11/30/2012
66 species of coral proposed for protection by US
| Seaview Survey, in partnership with Google, has been capturing 360-degree views of famous coral reefs. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports. By Miguel Llanos, NBC News In its most sweeping use of the Endangered Species Act, the nation's oceans agency on Friday proposed listing 66 species of coral as endangered or threatened -- and cited climate change as driving three key threats: disease, warmer seas and more acidic seas. "Climate change and other activities are putting these corals at risk," Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in announcing the proposal. "This is an important, sensible next step toward preserving the benefits provided by these species." Lubchenco argued that the benefits extend to fishermen -- some of whom are worried that any coral protection could mean less fishing. "Corals provide habitat to support fisheries that feed millions of people," she said, as well as generating jobs through recreation and tourism, and protecting coastlines from storms and erosion. In its press release, NOAA emphasized that since President Barack Obama had directed agencies to minimize regulatory burdens it would strive to "adopt the least burdensome means" of compliance should it create protected habitat. "A full analysis of economic impact, including impact on jobs," will also be undertaken, it stated. Dave Gilliam and Liz Larson Nova Southeastern University and James Byrne, The Nature Conservancy discuss the large scale environmental program that is underway in Florida's coral reefs. The proposal is the result of a court settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned to have 83 coral species listed. NOAA agreed to review 82 of those species. "While the government decided that 16 of the corals we proposed do not warrant listing, the fact that dozens are moving forward with protections is good news," the group's oceans director, Miyoko Sakas hita, told NBC News. "Our coral reefs are dying and need federal protection," she added. Last April, NOAA scientists reported that more than half of those 82 species were "more likely than not" to face extinction by 2100. Corals are very sensitive to disease and temperature change, and the fact that seas have warmed and become more acidic as carbon dioxide emissions have risen led to NOAA's proposal and focus on climate change. The acidity weakens the skeletal structure of coral. The polar bear is the only other species listed under the Endangered Species Act because of climate change, and that's because of shrinking sea ice. Since climate change is global in nature, NOAA can't do much to protect coral from that threat, but Sakas hita said actions that the U.S. could eventually take include protecting corals from overfishing. "For example, in the Caribbean we have a lawsuit pending that challenges overfishing of parrotfish, which are important grazers for coral reefs to keep them free of algae," she said. "Other local threats that need attention include water pollution, dredging, or coastal construction that impacts coral habitat."  See dozens of wonders from coral reefs and other exotic seascapes, courtesy of the Catlin Seaview Survey. To date, just two species of coral -- staghorn and elkhorn -- are on the Endangered Species Act, and both are in Florida and the Caribbean. Now listed as threatened, they would be reclassified as endangered under the proposal. Of the 66 species now proposed for listing, 12 would be listed as endangered -- seven in the Pacific and five in the Caribbean; 54 would be listed as threatened -- 52 in the Pacific and two in the Caribbean. NOAA aims to finalize the listings in late 2013, after public meetings and a comment period. Comments can be made via NOAA's listing proposal site. NOAA had never before analyzed so many species over such a wide geographic range. The closest in scope was a review of 30 West Coast salmon and steelhead species in 1994. Friday's proposal came as nations met in Qatar to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol with a new framework for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Little progress has been made, and the talks continue next week. More content from NBCNews.com:
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Amputee's 18-hour ordeal in Ironman triathlon
