Walrus rafts; girls on the gridiron; rock 'n' roll nuns
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from around the West.
- By KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press
- Updated
DENVER (AP) — A former caseworker faces forgery and other charges for falsely reporting interviews with victims, family members or witnesses in 12 cases of alleged child abuse or neglect, prosecutors said on Monday.
The 22-count grand jury indictment against Richelle Schultz accuses the former employee at the Jefferson County Department of Human Services of entering details of the interviews into a state database that acts as "a significant source of information" for supervisors deciding how to follow up on reports of abuse or neglect.
Prosecutors said in a news release that officials reviewed all 12 cases after Schultz left the department and "supervisors confirmed that there were no unresolved safety issues and all cases were closed."
The indictment notes that Schultz, 53, was assigned "less complicated" cases because she was new to the division and had just completed training. She also had to review each investigation with a supervisor and recounted details of false interviews in those meetings, prosecutors said.
Officials said court records don't list an attorney for Schultz, and no one answered a phone number listed under her name on Monday afternoon.
Schultz worked for the county's department for eight months, starting in December of 2015. After she left, officials did a more thorough review of her cases. In 12 cases, victims, family members or witnesses that Schultz claimed to have interviewed told investigators that she had not contacted them, the indictment said.
According to the indictment, five of the cases were closed based on Schultz's reporting and five were awaiting review by a supervisor to decide next steps. The indictment didn't provide a status for the last two cases at the time of Schultz's reporting.
Mary Berg, deputy director of the county's human services department, said officials' "immediate response was to ensure that no child was left in an unsafe situation." Berg said either a caseworker or supervisor followed up on each case Schultz was assigned.
"Contact was made with each alleged child victim and family member(s), and it was determined in all the assessments that there were no unresolved safety issues," Berg said in a written statement. "All the assessments were then closed."
A grand jury indicted Schultz on 12 counts of attempting to influence a public servant and 10 counts of forgery on Sept. 1. She reported to the county sheriff's office Friday and posted $25,000 bond on Saturday.
Prosecutors said Schultz lives in Sheridan, Wyoming.
- Updated
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Department of Public Safety changed its policy on field-testing suspected narcotics due to fears that troopers could overdose from contact with the potent opioid fentanyl.
Because troopers were barred from conducting the field tests, the suspected drug samples are sent to the department's laboratory for more rigorous testing in a safer environment, The Arizona Republic reported (http://bit.ly/2xsPfPh ) on Saturday.
The policy change subsequently caused a backlog of 2,191 controlled substance cases that still require testing, the newspaper found after reviewing data from August. The backlog consists of cases that have required testing for more than 30 days.
Officials said that if the delay is left unchecked, it could hinder prosecutors from filing formal criminal charges.
Because of the controlled substance testing backlog, the department's backlog of all other pending tests has increased.
"We don't have enough staff to do that sort of complete confirmation testing on everything that's coming in the door," said Beth Brady, the lab's manager. "So we had to come up with another plan."
To help get through the drug tests faster, the lab technicians began using the same field testing methods the troopers used. Brady said by doing this, it reduces the time the technicians spend on the tests, so it increases the number of tests they can do.
While there have been cases in other parts of the country of law enforcement officers harmed by contact with substances like fentanyl, no apparent cases have been reported in Arizona. Some medical professionals have questioned if such testing precautions like Arizona's policy change are necessary.
___
Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com
- Updated
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — A Yuma police officer has been arrested in California on a sexual assault charge.
Yuma Police spokeswoman Sgt. Lori Franklin said Monday the department is working to place 7-year veteran Jared Elkins on paid administrative leave after his arrest by San Diego police.
San Diego police were unable to immediately provide details of the Sept. 15 arrest.
San Diego County District Attorney's spokesman Steve Walker said records show Elkins was booked into jail on suspicion of rape by force or fear, forced oral copulation, misdemeanor sexual battery and making a criminal threat. He was released on $100,000 bail the day after his arrest and ordered to appear in court on Sept. 25.
