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Earl weakens but still powerful as it scoots by NC

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:40:44 +0000

BUXTON, N.C. -Hurricane Earl churned past the North Carolina Outer Banks and its powerful gusts and driving rains were starting to be felt in southeastern Virginia early Friday, the beginning of at least 24 hours of stormy, windy weather along the East Coast.

Residents and officials of North Carolina’s barrier islands were waiting for daybreak to see how much damage the storm’s winds and waves had left behind. But National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Collins said Earl had produced little storm surge and only minor flooding in some coastal counties. Predictions of storm surges between 2 and 4 feet may be too much, he said.

Earl had weakened all day Thursday, winding down from a Category 4 storm with winds of 140 mph to a Category 2 storm with winds of 105 mph. But it still packed enough of a punch to send rain sideways and shake signs in Buxton, the southeasternmost tip of the Outer Banks.

In Nags Heads, with the eye the closest it was expected to get to the North Carolina coast, the rain lashed against window panes and the wind kicked up. At about 2 a.m., the tops of small trees were bending in the howling gusts and beach grass was whipping back and forth on dunes leading to the ocean. A couple hundred power outages were reported.

While more than 30,000 residents and visitors were ordered to leave the Outer Banks, more hardy residents gassed up their generators and hunkered at home behind their boarded-up windows, even though officials warned them that it could be three days before they could expect any help.

“It’s kind of nerve-racking, but I’ve been through this before,” said 65-year-old Herma De Gier, who has lived in the village of Avon since 1984. De Gier said she will ride out the storm at a neighbor’s house but wants to be close enough to her own property so she can quickly deal with any damage.

The eye of the hurricane was expected to get only about 100 miles east of the Outer Banks, not any closer, said Collins.

During its march up the Atlantic, it could snarl travelers’ Labor Day weekend plans with several flights already canceled. Forecasters said that a kink in the jetstream over the eastern U.S. should push the storm away from the coast, guiding it like a marble in a groove. Earl is expected to move north-northeast for much of Friday, staying away from New Jersey and the other mid-Atlantic states, but also passing very close to Long Island, Cape Cod and Nantucket, which could get gusts up to 100 mph.

The most likely place Earl will make landfall is on Saturday in western Nova Scotia, Canada, where it could still be a hurricane, said hurricane center deputy director Ed Rappaport.

Federal, state and local authorities were waiting for daylight to begin patrolling the North Carolina coast to check for damage. The Coast Guard planned to fly over the exposed barrier islands and was prepared for search-and-rescue helicopter flights.

The emergency management chief for one coastal North Carolina county said that high tide and the storm combined to wash over a portion of the Outer Banks highway N.C. 12 near Rodanthe. Dare County Emergency Management Director Sandy Sanderson said it was closed, but that the overwash was expected and nobody was out driving in the storm, anyway.

In Buxton, a two-story Comfort Inn had become a makeshift hurricane hostel for those who want to stay close to their homes but know they need better shelter.

Billy Parker, 55, choice to stay so he could keep an eye on his treasured property, but wasn’t taking any chances with his family. He sent his wife, mother-in-law and two daughters to Elizabeth City — two and a half hours away on the mainland.

“I don’t want them here,” Parker said. “I’d fear for their lives.”

Most of the hotel guests said they would rather get trapped on Hatteras Island than off it and prepared themselves for weeks without contact with the outside world.

Farther up the coast, governors in Massachusetts and Rhode Island declared states of emergency, joining North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick urged people living in low-lying areas prone to flooding to consider leaving their homes by Friday afternoon, although no officials evacuations had been announced outside of North Carolina. Officials on Nantucket Island, Mass., planned to set up a shelter at a high school on Friday.

“We’re asking everyone: Don’t panic,” Patrick said. “We have prepared well, we are coordinated well, and I’m confident that we’ve done everything that we can.”

Much of New England should expect strong, gusty winds much like a nor’easter, along with fallen trees and downed power lines, forecasters said.

“This is the strongest hurricane to threaten the Northeast and New England since Hurricane Bob in 1991,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center.

