Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Missing University of Idaho student found dead under bridge

By Associated PressPublished: Jan 22, 2013 at 7:58 AM PST

Missing University of Idaho student found dead under bridge
Photo via KHQ
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) - A University of Idaho student who went missing after leaving a fraternity party Saturday night was found dead Monday afternoon under a bridge five miles from campus.

Moscow Police say the body of 18-year-old Joseph Wiederrick was found by trackers with the Latah County Search and Rescue Team under the Paradise Creek bridge.

KXLY reports he had called his roommate Saturday night to say he was walking home from the party, but he never arrived.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Moscow Police searching for missing University of Idaho student

Moscow Police searching for missing University of Idaho student
Moscow Police searching for missing University of Idaho student
             
by KREM.com
KREM.com
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:10 AM
MOSCOW, Idaho--Police in Moscow are on the lookout for a missing University of Idaho student.
Joseph Wiederrick hasn’t been heard from since early Sunday morning when he got separated from his roommate at a function on campus. Information from his phone indicates he may be in the area of Darby Rd. outside of Moscow.
Wiederrick is 6’0”, 135 lbs, with blonde hair and brown eyes. He was last wearing a blue/white/brown striped hoodie with a bright blue ski jacket, grey “Vans” shoes; grey pants and had a black backpack.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Moscow police.             

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Lewiston man arrested for allegedly hitting cab driver

by KREM.com
KREM.com
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 7:16 AM
Updated today at 9:44 AM
NEZ PERCE COUNTY, Idaho -- Idaho State Police arrested a Lewiston man for allegedly assaulting a cab driver.
The driver called police Monday afternoon. The car was stopped on Highway 12.
Troopers say they arrived to find the passenger, 45-year-old Micah Lyon, urinating. They questioned him about his identity, but he originally refused to comply, according to police.
The driver told ISP Lyon struck her in the face.
He was arrested for battery, resisting and obstructing officers and indecent exposure.
He was booked into the Nez Perce Co. Jail.

Monday, January 14, 2013

NRA says Congress will not pass weapons ban

By EILEEN SULLIVAN | Associated Press8 hrs ago

 
 
 
 
 
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Vice President Joe Biden finalizes a package of recommendations for the president to curb gun violence, the National Rifle Association predicted that Congress is likely to block any new laws that would ban assault weapons.
The NRA has so far prevented passage of another assault weapons ban like the one that expired in 2004. But some lawmakers say the December massacre in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman slaughtered 20 young children and six adults, has transformed the country, and Americans are ready for stricter gun laws.
Still, the NRA says it thinks Congress would likely prevent a new assault weapons ban.
"When a president takes all the power of his office, if he's willing to expend political capital, you don't want to make predictions," NRA president David Keene told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday. "You don't want to bet your house on the outcome. But I would say that the likelihood is that they are not going to be able to get an assault weapons ban through this Congress."
Biden is to meet Monday with House members to discuss ways to reduce gun violence. He is expected to give President Barack Obama a comprehensive package of recommendations Tuesday.
Senators plan to introduce a bill that would ban assault weapons and limit the size of ammunition magazines, like the equipment used in the Newton shooting where 20 children were shot multiple times with a high-powered rifle. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has promised to make a renewed push for a ban on assault weapons.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., responded with a flat-out "no" when asked Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" whether Congress would pass a ban on assault weapons.
Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a lifelong member of the NRA, has said everything should be on the table to prevent another tragedy like Newtown. But he assured gun owners he would fight for gun rights at the same time.
"I would tell all of my friends in NRA, I will work extremely hard and I will guarantee you there will not be an encroachment on your Second Amendment rights," Manchin said on ABC's "This Week."
The NRA's deep pockets help bolster allies and punish lawmakers who buck the powerful weapons lobby.
The group spent at least $24 million in the 2012 elections — $16.8 million through its political action committee and nearly $7.5 million through its affiliated Institute for Legislative Action. Separately, the NRA spent some $4.4 million through July 1 to lobby Congress. Keene insists the group represents its members and not just the gun manufacturers, though he said the NRA would like industry to contribute more money to the association.
"We know what works and what doesn't work," Keene said. "And we're not willing to compromise on people's rights when there is no evidence that doing so is going to accomplish the purpose."
The NRA, instead, is pushing for measures that would keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, until a person gets better.
"If they are cured, there ought to be a way out of it," Keene said.
Currently, a person is banned from buying a gun from a licensed dealer if the person is a fugitive, a felon, convicted of substance abuse, convicted of domestic violence, living in the U.S. illegally or someone who "has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution."
States, however, are inconsistent in providing information about mentally ill residents to the federal government for background checks. And, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said some 40 percent of gun sales happen with no background checks, often at gun shows or through private sellers over the Internet or in classified ads.
___
Follow Eileen Sullivan on Twitter: http://twitter.com/esullivanap
 
 


