Summarize this article:

In a new memo, Romney pollster Neil Newhouse argues that “the key numbers in this election are the 43 straight months of 8 percent or higher unemployment, the 23 million Americans struggling to find work, and the 47 million Americans who are on food stamps,” and that any convention bounce will be temporary.

 “Don’t get too worked up about the latest polling,” Newhouse wrote. “While some voters will feel a bit of a sugar-high from the conventions, the basic structure of the race has not changed significantly. The reality of the Obama economy will reassert itself as the ultimate downfall of the Obama Presidency, and Mitt Romney will win this race.”

 Newhouse goes on to argue that Romney is proving to be more competitive in more states than anticipated, and he’s close to Obama in several swing states:

 Next, the battlefield has actually expanded, not contracted. Note that Wisconsin is now in play and our campaign is now up with ads in that state, while the latest poll numbers from the Albuquerque Journal in New Mexico show the race closing there. And this tightening is not an anomaly. Consider the traditional Democratic strongholds of New Jersey and Connecticut, won by President Obama in 2008 by margins of 15 points and 22 points, respectively. In both states, Pollster.com’s reporting of the most recent statewide polls puts Obama’s lead at only seven points in each of these states.

 All Signs Point to a Tight Race: Those watching the daily tracking polls know that, while the President has seen a bounce from his convention, his approval has already begun to slip, indicating it is likely to recede further. In eight states, Pollster.com’s reporting of the most recent statewide polls puts the margin between the two candidates at less than three points, virtually guaranteeing a tight race.

 Full memo below the jump.

 #more#

 TO: Interested Parties

 FROM: Neil Newhouse, Romney for President Pollster

 RE: State of the Race

 DATE: September 10, 2012

 Don’t get too worked up about the latest polling. While some voters will feel a bit of a sugar-high from the conventions, the basic structure of the race has not changed significantly. The reality of the Obama economy will reassert itself as the ultimate downfall of the Obama Presidency, and Mitt Romney will win this race.

 In his acceptance speech, President Obama did not offer any solutions for the millions of Americans unemployed or underemployed. But his convention speech was not the only big letdown to voters, as Americans also dealt with yet another dismal jobs report last week. President Obama is the only president in modern American history to stand before the American people asking for re-election with this many Americans struggling to find work. The key numbers in this election are the 43 straight months of 8% or higher unemployment, the 23 million Americans struggling to find work, and the 47 million Americans who are on food stamps.

 Today, there is no question: Americans are not better off than we were four years ago, and that is why President Obama has struggled in this race. The truth is that some of President Obama’s allies are claiming victory, but others are acknowledging the unsustainable position in which they find themselves. This is evidenced in a recent quote in The New York Times by an Obama Administration official saying, “It’s certainly not what I would call the position we wanted to be in at this point in the race…He’s going to have to make the case that we wouldn’t even be at 8 percent if it weren’t for him.”

 Consider the following points:

 The Obama Economy: The stakes are very high in this election, and voters understand the future of our country is on the line. This may be lost on those living within the hyper-political world in and around the Beltway, but it is not lost in communities in battleground states. In short, the Romney-Ryan campaign understands Americans struggling in the Obama economy will determine the outcome of the race, and once the preponderance of information about the President’s failed policies – combined with Mitt Romney’s vision to strengthen the middle class – are communicated, our nation will move in a different direction.

 All Signs Point to a Tight Race: Those watching the daily tracking polls know that, while the President has seen a bounce from his convention, his approval has already begun to slip, indicating it is likely to recede further. In eight states, Pollster.com’s reporting of the most recent statewide polls puts the margin between the two candidates at less than three points, virtually guaranteeing a tight race. Next, the battlefield has actually expanded, not contracted. Note that Wisconsin is now in play and our campaign is now up with ads in that state, while the latest poll numbers from the Albuquerque Journal in New Mexico show the race closing there. And this tightening is not an anomaly. Consider the traditional Democratic strongholds of New Jersey and Connecticut, won by President Obama in 2008 by margins of 15 points and 22 points, respectively. In both states, Pollster.com’s reporting of the most recent statewide polls puts Obama’s lead at only seven points in each of these states. In North Carolina, fresh off of hosting the Democratic National Convention, the Obama campaign is laying the groundwork for a stealth withdrawal. In a state the President won by a mere 14,000 votes in 2008, all one has to do is look at the Obama campaign’s television buy in the state to understand how they view their chances there. The Obama campaign’s North Carolina television buy has dropped 35% compared to June, and they have run more than twice as much advertising over the past two weeks in Rochester, Minnesota (hitting a small slice of Iowa), than they have in any North Carolina market.

 Historical Data: Political campaign historians will recall President Jimmy Carter led Ronald Reagan by a near double digit margin late in the fall in 1980. In that race, the voters made their decision based on the key issues confronting the nation and it determined the outcome. On the economy, the most important issue of this race, Mitt Romney leads by 51%-45%, according to the most recent CNN/ORC poll.

 Targeted Campaign: The Romney-Ryan campaign is running deeply local and targeted efforts in each of the states focusing on the voter groups that will make the difference on Election Day. Anyone asserting a “one-size-fits-all-campaign” effort is being put forward is simply misinformed, as evidenced by the 15 different ads released by the Romney Ryan campaign this past Friday and now running in nine states, including Wisconsin.

 New Money Advantage: All of this is not possible without resources, and the Romney-Ryan campaign and the Republican Party have a real advantage. In August alone, the Romney Victory effort raised more than $111 million, marking the third straight fundraising month of more than $100 million, putting us on a very strong financial footing for the final two months.

 Energy and Enthusiasm: CNN/ORC’s most recent polling shows that 62% of Republicans are “extremely” or “very” excited about this election, while only 56% of Democrats report being “extremely” or “very” excited. This Republican enthusiasm advantage has manifested itself in an unprecedented and historic grassroots effort that will have a significant impact on turnout in battleground states on Election Day. For instance, as of today, Victory volunteers have already knocked on more doors than during the entire 2008 campaign. (2.72 million in 2012 through September 8 compared to 2.43 million overall in 2008.)

 Romney’s Ground Game: During last weekend’s “Super Saturday,” we crossed the 20 million volunteer voter contact threshold. Also, the Romney campaign knocked on more doors last week than in any week during the 2008 campaign. More than 55,000 volunteers have knocked doors or made phone calls for Victory this year and that number is growing by the week. And volunteers have collected person-to-person identification information on nearly 1.7 million swing voters in battleground states thus far. And the numbers are even more startling when one looks at individual states. For instance, in Ohio alone, five times more phone calls and 28 times more door knocks have been made than at this time in 2008. This past Saturday, more than 100,000 doors were knocked on by Victory volunteers in the Buckeye State. And in Wisconsin, five times more phone calls and 72 times more door knocks have been made than at this time in 2008. And the list goes on and on.

 Mitt Romney will be the next President. The outcome of this race will ultimately be determined in favor of Governor Romney because he has the better leadership skills, the better record, and the better vision for where he wants to take the country. These advantages are being fueled by the commitment and determination of volunteers and voters to change direction and move our country on a path toward economic growth and job creation. In short, the combination of having the superior candidate, being in a margin-of-error race with an incumbent President, having a cash advantage, and having an unprecedented grassroots effort and a winning message on the economy ensure that Americans will make a change in leadership in Washington on November 6. ||||| AP

 The Mitt Romney campaign circulated a statement Monday from its pollster, Neil Newhouse, conceding that President Barack Obama "has seen a bounce from his convention" in daily tracking polls but urging readers not to "get too worked up about the latest polling."

 Newhouse characterized the recent shift to Obama as "a bit of a sugar-high from the conventions" and argued that the "basic structure of the race has not changed significantly":

 All Signs Point to a Tight Race: Those watching the daily tracking polls know that, while the President has seen a bounce from his convention, his approval has already begun to slip, indicating it is likely to recede further. In eight states, Pollster.com's reporting of the most recent statewide polls puts the margin between the two candidates at less than three points, virtually guaranteeing a tight race.

 In a related development, Rich Lowry of the National Review shares a comment from an unnamed Romney adviser who describes as "horses**t" reports that the Romney campaign "knows it's losing and that Ohio is slipping out of reach" in the wake of a weekend automated poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) showing Obama with a 5 percentage point lead in Ohio:

 Nobody in Boston thinks we're going to lose. We're in a tight race. We had a 4-5 point bounce after our convention and it evaporated when they had theirs. Now they have a 4-5 [point] bounce. It's going [to] evaporate in September. We feel good about the map. We're up with advertising in Wisconsin and I think North Carolina is going to come off the board. On Ohio, they've been spinning for months now that it's out of reach. There was a Columbus Post-Dispatch poll last week that had it 45-45. That's a more accurate picture of the state of the play there than any of the spin. PPP has these polls that just put chum in the water for the media. Sometimes I think there's a conscious effort between the media and Chicago to get Republicans depressed.

 A poll tracking model created for HuffPost Pollster by political scientist Simon Jackman, based on all polling at the national and state levels, shows that the conventions have helped boost Obama's share of the vote to his highest levels since early March. The model currently has Obama leading Romney by 3 percentage points. ||||| I asked a top Romney adviser what he makes of reports that the Romney campaign knows it’s losing and that Ohio is slipping out of reach (PPP has a new poll with Obama at 50 in the state):

 It’s horses**t. Nobody in Boston thinks we’re going to lose. We’re in a tight race. We had a 4-5 point bounce after our convention and it evaporated when they had theirs. Now they have a 4-5 bounce. It’s going to evaporate in September. We feel good about the map. We’re up with advertising in Wisconsin and I think North Carolina is going to come off the board. On Ohio, they’ve been spinning for months now that it’s out of reach.

 There was a Columbus Dispatch poll last week that had it 45-45.

