Thursday, February 24, 2011

According to CBS 3, the four Americans taken hostage after their yacht was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean have been killed. Pirates hijacked their yacht, named The Quest, on February 18.

The U.S. Naval ship that was following the yacht, which was traveling off the coast of Somalia, heard gunshots and attempted a rescue operation. Naval personnel had been negotiating with pirates when the incident occurred. After boarding the vessel, soldiers killed 2 pirates and detained at least 13 others. During the process they discovered that the pirates had shot and killed all four hostages.

“The forces discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors. Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds,” said a statement issued by the U.S. Central Command.

The hostages were identified as Scott and Jean Adam, husband and wife who owned the yacht, from Marina Del Rey, California. Their two friends were Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle from Seattle, Washington. Two other bodies were found on the yacht, believed to be pirates. The party was taking place in a race with other boats, which started in Thailand, when they decided to leave it after scheduled stop in Mumbai, India. Reports say they spent some of their time distributing bibles around the world. They changed course and were hijacked by the pirates off the coast of Oman.

Friday, August 26, 2005

A Midland, Michigan hotel was temporarily quarantined Thursday night when a letter with suspicious white powder was opened at the Ashman Court Hotel on Main Street.

A hotel employee is said to have opened the letter around 16:00 UTC time on Thursday. Shortly after, the police, FBI and HAZMAT teams were called to the building. Preliminary results from FBI tests showed that the envelope did not contain the deadly bacteria anthrax, as first thought.

The letter contained “a threat” according to local reports, however details were not released. It is also unknown as to what substance the white powder is.

This is the second anthrax scare on the city this year, exactly four months ago the Midland Daily News office, located across the street to the hotel, was sent a similar envelope with suspicious powder. It is not known if the two cases are related or not.

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Saturday, March 7, 2009

Raymond Lee Oyler of California, United States has been convicted of the murders of five US Forest Service firefighters killed while attempting to control a wildfire he had lit.

Oyler, 38, set the Esperanza Fire out of anger his dog had been impounded, according to prosecutors. The October 2006 blaze destroyed 34 houses and 20 outbuildings, scorching over 17,400 hectares. Prosecutors said he was “bent on destruction”.

Prosecutors also alleged Oyler started the fire at night specifically to leave firefighters “on their own” without aerial support. He was identified as the arsonist behind the fire after a security camera saw his car several times and samples taken from the scene matched those found in his girlfriend’s house. Oyler, an unemployed car mechanic, was also identified by the owner of a local petrol station as having stood in a car park and watched the fire’s spread.

The five firefighters that were killed died when their truck was overrun by the flames. Oyler was convicted of murdering them on Friday March 6 after a six-week trial in Riverside California. The twelve-member jury took nearly a week of deliberation before returning the guilty verdict, and will meet to hear arguments regarding Oyler’s sentence on Tuesday. He may face the death penalty.

His defense had admitted Oyler likely started several fires in the Riverside County area, but denied he had started the one that killed the firefighters.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

University of Alabama running back Mark Ingram has won the 2009 Heisman Trophy, it was announced Saturday night.

Ingram, the third consecutive sophomore to win the award for the top American Football player in NCAA Division I, was visibly emotional about receiving the award. The award was the first for Alabama.

The margin of victory was the closest ever for the award, with just 28 points separating Ingram from the second place finisher: Stanford running back Toby Gerhart. “I’m a little overwhelmed right now,” Ingram said. “I’m just so excited to bring Alabama their first Heisman winner.”

Ingram, who had 1542 yards rushing and 322 yards receiving this season, emerged as one of the favorites in the middle of the season, but it was the rough showings by fellow front-runners Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy in their conference title games that solidified Ingram’s status and elevated Gerhart.

In the SEC title game, the second-ranked Crimson Tide defeated top-ranked Gators, holding Tebow to 184 yards through the air. In the Big 12 title game, Texas won a close game, 13–12 over Nebraska. In the game, McCoy had 247 yards through the air and was intercepted 3 times. A strong performance against in the same game propelled Nebraska defensive-end Ndamukong Suh to the fourth-place spot Heisman point total.

Ingram — who scored 18 touchdowns so far this season — will meet McCoy in the national title game Jan. 7.

Ingram also acknowledged the support of his family, his team and other students on campus. “Everybody that’s been in the Alabama family has been supporting me,” Ingram said. “Walking to class, students flashed me the Heisman pose.”

Monday, September 24, 2007

Doug Anderson is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Whitby-Oshawa riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

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Saturday, January 19, 2008

Buffalo, New York — According to scanner frequencies of the Buffalo, New York fire department, smoke was reported on at least five floors at the northeast side at One HSBC Center in downtown Buffalo. The call came in around 10:50 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Friday January 18, not long after the ending of the NHL hockey game: the Sabres versus the Atlanta Thrashers which was held at HSBC Arena, a few blocks away from the tower.

According to firefighters communications the people that were on the 22nd floor made it out of the building safely. Firefighters saw “white smoke of varying intensities, believed to have been electrical” on floors 9 through 13. The source of the smoke was not identified, but the first alarm was on the 13th floor, followed by the 10th then the 9th.

Because of the cold temperatures and wind chills in the 10’s, workers at the tower were allowed back into the first floor, which has been cleared by firefighters earlier in the call.

At 11:41 p.m., firefighters gave the all clear to begin packing up with no conclusion as to where the smoke originated. They used ventilation fans to clear the floors of smoke and then shut them off to see if anymore smoke would reappear, which it did not. Remaining employees and personnel have since been allowed back to work. No damage is reported.

The tower, built in 1970, is the tallest in Buffalo and is home several agencies including the Consulate General of Canada. HSBC currently occupies 75% of the tower which has 40 floors. It stands at 529 feet (161.2 meters) tall.