Free Republic

You know the “reasonable, common sense” crowd’s litany, the one about guns only being good for one thing? Namely, killing, death and wanton destruction? Yeah, well, next time one of them throws that one at you at a cocktail party, here’s a handy comeback example to keep in your quiver. If Chris Willden hadn’t had his gun on his hip yesterday, there would probably be two or three dead kids in Logan, Utah… Roger Anderson was headed for a day of skiing with three kiddies in tow. But he lost control of his car on a slippery, narrow bridge and...

A catastrophic landslide 22,500 years ago dammed the upper reaches of northern California's Eel River, forming a 30-mile-long lake, which has since disappeared, and leaving a living legacy found today in the genes of the region's steelhead trout...about 60 miles southeast of Eureka. The river today is 200 miles long, carved into the ground from high in the California Coast Ranges to its mouth in the Pacific Ocean in Humboldt County. The evidence for the ancient landslide, which, scientists say, blocked the river with a 400-foot wall of loose rock and debris ... "Perhaps of most interest, the presence of...

A Hastings man and his fiancee came face to face with some unexpected wildlife near Prescott, Wis., on Friday afternoon. Derrick Radke and Cheryl McKenna were boating when they found a 3-foot-long alligator swimming in the Mississippi River, near an island where they had planned to camp. Radke said he initially thought the gator was a muskrat - until it swam toward his 16-1/2-foot fishing boat. Radke went after the gator and got as close as a couple feet as it was sunning itself on a log, seemingly unafraid of him. "I've been on the river all my life," said...

Washington, Oregon, federal government struggle to determine how to pay for project (Vancouver, WA) Knock aside the steel beams and concrete, and there’s just one thing that the Columbia River Crossing will be built upon: money. And one of the largest public works projects in the Pacific Northwest has an unusual plan to get that money — one that relies on the federal government, two states and local tolls to pay the estimated $2.63 billion to $3.76 billion price tag. The CRC is coming of age in an era where paying for big infrastructure projects is growing increasingly difficult, so...

Aerial view of the Missouri River from a North Dakota National Guard Black Hawk helicopter in the vicinity of Bismarck and Mandan, N.D., on May 29, 2011. When these photos were taken, the river was at about 15.74 feet with a garrison release flow of 80,000 cubic feet per second.

(AP) - The Mississippi River crested in Memphis at nearly 48 feet on Tuesday, falling inches short of its all-time record but still soaking low-lying areas with enough water to require a massive cleanup. National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Borghoff says the river reached 47.85 feet at 2 a.m. Tuesday and is expected to stay very close to that level for the next 24 to 36 hours. Reaching its high point means things shouldn't get worse in the area, but it will take weeks for the water to recede and much longer for inundated areas to recover. "Pretty much the...

I shot this image today. It's from just west of the I-40 MS River bridge, before the Arkansas truck scale. An old school bus (perhaps converted for hunting/camping) had been left on the I-40 access road. It's a good bet that it's beyond salvaging at this point. Anyway, it gives a good perspective as to just how bad the flooding is right now.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011 ~ Updated 11:06 AM By M.D. Kittle ~ Southeast Missourian The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this hour is setting up a joint information center in Sikeston, Mo., and has tentatively scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m., according to a corps spokeswoman, although the timing has yet to be confirmed. Officials at the headquarters could not be reached for comment. Meanwhile, a barge loaded with explosives was making its way from Memphis, Tenn., to Charleston, Mo., destined for the Birds Point levee as the ash gray sky prepares to unleash more heavy rains and a...

TUCSON — A lawyer for environmental activists wants a federal judge to order two U.S. agencies — The Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army — to renegotiate a biological opinion concerning the San Pedro River and its environs contending the two entities have failed to follow the Endangered Species Act. The plaintiff’s attorney, McCrystie Adams, said the continuing growth in the Sierra Vista area is caused by the existence of Fort Huachuca and as more people come to the area, they “are draining the aquifer year after year.” However, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney contends all the requirements...

FARGO - Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney says "You can't make this stuff up". Laney and the Coast Guard were called to an area south of Fargo Sunday morning on a report of a man in a makeshift canoe in the Red River. After arriving on scene, they found that the man had crossed into Minnesota. They took a closer look at the man's "canoe" and discovered it was actually a lid from a coffin.

