Free Republic

After their boat overturns, friends swim for hours toward safety before being rescued. Coming up the anchor rope after scuba diving with friends off Miami Sunday, Raymond Gill looked toward the surface and knew something was amiss. Instead of the bright white bottom of their boat, a weird dark thing loomed overhead. At first, Gill thought they'd somehow found the wrong boat in the murky 70-foot depths, but as they swam up, the truth became all too clear. ''Oh [blank], that's the boat and it's upside down,'' Gill said Monday, only a few hours after he and seven friends had...

VALE, Ore. - Eight Oregon-based firefighters were killed Sunday when their returning van collided with a truck on a remote highway west of this Eastern Oregon town, Malheur County Sheriff Andy Bentz said. He said all were under the age of 23 and worked for First Strike Environmental, a Roseburg-based contract firefighting company. Flags at Seattle fire stations were flying at half staff on Monday in honor of the eight fallen firefighters. Fire coordinators said the van was coming back from the South Fork fire, burning since Aug. 10 on the Boise National Forest about 25 miles northeast of the...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 June 16 APOD Turns Eight Credit & Copyright: Elana Kestrel (Dreamcircle) Explanation: The first APOD appeared eight years ago today, on 1995 June 16. To date, we estimate that APOD has now served over 100 million space-related images. We again thank our readers and NASA for their continued support, but ask that any potentially congratulatory e-mail go to the folks who created the great pictures -- many...

Chelsea pet regs force families from homes by Marie Szaniszlo Saturday, July 27, 2002 The notice arrived yesterday giving Stanley and Eileen Green 30 days to leave their Chelsea home of 45 years. Their crime? Having two cats. Frank and Dianne Stephenson and their three children are expecting a similar letter any day. Their crime? Having a cat and a 66-pound German shepherd - 46 pounds over the limit. They are two of dozens of Chelsea families who have suddenly found themselves faced with a terrible choice: give up pets they consider members of their families, or give up the...