RR crossing arm impales school bus; breast implants; boat dock death
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from the West
- The Associated Press
- Updated
ST. GEORGE, Utah — The endangered dwarf bear poppy is growing and blooming in an 800-acre parcel set aside as a preserve.
The Spectrum reports (http://bit.ly/240CYN4) the nonprofit Nature Conservancy set up the White Dome Nature Preserve.
The Nature Conservancy's West Desert Regional Director Elaine York says the dwarf bear poppy is found in five places in Washington County and nowhere else in the world.
She said the only way to protect the plant is to buy its habitat.
The conservancy acquired the 800 acres over the course of several years.
People driving off-road vehicles previously used the land.
All-terrain vehicles have left ruts and trails in the dirt.
The preserve is now fenced in.
Horseback riding and mountain-biking is prohibited.
Several hiking trails are open to the public.
- By HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press
- Updated
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's liquor commissioners have sidestepped questions about a Salt Lake City movie theater that could be punished for serving drinks during a screening of the movie "Deadpool."
The commission's vice chairman said Tuesday during its first meeting since the theater filed a lawsuit over the incident that it would not comment, but highlighted the fact that it doesn't create the laws.
Utah Democratic nominee for Attorney General Jon Harper said during the meeting that the state is infringing on the theater's constitutional rights. He cited a Supreme Court decision that says liquor regulation cannot be used to restrict speech protected by the First Amendment.
The state says the theater has violated Utah law because the movie includes nudity and simulated sex.
The theater has sued, saying the law unconstitutionally uses liquor rules to restrict its free speech rights.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
SANTA FE, N.M. — State wildlife officials will draft a plan to help protect an endangered bird species that is part of the grouse family.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the white-tailed ptarmigan has been listed as endangered in the state since 1975.
Taos County and the New Mexico Game and Fish Department will start drafting a management plan in May.
U.S. Forest Service data shows that less than 20 of the birds have been seen annually since 1985. Just three were seen in 2011.
Experts say white-tailed ptarmigans tend to inhabit high-altitude areas and survive in cooler temperatures.
Wildlife officials say the bird is threatened by factors like climate change, development and other animals competing for food.
A public meeting will be held May 5 in Taos.
___
Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com
- The Associated Press
- Updated
JACKSON, Wyo. — A church in Jackson is planning a family-friendly gun safety workshop and question-and-answer session.
The Jackson Hole News and Guide reports that St. John's Episcopal Church worked with the Jackson Hole Shooting Experience and High Caliber Women, the Jackson Police Department and the Teton County Sheriff's Office to put together the May 10 event.
Church communications specialist Darrah Isaacson said in a press release that it can be useful for people to know about gun safety even if they don't plan to own a gun.
The "Firearms Safety for Responsible Folks" presentation will include information about different types of guns, proper ammunition storage, types of gun safes and gun locks and how to talk to kids about guns.
The workshop won't include shooting or live ammunition.
___
Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com
- The Associated Press
- Updated
LOVELAND, Colo. — A task force investigating a series of shootings in northern Colorado last year has fielded more than 5,000 tips but made no arrests.
Task force spokesman David Moore said Tuesday that investigators have interviewed 1,000 people and eliminated 12 of them as persons of interest in the six shootings, two of which were fatal.
Authorities say the shooting of a woman driving on Interstate 25 in April 2015 and a bicyclist killed in Windsor are linked. A shooting that killed a man walking on a Loveland sidewalk and another that didn't injure anyone the same day are also linked to each other. A fifth and sixth shooting are also connected. But Moore says there is no evidence linking all six cases.
Investigators say a pickup truck and a Mini-Cooper are involved.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles authorities say nobody was hurt when a railroad track crossing arm crashed through a passenger window of a school bus and came out a window on the other side.
City Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott says the crossing arm and some broken glass ended up on the lap of one student on board.
The accident was reported around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday southeast of downtown.
Television images showed one student sitting calmly in the bus, which was stopped nearly parallel to the tracks. The crossing arm was bent and sticking through the bus.
County Fire Battalion Chief Dale Drummond says 7 special-needs students, including three in wheelchairs, were put on another bus and taken to Hooper Elementary.
Trains are running as scheduled.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
JEROME, Idaho — Idaho police say a husband and wife under the influence of prescription medication were driving recklessly with 10 children in a minivan.