In New York City, officials were on alert but said they expected to see only side effects of the storm — mostly rain and high winds, with possible soil erosion on the beaches and flooding along the oceanside coasts of Brooklyn and Queens.

“It’s going to stay out in the open water, but we’re going to have some effects here,” said Joseph Bruno, commissioner of the city’s Office of Emergency Management.

The National Hurricane Center said Earl will keep chugging to the northeast, eventually striking western Nova Scotia, Canada, where it could still be a hurricane.

—

Associated Press Writers David Fischer in Miami; Martha Waggoner, Emery Dalesio, Tom Foreman Jr. and Gary Robertson in Raleigh, N.C.; Tom Breen in Morehead City, N.C.; Bruce Smith in Jacksonville, N.C.; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, S.C.; Mark Pratt in Boston; David Porter in Trenton, N.J.; David Koenig in Dallas; Sara Kugler Frazier in New York; and Frank Eltman in Stony Brook, N.Y., contributed to this report.

Earl weakens but still powerful as it scoots by NC

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Watch: 2010 Columbus Mayor’s Debate

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:45:00 +0000

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Two Alarm Fire in Blossomwood

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:46:00 +0000

Huntsville Fire crews are on the scene of a two alarm house fire in Huntsville. The call went out shortly before 2pm Thursday afternoon to a home in the 800 block of Watts Drive. WAAY 31 has a crew on the scene. Neighbors say an elderly woman living at the home did get out safely. The home was engulfed when fire crews arrived. A second truck was called because the flames were threatening a neighbor’s home.

Be sure to watch WAAY 31 news at 5 and 6 for video from the scene – including exclusive shots of the flames from our towercam.

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Island evacuations start as Earl nears East Coast

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:05:56 +0000

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Is there an unmarked graveyard in downtown Columbus?

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:37:00 +0000

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Mark Ingram Injures Knee : Will Miss Opening Game

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:36:00 +0000

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) – Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram of Alabama will miss the season opener after injuring his left knee during practice.

He was hurt Monday and coach Nick Saban said in a statement the star tailback had an arthroscopic procedure Tuesday. The coach says Ingram should make a full recovery in a “relatively short time.”

The top-ranked Crimson Tide opens Saturday against San Jose State. Alabama’s biggest nonconference game comes when No. 19 Penn State visits on Sept. 11.

Saban says “everyone involved” thought it better to get the problem taken care of quickly so Ingram wouldn’t have issues later in the season. The coach adds that decisions on Ingram’s recovery will be made week to week.

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Obama to honor troops as Iraq combat mission ends

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:06:07 +0000

WASHINGTON -As President Barack Obama prepares to officially end the lengthy and divisive U.S. combat operation in Iraq, he’ll personally thank some of the soldiers who fought there for their service to a mission he forcefully opposed from the start.

Many of those soldiers deployed from Fort Bliss, the sprawling Army base in El Paso, Texas, that Obama will visit Tuesday. After speaking with the troops, Obama will return to Washington to address the nation and formally end a combat mission in Iraq that lasted more than seven years, leaving more than 4,400 U.S. troops dead and thousands more wounded.

Obama was an early critic of the war, speaking out against it during the U.S. invasion in early 2003 and promising during his presidential campaign to bring the conflict to an end. The White House sees Tuesday’s benchmark as a promise kept and has gone to great lengths to promote it as such, dispatching Vice President Joe Biden to Iraq to preside over a formal change-of-command ceremony and raising Tuesday night’s remarks to the level of an Oval Office address, something Obama has only done once before.

Among Obama’s goals on Tuesday is honoring those who have served in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion, many returning to the battlefield for multiple tours of duty. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday that while the Iraq war would have never happened had Obama been commander in chief at the time, the president holds the service and sacrifice of the troops in high regard.

Appearing on nationally broadcast interviews Tuesday morning, Gibbs repeatedly brushed aside questions about whether Obama would credit President George W. Bush’s troop surge with helping to pave the way for the withdrawal.