 That’s a more accurate picture of the state of the play there than any of the spin. PPP has these polls that just put chum in the water for the media. Sometimes I think there’s a conscious effort between the media and Chicago to get Republicans depressed. And I hope our friends realize that all these media analysts out there are Democrats WHO WANT US TO LOSE. And the more Washington DC controls our economy, the more important inside-the-beltway publications are and the more money they make. The 202 area code is dominated by people who will make more money if Obama is reelected, so it’s not just an ideological thumb they’re putting on the scale for him, it’s a business interest.

 I actually think the other side is in a panic. You look at New Mexico closing up. And they’re not above 50 in any of their target states. Look, we’re raising money, they’re raising money, and it’s tight. This is a dogfight. But the numbers actually point to a romney win barring something unforeseen. |||||

– Mitt Romney's campaign was scrambling yesterday to reverse any impression that the candidate might be slipping into election oblivion. A GOP campaign pollster conceded that, yes, maybe President Obama got a bounce out of the Democratic National Convention, but he warned voters not to get "too worked up about it." All "signs point to a tight race," emphasized pollster Neil Newhouse, reports the Huffington Post. "While the president has seen a bounce, his approval has already begun to slip, indicating it is likely to recede further. In eight states, Pollster.com's reporting of the most recent statewide polls puts the margin between the two candidates at less than three points." An unnamed Romney source talking to the National Review also slammed reports that Romney's campaign "knows it's losing, and that Ohio is slipping out of reach." The source said Obama's convention bounce will quickly evaporate. "Sometimes I think there’s a conscious effort between the media and Chicago to get Republicans depressed," he told Richard Lowry. "And I hope our friends realize that all these media analysts out there are Democrats who want us to lose."


Here is a news article: Home

 5,000 pounds of meat

 1,600 pounds of produce

 This is how much food our residents consume in one month. It may take a village to raise a child but it takes the support and care of donors to feed and care for these majestic animals.

 We are Lion’s Gate Sanctuary. We provide a safe haven for lions, tigers, bears, and wolves, oh my! With the generosity of others we are able to fulfill our mission to provide an environment that is conducive to a happy, tranquil life filled with love, respect, and the very best of care for our residents.

 Please take a moment to get to know about us and the animals who need your help.

 SAVE the Animals of Lion’s Gate Sanctuary!

 Due to various circumstances, Lion’s Gate Sanctuary has to move for the safety and comfort of our animals. We need your help! Please click here for more information. ||||| By Jennifer Brice

 AGATE, Colo. (CBS4) – There’s a sad story in Elbert County after a wildlife sanctuary euthanized all of its animals — a total of 11 animals — lions, tigers, and bears.

 The Lion’s Gate Sanctuary in Agate said killing the animals was the only option after county commissioners denied it’s request to relocate.

 Jim Hansen has lived near the sanctuary for many years. He was sad to hear that that the animals, which went there for safekeeping and care, were euthanized.

 “It’s kind of disheartening,” he said. “At the same time I don’t know exactly what kind of problems they are facing down there.”

 In a statement to CBS4, the sanctuary owners said ongoing flooding and damage prevented them from continuing their operations and caring for the animals at the present location. They wanted to move the sanctuary to another location, land also in Elbert County, and owned by them.

 Elbert County commissioners denied that request. Commissioner Danny Wilcox told CBS4’s Jennifer Brice by phone it was denied it because of numerous safety concerns with the proposed move, and the sanctuary would go from a remote area to a more densely populated place.

 Dr. Joan Laub, a sanctuary owner, said she is devastated about the loss of the animals. She said they thought about relocating the animals. She added that the animals “would not have survived a move to a new facility” because they were all seniors, some with disabilities.

 Laub added that they had a safety problem with a permanent solution for the animals. In an email she told Brice, “Multiple governing bodies signed off on the relocation. They based their decision on the law. The three county commissioners denied the permit based upon emotions and their self-serving agenda, i.e., votes.”

 In a statement emailed Wednesday evening, the Elbert County Commissioners described themselves as shocked and saddened by the news: “The decision by the operators of Lion’s Gate to euthanize all their animals comes as a total surprise to the County for two reasons. Only two weeks earlier, the operators of the facility assured the County in a public forum that if the application was denied, they would continue to operate at their current location as they had for the previous 10 years. Additionally, the Keenesburg Wildlife Sanctuary publicly offered to care for the animals at their facility if Lion’s Gate was unable to do so.”

 Wilcox said he did not know the outcome of this would result in the animals being euthanized. He said he specifically asked the owners what their plan would be if the approval was denied. He said he was told that the sanctuary owners would continue operate as-is based on the ages of the animals.

 Additional Resources

 Click here to read the full statement from Lion’s Gate Sanctuary and read the full statement from below from Elbert County commissioners on the matter:

 Elbert County Commissioners were saddened to learn of the decision made by the owners of Lion’s Gate Sanctuary to euthanize their eleven animals.

 After a lengthy public hearing on April 12th, the County denied the special use application to relocate several lions, tigers and bears to a substantially more populated and developed area. This decision was based on concerns that the proposed plan for relocation of these animals was not adequately resourced, nor were exigency plans clearly defined which would ensure the safety of the animals and the surrounding residents.

 The decision by the operators of Lion’s Gate to euthanize all their animals comes as a total surprise to the County for two reasons. Only two weeks earlier, the operators of the facility assured the County in a public forum that if the application was denied, they would continue to operate at their current location as they had for the previous 10 years. Additionally, the Keenesburg Wildlife Sanctuary publicly offered to care for the animals at their facility if Lion’s Gate was unable to do so. Given these facts, the news that Lion’s Gate euthanized all 11 animals at the same time and so shortly after the decision to deny the move comes as a shock.

 “The most important consideration in this land use issue was ensuring the safety of the many citizens residing in the vicinity of the proposed relocation site. We would have loved to have seen these animals be allowed to live out their lives at the Elbert County location that had been their home for more than a decade.” – Commissioner Chris Richardson.

 Jennifer Brice is a reporter with CBS4 focusing on crime and courts. Follow her on Facebook or on Twitter @CBS4Jenn. ||||| ELIZABETH — Animal trainer Peter Winney wants to bring six lions and tigers to his girlfriend’s ranch south of Elizabeth, but the couple has faced allegations of smuggling cats, according to state wildlife records obtained by The Denver Post.

 Winney was convicted once for bringing two lion cubs into the state without proper documents and charged two other times with having unlicensed animals.

 He said the 2003 conviction was a misunderstanding over paperwork, though it cost him his wildlife license for a year.

 Elbert County commissioners will decide Wednesday whether Winney and Joan Laub, a psychologist, can keep six big cats at a sanctuary they have built in a rural but residential neighborhood, pending state and federal permits.

 At a zoning hearing last month, dozens of area residents criticized the proposal, concerned about safety, property values and whether the scent of lions and tigers would spook nearby horses and livestock.

 “When we settled in this neighborhood, we never anticipated we would be awakened in the predawn hours by a lion’s roar,” said neighbor Ed Steinman.

 No one seemed aware that Winney has been charged three times in cases involving unlicensed lions and tigers, resulting in a dismissal, an acquittal and a conviction.

 “It’s a vendetta thing,” Winney said Monday of the Division of Wildlife.

 Tim Holeman, a spokesman for the division, said the agency is doing a thorough but fair job. “The delicate balance between the needs of wildlife and human activity demands nothing less,” he said.

 Like Winney, Laub also has been charged with offenses involving the state Division of Wildlife, but a Douglas County judge sealed her records in 2004, citing privacy.

 The charges against her stemmed from the cases involving Winney, Laub said, and she was never convicted.

 In August 2001, Winney’s business associate, Adam Fishman, took a tiger to the Elbert County Fair in Kiowa. Turned away, Fishman instead exhibited the cat at the County Seat bar in Kiowa, according to state wildlife records.

 When authorities investigated eight days later, Winney and Fishman could not produce a license for two lions and two tigers they were keeping at another sanctuary.

 Winney said the cats were never his, and the district attorney’s office dismissed the case. Fishman has since left the state and could not be located for comment.

 In November 2001, Winney fetched two sick lion cubs from a faltering sanctuary in South Dakota and brought them to a refuge near Colorado Springs for life-saving care.

 Winney said Monday that he thought he had obtained the clearances he needed from local and federal officials in South Dakota, and his conviction was the result of a poor legal defense.

 After exhausting his appeals, Winney lost his wildlife license. It was suspended for one year, until November.

 In May 2002, Winney and Fishman brought two tigers to a party at Laub’s home in Parker.

 One tiger allegedly pinned down a 2-year-old child, and Winney was charged with failing to have a license for the tigers. State records are unclear about details of the incident, but Winney said no one was ever in danger. He was acquitted by a jury.

 “Oh well, I’m sure I will have another opportunity in the future,” district wildlife manager Gene Abram wrote in a 2003 e-mail to colleagues after Winney’s acquittal.

 Holeman said Winney’s record would not be a factor in any future application for the Elbert County sanctuary.

 “We consider each application on its merits,” he said.

 Winney has touted his experience as an animal trainer in his qualifications to oversee the proposed sanctuary, including two years as “sole handler” for Siegfried & Roy in Las Vegas.

 A spokeswoman for Siegfried & Roy characterized Winney’s role with the showmen as in a “junior capacity.”

 Winney is “not an expert, if that’s the impression,” said spokeswoman Kala Peterson.

 Winney said Peterson’s characterization is inaccurate and just part of Siegfried & Roy’s effort to present themselves as the sole experts in their act.

 “In the cat world when you join the family, you’re in the family, but when you leave you’re no longer part of the family,” he said.

 Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-820-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com. ||||| A Colorado community is in shock after an animal sanctuary battling housing problems resorted to euthanizing all 11 of its exotic animals, despite the county planning commission claiming other facilities had offered to take them in.

