Not interested in going with the kiddies to see the new “Yogi Bear” movie for the holiday break? How about this for fun and adventure? River surfing in Munich, Germany.
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Roseville, KCRA in First Amendment fight about mall fire reporting
Posted on December 29, 2010 by jeffpelline
The City of Roseville is demanding that KCRA 3 stop revealing Roseville Fire Department radio transmissions from the day of the Westfield Galleria mall inferno, according to California Fire News.
“KCRA knows … that neither the City of Roseville nor its fire department had authorized the disclosure of the audio recordings,” Roseville City Attorney Brita Bayless said in a ‘cease-and-desist’ request sent to KCRA 3 on Wednesday.
In its response, attorneys for KCRA 3 told Roseville city officials that the station’s “publications of these recordings is fully protected by the First Amendment” even though the city “may be embarrassed by public disclosure of these recordings.”
The request from the City of Roseville comes after KCRA 3 released multiple radio transmissions regarding the intentional shutoff of the mall’s sprinkler system during the Oct. 21 blaze.
The rest of the article is here.
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Search area for missing Tahoe boarder show how conditions change
Posted on December 29, 2010 by jeffpelline
The search for the missing snowboarder at Alpine Meadows (more experienced than most) is focusing on an area around the Wolverine Bowl, according to KCRA. Authorities said she went out of bounds, according to the reports.
Wolverine Bowl itself is an expert black diamond ski area off the summit chair lift. A dozen rescuers are on the scene and more are coming from Mono County.
This photo shows a big chunk of the area on opening day (upper right quadrant) under sunny skies. The video below shows the bowl in a snow storm. This is a sober reminder how quickly weather conditions in the Sierra.
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Building a snow cave
Posted on December 29, 2010 by jeffpelline
I went to Cherry Creek High School in Denver, Colorado, for two years before returning to California to live, and we learned basic snow survival skills in the classroom and went on a snow camping trip. It was a fun and educational experience. Here’s how experienced snow climbers build a snow cave, though you can build a make-shift one too. (Click twice on the video below, including “Watch on You Tube,” to watch it).
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“Ganga and giving” go hand in hand
Posted on December 29, 2010 by jeffpelline
Granny Purps pot dispensary near Santa Cruz handed out 2,000 complimentary joints to dispensary clients in return for 11,000 pounds of food this holiday season, “a large and exceptional contribution for a business of its size,” the Santa Cruz Sentinel is reporting.
For every four cans of food they donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank, medicinal marijuana patients received one pre-rolled marijuana joint. A maximum of three per day were allowed.
“They had a good recipe for a small business,” an officer at Second Harvest told the Sentinel.
The rest of the article is here.
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Study: Conservative brains have larger “fear center”
Posted on December 29, 2010 by jeffpelline
“Political opinions are considered choices, and in Western democracies the right to choose one’s opinions — freedom of conscience — is considered sacrosanct,” according to Raw Story. “But recent studies suggest that our brains and genes may be a major determining factor in the views we hold.”
It continues: “A study at University College London in the UK has found that conservatives’ brains have larger amygdalas than the brains of liberals. Amygdalas are responsible for fear and other ‘primitive’ emotions. At the same time, conservatives’ brains were also found to have a smaller anterior cingulate — the part of the brain responsible for courage and optimism.”
If the study is confirmed, it may help explain why conservatives tend to plan based on the worst-case scenario, while liberals tend to have brighter outlooks.
More details are here and here.
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Link between global warming and wild weather?
Posted on December 29, 2010 by jeffpelline
Award-winning conservation biologist Dr. Reese Halter talks about the relationship between global warming and the epic New York City snowfalls, the UK record-breaking freezing temperatures and the effects of hundreds of thousands of square miles of missing Arctic sea ice.
“Do you know what time it is when winter’s snow fall comes along? It’s time for the right-wing global warming deniers to get thier chuckle.”
Note: Start the video at 2:23 to miss the commercials.
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One of world’s biggest ski snowfalls — amid search for missing snowboarder
Posted on December 29, 2010 by jeffpelline
You’re looking at one of the world’s biggest snowfalls for skiers here. We’re sandwiched between Alpine Meadows, which ranks third worldwide for the most snowfall this year, and Homewood, which ranks sixth.
About 15 inches fell last night.
The snowpack is holding nearly twice as much water than average for this time of year, driving out drought worries. Ski resorts report strong turnout, with the best snow conditions in more than a decade. Restaurants and merchants are benefitting too.
There’s a downside, however. Yesterday emergency crews located a group of hikers who had lost their way near Tahoe Meadows.
This morning, Placer County officials are searching for a 25-year-old woman who was reported missing while snowboarding at Alpine Meadows about 4 p.m. yesterday in near blizzard conditions. We are praying for a happy ending.
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