The 33-year-old Elkins has not been formally charged.
- Updated
PHOENIX (AP) — An Israeli man accused of picking up a 2-year-old girl in the Tempe home of a family he didn't know has been sentenced to nine months in prison and lifetime probation.
Maricopa County Superior Court officials say Oren Cohen was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to aggravated assault on a minor, child abuse and second-degree burglary.
The 34-year-old Cohen was indicted last December on charges of kidnapping, burglary and aggravated assault on a minor. He pleaded not guilty in January.
Cohen told Tempe police he was drinking at a friend's place on Dec. 15 and accidentally went into the wrong apartment after going outside to smoke a cigarette.
The girl's father woke up after hearing the child whimpering and found Cohen holding the pajama-wearing toddler in the home's living room.
- Updated
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — City officials are once again asking people to describe downtown Eugene.
The first questions in the online survey ask Lane County residents to choose three words to describe downtown and its public spaces. When the question was posed earlier this year, the top three responses were "dirty," ''homeless" and "unsafe."
The Register-Guard reports (https://is.gd/GblViH ) the city has since increased security, imposed a temporary ban on dogs and expanded their effort to steer chronic offenders to social services.
City spokeswoman Laura Hammond says people are starting to see downtown differently, and hopefully that will make a difference in the perception. The deadline to complete the survey is Sept. 25.
___
Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
- Updated
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — Two bears that have been living at a Michigan zoo for nearly 20 years are getting a bigger yard.
A brown bear named Polly and a black bear named Migwan left the Detroit Zoo on Monday for a new life in Colorado.
Zoo director Ron Kagan says the bears will have many acres to roam at Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado. He says the move also will create more space for three grizzly bear brothers at the suburban Detroit zoo.
Polly is a 20-year-old bear, and Migwan is 15 years old. Polly was rescued from a roadside circus in 2000. Migwan was a cub when she was found two years later with quills in her face in Northern Michigan.
- Updated
LAFAYETTE, Colo. (AP) — Lafayette officials are considering an ordinance that would restrict restaurants from advertising sugary drinks to children.
The Daily Times-Call reported (http://bit.ly/2xtav7s ) on Monday that an ordinance is being drafted to limit beverage options to water, milk and other non-sugary drinks on menus geared for children.
Youth Advisory Committee Liaison Marty Walsh says the ordinance wouldn't ban the sale of soda, but it aims to discourage consumption in an effort to curb childhood obesity. The committee to the Lafayette City Council is behind the initiative.
Under the ordinance, soft drinks could still be served if requested.
Officials are still discussing the language of the ordinance and how it could be enforced. Voting on the matter could be months away.
___
Information from: Daily Times-Call, http://timescall.com/
- Updated
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Five years after Sam Gordon's video of her football talents playing against boys won her an invitation to see the Super Bowl, she is a high school freshman and among those claiming three Utah school districts and the Utah High School Activities Association have not done enough to provide girls with equal opportunities to play the sport.
Gordon and her father, Brent Gordon, are among the plaintiffs who have filed a federal lawsuit against the school districts and the association in a push for the creation of girls football programs, The Salt Lake Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/2wgSl9q ).
She was in youth leagues and her father runs a tackle girls football league that has boosted the number of its players from 50 three years ago to 200.
"There's an importance attached to playing for your school," he said. "Being able to have that opportunity to play and represent your school and to try to win a state championship or region championship, it has meaning. It has real value, and these girls don't have the same opportunities as boys."
Sam is confident in her abilities, but said she would be worried for her safety playing on a high school boys football team.
"I just wouldn't be able to compete," said Gordon, who stands at 4-foot-11 and weighs about 100 pounds.
The Utah High School Activities Association allows girls to play high school football. But while more than 9,000 boys played high school football in Utah last year, only 17 girls played, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Sam Gordon has been promoting a girls-only football league at her school and 87 girls signed a survey saying they would love to play tackle football.
"A lot of people are super excited about it," she said. "I know a couple of people have said girls shouldn't be playing football, but most of it's been very positive."