| View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com. By Vignesh Ramachandran, NBC News When Jeff Schmidt completed the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii earlier this fall, crossing that finish line after nearly 18 hours on the course meant more than just the end of a race. It signified a positive highlight in a long physical and emotional battle the San Jose, Calif. resident has faced for over a decade. "It was exciting, because it's a dream," Schmidt told NBCBayArea.com's Garvin Thomas. Fifteen years ago, Schmidt was a star player on his Missouri high school soccer team — a young man dreaming of a college career and then going pro. During the first playoff game of his senior year, he had just finished saving a goal, when another player hit the side of his shin as his leg was in the air. At that moment, Schmidt's life changed forever. "I knew instantly my leg was [broken]," Schmidt said. His leg ended up being set and cast in the wrong way, which caused permanent damage. That led to 10 years of constant pain, failed surgeries and not being able to walk very far. Schmidt faced depression and thoughts of suicide. "We didn't know how to handle that kind of stress," his wife, Jenny, told NBCBayArea.com. "It ... caused medical issues, financial issues, emotional issues. It was tough. We went through a lot of really, really hard times." Eventually in 2004, it was suggested that Schmidt should have his lower leg amputated. But the suggestion made him mad. "I felt like I had fought so hard to keep that foot and ankle that to suggest getting rid of it, to me was like giving up." Schmidt said. But three years after that suggestion, he went through with the amputation. "If something in your life is causing you nothing but anguish, and you can get rid of it, what do you do? You get rid of it," he said. A second chance That brings the story back to 2012 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter On the day of the triathlon, Oct. 13, Schmidt felt good going in to the race, but challenges eventually arose: The run portion turned into a walk for him. "I don't like to give up," Schmidt told NBCBayArea.com. "It's not something that is really in me to do." Then, just four miles from the end, race officials told him he would not make the finish line before the course officially closed at midnight. But that didn't stop Schmidt. "I had come too far not to finish," he said. Watch the Top Videos on NBCNews.com Nearly 18 hours after the race began, and half an hour past midnight, Schmidt was the last Ironman still going. But he crossed the finish line, last, to cheers. "We were in awe, really," said Tal Johnson, president and COO of Berkeley, Calif., race sponsor Goo Energy Labs. "All of us. You know -- grown men, experienced athletes who were moved to the point of tears." "Going through everything with my leg and the amputation, and to be able to come and finish at Kona ... to me it's one of the highlights of my life," Schmidt said. NBC Bay Area's Garvin Thomas contributed to this story. The 2012 Ironman World Championship was telecast by NBC Sports on Oct. 27. Next year's Ironman in Kailua-Kona takes place on Oct. 12, 2013. More content from NBCNews.com:
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Obama warns of 'Scrooge' Christmas without tax-cut deal
Tennis ump's murder charge dropped
Los Angeles (CNN) -- New evidence has persuaded Los Angeles County prosecutors to drop murder charges against a U.S. Open tennis umpire. Lois Goodman, 70, had been accused of bludgeoning her 80-year-old husband, Alan, with a coffee mug, and then fatally stabbing him with the broken mug's shards at their California home in April. "We received additional information regarding the case," Sandi Gibbons of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Friday. "Based upon this information, we announced that we are unable to proceed with the case at this time. The court granted our request to dismiss the case without prejudice." The district attorney and police are still investigating the case, and "will not make any further statements that might compromise that investigation," Gibbons added. Police arrested Lois Goodman in New York in August as she was preparing for the U.S. Open tournament. Her preliminary court hearing had been scheduled for December 7 by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Jessica Silvers. On November 8, Mrs. Goodman's lawyer, Robert Sheahen, maintained his client's husband died "an accidental death," and volunteered to let prosecutors check out Goodman's property. "It is not something we would be doing if we had anything to hide," he said at the time. "We don't feel we have anything to hide, and we want them to be able to come out and actually look at the scene so that they can see the scene consistent with the way we view it." In August, the assistant chief Los Angeles County coroner said Alan Goodman's death was no accident. "Mr. Goodman had injuries that were not, as reported, from a possible fall, and we did an autopsy, and it was determined that he died at the hand of another," Ed Winter said. The prosecutor had claimed on November 8 that the state had a "strong circumstantial case" against Lois Goodman.  |
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Charges dropped in coffee cup murder case