Green River Killer Gary Ridgway is facing his 49th murder charge for the death of a woman whose skull was found by teenagers in a ravine, 28 years after she went missing. Ridgway, 61, is already serving 48 consecutive life sentences after being jailed in 2003 for a strangling spree which terrorised Seattle and its northern suburbs in the early 1980s. He once said he killed so many women he could not keep track of them all. He had previously confessed to killing Rebecca 'Becky' Marrero, a 20-year-old mother and prostitute last seen when she left a motel in 1982.

CALEXICO, Calif. (AP) -- A government agency on the front lines of the immigration debate has begun installing lifesaving buoys in a fast-moving canal along the U.S.-Mexico border where migrants drown each year as they sneak into the country illegally. The debate over the lifelines has long presented authorities with a moral dilemma: Is it acceptable to do nothing when so many immigrants are dying in the water?

VICTORIA — Horrified nature-lovers at Goldstream Provincial Park watched as the Goldstream River turned bright green late Wednesday afternoon. The fluorescent green colouring appeared to start about 500 metres on the Victoria side of the entrance to the park and, over the course of an hour, the substance flowed down into the environmentally sensitive estuary. By 5:30 p.m. the river, known for its dramatic salmon runs, eagles and other wildlife, was back to its normal colour. Ministry of Environment teams were immediately sent to the area to investigate and members of Langford Fire Department collected samples for analysis. No dead...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING STATION GARRY OWEN – For the last two months, the U.S. Navy Riverine Detachment here has partnered with 1st Lt. Hissinin, commander of a 50-man Iraqi Special River Police Company, providing hands-on training in every aspect of river patrolling and security operations. This partnership and training led to a graduation ceremony May 15 in Amarah, Iraq, for a dozen new maintenance crew members and boat operators who completed the river patrolling academy in Baghdad. The provincial governor, Mohammed Shaia Al-Sudani; the provincial council chairman, Abidul Hussein, and the provincial chief of police; Maj. Gen. Ashmail Arrar Khadim Al...

Note: Photos included. "Accident: Merpati B733 at Manokwari on Apr 13th 2010, overran runway and broke up in river" By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Apr 13th 2010 06:18Z, last updated Tuesday, Apr 13th 2010 17:12Z SNIPPET: "A Merpati Nusantara Boeing 737-300, registration PK-MDE performing flight MZ-836 from Sorong to Manokwari (Indonesia) with 97 passengers and 6 crew, overran runway 35 while landing at Manokwari in rain and mist at approx 11:00L (02:00Z) and came to a stop in a river about 170 meters past the end of the runway (2000 meters long). Two passengers received critical injuries, one person serious...

Colorado Rafters, Anglers Square Off Over Use of Streams Through Private Land In a clash that some lawmakers have dubbed "Row v. Wade," rafters and anglers are squaring off over rights to prized Colorado waterways. The debate has spilled into the state legislature and inspired at least 24 citizen-sponsored ballot initiatives. The core question: Do paddlers have an absolute right to float down any river in the state, even rivers that run through private property reserved for fly-fishing? Steve Roberts says no. His family owns a 150-acre dude ranch amid the aspens and lodgepole pines of southwest Colorado. The Taylor...

Note: The following text is a quote: March 30, 2010 Eritrean man pleads guilty to alien smuggling WASHINGTON - Samuel Abrahaley Fessahazion, 23, an Eritrean national, has pleaded guilty to helping smuggle illegal aliens to the United States for private financial gain, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Custom and Border Protection (CBP). Fessahazion, aka "Sami," aka "Sammy," aka "Alex" and aka "Alex Williams" pleaded guilty on March 29, 2010, in Houston to one count of conspiracy and two counts of encouraging and inducing aliens to come to, enter or reside in the United...

Chesapeake, Va. - An empty freight train crashed through a safety barrier at a raised drawbridge in Chesapeake this morning and the locomotive remains dangling over the Intercoastal Waterway. A spokesman from the U.S. Coast Guard said the train spilled an estimated 1,700 gallons of diesel fuel into the water. The Coast Guard has closed the waterway while the spill is cleaned up. Lt. Cmdr Robert Gore said crews are using about 2,000 feet of containment booms to contain the fuel. Once the fuel is cleaned up the next problem will be getting the engine back on the tracks. Crews...

A group of 53 illegal immigrants was apprehended Wednesday morning just west of the San Pedro River, near the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. Border Patrol agents monitoring a video surveillance system in the area spotted the group just after midnight, said Colleen Agle, an agency spokeswoman. Agents at the Naco station sent out the horse patrol, which was then assisted by an Office of Air and Marine helicopter, she said. The 36 men, nine women, and eight children were not in distress when they were found, she said.