The Times-News reports that Jerome County Sheriff's Office says the married couple was stopped Monday morning, taken to the hospital for treatment and will likely face charges.
The children range from 6 months to 13 years old and are in the custody of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
The sheriff's office says the mother, who was driving, and her husband, the passenger, were both incoherent when they were pulled over.
Sheriff Doug McFall says the couple will likely be charged with child endangerment on top of any other charges.
___
Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com
- The Associated Press
- Updated
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana wildlife officials have confirmed that a grizzly bear known as "Scarface" to some Yellowstone National Park biologists and visitors was shot and killed during a confrontation with a hunter north of Gardiner last fall.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating because grizzly bears are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Scarface, or grizzly No. 211, was 25 years old and weighed 338 pounds. Yellowstone bear management biologist Kerry Gunther says in its prime the bear weighed nearly 600 pounds. No. 211 was captured by researchers 17 times over the years.
Wildlife watchers and photographers have posted pictures of the bear online, nicknaming it Scarface for the marks on the right side of its face. Researchers first noticed the scars in 2000, when the bear was 11.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
HELENA, Mont. — A Bureau of Reclamation safety team is investigating after a dock stored at a Canyon Ferry Lake boat launch partially collapsed and pinned a 3-year-old Butte boy, causing fatal injuries.
Landon Haight was injured Friday afternoon while he played at the Shannon Boat Launch and died Saturday at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. The boat launch is owned and maintained by the Bureau of Reclamation.
Reclamation spokesman Tyler Johnson says that the bureau offers its condolences to Landon's family. He tells the Independent Record (http://bit.ly/1NwrkSk) that any recommendations made by the safety team will be implemented.
The Lewis and Clark County sheriff's office determined the boy's death was an accident.
___
Information from: Independent Record, http://www.helenair.com
- The Associated Press
- Updated
JUNEAU, Alaska — Fisheries researchers say a mass of exceptionally warm water in the northeast Pacific Ocean could shake up recent predictions of higher salmon runs in Alaska this year.
Brian Beckman with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the issue is that biologists are not sure exactly how the warm water known as the Pacific Blob affects different salmon along the West Coast, KTOO-FM reported (http://bit.ly/1T1lPXW).
"The thing that we need to think about is that warm water in Alaska is really different than warm water in California," said Beckman, a research fishery biologist at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. "Warm water in California can be so warm that it is actually injuring the fish, whereas warm water in Alaska just means that it is abnormally different and maybe the ecosystem is different. But it's still a comfortable place for fish to be."
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently predicted chinook numbers would range between 125,000 and 219,000 kings this year along the Kuskokwim River in southeast Alaska, a higher king salmon run than in previous years.
Beckman said the blob's effect could be different for each type of salmon.
"It's really hard to talk about salmon runs all across the coast in any one single focus because they all kind of do different things," Beckman said.
Last year's pink salmon harvest in southeast Alaska fell short of predictions. Joe Orsi, fisheries research biologist at NOAA's Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute at Auke Bay, said it is not clear whether the blob had an impact on their model for salmon runs in 2015.
While there remains a level of uncertainty, researchers have created a database intended to show how the Pacific Blob is affecting various salmon runs along the West Coast. It can serve as a tool to help Alaska fisheries managers better predict salmon runs.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police say the death of a horse found with its tail tied to a telephone pole in the San Fernando Valley and initially believed to have been shot in the head has been ruled an accident.
The Los Angeles Times reported the animal had been found April 9 in front of a home in Sylmar. Officer Rosario Herrera said Monday a necropsy determined that the animal had not been shot or beaten.
She declined to release any details, other than to say officers believe the horse may have become entangled in a horse trailer and died of strangulation.
Det. Eric Bixler had initially told City News Service that unspecified evidence was left at the scene and that investigators believed they would be able to identify a suspect.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — An anonymous benefactor has stepped in with a key donation for a northern Colorado sanctuary for displaced, abused and neglected captive wolves and wolf dogs.
The Coloradoan (http://tinyurl.com/zulannw ) reported Tuesday that the W.O.L.F. Sanctuary located west of Fort Collins had been raising money for a $152,500 down payment for a new home in northwestern Larimer County. The sanctuary was $85,000 short and closing in on a Thursday deadline set by the owner when it got an anonymous donation.