 Lion’s Gate Animal Sanctuary in Agate announced in a statement last week that it had euthanized five bears, three lions and three tigers. The statement blamed the deaths on the Elbert County’s planning commission for refusing the sanctuary’s request to move to another site because of flooding.

 “The flooding and resulting damage prevents us from reasonably continuing our operation and caring for our animals safely,” the organization had said in an earlier online petition for their move.

 Facility owners Peter Winney and Joan Laub reasoned in their statement last week that they wouldn’t have had to euthanize the animals if the local government officials had not denied their request to move. They identified the animals killed as “Victims of Elbert County Commissioners.”

 (Story continues below slideshow.)

 BEFORE YOU GO PHOTO GALLERY Animal Sanctuary Euthanizes Lions, Tigers And Bears After Flooding Concerns

 County Chairman Danny Wilcox, who was one of the three voting commissioners, said the new location the group chose was in a more urban and populated area, making the conditions unsafe for the general public. The animal sanctuary also never told the commissioners that they’d resort to killing the animals, he said.

 “We were shocked,” he told HuffPost on Thursday of the sanctuary’s actions, which he said have resulted in people threatening him, the other commissioners and even his grandchildren.

 Jennifer Churchill, a spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, described the sanctuary’s decision as unprecedented.

 “This has never happened before in our state,” she told HuffPost.

 Wilcox said the board pointedly asked the owners what would happen to the animals if their request to move was denied, and they said they’d “continue to operate as they had for the last 10 years.”

 “They believe that we made them euthanize the animals. That’s the story that’s evidently being told and we did not do that,” he said. “In fact, we verified that the animals would continue to live.”

 He added that two sanctuaries, which he declined to identify, contacted the county and offered to take in the animals if they could not be moved.

 But in a press release, the county identified one of those facilities as the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Kennesburg, about 70 miles north of Lion’s Gate.

 John Moore via Getty Images The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Kennsburg, Colorado, said it would have taken in the animals if asked.

 Pat Craig, who runs that sanctuary, said they “could have easily taken them.”

 “Eleven is pretty small,” he told HuffPost Wednesday of the number of bears, tigers and lions that needed homes. “They could have easily called.”

 Craig’s 720-acre facility, whose website boasts that it hosts more than 400 animals, including tigers, bears, lions, leopards and wolves, it has taken in from around the world.

 In February, the group took in five big cats and two bears from a zoo in Argentina. Craig said they also recently received 27 animals from South Dakota.

 An attempt to reach the Lion’s Gate owners for comment was not successful.

 A statement published to Lion’s Gate’s Facebook page on Thursday argued that the animals could not be moved because they were “too old and many had disabilities and special needs.” The sanctuary denied that they resorted to killing the animals because of the county commissioners, even though they had previously described the animals as the county’s victims.

 Instead, they said they euthanized the animals because they were old and “many had disabilities and special needs” that prevented them from being moved. It was no longer safe for the animals or for the public for them to be at their current location, they wrote.

 Cathy Bosier, who said she has volunteered at Lion’s Gate Sanctuary for the last year and a half, said the owners are no longer talking to the media, but described them as devastated by the animals’ deaths, which she called a “last resort.”

 “They felt their hands were forced. They were backed into a corner and their hands were forced,” she told HuffPost on Wednesday. “Everything else was tried and this was the last thing.”

 Asked if the commissioners knew that euthanasia was their last resort, she answered: “Yeah, pretty much.”

 Bosier said the facility reached out to a neighboring sanctuary for help but the animals’ old age prevented their move. She described the animals as around 20 years of age.

 “The move to a larger sanctuary would have killed them,” she said.

 David Mercado / Reuters This lion named Kiara was relocated to The Wild Animal Sanctuary park in 2011. She was one of 25 lions that were rescued from traveling circuses in Bolivia.

 Addressing Craig’s facility, she said: “There’s no way they’re equipped to care for these animals with special needs.”

 Craig denied this claim.

 “We locate older animals,” he said. “The age has no factor.”

 Craig suggested that the reasons behind the animals’ euthanasia are deeper than they appear.

 A 2006 report by the Denver Post highlighted Winney’s previous legal trouble involving wild animals, including “allegations of smuggling cats” and other documentation and licensing issues. Craig said the owners’ inability to get additional licenses for their sanctuary prohibited them from acquiring additional means of funding.

 “It severely restricted what they could do,” he said.

 Bloomberg via Getty Images The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, boasts 720 acres and hundreds of animals.

 Wilcox, the county chairman, noted that this was the second time the facility had requested this move. The previous one, in 2006, was also denied.

 This time around, Wilcox said, the owners cited flooding issues as a way to be considered for a special-use permit. He called the flooding concerns “questionable,” however.

 “We went out to look at the site prior to the hearing. We went out and looked at all the issues surrounding it, looked at the fencing, looked at the topography,” he said. “The research that we did brought up a lot of issues and concerns.”

 According to the Denver Post, residents around the current location had complained for years about safety and noise issues related to the facility.

 One neighbor told local Denver station ABC 7 that when the lions roared the whole ground shook. ||||| Lion’s Gate wild animal sanctuary has euthanized all 11 of its animals, its hand forced when the Elbert County commissioners denied the refuge’s request to move, co-owner Joan Laub said.

 Laub told KMGH-Channel 7 that the animals had to be euthanized because recurring flooding on the property made conditions unsafe.

 The sanctuary euthanized three lions, three tigers and five bears on April 20, according to KUSA-Channel 9.

 On April 12, Elbert County commissioners unanimously voted to deny the sanctuary’s request to move from eastern Elbert County to a location near Elizabeth, the Denver Post reported.

 Commissioner Grant Thayer said the unanimous vote to deny the sanctuary a special-use permit was made because “it was felt that the community impact would be best served if it was denied.”

 It was the second time the board of commissioners voted against a move for the facility, with a previous board turning down a similar request by Lion’s Gate in 2006.

 For years, neighbors living near the proposed relocation site had said it was not appropriate for a rural neighborhood mostly known for an equine lifestyle. They worried about safety and complained about the possibility of lions roaring at all times of day and night.

 Lion’s Gate owners, Laub and Peter Winney, argued at a planning commission meeting in March that the animals were elderly and posed little security risk. As for noise, Laub said the sanctuary’s two male lions might roar once a day for only seconds at a time.

 The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department told Denver7 officials were aware of the mass euthanasia and the burial of all 11 animals on the sanctuary grounds. But it said no regulations were violated.

 Pat Craig, the founder and executive director of the Wildlife Sanctuary in Keenesburg, which is the state’s largest with 450 animals, told Denver7 he was surprised the sanctuary’s owners didn’t try to find new homes for the animals.

 “In this specific case with Lion’s Gate, they have so few animals, they would easily be able to place every animal with another wildlife sanctuary,” Craig said.” “I can guarantee you that a lot of organizations would be glad to help.” |||||
A summary of this is?

– Amid a "shocking" tragedy, locals say something smells fishy in central Colorado. On April 12, after the owners of the Lion's Gate wild animal sanctuary requested to move to a nearby but more urban location citing safety concerns after recurring flooding on the property, Elbert County commissioners voted no, citing safety concerns, reports the Denver Post. Then on April 20, the sanctuary suddenly euthanized all 11 of its animals—three lions, three tigers, and five bears—and the Lion's Gate web site went dark, showing only the words, "This account has been suspended." The owner of a nearby, larger sanctuary says he had offered to take the animals, but co-owner Dr. Joan Laub and a sanctuary volunteer say the senior animals wouldn't have survived a move to a larger sanctuary and that the county commission's vote forced the sanctuary's hand, reports CBS4. On a Care2 Petition page launched months ago, Laub wrote that Colorado Parks and Wildlife had authorized a move to 85 acres the sanctuary also owns in a more urban part of the county, though she listed 18 animals at the time. County Chairman Danny Wilcox, meanwhile, tells Huffington Post that the commission is "shocked" the animals were put down after the owners had said they'd continue to operate if their request was denied. A spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife calls the killings unprecedented: "This has never happened before in our state." One of the owners was once accused of smuggling cats, per the Denver Post in 2006, and the owner of the larger sanctuary theorizes to the Huffington Post that issues with licensing made it difficult for Lion's Gate to get funding. (See why this vet killed herself with a euthanasia drug.)


Johnny Cash's boyhood home in Dyess has made the National Register of Historic Places.

 It was nominated in December, but a National Register historian sent that nomination back to the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program in January saying more emphasis should be placed on Dyess' influence on Cash's development as a musician.

 The original nomination focused more on the architecture of the five-room farmhouse, which was built in 1934 as part of the Dyess Resettlement Colony by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.

 But the nomination didn't support the claim of architectural significance, James Gabbert, the National Register historian who reviewed the nomination, wrote to the Historic Preservation Program in January.

 "The original nomination form presented a wealth of information about Cash and his family, and simply needed to be tweaked to justify listing it for that significance," Gabbert said Friday. "The property has two separate but related and intertwined areas of significance -- the association with the FERA and the Dyess colony, and the effect that being a part of that colony had on Johnny Cash's development as an artist."

 In the title of the original nomination, Cash's parents got top billing: "Farm No. 266, Ray and Carrie Cash Home (Johnny Cash Boyhood Home)."

 [INTERACTIVE: 360-degree tour of Johnny Cash's boyhood home + guide to other state sites tied to the singer]

 In the revised nomination, the name was listed as "Farm No. 266, Johnny Cash Boyhood Home."

 Besides adding more context concerning architecture, the house was renominated in April under Criterion B, which concerns the lives of significant people -- specifically, the property's association with the early life of Cash and the influence the area had on Cash's later musical career.

 In his January letter to the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Gabbert wrote: "Currently, there are no properties associated with Cash himself listed in the National Register, although Sun Recording Studio in Memphis is listed (Cash recorded there in his early days). While the National Register generally lists properties under B for their association with the productive period of a person's life, an exception can be made if there are either no extant places left to associate with the person, or if you can demonstrate that the place has had a profound impact on the person's formative years. In the case of the Cash boyhood home, I think that this has been adequately demonstrated."

