Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Pictou Island had 2,000 to 3,000 seals on it when struck by a “severe” storm that buried the tiny Canadian island in snow and created rough ocean effects Wednesday and Thursday.

Jane MacDonald, an island resident, said that she woke up Thursday morning to see “wall to wall seals” and their puppies “decimated” by the storm.

MacDonald commented, “The seal puppies were literally swept away into the water because their mothers couldn’t get them to higher ground. A wave would hit and the pup went under. The mother pushed it up with her nose, and then another wave would hit.”

“After the sixth or seventh wave, the pup didn’t come up,” MacDonald said. “The more you watched, the worse it got. The mothers struggled so hard to save their babies and it just couldn’t be done, I’d never seen anything like that.”

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The California Controller’s office reports that eleven state agencies have given US$13.3 million in pay and travel advances that have not been collected.

Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order to recover uncollected loans by the agencies. A press release from the governor’s office states, “The Governor’s Executive Order seeks to recover taxpayer dollars by directing state agencies and departments to clear salary and travel advances within 30 days through an expense claim.” Any outstanding balance will be deducted from employees’ paychecks under the governor’s order after the 30 days.

Under California state law, state employees are permitted to receive advances for hardship, travel, and other circumstances. These advances cannot be collected by agencies after three years without the employee’s consent.

State Controller John Chiang said in a statement, “The state’s poor debt collection and accounting practices are fleecing public coffers at a time when vital public programs are being decimated by unprecedented budget cuts.” Chiang’s office expects there will be more money unaccounted for, including some from the California Highway Patrol (CHP). California state law mandates that anyone convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol is required to pay for the investigation. The CHP has not collected this money.

The California Department of Transportation, also called Caltrans, has the largest debt of the eleven agencies: $3.2 million. Cal Fire, or the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, “had an outstanding balance of $1.44 million as of June 30, 2008. An overwhelming portion of that balance was related to employee salary and travel advances,” according to a controller’s office audit.

Chiang’s office had informed former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger there were outstanding debts, but Schwarzenegger’s administration did not take action.

All eleven agencies have agreed to hand over any delinquent accounts to the controller’s office, who will collect these debts.

Friday, March 13, 2020

On Sunday and Saturday evening, Australian store chains Woolworths and Coles lowered their purchase restrictions on toilet paper to two and one package per transaction in all stores on national level, respectively. ALDI also introduced a one-pack limit, on Monday. These limitations were posted as messages on the checkouts, and on the chains’ Facebook pages. Buyers were reportedly stocking up due to fears of COVID-19 in case people need to self-isolate. On Wednesday, Woolworths also limited toilet paper purchases for home delivery to one pack per order.

These changes followed the previous four-pack per transaction restriction introduced by Woolworths and Coles on March 4 and 5 respectively. Coles, in its March 8 media release, reported that with the four-pack restriction in place, “many stores are still selling out within an hour of delivery”, and called the demand “unprecedented”, while ALDI, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, called it “unexpected”. Sales went up in a “sharp increase” last week, according to a Woolworths spokesperson. Costco’s store in Canberra also limited the allowed amount to two packs last week.

To further alleviate the shortage, Coles ordered bigger packages from suppliers and increased delivery frequency, Woolworths ordered extra stock, while ALDI made stocks for a planned Wednesday special available early. Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the Australian Retailers Association, said that retailers try to raise stock, but local council restrictions on the timing of truck-deliveries make it hard. He expects rising production costs, as suppliers try to meet demand, and fewer specials. On Tuesday, ALDI announced that following the early release of stock, some stores can’t run the Wednesday special.

In a News.com.au report, Dr Gary Mortimer, retail expert from Queensland University of Technology, said the stores fill the stock every night. He remarked toilet paper is a bulky item, leading to low quantity of stocks in numbers, and, when sold out, leaves vast shelf spaces empty, hardening the feeling of a shortage. “Coles and Woolworths have a view [that] if there was plenty of stuff on the shelf, if product like toilet rolls and sanitiser could be [bought] and are there in quantities, you would probably minimise the panic” said Russell Zimmerman per ABC News.