The sanctuary currently houses 29 wolves and wolf dogs, with a capacity for 30. Animals that are taken in become lifelong residents. Executive Director Shelley Coldiron hopes the shelter can gradually expand to up to 60 animals in the new location.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and others on Wednesday will formally kick off construction of a laboratory where researchers will test new technologies to make profitable use of carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-fired power plant.
The goal isn't just to prevent CO2 from entering the atmosphere, but to offset the cost of doing so while providing a glimmer of hope for a coal industry beset by bankruptcies and layoffs. As things stand now, carbon-capture technology typically is too expensive to keep coal-fired power competitive with wind and solar power.
Construction of the Integrated Test Center already has begun at Basin Electric's Dry Fork Station coal-fired power plant near Gillette and is scheduled to wrap up next year.
"There are only a few large-scale test centers in the world where people can test this kind of technology and none that are being built with the idea of carbon conversion as their first instance in mind," said Paul Bunje, principal and senior scientist at XPrize.
Eventually the lab will host teams that will compete for $20 million in awards, through the NRG COSIA Carbon XPrize, to develop carbon conversion technology. Half of the XPrize competition will focus on carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and the other half on those from gas-fired plants.
Carbon dioxide emissions could be used to make diesel fuel, cement, advanced polymers and graphene, a carbon-based material many times stronger than steel, Bunje said.
"We're really keen about innovation that kind of breaks the mold — that looks at something brand new," Bunje said. "You can't do it on a computer. You can't just model it. You need a place where teams can try out their diversity of ideas."
Wyoming has pledged $15 million toward construction of the lab. Wyoming has more coal mining than any other state, supplying about 40 percent of the nation's coal.
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. has promised $5 million toward the center, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association has pledged $1 million.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
JACKSON, Wyo. — Wyoming wildlife officials have adopted a new chronic wasting disease management plan.
The Jackson Hole News and Guide reports that the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved the plan in Casper on Friday. Chronic wasting disease is a fatal and incurable condition affecting elk, deer and moose.
Game and Fish staff say they will also write a chronic wasting disease action plan that will be independent of, but in accordance with, the management plan.
State veterinarian Mary Wood says wildlife officials are trying to come up with active strategies to fight the disease. She says one such tactic is to reduce animals' reliance on feed, because elk cluster at feeding grounds in the winter.
___
Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com
- The Associated Press
ST. GEORGE, Utah — The endangered dwarf bear poppy is growing and blooming in an 800-acre parcel set aside as a preserve.
The Spectrum reports (http://bit.ly/240CYN4) the nonprofit Nature Conservancy set up the White Dome Nature Preserve.
The Nature Conservancy's West Desert Regional Director Elaine York says the dwarf bear poppy is found in five places in Washington County and nowhere else in the world.
She said the only way to protect the plant is to buy its habitat.
The conservancy acquired the 800 acres over the course of several years.
People driving off-road vehicles previously used the land.
All-terrain vehicles have left ruts and trails in the dirt.
The preserve is now fenced in.
Horseback riding and mountain-biking is prohibited.
Several hiking trails are open to the public.
- By HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's liquor commissioners have sidestepped questions about a Salt Lake City movie theater that could be punished for serving drinks during a screening of the movie "Deadpool."
The commission's vice chairman said Tuesday during its first meeting since the theater filed a lawsuit over the incident that it would not comment, but highlighted the fact that it doesn't create the laws.
Utah Democratic nominee for Attorney General Jon Harper said during the meeting that the state is infringing on the theater's constitutional rights. He cited a Supreme Court decision that says liquor regulation cannot be used to restrict speech protected by the First Amendment.
The state says the theater has violated Utah law because the movie includes nudity and simulated sex.
The theater has sued, saying the law unconstitutionally uses liquor rules to restrict its free speech rights.
- The Associated Press
SANTA FE, N.M. — State wildlife officials will draft a plan to help protect an endangered bird species that is part of the grouse family.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the white-tailed ptarmigan has been listed as endangered in the state since 1975.
Taos County and the New Mexico Game and Fish Department will start drafting a management plan in May.
U.S. Forest Service data shows that less than 20 of the birds have been seen annually since 1985. Just three were seen in 2011.
Experts say white-tailed ptarmigans tend to inhabit high-altitude areas and survive in cooler temperatures.
Wildlife officials say the bird is threatened by factors like climate change, development and other animals competing for food.
A public meeting will be held May 5 in Taos.