Top Republicans, however, were in no doubt. “Some leaders who opposed, criticized, and fought tooth-and-nail to stop the surge strategy now proudly claim credit for the results,” House GOP leader John Boehner said, in excerpts of a speech he was to give to the American Legion convention in Milwaukee. “Today we mark not the defeat those voices anticipated — but progress.”

In Gibbs’ appearances, he said it’s “not up for question” that candidate Obama agreed sending 30,000 more troops to Iraq would bolster security. But “a number of things” brought the United States to this point, including the move toward greatrer political accommodation among the Sunni, Shia and Kurdish factions, the spokesman said.

Pressed on this point, Gibbs said, “Again, I think the president has always stated, and always believed” that adding significant numbers of American troops would stabilize the security environment, “but obviously the leaders in Iraq had to make some political accommodation to move that nation forward.”

Asked if Obama would support sending combat troops back if new waves of violence threatened the country, Gibbs said that Obama had been assured recently by commander Gen. Ray Odierno that such a scenario would be very unlikely.

“This is not a victory lap,” he said. “You’re not going to see any ‘Mission Accomplished’ banners that will be unfurled. “

Since the start of the war, 200,000 personnel from Fort Bliss have deployed to Iraq, serving in every major phase of the war. Fifty-one soldiers from the base died there and many more were wounded.

Last week, some 600 soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team returned to the base as part of Obama’s self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline for having all U.S. combat troops out of Iraq. Just about 50,000 U.S. troops will remain, down from a peak of nearly 170,000 in 2007. U.S. troops will no longer be allowed to go on combat missions unless requested and accompanied by Iraqi forces.

Administration officials have been careful to avoid equating the end of the combat mission with a mission accomplished. That was the phrase on the now-infamous banner that flew on an aircraft carrier seven years ago when Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq, a symbol the Bush White House came to deeply regret as the war dragged on.

“You won’t hear those words coming from us,” Gibbs said Monday. “Obviously tomorrow marks a change in our mission. It marks a milestone that we have achieved in removing our combat troops. That is not to say that violence is going to end tomorrow.”

Under a security agreement signed between the U.S. and Iraq before Obama took office, all U.S. forces must leave Iraq by the end of 2011. But the Obama administration insists the U.S. is not abandoning Iraq and is ramping up a diplomatic corps to help stabilize the country’s government and economy over the coming years.

“This redoubles the efforts of the Iraqis,” Gibbs said. “They will write the next chapter in Iraqi history, and they will be principally responsible for it. We will be their ally, but the responsibility of charting the future of Iraq first and foremost belongs to the Iraqis.”

Ahead of Tuesday night’s remarks, Obama also planned to speak with Bush. While Bush’s decision to invade Iraq was criticized by many, the troop surge Bush ordered in 2007 has been credited with tamping down violence in Iraq and helping keep the country from falling into a civil war.

Gibbs was interviewed on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” NBC’s “Today” show, CBS’s “The Early Show,” CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC and National Public Radio.

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One dead in double shooting at Blue Bell Creameries in Sylacauga

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:16:00 +0000

SYLACAUGA, AL (WBRC) – The Sylacauga Police Department has confirmed that a double shooting at the Blue Bell Creameries in Sylacauga has left one person dead.

Police say the shooting happened in the back parking lot of the creamery along North Norton Avenue. Officers responding to the scene found two people suffering from gunshot wounds. One was declared dead on the scene. The other victim was airlifted to UAB Hospital.

So far, the names of the victims and the identity of any suspects have not been released.

Stay with this story for more information as it becomes available.

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William Frazier Found Guilty

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:45:00 +0000

80 year old William Frazier – the man at the center of an $8 million lawsuit against the Huntsville Police Department – has been found guilty of several traffic offenses.

After multiple delays, Frazier finally appeared in Municipal Court on Monday, flanked by several family members and supporters. In the end, a judge found him guilty on three charges – fleeing and eluding police, driving without a license, and failure to yield right of way. The charges stem from a February 1st incident where Frazier led police on a low speed chase, with several close calls with other cars.

Frazier claims when that chase ended, he was injured by police officers. In April, the city released that video. Frazier is seen running a red light, hitting a curb and swerving several times. The video shows Frazier being torn from the car, but there is no visible evidence of any physical attacks from officers.

