been compromised for 70 million customers, meaning a total of 110 million people may have been affected.)

 See also: How to Check If Hackers Stole Your Data in Massive Target Breach

 The report, which is based on a two-month investigation, contradicts Target's statements about the incident until now. In a Congressional testimony, the company claims that it only learned of the attack in mid-December, after the U.S. Department of Justice caught it and contacted Target. However, Businessweek cites computer logs that show there were FireEye alerts from Nov. 30 and then Dec. 2, when a second attack occurred. The article doesn't outline what specifically went wrong with Target's 300-person security team, except to characterize the inaction as a series of "blunders." FireEye has an option to automatically delete malware when it's detected, but Target's security team disabled that feature, according to the report.

 Target's President and CEO Gregg Steinhafel issued a statement about the report, saying the company is in the midst of a company-wide probe to determine what happened. Target's CIO during the hack, Beth Jacob, resigned earlier this month.

 Meanwhile, the report also speculates that the perpetrator of the hack may be Andrey Khodyrevskiy, a 22 year-old Ukrainian hacker who goes by the name Rescator. Khodyrevskiy in Odessa, which is described as a haven for "carders," a.k.a. dealers in stolen credit card info. However, Businessweek cautions that "there’s no definitive proof that Rescator and Khodyrevskiy are the same person." |||||

– If only Target had top-notch security software in place to prevent last year's disastrous hack. Oh wait, it did. In fact, a report by Businessweek/Bloomberg says the software was essentially screaming that something was amiss well in advance of any actual theft of customers' credit card data. Target had plenty of time to react—but did nothing. The $1.6 million software program from security firm FireEye detected the installation of malware on Nov. 30 and multiple times afterward, before hackers started stealing data, but the urgent alerts went unheeded. Why didn't the software kill the malware on its own? "The system has an option to automatically delete malware as it's detected. But according to two people who audited FireEye's performance after the breach, Target's security team turned that function off," says the story, which follows a two-month investigation. "It's possible that FireEye was still viewed with some skepticism by its minders at the time of the hack ..." The story points to "inaction on the part of Target and a clear effort by FireEye to shore up its reputation," writes blogger John Biggs at TechCrunch. "If Target couldn’t be bothered to delete the malware, this piece suggests it’s not FireEye’s fault." Click for the full story, which, as Mashable points out, speculates that the mastermind of the Target hack might be a 22-year-old Ukrainian.


Summarize this article:

 Scientists are trying to figure out why male fish in the Potomac River are growing immature eggs in their system. Some believe the deformity has to do with agriculture and industrial run-off that finds its way to the river. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

 For male smallmouth bass, sex change is increasingly not an option. In the chemical-laced Chesapeake Bay watershed and in rivers up through New England, it comes with the territory.

 Based on the latest U.S. Geological Survey on intersex fish, 85 percent of male smallmouth bass in waters in and around national wildlife refuges in the Northeast have developed "characteristics of the opposite sex." That's in addition to 90 percent of the species in some West Virginia waters and 50 percent to 100 percent in the southern stretch of the Potomac River. All of the affected fish had eggs where their testes should be, according to previous studies.

 [One of Europe’s oldest trees is changing its sex]

 Why this is happening remains a mystery, says the lead author of a new study, despite the problem being detected more than a decade ago. “It is not clear what the specific cause of intersex is in these fish,” said Luke Iwanowicz, a USGS research biologist. “This study was designed to identify locations that may warrant further investigation."

 The strongest suspicion focuses on what is poured down the drains of homes, businesses and farms every day. Scientists are worried that prescription drugs such as birth control and mood-control pharmaceuticals, flushed down toilets, and chemical pesticides such as atrazine, washed off farms by rain, have turned creeks, streams and rivers into chemical soups that disrupt the endocrines of marine life.

 [How birth control pills are also altering the sex lives of fish]

 These substances throw off functions that regulate hormones and the reproductive system, said USGS biologist Vicki Blazer, a co-author of the latest study and lead author of numerous earlier reports. At one polluted site Blazer examined in the Susquehanna River near Hershey, Pa., two years ago, 100 percent of the male smallmouth bass sampled had eggs.

 The surprising thing found in the most recent survey, Iwanowicz said, is that the bass are being sexually transformed in more pristine waters at national wildlife refuges managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency's 560 refuges -- 71 in the Northeast -- provide a sanctuary for 1,000 fish species, 700 bird species and about 200 species of mammals.

 Smallmouth bass are "like the canary in the coal mine," Iwanowicz said. "In the case of this specific study, we’re getting a better handle on how widespread [the problem] is. We’re seeing this signal at national wildlife refuges, … evidence that in areas that are managed for animal health, stuff is going on behind the scenes."

