Amish girl asked to be shot to save others

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -- One of the girls who died in Pennsylvania's Amish schoolhouse massacre asked the killer to shoot her first in an apparent bid to save the younger girls, a woman who spoke to the victim's family said Friday.

Rita Rhoads, a nurse-midwife who delivered 13-year-old Marian Fisher as well as another victim, said Fisher appealed to Charles Carl Roberts IV to shoot her first because she thought it might allow younger girls to survive.

Rhoads said she did not know whether Fisher in fact was shot first. Roberts shot 10 girls ages 6 to 13, killing five of them and then himself in Monday's rampage.

Fisher's 11-year-old sister, Barbie, appealed to Roberts to shoot her next, Rhoads said. Barbie survived and was in Children's Hospital of Philadelphia recovering from shoulder, hand and leg injuries.

"Barbie has been talking and she said Marian said, 'Shoot me first,"' Rhoads said. "Apparently what she was trying to do was to save the younger girls."

Barbie, who attended her sister's funeral Thursday before returning to the hospital, gave details of her ordeal to relatives including her grandfather, who told Rhoads, the midwife said in a telephone interview.

"It was very courageous of the girls to offer themselves," Rhoads said. "God was really present to give the girls that kind of courage."

The Amish, descendants of Swiss-German settlers, are a traditionalist Christian denomination who place particular importance on the Gospel message of forgiveness. They believe in nonviolence, simple living and little contact with the modern world.

Revelation
2:10 Don't be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Bottled carrot juice may have paralyzed woman

TAMPA, Fla. - Investigators believe botulism toxin from bottled carrot juice paralyzed a woman, the fourth person thought to be poisoned by bacteria in the drink.

The unidentified woman is unresponsive and has been hospitalized since mid-September, said Jylmarie Kintz, epidemiologist for the Hillsborough County Health Department.

Three people in Georgia experienced respiratory failure and remain hospitalized on ventilators since drinking the bottled carrot juice a month ago, according to federal officials.

3rd E. coli death linked to spinach

OMAHA, Neb. - An elderly woman who died in late August was infected with E. coli after eating fresh spinach, bringing to three the number of people who have perished in a nationwide outbreak of the bacteria, health officials said Friday.

"the bacteria are coming to take us down
that's my prediction
it's the answer to this culture
of the quick fix prescription"


ani difranco

Ground beef recalled due to suspected E. coli

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An Iowa company is recalling about 5,200 pounds of ground beef products distributed from seven states because they could be contaminated with a dangerous strain of E. coli, the government said Friday.

The meat is suspected of having the same E. coli strain responsible for three deaths in the recent outbreak of contaminated spinach. The government said no illnesses have been reported from consumption of the beef subject to the recall.

Jim's Market and Locker Inc. of Harlan, Iowa, produced the ground beef patties and packages August and September 1, and sent it to distributors in Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Texas and Wisconsin, and to one retail establishment in Iowa, said the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Bush, father share stage despite war-strain report

A new book, "State of Denial," by journalist Bob Woodward, says former president George Bush was "anguished" over the Iraq war and its aftermath, although the elder Bush has dismissed that account.

On Saturday, the two Bushes took part in the christening of the Navy's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, named the USS George H.W. Bush after the 41st president.

Amid rainfall and the crackle of thunder, the current president stood under the carrier's bow and said his 82-year-old father "exemplifies the great character of our country."

Blasts were "like the world's largest bowl of Rice Krispies -- pop, pop, pop! But it was real loud."


A fireball rises over the EQ Industrial Services plant on Investment Boulevard in Apex, N.C., on Friday morning.
By Chris Seward, The News & Observer

APEX, North Carolina (CNN) -- Firefighters will not be able to put out the blaze at a hazardous waste plant until Saturday at the earliest, the mayor said, adding that his earlier assertion that evacuees may be able to return home Friday evening was optimistic.

Three fires were still burning beneath the collapsed building at the plant, Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly said. Environmental Protection Agency officials won't give the all-clear until the fires are extinguished, he said.

The Michigan-based company that owns the plant is reimbursing displaced residents for their expenses, a spokesman said.

Earlier, firefighters in the Raleigh suburban town of 32,000 had hoped to have the blazes out by late Friday afternoon, but that plan proved overly ambitious.

"The strategy that they employed to put out the fires has been unsuccessful," Weatherly said Friday evening. It could take up to 12 hours to put out the fires burning under the rubble.

The Environmental Quality Industrial Services building collapsed Friday as fiery explosions overnight left a gas plume hovering over the town.