Now this is way cool. If this video doesn't make you smile and laugh, then your heart just ain't beating properly. Yellow lab chases down a huge salmon on a river, and catches it

Ok, now I have seen hunting dogs track down an animal, but this is the first time I have ever seen a dog catch a fish. And not just any fish, this dog is playing in the water, then he sees a salmon and chases it until he catches it. then he brings it to shore for his owner. Awesome must see video. Check out the yellow lab chasing down and catching a huge salmon

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Oct. 26, 2009 – The road to economic success here is paved and has bridges linking both sides of the Kunar River. Left to right, Sarkani Subgovernor Hamish Gulab, Marawara Subgovernor Mer Azam Gujoorwall and Kunar Subgovernor Fazullah Wahidi cut a ribbon marking the completion of the Nawabad to Marawara road in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, Oct. 26, 2009. The road represents a $2.7 million investment that paves the way for increased security and commerce in Kunar’s Marawara district. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Brian Boisvert   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The provincial government,...

Bethea said federal officials tested the river and found the E. coli bacteria level was 42 times greater than the highest safe level. “There is no way you want to get in or even touch water [this dirty],” Bethea said. “I’ve never seen the water so filthy. It was just filthy, and it didn’t smell very good in some places.” The river tour also found massive shoreline damage, including collapsed banks and fallen trees. --snip-- The U.S. Park Service on Wednesday shut down use of portions of the Chattahoochee, citing the dumping of raw sewage from broken sewage lines in...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1249418627506&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull "Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged all the people as follows: 'Keep the entire commandment that I am commanding you today. On the day that you cross over the Jordan into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up great stones and cover them with plaster. You shall write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over." (Deuteronomy 27:1-3). Rubble on floor may have fallen from the ceiling during earthquakes since the cavern was fashioned. Built on the foundations of an ancient Byzantine church, the Greek...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi River Police (IRP) conducted operations here on the Tigris River to hone their skills in keeping Iraq’s waterways safe from terrorists, Sept. 1. The mission of the IRP is to provide search and rescue, safety patrol, and counter smuggling operations along the waterways of Iraq. Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq advisors, mentors and trainers help the IRP accomplish this mission. There are two advisors at the River Patrol. One is responsible for teaching waterborne operations, how to pilot the boats, and how to use the boats to conduct the operations found in the mission statement. The second advisor...

Today's dogs are all descended from a pack of wolves tamed 16,000 years ago on the shores of the Yangtze river, according to new research. It was previously known that the birthplace of the dog was eastern Asia but historians were not able to be more precise than that. However, now researchers have made a number of new discoveries about the history of man's best friend - including that the dog appeared about 16,000 years ago south of the Yangtze river in China. It has also been discovered that even though the dog has a single geographical origin it descends...

Iraq Suffers as the Euphrates River Dwindles By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON JUBAISH, Iraq — Throughout the marshes, the reed gatherers, standing on land they once floated over, cry out to visitors in a passing boat. “Maaku mai!” they shout, holding up their rusty sickles. “There is no water!” The Euphrates is drying up. Strangled by the water policies of Iraq’s neighbors, Turkey and Syria; a two-year drought; and years of misuse by Iraq and its farmers, the river is significantly smaller than it was just a few years ago. Some officials worry that it could soon be half of what it...

A toddler has miraculously survived after he drove his toy jeep into a river and then floated nearly eight miles downstream. Demetrius Jones, who turned three yesterday, let himself out of his grandmother's holiday trailer while his family slept and took his battery-operated truck down to the Peace River in British Columbia, where he was swept away by the current. The red miniature Chevrolet Silverado truck flipped over but the boy - who was only wearing a nappy and T-shirt - floated on it, along swirling waters. When his family woke up and realised he was missing police were called...

Survey: Most Economists See Recession End in '09 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS May 27, 2009 WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 90 percent of economists predict the recession will end this year, although the recovery is likely to be bumpy. That assessment came from leading forecasters in a survey by the National Association for Business Economics to be released Wednesday. It is generally in line with the outlook from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues. About 74 percent of the forecasters expect the recession -- which started in December 2007 and is the longest since World War II --...

Click here for video. Crash happens at about 2:02 minutes into the video.

BASRAH — Three days after graduating a multi-week training course, the first Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics Tactical Response Team joined Coalition forces in a joint operation here. The river-focused force filled vital overwatch positions, and maintained active security and communications with Iraqi Police and Army units as well as with Coalition units. “This demonstrates the capability of this force, and how their training prepared them for real-world missions,” said a Coalition advisor to the TRT. The TRT is a new capability for Iraq allowing the Police to have a specially trained cadre skilled in the art of maritime and...