 The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program announced the National Register listing Friday.

 Mark Christ, a spokesman for the program, said in January that having the nomination returned was "just a speed bump in the process." He said it was "a little bit of bureaucratic cleanup" that would likely result in the house eventually being listed on the National Register.

 "It's great that the childhood home of one of America's greatest songwriters and entertainers has achieved national recognition and even better that it has been restored so that people can visit it and walk in the footsteps of Johnny Cash," Christ said Friday.

 Ruth Hawkins, director of Arkansas State University's Heritage Sites, said she was "thrilled" about the National Register listing.

 "People who visit this site typically leave with the comment, 'Now we understand where his music came from,'" Hawkins said. "Clearly, who Johnny Cash became as a person and as a musician was shaped by his time in Dyess."

 Hawkins cited two Cash songs as likely having connections to his years at Dyess: Five Feet High and Rising about the 1937 flood, and Pickin' Time.

 Cash lived in the house at Dyess from the age of 3 through high school.

 ASU owns the house. Hawkins has said Cash's boyhood home wouldn't have qualified for National Register listing until after restoration was finished in 2014.

 Hawkins said $575,000 was spent to buy, restore, furnish and landscape the property. That doesn't include the outbuildings or other structures in Dyess, which is in Mississippi County.

 Cash, members of his family, and a long list of biographers have referred to his time in Dyess as key to his later musical career, according to the National Register nomination.

 In various interviews, Cash spoke of the importance of his early life in Dyess, according to the nomination.

 "When we grew up, it was second nature that we wouldn't live in Dyess when we were grown," Cash once said. "It was the aim of every person to get a better job. But if I hadn't grown up there, I wouldn't be what I am now. It was the foundation for what I became."

 The Dyess Resettlement Colony was listed on the National Register in 1976, but the Cash house wasn't included then because it was outside the original nomination's boundary, according to the new nomination, which was prepared by four people affiliated with Arkansas State University Heritage Sites: Edward Salo, Elizabeth Johnson, Zach Elledge and Brian McInturf.

 In 1935, Ray and Carrie Cash received word that they and their five children -- Roy, Louise, Jack, J.R. (Johnny) and Reba -- were selected as one of 500 farming families to move to the newly established Dyess Colony, according to the nomination. At the time, they were living in Kingsland in Cleveland County.

 Eligibility requirements for the Dyess Community required experienced and competent farmers who had lost their farms because of the Great Depression.

 The Cash family selected a five-room house that was valued at $1,000, according to the nomination. The house was built using standard plans designed by Arkansas architect Howard Eichenbaum, according to the nomination form.

 "Unlike the smaller houses, the five-room house included an indoor toilet and bath facilities, though it still utilized a well for water and the plumbing fixtures were never operational when the Cash family lived in the house," according to the nomination. "The house also was pre-wired for electricity that arrived at the colony center in the mid-1930s, but to the houses in 1946."

 Besides a farmhouse, the colony's families each received 20-40 acres of farmland, outbuildings, a 16-by-24-foot wooden barn with 10-foot sheds on either side of the barn, a smokehouse, a privy and a chicken house.

 A Section on 05/05/2018 ||||| DYESS, Ark. (AP) — The Man in Black's boyhood home has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

 The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program announced Friday that the home in Dyess where country music icon Johnny Cash lived from age 3 through high school has been added to the register. Dyess is a small Arkansas town close to the Tennessee border.

 The five-room farmhouse was built in 1934 as part of the Dyess Resettlement Colony by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.

 The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the house is owned by Arkansas State University, which spent $575,000 to buy, restore, furnish and landscape the property.

 Cash died in 2003 at age 71 after an incredibly successful musical career. Among his many hit songs were "I Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire."

 ___

 Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com |||||

Write a summary.

– The Man in Black's boyhood home has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, though the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette notes that it took two tries to get it there. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program announced Friday that the home in Dyess where country music icon Johnny Cash lived from age 3 through high school has been added to the register. The nomination's first failed attempt focused on the structure's architectural significance rather than its connection to Cash. The five-room farmhouse was built in 1934 as part of the Dyess Resettlement Colony by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, reports the AP. The Democrat-Gazette reports that the house is owned by Arkansas State University, which spent $575,000 to buy, restore, furnish, and landscape the property. "When we grew up, it was second nature that we wouldn't live in Dyess when we were grown," Cash once said. "It was the aim of every person to get a better job. But if I hadn't grown up there, I wouldn't be what I am now. It was the foundation for what I became." Cash died in 2003 at age 71.


Article:
Ramineh Behbehanian, 50, was arrested on April 29, 2013 on suspicion of putting rubbing alcohol into bottles of orange juice and putting them into a Starbucks refrigerator case in South San Jose. (San Jose Police Department photo) Related Stories San Jose: Woman arrested, accused of trying to sneak "poisoned" OJ into Starbucks fridge

 SAN JOSE -- An experienced corporate chemist and pharmacist from South San Jose became an accused would-be killer on Monday in bizarre fashion: By eschewing her vast expertise and allegedly making a crude mix of rubbing alcohol and orange juice that police say she tried to sneak into the display case of a Starbucks just as it was filling with high-schoolers.

 Police haven't revealed whom, if anyone, might have been targeted. But they felt strongly enough to arrest Ramineh Behbehanian on suspicion of attempted murder after the ploy was literally sniffed out by an alert customer and a sharp-eyed employee who took note of her car's license plate number as she made a hasty exit.

 Initial tests of the bottles revealed them to have a potentially lethal amount of the household solvent.

 "If it weren't for the actions of that customer, I believe we'd be talking about a homicide right now," said Sgt. Jason Dwyer, a police spokesman.

 Behbehanian, 50, has been in jail without bail since her Monday night arrest. Police say it remains unclear why she allegedly put the tainted juice bottles into the refrigerated display case at the coffee chain's shop on Snell Avenue.

 Luckily, no one drank the toxic concoction, largely because the alleged means and tactics were as clear as the alcohol she purportedly mixed. A coffee-shop regular was standing behind her in line about 3:45 p.m. and watched as she pulled two bottles out of her green Starbucks bag and placed them in the open-air fridge, police said.

 The customer immediately alerted a store manager, apparently spooking Behbehanian into leaving, but not before an employee got a glimpse of her license plate, police said.

 Employees immediately grabbed the bottles of orange juice and examined them. They realized the seals had been broken and smelled "something toxic," Dwyer said.

 They called 911, summoning San Jose police and the San Jose Fire Department, which brought its hazardous materials team. After clearing out the store, the hazardous materials technicians -- who are trained to respond to events as high-level as the deployment of weapons of mass destruction -- took samples of the liquid and ran it through a portable mass spectrometer that confirmed it was isopropyl alcohol, a common household solvent.

 "It was significant enough to be seriously harmful. I can't say it will cause death, but it's a possibility," said Capt. Cleo Doss, a fire department spokesman. "It depends on how much you consume. They could have a sip and stop, or someone who couldn't smell it, maybe had a cold, might drink more."

 Using the information provided by the customer and the employee, police tracked Behbehanian to her home 5 miles west on Chambertin Drive and arrested her after questioning.

 Her LinkedIn page states she has a master's degree in physical chemistry and chemical engineering from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and worked as a scientist, engineer or project manager for a string of high-profile corporations including Pfizer, Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson. At the time of her arrest, she was working at Janssen, a pharmaceutical subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. This was confirmed by a company spokesman Tuesday.

 Calls to Behbehanian's home and relatives went unreturned Tuesday. Behbehanian declined a request for a jailhouse interview with this newspaper.

 The alleged poisoning attempt occurred about the time students from Santa Teresa High School usually flock to the Starbucks, which is in the Santa Teresa Square shopping center across the street from the school.

 A Starbucks spokesman lauded the multitude of acts that prevented anyone, including the students, from ingesting the spiked substance.

 "We're grateful to the customer who did the right thing," Starbucks spokesman Zack Hutson said, adding the company thanked its employees "for doing all the right things," including getting the suspect's license plate number.

 Hutson said the company is continuing to cooperate with the police investigation. After the incident, the Snell Avenue store pulled all the remaining juices from the refrigerator and destroyed them. He said other nearby Starbucks were notified and told to check all their juice bottles to make sure the seals weren't broken.

 Contact Robert Salonga at 408-920-5002. Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga. Contact Mark Gomez at 408-920-5869. Follow him at Twitter.com/MarkMGomez. ||||| In this April 29, 2013 photo released by the San Jose Police Department is Ramineh Behbehanian, 50. Behbehanian is facing attempted murder charges after authorities say she tried to sneak orange juice... (Associated Press)

 In this April 29, 2013 photo released by the San Jose Police Department is Ramineh Behbehanian, 50. Behbehanian is facing attempted murder charges after authorities say she tried to sneak orange juice... (Associated Press)

 A California woman faces attempted murder charges after police say she tried to sneak orange juice bottles spiked with a lethal amount of rubbing alcohol inside a Starbucks.

 San Jose Police arrested Ramineh Behbehanian, 50, late Monday. A customer reported seeing the woman take two bottles of orange juice from her bag and place them in an open-air refrigerated display case at a Starbucks in San Jose around 3:45 p.m., Sgt. Jason Dwyer said Tuesday.

 When the customer told a store manager what he saw, Behbehanian fled. A store employee followed Behbehanian to the parking lot and jotted down her license plate number as she drove off. Other employees called 911 after noticing the bottles had a toxic smell, Dwyer said.

 Firefighters on the scene tested the contents and determined that the bottles contained a "lethal quantity" of isopropyl rubbing alcohol mixed with the juice, Dwyer said.

 No one drank from the bottles, said Dwyer, who praised the customer's quick actions.