The lawsuit was filed in June. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for next month.
Among the districts sued was Granite Schools.
Spokesman Ben Horseley said he was comfortable that the district complies with federal equal opportunity laws.
"The process for determining sports offerings," he said, "is based on interest and based on what has been sanctioned by the" Utah High School Activities Association.
___
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
- Updated
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — A Powerball ticket sold in Grand Junction won the $133.2 million jackpot in Saturday's drawing.
Colorado Lottery officials say the ticket was purchased at the Lucky Me convenience store.
Previously, the largest Powerball prize won in Colorado was $90 million won by a tow truck driver in Rifle in 2014.
The winning numbers in Saturday's drawing were 17, 18, 24, 25 and 31 and the Powerball was 24. The winner has until March 15, 2018, to claim the prize.
Two other Powerball players who bought tickets in Grand Junction won large prizes. A ticket sold at a Walmart Fuel Center won $100,000 and a ticket sold at a Safeway won $50,000.
- Updated
RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) — Seventeen wild horses and one wild burro have found new homes after being gentled by inmate trainers at the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton.
The recent adoption of the horses continues the effort by the Bureau of Land Management and Honor Farm to place excess wild horses and burros into private care in order to maintain healthy animals on healthy public rangelands.
The Ranger in Riverton reports (http://bit.ly/2f5yak0 ) that about 100 potential adopters and interested onlookers gathered for the latest adoption. Winning bids for individual horses ranged from $125 to the high bid of $2,700. Average winning bid for the 18 adopted animals was $682.
Two adoptions are held at the Honor Farm each year.
___
Information from: The (Riverton, Wyo.) Ranger, http://www.dailyranger.com
- Updated
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Sheriff's officials say two horses died of injuries sustained when the trailer they were riding in overturned in Southern California.
Riverside County authorities responding to the single-vehicle crash Sunday found the trailer upside down on the side of the road.
One person suffered minor injuries.
An animal services team was deployed. Several hours later officials announced the horses had died.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
- Updated
MONROVIA, Calif. (AP) — California authorities are investigating a man who was caught on camera shooting a deer with a bow and arrow within a suburban foothill community near Los Angeles.
Monrovia homeowner Chuck Tapert says his home surveillance camera recorded footage showing a man shooting the deer near his house last week.
Mike Rodriguez tells KCBS-TV that he is the hunter in the footage. Rodriguez says he found the deer in a hunting zone above Monrovia and decided to it follow to the residential area after he shot the animal in its spine instead of the kill zone. He says he didn't want the deer to suffer.
Police say it is illegal to shoot deer within city limits. California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials are investigating the incident to determine whether Rodriguez will face charges.
- Updated
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — State health officials investigating a cluster of fatal birth defects in central Washington have not been able to identify a cause for most of the cases.
The Yakima Herald-Republic says (https://goo.gl/e5Uhm7) that the state Department of Health concluded that there was no sole factor to blame for the elevated rates of the anencephaly, a rare neural tube defect.
However, the report released last week said women whose pregnancies were affected by neural tube defects showed low folic acid use compared with other women in Washington.
Between 2010 and 2016, 45 babies in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties were born with anencephaly. The rate in the three-county area was about four times the national average.
Investigators looked at exposure to nitrates in drinking water, radiation and pesticides. The report said none of those analyses identified a potential cause.
Health officials suspended its investigation in late 2016 into the cause of the elevated rate of anencephaly. They're now focusing on surveillance, outreach and prevention.
- By DAN JOLING Associated Press
- Updated
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An environmental activist is calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider placing anchored rafts in the ocean as resting platforms for walruses after stampedes killed 64 animals on Alaska's northwest coast.
Rick Steiner, an environmental consultant and former University of Alaska marine conservation professor, pitched the idea two years ago. The Fish and Wildlife Service concluded it didn't have the money or manpower to provide artificial resting platforms that might give a few walruses relief but not benefit the population as a whole in the absence of ice in the Chukchi Sea.
