General News in your Area

Thought this might be a good thread to start. Any and all news to do with anything as long as its not,religion this topic is a no.no here. Good news/Bad news what ever, as long as its not the above mentioned Cool

This me be a Enter at your own risk thread. Cause some news can be upsetting to others, so keep an open mind when you go to read a story posted in here.
I think it will be neat to here the local news from others in this forum. Cheers

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Last edited by Drummer Dave on Fri Oct 24, 2008 4:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

> I will post the first <

B.C. mass murderer held back details of his crime in prison
Elise Stolte, Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, October 23, 2008
BOWDEN, Alta. - A mass murderer who lost his bid for bail this week said his fellow prisoners treated him like a celebrity after he was sentenced for slaughtering a family of six - but only because they never knew the details of his crimes.

David Shearing tried and failed Wednesday to convince a National Parole Board panel to give him day or full parole, 26 years after he gunned down six members of a B.C. family on a camping trip near Wells Grey Provincial Park in August 1982.

When RCMP first interviewed Shearing after his capture, he confessed to the murders of George and Edith Bentley, both in their late 60s, their daughter, Jackie Johnson, her husband, Bob, and the Johnsons' two children, 13-year-old Janet and 11-year-old Karen.

David Shearing tried and failed Wednesday to convince a National Parole Board panel to give him day or full parole, 26 years after he gunned down six members of a B.C. family on a camping trip near Wells Grey Provincial Park in August 1982.

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Font:****What he didn't initially admit was that he'd kept the two girls alive and captive for six days, terrorizing them and molesting the eldest before fear of discovery prompted him to shoot them both.

His fellow prison inmates had no problem with the murders, he said. "They thought that was OK." Had they know that he'd molested one of the girls, he said, "they would have killed me."

Shearing - who now goes by his mother's maiden name, Ennis - began talking about the girls more after he started treatment in 1995.

"My biggest fear was having people find out that I was having problems sexually, because it made me feel like less of a man," he said.

Wednesday's hearing was the first time the victims' family members heard from Shearing himself the details of, and motives for, his terrible crime.

Balding and heavy-set, Shearing told the hearing he was driven by the violent fantasies he'd been having since age 15, fantasies that sometimes so preoccupied him that he would be on "autopilot" throughout the day.

It was a product of his anger at not fitting in, he said. "I thought it was normal for a man to think that way.

"My crime was an enormous, brutal and inexcusable tragedy . . . resulting in tremendous loss to the community that I can never make up for," he said.

"It makes me hate to be in my own skin."

Outside the prison gates, cousins of the dead girls said the apology meant nothing.

"Don't listen to anything he says. He has no remorse," Shelley Boden said.

"It was like looking at the Devil," said Michelle Botelho, who promised to return for each parole hearing Shearing has.

"He's a waste of a body."

Shearing, 49, can again apply for full parole in two years.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

I'm glad the parole board knows the details. What a waste of time trotting him before them every 2 years.

_________________

"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

^ Agreed

^

Credit crisis will drag down house prices
Sales for year also expected to decline
Katie Mercer, The Province
Published: Friday, October 24, 2008
Prices in B.C.'s housing market will plummet by 18 per cent over the next two years due to the international credit crisis, according to a report released yesterday.

"A poor economic outlook for 2009 and tight credit conditions extending into the next year will keep housing sales on a downward trajectory for several more months," said Helmut Pastrick, chief economist for Central 1 Credit Union.

Since March, B.C.'s house prices have dropped by 12 per cent. The report projects that 2008 house sales will fall by as much as 30 per cent between January and December.

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Font:****With the current credit crisis, house prices are expected to fall another 13 per cent in 2009, bringing the median sales price down to $310,000. The report predicts the annual median price will fall to $294,000 before bottoming out in 2010.

The construction of new homes will tumble by 37 per cent as unit sales levels continue to hit multi-year lows while market listings are at a multi-year high, says the report.

Since August 2007, monthly sales are off by about 40 per cent and could continue a downward spiral to 60 per cent. The decline would be the steepest since the 1981-82 recession, the report concludes.

"It was not until August 2007, when the first wave of the financial crisis drove mortgage rates higher, that sales turned sharply lower," the report states. "Subsequent shock waves from the financial and credit markets, along with deteriorating economic conditions, exacerbated the sales decline."

Short-term market conditions will continue to be weak as long as the number of residential listings rise, pushing prices lower and throwing off the supply-demand market balance, the report said.