 Andrew Burton / Reuters file Former tennis official Lois Ann Goodman is led away from the Manhattan Criminal Court on Aug. 23. By Jason Kandel, NBCLosAngeles.com The case against a tennis umpire accused of bludgeoning to death her husband has been dismissed, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Friday. The announcement came during a preliminary hearing for Lois Goodman, 70. She was accused of stabbing her former husband of nearly 50 years, Alan Goodman, using a coffee mug as an improvised knife, prosecutors said. "The District Attorney's Office asked the court to calendar this matter today because we received additional information regarding the case," said Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said. "Based upon this information, we announced that we are unable to proceed with the case at this time. "The court granted our request to dismiss the case without prejudice." Gibbons declined further comment, saying "because there is an ongoing police and district attorney's investigation, we will not make any further statements that might compromise that investigation." Alan Goodman's bloodied body was found in their Woodland Hills home on April 17. Officers ruled the death suspicious, because they initially couldn't determine if foul play was involved, according to an LAPD press release. But after launching a full homicide investigation and working closely with the L.A. County Coroner's Office, detectives determined on Aug. 2 that Alan Goodman was killed, and they named his wife as the prime suspect, the LAPD said. Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter Goodman was arrested on Aug. 21 in New York, where she was set to work as a line judge at the U.S. Open. She has pleaded not guilty to murder and remains under house arrest. Veteran tennis official Lois Ann Goodman, 70, was scheduled to work the U.S. Open currently underway in New York but is instead home in California, out on bail after being charged with murdering her husband last April. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports. Goodman's attorneys claim the police botched the investigation and argued that Goodman was not physically capable of committing the slaying. They also said that her DNA was not found on the coffee mug and that she passed a lie detector test. A website and a Facebook page were set up to raise bail for Goodman. Family members praised Goodman in court records, arguing for her bail. In a character reference letter in support of a motion to reduce Goodman's bail on Aug. 28, Goodman's youngest daughter, Allison Goodman Rogers of San Diego, wrote that her mother "is the most honest, loving, kind, generous, funny and trustworthy person you could ever meet." Watch the Top Videos on NBCNews.com Goodman Rogers wrote that she was raised in a "normal Jewish family" in the San Fernando Valley and looked up to her parents as role models. She believes the death was an accident. "She would do anything for anyone," Goodman Rogers wrote in court documents. "Happily married to my father just shy of 50 years, there was never once a foul word between the two of them. There was never once any sort of violence between the two of them. "For her to even be accused of something like murdering my father is ludicrous! It's simply not possible." Goodman's eldest daughter, Joan Goodman, 48, of Glendale, wrote about fond memories of family trips to Palm Springs every other weekend. They went cherry picking and visited arts festivals in Laguna Beach. Joan Goodman wrote that her mother was not physically capable of such an act. She said her mother had many ailments, including a hearing aid, arthritis, two knee replacements, a shoulder replacement and back issues. "My parents were adorable together," Joan Goodman wrote in court documents. "He was the yin to her yang. They were united in all their decisions." |
100 'AK-style' rifles stolen from Atlanta boxcar
| By Jeff Martin, The Associated Press Federal authorities were hunting Friday for more than 100 rifles stolen from a boxcar parked in an Atlanta train yard. The weapons were taken from a CSX rail yard on the city's northwest side in mid-November, said Richard Coes, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The weapons include assault rifles that Coes described as "AK-style." He declined to discuss other aspects of the case. Gary Sease, a spokesman for rail line CSX Corp., said the Jacksonville, Fla.-based company is cooperating with law enforcement to recover the weapons and investigate the theft. The rifles were stolen on or around Nov. 12, authorities said. The boxcar was parked at the CSX Tilford Yard about four miles northwest of downtown Atlanta. The Tilford Yard is one of the company's major rail yards in Georgia, according to the company's website. More content from NBCNews.com:
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Bandits kidnap 20 Iraq army recruits
Baghdad (CNN) -- In a brazen afternoon ambush, gunmen snatched 20 young New Iraqi Army recruits on Friday, Iraqi police told CNN. The abducted men, mostly Sunnis from Mosul, were traveling in a bus from Mosul to Baghdad to finish their paperwork, medical tests and security checks, according to police. After the bus stopped for lunch on a highway near Baiji, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Baghdad, at least six SUVs carrying more than 15 gunmen surrounded the bus and forced the driver to head for an unknown location, police said. Iraqi security forces were searching nearby areas for the missing men. |