BASRAH, Iraq –Three days after graduating a multi-week training course, the first Special Weapons and Tactics Tactical Response Team was thrust into action December with Coalition forces executed a joint operation in Basrah, Iraq. The river-focused force filled vital over-watch positions, and maintained active security and communications with Iraqi Police and Army units as well as with Coalition units. “This demonstrates the capability of this force, and how their training prepared them for real-world missions,” said a Coalition advisor to the TRT. The TRT is a new capability for Iraq allowing the police to have a specially trained cadre skilled...

Trainees run ashore after practicing an insert technique during al-Anbar Iraqi River Police training, Lake Thar Thar, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2008. Photo by Cpl. Shawn Coolman, 1st Marine Division Public Affairs. LAKE THAR THAR -- Al-Anbar Iraqi River Police officers aced their final exam. Select Iraqi Policemen here with the Anbar Iraqi River Police force, which was established to patrol the local waterways independently from Coalition forces, finished a week-long certification course, Dec. 21. This was the first class taught by the Navy “River Rats� of Detachment 3, Riverine Squadron 1, Regimental Combat Team 5 on Lake Thar Thar.In this...

The U.S. Forest Service is moving ahead on a proposal to determine whether parts of the Colorado River and Deep Creek are suitable candidates for inclusion in the national Wild and Scenic River System. The Colorado River Water Conservation District, however, is looking at ways to fend off such a designation. “We’re working on coming up with something that protects the values that make them eligible for wild and scenic designation without imposition of all the federal controls,” said Chris Treese of the river district. The river district is hoping to preserve flexibility and greater local control on the management...

Body found in Arkansas RiverLast Update: 11/13 9:21 pm In Pulaski County search crews found the body of man who died in the Arkansas River. The body has not been officially identified but it's thought to be that of a man who went missing Tuesday Pablo Ramos, 19, disappeared while mowing the Clinton library lawn. Ramos' mower was found tipped over at the bank of the river. The body will be taken to the state crime lab.

A couple of pictures of the White Cliffs of the Missouri Breaks. There aren't very many! Click the bottom one for full-size, but it actually looks better at this size.

6/19/2008 - GREEN BAY BOTTOM, Iowa (AFPN) -- The men and women of the 185th Air Refueling Squadron from Sioux City, Iowa, are teaming with local farmers to maintain the 20 miles of levees, keeping the flooded Mississippi from inundating the 14 thousand acres of homes and farmland here. The river is flowing 23 feet over flood levels and 20 feet over the corn fields that line it near the farming community of Burlington in Green Bay Bottom, Iowa. "It would have been devastating without the (Air National) Guard here," said local resident Robert Mozingo, a retired mechanical engineer who...

SPOKANE — The era of massive dam construction in the West — which tamed rivers, swallowed towns and created irrigated agriculture, cheap hydropower and persistent environmental problems — effectively ended in 1966 with the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona. But a booming population and growing fears about climate change have governments once again studying dams, this time to create huge reservoirs to capture more winter rain and spring snowmelt for use in dry summer months. New dams are being studied in Washington, California, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada and other states, even as dams are being torn down across...

ATLANTA — Chattanooga city officials waded into the border war between Tennessee and Georgia Wednesday when they delivered about 2,000 bottles of water to lawmakers in the drought-parched Peach State. Dressed in a coonskin hat and 19th century frontiersman garb, Matt Lea, special assistant to Mayor Ron Littlefield, described the gesture as “a humorous political joke.” But Georgia Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, said lawmakers accepted the bottled water as “a small down payment on the billions of gallons of Georgia water that flows from our creeks and streams into the Tennessee River every year.” The trip was billed as a...

BEIJING - Pollution has turned part of a major river system in central China red and bubbly, forcing authorities to cut water supplies to 200,000 people and close schools, a government news agency reported Wednesday. Some communities along tributaries of the Hanjiang River — a branch of the Yangtze — in Hubei province were using emergency water sources, while at least 60,000 people were relying on bottled water and limited underground sources, Xinhua News Agency said. Five schools were closed in Xingou township, while others could not provide food to students, the report said without elaborating. Gao Qijin, head of...

“Give Our Georgia Friends A Drink Day” Proclaimed The city of Chattanooga, facing a possible Georgia land grab as part of an effort to get access to the Tennessee River, is sending a truck load of bottled water to Atlanta. Mayor Ron Littlefield said the water will be delivered on Wednesday by his aide Matt Lea wearing a coonskin cap. The mayor has officially proclaimed Feb. 27, 2008, as “Give our Georgia Friends a Drink Day.” The proclamation comes as a result of the Georgia Legislature passing a joint resolution that seeks to pursue reestablishing the boundary between Georgia and...