 "This person was heads-up enough and reported suspicious activity," Dwyer said. "I think that person saved lives by doing that."

 Officers tracked down Behbehanian Monday night at her San Jose home located about five miles away from the store. She was placed into custody on suspicion of attempted murder and felony poisoning, Dwyer said.

 Police are still looking for a motive.

 "We don't know if she has done this before or if she had plans to do this again," Dwyer said. "We have no reason to believe that there are other coffee shops with similar dangers."

 Dwyer declined to say how much rubbing alcohol was actually in the bottles, but he said it was sufficient for police to charge Behbehanian with attempted murder.

 The Starbucks store in San Jose was closed after Monday's incident but reopened the next morning, Starbucks spokesman Zack Hutson said Tuesday.

 "We're immensely grateful to the vigilant customer who immediately did the right thing by notifying our store partners who immediately pulled the juice from the shelves and quickly notified the authorities," Hutson said.

 As a precaution, Hutson said that the Starbucks store in San Jose pulled all of its remaining juices from the open-air refrigerator and destroyed them. Other Starbucks nearby were also alerted and told to check all their juice bottles to make sure none of its seals were broken.

 Behbehanian could make her first appearance in court as soon as Thursday, authorities said. |||||Summary:

– An alert customer at Starbucks may have saved lives by derailing an alleged plot to poison orange juice sold there. Police say Ramineh Behbehanian, 50, put two bottles of juice spiked with a lethal amount of rubbing alcohol into the display case of a store in San Jose, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. A customer saw her put the bottles inside the case and told a store employee, who followed Behbehanian out of the store and jotted down her license plate. Police tracked her down and charged her with attempted murder after determining that the bottles had enough rubbing alcohol to kill someone who drank it, reports Inside Bay Area. "We don't know if she has done this before or if she had plans to do this again," a police spokesman tells AP. "We have no reason to believe that there are other coffee shops with similar dangers."


Write an article based on this summary:

– Florida International University's Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity apparently didn't get the memo that social media isn't the place to go shopping for drugs. The frat has been suspended after its private Facebook page was made public via an anonymous email that included screenshots of 70 posts—some looking to buy or sell cocaine and the prescription stimulant Adderall—was sent to university administrators and the media, the Miami Herald reports. Among the posts the Herald obtained: "Anyone have a connect for coke, not me, a friends wants, lol" (response: "Is diet ok?"). And that wasn't the half of it: Other posts featured images of topless women, one described as being 17; boasts of hazing; digs at overweight women; and gay slurs. Another especially tasteless post: "Guys please put up the PIKE Prays for Boston Banner that’s upstairs outside so that when people start arriving tomorrow morning they see it. This is excellent publicity!" FIU is looking into whether its code of conduct was violated, and campus police have been looped in. It's certainly not the chapter's first offense—past indiscretions include egging a rival frat and painting obscenities on a student's car. Nor is it the frat's first headline-grabbing headache: Last year 22 Pi Kappa Alpha members at Northern Illinois University were charged in a pledge's death; it's also the frat that was involved in the University of Tennessee's infamous butt-chugging incident. (Click for another attempted drug buy gone wrong, this one via Twitter.)

Florida International University has suspended its Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity chapter after a private Facebook page maintained by the group became very public.

 An anonymous email sent to multiple media outlets and university administrators included screenshots of about 70 posts from the page  some of them offering to sell drugs, others boasting about hazing new members, which is prohibited by university policy.

 Anyone have a connect for coke, one group member wrote. Not me, a friend wants, lol.

 In another post, someone offers to sell the prescription stimulant Adderall, which is often abused by college students as a study aid: 30mg of addy 10 starting tomorrow. 15 for non brothers.

 Another announces on campus for those of you looking for the Pike Pharmacy  and included his phone number. A man who answered at that number Wednesday confirmed his first name matched that of the Facebook post, but he then quickly hung up.

 On the FIU Pike chapters official public Facebook page, a contact number is listed, but no one answered repeated calls Wednesday.

 In a brief written statement, the Pike fraternitys national headquarters in Tennessee said it had no previous knowledge of this Facebook group and was informed of its existence on Tuesday.

 The international fraternity has been assured of the chapters full compliance with the temporary suspension and subsequent investigation, according to the statement.

 FIU released its own statement Wednesday, saying it was recently made aware of the postings and is investigating possible violations of the universitys code of student conduct. The universitys on-campus police are also involved, FIU said.

 The university is taking this information very seriously As a result, the fraternity has been instructed to cease all meetings and events, FIU wrote. A university spokesperson said it was the anonymous email that sparked FIUs investigation.

 Among the Facebook screenshots are several showing photos of topless women who were apparently dating Pike members. In one, someone writes that the girl was 17 years old at the time.

 Other posts belittle classmates. Rival fraternities are repeatedly described using anti-gay slurs, and members of one sorority are described as the biggest sluts on campus.

 The Facebook posts also frequently criticize women whom the frat members perceive as overweight. Several posters stressed that Pikes were only allowed to sell fraternity-affiliated T-shirts to thin women.

 And some posts appear to take pride in unsportsmanlike conduct during soccer games against other fraternities. One post notes the Pike team has been losing points in the soccer league because of its lack of sportsmanship  particularly in heckling players from the opposing team. But the writer notes that sportsmanship points only become a factor in the case of a tie breaker, so they can safely be ignored.

 Since we are not going to lose any games, then we dont need that tie-breaker, he wrote.

 This weeks suspension is but the latest round of discipline for a fraternity that has repeatedly gotten in trouble  both locally and nationally. The FIU chapter was already on probation from an incident in June involving serving alcohol to a pledge. Since 2006, Pike has been found guilty of a variety of offenses: underage drinking, conducting drinking games, throwing eggs at a rival fraternitys house and breaking a students car windshield while also painting obscene words and pictures on the vehicle.

 The penalties leveled against Pike have included suspensions, community service hours, and requiring the fraternity to make a $1,500 donation to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

 At the University of Tennessee, a student ended up in the hospital last year in critical condition after participating in a butt-chugging party at UTs Pike house. Students there were inserting a tube in their anus and then funneling in alcoholic beverages  a practice that can be deadly.

 Susan Lipkins, a Long Island psychologist and author who is an expert on hazing and Greek organizations, said universities often turn a blind eye to the misbehavior of these groups. The reasons, Lipkins said: Fraternities and sororities create an atmosphere that helps colleges attract new students, and Greek students tend to be more generous in donating to their alma mater after graduation. The construction of frat houses also provides colleges with extra on-campus housing that they need, she said.

 The Facebook posts at FIU, Lipkins said, reflect larger problems with the culture of Greek life.

 They are definitely not the exception, Lipkins said. They are the rule.

 Other FIU fraternities have also been disciplined. In 2002, FIU suspended the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity for paddling students  an act of hazing so severe that one student was seen limping on a swollen left leg. Though the hazing mentioned in the Pike Facebook posts isnt as extreme  pledges were forced to wash cars, for example  Lipkins said that doesnt mean more-severe hazing wasnt happening.

 Pike members at times discussed the groups reputation. One posted that Pike didnt have a PR problem because sorority girls are dying to hook up with Pike brothers. In the days after the Boston Marathon bombings, another member had this suggestion:

 Guys please put up the PIKE Prays for Boston Banner thats upstairs outside so that when people start arriving tomorrow morning they see it, he wrote. This is excellent publicity! ||||| Early Saturday morning, an unresponsive University of Tennessee student was dropped off at a medical center with a blood alcohol content that local police say was “well over .40,” the point at which death can occur. How did the 20-year-old student get that dangerously drunk?

 Campus police went to the student’s fraternity house, Pi Kappa Alpha (aka Pike), to find out. They found several males intoxicated or passed out — and this scene, as described by a Knoxville police spokesman in a Monday statement that was obtained by The Post: “Upon extensive questioning it is believed that members of the fraternity were utilizing rubber tubing inserted into their rectums as a conduit for alcohol as the abundance of capillaries and blood vessels present greatly heightens the level and speed of the alcohol entering the blood stream as it bypasses the filtering by the liver.”

 The act of getting wasted in that way is also referred to as “butt chugging,” “alcohol enema” and, well, “completely idiotic.”

 The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that campus police also found “bags from wine boxes, some empty and some partially empty, strewn across the halls and rooms.” Gawker has since posed the question: “White or red, do you think?”

 Earlier this week, the university and Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity administratively suspended the chapter for 30 days, pending an investigation into the allegations. In a statement on Tuesday, a top Pike official deemed this an “unfortunate, isolated incident” involving “a small group of individuals.” He added that the incident “is an opportunity to increase the public’s awareness of what appears to be an unfortunate and extremely dangerous practice by some young people today.”

 The student’s father is irate that news of his son’s trip to the hospital has made headlines and told the student newspaper, the Daily Beacon, that there “are significant errors that have been reported and we will correct them.” The father did not elaborate on what those errors were, but told the paper that his son is back in class and “livid with the defamation of his character.”

 On Wednesday afternoon, the university sent me a copy of its 12-page police report from the incident. Here are the pages that include police statements (minus the names of the involved students, which I chose to remove):

 This post was updated at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday to include information provided by the university, along with the police report.

 For more higher education news, you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook. And here are other pieces I have written about greek life: Fraternity rush sobers up at U-Md. and elsewhere

 U-Va. fraternity pledge hospitalized after soy-sauce dare GWU fraternities, sorority to lose campus houses this spring |||||


– Two people died during a massive fight involving up to 200 people—though initial reports put the number at 400—armed with shovels, steel bars, and baseball bats Saturday at a Russian cemetery, the AP reports. According to RT, the police and national guard were called in to break up the battle at Khovanskoye cemetery in Moscow. The BBC describes the conflict as a "territorial dispute between two different groups of cemetery workers." Combatants were possibly fighting a "turf war" over who gets to provide burial services at the highly profitable 500-acre cemetery, Moscow's largest. But USA Today reports workers may have been fighting a gang that tried to force them to pay up to 90% of their wages as a "tax." Russian police say the two people killed during Saturday's fracas were run over by a car fleeing the scene. Three people in the car, all reportedly armed with guns, were arrested. In total more than 50 people were arrested in connection with the brawl. Ten people were reported wounded. Some combatants were said to be armed with guns and gunfire was reported, but it appears no one was shot. A police officer was originally reported to have died while breaking up the fight, but that was later retracted.