___
Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com
- The Associated Press
JACKSON, Wyo. — A church in Jackson is planning a family-friendly gun safety workshop and question-and-answer session.
The Jackson Hole News and Guide reports that St. John's Episcopal Church worked with the Jackson Hole Shooting Experience and High Caliber Women, the Jackson Police Department and the Teton County Sheriff's Office to put together the May 10 event.
Church communications specialist Darrah Isaacson said in a press release that it can be useful for people to know about gun safety even if they don't plan to own a gun.
The "Firearms Safety for Responsible Folks" presentation will include information about different types of guns, proper ammunition storage, types of gun safes and gun locks and how to talk to kids about guns.
The workshop won't include shooting or live ammunition.
___
Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com
- The Associated Press
LOVELAND, Colo. — A task force investigating a series of shootings in northern Colorado last year has fielded more than 5,000 tips but made no arrests.
Task force spokesman David Moore said Tuesday that investigators have interviewed 1,000 people and eliminated 12 of them as persons of interest in the six shootings, two of which were fatal.
Authorities say the shooting of a woman driving on Interstate 25 in April 2015 and a bicyclist killed in Windsor are linked. A shooting that killed a man walking on a Loveland sidewalk and another that didn't injure anyone the same day are also linked to each other. A fifth and sixth shooting are also connected. But Moore says there is no evidence linking all six cases.
Investigators say a pickup truck and a Mini-Cooper are involved.
- The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles authorities say nobody was hurt when a railroad track crossing arm crashed through a passenger window of a school bus and came out a window on the other side.
City Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott says the crossing arm and some broken glass ended up on the lap of one student on board.
The accident was reported around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday southeast of downtown.
Television images showed one student sitting calmly in the bus, which was stopped nearly parallel to the tracks. The crossing arm was bent and sticking through the bus.
County Fire Battalion Chief Dale Drummond says 7 special-needs students, including three in wheelchairs, were put on another bus and taken to Hooper Elementary.
Trains are running as scheduled.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating.
- The Associated Press
JEROME, Idaho — Idaho police say a husband and wife under the influence of prescription medication were driving recklessly with 10 children in a minivan.
The Times-News reports that Jerome County Sheriff's Office says the married couple was stopped Monday morning, taken to the hospital for treatment and will likely face charges.
The children range from 6 months to 13 years old and are in the custody of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
The sheriff's office says the mother, who was driving, and her husband, the passenger, were both incoherent when they were pulled over.
Sheriff Doug McFall says the couple will likely be charged with child endangerment on top of any other charges.
___
Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com
- The Associated Press
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana wildlife officials have confirmed that a grizzly bear known as "Scarface" to some Yellowstone National Park biologists and visitors was shot and killed during a confrontation with a hunter north of Gardiner last fall.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating because grizzly bears are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Scarface, or grizzly No. 211, was 25 years old and weighed 338 pounds. Yellowstone bear management biologist Kerry Gunther says in its prime the bear weighed nearly 600 pounds. No. 211 was captured by researchers 17 times over the years.
Wildlife watchers and photographers have posted pictures of the bear online, nicknaming it Scarface for the marks on the right side of its face. Researchers first noticed the scars in 2000, when the bear was 11.
- The Associated Press
HELENA, Mont. — A Bureau of Reclamation safety team is investigating after a dock stored at a Canyon Ferry Lake boat launch partially collapsed and pinned a 3-year-old Butte boy, causing fatal injuries.
Landon Haight was injured Friday afternoon while he played at the Shannon Boat Launch and died Saturday at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. The boat launch is owned and maintained by the Bureau of Reclamation.
Reclamation spokesman Tyler Johnson says that the bureau offers its condolences to Landon's family. He tells the Independent Record (http://bit.ly/1NwrkSk) that any recommendations made by the safety team will be implemented.
The Lewis and Clark County sheriff's office determined the boy's death was an accident.
___
Information from: Independent Record, http://www.helenair.com
- The Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska — Fisheries researchers say a mass of exceptionally warm water in the northeast Pacific Ocean could shake up recent predictions of higher salmon runs in Alaska this year.
Brian Beckman with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the issue is that biologists are not sure exactly how the warm water known as the Pacific Blob affects different salmon along the West Coast, KTOO-FM reported (http://bit.ly/1T1lPXW).