Thursday, January 10, 2013

Breaking: Two reportedly shot at Calif. high school; suspect in custody

Student opens fire at California high school, wounding one



At least one person was shot when a gunman opened fire at a high school in California on Thursday morning, authorities there say.
The shooting occurred in the science building at Taft Union High School in Taft, Calif., at approximately 9 a.m. local time, a Kern County Sheriff's official told Yahoo News.
The sheriff's official said the suspected shooter—a student at the school—was taken into custody, and a shotgun was recovered at the scene.
One victim, a fellow student, was airlifted to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, Calif., with a shotgun wound to the upper right chest, the official said. The extent of the student's injuries were not known.
A second person, identified by the official as a teacher at the school, was also injured, but declined medical treatment. The injury does not appear to be related to the shooting itself, the official said.
According to the school's website, "two campus supervisors and a Kern County Sheriff monitor the campus before, during, and after school." The sheriff's official did not know whether the officer was on duty at the time of the shooting.
ABC's Kero-Bakersfield affiliate said it received calls from students who were hiding in closets inside the school, located about 120 miles north of Los Angeles.
Students were evacuated while sheriff and fire personnel conducted room-to-room searches. One student told the network that he was in another building participating in an "active shooter drill" when the shooting occurred.
The high school was featured in the 1986 film "The Best of Times" starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell.
The shootings come less than a month after 26 people, including 20 children, were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. The massacre led to calls for reforms to the country's gun laws.
On Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden, appointed to lead a task force to reduce U.S. gun violence, was scheduled to meet with members of the National Rifle Association in Washington to discuss gun control.

At least one person was shot when a gunman opened fire at a high school in California on Thursday morning, authorities there say.
The shooting occurred in the science building at Taft Union High School in Taft, Calif., at approximately 9 a.m. local time, a Kern County Sheriff's official told Yahoo News.
The sheriff's official said the suspected shooter—a student at the school—was taken into custody, and a shotgun was recovered at the scene.
One victim, a fellow student, was airlifted to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, Calif., with a shotgun wound to the upper right chest, the official said. The extent of the student's injuries were not known.
A second person, identified by the official as a teacher at the school, was also injured, but declined medical treatment. The injury does not appear to be related to the shooting itself, the official said.
According to the school's website, "two campus supervisors and a Kern County Sheriff monitor the campus before, during, and after school." The sheriff's official did not know whether the officer was on duty at the time of the shooting.
ABC's Kero-Bakersfield affiliate said it received calls from students who were hiding in closets inside the school, located about 120 miles north of Los Angeles.
Students were evacuated while sheriff and fire personnel conducted room-to-room searches. One student told the network that he was in another building participating in an "active shooter drill" when the shooting occurred.
The high school was featured in the 1986 film "The Best of Times" starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell.
The shootings come less than a month after 26 people, including 20 children, were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. The massacre led to calls for reforms to the country's gun laws.
On Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden, appointed to lead a task force to reduce U.S. gun violence, was scheduled to meet with members of the National Rifle Association in Washington to discuss gun control.


Two reportedly shot at Calif. high school (Google Earth)

What a Relief!


Trapped Killer Whales Free Themselves


The killer whales trapped under ice in a remote Quebec village reached safety after the floes shifted on Hudson Bay, according to the mayor's office in Inukjuak.
Water opened up around the area where the orcas had been coming up for air and the winds seemed to have shifted overnight, creating a passageway to the open water six miles away.
"This is great news," Johnny Williams, a resident who works for the mayor's office, told ABC News.
Williams said he was unsure how far the whales have moved, but that they were definitely not under the ice hole.
Residents in the remote village of Inukjuak had been watching helplessly as at least 12 whales struggled to breathe out of a hole slightly bigger than a pickup truck in a desperate bid to survive.
The community had asked the Canadian government for help in freeing the killer whales, believed to be an entire family. The government denied a request to bring icebreakers Wednesday, saying they were too far away to help. Inukjuak, about 900 miles north of Montreal, was ill-equipped to jump into action.
Joe Gaydos, director and chief scientist at the SeaDoc Society in Eastsound, Wash., said that although the whales can go a long time without food, the length of time they can hold their breath, which they must do underwater, was the question.
"The challenge [was] to figure out where the next hole is," he told ABCNews.com before the whales found freedom. "If that lake freezes over, it's an unfortunate situation. It's a very limited chance. It's a matter of luck."
Inukjuak residents posted a video online to show the whales' struggles. In the clip, the whales are seen taking turns breathing. They can't bend their necks so they do a "spy-hopping" maneuver, Gaydos said, in order to look for another hole in the ice.
A hunter first spotted the pod of trapped whales Tuesday. It is believed that the whales swam into the waters north of Quebec during recent warm weather.

Trapped Killer Whales Free Themselves


ABC News' Bethany Owings contributed to this report

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Wild for Wildlife and Nature


 
 
An animal love story! ♥

Giant Jack the moose stands six feet tall, weighs almost 1,000lbs and is very protective of his tiny best friend Vanessa Gibson. The 23-year-old has nurtured Jack since he was three days old and the enormous moose is fiercely protective of her. Playing tag and run, and taking walks around the beautiful grounds of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre in Portage, Vanessa and three year old Jack are inseparable. ♥