Expand this summary.

At least two people were killed Saturday in a brawl at a Moscow cemetery involving hundreds of people armed with bats, sticks and metal bars, according to Russian media.

 The Interior Ministry says at least 10 people were injured in the fracas at Khovanskoye cemetery in southwest Moscow, according to RT.com, which reports the fight involved as many as 400 people.

 Очевидцы сняли бой на Хованском кладбище в Москве https://t.co/6wc3VftFLu — АрамАшотыч (@AramAshotich) May 14, 2016

 At least one of the dead was a police officer, the Interfax news agency reports and quotes an unidentified source as saying a third body had been found.

 Police spokeswoman Sofia Khotina told Interfax that the two victims were hit by a car driven by someone trying to flee the scene of Saturday’s brawl.

 She said the three people in the car, who were armed with pistols, were among more than 50 people detained by police. She said they would be questioned to determine who was responsible for the deaths.

 The brawl may have erupted over an ongoing attempt by an armed gang to extort money from cemetery workers and "tax" them up to 90 % of their earnings, Life-ru reports.

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1TgeqHA ||||| Image copyright EPA Image caption Two of the victims were hit by a car, police said.

 Three people have been killed and 23 taken to hospital after a mass brawl at a Moscow cemetery, apparently sparked by a dispute about jobs, police say.

 Russian news reports said up to 200 people took part in the brawl at the south-west Khovanskoye cemetery.

 Police said two of the victims died after being run over by a car as people escaped from the scene.

 Police spokeswoman Sofya Khotina said the three people in the car, who were armed with pistols, were arrested.

 Image copyright EPA Image caption One car appeared to have bullet holes in the side.

 The brawlers fired guns and fought with shovels, shovel handles, steel bars and baseball bats, Russian news reports said.

 More than 90 people were arrested, according to police.

 Reports said police officers fired into the air in an attempt to quell the violence.

 Image copyright EPA Image caption Suspects were led away in lines by police

 Police believe the brawl was caused by a territorial dispute between two different groups of workers, fighting over the cemetery's lucrative services business.

 Reports said they were from ethnic groups from ex-Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus.

 The Khovanskoye cemetery is a massive 200-hectare (500-acre) site on Moscow's southwestern outskirts. ||||| MOSCOW (AP) — Moscow police say a brawl at a cemetery involving up to 200 people has left two people dead and 10 wounded.

 Police spokeswoman Sofia Khotina told the Interfax news agency the two victims were hit by a car driven by someone trying to flee the scene of Saturday's brawl.

 She said the three people in the car, who were armed with pistols, were among more than 50 people detained by police. She said they would be questioned to determine who was responsible for the deaths.

 Russian news reports cited police as saying the brawl was believed to have been about control over providing burial services at the sprawling Khovanskoye cemetery in southwest Moscow.

 Interfax said participants used shovels, shovel handles, steel bars and baseball bats and also fired non-lethal handguns. ||||| At least three people have been killed and nearly 30 hospitalized in a mass brawl at a Moscow cemetery. Around 200 people - most of them migrants - took part in the fight, reportedly a turf war at the cemetery.

 Police and National Guard forces were deployed to deal with the fight at the Khovanskoye cemetery on the southwestern outskirts of Moscow on Saturday.

 While many of those involved in the fight were reportedly armed with bats, sticks, and metal bars, gunfire was also heard at the scene, with eyewitnesses saying the shooting lasted at least 15 minutes.

 Some of those involved in the fight were armed with Kalashnikov rifles, a source in law enforcement told TASS.

 At least 29 people have been hospitalized, TASS reported citing Moscow's Health Department. Four of them are in critical condition. Three bodies were discovered at the scene.

 None of those who were involved in the armed conflict are official cemetery employees, RIA Novosti reported citing Moscow police. Most of them are foreign nationals, who are in Russia illegally, officials said.

 A group of people, reportedly natives of the North Caucasus, arrived at the cemetery in 15 cars, according to Interfax. They were met by migrants who worked there - privately hired by families of deceased people. The migrants were armed with shovels and crowbars. When the invaders realized they were outnumbered, they attempted to flee, shooting from car windows. The migrants then blocked off roads and the fight began.

 As three suspects tried to flee the scene in a car, they reportedly ran over and killed two people.

 Around 100 people have been detained, according to TASS' source in law enforcement. Official estimates state that about 200 people participated in the brawl. Other sources have placed the number at up to 400.

 Several defunct assault rifles used to frighten the 'enemy' were seized, a source in law enforcement told RIA Novosti. However, other lethal and non-lethal weapons were discovered at the scene. The entire cemetery was reportedly left covered in brick debris, with bullet casings scattered everywhere.

 The suspected attackers were heavily armed and wore bulletproof vests, according to TASS citing a law enforcement source. The attack had been "planned long ago," a cemetery employee told RIA Novosti, adding that the invaders "entered from all sides and beat everyone up and shot at cars, right in front of the clients."

 The shooting and the elevated security in the area caused massive traffic jams near the cemetery. There have been unconfirmed reports that the cemetery has been closed to the public and burials have been canceled for Saturday.

 This was the first time the newly formed National Guard has been deployed, with 200 special forces’ servicemen participating in the operation.

 200 человек подрались на Хованском кладбище | подробности на bonjournal.kz (https://t.co/w9C5hKe1pQ) pic.twitter.com/qY6CbGVry4 — журнал Bonjour (@bonjourkz) May 14, 2016

 Khovanskoye cemetery’s director was fired following the incident, Aleksey Nemeryuk, the head of Moscow’s Trade and Services Department, told journalists on Saturday, adding that action would also be taken against a private security firm that was responsible for security at the cemetery, but failed to provide it.

 According to preliminary reports, none of the graves were damaged, the official said.

 "When we were approaching the cemetery, there was only a small traffic jam, with the police gathering nearby. We drove past the cemetery, and started hearing gunshots, but we didn’t pay much attention. And when we were going back, the shots stopped, but the cars along the roads had broken windows. We drove on, and saw some 50 migrants lying on the ground, surrounded by special forces, and medics were carrying a dead body," a witness told Komsomolskaya Pravda radio.

 One of the visitors to the cemetery told LifeNews that she and her husband were leaving the grounds after visiting their daughter's grave. As they stood in the traffic jam on their way out, two large men jumped into the back seat of their car.

 "Immediately, some 15 people with bats and sticks ran up, they started to hit the car," the woman said. The attackers tried to pull the two men from the car, shouting, "They killed two of ours." The husband got out of the car to stop the attack and was hit in the temple. He is now in hospital.

 В Москве мигранты не поделили кладбище. Есть жертвы https://t.co/p3NaKpUAAFpic.twitter.com/eTArb2sxWT — Витебский Курьер (@VK__) May 14, 2016

 The conflict at the cemetery wasn’t due to nationality issues, but because of a turf war, the Interior Ministry told Interfax.

 Several diasporas participated in the fight, according to the cemetery's administration, as cited by RIA Novosti. Among them were people from the Central Asian former Soviet Republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, who were allegedly attacked by citizens of Chechnya and Dagestan from the North Caucasus. The latter wanted to chase the former from the territory and set up their own businesses providing services for the cemetery. It reportedly yields a substantial income.

 "They came and told us, ‘You’d be working for us’. You’ll give us the whole sum, and we’ll give you back 10 percent. We didn’t agree, so they arrived, all armed, about 100 people, and shot people dead, just for that money,” one of the injured told LifeNews. |||||


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– A North Carolina woman allegedly locked in the trunk of a moving car by her boyfriend was saved by a quick-thinking 911 dispatcher and a lowly flip phone, ABC News reports. The 29-year-old woman called 911 around 4am Jan. 14. The woman had gotten in a fight with her boyfriend, who was "jealous," according to WRAL. Before dispatcher Tim Medlin could get much information from the woman, the call was dropped. He was unable to get her to answer when he called back. Then Medlin remembered a flip phone the 911 communications center keeps around in case the phone lines go down, WTVD reports. He says texting was the only way he could think to contact her without getting "her in trouble." The woman texted Medlin back, letting the dispatcher know she was in a red Mustang headed toward Fayetteville. Verizon provided the location of the woman's phone, and police stopped her and her boyfriend, Nicholas Mattevi, in Fayetteville. Mattevi, 32, was arrested and charged with false imprisonment. "I can go to bed," Medlin recalls feeling upon hearing of the arrest. "We've done our job." He says he's planning to buy a smartphone for the office to replace the old flip phone and make it easier to text if there's a next time. Medlin's boss tells ABC the dispatcher "really stood by our motto: Failure is not an option." (This 911 dispatcher was accused of hanging up on callers.)

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 — A quick-thinking Johnston County emergency dispatcher is credited with saving the day after he helped police locate a woman who was trapped inside the trunk of a car.

 On Jan. 14, 911 supervisor Tim Medlin received a call from a woman who said she was locked in the trunk of a moving car by her jealous boyfriend. Medlin said it was hard to understand her.

 "The only thing we knew is it was a female that was very upset, and that she was in the trunk of the car," he said.

 The call got disconnected. He called back but could not reach the woman.

 Medlin then had the idea to text her from a cell phone. She responded.

 "Texting, it was the only way I knew we would probably not get her in trouble," Medlin said. "When I sent a simple text, 'Can you text?' She responded, 'Yes.' The immediate response after that was, 'Help me.'"