 A magnification of a cross-section view of a smallmouth bass' testes that shows immature eggs, which are round circles on the monitor. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

 Among the 19 refuges included in the study were Blackwater and Patuxent in Maryland, Mason Neck and Rappahannock River Valley in Virginia, Great Swamp in New Jersey, Cherry Valley in Pennsylvania and Moosehorn in Maine.

 "These effects have been observed in other organisms, including mammals," said Don Tillitt, another co-author who is a research toxicologist at the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center in Missouri. "The mechanism occurs in the epi-genome, around the genome. Not the genes, but how those genes are expressed."

 A USGS study released in March found that male fish exposed to a synthetic hormone called 17a-ethinylestradiol, or EE2, produced offspring that struggled to fertilize eggs. And their grandchildren suffered a 30 percent decrease in their fertilization rate.

 [Here's how the chemical industry blocks science that could determine why fish are changing sex]

 The problem extends well beyond the Chesapeake Bay region that includes the District, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania. The USGS, which found intersex bass in the Columbia, Colorado and Mississippi river basins in 2009, calls it a "global issue" given changes that have been identified in locations worldwide.

 The previous study also determined that the chemical BPA, used widely in plastics, had a similar effect on the small Japanese medaka fish. Marine scientists track the medaka because it reproduces so quickly that researchers can see results of subsequent generations faster than slow-reproducing species such as smallmouth bass.

 Intersex changes in male fish have been recorded in 37 species so far, though scientists have yet to identify a single chemical responsible for the transformation.

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 A ‘supergene’ turns these male birds into female impersonators or sneaky mate thieves — for life ||||| Eighty five percent of male smallmouth bass and 27 percent of male largemouth bass tested in waters in or near 19 National Wildlife Refuges in the Northeast U.S. were intersex, according to a new study by U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers. Intersex is when one sex develops characteristics of the opposite sex. It is tied to the exposure of fish to endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can affect the reproductive system and cause the development of characteristics of the opposite sex, such as immature eggs in the testes of male fish. Intersex is a global issue, as wild-caught fish affected by endocrine-disrupting chemicals have been found in locations across the world. Estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemicals are derived from a variety of sources, from natural estrogens to synthetic pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals that enter the waterways. Examples include some types of birth control pills, natural sex hormones in livestock manures, herbicides and pesticides. “It is not clear what the specific cause of intersex is in these fish,” said Luke Iwanowicz, a USGS research biologist and lead author of the paper. “This study was designed to identify locations that may warrant further investigation. Chemical analyses of fish or water samples at collection sites were not conducted, so we cannot attribute the observation of intersex to specific, known estrogenic endocrine—disrupting chemicals.” This prevalence of intersex fish in this study is much higher than that found in a similar USGS study that evaluated intersex in black basses in nine river basins in the United States. That study did not include river basins in the Northeast. "The results of this new study show the extent of endocrine disrupting chemicals on refuge lands using bass as an indicator for exposures that may affect fish and other aquatic species," said Fred Pinkney, a USFWS contaminants biologist and study coauthor. "To help address this issue, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service encourages management actions that reduce runoff into streams, ponds and lakes -- both on and off of refuge lands.” The journal article, Evidence of estrogenic endocrine disruption in smallmouth and largemouth bass inhabiting Northeast U.S. National Wildlife Refuge waters: a reconnaissance study,” by L.R. Iwanowicz, V.S. Blazer, A.E. Pinkney, C.P. Guy, A.M. Major, K. Munney, S. Mierzykowski, S. Lingenfelser, A. Secord, K. Patnode, T.J. Kubiak, C. Stern, C.M. Hahn, D.D. Iwanowicz, H.L. Walsh, and A. Sperry is available online in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. ||||| A strange thing is happening to male smallmouth and largemouth bass swimming in waterways in parts of the Northeast: They are increasingly showing up with characteristics of the opposite sex.

 In a survey of 19 national wildlife preserves, researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service found this month that a whopping 85 percent of smallmouth bass and 27 percent of male largemouth bass were intersex.

 "What we're finding is the presence of immature eggs in the gonads of the male fish," said Luke Iwanowicz, a USGS research biologist. "This has basically been an indication of exposure of estrogens such as compounds that enforce the female physiology."

 Iwanowicz is the lead author of a paper on the phenomenon, which has been published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.

 Fish are often used as indicators of aquatic health, and in this case, are being used to showcase the increasing threat of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are being dumped into our rivers, streams, swamps, and lakes. Among the main culprits are hormones in livestock manure and herbicides and pesticides found in runoff. Trace amounts of pharmaceuticals, like birth control pills, are also showing up in waterways after being discharged from wastewater treatment plants.

 "Estrogens are hormone signaling molecules that work in low concentrations," Iwanowicz said of the chemicals, which are found mostly in the organs of the fish, rather than the flesh that people eat.