PHOENIX - For the third time since 1996, officials plan to unleash a manmade flood in the Grand Canyon next month in an effort to restore an ecosystem that was altered by a dam constructed on the Colorado River decades ago. The Glen Canyon Dam, completed in 1963 upstream from the Grand Canyon, permanently changed the Colorado River, transforming it from a warm, muddy, unpredictable force of nature into a cooler, clearer, tightly controlled water-delivery system. Without spring floods to flush the system and help rebuild beaches and fish habitat, native species suffered even as non-native fish thrived. The shift...

Years ago a Georgia planner joked, half seriously, that the Peach State should just “stick a straw” in the Tennessee River to bring water to thirsty Atlanta. The analogy may turn out to be easier than anyone thought. Regional cavers are suggesting on their blogs that Georgia take advantage of Tennessee River water backed up years ago by TVA dams into Nickajack Cave and some connected caverns. They say water captured from the Tennessee River flows underground into Georgia and Alabama. If engineers could drill in, then courts might have to decide if the water is groundwater or impounded Tennessee...

New Mississippi delta would limit hurricane damage 13:20 18 February 2008 NewScientist.com news service Phil McKenna The proposed diversion would create up to 1000 square kilometres of new delta by 2100 (Image: Science) Diverting parts of the Mississippi would create up to 1000 square kilometres of new wetlands between New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico, forming a vital storm surge buffer against hurricanes, researchers say. The formation of new delta lands could also help stem ongoing coastal erosion without disrupting important shipping traffic. "The scientific and engineering barriers are easily overcome," says Gary Parker, a geologist and engineer...

This is one that I've actually seen in person; it's just off Highway 4 north of Jemez Springs (near Los Alamos). There's a small hot spring, certainly from the remnant heat of the Valles Caldera just up the road, that created the "soda" (limestone) that makes the dam that is cut through by the Jemez River.

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi River Patrol Police station is training their trainers to maintain and troubleshoot their river craft while underway with a 10-day basic engineering course taught by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph Aldana, Naval Special Warfare Unit 3, Bahrain. Students are participating in the Basic Engineering course offered as a way to assist the river police in troubleshooting malfunctions of boat equipment and help them understand how the river craft operate. The topics taught within the Basic Engineering course are Internal Combustion; Basic Electricity; Marine Battery/Electricity; Backing Gaskets and Seals; Troubleshooting and Planned Maintenance System checks....

Dry, polluted, plagued by rats: the crisis in China's greatest riverShips stranded as Yangtze reaches a 142-year low Jonathan Watts in Beijing The Guardian, Thursday January 17 2008 A river bed is exposed as water levels fall along the Yangtze river near Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. Photograph: AP The waters of the Yangtze have fallen to their lowest levels since 1866, disrupting drinking supplies, stranding ships and posing a threat to some of the world's most endangered species. Asia's longest river is losing volume as a result of a prolonged dry spell, the state media warned yesterday, predicting hefty...

FERNLEY, Nev. (AP) - Rescuers are using everything from school buses to helicopters to reach about 3,500 people trapped in a Nevada town because of a levee break. One resident tells CNN that water is 3 to 4 feet deep in parts of Fernley, Nevada, which is east of Reno. Authorities say the frigid water has poured into about 800 homes.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2007 – Coalition forces detained 10 suspects today during operations targeting al Qaeda networks along Iraq’s Tigris River Valley. The forces conducted several operations targeting associates of al Qaeda in Iraq leaders, including foreign terrorist facilitators and planners of car-bombing attacks. During the operations, coalition forces captured two wanted individuals and detained eight suspects. During one of the operations, information gathered from local citizens indicated that terrorists were using a school as a meeting location and safe house. Coalition forces briefly entered the school, but did not do any damage and left the school as it was...

Deadly landslide raises more concerns about China's Three Gorges Dam Aileen McCabe , CanWest Asia Correspondent Published: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 SHANGHAI - A deadly landslide near China's controversial Three Gorges Dam has killed one construction worker and left two missing in central Hubei Province, near the dam's massive reservoir. The official news agency Xinhua said the tragedy occurred on Tuesday, the same day Chinese government officials pledged to step up measures to deal with environmental problems caused by the dam. Xinhua did not say what caused the fatal landslide, but in a story about the new environmental plan, Xinhua...