50 Grades of Grey: Harvard approves BDSM club
 University of Chicago A poster promotes the Nov. 1 meeting of RACK, the BDSM club at the University of Chicago. Click the image for the full-size version. By M. Alex Johnson, NBC News It's a club where you might, in fact, use a club: Harvard University has joined the small but growing roster of U.S. colleges that have approved official student organizations devoted to kinky sex. Harvard administrators were to formally approve the group, Harvard College Munch, on Friday, The Harvard Crimson reported. The recognition means the group, which has grown to 30 members since its informal founding earlier this year, can officially meet on campus to discuss issues related to the bondage-discipline, dominant-submission, and sadism-masochism communities, known collectively as BDSM. More important, its founder told the newspaper, speaking under the pseudonym "Michael," is that the move bestows "the fact of legitimacy." While Harvard's club drew widespread attention this week, it's far from the only BDSM club officially recognized by, or at least tolerated at, U.S. colleges. At the University of Minnesota, Kinky U is Student Organization No. 2370. It meets weekly — after office hours "for maximum safety and confidentiality" — to discuss "topics related to kink and the kinky community." At Tufts University in Medford, Mass., Tufts Kink started meeting this semester. "I think there's a number of students who feel sort of isolated and alienated, and I think it's very powerful for them to have just a place where they can express themselves and a place where they can make friends," co-founder Anschel Schaffer-Cohen told The Tufts Daily. There's no national registry of campus BDSM groups, but consensus is that the oldest is at Columbia University, in New York, where Conversio Virium meets on campus every Monday night at 9. "Conversio virium" is Latin for "conversion of forces," and the group says it dedicates itself to 'the full exploration of BDSM, both in its sexual and spiritual aspects." "We encourage acceptance and communication between members," its charter says. "We urge them to learn from each other's play styles and experiences and to set aside any assumptions they may have about who people are and what they do." Actual sex isn't allowed at such on-campus gatherings, which usually host discussions or the occasional live demonstration of safe and consensual kinky sex. The point is to "raise general awareness of kink and to promote acceptance and understanding of BDSM," according to the bylaws of Risk-Aware Consensual Kink, or RACK, at the University of Chicago. RACK is an intellectual group, it says, not a play group. It provides "resources to students who are interested in or curious about BDSM" and demonstrations that "give students an opportunity to learn from experienced members of the BDSM community about safely practicing kink." More content from NBCNews.com:
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3 dead after bow-and-arrow attack at Wyo. college
 Casper College Casper College posted this alert Friday, Nov. 30, ordering students, faculty and staff to stay away from the campus. By NBC News staff New in this version: Police say three dead, one of them off-campus Updated at 1:57 p.m. ET: Three people were killed Friday in an attack involving a bow and arrow-type weapon at Casper College in Casper, Wyo., police and college officials said. The attack occurred before 9 a.m. (7 a.m. ET) at the physical science center, said Rich Fujita, a spokesman for the college. Police indicated that the weapon on campus was a "bow and arrow type," Fujita told NBC News. Police told NBC station KCWY of Casper that two of the bodies were found on campus. One appeared to be a male faculty member, and the other appeared to be of "student age," Fujita said. The third body was found off campus. The campus was locked down temporarily while police checked for other suspects, but the lockdown was later lifted. An alert on the community college's website said that all classes and activities had been canceled and that counselors were being provided for the colleges faculty, students and staff. Casper College is a two-year community college of 4,400 students in Wyoming's second-largest city. The school has a small security team on campus, but they're not armed. "It's such a small town that Casper police is very close," Fujita said. More content from NBCNews.com:
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Bow and arrow attack kills 1 at Wyoming college