Recycled toilet paper producer Who Gives a Crap said on last Wednesday they’d run out of stock. Kimberly-Clark, which makes Kleenex Toilet Tissue, and Solaris Paper which makes Sorbent, emphasized they were working 24/7 to maintain the supply, according to the News.com.au report.

Domain.com, a real estate site, reported some property sellers offering free toilet paper to the first bidder on auctions in Melbourne, when fewer auctions were held because of buyers having time off on the long weekend of Labour Day. The Thursday edition of NT News, a daily printed in Darwin, included an eight-page insert meant to be cut up and used as toilet paper.

The stores were originally reluctant to impose restrictions, according to a report from ABC Australia on March 3 in which they said they had no plans to introduce restrictions on the purchases.

Russell Zimmerman added that other products are also in high demand, including masks, sanitiser, dried goods, handwash and flour. Similarly, outside of Australia, on Sunday evening online British supermarket Ocado was observed limiting purchases of Andres toilet paper to two 12-roll packs.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Shona Bracken is running for the Communist Party in the Ontario provincial election in Toronto—Danforth. Wikinews interviewed her regarding her values, her experience, and her campaign.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Myron Cope, a locally famous sports announcer for the Pittsburgh Steelers, a National Football League team, has announced his retirement from the booth, effective immediately. Cope had a 35 year career announcing Steelers games with his familiar scratchy voice, often punctuated with unique Yiddish expressions, such as “Feh” and “Yoi”, which brought delight to fans.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

A United States Senate committee has passed landmark legislation aimed at combating global warming by limiting carbon dioxide emissions. The vote was timed to coincide with the U.N. conference on climate change taking place in Bali, Indonesia.

The bill would set caps on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from electric utility, transportation and manufacturing industries beginning in 2012 with the goal of cutting emissions 60 percent by 2050. It would create an incentive system that would give credits to industries that cut pollution. Industries that failed to reduce emissions would be forced to buy credits from others.

The Democratic-led Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted eleven to eight, largely along party lines, to send the measure to the full Senate for what supporters hope will be action early next year.

“We are facing a crisis that will hit our children and our grandchildren the hardest if we do not act now. Not to act would be wrong, cowardly, and irresponsible,” said Senator Barbara Boxer, a Californian Democrat, chairwoman of the committee.

Senator Boxer, who is expected to travel to Bali as part of a U.S. congressional delegation next week, said committee approval of the bill sends a signal to the rest of the world that the United States is serious about reducing global warming.

But many Republicans oppose the legislation, saying it would increase energy costs and lead to job losses. They argue the measure does not ensure that other nations, particularly China and India, will cut emissions.

“China’s emission will continue to accelerate as it builds coal plants and imports jobs from the United States. This will be enormously expensive to households within seven years as electricity prices skyrocket by 35 to 65 percent,” said Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the committee.

But co-sponsor Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia, who broke with many in his party to support the measure, offered a different view: “If we do not act, China and India will hide behind America’s skirts of inaction and take no steps of their own. Therefore we simply have to lead,” he said.

The House of Representatives has yet to draft its own version of the legislation.

Saturday, February 12, 2022

The Commissioner of the London, United Kingdom Metropolitan Police (Met) Dame Cressida Dick resigned Thursday after losing the approval of London mayor Sadiq Khan.

Dick’s resignation took place just hours after she assured BBC Radio London she had “absolutely no intention” of leaving the post. However, in her stepping-down speech she concluded Khan “no longer has sufficient confidence in my leadership to continue”, adding the mayor had left her “no choice but to step aside”.

Khan placed Dick “on notice” from February 2 to reform the police service, the day after a report on police conduct was released. The February 1 report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) concluded “disgraceful” incidents of bullying, discrimination, misogyny and sexual harassment. She survived a number of scandals from 2019, after she was accused, and cleared of “deliberately [misleading] the public” over the inconclusive Operation Midland investigation.

