11-04-13
President Obama made federal agencies on Friday present plans to combat climate change. An executive order a**igned steps to make it easier for communities to strengthen their resilience to extreme weather conditions and prepare for other impacts of climate change, according to the White House. It also creates an interagency Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, charged with overseeing federal efforts at fighting climate change. Made up of representatives from across the government, the council will work with a task force of state, local and tribal leadership also created by Obama's order. The task force will advise the Obama administration on how the government can respond to the needs of communities nationwide that are dealing with the impacts of climate change, according to the statement.
11-05-13
A gunman opened fire Monday night at a New Jersey mall . Then he holied up in the back room and shot himself on the head. His name was Richard Shoop and his body was found at 3:20 a.m. On Tuesday in an obscure part of Westfield Garden State Plaza mall, hours after he fired at least six bullets without striking anyone in the ma**ive shopping center. The shooting sent panic through the mall and set off a frenzied hunt for the gunman. In the early hours of the search, officials weren't sure whether the shooter was still inside or outside the 2-million-square-foot building. The melee started around 9:20 p.m. ET, just as the shopping center was about to close. Shoop, dressed all in black and wearing a motorcycle helmet, walked through the mall armed with a rifle modified to look like an AK-47.
11-06-13
David Wiles can't remember the first time he ever climbed a tree, but he does recall the first time he fell from one. I was about nine years old at a friend's party," says South African-born Wiles, 25. I was told, 'do not climb that tree,' and as a child you always know better, he smirks. That fall, however, was never enough to uproot Wiles' childhood fascination with hauling himself up tree trunks and clambering up branches. Nor did it prevent him from becoming a professional tree climber -- and embarking on a mission to reach the leafy summits of some of Africa's tallest specimens. Last January, Wiles, along with fellow tree climber Drew Bristow, launched an expedition of tree enthusiasts aiming to explore and officially document for the first time some of South Africa's greatest trees.
11-07-13
An Indiana deer hunter who was left paralyzed after falling from a tree chose the latter. Timothy E. Bowers, 32, of Decatur was hunting Saturday afternoon when he fell about 16 feet to the ground from a tree stand. On Sunday, Bowers self-elected to remove himself from life support systems and died" that evening. Bowers was a newlywed; he married Abbey Logan on August 3, the Haggard-Sefton & Hirschy Funeral Home of Decatur. The funeral home said memorials could go to the couple's Baby Bowers Education Fund. His widow is expecting a baby. Medical ethicist Arthur L. Caplan of New York University said Bowers' d**h is a reminder that young people need to deal with difficult end-of-life decisions just like older adults.
11-08-13
For many people, just a minor surgery can be nerve-wracking. But Dr. Deborah Cohan went into her double mastectomy operation with courage and dance moves. On Tuesday, Cohan, an OB-GYN and a mother of two, went into surgery to have her breasts removed. But before the surgery, she and her medical team threw a pre-op dance party in the operating room at the University of California-San Francisco Medical Center at Mount Zion. The dance video was posted on YouTube on Tuesday and has soared in views, getting attention from more than 250,000 viewers. Commenters on the YouTube page praised Cohan for her courage and joy. In the six-minute video, Cohan and her team dance to Beyonce's hit single "Get Me Bodied." Cohan really shows off her dance moves, shaking and grooving in her surgical gown.