The cloud forced residents to flee their homes, but Dianna Kees, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said preliminary tests by air and water specialists are "not finding anything alarming."

Residents had feared the blaze and ensuing explosions would send noxious fumes over the city, but a fortunate rainfall Friday morning helped wash the air of impurities, officials said.

At a noon news conference, Weatherly said experts were determining the extent of "potential hazard" from chemicals at the plant.

Bruce Radford, Apex Town Manager, had declared a state of emergency and said the business district, town hall and all schools in Apex were to be closed Friday.

No major injuries were reported. Thirteen police officers who were treated at hospitals were released and expected to be back on duty immediately, Weatherly said.

At least 106 residents of a nearby nursing home were hospitalized, according to hospital officials. Others were admitted after complaining of severe respiratory distress.

Thousands evacuated
Half of Apex's residents were told to evacuate after the blasts began late Thursday night. Apex is about 14 miles west of Raleigh.

About 3,850 people left to stay with friends or family. The town set up shelters at elementary schools and shut down sections of major thoroughfares.

All area hotels were booked, Radford said. It was unclear how many residents remained in their homes, said Jane Wilson, public affairs manager for Wake County, where Apex is located. .

Scores of people were hospitalized. Practically the entire eastern part of Apex was evacuated by early Friday, Radford said.

Officials had not yet determined what caused the fire.

Early reports suggested flames from the plant caused nearby petroleum tanks belonging to another company to explode. But officials told the the Raleigh-based News & Observer that may not be the case.

Fireballs seen shooting up
John Echols, 28, who lives near the plant, told the News & Observer that blasts were "like the world's largest bowl of Rice Krispies -- pop, pop, pop! But it was real loud."

At first, fireballs "would shoot up from time to time -- it was nasty," he said.

Hungry critters attack NYC ships, piers

NEW YORK - The city's waterfront is getting cleaner, and bothersome river critters not seen in hundreds of years are once again attacking wooden ships and piers.

The waters were once so filthy that early 20th-century sailors could be sure their boats would be safe from such threats — because organisms simply couldn't survive in the muck. But scientists are now seeing a resurgence in gribbles, shrimp-like crustaceans that grow to about one-17th of an inch in length and attack wood from the outside, and shipworms, which latch onto the outside of wood and burrow inward, growing up to several feet long as they devour the material.

Revelations
8:10 The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch, and it fell on one third of the rivers, and on the springs of the waters.

8:11 The name of the star is called "Wormwood." One third of the waters became wormwood. Many people died from the waters, because they were made bitter.

Wet, woes for the Mid-Atlantic and West

South
The upper-level low also plaguing the Mid-Atlantic will swing through the Southeast over the weekend and finally edge away over the Atlantic Monday and Tuesday.

Midwest
Two cold fronts will assault the Plains and Midwest over the next seven days.

Revelation
8:13 I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a loud voice, "

Woe! Woe! Woe

for those who dwell on the earth, because of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, who are yet to sound!"

Severe thunderstorms in Southwest

Showers and thunderstorms moved through the Southwest and Great Basin on Friday, prompting flood warnings and severe thunderstorm watches in Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.

Some rivers experienced flash flooding, while others were expected to rise into the evening.

Meanwhile, light to heavy rain fell in the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England throughout the day, sparking flash flood watches in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.

Hail, flooding cause damage in parts of central and southern Ohio

Eric Watson could only shake his head in disbelief Thursday as he surveyed the side of his house in eastern Franklin County.
Holes — perhaps hundreds of them — had been punched into the vinyl siding by a violent hailstorm that raced through central Ohio Wednesday night. The thunderstorms and lightning also brought flooding to southern Ohio, forcing some homes to be evacuated and two school districts to close because of impassable roads.

The hail, up to the size of a quarter, shattered windows, dented cars and riddled homes with holes.

"When I got here last night, it looked like somebody just came by with a machine gun and just peppered the whole house," Watson said.

High winds, rain and hail from severe thunderstorms Wednesday Oct. 4 damaged a mobile home in Pataskala, Ohio.

Major Storm and Cold Outbreak on the Horizon

Revelation
18:8 Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for the Lord God who has Judged her is Strong.


USA has most destructive, expensive wildfire season on record

DENVER — The federal government spent $1.5 billion fighting wildfires in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, a tab that reflects the most destructive fire year in nearly half a century.
The cost marks the fourth time in the past seven years that firefighting costs exceeded $1.3 billion, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. In 2002, federal agencies spent nearly $1.7 billion.