Steiner said he's again asking the agency to take the lead in a raft pilot project because sea ice continues to diminish and artificial platforms could provide alternatives to huge herds gathering on the Alaska coast.
"If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work," Steiner said Friday. "We know what doesn't work: sitting around in office looking at computer screens and having teleconferences expressing concerns about this."
Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Andrea Medeiros said the raft suggestion was thoroughly reviewed in 2015 and the agency position has not changed.
Walruses dive hundreds of feet to eat clams and other mollusks on the ocean floor, but they cannot swim indefinitely. Historically, sea ice has provided a platform for female walruses and their young to rest, nurse and dive north of the Bering Strait.
In recent decades, however, sea ice has diminished due to global warming. The ice in late summer has receded far beyond the shallow continental shelf, over water more than 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) deep — too deep for walruses to reach the ocean bottom.
Instead of staying on sea ice over deep water, walruses have gathered in Russia and Alaska, with 35,000 or more animals sometimes packed shoulder to shoulder on a beach. If a herd is spooked by a polar bear, hunter, airplane or boat, calves can be crushed by mature females weighing more than a ton.
A survey Sept. 11 near the Inupiaq Eskimo village of Point Lay found 64 dead walruses.
With the amount of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere and oceans, Steiner said, the loss of sea ice will continue. He proposes a pilot project of perhaps three rafts anchored a few miles off Point Lay and 80 miles offshore at Hanna Shoal, an important walrus feeding area.
Giant fuel barges are readily available for sale or lease that could be painted white to simulate large pan-ice floes, outfitted with artificial turf and lowered with seawater in their ballast tanks to a level where walruses could pull themselves up with their tusks, as they do with sea ice, Steiner said.
"The solution here is a little bit of biology, a little bit of naval architecture, and good old, standard tug-and-barge operation," he said.
Former Fish and Wildlife Service regional director Geoffrey Haskett said in his response to Steiner in 2015 that the agency's two major management concerns were disturbances to walruses on shore and stress placed on them by having to swim greater distances from the coast to feeding areas.
The agency and Point Lay residents have combined to discourage flights and hunters near herds that could cause stampedes. Steiner called the effort heroic but "simply not enough."
More like this...
- By KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — A former caseworker faces forgery and other charges for falsely reporting interviews with victims, family members or witnesses in 12 cases of alleged child abuse or neglect, prosecutors said on Monday.
The 22-count grand jury indictment against Richelle Schultz accuses the former employee at the Jefferson County Department of Human Services of entering details of the interviews into a state database that acts as "a significant source of information" for supervisors deciding how to follow up on reports of abuse or neglect.
Prosecutors said in a news release that officials reviewed all 12 cases after Schultz left the department and "supervisors confirmed that there were no unresolved safety issues and all cases were closed."
The indictment notes that Schultz, 53, was assigned "less complicated" cases because she was new to the division and had just completed training. She also had to review each investigation with a supervisor and recounted details of false interviews in those meetings, prosecutors said.
Officials said court records don't list an attorney for Schultz, and no one answered a phone number listed under her name on Monday afternoon.
Schultz worked for the county's department for eight months, starting in December of 2015. After she left, officials did a more thorough review of her cases. In 12 cases, victims, family members or witnesses that Schultz claimed to have interviewed told investigators that she had not contacted them, the indictment said.
According to the indictment, five of the cases were closed based on Schultz's reporting and five were awaiting review by a supervisor to decide next steps. The indictment didn't provide a status for the last two cases at the time of Schultz's reporting.
Mary Berg, deputy director of the county's human services department, said officials' "immediate response was to ensure that no child was left in an unsafe situation." Berg said either a caseworker or supervisor followed up on each case Schultz was assigned.
"Contact was made with each alleged child victim and family member(s), and it was determined in all the assessments that there were no unresolved safety issues," Berg said in a written statement. "All the assessments were then closed."
A grand jury indicted Schultz on 12 counts of attempting to influence a public servant and 10 counts of forgery on Sept. 1. She reported to the county sheriff's office Friday and posted $25,000 bond on Saturday.