"Everything went sky-high a while ago," said Iolanda Esposito, a realtor with Re/Max in Vancouver. "So now it has to adjust and fall. It will probably go a bit flat, and then people will be back to buying and selling like crazy."

© The Vancouver Province 2008

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Donated liver saved Amanda
Andy Ivens, The Province
Published: Friday, October 24, 2008
Amanda Poch didn't start with a fair break in life.

The 29-year-old inherited a condition that made her body's immune system attack her liver.

At age 20, she was put on strong medication.

Liver recipient Amanda Poch has written to the family of the person whose death allowed her to live.
Arlen Redekop, The Province

Font:****"The side-effects were harsh on me," Poch said yesterday. "I felt more sick on the medication than not."

She tried Chinese medicine and acupuncture in an attempt to get her back to normal, but to no avail.

Three years ago, she almost died. Poch had contracted cirrhosis of the liver and no medication could help.

With her liver function down to five per cent, she underwent an emergency liver transplant, which saved her life.

"I hadn't gone through the necessary procedures to get on the list [for a liver transplant]," she said.

"It came down to six hours, and I almost wouldn't be here.

"If the liver that was on its way wasn't compatible, I wouldn't have made it through the evening," she said.

Poch kept a positive attitude throughout her two-month recovery.

"I had to learn to feed myself. I had to learn to walk again," she said.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first organ transplant in B.C., a day being celebrated by Poch and many of the 4,500 other organ recipients.

Poch's job as development co-ordinator with the Vancouver branch of the Canadian Liver Foundation has given her the opportunity to work with other liver patients.

"It's been very rewarding for me," said Poch, who performs hours of volunteer work for B.C. Transplant and crews for the Gift of Life dragon boat team.

"I cherish everything more now," she said. "I have always lived my life to the fullest; however I'm more adamant about what I want. I'm more stubborn. I don't hesitate any more or procrastinate."

Poch is still searching for the family of the person whose death three years ago allowed her to live.

"I would really like to know who it was," she said.

B.C. Transplant gives recipients the opportunity to write thank-you letters to the donors or their survivors. Poch sent a letter to the family six months after receiving the new liver.

"I'll write another letter on the five-year anniversary," she said.

"For me it's really just about being able to say thank you -- and how do you really do that?"

B.C. Transplant is hosting its annual walk to raise awareness about organ transplants tomorrow at Second Beach in Stanley Park, beginning at 10 a.m. It's part of the World's Biggest Walk taking place that day on five continents.

- - -

B.C. MILESTONES

1968: First organ transplant in B.C.

1976: First live-donor kidney transplant.

1986: B.C. Transplant established.

1988: First heart-and-lung transplant.

1989: First liver transplant.

1996: B.C. Transplant Research Foundation operational.

2001: First live-donor liver transplant.

2007: 1,000th living-donor transplant performed in B.C. Canada's first robot-assisted living donor kidney surgery performed at VGH.

2008: B.C. Transplant introduces online, legally binding organ-donor consent registration system.

Source: B.C. Transplant

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Two students caught with pellet guns in class on same day
Staff Reporter, The Province; News Services
Published: Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Police in New Westminster and North Vancouver are investigating two separate reports of students bringing pellet guns to their high schools on Tuesday.

Police said a student was reported to have a pellet handgun in class at New Westminster Senior Secondary.

Officers removed the student from the classroom without incident and a .32-calibre pellet gun was found in his jacket.

Font:****School officials suspended the 16-year-old.

Also Tuesday, a student with a pellet gun was arrested at Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver.

Police were called about 1:30 p.m. after students told the vice-principal the boy had the gun in class.

North Vancouver RCMP said charges are pending.

New Westminster police said parents need to be vigilant about whether their kids have these types of replica weapons, noting the similarity between the handgun found Tuesday and a regulation police .40-calibre Glock firearm (see photos at left).

A 13-year-old Surrey boy was critically wounded Oct. 14 and later died when he was accidentally shot in the head by his 12-year-old friend as they played in the yard with a pellet gun.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

we had a Seattle fishing vessel sink in Alaska 4 people found in a life boat. Sad

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^ Hey Kim, a good way to get the latest info from your area is to just take one of your local papers or a main paper & go online.
Thats what i did with my main paper, The Province. Then you just go to it and find a story you like, copy/paste the story Smile

its so much easyer to do and remember Cool

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Mission angler's last cast hooks giant sturgeon
11-footer is released after an hour battle to haul 'er in
By Glenda Luymes, The Province
Published: Thursday, October 30, 2008
The last cast of the day was a winner for fishing guide Matt Schaap.