Since January, fires have burned more than 9.1 million acres. That is the worst destruction since the Boise center began keeping accurate records in 1960 and far exceeds the yearly average of 5.2 million acres over the past decade.

Drought taking cash, mental toll on farmers

The summer of 2006 was the second warmest in the continental U.S. since records began in 1895, according to the NOAA National Climatic Data Center. Despite some rainfall last month in parts of the country, moderate to extreme drought conditions continue in about 40 percent of the country.

Heavy rain forces evacuations in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. - Up to 9 inches of rain soaked parts of Virginia, forcing the evacuation Saturday about 100 people in a six-block section of this capital city and causing scattered flooding in the southeastern part of the state.

A ferry across the James River was temporarily suspended because of high waters. In southeast Virginia's Isle of Wight, officials evacuated about three dozen people and reported widespread flooding after at least 8 inches of rain since Friday.

"We have more roads out than we can keep track of," said Don Robertson, a spokesman for the county. "We have some bridges that are out (and) a lot of flash flood conditions."

The National Weather Service said rainfall since Friday ranged from 4 to 9 inches as a storm stalled over the state and a band of rain drenched central Virginia to Hampton Roads. Rain was forecast to taper off later Saturday.

In Richmond's Battery Park, police went door-to-door to more than 40 homes and apartment buildings to enforce the city-ordered evacuation. A month ago, the area was flooded during Tropical Depression Ernesto, causing $9 million in property damage and the condemnation of 68 properties. More than 250 homes were evacuated then.

The latest evacuation involved approximately 100 residents, said Britt Drewes, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works. An emergency shelter was opened.

"These residents are so sad to see this again," Drewes said. "When the rain started, everybody cringed. There's just frustration."

Final tests confirm bird flu strain in Montana-USDA

WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - A final round of tests on wild ducks in Montana confirmed the birds tested positive for the low-pathogenic H5 avian influenza virus, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior said on Saturday.

U.S. officials said the low pathogenic H5N3 avian influenza virus was found in two of the 16 samples collected from wild pintail ducks in Cascade County, Montana, in the west central part of the state.

Earlier tests released on Sept. 21 had indicated the H5 and N1 subtypes in the bird samples.

"Because these rapid screening tests are highly sensitive, it is not uncommon to have positive results for a specific subtype on the initial screen test and yet not be able to isolate a virus of that subtype" through additional tests, the departments said in a statement.

The low-pathogenic avian influenza virus commonly occurs in nature, but usually results in minor sickness or no noticeable disease for birds. Low-pathogenic H5N1 has been confirmed in the United States this year including in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Volcano erupts on Papua New Guinea island

CANBERRA, Oct 7 (Reuters) - A volcanic eruption on the Papua New Guinea island of New Britain on Saturday caused panicked residents to flee homes and sent ash plumes 18 kilometres into the air. Mount Tavurvur on the outskirts of the former provincial capital Rabaul erupted around 8.45 a.m. (2245 GMT Friday) with a blast which shattered windows up to 12 kilometres (8 miles) from the caldera.

"It was quite scary, but it's quiter now and has quietened considerably through the day," Rabaul Volcanological Observatory chief surveyor Steve Saunders told Reuters.

Hundreds more report dengue fever in India

NEW DELHI, Oct 7 (Reuters) - An outbreak of dengue fever has spread to more Indian states with hundreds of additional cases of the mosquito-borne infection being reported, officials said on Saturday.

Eight more people died over the past two days taking the death toll to 46, while the number of infected people rose by more than 400 to 3,331.

The disease, which began spreading in late August and was first detected in the national capital New Delhi, has now been reported from 12 of the country's 29 states.

The new states include Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala in the south, Gujarat in the west, and West Bengal in the east.

"It's a serious problem," federal health secretary P.K. Hota told Reuters.

"It is certainly a failure because we know this will happen each year but still we can not take adequate action against it."

Dengue cases peak in October, a prime time for mosquitoes to breed after the end of monsoon rains.

Delhi has reported 18 deaths and the highest number of infections, which are close to 1,000.

Civic authorities in the city have been running a campaign asking residents to empty their water-coolers and even flower vases to remove breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's son-in-law and two grandsons were admitted to a city hospital with symptoms of dengue, local media reported. Fumigation was carried out at his residence as a result.

The virus, which occurs mainly in the tropics, causes symptoms such as fever, severe headache, joint and muscular pains, vomiting and rashes.