However, recent criticism centred around “institutional corruption” in the force, which Dick denies. It also involves racist, sexist, homophobic and Islamophobic remarks by some of its constables at Charing Cross railway station between 2016 and 2018. The February 1 report found that of the fourteen officers investigated for disparaging and sexist messages in two WhatsApp and one Facebook groups, nine remain serving. Additionally, two were promoted from constable to sergeant.

The force was also criticised for its belated investigation into Partygate, a number of gatherings held at Downing Street despite Covid-19 restrictions. Sources told The Guardian there was despondency in the Greater London Authority and Home Office over the Met’s scandals, which some view as partially resultant from Dick’s “defensiveness”.

In a statement, Khan said he was “not satisfied with the commissioner’s response” to his demands for “change I believe is urgently required to rebuild the trust and confidence of Londoners in the Met”. He added reform was necessary “to root out the racism, sexism, homophobia, bullying, discrimination and misogyny that still exists.” Khan found an initial meeting with Dick after the report surfaced was inadequate; she resigned ahead of another meeting.

There is also discontent over the Met’s handling of Sarah Everard’s murder by Met officer Wayne Couzens. Four people attending a vigil in her honour last year were arrested for breaching Covid-19 restrictions. Furthermore, the force faced ridicule in October after informing women fearing an approaching officer to call 999. Otherwise, “shouting out to a passer-by, running into a house, knocking on a door, waving a bus down” were advised. This was accompanied by a new strategy against sexual violence and the formation of a dedicated unit against predatory offenders.

Both the Met and the government launched separate inquiries into the force’s handling of Everard’s murder. The independent government review is headed by Baroness Louise Casey.

In December, two constables were jailed for 33 months after taking and sharing photos on WhatsApp of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman. Their mother Mina Smallman rejected an apology by the force, accusing it of racism and “dehumanising our children”.

In the earlier Radio London interview, Dick, then adamant she would not resign, said “enough is enough”, adding she was “seething angry” about the February 1 report. She encouraged she be held to account, saying “it’s a big job”, but she was “doing her best”. She maintained the Met was “hugely capable in so many ways. However, she acknowledged its reputation has been tarnished by the “awful [findings in the report] and also some other awful things that have happened and come to light in the last several months”.

While she led a “real transformation” as commissioner to tackle bad behaviour in the Met, “I’m not complacent”. She maintained “there could be and probably will be, over the coming months, some more examples which will be embarrassing or disgusting because we will be rooting them out”. BBC correspondent Lauren Moss said while the Met had issued many apologies in the past, this was the first to come from Dick herself.

Reactions to Dick’s resignation were mixed. Former IOPC superintendent and Met officer Nursit Mehtab told the i Dick stepping down was part of the radical action needed to combat a “sub-culture” of sexism and racism. Mehtab added: “The level of violence against women being expressed in [the Facebook and WhatsApp] messages damages the trust women and girls have in the police.”

Alastair Morgan, brother of the murdered PI Daniel Morgan, told The Guardian “since [first interacting with Dick in 2012] all she has done in relation to my family is just delay, obstruct and disappoint on a huge level”. While “it is a shame that we are seeing another commissioner disappear under a cloud of smoke, it is necessary.” The sentiment was shared by activist organisations Reclaim These Streets and Sisters Uncut. Ricky Waumsley, whose partner Daniel Whitworth was one of the four targets of serial killer Stephen Port, was “glad”. He said: “I held Cressida accountable for [Met] failures and made a statement that she should ‘resign with immediate effect’.

Calls remain to institute long-lasting change. Ruth Davidson of charity Refuge said “one resignation at the top doesn’t mean the police have solved their misogyny problem” and called for “root and branch reform” across the UK. Mehtab said “This is not just a few ‘bad apples’ which is a term that the Met keeps using to deflect criticism” for its behaviour. Journalist Robert Verkaik alluded the present scandals facing the force to the 1970s police corruption investigation Operation Countryman, which resulted in hundreds of Met officers resigning or retiring, and eight prosecutions.