Prosecutors said Schultz lives in Sheridan, Wyoming.
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Department of Public Safety changed its policy on field-testing suspected narcotics due to fears that troopers could overdose from contact with the potent opioid fentanyl.
Because troopers were barred from conducting the field tests, the suspected drug samples are sent to the department's laboratory for more rigorous testing in a safer environment, The Arizona Republic reported (http://bit.ly/2xsPfPh ) on Saturday.
The policy change subsequently caused a backlog of 2,191 controlled substance cases that still require testing, the newspaper found after reviewing data from August. The backlog consists of cases that have required testing for more than 30 days.
Officials said that if the delay is left unchecked, it could hinder prosecutors from filing formal criminal charges.
Because of the controlled substance testing backlog, the department's backlog of all other pending tests has increased.
"We don't have enough staff to do that sort of complete confirmation testing on everything that's coming in the door," said Beth Brady, the lab's manager. "So we had to come up with another plan."
To help get through the drug tests faster, the lab technicians began using the same field testing methods the troopers used. Brady said by doing this, it reduces the time the technicians spend on the tests, so it increases the number of tests they can do.
While there have been cases in other parts of the country of law enforcement officers harmed by contact with substances like fentanyl, no apparent cases have been reported in Arizona. Some medical professionals have questioned if such testing precautions like Arizona's policy change are necessary.
___
Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — A Yuma police officer has been arrested in California on a sexual assault charge.
Yuma Police spokeswoman Sgt. Lori Franklin said Monday the department is working to place 7-year veteran Jared Elkins on paid administrative leave after his arrest by San Diego police.
San Diego police were unable to immediately provide details of the Sept. 15 arrest.
San Diego County District Attorney's spokesman Steve Walker said records show Elkins was booked into jail on suspicion of rape by force or fear, forced oral copulation, misdemeanor sexual battery and making a criminal threat. He was released on $100,000 bail the day after his arrest and ordered to appear in court on Sept. 25.
The 33-year-old Elkins has not been formally charged.
PHOENIX (AP) — An Israeli man accused of picking up a 2-year-old girl in the Tempe home of a family he didn't know has been sentenced to nine months in prison and lifetime probation.
Maricopa County Superior Court officials say Oren Cohen was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to aggravated assault on a minor, child abuse and second-degree burglary.
The 34-year-old Cohen was indicted last December on charges of kidnapping, burglary and aggravated assault on a minor. He pleaded not guilty in January.
Cohen told Tempe police he was drinking at a friend's place on Dec. 15 and accidentally went into the wrong apartment after going outside to smoke a cigarette.
The girl's father woke up after hearing the child whimpering and found Cohen holding the pajama-wearing toddler in the home's living room.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — City officials are once again asking people to describe downtown Eugene.
The first questions in the online survey ask Lane County residents to choose three words to describe downtown and its public spaces. When the question was posed earlier this year, the top three responses were "dirty," ''homeless" and "unsafe."
The Register-Guard reports (https://is.gd/GblViH ) the city has since increased security, imposed a temporary ban on dogs and expanded their effort to steer chronic offenders to social services.
City spokeswoman Laura Hammond says people are starting to see downtown differently, and hopefully that will make a difference in the perception. The deadline to complete the survey is Sept. 25.
___
Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — Two bears that have been living at a Michigan zoo for nearly 20 years are getting a bigger yard.
A brown bear named Polly and a black bear named Migwan left the Detroit Zoo on Monday for a new life in Colorado.
Zoo director Ron Kagan says the bears will have many acres to roam at Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado. He says the move also will create more space for three grizzly bear brothers at the suburban Detroit zoo.
Polly is a 20-year-old bear, and Migwan is 15 years old. Polly was rescued from a roadside circus in 2000. Migwan was a cub when she was found two years later with quills in her face in Northern Michigan.
LAFAYETTE, Colo. (AP) — Lafayette officials are considering an ordinance that would restrict restaurants from advertising sugary drinks to children.