Smoke worsens in SE Asia, health warning issued

SINGAPORE, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Visibility plunged to 50 metres in parts of Borneo island on Saturday and Singapore recorded its highest pollution reading in nearly a decade as fires in Indonesia sent acrid smoke across Southeast Asia.

Singapore issued its first haze-related health warning this year. The daily air pollution index hit 128, the National Environment Agency said on its Web site (www.nea.gov.sg). A reading above 100 is rated unhealthy.

In Central Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of Borneo, visibility in some places had plunged to 50 metres (165 ft) governor Agustin Teras Narang told Elshinta radio.

Hundreds sought medical help for respiratory problems, with more than 500 fires counted from satellite images. Malaysia also reported unhealthy levels of smoke in many areas.

Purwasto, head of forest fire control of Indonesia's environment ministry, said experts would go to Central Kalimantan on Sunday to assess the situation.

"The worst situation is in Central Kalimantan now. Most areas in the province contain peat", he told Reuters. Peat can burn for years and produces thick smoke.

"We cannot estimate the extent of the fires now."

This year's worsening haze has rekindled memories of a choking cloud of smoke that covered large areas of Southeast Asia in 1997-98, sickening large numbers of people and costing local economies billions of dollars.

The smoky haze occurs every year during the dry season on the Indonesian island of Sumatra as well across large parts of Indonesia's portion of Borneo, prompting protests from neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.

WAITING ON A WIND CHANGE

"Frustration is an understatement," Malaysia's Environment Minister Azmi Khalid was quoted on Saturday as saying by the Star newspaper, as haze in Kuala Lumpur also hit unhealthy levels.

The South Asian earthquake of 8 October 2005 killed almost 75,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

As soon as news of the scale of destruction caused by the earthquake reached Lahore, Dr. Saiqa Khan left in search of relatives trapped in remote regions. He spent a traumatic three days in Abbottabad and Mansehra and describes the "apocalyptic scene" that met him.

Nuke meltdown may have caused cancers

LOS ANGELES - A 1959 nuclear reactor meltdown at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory may have caused hundreds of cases of cancer in the community, and chemicals threaten to contaminate ground and water, according to a report released Thursday.

The report by an independent advisory panel estimated it was likely that radiation released during the meltdown caused about 260 cases of cancer within a 60-square-mile area around the reactor.

The lab's former owner, Rocketdyne, has said for years that no significant radiation was released. But the independent advisory panel said the incident released nearly 459 times more radiation than a similar one at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island in 1979.

"People have been asking for 20 years what was the impact of the meltdown, and now they will at least have an approximation of how many people may have been hurt," said Dan Hirsch, co-chairman of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory Advisory Panel.

This NASA handout panoramic camera image released shows layers of "Cape Verde" in "Victoria Crater (False Color) taken fron the Mars Exploration Rover on Mars. NASA scientists unveiled unprecedented close-up images of a massive crater on Mars they said could open the book on the Red Planet, from its formation to its history with water, the basis of life on Earth.(AFP/NASA-HO)


Ian Jones, who lives in a building close by, snapped this image of the burning Lincoln American tower in downtown Memphis.

Historic Memphis church burns, sparks other fires

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- Fire swept through a historical downtown church early Friday, collapsing its steeple and flicking off embers that ignited three other buildings. Arson was not suspected, a fire official said.

The buildings were unoccupied, and no injuries were immediately reported.

The First United Methodist Church, built in 1893, was largely destroyed by the flames, which were reported shortly before 3 a.m. Its roof caved in, the steeple toppled and some of the walls crumbled onto the streets.

Soon after the fire started at the church, 10 mph wind carried sparks to three nearby buildings, including the Lincoln American Tower, once the tallest building in Memphis at 22 floors.

The buildings were part of a $45 million renovation into condominiums. Owner Will Chandler told WMC-TV that he was worried one couldn't be salvaged, but he said it looked like the tower might be saved.

At least two blocks separated the two fire scenes, but open windows in the buildings under renovation and wooden beams in the two oldest buildings helped feed the flames, said Alvin Benson, a deputy director chief for the fire department.

Crews also had to extinguish small fires in trash bins set by drifting sparks.

"I have no reason to believe it's arson," Benson said. The cause remained under investigation.

The Rev. Martha Wagley, pastor of the church, said members of her congregation gathered on the sidewalks as the structure burned, crying, recalling various worship services and telling stories of who was "married and buried" there.

Wagley said her church is a "seven day a week" church with a food pantry and other ministries to people downtown.

Revelations
22:10 "Don't seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.

22:11 He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still."

22:12 "Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.

22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

22:14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.

22:15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

22:16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star."