"The thing that we need to think about is that warm water in Alaska is really different than warm water in California," said Beckman, a research fishery biologist at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. "Warm water in California can be so warm that it is actually injuring the fish, whereas warm water in Alaska just means that it is abnormally different and maybe the ecosystem is different. But it's still a comfortable place for fish to be."
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently predicted chinook numbers would range between 125,000 and 219,000 kings this year along the Kuskokwim River in southeast Alaska, a higher king salmon run than in previous years.
Beckman said the blob's effect could be different for each type of salmon.
"It's really hard to talk about salmon runs all across the coast in any one single focus because they all kind of do different things," Beckman said.
Last year's pink salmon harvest in southeast Alaska fell short of predictions. Joe Orsi, fisheries research biologist at NOAA's Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute at Auke Bay, said it is not clear whether the blob had an impact on their model for salmon runs in 2015.
While there remains a level of uncertainty, researchers have created a database intended to show how the Pacific Blob is affecting various salmon runs along the West Coast. It can serve as a tool to help Alaska fisheries managers better predict salmon runs.
- The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police say the death of a horse found with its tail tied to a telephone pole in the San Fernando Valley and initially believed to have been shot in the head has been ruled an accident.
The Los Angeles Times reported the animal had been found April 9 in front of a home in Sylmar. Officer Rosario Herrera said Monday a necropsy determined that the animal had not been shot or beaten.
She declined to release any details, other than to say officers believe the horse may have become entangled in a horse trailer and died of strangulation.
Det. Eric Bixler had initially told City News Service that unspecified evidence was left at the scene and that investigators believed they would be able to identify a suspect.
- The Associated Press
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — An anonymous benefactor has stepped in with a key donation for a northern Colorado sanctuary for displaced, abused and neglected captive wolves and wolf dogs.
The Coloradoan (http://tinyurl.com/zulannw ) reported Tuesday that the W.O.L.F. Sanctuary located west of Fort Collins had been raising money for a $152,500 down payment for a new home in northwestern Larimer County. The sanctuary was $85,000 short and closing in on a Thursday deadline set by the owner when it got an anonymous donation.
The sanctuary currently houses 29 wolves and wolf dogs, with a capacity for 30. Animals that are taken in become lifelong residents. Executive Director Shelley Coldiron hopes the shelter can gradually expand to up to 60 animals in the new location.
- The Associated Press
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and others on Wednesday will formally kick off construction of a laboratory where researchers will test new technologies to make profitable use of carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-fired power plant.
The goal isn't just to prevent CO2 from entering the atmosphere, but to offset the cost of doing so while providing a glimmer of hope for a coal industry beset by bankruptcies and layoffs. As things stand now, carbon-capture technology typically is too expensive to keep coal-fired power competitive with wind and solar power.
Construction of the Integrated Test Center already has begun at Basin Electric's Dry Fork Station coal-fired power plant near Gillette and is scheduled to wrap up next year.
"There are only a few large-scale test centers in the world where people can test this kind of technology and none that are being built with the idea of carbon conversion as their first instance in mind," said Paul Bunje, principal and senior scientist at XPrize.
Eventually the lab will host teams that will compete for $20 million in awards, through the NRG COSIA Carbon XPrize, to develop carbon conversion technology. Half of the XPrize competition will focus on carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and the other half on those from gas-fired plants.
Carbon dioxide emissions could be used to make diesel fuel, cement, advanced polymers and graphene, a carbon-based material many times stronger than steel, Bunje said.
"We're really keen about innovation that kind of breaks the mold — that looks at something brand new," Bunje said. "You can't do it on a computer. You can't just model it. You need a place where teams can try out their diversity of ideas."
Wyoming has pledged $15 million toward construction of the lab. Wyoming has more coal mining than any other state, supplying about 40 percent of the nation's coal.
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. has promised $5 million toward the center, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association has pledged $1 million.
- The Associated Press
JACKSON, Wyo. — Wyoming wildlife officials have adopted a new chronic wasting disease management plan.
The Jackson Hole News and Guide reports that the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved the plan in Casper on Friday. Chronic wasting disease is a fatal and incurable condition affecting elk, deer and moose.
Game and Fish staff say they will also write a chronic wasting disease action plan that will be independent of, but in accordance with, the management plan.
State veterinarian Mary Wood says wildlife officials are trying to come up with active strategies to fight the disease. She says one such tactic is to reduce animals' reliance on feed, because elk cluster at feeding grounds in the winter.
___
Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com
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