The Daily Times-Call reported (http://bit.ly/2xtav7s ) on Monday that an ordinance is being drafted to limit beverage options to water, milk and other non-sugary drinks on menus geared for children.
Youth Advisory Committee Liaison Marty Walsh says the ordinance wouldn't ban the sale of soda, but it aims to discourage consumption in an effort to curb childhood obesity. The committee to the Lafayette City Council is behind the initiative.
Under the ordinance, soft drinks could still be served if requested.
Officials are still discussing the language of the ordinance and how it could be enforced. Voting on the matter could be months away.
___
Information from: Daily Times-Call, http://timescall.com/
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Five years after Sam Gordon's video of her football talents playing against boys won her an invitation to see the Super Bowl, she is a high school freshman and among those claiming three Utah school districts and the Utah High School Activities Association have not done enough to provide girls with equal opportunities to play the sport.
Gordon and her father, Brent Gordon, are among the plaintiffs who have filed a federal lawsuit against the school districts and the association in a push for the creation of girls football programs, The Salt Lake Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/2wgSl9q ).
She was in youth leagues and her father runs a tackle girls football league that has boosted the number of its players from 50 three years ago to 200.
"There's an importance attached to playing for your school," he said. "Being able to have that opportunity to play and represent your school and to try to win a state championship or region championship, it has meaning. It has real value, and these girls don't have the same opportunities as boys."
Sam is confident in her abilities, but said she would be worried for her safety playing on a high school boys football team.
"I just wouldn't be able to compete," said Gordon, who stands at 4-foot-11 and weighs about 100 pounds.
The Utah High School Activities Association allows girls to play high school football. But while more than 9,000 boys played high school football in Utah last year, only 17 girls played, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Sam Gordon has been promoting a girls-only football league at her school and 87 girls signed a survey saying they would love to play tackle football.
"A lot of people are super excited about it," she said. "I know a couple of people have said girls shouldn't be playing football, but most of it's been very positive."
The lawsuit was filed in June. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for next month.
Among the districts sued was Granite Schools.
Spokesman Ben Horseley said he was comfortable that the district complies with federal equal opportunity laws.
"The process for determining sports offerings," he said, "is based on interest and based on what has been sanctioned by the" Utah High School Activities Association.
___
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — A Powerball ticket sold in Grand Junction won the $133.2 million jackpot in Saturday's drawing.
Colorado Lottery officials say the ticket was purchased at the Lucky Me convenience store.
Previously, the largest Powerball prize won in Colorado was $90 million won by a tow truck driver in Rifle in 2014.
The winning numbers in Saturday's drawing were 17, 18, 24, 25 and 31 and the Powerball was 24. The winner has until March 15, 2018, to claim the prize.
Two other Powerball players who bought tickets in Grand Junction won large prizes. A ticket sold at a Walmart Fuel Center won $100,000 and a ticket sold at a Safeway won $50,000.
RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) — Seventeen wild horses and one wild burro have found new homes after being gentled by inmate trainers at the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton.
The recent adoption of the horses continues the effort by the Bureau of Land Management and Honor Farm to place excess wild horses and burros into private care in order to maintain healthy animals on healthy public rangelands.
The Ranger in Riverton reports (http://bit.ly/2f5yak0 ) that about 100 potential adopters and interested onlookers gathered for the latest adoption. Winning bids for individual horses ranged from $125 to the high bid of $2,700. Average winning bid for the 18 adopted animals was $682.
Two adoptions are held at the Honor Farm each year.
___
Information from: The (Riverton, Wyo.) Ranger, http://www.dailyranger.com
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Sheriff's officials say two horses died of injuries sustained when the trailer they were riding in overturned in Southern California.
Riverside County authorities responding to the single-vehicle crash Sunday found the trailer upside down on the side of the road.
One person suffered minor injuries.
An animal services team was deployed. Several hours later officials announced the horses had died.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
MONROVIA, Calif. (AP) — California authorities are investigating a man who was caught on camera shooting a deer with a bow and arrow within a suburban foothill community near Los Angeles.