An hour after dangling a hook baited with salmon roe in the Fraser River, the largest Fraser sturgeon hooked this year was on his line.

Weighing close to 362 kilograms (800 pounds) and estimated at about 100 years old, Schaap's 3.38-metre (11-feet, one-inch) catch was measured, photographed, tagged and released Saturday evening near Hatzic Bench in Mission.

Fishing guide Matt Schapp (far right) assists other anglers in hauling in a 3.4-metre-long sturgeon at Mission's Hatzic Bench Oct. 25.

It's the fifth-largest sturgeon caught on the Fraser River since tagging began in the mid-1990s.

"It was amazing to be part of it," said Schaap's boss, Vic Carrao, owner of STS Guiding Service.

The catch came five minutes before the end of an eight-hour fishing trip with a group of Langley men.

Schaap, who has been with STS for about six years, decided to try his luck one more time.

"He had a piece of used-up bait. He thought about changing it, but it was the last cast," said Carrao.

Using a 150-pound test line with a Lamiglas rod and Penn reel, Schaap and four other fishermen took turns hauling in the huge fish.

An hour later, they had their prize. Carrao, whose personal record catch is a 3.08-metre (10-feet, 11-inch) sturgeon landed in 2007, said this year's fish is the largest caught by someone with his guiding company.

"It's good to know there's quite a few fish of this size left on the Fraser," he said.

The prehistoric-looking fish, which was "calm as can be" after its capture, was photographed in the river and then released.

According to the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, sturgeon can live up to 150 years, grow to six metres in length and weigh upwards of 600 kilograms.

The longest ever caught was 3.4 metres, landed in 2003.

The fish is a threatened species, still recovering from intensive overfishing in the early 1900s.

There are an estimated 55,000 sturgeon in the Fraser River.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Drummer Dave wrote:

Mission angler's last cast hooks giant sturgeon
11-footer is released after an hour battle to haul 'er in
By Glenda Luymes, The Province
Published: Thursday, October 30, 2008
The last cast of the day was a winner for fishing guide Matt Schaap.

An hour after dangling a hook baited with salmon roe in the Fraser River, the largest Fraser sturgeon hooked this year was on his line.

Weighing close to 362 kilograms (800 pounds) and estimated at about 100 years old, Schaap's 3.38-metre (11-feet, one-inch) catch was measured, photographed, tagged and released Saturday evening near Hatzic Bench in Mission.

Fishing guide Matt Schapp (far right) assists other anglers in hauling in a 3.4-metre-long sturgeon at Mission's Hatzic Bench Oct. 25.

It's the fifth-largest sturgeon caught on the Fraser River since tagging began in the mid-1990s.

"It was amazing to be part of it," said Schaap's boss, Vic Carrao, owner of STS Guiding Service.

The catch came five minutes before the end of an eight-hour fishing trip with a group of Langley men.

Schaap, who has been with STS for about six years, decided to try his luck one more time.

"He had a piece of used-up bait. He thought about changing it, but it was the last cast," said Carrao.

Using a 150-pound test line with a Lamiglas rod and Penn reel, Schaap and four other fishermen took turns hauling in the huge fish.

An hour later, they had their prize. Carrao, whose personal record catch is a 3.08-metre (10-feet, 11-inch) sturgeon landed in 2007, said this year's fish is the largest caught by someone with his guiding company.

"It's good to know there's quite a few fish of this size left on the Fraser," he said.

The prehistoric-looking fish, which was "calm as can be" after its capture, was photographed in the river and then released.

According to the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, sturgeon can live up to 150 years, grow to six metres in length and weigh upwards of 600 kilograms.

The longest ever caught was 3.4 metres, landed in 2003.

The fish is a threatened species, still recovering from intensive overfishing in the early 1900s.

There are an estimated 55,000 sturgeon in the Fraser River.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

That is one huge fish Shocked

... you should post that in the fishing section for sure! Wink

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Limitations are created only in the mind.
Only by ignoring them can one truly be great.

thanks dave I will, Very Happy

wow that sturgeon is a monster wow a hour well spent.

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Man set himself on fire at University of Washington.

By Will Mari and Christine Clarridge

Seattle Times staff reporters

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Officials respond to the scene University of Washington's Red Square this afternoon, where a 61-year-old man set himself on fire.
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KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Officials respond to the scene University of Washington's Red Square this afternoon, where a 61-year-old man set himself on fire.
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University of Washington police said they are "mystified" about why a 61-year-old man apparently set fire to himself in the middle of Red Square today about 1 p.m.