 The woman was able to provide Medlin with the make and color of the vehicle and told him she believed she was headed to Fayetteville.

 Medlin called the Cumberland County Sheriff's office, who then contacted Verizon Wireless, and was able to locate the phone.

 The woman also gave authorities the name of her boyfriend - Nicholas Mattevi.

 Once they had a location, Fayetteville police spotted the car, rescued the woman and arrested Mattevi.

 "They located her. It was a good feeling to know she was located," Medlin said.

 Jason Barbour, Johnston County's 911 director, said all 911 centers can receive text messages, but cannot initiate them, something he says needs to change.

 "This is a prime example of technology being used to the fullest at someone's greatest time of need," Barbour said. "We can only receive texts and then text back one another. We can't start the conversation. So that was the problem."

 Barbour said he is glad Medlin had a cell phone nearby to text the woman, but believes all 911 centers should be able to be updated so that they can initiate texts from their systems.

 Mattevi was charged with false imprisonment. He was released on a $10,000 bond. ||||| A 911 dispatcher for Johnston County, North Carolina, recently helped save a woman who was locked in the trunk of a moving car, according to officials.

 The 29-year-old woman called 911 around 4 a.m. on Jan. 14, 2017, saying she had a disagreement with her boyfriend, who forced her into a trunk, Jason Barbour, director of the Johnston County Emergency 911 Communications Center, said.

 Barbour told ABC News today that the shift supervisor at the time, Tim Medlin, responded to the call.

 "She was crying and very upset, so it was hard to understand her at first, but [Medlin] finally heard her say she was locked in a trunk of a car," Barbour explained. "The call then dropped, and his multiple attempts to call her back were unsuccessful."

 Medlin "refused to give up" and used the office's emergency cellphone in an attempt to reach the woman, according to Barbour.

 "It was this flip phone, and [Medlin] texted the woman on that phone since he couldn't reach her by calling," Barbour said. "Fortunately, she started texting back and told us that she needed help and that she believed she was in a red Mustang headed towards Fayetteville."

 Medlin was then able to get the woman's location with the help of a cellphone provider. Police responded and stopped the car in the city of Fayetteville, Barbour said.

 "And lo and behold, the woman was in the trunk of the car," Barbour said. He added that if it wasn't for Medlin's quick thinking, the woman may not have been found on time.

 "He really stood by our motto, 'Failure is not an option,'" Barbour said.

 Lt. Todd Joyce, a public information officer for the Fayetteville Police Department, told ABC News today that the woman in the trunk was found unharmed. He added that her boyfriend, 32-year-old Nicholas Mattevi, was arrested around 5 a.m. and charged with false imprisonment, a misdemeanor.

 Fayetteville Police Department

 Mattevi has since been released from jail, according to Joyce. He said it was not immediately clear if Mattevi had obtained a lawyer or entered a plea.

 ABC News could not reach Mattevi for comment.

 The Cumberland County District Court did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for information. ||||| A 911 dispatcher's quick thinking may have saved a life or prevented a more serious crime. It happened in Johnston County as a woman was locked in the trunk of car going down the interstate.Around 4 a.m. Saturday, January 14, Johnston County 911 Shift Supervisor Tim Medlin got a 911 cell phone call from a woman who said she'd been kidnapped from Raleigh and put in the trunk of a car which was traveling down the highway.At that point, the car was headed east on I-40 nearing the I-95 interchange. Dispatchers had that information from a cell phone tracking device. But, the caller wasn't able to tell dispatchers anything else valuable before the call was lost.She didn't answer when they called back. That's when Medlin had an idea. Dispatchers had a cell phone to notify supervisors if the land lines went out. He decided to use it to text the woman who called.She responded, told them she knew the man driving, and were likely headed to Fayetteville. Dispatchers sent Fayetteville police to the address. They arrested Nicholas Mattevi and charged him with false imprisonment.There was huge sigh of relief in the Johnston County 911 center."Okay, they're out with her. They've got them. They've confirmed that they've got them. We're like, 'Okay, this is over with. It's done. I can go home. I can go to bed. We've done our job,'" Medlin recalled.The phone that Medlin used is an old flip phone. His boss told ABC11 Monday he's going to buy a smart phone for the team so if it ever happens again they'll have a keyboard. |||||


Article:

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration has rejected an effort by Turkey to tie the release of a U.S. pastor with relief for a major Turkish bank facing billions of dollars in U.S. fines, telling Ankara other issues are off the table until the minister is freed, a senior White House official said.

 The jailing of Andrew Brunson has triggered the worst crisis between the two countries in decades and helped push the Turkish currency to record lows in recent months. The rejection of a possible trade sets the stage for the U.S. to... ||||| Image copyright Reuters Image caption Andrew Brunson (third right) denies links to banned groups in Turkey

 The US is increasing pressure on Turkey to try to secure the freedom of American pastor Andrew Brunson. While the leaders of the two Nato allies clash with each other, Mr Brunson's fate hangs in the balance.

 US President Donald Trump tweeted earlier this week that Mr Brunson was being held "hostage" in Turkey. Mr Brunson should be released, he said.

 Mr Brunson has been held for almost two years because of his alleged links to political groups that are outlawed in Turkey and he is now under house arrest. Members of the Protestant evangelical church in the US - part of the president's base of support - have rallied on his behalf, demanding his freedom.

 Mr Trump and his aides have amplified their demands and criticised the actions of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A senior US official has wondered aloud whether Turkey could even be considered a true Nato ally, given how Turkish officials have treated Mr Brunson.

 "A real Nato ally wouldn't have arrested Brunson in the first place," the official said.

 Mr Trump and Mr Erdogan, says the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Jon Alterman, are in a personal feud - with Mr Brunson as a "pawn".

 Mr Brunson, 50, is originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, and he runs a small evangelical church in Izmir, Turkey. He has denied any wrongdoing.

 US officials have imposed financial sanctions against Turkey and called for Mr Brunson's release. Turkish officials say they won't cave in to threats from the US.

 Officials from the US and Turkey have imposed tariffs on one another's goods. The conflict between the two countries has aggravated Turkey's economic crisis - the lira has lost about a third of its value against the dollar since January.

 And now US officials are threatening to retaliate against Turkey even more.

 Image copyright AFP Image caption Trump and Erdogan are divided on a number of issues

 Senior US officials are discussing additional sanctions that could be imposed. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that they had more in mind - and could be put into effect if Mr Brunson was not freed.

 US officials have also said that further negotiations over a contentious issue in US-Turkish relations - a Turkish state bank, Halkbank, which allegedly helped Iran to evade US sanctions - will have to wait until Mr Brunson is released.

 US treasury department officials have subpoenaed the bank, according to a US official, and received material from them. But at this point the US officials are unsatisfied with the material that Halkbank has provided.

 In addition, according to a US official, the US justice department is pursuing an investigation into Halkbank and the case, the US official warned, could turn into a criminal one.

 Turkish officials have said the bank did nothing illegal and shouldn't be penalised.

 Meanwhile the feud continues. Mr Trump wants Mr Erdogan to release Mr Brunson for humanitarian reasons. If Mr Brunson is found guilty, he could face up to 35 years in prison.

 But there are other reasons too, says Joshua Landis, a professor of Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. He says that if Mr Trump wins Mr Brunson's freedom, then the president can claim that his "strong-arm tactics" are effective in the realm of foreign policy.

 Besides that, says Mr Landis, securing the release of Mr Brunson would be welcomed by "the religious right".

 "That's his bread and butter," says Mr Landis. "He's doing this for them." |||||
What is a summary?

– The disagreement with the US currently devastating the Turkish economy doesn't appear likely to end anytime soon. American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was jailed by Turkey for almost two years before a shift to house arrest last month, is at the center of the dispute and a senior White House official tells the Wall Street Journal that the US has rejected a Turkish offer to trade his freedom for dropping charges against Halkbank, a state-owned bank facing billions in US fines for violating sanctions on Iran. The US has told Turkey it won't negotiate until Brunson, who faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted, is freed, the White House official says, adding: "A real NATO ally wouldn’t have arrested Brunson in the first place." The US has already hit Turkish officials with sanctions over Brunson and the two countries have traded tariff increases, causing the Turkish lira to plummet to record lows. Brunson, a pastor from North Carolina strongly supported by American evangelical groups, was arrested because of his alleged ties to banned political groups, the BBC reports. American officials have threatened even more sanctions unless Brunson is freed, while Turkey has said it will not give in to American threats. Jon Alterman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies describes Brunson as a "pawn" in a feud between President Trump and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Shots were fired at the US Embassy in Ankara early Monday.)


– Pope Benedict XVI begins a trip to Mexico and Cuba today, but Mexicans searching for information about his visit may find Anonymous standing in the way. The Mexican branch of the hacking collective has crashed at least two websites for the papal visit, claiming that the visit is a political ploy to win support for the conservative National Action party ahead of the July 1 presidential election, the AP reports. The hackers released a video saying the visit is costing Mexicans money that should be spent on the poor. In Rome, the pope was seen using a cane in public for the first time as he boarded his flight to Mexico this morning. This is his first visit to the country and he is widely expected to address its brutal drug war, NPR reports. In the city of Guanajuato, his first stop, the local archbishop has urged people not to fear drug violence during the visit. An offshoot of the La Familia cartel hung welcome banners displaying a friendly message: It won't attack rivals while the pontiff is in town.

Expand this summary.

The hacker group Anonymous in Mexico crashed at least two of the websites for Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit to Mexico on Thursday, claiming the papal visit is a political move to support the conservative National Action party.

 Samuel Najera, spokesman for the Mexican Episcopal Conference, said its web page on the papal visit was blocked by "a cyber attack."

 "We have been aware of the threat that has been making the rounds on social networks, that was brought to fruition today," Najera said. "This is part of a dynamic these days of a lack of safety and acts of intolerance toward certain groups."