However, Dick found support in the chair of the Met Foundation Ken Marsh, who said she “should have been given the opportunity and the necessary time to build back trust in the Metropolitan police service.” Khan, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked Dick for her service. Johnson, former London mayor currently under investigation for his involvement in Partygate, said Dick “served her country with great dedication and distinction”.

Khan promised to work closely with Patel to appoint a new commissioner “so that we can move quickly to restore trust in the capital’s police service while keeping London safe.” Dick will continue serving in a caretaker capacity before a successor is decided.

Dick joined the force as a constable in 1983, and headed the anti-gang Operation Trident in 2003. As head of Operation Kratos following the July 7, 2005 London bombings, Dick was investigated but cleared of “personal culpability”. She became the first female commissioner on February 22, 2017 after working in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from 2011, earning a salary of GBP230 thousand.

The i understands Khan is proud of Dick’s record against violent crime, although the number of teenagers killed in London last year reached its highest level since 2008.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, a division of Finland’s national police, has ten suspects currently, in its recent investigation into alleged dog fighting in the south of the country.

All the suspects are male Finns residing in southern Finland. The new developments are the result of an investigation into four to six alleged dog fights. Dog fighting is a breach of animal cruelty laws in Finland, and the case will be considered for prosecution in October. They are being investigated under suspicion of breaching the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Chief Inspector Olli Töyräs of the Keskusrikospoliisin told reporters, “I would not like to speculate on the motives for the arranging of these dog fights. At least thus far there has been no evidence of illegal gambling on the outcome of fights. There also does not seem to be any large-scale organisation behind the incidents or connections with organised crime groupings. It would appear to be the pastime of a group of individuals.” Despite this, the group is known to have links throughout Scandinavia, as well as possible links to Russia.

He added that about a dozen pit bulls from America were involved in the incidents.

Key evidence includes video footage and testimony from veterinary surgeons, who were present when police raided several locations suspected to be involved. “Statements by veterinary surgeons are a significant part of the investigation. They play the same role here as forensic pathologists would in a normal violent crime investigation,” Inspector Töyräs said.

The investigation was begun as a result of an investigation into dog fighting in the United Kingdom by the state-run British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). A BBC journalist teamed up with a man with military experience to infiltrate a notorious dog fighting ring from Ulster, Ireland, known as The Farmer Boys. This uncovered links to a group involved in comparable activity in Finland. The documentary, which is part of the Panorama series, was broadcast in Finland yesterday by YLE.

The BBC had contacted Finland regarding it’s discoveries in April. The BBC itself had begun it’s investigation after Gerard Cavlan, a football player from Northern Ireland, was convicted on charges related to dog fighting.

The programme included graphic scenes of a dog fight in Finland, filmed using hidden cameras. The show’s team also purchased a pit bull from a dealer in Finland with false documents showing it to be another breed (pit bulls are illegal in Britain) and successfully transported it back without detection via Germany and Ireland, taking a ferry into England from Northern Ireland.

The dog breeder is a member of SATHY, an organisation which describes itself as “a Finnish club devoted to dog breeds not recognized by FCI related associations (such as the Finnish Kennel Club, and some others). [The] Most important breeds for us are the American Bulldog, American Pit Bull Terrier, Toy Fox Terrier, American Hairless Terrier and Olde English Bulldog.”

SATHY has issued a statement via their website to the affect that they felt the programme was misleading, and that Finnish dog breeders have initiated legal proceedings against the British journalist responsible for the programme. One of the dog breeders shown during the programme denied any criminal activity when approached by the Finnish Helsingin Sanomat news service.

Privacy laws in Finland required the faces of those believed to be involved to be pixelated during the Finnish version of the broadcast, although this was not mirrored in the UK screening – which, in an unprecedented move, coincided exactly with the showing in Finland. The show was widely discussed on the internet, with large volumes of material requiring deleted by site administrators as breaching Finnish privacy legislation.

The investigation is the only one ever conducted into dog fighting in Finland. Töyräs explained the problem to journalists: ”We have only had vague unconnected hints of this sort of activity in the past, and on the basis of these it was not possible to mount an earlier investigation.”