His lawsuit is still pending.

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War and peace: Obama nears pivotal Mideast moment

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:24:43 +0000

WASHINGTON -Straddling war and peace, President Barack Obama is about to formally end the divisive U.S. combat role in Iraq and restart talks between Israelis and Palestinians, a moment defined more by relief and hope than triumph.

On Tuesday night, Obama will tell the nation from the Oval Office that the U.S. role in Iraq has changed for good, with the remaining U.S. troops to play a supporting role to Iraqi forces. It will be a milestone with no celebration or banners in a still unresolved war, one that wages on years longer and at greater cost than most Americans ever imagined.

The next day, Obama will make his largest investment of political capital to date in the trying Mideast peace process. He will welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for individual talks and a joint dinner, the prelude to direct negotiations between the leaders on Thursday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as host.

Put together, the events amount to what the White House considers to be the capping of Obama’s initial phase of foreign policy in the region and the starting of another. Officials see a picture in which Iraq is taking on self-reliance, the Mideast process is showing life, the international sanctions against Iran are taking hold and the added military muscle Obama ordered in Afghanistan is in place. All are considered progress toward solutions requiring deep patience.

Yet there are no victories to declare, and weary Americans have seen turning points come and go. The risk for Obama comes in defining expectations on pursuits that can fall apart at any time, often over events outside his control.

In Iraq, political leaders are in such stalemate that they have been unable to form a government since the March elections. Bombers and gunmen killed more than 50 Iraqis in attacks just last week, a reminder of the terror that can come at any time. In perspective, the levels of violence in Iraq have dropped considerably, but security and democracy are highly unfinished projects.

“This is not, ‘Everything is over,’” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. “We still have people there. And we’ll still have violence there.”

On Mideast peace, the resumption of talks is itself a victory, but Clinton set a sober tone even in announcing them. “There have been difficulties in the past; there will be difficulties ahead,” she said. “We will hit more obstacles.”

The focus on Iraq and the Mideast talks is Obama’s most concentrated public emphasis on foreign policy and national security in weeks. That will continue throughout September as the president marks the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and heads later in the month for talks with world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly.

Hastening the end of a war he never supported, Obama’s message about Iraq is expected to echo a line he said about Afghanistan in his major address about that war last December.

He will say Iraqis must take responsibility for their nation because the country he wants to build most is the United States, a nod to the economic anxiety that has eroded morale at home.

There will be no reference to mission accomplished.

The U.S. role in the war was already on a path to end when Obama took office. All U.S. troops are set to leave Iraq by the end of 2011 under an accord the United States reached during Bush’s presidency.

Until then, the mission of U.S. forces will be mainly to help and train Iraqi forces and take part in targeted counterterrorism missions. Obama is already framing the importance of the end of the combat mission as a promise kept.

“The bottom line is this: The war is ending. Like any sovereign, independent nation, Iraq is free to chart its own course,” the president said over the weekend. “And by the end of next year, all of our troops will be home.”

Obama will be speaking on Aug. 31, his self-imposed deadline for ending the combat operation in Iraq and shrinking the U.S. footprint there to no more than 50,000 troops.

It is already below that number. When he took office, there were more than 140,000 troops in Iraq.

Obama’s Oval Office address will come more than seven years after major combat operations were declared over the first time, by then President George W. Bush.

The news of Obama’s speech — the deadlines met, the time of transition — has been playing out for weeks. So his mission is to honor the sacrifice of those who have served and to put Iraq in the context of an ongoing fight against terrorists, which the United States is waging in Afghanistan and other places around the world where al-Qaida has rooted.

Before the nighttime address, the president will travel to Fort Bliss, Texas, to thank troops in person. The sprawling Army base in El Paso has contributed heavy armor and tours of soldiers throughout the war.

In the public eye, much of Obama’s time has been spent working on the sluggish economy, the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Democrats’ re-election efforts this year.

Although the Iraq war gets less attention now, it was at the heart of the U.S. political debate when Obama launched his bid for the White House in 2007. His opposition to the war and his pledge to end it responsibly helped drive his election.

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