 "The low concentrations of these hormones can have potentially profound effects," he said. "We are looking at fish but, of course, there is that concern that, if this stuff is in the water, it can be affecting other wildlife."

 He added, "We're not sure how it works into the human dimension but it's kind of worth considering."

 Related: Scientists Want To See Microbeads Banned — And California Is Leading The Way

 In conducting the study, Iwanowicz and his colleagues did not conduct a chemical analysis on the water so they could not say for sure what was to blame for the intersex fish. But the findings suggest that EDCs were the most likely the culprit.

 The problem of intersex fish has been documented over the past two decades in nearly 40 fish species worldwide. Scientists believe their prevalence is more widespread than previously thought and could be starting to take a toll on some populations, either by reducing a fish's ability to reproduce or weakening its immune system and making them more vulnerable to disease.

 "Estrogenic exposure is a problem throughout the developed world and there are many instances in which fish population health was degraded through the presence of estrogenic compounds," said Heiko L. Schoenfuss, director of the Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

 "Although estrogens by themselves seldom reach environmental concentrations that would result in the collapse of a fish population, they are an important and potent environmental stressor that may impeded the recovery of aquatic ecosystems that have experienced other sources of disturbances," he said.

 A 2009 study by the USGS examined 16 fish species from 1995 to 2004 and found a third of all male smallmouth bass and a fifth of all male largemouth bass were intersex. Intersex fish were found in a third of all sites examined from the Apalachicola, Colorado, Columbia, Mobile, Mississippi, Pee Dee, Rio Grande, Savannah, and Yukon River basins.

 John Arway, executive director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, said the most recent findings reflect what has been found in the state's waters. A USGS study last year found intersex fish in Pennsylvania's Susquehanna, Delaware, and Ohio River basins. Four of the wildlife refuges in the latest study are at least partly located in the state.

 "Obviously we're concerned not only about the Susquehanna, but the other waters that either drain into or drain out of those national wildlife refuges," Arway said.

 Related: California's Fishing Industry Feels the Pinch From Toxic Crabs

 Arway said his agency, along with the US Environmental Protection Agency, found that until 2005 there were no reports of disease among smallmouth bass on the Susquehanna River. Since then, sampling in some sites has revealed disease rates of up to 70 percent.

 "One of the things found was that EDCs and herbicides were the likely and probable causes for the effects we are seeing with our bass on the Susquehanna," he said, adding that there has been increased incidences of sores and lesions on the fish, as well as cancerous tumors.

 "[W]e are seeing the population of fishable bass declining on the Susquehanna," he said. "That is not to say EDCs are the only stressor that are effecting these young fish but we are starting to narrow down the causes and EDCs are the likely cause that is infecting and killing these young fish."

 Combating the problem won't be easy, since estrogen is so widespread — all living things produce it, after all — and its effects are often felt at very low concentrations. Fixes like upgrades to treatment plants, would be costly and limiting the use of herbicides and pesticides or controlling runoff from farms faces opposition from the agricultural industry.

 "We need to start acting on some of the chemicals we know cause these effects and not worry about those we can't control like a lot of the antibiotics," Arway said. "We need to trace those concentrations back up the tributaries, find out the major sources of where these chemicals are being applied and then work with the applicators — whether it's the farmers or the lawn care companies — to try to get them to adhere to the label restrictions."

 Follow Michael Casey on Twitter: @Mcasey1

 Image via Flickr |||||

– Male bass are experiencing unwanted sex changes, apparently thanks to the "chemical soups" that pass for waterways in the Northeast. The Washington Post reports 85% of male smallmouth bass surveyed in the region have "characteristics of the opposite sex"—specifically eggs where their testes should be. The same is true of 27% of area largemouth bass, Vice adds. For a recently published study, researchers tested bass near 19 wildlife refuges in the Northeast, according to a US Geological Survey press release. Researchers didn't do a chemical analysis of the water where the intersex fish were found, so they can't be sure specifically what is causing the sex changes. But they suspect the problem is things that get dumped down drains and into US waters. Researchers believe the likely culprits are birth control pills, pesticides, hormones in livestock manure, and other chemical-heavy products, according to the press release. Vice reports those products contain estrogen, which can produce dramatic effects even at very low levels. But this isn't just a problem in the Northeast. Up to 90% of male smallmouth bass in parts of West Virginia are intersex, and increasing sex changes have been noted in nearly 40 fish species around the world going back 20 years, according to the Post. Study author Luke Iwanowicz calls these fish "the canary in the coal mine." "We are looking at fish but, of course, there is that concern that, if this stuff is in the water, it can be affecting other wildlife," he tells Vice. (A hermaphrodite cat got gender assignment surgery this year.)