| By NBC News staff One person was killed and another seriously wounded Friday in an attack with a bow and arrow-type weapon on the campus of Casper College in Casper, Wyo., a college spokesman told NBC News. The attack occurred before 9 a.m. local time at the physical science center on campus, according to Casper College's Rich Fujita. He said police found a male faculty member dead and a second person seriously injured. That person was taken into custody and may be a suspect. Police indicated the weapon was a "bow and arrow type," Fujita said. The campus was locked down temporarily while police checked for any other suspects, but the lockdown was later lifted. An alert on the community college's website said all classes and activities had been canceled. Casper College is a two-year community college of 4,400 students in Wyoming's second-largest city. The school has a small security team on campus, but they're not armed. "It's such a small town that Casper police is very close," Fujita said. More content from NBCNews.com:
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Powerball winners introduced to nation: We're 'stunned'
 NBC News The Hill family of Dearborn, Mo., is introduced at a press conference in Missouri after winning their millions. By Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News A six-year-old girl from Dearborn, Mo., may get the pony she has dreamed of having, thanks to the record Powerball jackpot that her family just won. The Hill family of Dearborn, Mo., who won half of the record Powerball jackpot worth $587.5 million, appeared at a press conference on Friday, with six-year-old Jayden clutching a stuffed horse as her parents were handed an oversized check made out for their half of the pot: $293,750,000. "We're still stunned by what's happened. It's surreal and people keep asking us, 'What are you going to buy with it?' I just want to go home and be back to normal," Cindy Hill, 51, said at the press conference in which she, her husband Mark, and their three adult sons and adopted daughter were introduced to the nation. After hearing on Thursday morning that one of the winning tickets was sold in Missouri -- the other was sold in Arizona -- Cindy dropped her daughter Jayden off at school, went to a convenience store for a winning numbers report, and checked her tickets in her car. Upon seeing that one of the five tickets she bought had the winning combination, Cindy said she headed straight to her mother-in-law's house and asked her to double-check the ticket. Husband Mark, 52, joined her there to see for himself. "You know it's the Show Me State, so he said, 'Show me,'" Cindy said, according to a Missouri Lottery press release. With the odds of any single ticket winning the jackpot at 1 in 175 million, the Hills said they hardly gave a thought to winning. "I was just telling my daughter the night before, 'Honey, that probably never happens (people winning),'" Cindy said. The Hills said they have just begun dreaming of how to spend their $293.7 million share of the pot. Cindy was an office manager until she was laid off in 2010; Mark works as a mechanic for Hillshire Brands, according to the Missouri Lottery. The couple has three adult sons and a 6-year-old Jayden, who they adopted from China, a friend of theirs, David Troutman, said on TODAY before the couple's identity was confirmed by lottery officials. Since winning, they have considered adopting again, the lottery press release said. Mark has spoken of getting a red Camaro; they also would like to take their 6-year-old to the beach, since she's never been to one. Their daughter also wants a horse, according to Cindy, so "in a couple of years, I'd say yes." They are looking forward to not working and traveling together as a family using their winnings, she added. Troutman, a former high school classmate of the winning couple, said they first posted the news on Facebook. "I was on Facebook and I saw that his wife had posted, 'Thank you God, we won the lottery.' Of course everybody in town, all his friends, gave all thumbs up. It couldn't have happened to a better guy,'' Troutman said. The Hills are high school sweethearts, he said. In the tiny town of Dearborn -- population, 496 -- their identity didn't stay secret for long. "Word spread that he won so fast,'' Troutman said. "I heard that it was a winner from Dearborn, and by the time I walked in the door my mom was on the phone, and she said, 'He won. It was him.' Who knows what the impact will be on Dearborn.'' Dearborn is about 35 miles north of Kansas City, the home of the Royals baseball team. No one has come forward yet to claim the winning ticket in Arizona, but on Thursday, a mystery man showed up at a gas station in Upper Marlboro, Md., claiming to hold the big winner. Surveillance video showed a man in a yellow construction suit slowly amble up to the counter, where he pulled out some lottery tickets. After confirming that the numbers on one of the tickets matched, he can be seen in the video repeatedly pumping his fists. It's unclear what the man was doing in Maryland with a ticket ostensibly from Arizona. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports from Dearborn, Mo., where the town is celebrating one family's luck of winning half the record Powerball jackpot. A family friend of the couple, expected to be named by lottery officials Friday, tells TODAY's Savannah Guthrie "it couldn't have happened to a better guy." |