The man, whose name hasn't yet been released, was taken to Harborview Medical Center with second and third-degree burns over most of his body, according to University of Washington Police Department Assistant Chief Ralph Robinson. Robinson said police are investigating the incident but at this time "have no idea why he did it."

Red Square, or Central Plaza, was evacuated and closed after the incident, but police said the campus is otherwise safe and operating as usual.

He said he did not know whether the man was a student or staffer.

Student Jacob Olson said several witnesses told him they became aware of the incident when another person ran into the library looking for a fire extinguisher and saying a man was on fire.

Justin Norman, a 39-year-old university alumnus, was on his way to the Henry Art Gallery when he saw a group of three to four men kneeling or sitting down in the middle of the square.

He said he thought that the blaze appeared to have been set accidentally.

"They looked like they were goofing around," Norman said, "Then all of sudden he caught on fire. ... It looked like something went wrong."

Norman said he saw flames shooting 10 feet into the air.

Robinson said the man suffered burns over approximately 80 percent of his body before witnesses and police officers put out the flames with fire extinguishers. He said the man was conscious when he was being treated by medics.

UW police officer Anthony Stewart said he talked with the panicked victim — trying to calm him down — before medics arrived.

A lab apron and goggles were lying on the ground near where the victim had been.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

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^ How people manage stuff like this is beyond me Shocked

> 'Closure' for survivor of grizzly attack
Man mauled by bruin returns to hospital one last time
John Colebourn, The Province
Published: Friday, October 31, 2008
In the spring, Brent Case was medevaced to Vancouver General Hospital in terrible shape after being severely mauled by a grizzly bear near Bella Coola.

Case, 54, was back at VGH yesterday to say thanks to the staff who cared for him in the burn, plastic surgery and trauma unit.

He also passed around chocolates.

VGH nurse Kelly Bos bear-hugs Brent Case, the victim of a savage grizzly mauling in May, who was back at the hospital where the 53-year-old's life was saved.
Arlen Redekop - The Province

I came here to drop some chocolates off and give some hugs and kisses to the people who helped me so much," said Case, a supervisor with Central Coast Power who is now back on the job.

"This is closure for me. It's a chance to be appreciative to the people who were good to me."

Case, an experienced bushman, was working in the woods near Bella Coola on a beautiful May day when the 400-kilogram bruin caught him off guard.

"I was a little complacent that one day in the bush," said Case.

And although normally well-prepared, Case said he did not have bear spray with him that day.

"You are always looking for signs of a bear," he said. "It was such a great day and the next thing I look over and there he was."

The grizzly was quickly on Case, chewing and clawing, and he figured he was dead if he didn't do something.

He dropped to the ground, burrowed under a log and played dead.

The bear gnawed at his skull, bit through his right arm and chewed on his left elbow in the attack that Case said lasted about two minutes.

But then, just as fast as the bear had attacked, it moved back and wandered off, leaving Case wondering what to do next.

With the bear gone, he got up and, despite his bloody condition, shock and the excruciating pain, he drove 25 kilometres for help.

"Not yelling or screaming was probably the factor that made the animal stop," said Case. "He thought I was dead."

Case is not sure how he managed to drive: "Your adrenalin is going -- it is amazing the things you can do."

The grizzly was old and hungry and had become territorial, Case said.

"There was a black bear in the area," he said. "That was the reason the grizzly mauled me -- he was looking for food. He left to check and see if any other animals were around."

The bear was tracked down and killed.

Nurse Kelly Bos spent a number of days at Case's side as he recovered after plastic surgery to his head and arms.

She thought it was sweet to see him again.

"When a patient comes back and sees us -- it is just great," said Bos. "They go home all bandaged up and you don't know what they really look like.

"It was fantastic to see Brent again. He was one of my favourite patients. He's very talkative."

Plastic surgeon Dr. Kevin Bush noted: "Many people die from an attack by a grizzly. When you injure a major blood vessel or nerve, you can bleed to death."

And while Case was happy to see his caregivers, he does not want to see the inside of VGH again.

"I like you guys but never want to see you again," he quipped on the way out.

jcolebourn@theprovince.com

© The Vancouver Province 2008

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Kayak crashes through bus windshield
By: Danielle Sanzone, The Record10/31/2008

A kayak atop an SUV that struck this school bus crashed through the windshield.
HOOSICK - A woman was airlifted to an area hospital and listed in serious condition after hitting a school bus head-on with her SUV on Route 7, officials said.