Monrovia homeowner Chuck Tapert says his home surveillance camera recorded footage showing a man shooting the deer near his house last week.
Mike Rodriguez tells KCBS-TV that he is the hunter in the footage. Rodriguez says he found the deer in a hunting zone above Monrovia and decided to it follow to the residential area after he shot the animal in its spine instead of the kill zone. He says he didn't want the deer to suffer.
Police say it is illegal to shoot deer within city limits. California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials are investigating the incident to determine whether Rodriguez will face charges.
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — State health officials investigating a cluster of fatal birth defects in central Washington have not been able to identify a cause for most of the cases.
The Yakima Herald-Republic says (https://goo.gl/e5Uhm7) that the state Department of Health concluded that there was no sole factor to blame for the elevated rates of the anencephaly, a rare neural tube defect.
However, the report released last week said women whose pregnancies were affected by neural tube defects showed low folic acid use compared with other women in Washington.
Between 2010 and 2016, 45 babies in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties were born with anencephaly. The rate in the three-county area was about four times the national average.
Investigators looked at exposure to nitrates in drinking water, radiation and pesticides. The report said none of those analyses identified a potential cause.
Health officials suspended its investigation in late 2016 into the cause of the elevated rate of anencephaly. They're now focusing on surveillance, outreach and prevention.
- By DAN JOLING Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An environmental activist is calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider placing anchored rafts in the ocean as resting platforms for walruses after stampedes killed 64 animals on Alaska's northwest coast.
Rick Steiner, an environmental consultant and former University of Alaska marine conservation professor, pitched the idea two years ago. The Fish and Wildlife Service concluded it didn't have the money or manpower to provide artificial resting platforms that might give a few walruses relief but not benefit the population as a whole in the absence of ice in the Chukchi Sea.
Steiner said he's again asking the agency to take the lead in a raft pilot project because sea ice continues to diminish and artificial platforms could provide alternatives to huge herds gathering on the Alaska coast.
"If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work," Steiner said Friday. "We know what doesn't work: sitting around in office looking at computer screens and having teleconferences expressing concerns about this."
Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Andrea Medeiros said the raft suggestion was thoroughly reviewed in 2015 and the agency position has not changed.
Walruses dive hundreds of feet to eat clams and other mollusks on the ocean floor, but they cannot swim indefinitely. Historically, sea ice has provided a platform for female walruses and their young to rest, nurse and dive north of the Bering Strait.
In recent decades, however, sea ice has diminished due to global warming. The ice in late summer has receded far beyond the shallow continental shelf, over water more than 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) deep — too deep for walruses to reach the ocean bottom.
Instead of staying on sea ice over deep water, walruses have gathered in Russia and Alaska, with 35,000 or more animals sometimes packed shoulder to shoulder on a beach. If a herd is spooked by a polar bear, hunter, airplane or boat, calves can be crushed by mature females weighing more than a ton.
A survey Sept. 11 near the Inupiaq Eskimo village of Point Lay found 64 dead walruses.
With the amount of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere and oceans, Steiner said, the loss of sea ice will continue. He proposes a pilot project of perhaps three rafts anchored a few miles off Point Lay and 80 miles offshore at Hanna Shoal, an important walrus feeding area.
Giant fuel barges are readily available for sale or lease that could be painted white to simulate large pan-ice floes, outfitted with artificial turf and lowered with seawater in their ballast tanks to a level where walruses could pull themselves up with their tusks, as they do with sea ice, Steiner said.
"The solution here is a little bit of biology, a little bit of naval architecture, and good old, standard tug-and-barge operation," he said.
Former Fish and Wildlife Service regional director Geoffrey Haskett said in his response to Steiner in 2015 that the agency's two major management concerns were disturbances to walruses on shore and stress placed on them by having to swim greater distances from the coast to feeding areas.
The agency and Point Lay residents have combined to discourage flights and hunters near herds that could cause stampedes. Steiner called the effort heroic but "simply not enough."
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