 "For the moment, this does damage to the logistics" of the papal visit, Najera said.

 The site contained information on the pope's planned activities starting Friday in the north-central state of Guanajuato, which is governed by President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party, or PAN.

 The Anonymous IberoAmerica website, which has been a channel of communication for such hacker "ops" in the past, said the site crashes were the result of Anonymous operations with names such "Pharisee" and "freeloader."

 Anonymous Mexico said in a video posted on social media sites that the pope's visit will cost Mexicans money that could be better spent on the poor, and is meant to support the PAN in the July 1 presidential election. PAN candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota is trailing front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party by at least 10 percentage points in most polls on the race.

 The official campaign season starts at the end of this month.

 The pope's "visit comes precisely at the start of the electoral campaigns," said the faceless Anonymous figure in the video. "The PAN will take this as a political weapon to win the votes of millions of Catholics in Mexico."

 Guanajuato is 93.8 percent Roman Catholic, the highest of any state in Mexico.

 When asked about the timing of the pope's visit, Calderon's office released a March 11 press release noting that Calderon invited the pope in 2007.

 Some people have also questioned the pope's decision not to come to liberal Mexico City, where legislators have legalized abortion and gay marriage in the federal district. The Vatican has said the pope cannot be at high altitudes. Mexico City is about 7,300 feet (2,225 meters) above sea level.

 Another website with information on where to stay in Guanajuato and how to attend papal events was also crashed. That site was registered to Juan Carlos Mata Ruiz and a group called NIC Mexico.

 The website of the Guanajuato state government was also out of service Thursday, the state press office acknowledged, but it would not say whether that was a result of hacking or a cyber attack. ||||| Pope Expected To Address Drug Violence In Mexico

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Hector Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images Hector Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images

 Pope Benedict XVI begins a visit Friday that takes him to Mexico, a country with around 100 million Catholics, and to Cuba, a place where church leaders have played an increasingly active role in seeking change.

 There are sensitive issues in both countries that the pope is likely to address in some form. In Mexico, it's the brutal drug war that has claimed roughly 50,000 lives over the past five years.

 In Cuba, where the pope travels Monday, the church has regained some of its former prominence and has been involved in a dialogue with President Raul Castro and his government.

 In Mexico, even the criminal gangs, which know how to get their message out, are welcoming the pope. In the past episodes of intimidation, the narcos have lined up a series of human heads outside a slaughterhouse and piled human corpses outside a convention where prosecutors gathered.

 But for the arrival of the pope, an off-shoot of the La Familia cartel this week strung up 11 banners around the city of Guanajuato welcoming Benedict and declaring that they won't attack their rivals during his visit.

 Security Concerns

 The local archbishop, Jose Guadalupe Martin Rabago, has called on people not to be afraid of narco-violence during the three-day event.

 The archbishop says he is not afraid that anything will happen during the papal visit. And he says he's aware of the extensive security that has been put in place to protect both the pope and the public.

 Pope Benedict is visiting Mexico in part to shore up the church's support in a strong bastion of Catholicism.

 In the 2010 census, 83 percent of Mexicans identified themselves as Catholic. And in terms of sheer numbers of followers, the only country in the world with more Catholics is Brazil, which Pope Benedict visited in 2007.

 Every time I talk to people in Mexico, they question themselves rhetorically, 'What's happened to us? Why are we shooting at one another?' People are looking for some ethical direction. And I think the church still has a role to play in that.

 Speaking this past Sunday at the main cathedral in Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera said the pope is coming to reinforce Mexicans' faith and hope during a very difficult time for the country.

 "In these times, as the country is overshadowed by sin, violence, corruption and a social disintegration," the cardinal said, "the pope will remind Mexicans of God's power to offer guidance and salvation."

 Addressing Drug Violence

 Church officials say the pontiff is expected to directly address the drug violence that has been plaguing Mexico.

 This message will resonate throughout the region, says Rick Jones, the deputy regional director for global solidarity and justice with Catholic Relief Services, based in El Salvador.

 Jones says that from Colombia through Central America all the way to the U.S. border, drug cartels have been terrorizing communities. Especially in parts of Mexico where the gangs have waged a protracted, brutal war against the state, he says it has caused people to lose faith in humanity.

 "Every time I talk to people in Mexico, they question themselves rhetorically, 'What's happened to us? Why are we shooting at one another?' People are looking for some ethical direction. And I think the church still has a role to play in that," Jones says.

 Jones says the Catholic Church still has a lot of credibility in Latin America. He expects the pope to underscore during this visit how the church can help confront the terror that is currently being spread by organized crime.

 "A call for coming together, overcoming fear [and] mistrust is an important role that I think the pope will have in ushering that call," he says.

 The pope's itinerary includes a meeting Saturday with President Felipe Calderon. On Sunday he'll hold an open-air mass on a hillside under a towering statue of Christ. Organizers are expecting several hundred thousand Catholics from all over the region to attend. |||||


News article:

OUT OF THIS WORLD | Earth, Space And The Stuff In Between - a daily journey through weather, space and science with meteorologist/science writer Scott Sutherland

 See the eta Aquarid meteor shower from anywhere. Here's when

 Find Your Forecast Search for a location

 Meteorologist/Science Writer Scott Sutherland

 Monday, May 2, 2016, 1:57 PM - Famous Halley's Comet is bringing a pre-dawn meteor shower to our skies on Thursday and Friday, and here's how you can watch it from anywhere, no matter what the weather is like.

 Twice every year, Earth's orbit around the Sun carries it through streams of debris in space, left behind by the passing of Comet Halley. When the the tiny flecks of dust and ice that make up these streams plunge into Earth's atmosphere, they are moving fast enough to produce glowing trails through the sky, resulting in meteor showers.

 On the mornings of May 5 and May 6, we will be able to see the first of these two Halley's Comet meteor showers - the Eta Aquarids.

 Watch from anywhere

 The meteor shower's radiant - the point in the sky where the meteors appear to emerge from - rises along with the constellation Aquarius, in the very early morning hours. The meteor shower should be visible from about 3 a.m. local time, until dawn, on both mornings.

 The eta Aquarid radiant in the eastern sky, at 4 a.m. on May 5 and May 6, 2016. Credit: Stellarium/S. Sutherland

 While it's not considered one of the strongest meteor showers that occur during the year, anyone with clear skies and far away from sources of light pollution should be able to see between 10 and 20 meteors per hour.

 According to NASA, the morning of May 5 may be the better of the two days for viewing, with slightly more meteors visible in the sky, and the exact peak of the meteor shower is expected during daylight hours on May 5.

 Below are maps of the expected cloud conditions for the two mornings (check back for updates to this forecast).

 THE BIG REVEAL: Will a developing La Niña affect our summer as much as El Niño affected our winter? Tune in for the Summer Forecast on May 24 at 9pm EST and we'll help you plan your summer.

 If the weather fails to cooperate with you on these two mornings, or the timing doesn't really work with your sleep schedule, the Slooh Community Observatory is hosting a live show, which can be viewed via the embedded video at the bottom of this article.

 The Slooh show begins at 8 p.m. EDT, on the night of Thursday, May 5.

 Meteor trains!

 One of the remarkable things about the eta Aquarid meteor shower is that they can produce what are known as "persistent trains" - colourful, faintly glowing streaks that can persist in the sky from a few seconds to several minutes after the meteor has winked out. Some have even been observed for hours afterward.

 What causes this is the exceptional speed of the meteoroids in the stream of cometary debris.

 When a typical meteoroid passes through the Earth's upper atmosphere, it's travelling at around 100,000 km/h, and it compresses the air molecules directly in its path to the point where they heat up and glow. This glow persists for as long as the meteoroid exists (the heat vapourizes ice particles and smaller bits of dust) and as long as it's travelling fast enough to continue compressing the air (since the compressed air pushes back against the meteoroid, slowing it down).

 The particles in the eta Aquarid stream hit Earth's atmosphere travelling at more like 240,000 km/h. This produces the bright meteor flash, and sometimes there's an added bonus.

 After the meteor has winked out, a glowing trail can be left in the air.

 Since these have only rarely been recorded, there's still some uncertainty about exactly how this is caused, however there are two basic ideas behind this effect. The first says that the meteoroids are travelling fast enough to actually strip electrons from the air molecules, ionizing them. As the air molecules reclaim those liberated electrons, the energy they release in the process is emitted as light. Since this process can take much longer than the original meteor flash, the "train" persists in the air afterward. The second says that metals vapourized off the fast-moving meteoroids chemically react with ozone and oxygen to produce the glow via chemiluminescence. One of these explanations may account for these "trains" or both may cover different occurrences, at different times, and even between individual meteors.

 It will take more sightings of these to fully explain them.

 Sources: NASA | Slooh | With files from The Weather Network

 Watch Below: The Slooh Community Observatory eta Aquarid show starts at 8 p.m. EDT, Thursday, May 5. ||||| Twice every year Earth collides with a ring of debris left behind by Halley’s comet, creating a pair of sibling meteor showers that can dazzle in the night sky.

 This entire week you can catch the first of the two displays, called the Eta Aquarids. It began on April 19, and will peak on May 5 before ending around May 28.

 The Eta Aquarids is one of the fastest meteor showers. Its specks pierce the sky at about 148,000 miles per hour. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– The Eta Aquarids meteor shower happens when Earth passes through the debris left behind by Halley's Comet, and it's peaking this week, the New York Times reports. The Weather Network reports that most everyone will have a good view of the shower Thursday and Friday. About 10 to 20 meteors per hour will be visible between 3am and dawn local time, just to the left of the constellation Aquarius, those mornings. Those wanting the best view may want to avoid clouds and light pollution. Oh, and don't blink. “If you blink, you’re not going to see them. They move that fast,” a NASA astronomer tells the Times. The meteors, which are typically about the size of a grain of sand, are traveling approximately 148,000mph when they hit the atmosphere.