No children were riding on the bus at the time of the afternoon accident, but witnesses at the scene said the bus driver escaped serious injury when a kayak on top of the suv pierced the bus' windshield.

The bus driver sustained only minor injuries, police said.

The accident occurred around 3:40 p.m. on Route 7 west of the intersection with Route 22 in Hoosick.

The driver of the SUV, who was tranported to Albany Medical Center Hospital, apparently crossed the center double yellow lines and hit the front of the school bus.

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Authorities are now sure why the SUV went over the center lines, said State Police spokeperson Maureen Tuffey.

Police closed Route 7 for more than an hour to remvoe the vehicles involved in the accident and investigate the scene. Tractor trailers were backed up for miles on the popular route to Vermont.

The State Police are leading the investigation with other local agencies also cooperating.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Weather | Traffic

Originally published Saturday, November 1, 2008 at 5:15 PM

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Endangered salmon found in remote creek

Scientists have discovered juvenile coho salmon on California's North Coast in a number of places where the endangered fish had not been seen for years.
UKIAH, Calif. —

Scientists have discovered juvenile coho salmon on California's North Coast in a number of places where the endangered fish had not been seen for years.

Jennifer Carah, a field scientist for the Nature Conservancy, says she was snorkeling recently in the Garcia River watershed when she found a school of the tiny salmon. In fact, the salmon have been found in 10 areas where they had previously vanished.

The Garcia River watershed had been devastated by logging, and the coho population dwindled to 1 percent of previous numbers.

In 2004 the watershed became part of a "sustainable forestry" experiment, which allows for only selective logging on the land. The funds from the logging are then used to pay for restoration and land management.

The area is owned by the Conservation Fund, which paid $18 million to a timber company for the 23,780-acre Garcia River Forest. The Nature Conservancy works alongside the Conservation Fund to study and monitor fish and wildlife on the land.

---

Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

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Wow, that is good news Cool

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Woodinville man nearly drowns cleaning Humvee's tires in Columbia River

Associated Press
QUINCY -- Authorities in Grant County say a 48-year-old Woodinville man nearly drowned Thursday night after he deliberately drove his Humvee into the Columbia River near Quincy.

Undersheriff John Turley said Merle Sorenson told deputies he "was not thinking" and drove into the water at a boat launch to see how far the vehicle could go and still back out.

Turley says Sorenson -- who admitted drinking six beers -- also said he wanted to "clean his tires."

The Humvee went into the water about 11:30 p.m. Thursday. Four people escaped the floating vehicle, but Sorenson was trapped with only his head above water.

Rescuers attached a tow truck line and moved the vehicle far enough out of the water to save Sorenson before it sank farther.

Sorenson was treated at Quincy Valley Hospital for mild hypothermia and later released.

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^ I must roll my eyes at that one Rolling Eyes

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Never would have thought alcohol was involved. Rolling Eyes

His four buddies must have been drunk too, or they wouldn't have gotten in the Hummer with him. Surprised

Morons.

Graphic body bag campaign highlights gang threat
Group's goal to keep kids out of violent lifestyle
Ian Austin, The Province
Published: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
An in-your-face campaign to keep kids out of gangs will be launched in graphic fashion today.

Body bags will be dropped off in eight high-profile locations in Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey to symbolize the very real threat of dying due to gang connections.

A body bag emblazoned with STAY OUT.ca dumped on a Vancouver sidewalk stopped pedestrians dead in their tracks yesterday.

Daljit 'DJ' Parmar hopes body bags dumped on streets draw attention to gang violence.
Les Bazso, The Province

The biggest thing we're trying to say is gang life is glamourized in movies, music videos and video games," said Daljit "DJ" Parmar of A Community That Cares, the group behind the campaign.

"What you need to know about are the consequences of gang life -- beaten up, in jail or dead."

A Community That Cares will also have TV ads and its new stayout.ca website as part of the Stay Out -- Youth Against Gang Violence public-service campaign.

"We're putting the body bags in high-traffic areas," said Parmar, 24, a Burnaby film producer who saw one too many members of the Indo-Canadian community recruited into gangs and decided to do something about it.

"What groups like MADD and Counterattack do against drunk driving, we're applying to gang violence," he said.

Sgt. Shinder Kirk of the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force said young people don't realize that they'll constantly be looking over their shoulder the minute they join a gang.

"It's a lifestyle fraught with paranoia," said Kirk. "You will never, ever know where the violence is coming from.

"It could be a partner. It could be the competition." Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said that 40 per cent of Lower Mainland murders since 2003 are directly linked to drugs and organized crime.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing