May 9, 2006.
Todd Russell and Brant Webb more their safety tags to 'Safe' after the rescue at the Tasmanian Mine.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Indonesia, Iran to focus on bolstering economic ties
May 9, 2006.
Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonoin Jakarta.
Rendi Akhmad Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The visit of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Indonesia, due to start late Tuesday evening, will focus primarily on boosting economic relations between the two countries, with Iran pledging to invest more than US$4 billion in several oil and gas projects here.
Besides investing in the country's oil and gas sector, Iran also hopes to boost bilateral trade with Indonesia, which is deemed to be falling far short of its potential, Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda says.
"The visit this time will focus more on economic cooperation based on concrete projects. Iran is interested in investing in refineries and supplying the crude," said Hassan late Monday after meeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The National Iranian Oil Refinery & Distribution Co. is slated to sign a deal with PT Elnusa Harapan, a subsidiary of state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, to construct a refinery in Java with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, is also interested in establishing a number of joint-venture companies in Indonesia that would operate in the oil, gas and petrochemical businesses.
This interest was first conveyed during the administration of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, but the two countries never followed up on the proposal.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, badly needs new investment for its oil and gas sector to boost output. Although the country is the only Southeast Asian member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), its oil output has fallen 5 percent annually over the last decade to 1.05 million bpd at present.
The latest efforts by Iran to bolster economic ties with Indonesia come against the backdrop of a nuclear standoff between Iran and the United States, with the United Nations Security Council set to meet soon to seek a common strategy to force Iran to halt its nuclear program.
In response to questions about whether Indonesia would convey its stance over the nuclear issue to Ahmadinejad, Hassan simply said that "it would be the right time for Indonesia to seek first-hand information from Iran about the issue."
The Shiite-dominated Islamic republic -- which has forged excellent ties with Asian economic powerhouses China, India and Japan -- wants to establish a similar relationship with Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population.
Hassan said Indonesia and Iran would also discuss ways of increasing cooperation in the science and technology fields, which is considered necessary to boost the economic development of the Islamic world.
In order to facilitate the flow of visitors between the two countries, Indonesia will grant Iranian citizens a visa-on-arrival facility to complement the visa-free facility available to Iranian service and diplomatic passport holders, said Hassan.
Iran already grants a two-week visa-free facility to Indonesian citizens, extendable for another two weeks.
Morning Papers - continued ...
The Houston Chronicle
Tornadoes Tear Through N. Texas, Killing 3
By MATT JOYCE Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
DALLAS — Tornadoes swept through two North Texas towns after dark, tearing apart brick houses and knocking out power in a path of destruction that left three dead and 10 injured, officials said Wednesday.
An elderly couple were found dead in a destroyed home in the tiny town of Westminster, while a teenager was found dead at a separate location, Collin County spokeswoman Lee Hornsby said.
Tornadoes struck late Tuesday near the towns of Anna and Westminster, about 40 miles north of Dallas, Hornsby said. Tornadoes were also reported in the Texas Panhandle town of Childress and in southeastern Oklahoma, but no injuries were reported.
"I have seen brick houses completely torn apart, a couple of these next to each other, bricks laying on top of a vehicle, another vehicle apparently rolled several times," Hornsby told WFAA-TV in Dallas.
Officials were going door-to-door to check for other casualties, said Jamie Nicolay of the county's homeland security and health care services department.
Ten people were taken to North Texas hospitals, but their conditions weren't available. The identities of the dead and other details about them weren't immediately released.
The storm destroyed at least six houses, Nicolay said, although full assessment of damage to the area was limited by darkness. Power was out to about 300 homes.
"I'm sure that there are numerous other ones that have less severe damage," she said.
Westminster, a town of about 420 residents, is 43 miles northeast of Dallas. Anna, with about 6,500 residents, is 5 miles west of Westminster.
Storm sirens sounded twice in Anna, Hornsby said, but no sirens went off in much smaller Westminster.
Another tornado in the Texas Panhandle town of Childress knocked down a wall at the local high school, and broken power lines sparked treetop fires, officials said. Gas lines were broken and downed trees blocked roads, but there were no reports of injuries.
Meanwhile, three tornadoes touched down in southeastern Oklahoma, along with baseball sized hail and street flooding, but no severe damage or injuries were immediately reported, officials said.
The National Weather Service received reports of a tornado near Olney in Coal County and two others near Stringtown.
About 6,000 customers were without power in southeastern Oklahoma and Oklahoma City before workers began restoring electricity.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3853438.html
Ariz. Posse to Round Up Illegal Immigrants
By AMANDA LEE MYERS Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
GILA BEND, Ariz. — Four Mexican men sit in the dirt with their wrists bound, shoulders hunched and eyes lowered to avoid the glare of the rising sun.
The immigrants had been on their way to build a dairy farm in this town about an hour southwest of Phoenix. But after a traffic stop for a faulty brake light, members of a sheriff's task force targeting human and drug smugglers found they were not U.S. citizens. Now they were bound for federal custody.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3853330.html
Posse inflames the immigration debate
Arizona force of 300 volunteers aims to enforce smuggling law
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
New York Times
PHOENIX - To people who say round up more illegal immigrants, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona's Maricopa County has an answer — send out the posse.
The posse, a civilian force of 300 volunteers, many retired deputies, are to fan out over desert backcountry today, watching for smugglers and the people they guide into these parts.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/3852681.html
Immigrant bill worries banks
Some fear being branded felons for serving clients
By BECKY YERAK
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO - Headquartered in the heart of Chicago's Little Village neighborhood since the late 1800s, Second Federal Savings isn't shy about marketing itself to immigrants.
On the home page of its Web site, a link directs undocumented immigrants to a program that can help them become homeowners.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/3844981.html
Immigrants linked to tourism
Associated Press
ORLANDO, FLA. - U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez urged tourism industry leaders Monday to support legislation that eventually would offer citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants.
"This is probably the most important domestic issue of our time," Gutierrez said at the Travel Industry Association's annual convention.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/3849654.html
Most in poll here see a hard road ahead for U.S.
But Houstonians interviewed at random express optimism about their personal life
By MIKE SNYDER and DALE LEZON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
More than two in three Houston-area residents believe the country is headed for harder times, the highest pessimism level in the 18 years that the Houston Area Survey has asked the question.
The darkening public mood about the nation's future reflected in the survey is based on answers to a question asked in each of the annual surveys since 1988: "When you look ahead to the next few years, do you tend to believe that the country is headed for better times or more difficult times?"
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3852736.html
A MAJOR BUSH TAX CUT MAY GO TO 2010
$69 billion deal extends the break for investors and blocks increase in another tax
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
New York Times
WASHINGTON - House and Senate Republicans reached agreement Tuesday on a $69 billion bill that would extend President Bush's tax cuts for investors for two more years and temporarily block a big jump in the alternative minimum tax.
The agreement, which has a good chance of passing both chambers later this week, would lock in one of Bush's signature tax cuts through 2010 and give Republicans a victory at a time when most of their other efforts have stalled.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3852734.html
FEMA's Brown discounted levee breach after Katrina hit
By HOPE YEN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
The 928 pages of documents, obtained by the Center for Public Integrity watchdog group and released Tuesday, paint a picture of a Federal Emergency Management Agency keenly sensitive to public image following the Aug. 29, 2005, storm.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/3853367.html
Rumsfeld denies plot to plant general in CIA
Secretary calls Hayden 'seasoned professional'
By THOMAS E. RICKS
Washington Post
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed the idea that he has been involved in a bureaucratic power play to boost the military's role in intelligence-gathering, and strongly supported Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden's nomination to be the next director of the CIA, describing him Tuesday as a seasoned professional.
"He did not come up through the operational chain in the Department of Defense, and at the last minute slide over into the intelligence business," Rumsfeld said of Hayden at a Pentagon news conference. "He's a person who's had assignment after assignment after assignment in the intelligence business, and clearly, that is what his career has been, and he's been very good at it."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/3852643.html
Gold bounds above $700
Dollar's softness, political tensions drive up price
By MADLEN READ
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Gold prices surged above $700 an ounce on Tuesday — a level not reached since 1980 — as funds bought into the market, driven by weakness in the dollar, political tension in the Middle East and overall upward momentum in the commodities markets.
These persistent factors have been pushing gold prices to multidecade records for months now. Gold has risen 40 percent since late November, when for the first time in two decades the most-active contract broke through $500 an ounce.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/3852821.html
The Times
Putin takes swipe at hungry America's 'Comrade Wolf'
By Philippe Naughton and agencies in Moscow
President Vladimir Putin took a swipe at the hungry 'wolf' of America today in a strident state-of-the-nation address in which he said that post-Soviet Russia should build up its economic and military might.
In his seventh annual address as president, Mr Putin also promised to tackle Russia's falling birthrate, saying that falling population levels were Russia's "most pressing problem".
But the main thrust of his speech was on the need to bolster security. Mr Putin said that Russia needed a strong military not only to guard against potential attackers but also to resist foreign political pressure.
His comments betray increased anger over what Kremlin leaders see as Western attempts to influence the affairs of Russia and its relationships with its former neighbours Soviet neighbours, such as Ukraine or Belarus.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2174122,00.html
Shia ringtone sparks scuffle in Iraqi parliament
By Sam Knight and agencies
The fragile state of the sectarian divide in Iraqi politics was exposed today when a fight broke out in parliament after a mobile phone ringtone played a Shia Muslim chant.
A procedural session of the Iraqi parliament was suspended as Shia and Sunni leaders stormed out to protest the ringtone and the subsequent scuffle, which erupted between the armed bodyguards of the Sunni speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and the hardline Shia politician, Gufran al-Saidi.
The mobile phone belonged to Ms al-Saidi, who is a member of the Islamist movement led by the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. According to Ms al-Saidi, one of her guards was holding her phone when it rang, playing a Shia prayer.
Mr al-Mashhadani sent one of his guards -- because of the risk of assassination in Baghdad, all Iraqi politicians come to parliament accompanied by armed men -- to ask her to turn it off. But the phone rang again, at which point a fight broke out in the lobby of the parliament building, with guards from both sides and a veiled Ms al-Saidi joining in.
Ms al-Saidi led a walkout on to the steps of the parliament building, where she told waiting television crews: "I demand an urgent investigation". She was joined by the independent MP, Mithal al-Alusi, a Sunni who leads the small Nation party, who said "those involved should be sued" and that bodyguards should be unarmed in parliament.
The incident will provide more fuel to Shia leaders who have already accused Mr al-Mashhadani, a Sunni who was appointed speaker last month to increase the representation of Sunnis in national politics, of being partisan and undiplomatic in his new role.
After 20 minutes, the protesting MPs were led back into the chamber by the outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Nouri al-Maliki, the incoming Prime Minister, said yesterday that he was on the verge of appointing a Cabinet, the last stage in the long and fraught process of creating a government of national unity.
Eighteen Iraqis were killed in scattered violence today. In the worst attack, gunmen opened fire on a bus full of employees travelling to a state-run electronics company in Baqouba, 55km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad.
The gunmen stopped the bus, opened fire and threw a bomb on board, killing 11 people. The toll of yesterday's suicide attack in the northern city of Tal Afar rose today to 22 dead and 134 wounded, according to Iraqi authorities.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2174046,00.html
The stamp collection that could cost thousands their life savings
From Graham Keeley in Barcelona
MORE than 350,000 private investors across Spain are believed to have fallen victim to an alleged pyramid-selling scam involving rare postage stamps.
Armed police raided the offices of two companies in four cities yesterday, arresting nine people and seizing documents, computers and other items, sequestering the buildings and throwing employees on to the streets.
As word spread of the raids, hundreds of investors — mainly pensioners — swarmed to the offices in the hope of retrieving their savings, but were kept at bay by police and security guards.
Investors are estimated to have handed more than £54 million to two related companies, Afinsa Bienes Tangibles, which is the world’s third-biggest collectibles company behind Sotheby’s and Christie’s, and Fórum Filatélico.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2173493,00.html
How 14-month-old leukaemia victim is suffering for Hamas
By Stephen Farrell
Doctors blame freeze on Western aid and Israeli blockade for drugs crisis in Gaza hospitals
MOHMIN ABU AMRA was admitted to Nasser Children’s Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip two weeks ago for urgent treatment for leukaemia. Instead, the 14-month-old boy found himself on the front line of a political war against Hamas.
Doctors say they do not have the drugs needed to save him because funds have been withheld by the West.
As the Quartet of international Middle East mediators gathered last night to discuss the freeze on Western aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, humanitarian organisations voiced concern that shortages of medicines were putting lives at risk.
Doctors say that patients such as Mohmin, or ten-year-old Fayda in an adjoining ward, and many others across Gaza and the West Bank have been caught up in a battle of wills between Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel, and a world determined to turn the suicide-bombers-turned-politicians into pariahs.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2173390,00.html
Iran to be offered deal over nuclear programme
From James Bone in New York
MARGARET BECKETT, the new Foreign Secretary, agreed yesterday to prepare a package of incentives for Iran to curb its nuclear programme.
Facing continued opposition from Russia and China to Britain’s call for a UN resolution depriving Iran of the legal right to enrich uranium, Mrs Beckett has ordered the incentive package to be ready by Monday.
John Sawers, the Foreign Office political director, will work with his French and German counterparts to prepare a list of ideas, including access to civil nuclear technology, trade and perhaps even security guarantees. These will be discussed on the margins of the next EU general affairs council.
The three European political directors will then meet officials from China, Russia and the United States in London on May 19. Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Foreign Minister, was pushing for security guarantees, presumably from the United States. But US officials appeared reluctant to rule out military action against Iran.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2173383,00.html
Briton faces extradition for 'biggest ever military hack'
By Lee Glendinning
A Briton who hacked into American defence networks and wiped out 300 PCs at a naval base faces trial in the US after being recommended for extradition by a British court.
Gary McKinnon, 40, of Wood Green, north London, whose attack was described by America as the biggest military hack of all time, said that he would contest the decision which must now be rubber-stamped by John Reid, the Home Secretary.
Mr McKinnon is alleged to have caused $700,000 (£370,000) worth of losses by hacking into the US computer systems over a period of a year. He insists that he never intended to harm US military capability and was merely researching UFOs.
Outside Bow Street Magistrates Court following publicaton of the decision today he vowed to fight on and claimed that if he was tried in Virginia he was "already hung, drawn and quartered."
He said: "[The hearing] went as expected and obviously the appeal process can now start. My intention was never to disrupt security, the fact that I logged on there and there were no passwords means that there was no security."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2174108,00.html
Rescued: now the recriminations begin
From Bernard Lagan in Sydney
MINERS and union leaders yesterday blamed managers eager to pounce on rising gold prices for a Tasmanian mine collapse that left two men trapped a kilometre below ground for 14 days.
Several miners from the Beaconsfield goldmine — including some who were involved in the dramatic rescue at dawn of Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34 — said that mine managers had failed to leave enough of the deeper levels unexploited to provide support.
“There were simply not enough pillars left in the whole mine because of the value of the ore,” one miner told The Australian. If they found an ore body, they’d just take it out.”
The men were trapped by a rockfall at a depth of 925m (3,035ft). A third miner, Larry Knight, 44, was killed.
The managers of the mine have declined to respond to allegations of unsafe practices, pending an inquiry. Mr Russell attended the funeral of his colleague yesterday and last night joined hundreds of residents who had been celebrating the rescue all day in the pubs of Beaconsfield.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2173071,00.html
Why shouldn't women kill?
Magnus Linklater
The idea that female members of the Armed Forces should be protected from close combat is wrong
THERE IS ONLY ONE proper way to respond to the death of Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill, the first British woman to be killed in action in Iraq. It is to salute her bravery, and those of the four male airmen, who died when their helicopter was brought down in Basra. She was briefing the newly arrived commander of the British helicopter fleet when the attack came. In a war with no front lines, she was a frontline combatant.
The convention that still bars women from serving alongside men in battle, both in the US and British forces, has become so frayed that it seems barely sustainable. They pilot helicopters and planes, they carry weapons, they face the threat of road-side bombs, they are as vulnerable to attack as their male colleagues, and when they are exposed to ambush, as Private Teresa Bradwell, of the US army, was in November 2003, they can fire back, protect a position and kill the enemy. Yet no male officer I spoke to yesterday felt inclined to change the rules. Their views were summed up in the words of that close observer of the military scene, Sir Max Hastings, who wrote: “War and its inescapable bloodshed (is) the business of the stronger sex.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2173331,00.html
The Blair effect, and leaders-in-waiting
Sir, Labour is running at 30 per cent in the polls and the Conservatives 38 per cent (report, May 9). Nevertheless, the next government could well be a Labour one again, albeit with a wafer-thin majority.
In the last election Labour received only 35.3 per cent of the vote. A turnout of 61.3 per cent meant that those who voted Labour amounted to less than a quarter of the electorate.
Proportional representation might have mitigated this, but not blunted the key to Mr Blair’s success: his effective disenfranchisement of traditional Labour voters. So long as these abstain from voting because they cannot bring themselves to vote Conservative or Liberal Democrat, new Labour would always win.
That this strategy is slowly unravelling is evident from the recent local elections where voters have not bothered with protest votes and instead voted tactically, Conservative in most cases.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-2172867,00.html
Sports Calendar
http://sportscalendar.timesonline.co.uk/times/calendar
Miami Herald
Ex-con helps U.S. deliver satellite phones to FARC
BY GERARDO REYES AND STEVEN DUDLEY
COMBITA, Colombia - It sounds like a spy novel: Using a cooperating drug trafficker, U.S. officials put several supposedly untraceable satellite phones in the hands of Colombia's FARC guerrillas, then listened to their chatter.
But the sting of Latin America's most secretive insurgency -- accused of direct involvement in cocaine smuggling to the U.S. and European markets -- really did take place, several U.S. officials told The Miami Herald.
U.S. intercepts of FARC communications were mentioned in a March U.S. indictment of the FARC's seven top leaders and 43 other commanders on charges of running a $25 billion drug trafficking network responsible for 60 percent of the cocaine on U.S. streets.
Other U.S. indictments have implicated mid-level commanders and couriers. In all, at least 55 members of the 50-year-old, 17,000-fighter Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are facing U.S. charges ranging from drug trafficking and extortion to kidnapping and terrorism.
It's not known whether the eavesdropping on the U.S.-provided satellite phones contributed to the indictments of the FARC members. But it is clear that the phones were delivered to top FARC leaders, including its top military commander, a notorious commander better known as Mono Jojoy.
COOPERATION
U.S. officials say the sting began when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents won the cooperation of Nelson Urrego, a Colombian communications specialist who allegedly helped coordinate cocaine shipments that totaled 10 to 15 tons per month for the North Valley Cartel.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14540951.htm
Regulators: FPL request is too high
FPL's request to recoup hurricane repair costs from its customers should be reduced, the staff of the Public Service Commission recommended.
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
Analysts for state utility regulators recommended Tuesday that the amount Florida Power & Light can bill customers to recoup hurricane costs be slashed by $562 million.
The reduction from FPL's request of $1.7 billion, if approved, would save the average customer about 50 cents a month for the next 12 years. Under FPL's request, the average customer would pay a $1.60 monthly surcharge.
While 50 cents may seem trivial at a time when fuel prices are sending electric bills soaring, consumer advocates believe the report is important because it signals a major shift in the way the state's utility regulators look at storm damages.
In making its recommendation, the staff of the Public Service Commission criticized the utility for bad pole maintenance, lack of tree-trimming and loose bolts in transmission towers.
In the 237-page document, the staff urged that FPL's request for a $650 million reserve fund to cover future storm repair costs be trimmed to $200 million. It also recommended that the PSC slash $98 million of FPL's request for 2005 hurricane costs, citing suspect accounting or poor maintenance by the utility.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14540947.htm
Cruise ship lines abandon Miami as a port of call
The only cruise ship now using Miami as a port of call will stop doing so after this evening, disappointing some local tourist attractions.
BY AMY MARTINEZ AND DOUGLAS HANKS III
C.W. GRIFFIN/THE MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Stacy Shaughnessy, Matt Tacktill,13, and John Shaughnessy,13, from Long Island enjoyed the scenery on South Beach after coming in on the Spirit.
When the Norwegian Spirit sets sail this evening for Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, it will say bon voyage to Miami as a port of call -- the New York-based cruise ship no longer plans to visit Miami.
Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas will start calling on Miami in July during a series of nine-day itineraries from Baltimore, delivering 2,000-plus passengers to local tourist attractions.
But beyond that, Miami -- the world's cruise capital -- remains little more than a place where people begin and end their cruises. No ships call regularly on Port Everglades in Broward County, also a busy cruise departure point.
For all its glamour, South Florida has yet to catch on as a place were cruise lines pull up and encourage their passengers to spend a few hours at local tourist attractions. Those same attractions, which usually see lulls between the weekends, had come to enjoy Norwegian's Wednesday visits as a mid-week pick-up.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14539928.htm
Drug plan deadline assailed; low-income seniors get help
President Bush toured Florida on Tuesday as he faced mounting demands to extend the deadline for signing up for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit.
BY MONICA HATCHER
Less than a week before the Monday deadline for enrollment in the new Medicare drug benefit plan, the Bush administration said it will waive penalty fees for low-income seniors who sign up late.
The small concession came amid growing pressure to extend the deadline, which U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has said he is not willing to do. In recent weeks, several reports have indicated seniors are still stumped when it comes to choosing a plan and don't have adequate resources to help them.
On Tuesday, President Bush visited Florida to promote the drug prescription plan and made a brief stop in Broward County at a conference on aging to press seniors and the disabled to sign up.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14540949.htm
GOP forges deal on investor tax cuts
ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - House Republican leaders are ready to move forward on tax breaks worth $70 billion over five years to investors and some middle-income families now that they've sorted out a disagreement among themselves.
The breakthrough Tuesday set up a vote in the House late Wednesday.
The Senate could clear the bill for President Bush's signature by week's end, achieving one of his top tax priorities and giving his GOP allies on Capitol Hill a victory in times of sagging poll numbers.
The bill offers a two-year extension of the reduced 15 percent tax rate for capital gains and dividends, currently set to expire at the end of 2008.
And it would keep 15 million families from being hit this year with the alternative minimum tax, which was designed to make sure the wealthy paid taxes but is ensnaring more middle-income families because it was not indexed for inflation.
"This is a responsible bill that protects families and small business owners from tax increases, while also providing investors with a bigger window of certainty - critical to continued economic growth," said Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Critics, including many Democrats, have attacked the tax rate reductions on dividends and capital gains as being largely tilted to the wealthy. They say provisions should not be extended at a time of large budget deficits and massive spending for the war in Iraq.
The agreement capped weeks of talks among GOP lawmakers over how to go ahead on their party's tax agenda. They had to decide how best to deal with a rule that lets them advance up to $70 billion in cuts in a way that would prevent any filibuster from Senate Democrats.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14539519.htm
Immigration reform: substance over politics
OUR OPINION: COMPREHENSIVE REMEDY NEEDED FOR A BROKEN SYSTEM
Last week's nationwide boycott and rallies took center stage in the immigration debate. But real action still awaits in the U.S. Senate. The outcome will depend on the goodwill of lawmakers who want to craft policy that benefits this nation, and not just create an issue with which to trump political rivals in November elections.
Political maneuvers over procedures stalled the compromise immigration bill last month. But the full Senate may resume discussions as soon as next Monday with an eye to voting on the bill before Memorial Day.
Draconian bill
Meantime, no one should forget why Congress and Americans nationwide are involved in this debate: Our current immigration system doesn't work. If it did, we wouldn't have 12 million undocumented immigrants living in our county, millions of others waiting years to immigrate legally and national-security concerns about who might slip through our borders.
Legislation that doesn't tackle all of these concerns won't solve the immigration problems and could, in fact, make matters worse. A good example of such misguided policy is the enforcement-only Sensenbrenner bill passed by the House last year. This Draconian bill provided inspiration for the recent pro-immigration protests and voter-registration drives that are gearing up nationwide.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/14540986.htm
New Zealand Herald
$13m revamp for eco-education
10.05.06
School students will learn about global warming, energy and pollution through a new $13 million injection into environmental education.
The money, said a pre-Budget announcement yesterday, will be used to train teachers, rewrite the curriculum and develop resources to boost learning about the environment.
The funding is part of a deal between Labour and the Greens, negotiated after last year's election.
Greens education spokeswoman Metiria Turei said it would help ensure children had the knowledge and skills to protect New Zealand's future
"We must face squarely the impacts of climate change, increasing energy demand, more expensive and less accessible oil, and polluted natural resources," she said.
A portion of the cash will be set aside to develop resources in Maori language and to appoint a national programme co-ordinator.
"Many kura (schools) I have visited want to develop a programme of education for sustainability, but say the support and reo resources are just not available.
"This money should help to deal with this barrier," Mrs Turei said.
The funding, which will progressively increase over the next four years, will be used in three areas.
* $7.4 million will build and support the national coordination of the existing Education for Sustainability programme and provide teacher training.
* $4.6 million will go to the Enviroschools Foundation for resource development.
* $800,000 will go to a Maori national coordination programme for total immersion and kaupapa Maori schools.
About $50,000 each year will be used to evaluate the programme.
"By teaching children and young people about the impacts of human behaviour on the natural environment and encouraging ideas and practical skills for sustainability, we are future-proofing our nation and protecting our environment and economy for many more generations to come," Mrs Turei said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381043
Cigarette packets could carry graphic images
4.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
By Rebecca Quillian
Grotesque images of gangrenous feet, rotting gums and teeth, and throat cancer on cigarette packets is an option the Government is considering in an effort to reduce smoking.
Associate Health Minister Damien O'Connor today launched a consultation document that proposes a series of warnings about the dangers of smoking, including the gruesome images on cigarette, cigar, cigarillos and loose tobacco packets.
"We signed up to the (World Health Organisation) framework on tobacco control and we locked ourselves into a process that lays out some good moves towards harm reduction and ultimately the reduction in smoking from tobacco," he said in Wellington today.
The size of the pictures - covering between 50 and 60 per cent of the packet - is debated in the consultation document and will now be discussed with the industry and the public.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10381144
"Review of Smoke Free Environments 1999"
http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/pagesmh/4712/$File/smokefree-environments-regulations-1999-2006.pdf
Employers don't like Kiwisaver, but will live with it
4.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
A major employers group says it does not like the Government's flagship Kiwisaver legislation, but has "rolled over on it".
Employer and Manufacturers Association (Northern) chief executive Alasdair Thompson told MPs he did not think the workplace savings scheme would work, but "it was not worth dying in a ditch over".
The Kiwisaver Bill is being examined by a select committee and its first day of public hearings resulted in a mixture of mild criticism and warm support.
Mr Thompson said he did not believe Kiwisaver would increase net savings, it would not have high participation rates and would increase compliance costs.
He told MPs they should change the bill so employers did not have to nominate which savings scheme package an employee should belong to, as that was a matter for the employee or the Government to decide.
Mr Thompson also wanted employers to have fewer reporting responsibilities to Inland Revenue who would manage much of the scheme.
Union bosses were far more welcoming of the legislation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381140
Employers don't like Kiwisaver, but will live with it
4.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
A major employers group says it does not like the Government's flagship Kiwisaver legislation, but has "rolled over on it".
Employer and Manufacturers Association (Northern) chief executive Alasdair Thompson told MPs he did not think the workplace savings scheme would work, but "it was not worth dying in a ditch over".
The Kiwisaver Bill is being examined by a select committee and its first day of public hearings resulted in a mixture of mild criticism and warm support.
Mr Thompson said he did not believe Kiwisaver would increase net savings, it would not have high participation rates and would increase compliance costs.
He told MPs they should change the bill so employers did not have to nominate which savings scheme package an employee should belong to, as that was a matter for the employee or the Government to decide.
Mr Thompson also wanted employers to have fewer reporting responsibilities to Inland Revenue who would manage much of the scheme.
Union bosses were far more welcoming of the legislation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381140
Cash boost to tackle family violence
1.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
Family violence prevention services are getting an extra $9 million in the May 18 budget, the Government said today.
Spread over four years, it represents a 20 per cent increase in funding for the services.
Ruth Dyson, the minister responsible for Child, Youth and Family Services, said it was a response to increasing demands on organisations which provided crisis response to family violence.
It will go to non-government community service providers such as 24-hour crisis lines, counselling, social work support, safe-house accommodation, advocacy and information.
"Demand for family violence prevention services continues to increase, both through raised awareness of the problem and through increased referrals generated by government initiatives," Ms Dyson said.
"This budget announcement recognises the increased demand, and increases the funding into this sector for the first time in more than a decade."
Ms Dyson said there would also be an undertaking from key government departments and ministries such as police, health, education and social development to work with Child, Youth and Family Services to develop and implement solutions to address the sharp rise in notifications.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381120
Kiwis conceived in wild released in forest
1.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
Kiwis conceived in the wild were yesterday set free into the protected heart of a once mighty forest for the first time in a century.
About 40 people gathered to witness the historic release of the North Island brown kiwis. They were introduced to the pest-proofed forest surrounding the wildlife centre at Pukaha Mount Bruce in the Wairarapa.
The kiwis were all hand-reared since they were hatched in incubators late last year and another chick hatched in February will soon be released.
"It is very exciting to be releasing kiwi here for the first time in 100 years that were conceived in the wild" said Sally Thomas, National Wildlife Centre community relations programme manager.
"With the support of the community the kiwi have the opportunity to thrive and carry on to breed successfully."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381123
Anglicans shut down discussion on gays
2.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
Opposition by Maori and Pacific Island members has shut down debate on the role of gays in the church at the Anglican General Synod in Christchurch this week.
Anglican Church New Zealand spokesman Lloyd Ashton told the Press newspaper that none of the members representing the Maori and Pacific Island tikanga (cultural streams) at the synod were yet prepared to speak openly about the issue.
All groups had been asked to comment on an international report by a commission set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury that questioned the principles of the Anglican community and its diversity.
Many denominations are struggling with disputes over homosexuality, including gay priests and bishops and same-sex unions, which have caused schisms all over the world, often split along cultural lines.
In New Zealand, Maori and Pacific Island churches are generally more conservative.
However, a conference motion tabled by Tauranga vicar Edward Prebble, urges Anglicans to continue talks with the gay community on its needs within the church, while making no decisions about gays' future roles.
"There are some conservatives who would shut down debate and decide right now, but we have to keep talking and make sure both ends of the spectrum are listening," Mr Prebble told the newspaper.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381112
Second evacuation after acid spill
UPDATED 11.45am Wednesday May 10, 2006
Staff at transport company Mainfreight in Hamilton have been ordered out of buildings for the second time in two days.
Firefighters arrived about 7am today and the company buildings in the suburb of Te Rapa were evacuated.
By early morning six fire appliances were at the transport company, including two from Auckland -- a hazardous materials truck and the breathing apparatus tender.
A decontamination area had also been set up.
Firefighters were called back today when some of the nitric acid was found to have spread under a container. It began reacting and producing toxic fumes.
"Some of the spilled acid had gone under a container and it started reacting again this morning," Station Officer Bruce MacGregor said.
The hazardous materials truck holds special chemical suits to protect firefighters from toxic chemicals and fumes, Auckland Fire Service shift manager Paul Radden said.
It was unusual to send trucks from Auckland to Hamilton and they travelled to Hamilton with their lights and sirens on, he said.
Today's incident follows an evacuation late yesterday afternoon after a nitric acid spill.
Yesterday the poisonous and highly corrosive nitric acid leaked from a 200 litre drum as it was being unloaded.
That evacuation also closed part of Avalon Drive to traffic. Traffic was diverted down Foreman Road but police asked drivers to avoid the area completely.
Firefighters stayed at the scene for several hours last night but were called back early today.
Two firefighters were checked by ambulance staff last night as a precaution. They had applied sand and lime to neutralise the nitric acid.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381098
Brash accused of lying over Americans' election role
10.05.06
By Ruth Berry
The Government yesterday launched a new attack on Don Brash's credibility, claiming new evidence proved the National leader had "lied" about American involvement in his party's election campaign.
Dr Brash confirmed two Americans worked on the campaign, but rejected any claims he had lied.
The claim was based on a 2004 email he sent to key party strategists. It was released yesterday by Foreign Minister and NZ First leader Winston Peters.
Senior Labour MP Trevor Mallard said it proved Dr Brash misled the public in the lead-up to the election, when he rubbished Mr Mallard's claims that National's campaign was being financed and run by Americans.
Mr Mallard was then alluding to American billionaire Julian Robertson and others.
Dr Brash said then that while Mr Robertson was a friend, no Americans were running National strategy, and he called Mr Mallard's claims a "thundering lie".
But yesterday's email suggested Dr Brash contemplated seeking American help.
He described a lunch hosted by Mr Robertson in New York.
"Among those present were two guys who have been actively involved in various Republican campaigns and who have expressed a strong interest in helping with our campaign in NZ."
Mr Mallard quoted a line from Dr Brash last year saying: "There's no one that I have met who is an American involved in our campaign."
Dr Brash said two Americans had worked on National's campaign but he had not met them until election night, which was after he made that statement to Mr Mallard.
Dr Brash did not know if they were being paid, but later referred to the fact that the party had "employed them".
National's campaign manager, Steven Joyce, said the father and son team worked for a centre-right or Republican election campaign company and had been employed for about four to six weeks to mobilise volunteers.
- Additional reporting by Ainsley Thomson
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381061
Protester sues police over pepper spray
10.05.06
By Louisa Cleave
A man who was pepper-sprayed during a protest is suing police - who were criticised by a district court judge over the spraying - for $50,000.
Simon Oosterman yesterday filed the claim for damages, alleging he was assaulted and his rights were breached during the demonstration in Rotorua in January last year.
Charges against Mr Oosterman, a union campaigner, and two other protesters were dismissed when they appeared in the Rotorua District Court in September.
Judge James Weir, who forwarded his decision to the Office of the Commissioner, said the use of pepper spray on Mr Oosterman during the protest at the Forest Research Institute raised more questions than answers.
The judge said the police officer pepper-sprayed Mr Oosterman "because he was passively resisting, he was holding his arms out, turning and twisting and it was for that reason alone he pepper-sprayed him".
Police officers involved in the arrest had failed to exercise tact, tolerance and restraint, the judge said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381041
NZ miner shares survivors' joy, pain
10.05.06
By Jarrod Booker
Gary Haddow knew first-hand how the rescued Tasmanian miners would have been feeling yesterday.
Two months ago the West Coast miner was given another chance at life when he survived a coalmine accident which claimed the life of a colleague.
Mr Haddow was trapped 30m underground for seven hours by a rockfall in a coalmine near Greymouth that killed Robert McGowan.
Mr Haddow said he imagined the rescued miners would have mixed emotions.
"They have lost a work colleague and a workmate, as I have," he told the Herald.
"I can imagine how they are feeling now, how their families are. But then knowing their colleague's dead - that is a huge thing to feel - and the family that has lost a husband, partner, son."
Mr Haddow said it would be a "natural feeling" for the miners to be asking why their colleague had died when they had lived.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381066
Beaconsfield Mine inquiry will start soon
10.05.06 2.30pm
The Tasmanian state government wants the inquiry into the Beaconsfield Mine accident to begin as soon as possible.
Premier Paul Lennon says there will be two investigations - one by the coroner and the other by workplace safety officials.
Mr Lennon says he will also talk to unions about mine safety so he can make sure the issues they want addressed are properly considered by government officials.
Meanwhile rescued miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell have been offered the chance to dispel memories of their gloomy 14-day incarceration with a sunny holiday on Norfolk Island.
Tourist groups on the South Pacific island have offered a free, eight-day second honeymoon to the pair and their wives.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10381141
Australia, US agree on Hicks' Guantanamo transfer
10.05.06 2.30pm
CANBERRA - Australia has reached an agreement with the United States to allow one of its nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay to serve a possible jail sentence in his home country.
David Hicks, 30, accused of being an al Qaeda fighter, has been held in Guantanamo for four years after capture by US forces in Afghanistan in 2001.
He is due to face a US military commission on charges of aiding the enemy, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit war crimes.
"Should Mr Hicks ... be convicted, the arrangement would provide a means for Mr Hicks to apply to be transferred to serve any penal sentence in Australia in accordance with Australian and US law," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a statement.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10381139
Queen of Jordan promotes peace via cartoon
10.05.06 1.20pm
NEW YORK - Benjamin Martin and Isam Aziz may never match the fame of Bart Simpson, but the creators of a cartoon called "Ben & Izzy" featuring the two characters have a greater aspiration - to promote world peace.
The cartoon, which is still in production and yet to find distribution, was presented to US media industry leaders at a gala dinner in New York yesterday by Queen Rania of Jordan.
"Whether we are Muslims, Christians or Jews ... whether we live in the Middle East or the Upper West Side (of New York) ... we all want our children to be able to make the most of their potential in a secure, peaceful and just world," Queen Rania said in a speech at the event.
Created by a Jordanian company with David Pritchard, a onetime producer of the hit US show "The Simpsons," the animated series "Ben & Izzy" is about two 11-year-old boys, one from America, one from Jordan, who go on time-traveling adventures with the help of a genie named Yasmine.
Neither boy is specifically identified with a religion.
The Queen said she hoped the cartoon would help promote understanding, making an oblique reference to the recent controversy over cartoons first published in Denmark that presented the Prophet Mohammad as a suicide bomber, sparking furious protests from Muslims around the world.
"In a year when we have seen cartoons used to fuel misunderstanding and division, I am delighted to see this new cartoon explicitly designed to bring people together," Queen Rania told an audience that included media executives, actors, models and journalists.
According to a plot summary for the cartoon, Benjamin Martin, or Ben, is a symbol for his country. "The boy is smart, goal-oriented, and an individual. On the negative side, he is a bit xenophobic, self-centered, needs-to-win overly competitive, brash, and a consumer," the summary said.
Isam Aziz, Izzy for short, has different qualities.
"The boy is worldlier in his outlook and enjoys traveling - he even knows several languages," the plot summary says. "On the downside, Izzy can be a little too serious, self-righteous, superior, and even devious."
Ben loves sports, while Izzy "is a whiz on the computer and loves to solve puzzles," although he plays soccer.
The New York Times said the budget for the project was $6 million and producers hope to have it ready to start broadcasting in early 2007.
"There is no magic pearl we can rub to make all the people in the world get along," Queen Rania said. "But projects like 'Ben and Izzy' go a long way to ensuring that the next generation grows up with a mind-set geared toward trust and tolerance."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10381130
Radical Jordanian cleric fights UK deportation bid
10.05.06 1.00pm
LONDON - A hardline Islamic cleric believed to have close links with al Qaeda in Britain launched a legal challenge on Tuesday against efforts to deport him to Jordan.
The case of Abu Qatada, a Jordanian national who came to Britain in 1993, is a key test of British efforts to allow deportations to countries accused of torture by securing special agreements that deportees will not be ill treated.
The memoranda of understanding are meant to circumvent European human rights legislation which forbids member states from deporting people to countries where they could be tortured.
Abu Qatada's lawyer argued on Tuesday that evidence against him may have been obtained abroad through torture. But the British government said he was undoubtedly dangerous.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10381124
Peace brokers agree on a way to get aid to Palestinians
10.05.06 1.00pm
UNITED NATIONS - The quartet of Middle East peace brokers have agreed on a way to channel aid to the Palestinians for a trial period to ease a financial squeeze on the new government following the election of Hamas.
The group of international mediators - the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - issued a statement after a day of talks in which Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia warned of a civil war if the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority was left to collapse.
"The quartet expressed its willingness to endorse a temporary international mechanism that is limited in scope and duration, operates with full transparency and accountability," said the quartet statement.
The move came after the World Bank warned the Palestinian Authority could face a breakdown in law and order and basic services unless foreign donors step in to pay the salaries of about 165,000 civil servants.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10381126
Nigeria exposes 'illegal' drug trial
10.05.06
WASHINGTON - Nigerian medical experts have concluded Pfizer violated international law during a 1996 epidemic by testing an unapproved drug on children with brain infections, reports have said.
The Washington Post said the panel's study, completed five years ago but never released, found that Pfizer was never authorised by the Nigerian Government to give the unproven drug Trovan to nearly 100 children at a field hospital in Kano, where they were being treated for an often deadly strain of meningitis.
Pfizer's experiment was "an illegal trial of an unregistered drug", and violated Nigerian law, the international Declaration of Helsinki that governs ethical medical research and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the panel concluded.
Five children died after being treated with the experimental antibiotic and others contracted arthritis, although there is no evidence the drug played a part.
Six children died while taking a comparison drug, the Post said.
At the time, Doctors Without Borders was dispensing approved antibiotics at hospital, according to the Post.
Pfizer, the world's biggest drug company, told the Post it conducted the trial with the full knowledge of the Nigerian Government and consistent with Nigerian law. Local nurses explained the experiment to Nigerian parents and obtained their "verbal" consent, the company told the Post.
"Trovan unquestionably saved lives, and Pfizer strongly disagrees with any suggestion that the company conducted its study in an unethical manner," the Post quoted it as saying.
A US federal judge last November dismissed a lawsuit that accused Pfizer of not properly warning Nigerian families about the risk of its meningitis drug Trovan, then awaiting US Food and Drug Administration approval, during a clinical test. He said the case should be heard in a Nigerian court.
The lawsuit argued that some of the children in the trial died and others suffered brain damage because the drug makers did not explain to the Nigerian families that the antibiotic was experimental, that they could refuse the treatment for their children, or that other medicines were available.
Pfizer has denied the accusations.
The Nigerian Government report obtained by the Post said there were no records indicating that Pfizer told the children or their parents that they were part of an experiment.
The panel recommended that Pfizer be "sanctioned, apologise, and pay restitution".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10381018
continued …
Tornadoes Tear Through N. Texas, Killing 3
By MATT JOYCE Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
DALLAS — Tornadoes swept through two North Texas towns after dark, tearing apart brick houses and knocking out power in a path of destruction that left three dead and 10 injured, officials said Wednesday.
An elderly couple were found dead in a destroyed home in the tiny town of Westminster, while a teenager was found dead at a separate location, Collin County spokeswoman Lee Hornsby said.
Tornadoes struck late Tuesday near the towns of Anna and Westminster, about 40 miles north of Dallas, Hornsby said. Tornadoes were also reported in the Texas Panhandle town of Childress and in southeastern Oklahoma, but no injuries were reported.
"I have seen brick houses completely torn apart, a couple of these next to each other, bricks laying on top of a vehicle, another vehicle apparently rolled several times," Hornsby told WFAA-TV in Dallas.
Officials were going door-to-door to check for other casualties, said Jamie Nicolay of the county's homeland security and health care services department.
Ten people were taken to North Texas hospitals, but their conditions weren't available. The identities of the dead and other details about them weren't immediately released.
The storm destroyed at least six houses, Nicolay said, although full assessment of damage to the area was limited by darkness. Power was out to about 300 homes.
"I'm sure that there are numerous other ones that have less severe damage," she said.
Westminster, a town of about 420 residents, is 43 miles northeast of Dallas. Anna, with about 6,500 residents, is 5 miles west of Westminster.
Storm sirens sounded twice in Anna, Hornsby said, but no sirens went off in much smaller Westminster.
Another tornado in the Texas Panhandle town of Childress knocked down a wall at the local high school, and broken power lines sparked treetop fires, officials said. Gas lines were broken and downed trees blocked roads, but there were no reports of injuries.
Meanwhile, three tornadoes touched down in southeastern Oklahoma, along with baseball sized hail and street flooding, but no severe damage or injuries were immediately reported, officials said.
The National Weather Service received reports of a tornado near Olney in Coal County and two others near Stringtown.
About 6,000 customers were without power in southeastern Oklahoma and Oklahoma City before workers began restoring electricity.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3853438.html
Ariz. Posse to Round Up Illegal Immigrants
By AMANDA LEE MYERS Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
GILA BEND, Ariz. — Four Mexican men sit in the dirt with their wrists bound, shoulders hunched and eyes lowered to avoid the glare of the rising sun.
The immigrants had been on their way to build a dairy farm in this town about an hour southwest of Phoenix. But after a traffic stop for a faulty brake light, members of a sheriff's task force targeting human and drug smugglers found they were not U.S. citizens. Now they were bound for federal custody.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3853330.html
Posse inflames the immigration debate
Arizona force of 300 volunteers aims to enforce smuggling law
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
New York Times
PHOENIX - To people who say round up more illegal immigrants, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona's Maricopa County has an answer — send out the posse.
The posse, a civilian force of 300 volunteers, many retired deputies, are to fan out over desert backcountry today, watching for smugglers and the people they guide into these parts.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/3852681.html
Immigrant bill worries banks
Some fear being branded felons for serving clients
By BECKY YERAK
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO - Headquartered in the heart of Chicago's Little Village neighborhood since the late 1800s, Second Federal Savings isn't shy about marketing itself to immigrants.
On the home page of its Web site, a link directs undocumented immigrants to a program that can help them become homeowners.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/3844981.html
Immigrants linked to tourism
Associated Press
ORLANDO, FLA. - U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez urged tourism industry leaders Monday to support legislation that eventually would offer citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants.
"This is probably the most important domestic issue of our time," Gutierrez said at the Travel Industry Association's annual convention.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/3849654.html
Most in poll here see a hard road ahead for U.S.
But Houstonians interviewed at random express optimism about their personal life
By MIKE SNYDER and DALE LEZON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
More than two in three Houston-area residents believe the country is headed for harder times, the highest pessimism level in the 18 years that the Houston Area Survey has asked the question.
The darkening public mood about the nation's future reflected in the survey is based on answers to a question asked in each of the annual surveys since 1988: "When you look ahead to the next few years, do you tend to believe that the country is headed for better times or more difficult times?"
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3852736.html
A MAJOR BUSH TAX CUT MAY GO TO 2010
$69 billion deal extends the break for investors and blocks increase in another tax
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
New York Times
WASHINGTON - House and Senate Republicans reached agreement Tuesday on a $69 billion bill that would extend President Bush's tax cuts for investors for two more years and temporarily block a big jump in the alternative minimum tax.
The agreement, which has a good chance of passing both chambers later this week, would lock in one of Bush's signature tax cuts through 2010 and give Republicans a victory at a time when most of their other efforts have stalled.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3852734.html
FEMA's Brown discounted levee breach after Katrina hit
By HOPE YEN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.
The 928 pages of documents, obtained by the Center for Public Integrity watchdog group and released Tuesday, paint a picture of a Federal Emergency Management Agency keenly sensitive to public image following the Aug. 29, 2005, storm.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/3853367.html
Rumsfeld denies plot to plant general in CIA
Secretary calls Hayden 'seasoned professional'
By THOMAS E. RICKS
Washington Post
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed the idea that he has been involved in a bureaucratic power play to boost the military's role in intelligence-gathering, and strongly supported Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden's nomination to be the next director of the CIA, describing him Tuesday as a seasoned professional.
"He did not come up through the operational chain in the Department of Defense, and at the last minute slide over into the intelligence business," Rumsfeld said of Hayden at a Pentagon news conference. "He's a person who's had assignment after assignment after assignment in the intelligence business, and clearly, that is what his career has been, and he's been very good at it."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/3852643.html
Gold bounds above $700
Dollar's softness, political tensions drive up price
By MADLEN READ
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Gold prices surged above $700 an ounce on Tuesday — a level not reached since 1980 — as funds bought into the market, driven by weakness in the dollar, political tension in the Middle East and overall upward momentum in the commodities markets.
These persistent factors have been pushing gold prices to multidecade records for months now. Gold has risen 40 percent since late November, when for the first time in two decades the most-active contract broke through $500 an ounce.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/3852821.html
The Times
Putin takes swipe at hungry America's 'Comrade Wolf'
By Philippe Naughton and agencies in Moscow
President Vladimir Putin took a swipe at the hungry 'wolf' of America today in a strident state-of-the-nation address in which he said that post-Soviet Russia should build up its economic and military might.
In his seventh annual address as president, Mr Putin also promised to tackle Russia's falling birthrate, saying that falling population levels were Russia's "most pressing problem".
But the main thrust of his speech was on the need to bolster security. Mr Putin said that Russia needed a strong military not only to guard against potential attackers but also to resist foreign political pressure.
His comments betray increased anger over what Kremlin leaders see as Western attempts to influence the affairs of Russia and its relationships with its former neighbours Soviet neighbours, such as Ukraine or Belarus.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2174122,00.html
Shia ringtone sparks scuffle in Iraqi parliament
By Sam Knight and agencies
The fragile state of the sectarian divide in Iraqi politics was exposed today when a fight broke out in parliament after a mobile phone ringtone played a Shia Muslim chant.
A procedural session of the Iraqi parliament was suspended as Shia and Sunni leaders stormed out to protest the ringtone and the subsequent scuffle, which erupted between the armed bodyguards of the Sunni speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and the hardline Shia politician, Gufran al-Saidi.
The mobile phone belonged to Ms al-Saidi, who is a member of the Islamist movement led by the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. According to Ms al-Saidi, one of her guards was holding her phone when it rang, playing a Shia prayer.
Mr al-Mashhadani sent one of his guards -- because of the risk of assassination in Baghdad, all Iraqi politicians come to parliament accompanied by armed men -- to ask her to turn it off. But the phone rang again, at which point a fight broke out in the lobby of the parliament building, with guards from both sides and a veiled Ms al-Saidi joining in.
Ms al-Saidi led a walkout on to the steps of the parliament building, where she told waiting television crews: "I demand an urgent investigation". She was joined by the independent MP, Mithal al-Alusi, a Sunni who leads the small Nation party, who said "those involved should be sued" and that bodyguards should be unarmed in parliament.
The incident will provide more fuel to Shia leaders who have already accused Mr al-Mashhadani, a Sunni who was appointed speaker last month to increase the representation of Sunnis in national politics, of being partisan and undiplomatic in his new role.
After 20 minutes, the protesting MPs were led back into the chamber by the outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Nouri al-Maliki, the incoming Prime Minister, said yesterday that he was on the verge of appointing a Cabinet, the last stage in the long and fraught process of creating a government of national unity.
Eighteen Iraqis were killed in scattered violence today. In the worst attack, gunmen opened fire on a bus full of employees travelling to a state-run electronics company in Baqouba, 55km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad.
The gunmen stopped the bus, opened fire and threw a bomb on board, killing 11 people. The toll of yesterday's suicide attack in the northern city of Tal Afar rose today to 22 dead and 134 wounded, according to Iraqi authorities.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2174046,00.html
The stamp collection that could cost thousands their life savings
From Graham Keeley in Barcelona
MORE than 350,000 private investors across Spain are believed to have fallen victim to an alleged pyramid-selling scam involving rare postage stamps.
Armed police raided the offices of two companies in four cities yesterday, arresting nine people and seizing documents, computers and other items, sequestering the buildings and throwing employees on to the streets.
As word spread of the raids, hundreds of investors — mainly pensioners — swarmed to the offices in the hope of retrieving their savings, but were kept at bay by police and security guards.
Investors are estimated to have handed more than £54 million to two related companies, Afinsa Bienes Tangibles, which is the world’s third-biggest collectibles company behind Sotheby’s and Christie’s, and Fórum Filatélico.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2173493,00.html
How 14-month-old leukaemia victim is suffering for Hamas
By Stephen Farrell
Doctors blame freeze on Western aid and Israeli blockade for drugs crisis in Gaza hospitals
MOHMIN ABU AMRA was admitted to Nasser Children’s Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip two weeks ago for urgent treatment for leukaemia. Instead, the 14-month-old boy found himself on the front line of a political war against Hamas.
Doctors say they do not have the drugs needed to save him because funds have been withheld by the West.
As the Quartet of international Middle East mediators gathered last night to discuss the freeze on Western aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, humanitarian organisations voiced concern that shortages of medicines were putting lives at risk.
Doctors say that patients such as Mohmin, or ten-year-old Fayda in an adjoining ward, and many others across Gaza and the West Bank have been caught up in a battle of wills between Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel, and a world determined to turn the suicide-bombers-turned-politicians into pariahs.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2173390,00.html
Iran to be offered deal over nuclear programme
From James Bone in New York
MARGARET BECKETT, the new Foreign Secretary, agreed yesterday to prepare a package of incentives for Iran to curb its nuclear programme.
Facing continued opposition from Russia and China to Britain’s call for a UN resolution depriving Iran of the legal right to enrich uranium, Mrs Beckett has ordered the incentive package to be ready by Monday.
John Sawers, the Foreign Office political director, will work with his French and German counterparts to prepare a list of ideas, including access to civil nuclear technology, trade and perhaps even security guarantees. These will be discussed on the margins of the next EU general affairs council.
The three European political directors will then meet officials from China, Russia and the United States in London on May 19. Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Foreign Minister, was pushing for security guarantees, presumably from the United States. But US officials appeared reluctant to rule out military action against Iran.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2173383,00.html
Briton faces extradition for 'biggest ever military hack'
By Lee Glendinning
A Briton who hacked into American defence networks and wiped out 300 PCs at a naval base faces trial in the US after being recommended for extradition by a British court.
Gary McKinnon, 40, of Wood Green, north London, whose attack was described by America as the biggest military hack of all time, said that he would contest the decision which must now be rubber-stamped by John Reid, the Home Secretary.
Mr McKinnon is alleged to have caused $700,000 (£370,000) worth of losses by hacking into the US computer systems over a period of a year. He insists that he never intended to harm US military capability and was merely researching UFOs.
Outside Bow Street Magistrates Court following publicaton of the decision today he vowed to fight on and claimed that if he was tried in Virginia he was "already hung, drawn and quartered."
He said: "[The hearing] went as expected and obviously the appeal process can now start. My intention was never to disrupt security, the fact that I logged on there and there were no passwords means that there was no security."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2174108,00.html
Rescued: now the recriminations begin
From Bernard Lagan in Sydney
MINERS and union leaders yesterday blamed managers eager to pounce on rising gold prices for a Tasmanian mine collapse that left two men trapped a kilometre below ground for 14 days.
Several miners from the Beaconsfield goldmine — including some who were involved in the dramatic rescue at dawn of Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34 — said that mine managers had failed to leave enough of the deeper levels unexploited to provide support.
“There were simply not enough pillars left in the whole mine because of the value of the ore,” one miner told The Australian. If they found an ore body, they’d just take it out.”
The men were trapped by a rockfall at a depth of 925m (3,035ft). A third miner, Larry Knight, 44, was killed.
The managers of the mine have declined to respond to allegations of unsafe practices, pending an inquiry. Mr Russell attended the funeral of his colleague yesterday and last night joined hundreds of residents who had been celebrating the rescue all day in the pubs of Beaconsfield.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2173071,00.html
Why shouldn't women kill?
Magnus Linklater
The idea that female members of the Armed Forces should be protected from close combat is wrong
THERE IS ONLY ONE proper way to respond to the death of Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill, the first British woman to be killed in action in Iraq. It is to salute her bravery, and those of the four male airmen, who died when their helicopter was brought down in Basra. She was briefing the newly arrived commander of the British helicopter fleet when the attack came. In a war with no front lines, she was a frontline combatant.
The convention that still bars women from serving alongside men in battle, both in the US and British forces, has become so frayed that it seems barely sustainable. They pilot helicopters and planes, they carry weapons, they face the threat of road-side bombs, they are as vulnerable to attack as their male colleagues, and when they are exposed to ambush, as Private Teresa Bradwell, of the US army, was in November 2003, they can fire back, protect a position and kill the enemy. Yet no male officer I spoke to yesterday felt inclined to change the rules. Their views were summed up in the words of that close observer of the military scene, Sir Max Hastings, who wrote: “War and its inescapable bloodshed (is) the business of the stronger sex.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2173331,00.html
The Blair effect, and leaders-in-waiting
Sir, Labour is running at 30 per cent in the polls and the Conservatives 38 per cent (report, May 9). Nevertheless, the next government could well be a Labour one again, albeit with a wafer-thin majority.
In the last election Labour received only 35.3 per cent of the vote. A turnout of 61.3 per cent meant that those who voted Labour amounted to less than a quarter of the electorate.
Proportional representation might have mitigated this, but not blunted the key to Mr Blair’s success: his effective disenfranchisement of traditional Labour voters. So long as these abstain from voting because they cannot bring themselves to vote Conservative or Liberal Democrat, new Labour would always win.
That this strategy is slowly unravelling is evident from the recent local elections where voters have not bothered with protest votes and instead voted tactically, Conservative in most cases.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-2172867,00.html
Sports Calendar
http://sportscalendar.timesonline.co.uk/times/calendar
Miami Herald
Ex-con helps U.S. deliver satellite phones to FARC
BY GERARDO REYES AND STEVEN DUDLEY
COMBITA, Colombia - It sounds like a spy novel: Using a cooperating drug trafficker, U.S. officials put several supposedly untraceable satellite phones in the hands of Colombia's FARC guerrillas, then listened to their chatter.
But the sting of Latin America's most secretive insurgency -- accused of direct involvement in cocaine smuggling to the U.S. and European markets -- really did take place, several U.S. officials told The Miami Herald.
U.S. intercepts of FARC communications were mentioned in a March U.S. indictment of the FARC's seven top leaders and 43 other commanders on charges of running a $25 billion drug trafficking network responsible for 60 percent of the cocaine on U.S. streets.
Other U.S. indictments have implicated mid-level commanders and couriers. In all, at least 55 members of the 50-year-old, 17,000-fighter Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are facing U.S. charges ranging from drug trafficking and extortion to kidnapping and terrorism.
It's not known whether the eavesdropping on the U.S.-provided satellite phones contributed to the indictments of the FARC members. But it is clear that the phones were delivered to top FARC leaders, including its top military commander, a notorious commander better known as Mono Jojoy.
COOPERATION
U.S. officials say the sting began when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents won the cooperation of Nelson Urrego, a Colombian communications specialist who allegedly helped coordinate cocaine shipments that totaled 10 to 15 tons per month for the North Valley Cartel.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14540951.htm
Regulators: FPL request is too high
FPL's request to recoup hurricane repair costs from its customers should be reduced, the staff of the Public Service Commission recommended.
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
Analysts for state utility regulators recommended Tuesday that the amount Florida Power & Light can bill customers to recoup hurricane costs be slashed by $562 million.
The reduction from FPL's request of $1.7 billion, if approved, would save the average customer about 50 cents a month for the next 12 years. Under FPL's request, the average customer would pay a $1.60 monthly surcharge.
While 50 cents may seem trivial at a time when fuel prices are sending electric bills soaring, consumer advocates believe the report is important because it signals a major shift in the way the state's utility regulators look at storm damages.
In making its recommendation, the staff of the Public Service Commission criticized the utility for bad pole maintenance, lack of tree-trimming and loose bolts in transmission towers.
In the 237-page document, the staff urged that FPL's request for a $650 million reserve fund to cover future storm repair costs be trimmed to $200 million. It also recommended that the PSC slash $98 million of FPL's request for 2005 hurricane costs, citing suspect accounting or poor maintenance by the utility.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14540947.htm
Cruise ship lines abandon Miami as a port of call
The only cruise ship now using Miami as a port of call will stop doing so after this evening, disappointing some local tourist attractions.
BY AMY MARTINEZ AND DOUGLAS HANKS III
C.W. GRIFFIN/THE MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Stacy Shaughnessy, Matt Tacktill,13, and John Shaughnessy,13, from Long Island enjoyed the scenery on South Beach after coming in on the Spirit.
When the Norwegian Spirit sets sail this evening for Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, it will say bon voyage to Miami as a port of call -- the New York-based cruise ship no longer plans to visit Miami.
Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas will start calling on Miami in July during a series of nine-day itineraries from Baltimore, delivering 2,000-plus passengers to local tourist attractions.
But beyond that, Miami -- the world's cruise capital -- remains little more than a place where people begin and end their cruises. No ships call regularly on Port Everglades in Broward County, also a busy cruise departure point.
For all its glamour, South Florida has yet to catch on as a place were cruise lines pull up and encourage their passengers to spend a few hours at local tourist attractions. Those same attractions, which usually see lulls between the weekends, had come to enjoy Norwegian's Wednesday visits as a mid-week pick-up.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14539928.htm
Drug plan deadline assailed; low-income seniors get help
President Bush toured Florida on Tuesday as he faced mounting demands to extend the deadline for signing up for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit.
BY MONICA HATCHER
Less than a week before the Monday deadline for enrollment in the new Medicare drug benefit plan, the Bush administration said it will waive penalty fees for low-income seniors who sign up late.
The small concession came amid growing pressure to extend the deadline, which U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has said he is not willing to do. In recent weeks, several reports have indicated seniors are still stumped when it comes to choosing a plan and don't have adequate resources to help them.
On Tuesday, President Bush visited Florida to promote the drug prescription plan and made a brief stop in Broward County at a conference on aging to press seniors and the disabled to sign up.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14540949.htm
GOP forges deal on investor tax cuts
ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - House Republican leaders are ready to move forward on tax breaks worth $70 billion over five years to investors and some middle-income families now that they've sorted out a disagreement among themselves.
The breakthrough Tuesday set up a vote in the House late Wednesday.
The Senate could clear the bill for President Bush's signature by week's end, achieving one of his top tax priorities and giving his GOP allies on Capitol Hill a victory in times of sagging poll numbers.
The bill offers a two-year extension of the reduced 15 percent tax rate for capital gains and dividends, currently set to expire at the end of 2008.
And it would keep 15 million families from being hit this year with the alternative minimum tax, which was designed to make sure the wealthy paid taxes but is ensnaring more middle-income families because it was not indexed for inflation.
"This is a responsible bill that protects families and small business owners from tax increases, while also providing investors with a bigger window of certainty - critical to continued economic growth," said Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Critics, including many Democrats, have attacked the tax rate reductions on dividends and capital gains as being largely tilted to the wealthy. They say provisions should not be extended at a time of large budget deficits and massive spending for the war in Iraq.
The agreement capped weeks of talks among GOP lawmakers over how to go ahead on their party's tax agenda. They had to decide how best to deal with a rule that lets them advance up to $70 billion in cuts in a way that would prevent any filibuster from Senate Democrats.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14539519.htm
Immigration reform: substance over politics
OUR OPINION: COMPREHENSIVE REMEDY NEEDED FOR A BROKEN SYSTEM
Last week's nationwide boycott and rallies took center stage in the immigration debate. But real action still awaits in the U.S. Senate. The outcome will depend on the goodwill of lawmakers who want to craft policy that benefits this nation, and not just create an issue with which to trump political rivals in November elections.
Political maneuvers over procedures stalled the compromise immigration bill last month. But the full Senate may resume discussions as soon as next Monday with an eye to voting on the bill before Memorial Day.
Draconian bill
Meantime, no one should forget why Congress and Americans nationwide are involved in this debate: Our current immigration system doesn't work. If it did, we wouldn't have 12 million undocumented immigrants living in our county, millions of others waiting years to immigrate legally and national-security concerns about who might slip through our borders.
Legislation that doesn't tackle all of these concerns won't solve the immigration problems and could, in fact, make matters worse. A good example of such misguided policy is the enforcement-only Sensenbrenner bill passed by the House last year. This Draconian bill provided inspiration for the recent pro-immigration protests and voter-registration drives that are gearing up nationwide.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/14540986.htm
New Zealand Herald
$13m revamp for eco-education
10.05.06
School students will learn about global warming, energy and pollution through a new $13 million injection into environmental education.
The money, said a pre-Budget announcement yesterday, will be used to train teachers, rewrite the curriculum and develop resources to boost learning about the environment.
The funding is part of a deal between Labour and the Greens, negotiated after last year's election.
Greens education spokeswoman Metiria Turei said it would help ensure children had the knowledge and skills to protect New Zealand's future
"We must face squarely the impacts of climate change, increasing energy demand, more expensive and less accessible oil, and polluted natural resources," she said.
A portion of the cash will be set aside to develop resources in Maori language and to appoint a national programme co-ordinator.
"Many kura (schools) I have visited want to develop a programme of education for sustainability, but say the support and reo resources are just not available.
"This money should help to deal with this barrier," Mrs Turei said.
The funding, which will progressively increase over the next four years, will be used in three areas.
* $7.4 million will build and support the national coordination of the existing Education for Sustainability programme and provide teacher training.
* $4.6 million will go to the Enviroschools Foundation for resource development.
* $800,000 will go to a Maori national coordination programme for total immersion and kaupapa Maori schools.
About $50,000 each year will be used to evaluate the programme.
"By teaching children and young people about the impacts of human behaviour on the natural environment and encouraging ideas and practical skills for sustainability, we are future-proofing our nation and protecting our environment and economy for many more generations to come," Mrs Turei said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381043
Cigarette packets could carry graphic images
4.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
By Rebecca Quillian
Grotesque images of gangrenous feet, rotting gums and teeth, and throat cancer on cigarette packets is an option the Government is considering in an effort to reduce smoking.
Associate Health Minister Damien O'Connor today launched a consultation document that proposes a series of warnings about the dangers of smoking, including the gruesome images on cigarette, cigar, cigarillos and loose tobacco packets.
"We signed up to the (World Health Organisation) framework on tobacco control and we locked ourselves into a process that lays out some good moves towards harm reduction and ultimately the reduction in smoking from tobacco," he said in Wellington today.
The size of the pictures - covering between 50 and 60 per cent of the packet - is debated in the consultation document and will now be discussed with the industry and the public.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10381144
"Review of Smoke Free Environments 1999"
http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/pagesmh/4712/$File/smokefree-environments-regulations-1999-2006.pdf
Employers don't like Kiwisaver, but will live with it
4.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
A major employers group says it does not like the Government's flagship Kiwisaver legislation, but has "rolled over on it".
Employer and Manufacturers Association (Northern) chief executive Alasdair Thompson told MPs he did not think the workplace savings scheme would work, but "it was not worth dying in a ditch over".
The Kiwisaver Bill is being examined by a select committee and its first day of public hearings resulted in a mixture of mild criticism and warm support.
Mr Thompson said he did not believe Kiwisaver would increase net savings, it would not have high participation rates and would increase compliance costs.
He told MPs they should change the bill so employers did not have to nominate which savings scheme package an employee should belong to, as that was a matter for the employee or the Government to decide.
Mr Thompson also wanted employers to have fewer reporting responsibilities to Inland Revenue who would manage much of the scheme.
Union bosses were far more welcoming of the legislation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381140
Employers don't like Kiwisaver, but will live with it
4.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
A major employers group says it does not like the Government's flagship Kiwisaver legislation, but has "rolled over on it".
Employer and Manufacturers Association (Northern) chief executive Alasdair Thompson told MPs he did not think the workplace savings scheme would work, but "it was not worth dying in a ditch over".
The Kiwisaver Bill is being examined by a select committee and its first day of public hearings resulted in a mixture of mild criticism and warm support.
Mr Thompson said he did not believe Kiwisaver would increase net savings, it would not have high participation rates and would increase compliance costs.
He told MPs they should change the bill so employers did not have to nominate which savings scheme package an employee should belong to, as that was a matter for the employee or the Government to decide.
Mr Thompson also wanted employers to have fewer reporting responsibilities to Inland Revenue who would manage much of the scheme.
Union bosses were far more welcoming of the legislation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381140
Cash boost to tackle family violence
1.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
Family violence prevention services are getting an extra $9 million in the May 18 budget, the Government said today.
Spread over four years, it represents a 20 per cent increase in funding for the services.
Ruth Dyson, the minister responsible for Child, Youth and Family Services, said it was a response to increasing demands on organisations which provided crisis response to family violence.
It will go to non-government community service providers such as 24-hour crisis lines, counselling, social work support, safe-house accommodation, advocacy and information.
"Demand for family violence prevention services continues to increase, both through raised awareness of the problem and through increased referrals generated by government initiatives," Ms Dyson said.
"This budget announcement recognises the increased demand, and increases the funding into this sector for the first time in more than a decade."
Ms Dyson said there would also be an undertaking from key government departments and ministries such as police, health, education and social development to work with Child, Youth and Family Services to develop and implement solutions to address the sharp rise in notifications.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381120
Kiwis conceived in wild released in forest
1.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
Kiwis conceived in the wild were yesterday set free into the protected heart of a once mighty forest for the first time in a century.
About 40 people gathered to witness the historic release of the North Island brown kiwis. They were introduced to the pest-proofed forest surrounding the wildlife centre at Pukaha Mount Bruce in the Wairarapa.
The kiwis were all hand-reared since they were hatched in incubators late last year and another chick hatched in February will soon be released.
"It is very exciting to be releasing kiwi here for the first time in 100 years that were conceived in the wild" said Sally Thomas, National Wildlife Centre community relations programme manager.
"With the support of the community the kiwi have the opportunity to thrive and carry on to breed successfully."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381123
Anglicans shut down discussion on gays
2.00pm Wednesday May 10, 2006
Opposition by Maori and Pacific Island members has shut down debate on the role of gays in the church at the Anglican General Synod in Christchurch this week.
Anglican Church New Zealand spokesman Lloyd Ashton told the Press newspaper that none of the members representing the Maori and Pacific Island tikanga (cultural streams) at the synod were yet prepared to speak openly about the issue.
All groups had been asked to comment on an international report by a commission set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury that questioned the principles of the Anglican community and its diversity.
Many denominations are struggling with disputes over homosexuality, including gay priests and bishops and same-sex unions, which have caused schisms all over the world, often split along cultural lines.
In New Zealand, Maori and Pacific Island churches are generally more conservative.
However, a conference motion tabled by Tauranga vicar Edward Prebble, urges Anglicans to continue talks with the gay community on its needs within the church, while making no decisions about gays' future roles.
"There are some conservatives who would shut down debate and decide right now, but we have to keep talking and make sure both ends of the spectrum are listening," Mr Prebble told the newspaper.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381112
Second evacuation after acid spill
UPDATED 11.45am Wednesday May 10, 2006
Staff at transport company Mainfreight in Hamilton have been ordered out of buildings for the second time in two days.
Firefighters arrived about 7am today and the company buildings in the suburb of Te Rapa were evacuated.
By early morning six fire appliances were at the transport company, including two from Auckland -- a hazardous materials truck and the breathing apparatus tender.
A decontamination area had also been set up.
Firefighters were called back today when some of the nitric acid was found to have spread under a container. It began reacting and producing toxic fumes.
"Some of the spilled acid had gone under a container and it started reacting again this morning," Station Officer Bruce MacGregor said.
The hazardous materials truck holds special chemical suits to protect firefighters from toxic chemicals and fumes, Auckland Fire Service shift manager Paul Radden said.
It was unusual to send trucks from Auckland to Hamilton and they travelled to Hamilton with their lights and sirens on, he said.
Today's incident follows an evacuation late yesterday afternoon after a nitric acid spill.
Yesterday the poisonous and highly corrosive nitric acid leaked from a 200 litre drum as it was being unloaded.
That evacuation also closed part of Avalon Drive to traffic. Traffic was diverted down Foreman Road but police asked drivers to avoid the area completely.
Firefighters stayed at the scene for several hours last night but were called back early today.
Two firefighters were checked by ambulance staff last night as a precaution. They had applied sand and lime to neutralise the nitric acid.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381098
Brash accused of lying over Americans' election role
10.05.06
By Ruth Berry
The Government yesterday launched a new attack on Don Brash's credibility, claiming new evidence proved the National leader had "lied" about American involvement in his party's election campaign.
Dr Brash confirmed two Americans worked on the campaign, but rejected any claims he had lied.
The claim was based on a 2004 email he sent to key party strategists. It was released yesterday by Foreign Minister and NZ First leader Winston Peters.
Senior Labour MP Trevor Mallard said it proved Dr Brash misled the public in the lead-up to the election, when he rubbished Mr Mallard's claims that National's campaign was being financed and run by Americans.
Mr Mallard was then alluding to American billionaire Julian Robertson and others.
Dr Brash said then that while Mr Robertson was a friend, no Americans were running National strategy, and he called Mr Mallard's claims a "thundering lie".
But yesterday's email suggested Dr Brash contemplated seeking American help.
He described a lunch hosted by Mr Robertson in New York.
"Among those present were two guys who have been actively involved in various Republican campaigns and who have expressed a strong interest in helping with our campaign in NZ."
Mr Mallard quoted a line from Dr Brash last year saying: "There's no one that I have met who is an American involved in our campaign."
Dr Brash said two Americans had worked on National's campaign but he had not met them until election night, which was after he made that statement to Mr Mallard.
Dr Brash did not know if they were being paid, but later referred to the fact that the party had "employed them".
National's campaign manager, Steven Joyce, said the father and son team worked for a centre-right or Republican election campaign company and had been employed for about four to six weeks to mobilise volunteers.
- Additional reporting by Ainsley Thomson
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381061
Protester sues police over pepper spray
10.05.06
By Louisa Cleave
A man who was pepper-sprayed during a protest is suing police - who were criticised by a district court judge over the spraying - for $50,000.
Simon Oosterman yesterday filed the claim for damages, alleging he was assaulted and his rights were breached during the demonstration in Rotorua in January last year.
Charges against Mr Oosterman, a union campaigner, and two other protesters were dismissed when they appeared in the Rotorua District Court in September.
Judge James Weir, who forwarded his decision to the Office of the Commissioner, said the use of pepper spray on Mr Oosterman during the protest at the Forest Research Institute raised more questions than answers.
The judge said the police officer pepper-sprayed Mr Oosterman "because he was passively resisting, he was holding his arms out, turning and twisting and it was for that reason alone he pepper-sprayed him".
Police officers involved in the arrest had failed to exercise tact, tolerance and restraint, the judge said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381041
NZ miner shares survivors' joy, pain
10.05.06
By Jarrod Booker
Gary Haddow knew first-hand how the rescued Tasmanian miners would have been feeling yesterday.
Two months ago the West Coast miner was given another chance at life when he survived a coalmine accident which claimed the life of a colleague.
Mr Haddow was trapped 30m underground for seven hours by a rockfall in a coalmine near Greymouth that killed Robert McGowan.
Mr Haddow said he imagined the rescued miners would have mixed emotions.
"They have lost a work colleague and a workmate, as I have," he told the Herald.
"I can imagine how they are feeling now, how their families are. But then knowing their colleague's dead - that is a huge thing to feel - and the family that has lost a husband, partner, son."
Mr Haddow said it would be a "natural feeling" for the miners to be asking why their colleague had died when they had lived.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381066
Beaconsfield Mine inquiry will start soon
10.05.06 2.30pm
The Tasmanian state government wants the inquiry into the Beaconsfield Mine accident to begin as soon as possible.
Premier Paul Lennon says there will be two investigations - one by the coroner and the other by workplace safety officials.
Mr Lennon says he will also talk to unions about mine safety so he can make sure the issues they want addressed are properly considered by government officials.
Meanwhile rescued miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell have been offered the chance to dispel memories of their gloomy 14-day incarceration with a sunny holiday on Norfolk Island.
Tourist groups on the South Pacific island have offered a free, eight-day second honeymoon to the pair and their wives.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10381141
Australia, US agree on Hicks' Guantanamo transfer
10.05.06 2.30pm
CANBERRA - Australia has reached an agreement with the United States to allow one of its nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay to serve a possible jail sentence in his home country.
David Hicks, 30, accused of being an al Qaeda fighter, has been held in Guantanamo for four years after capture by US forces in Afghanistan in 2001.
He is due to face a US military commission on charges of aiding the enemy, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit war crimes.
"Should Mr Hicks ... be convicted, the arrangement would provide a means for Mr Hicks to apply to be transferred to serve any penal sentence in Australia in accordance with Australian and US law," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a statement.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10381139
Queen of Jordan promotes peace via cartoon
10.05.06 1.20pm
NEW YORK - Benjamin Martin and Isam Aziz may never match the fame of Bart Simpson, but the creators of a cartoon called "Ben & Izzy" featuring the two characters have a greater aspiration - to promote world peace.
The cartoon, which is still in production and yet to find distribution, was presented to US media industry leaders at a gala dinner in New York yesterday by Queen Rania of Jordan.
"Whether we are Muslims, Christians or Jews ... whether we live in the Middle East or the Upper West Side (of New York) ... we all want our children to be able to make the most of their potential in a secure, peaceful and just world," Queen Rania said in a speech at the event.
Created by a Jordanian company with David Pritchard, a onetime producer of the hit US show "The Simpsons," the animated series "Ben & Izzy" is about two 11-year-old boys, one from America, one from Jordan, who go on time-traveling adventures with the help of a genie named Yasmine.
Neither boy is specifically identified with a religion.
The Queen said she hoped the cartoon would help promote understanding, making an oblique reference to the recent controversy over cartoons first published in Denmark that presented the Prophet Mohammad as a suicide bomber, sparking furious protests from Muslims around the world.
"In a year when we have seen cartoons used to fuel misunderstanding and division, I am delighted to see this new cartoon explicitly designed to bring people together," Queen Rania told an audience that included media executives, actors, models and journalists.
According to a plot summary for the cartoon, Benjamin Martin, or Ben, is a symbol for his country. "The boy is smart, goal-oriented, and an individual. On the negative side, he is a bit xenophobic, self-centered, needs-to-win overly competitive, brash, and a consumer," the summary said.
Isam Aziz, Izzy for short, has different qualities.
"The boy is worldlier in his outlook and enjoys traveling - he even knows several languages," the plot summary says. "On the downside, Izzy can be a little too serious, self-righteous, superior, and even devious."
Ben loves sports, while Izzy "is a whiz on the computer and loves to solve puzzles," although he plays soccer.
The New York Times said the budget for the project was $6 million and producers hope to have it ready to start broadcasting in early 2007.
"There is no magic pearl we can rub to make all the people in the world get along," Queen Rania said. "But projects like 'Ben and Izzy' go a long way to ensuring that the next generation grows up with a mind-set geared toward trust and tolerance."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10381130
Radical Jordanian cleric fights UK deportation bid
10.05.06 1.00pm
LONDON - A hardline Islamic cleric believed to have close links with al Qaeda in Britain launched a legal challenge on Tuesday against efforts to deport him to Jordan.
The case of Abu Qatada, a Jordanian national who came to Britain in 1993, is a key test of British efforts to allow deportations to countries accused of torture by securing special agreements that deportees will not be ill treated.
The memoranda of understanding are meant to circumvent European human rights legislation which forbids member states from deporting people to countries where they could be tortured.
Abu Qatada's lawyer argued on Tuesday that evidence against him may have been obtained abroad through torture. But the British government said he was undoubtedly dangerous.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10381124
Peace brokers agree on a way to get aid to Palestinians
10.05.06 1.00pm
UNITED NATIONS - The quartet of Middle East peace brokers have agreed on a way to channel aid to the Palestinians for a trial period to ease a financial squeeze on the new government following the election of Hamas.
The group of international mediators - the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - issued a statement after a day of talks in which Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia warned of a civil war if the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority was left to collapse.
"The quartet expressed its willingness to endorse a temporary international mechanism that is limited in scope and duration, operates with full transparency and accountability," said the quartet statement.
The move came after the World Bank warned the Palestinian Authority could face a breakdown in law and order and basic services unless foreign donors step in to pay the salaries of about 165,000 civil servants.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10381126
Nigeria exposes 'illegal' drug trial
10.05.06
WASHINGTON - Nigerian medical experts have concluded Pfizer violated international law during a 1996 epidemic by testing an unapproved drug on children with brain infections, reports have said.
The Washington Post said the panel's study, completed five years ago but never released, found that Pfizer was never authorised by the Nigerian Government to give the unproven drug Trovan to nearly 100 children at a field hospital in Kano, where they were being treated for an often deadly strain of meningitis.
Pfizer's experiment was "an illegal trial of an unregistered drug", and violated Nigerian law, the international Declaration of Helsinki that governs ethical medical research and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the panel concluded.
Five children died after being treated with the experimental antibiotic and others contracted arthritis, although there is no evidence the drug played a part.
Six children died while taking a comparison drug, the Post said.
At the time, Doctors Without Borders was dispensing approved antibiotics at hospital, according to the Post.
Pfizer, the world's biggest drug company, told the Post it conducted the trial with the full knowledge of the Nigerian Government and consistent with Nigerian law. Local nurses explained the experiment to Nigerian parents and obtained their "verbal" consent, the company told the Post.
"Trovan unquestionably saved lives, and Pfizer strongly disagrees with any suggestion that the company conducted its study in an unethical manner," the Post quoted it as saying.
A US federal judge last November dismissed a lawsuit that accused Pfizer of not properly warning Nigerian families about the risk of its meningitis drug Trovan, then awaiting US Food and Drug Administration approval, during a clinical test. He said the case should be heard in a Nigerian court.
The lawsuit argued that some of the children in the trial died and others suffered brain damage because the drug makers did not explain to the Nigerian families that the antibiotic was experimental, that they could refuse the treatment for their children, or that other medicines were available.
Pfizer has denied the accusations.
The Nigerian Government report obtained by the Post said there were no records indicating that Pfizer told the children or their parents that they were part of an experiment.
The panel recommended that Pfizer be "sanctioned, apologise, and pay restitution".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10381018
continued …
The Acajou Hotel (Click on)
Leatherback Turtles enjoy beach accomodations along with migrating tourists.
She is probably laying eggs.
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (Click On)
The Leatherback Turtle Tagging Project
Scientists from the Hubs SeaWorld Research Institute and the National Marine Fisheries Service along with the Sanctuary and Moss Landing Marine Labs have placed satellite tracking tags on Leatherback sea turtles that visited the Monterey Bay during August and September to feed on jellyfish.
Morning Papers - continued ...
Zoos
Keep zoo among best in country
I have been following the banter of pros and cons regarding the Toledo Zoo levies. I am aware that residents of Lucas County regard those of us from other counties as non-supporters when it comes to zoo levies. My family has maintained paid membership for years and contributed to various projects, and when visiting the zoo we have added our financial support by purchasing food and mementos.
Remember, too, that residents outside of Lucas County spend a great deal of money in Toledo/Lucas County retail and commercial establishments, which in turn pass on their property tax obligations (including zoo levies) to the consumer. If my family resided in Lucas County, we would not hesitate to vote yes to keep a jewel such as the Toledo Zoo.
Likening the Toledo Zoo to a jewel prompts me to encourage passage of the levies. One only has to visit other famous zoos to realize what a gem our zoo truly is. I recently helped chaperone Northwood High School seniors on a trip to New York City, where several of us opted to visit the Bronx Zoo, well-known and prestigious among zoos.
While the Bronx Zoo is in a beautiful setting and has far more acreage, it does not compare to the number and quality of exhibits we have here. Several students even commented about how they prefer the Toledo Zoo.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060501/OPINION03/605010306/0/OPINION
Rajasthan zoos go extra mile to beat the heat
Jaipur, May 9: Bears in Rajasthan zoos are being served chilled milk and herbivorous animals treated to water melons and seasonal fruits to help them keep their cool under the hot summer sun.
"We woke up to the plight of the animals after a leopard cub suffering from sun stroke was brought to our zoo a few days ago. His condition is improving day by day but we are leaving no stones unturned to save our animals from the heat," Jaipur Zoological Park Director Manoj Parashar told PTI today.
He said the zoo had installed special coolers padded the cages with 'khas' while in the enclosures of animals kept in the open, sprinklers had been started. "To ensure better cooling is our utmost necessity," Parasher said.
http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=56668
Caucus covers panda points
By Wayne Risher
Contact
May 10, 2006
The giant panda haves and have-nots gathered in Memphis Tuesday to caucus about saving the beloved bears in the wild and displaying more of them in zoos.
Members of the Giant Panda Conservation Foundation prepared to send a team to China to check on conservation programs funded by panda loan fees.
The fees have been in the news recently as officials from panda-holding zoos started negotiating with the Chinese government to secure lower prices for future loans.
Finances were on the back burner this week, but not completely out of the picture, said Dave Towne, foundation chairman, and Dr. Chuck Brady, Memphis Zoo president and CEO. The meeting drew officials from four zoos that have pandas and four that want them.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_4686596,00.html
Oh deer! Where they go from here?
Wednesday May 10 2006 11:51 IST
BHUBANESWAR: The Supreme Court notice to state governments and Central Zoo Authority (CZA) on unrecognised zoos could land Orissa in a tight spot.
The apex court notice came after a PIL filed by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) seeking a prohibition on running of these zoos. It also requested that all inmates there be taken over by the government.
Going by statistics available with CZA, there are 17 zoos in Orissa of which nine are running without recognition for failing to meet the parameters.
Incidentally all are deer parks - starting from the one at Papadahandi to the one in Cuttack. Most of these parks are running into serious fund and infrastructure crunch.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20060510013019&Page=Q&Title=ORISSA&Topic=0
Zoo signs big names to perform in Toledo
By ROD LOCKWOOD
BLADE STAFF WRITER
One of pop music's most venerable stars and a newcomer who has reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 with her first two releases will headline this year's Toledo Zoo Summer Concert Series.
Paul Simon, whose new release "Surprise" hits stores today, will play at the zoo Sunday, July 2, while Ashlee Simpson appears at the amphitheater on Tuesday, July 25, with Australian pop stars The Veronicas as her opening act.
The series - which is rounded out by alt-rockers Guster on Aug. 8 and a Pink Floyd laser show on Aug. 11 - represents some of the most significant star power on the Toledo concert scene in recent memory.
This year's zoo series is a departure from previous years because the three acts all are either in their prime or touring behind new releases, compared with previous years that had more of an "oldies" sheen.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060509/NEWS38/605090349
Low central-city turnout hurt zoo levy
'New' label also a factor, experts say
By JENNI LAIDMAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Failure to bring out the central-city vote may have contributed to the defeat of the Toledo Zoo's 1-mill capital improvement levy.
Low voter turnout in minority neighborhoods, where levies generally are favored by a large percentage of the voting public, may have cost the zoo enough votes that would have pushed the issue over the top. Also eroding support was the fact that the 10-year tax issue was on the ballot as a "new" tax.
The capital improvement issue was to pay off debt, build better elephant facilities, and pay for maintenance at the aquarium. A 0.85-mill, five-year operating levy was approved by voters May 2.
"Historically, the minority areas are very supportive of levies," said Stanford Odesky, who runs a market research firm that bears his name and frequently analyzes vote outcomes in Lucas County.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060509/NEWS09/605090428
Seized white gator expected to bask in limelight at zoo
BY BO PETERSEN
A rare white alligator at Riverbanks Zoo is about to become a crowd fave.
The alligator is a charmer. It's leucistic, or lacking color pigments, although unlike an albino, it has dark eyes and a brown patch on its head. It is one of only a few leucistic American alligators in the world and may be the only one in South Carolina.
The Columbia zoo and gardens, which has kept it for the Natural Resources Department since it was seized in 2003, will put it on exhibit July 1 in a former anaconda snake display, after beginning live-time webcam broadcasts of it on June 1.
The zoo is where the alligator will stay, despite the outcome of charges against the Edisto Island Serpentarium owners who may have saved its life. Meanwhile, they are about to face a judge.
Heyward and Ted Clamp, the owners and brothers, pulled the alligator as a vulnerable hatchling from a Sea Pines plantation lagoon on Hilton Head Island in 2003. Since 1999, the Clamps have run the Edisto Island exhibit that features hundreds of snakes and other reptiles. Lifelong snake collectors, they have worked with state biologists on reptile studies.
They have a preliminary hearing June 7 in Beaufort on the misdemeanor charge of possessing an alligator, which is a federally protected species, after being arrested by the S.C. Department of Natural
Resources. They could be sentenced to as much as 30 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted.
"Somebody needs to get real and see what these guys were doing is what they have been doing all their lives ? conserving reptiles," said Charles Macloskie, their attorney.
The Clamps and another man pulled the alligator and two other leucistic hatchlings from the lagoon after being alerted they were there. They did it after unsuccessfully asking the Natural Resources Department to do it, Macloskie said. Leucistic animals don't tend to survive. They often have health problems and in the wild their color exposes them to predators. The other hatchlings died in captivity.
As a hatchling, the alligator's head was only twice as long as a cricket. It's now more than 2 feet long and growing.
"It's obviously a unique story. There's been a lot of interest in it," said Satch Krantz, zoo executive director.
"He's really cool looking," said Sean Foley, a zoo herpetologist who takes care of the gator. "He's been fun to take care of. As far as alligators go, he's a little flighty at times. He'll slither away from you."
The case has been delayed by turnover in the 14th Judicial Circuit solicitor's office. The hearing normally gives prosecutors and defendants an opportunity to plea out cases.
Macloskie said the Clamps are happy the alligator has survived, will be kept at the zoo and exhibited. They won't accept any plea bargain.
"Their interest was in saving the alligator and that they did. Their position is they did not do anything wrong," Macloskie said. "Apparently, DNR thought they broke the law."
Reach Bo Petersenat 745-5852 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.
http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=86225§ion=localnews
Zoo animals beat the heat with chilled milk
May 10 2006 at 02:15AM
New Delhi - Bears in an Indian zoo are being served chilled milk with glucose to help them beat the scorching summer temperatures that have already killed 55 people, officials said on Tuesday.
Authorities at the zoological park in Jaipur, capital of the desert state of Rajasthan, were also serving melons to other animals as the mercury shot up to 48°C over the weekend.
"We woke up to the plight of the animals after a leopard cub suffering from sun stroke was brought to our zoo a few days ago," zoo director Manoj Parashar told the Press Trust of India.
The official said the heat made the animals irritable.
Authorities said the zoo had also installed water sprinklers to keep the outdoor animals cool and padded cages with special khas grass which helped keep them cool.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=143&art_id=qw1147210562354B253
Look Around MS --Jackson Zoo
By Walt Grayson
walt@wlbt.net
There's something new at the zoo. It's the new Wilderness Mississippi Exhibit. It's a new section just opened in April that highlights the animals we have living in the wild in Mississippi. And there are a few of them that are fast becoming favorites at the zoo.
Sometimes it's hard to tell just who's looking at who when you go to the zoo. By the way, I'll try not to make a rhyme out of this story, but there is something new at the zoo, too. I'll strike off in another direction. Which is exactly what the Jackson Zoo has done.
Used to, we'd go to the zoo to see lions, tigers and elephants. Yes, I know lions, tigers and bears is what Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, but the bears come in HERE, now. In the new Mississippi Exhibit at the Zoo.
Chris Mims with the Zoo is proud to show it off. "A lot of these animals are endangered; some of them are just downright elusive. We have a black bear. And there are a few black bear still left in the state, most of them are around the Mississippi River. But chances are most Mississippian this will never see one in the wild. We have 3 Cougars. They used to be indigenous to the state. There hasn't been a confirmed spotting in the wild in a while. So whether or not they still exist in Mississippi is up for debate. And our river otters specifically; I know growing up in the Delta you'd see things and out in the river and not know quite what they were some times. They've were probably river otters and their noses were sticking out of the water and you couldn't quite identify them."
Some of these guys in the snake house, I've seen in the wild. Last rattle snake I saw was running me out of the cemetery at Windsor. I'd rather meet up with them this way. But I, like most visitors to the new area, found myself glued to the beavers and river otters.
Mims says, "They are certainly my favorite. I work at the zoo and everyday I have to come see the river otters swim around. Every single day."
The best of the old mixed in with the latest of the new. That's what you'll find at the Jackson Zoo. It's hard NOT to become a poet, when your proud of the zoo and you just want to show it. Not that you have to be a poet to be proud, but I just came up with that last rhyme and thought I'd throw it in.
http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4882443&nav=2CSf
Zoo announces rare births
By CHRISTINE S. DIAMOND, The Lufkin Daily News
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Ellen Trout Zoo staffers were all smiles Tuesday morning as they welcomed the three-week-late arrival of three Louisiana pine snakes from their large eggs in the snake house, and watched a young buck who set rare and endangered hooves to earth Monday bond with his exotic mother, also an endangered species.
The Louisiana pine snakes' parents, residents of Lufkin's zoo since 2002, laid the set of four 4-inch eggs on Jan. 6 — each weighing about 75-80 grams. Reptile caretaker Ben Roberts said he expected the baby snakes to emerge April 12. They didn't.
http://www.lufkindailynews.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/05/10/20060510LDNzoo.html
U.S. panda zoos meet to discuss species' fate
Zookeepers pleased with conservation progress in China
The Associated Press (apwire)
Published on 2006-05-10 15:34 (KST)
Representatives of U.S. zoos that either have pandas on display or are seeking them gathered to discuss the species before a trip to discuss loan fees with the Chinese government, according to a media report.
The trip is planned by members of the Giant Panda Conservation Foundation to check on the programs funded by the loan fees zoos pay to display the animals and to try negotiating better terms.
Most American zoos pay at least $1 million (euro790,000) a year to borrow pandas for the display and research. That money pays for projects in the pandas' natural habitat, like wildlife preserves, reforestation and training conservation workers, The Commercial Appeal reported.
The Memphis Zoo is paying $1.1 million (euro870,000) a year for pandas Ya Ya and Le Le on a 10-year conservation and research loanthat began in 2003.
Dave Towne, the foundation's president and retired director of the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, told the paper that during a recent trip to China he observed 16 baby pandas being raised in facilities improved by funding and expertise from American zoos.
''I am impressed with the progress that's been made,'' Towne told the paper. Before the loans began, ''China really had no money for wildlife conservation. The money that came out of U.S. zoos has made a major difference.'' Chuck Brady, Memphis Zoo's president and CEO, said the aim of lowering loan fees is to allow more zoos to help efforts to revive the species.
''The more zoos that have them, the more the word will get out, and the more positive the impact is going to be on giant pandas in the wild,'' Brady said.
Participating zoos with pandas were the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., the San Diego Zoo and Zoo Atlanta. Zoos that want pandas were the Oakland (California) Zoo, the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, the Toronto Zoo and the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Zoo.
http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?no=291124&rel_no=1
Don't patronize Game Preserve's 'Kangaroo Walkabout'
''The problem with captive wild animals is the stress they feel in their penned situation.''
The private group that has leased the Lehigh Valley Zoo at the Trexler-Lehigh County Game Preserve and gotten $1.9 million of county taxpayer money has announced a new exhibit, the ''Kangaroo Walkabout.'' Zoo members ($150 a year) can walk in the kangaroo habitat twice, and then again if you pay more. (Regular admission is $5.)
The Morning Call published what I call a puff piece on the Walkabout in the May 4 Go Guide. It showed a picture of two kangas eating from a bowl placed next to the rope defining the human walkway. So, the kangas would have to go up to the rope, with four adults and six children hanging over them, to eat. The story said one child ''squealed in delight,'' another child exclaimed, ''They hop!'' A baby kanga ''stuffed'' itself in its mother's pouch, (to escape, I say), and yet another child called out, ''What are you doing, joey?'' while her parents laughed.
Some people who run zoos limit what is done to animals to only what is good for their welfare. But others say animals will adapt to anything and allow anything they can get people to pay for. Of course, this pays for the zoo, or more particularly, for the salaries, benefits and perks of the professional zoo managers. But I believe there is a line limiting what can be done to zoo animals that should not be lowered, and should be defended or raised.
http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-quote-c-a-amay09,0,3635867.story?coll=all-newsopinionanotherview-hed
Dallas Zoo Re-Opens Gorilla Exhibit
(CBS 11 News) DALLAS The Dallas Zoo is almost finished with a $2 million renovation.
On Wednesday, for the first time in 2 years, since Jabari the gorilla escaped and attacked several people, visitors were able to look at the gorilla exhibit.
This is the first time the animals have been let loose in 6 months. They had been inside while the renovation project was underway.
“It’s taken us a long time to do it,” said Dallas Zoo director Rich Buickerood. “It’s been under construction for two years.”
“I never thought it was unsafe to begin with. I think it was a freak accident,” said Kim Vance, a zoo visitor.
Regardless, the zoo made changes just to be safe.
“Jabari did an extraordinary thing,” said Chuck Siegel with Dallas Zoo Animal Management. “What we’ve done is to be on the safer side and increase the height of the walls and increase the distance.”
The walls are now all at least 15 feet tall with a wire around the top. The exhibit also features several boulders, what some are calling “gorilla speed bumps.”
said, “It’s also an opportunity for us to cut down on running lanes so young ambitious gorillas can’t get a head of speed and make another phenomenal jump like a couple years ago.”
Even the youngest visitors have noticed the changes. Jessica Skelton, one little girl enjoying the Dallas Zoo on Wednesday, said, “There’s no possible way for them to get out. There’s no way because a bunch of people have been working here and they’ve been working so hard and no animals will get out and everyone can be safe.”
Half of the gorilla exhibit is open to the public now. The other half will open next month.
http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_123173654.html
Zoo Tycoon 2 Goes on Golden Safari
05/03/06
Microsoft would like you to believe the savannah is heating up, but in reality, it's just their marketing department getting warm for E3 next week, as they announced today that Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure has gone gold and will ship to retailers on May 16.
The expansion includes a bunch of new content, including 20 new African animals that range from the striped hyena roaming the desert landscape to the wildebeest roving the savannah, new scenarios, new challenges and the ability to create African habitats and zoo attractions.
http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/005550.php
Zoo levies: one passed, one didn't
WTVG-- May 3, 2006 - It turned out ot be a bittersweet election day for the Toledo zoo. It had two levies on the ballot and only one was passed, leaving them with the question: "What now?".
Issue 3, the capital improvement levy the zoo said it so needed, got shot down. Zoo officials were going to use that money to make upgrades around the facility. Issue 4, the operating levy for day-to-day operations, passed but zoo director Dr. Anne Baker says they really needed both. She called it "a significant setback. We are about to begin strategic planning. I had hoped to go into that process with a real clear idea of what our funding base was going to be, where now it's sort of limbo again until November."
That's when she says they have to go back to voters, and if it gets turned down again, the public should expect major cuts. "I think we would not just be looking at Louie; we'd be looking at our whole elephant program. We can't run a program without the appropriate space and if we can't do what's right for the animals, then we won't have the animals; they'll have to go elsewhere."
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=local&id=4138680
Detroit Zoo Breeds Rare Panamanian Frogs
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 3, 2006; 7:55 PM
ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- The Detroit Zoo reports success in breeding the scarce Panamanian golden frog, threatened with extinction in the wild. Five pairs of the frogs, with distinctive black blotches, have mated and produced large numbers of eggs. Some have hatched into tadpoles.
A sixth pair are mating now and also may produce eggs.
The Detroit Zoo for five years has been part of an international plan to save the rare mountain frogs. The amphibians are threatened by habitat destruction, pollution, climate change and a frog-killing fungus.
The Panamanian golden frog is one of thousands of frog species dwindling in number worldwide, Bill Flanagan, associate curator of amphibians, told the Detroit Free Press for a story Wednesday.
"The amphibian decline rate is much greater than anything else we've seen in our time," he said.
The zoo chose the Panamanian golden frog for attention because "they make great zoo animals," Flanagan said. "They're so colorful, and they're active during the day."
The zoo's amphibian exhibit is closed for renovations and is expected to reopen before Memorial Day.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/03/AR2006050302130.html
Problems Put Honolulu Zoo's Accreditation On Hold
Association Gives Zoo 1 Year To Resolve Issues
POSTED: 4:40 pm HST May 3, 2006
UPDATED: 11:33 am HST May 4, 2006
HONOLULU -- A national zoo group has put the accreditation of the Honolulu Zoo on hold because of maintenance deficiencies, a manpower shortage and other problems there.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association could revoke the zoo's accreditation if the problems do not improve in one year. Accreditation is important to the zoo because it means the zoo meets basic standards and it also allows Honolulu to trade animals with other zoos around the country.
A three-member team from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association toured Honolulu Zoo for three days in January.
"Basically, that's what the accreditation team said, 'Get your house in order,'" city Enterprise Services Director Sidney A. Quintal said.
The team complained that the zoo's overall look, especially behind the scenes, was "unkempt and cluttered." The inspectors said clutter was so bad in the maintenance area that they couldn't inspect some places.
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/9157342/detail.html
State House approves funding to keep open Detroit Zoo
LANSING, Mich. The Michigan House has approved four (m) million dollars in state funding for the Detroit Zoo, but lawmakers still have to negotiate differences in other parts of a supplemental budget bill before the zoo funding is finalized.
The measure includes four (m) million dollars for the nonprofit Detroit Zoological Society, which is taking over operations of the zoo from the city of Detroit.
In February, the Detroit City Council initially rejected a deal to hand over control of the zoo, putting the state's offer of funding in jeopardy. But the council later voted to transfer control to the zoological society.
The next step is to restore the state funding.
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4856889
No plans for local zoo
By MaltaMedia News
May 4, 2006, 08:09 CET
The Malta Environment Planning Authority (MEPA) has never received any applications for a local zoo. This was stated by Minister George Pullicino during a parliamentary sitting on Wednesday.
In response to Stefan Buontempo’s parliamentary question regarding whether any interested parties had presented an apllication to open a zoo since the setting up of MEPA, Minister Pullicino answered negatively.
The only animals in zoo-like state in Malta are the dolphins at the Mediterreaneo in Bahar ic-Caħaq.
San Anton gardens used to house animals including monkeys and camels between the 1970’s and 80’s, but it is now only host to a number of exhibitions like the Spring Horticulture show.
http://www.maltamedia.com/news/2005/ln/article_9882.shtml
MBA group helps promote insect zoo
Published on Thursday, May 4, 2006
Kerry Fischer
Kansas State Collegian
Three K-State students are in business, in the bug business that is.
The College of Business Administration offers a masters of business administration practicum option to all of its graduate students as a way to gain real world experience.
“It’s the last course in a student’s program of study,” David Vruwink, assistant dean of accounting, said. “Second-year MBA students take it, and it’s their first exposure to real world problems at a management level.”
The students are placed into a team by the graduate program director, said Jeff Katz, professor in management.
“Once they’re assigned to a team, they have to make it work,” Vruwink said.
There are seven projects in the works this semester.
“I like to meet on a weekly basis to get an update on the status of the project, and periodically I check in with the client to see if they’re communicating,” Vruwink said. “I do that with all seven projects.”
Katz said the most important concept he conveys to his MBA group is identifying the nature of the project.
http://kstatecollegian.com/article.php?a=10266
House reinstates $4M zoo grant
Badly-needed funds will keep financiall-troubled facility in operation
LANSING -- Legislation reinstating a badly needed $4 million grant for the Detroit Zoo was approved by the House on Wednesday.
The money is part of a supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, containing a host of added state spending items and recommended by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
The House made changes in the bill, which already had passed the Senate, so it must return there for final approval.
Lawmakers originally had approved the $4 million grant in December, but made their action contingent on an agreement by the Detroit City Council to give control of zoo operations to the Detroit Zoological Society within 60 days.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/METRO/605040415
Zoo survives with help from friends
By Ann Keyes
FOR THE NEWS-LEADER
Who: Friends of the Zoo
Mission: FOZ shares the goals of the Springfield-Greene County Park Board property the group supports: Dickerson Park Zoo. The nonprofit FOZ and the zoo seek "to provide meaningful recreation experiences, educate the public about nature, conserve animals and plants and conduct research," says zoo public relations director Melinda Mancuso.
About: Most noted for its Asian elephant, cheetah and wolf-breeding programs, Dickerson Park Zoo houses more than 500 animals representing 170 species. Now highly regarded throughout the country, the property wasn't always a gem. In the late 1970s, the zoo was on the verge of being closed, says the park's Web site.
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/LIFE06/605040314/1037
Zoo animals join artistic efforts
AMANDA PIERRE
STATE OF THE ARTS
May 4, 2006
Local artists have painted new murals at the Blank Park Zoo, proving that some people are just wildly artistic. They are the winning participants in a competition held by zoo officials in conjunction with Metro Arts.
The work of Liz Regenold and her son, Alex, will welcome "Tarzans and Janes" to the area where folks truly answer nature's call - the restrooms and drinking fountains of the Discovery Center.
Liz Regenold, who won first place, has adorned the wilderness retreat with an Africa scene, including savannah residents such as lions, giraffes and a zebra. Second place went to Jill Wells, who painted the lower floor of the Discovery Center with an ocean theme. Johnston Middle School eighth-grader Yiming Qin was also selected to add to the zoo's wild decor.
The Blank Park Zoo will host a show of each artist's work for one month during the summer in the Discovery Center's Zoo Safari Snack Shop.
Zoo animals have caught the bug, too. Their art, created by their paws, feet and hooves, will be on display and available in the zoo's gift shop starting Monday.
OPERA LEGEND COMES TO WAUKEE: The Waukee Area Arts Council will present a concert with Simon Estes at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Waukee High School Auditorium. Tickets are $25. Estes will speak to Waukee schoolchildren today as a part of the Character Counts program, and conduct workshops with the sixth- through 12th-grade choirs. Tickets to his show will be available at the Chit-n-Chat Coffee House, 13 Carefree Lane, Waukee, or by phone at (515) 402-7870.
DINOSAURS IN THE EAST VILLAGE: From Our Hands, 400 E. Locust St., Ste. 8, hosts an "Art for the Garden" Show through May 13. On view and sale are the large-scale dinosaur sculptures by Ben Britton of Zearing. For more info, call 282-3496.
IOWA FRINGE FEST SET: Folks are lining up their offerings for the next Iowa Fringe Festival, set for July 20-23. The Drama Workshop and Tramp Theatre Troupe will co-produce "Character Assassination" by playwright Jules Joyce, a Des Moines native. Frisky about the fest? Go to www.iowafringe.com/.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/ENT01/605040360/1047/ENT01
Parade of steel animals begins journey to Midwest zoo
BUFFALO, N.Y. A rolling menagerie of sculptured animals has begun its 800-mile parade from western New York to Saint Louis, Missouri.
Rochester sculptor Albert Paley has created a series of massive figures that will stand at the entrance of the Saint Louis Zoo. When it's reassembled at the zoo, the 200-ton display will be 130 feet long and 36 feet high -- making it the world's largest public zoo sculpture.
Yesterday, a Buffalo-area trucking company began hauling the sculpture to its destination. The steel pieces included a two-ton rhinoceros and an elephant and giraffe chained upright on flatbed trucks. More trucks are scheduled to depart today, with the rest to follow next week.
The dozens of animal figures were fabricated by Klein Steel Services of Rochester and welded by General Welding of Attica.
Paley is a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. His works are on display at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
http://www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=4858533&nav=2aKD
Cincinnati Zoo Expecting Two Baby Gorillas
POSTED: 8:02 am EDT May 4, 2006
UPDATED: 11:17 am EDT May 4, 2006
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CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Zoo's gorilla breeding program is expecting its first babies since 1998.
Muke, 24, a mother of two, is due in August, and Samantha, 36, mother of six and grandmother of 11, is expecting in September, said Ron Evans, primate center team leader. Muke delivered the last gorilla baby here.
The father-to-be is Jomo, a 15-year-old silverback on loan from Toronto.
The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, with 47 gorillas born since 1970, ranks second nationally to the Bronx Zoo, which has had 57 births, said Dan Wharton, North America coordinator for the Gorilla Species Survival Plan.
http://www.channelcincinnati.com/health/9158319/detail.html
L.A. Zoo has baby animalon view
Just in time for Mother's Day, the Los Angeles Zoo invites families to see the zoo's new babies. The proud mothers include a tiger, a kangaroo, a giraffe and a Cape vulture. In all, there are more than 15 baby animals on display at the zoo throughout the month of May during its special "Everybody Loves a Baby" exhibit.
Visitors are invited to take a special self-guided tour and view the zoo's latest arrivals. Located in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, the zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For admission information and directions, call (323) 644-4200 or visit www.lazoo.org.
http://www.toacorn.com/news/2006/0504/On_The_Town/155.html
Working at the Zoo
"My job is to feed the customers – aka 'the animals.' "
Listen to this Commentary!
By Corinne Sampson
I wish there was such a thing as a fast, legal source of money for a high school senior.
I work for the animals who come to see the animals.
I’m a food service cashier for the National Zoo. Basically, I’m the epitome of customer service. My job is to feed the customers – aka “the animals”. Every weekend, I endure rude people – loud children, parents with attitudes, and impatient mongrels who snatch food out of my hand and start stuffing their faces right in front of my register.
People constantly complain about the prices, but the zoo is free. Everything is free, except for the food and souvenirs. What they don’t realize is that all the proceeds – from the pretzels to the t-shirts to the binoculars to the stuffed monkeys – go to animal research.
The poor animals are sick of the customers as well – banging on their glass cages and screaming at them. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t want anyone staring at me every day as if I was on Broadway. Go home rude people! Watch Animal Planet or National Geographic and stay away from my register
http://www.youthradio.org/jobs/wtop030504_zoo.shtml
Cincinnati Zoo's breeding program makes comeback
Associated Press
CINCINNATI - The Cincinnati Zoo's gorilla breeding program is expecting its first babies since 1998.
Muke, 24, a mother of two, is due in August, and Samantha, 36, mother of six and grandmother of 11, is expecting in September, said Ron Evans, primate center team leader. Muke delivered the last gorilla baby here.
The father-to-be is Jomo, a 15-year-old silverback on loan from Toronto.
The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, with 47 gorillas born since 1970, ranks second nationally to the Bronx Zoo, which has had 57 births, said Dan Wharton, North America coordinator for the Gorilla Species Survival Plan.
Cincinnati's breeding program had been on hiatus since 1999, when Chaka, a silverback on loan from Philadelphia and father of nine babies here, returned home. The zoo's other male, Colossus, never showed any interest in breeding before he died April 11.
About 75,000 endangered lowland gorillas remain in the wild, and they're disappearing at the rate of 1,000 a year, zoo officials said.
For breeding purposes, Evans hopes for girls.
"One male is good for four or five females, which means females are at a premium," he said. "I'd be thrilled with two girls, but mostly I want two healthy, happy babies."
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/14499862.htm
SB Zoo Faces New Pachyderm Protection Plan
Elephants in the Santa Barbara Zoo may soon have to pack their trunks and move, pending an upcoming decision by the California State Legislature.
On April 25, a California Assembly committee passed the Elephant Protection Act, which will go to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for approval May 10. The bill, CA AB 3027, would require California’s zoos to expand their elephant enclosures to at least five acres and to stop using certain elephant handling tools, or risk losing their elephant exhibits altogether. Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, a Democrat from Van Nuys, authored the bill with backing from the Sacramento-based Animal Protection Institute. The Santa Barbara Zoo currently houses its Asian elephants, Sujatha and Little Mac, in a 13,000-square-foot exhibit, which is less than a third of an acre, Animal Protection Institute Media Relations Officer Zibby Wilder said.
Wilder said the legislation is not meant to close down elephant programs at the zoos, although it could potentially force some zoos to get ride of their animals.
“The intent is to keep elephants in zoos, [but] if you cannot properly care for the animals you should not be allowed to keep them,” Wilder said. “Zoos would have plenty of time - until 2009 - [to meet the requirements].”
http://www.ucsbdailynexus.com/news/2006/11624.html
Watoto's first birthday a success story for zoo
Friday, 5 May 2006
THE success of Monarto Zoological Park's southern white rhinoceros breeding program was heralded with the birthday of the first rhino born in South Australia last week. The male rhino, Watoto, celebrated its first birthday on Friday and rhino keeper Tony Austin (pictured) said the occasion was a big day for everyone.
It's a big deal for us because it's our first one, he said.
Watoto has grown from 40 kilograms to 300kg in 12 months and Mr Austin said he was happy about the success so far.
It's one of the things we have never bred before so you don't know if it's going to work, he said.
As a birthday treat, Watoto was given large bail of lucerne hay.
Monarto zoo has five rhinos and the park plans to continue breeding, aiming to send them back to protected conservation game reserves in Southern Africa.
http://murraybridge.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&story_id=478299&category=General%20News&m=5&y=2006
Serious cuteness on display at the zoo
Zoo Babies starts Saturday; you can see why it's so popular
JIM KNIPPENBERG ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Call it the "ooh and aah" factor - little tangles of fur and fluff, waddling around on shaky legs, sometimes clinging to Mom, sometimes just lying there staring at you.
Zoo Babies, the annual month-long show and tell at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, kicks off Saturday, and is expected to draw a crowd of 200,000, up from 150,000 in a typical summer month. That makes the event the zoo's second busiest party of the year, right after the Festival of Lights.
And no wonder. The place always has a goodly sized crop of babies - more than a dozen at the moment - with a gaggle of others expected before the May 28 finale.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/ENT09/605050328/1025
Bronx zoo goes ape
BY BOB KAPPSTATTER
DAILY NEWS BRONX BUREAU CHIEF
Fans went bananas at the Bronx Zoo's Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit yesterday as the four latest young additions made their official debuts.
Three male gorillas and a little girlrilla came out with the warm weather, cradled in their nursing moms' arms, piggybacking and even doing some shoulder climbing to explore some tree leaves.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Look at them!" cried an excited 8-year-old Colleen Freyer to her dad, Paul, and friend Michelle Kenny, 8, of Croton-on-Hudson as they entered the exhibit - a wall of thick glass the only thing separating them from the gorillas.
Zookeepers said the youngest - and only female - was born March 21 to first-time mom Halima, while mom Julia's son was born Sept. 8, and is getting coaching in gorilla ways from older brother Pierrepont.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/414991p-350717c.html
3 of 4 gorillas set to return to zoo's renovated outdoor exhibit
By EVA-MARIE AYALA
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Finger painting and movies are fine, but for gorillas that have been cooped for nearly a year, nothing beats playing in the grass and foraging for food.
Three of the Dallas Zoo gorillas are returning to the outdoor exhibit of the Jake L. Hamon Gorilla Conservation Research Center on Saturday after almost a year living solely in their indoor quarters while the exhibit has been renovated.
Officials recently tested the north portion of the exhibit by letting Jenny, 51, roam by herself for a while.
"She just lay on her back and looked at the sky, ate some vegetation and was as calm as could be," said Chuck Siegel, deputy director for animal management.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/14507919.htm
Zoo hosts Humane Society adoption
Welcome a cat or dog into the family
May 5, 2006
People heading to the Detroit Zoo this weekend can do more than just gawk at the animals -- they can also bring one home.
OK, so you can't tote back a python or a polar bear, but there will be hundreds of dogs and cats that need homes.
The Detroit Zoo and the Michigan Humane Society will partner with about 25 other local animal welfare organizations on Saturday and Sunday for the 14th annual spring Meet Your Best Friend at the Zoo. Parking and admission to the event, which will be held in tents in the lot beneath the zoo's water tower, is free.
Amy Popp, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Humane Society, estimates between 750 and 1,000 puppies, kittens, dogs and cats will be at the event, hoping for new families.
She added that those who can't find a dog or cat they mesh with on Saturday should come back Sunday for a whole new group of animals.
Those who want puppies, however, must come early on either day. Because of the demand, the first 25 people at the event who say they wish to adopt puppies will be given a "puppy pass." The pass allows them to enter the tents 15 minutes before the event officially begins at 10 a.m.
In order to adopt, you must be at least 18 years old and have a proof of identification. The animals are up to date on their immunizations.
Organizers ask that attendees leave current pets at home.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/FEATURES01/605050365/1026
Sedated lionesses enter NEW Zoo like lambs
Pair expected to attract visitors, join captive-breeding program
By Paul Brinkmann
pbrinkma@greenbaypressgazette.com
SUAMICO — A long-awaited pair of young lionesses arrived Thursday afternoon at Brown County's NEW Zoo from the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison.
The new lionesses are the latest step in an expansion at the NEW Zoo. Besides helping to attract visitors, the lionesses will be part of an exchange captive-breeding program for the rare African lion. The American Zoological Society approved of the transfer through its Species Survival Plan. In another two years, they may be producing lion cubs.
Officially, their names are Etana and Ajia, which are Swahili, respectively, for "strong one" and "quick". But they were better known in Madison by their nicknames, Piggy and Bones, for their opposite eating habits.
The Columbus Zoo in Ohio accepted one of the NEW Zoo's longtime favorites, an aging female lion named Raja. The new pair is taking over her former den. It's near the home of new young giraffes that arrived in the winter.
"It's going to be a tremendous new addition. With the giraffes and the new lions, this should be a great year," said Neil Anderson, zoo director.
The lions were anesthetized for loading in their trailer in Madison and again upon arrival in Suamico.
The two females were part of a five-cub litter born a year ago that made headlines and drew a steady stream of visitors in Madison. The other three were males, and one of them has been shipped to the zoo in Racine.
"Their genetics are known and recorded. There's probably only about 80 of them in the United States," said James Hubing, director at the Henry Vilas Zoo.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/GPG0101/605050589/1207/GPGnews
Electric train becomes permanent zoo inhabitant
Steam train moves over for newer model, which has been on a yearlong tryout.
The Orange County Register
SANTA ANA – The Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park bought a new Zoofari Express train after a yearlong test drive.
A new electric train has replaced the 1860s-style steam train at the Santa Ana Zoo. Several contributors made the purchase of the environmentally friendly engine and train possible: Ludwick Foundation, Bud Hurlbut, the manufacturer, and William Sommerville, a Santa Ana developer and longtime advocate; Friends of Santa Ana Zoo Board of Directors; and members of the Platinum 1036 Train Club.
Supporters welcome the new train 10 a.m. Saturday at the zoo with a check presentation.
The Zoofari Express has trekked through the park since spring 1999 after serving a 43-year run at Santa's Village in Skyforest. The zoo began test driving the electric train, a prototype for the manufacturer, last year, but only recently committed to its purchase. With the new train running, the zoo will now replace the steam engine of the old train with an electric one. Later, two trains will make runs.
The train travels throughout the Crean Family Farm, the Children's Zoo, and into the northern part of the zoo for a 6 ½-minute ride. The locomotive pulls six cars: a tender, four passenger cars and a caboose.
The Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park is at 1801 E. Chestnut Ave. The zoo is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for seniors and children ages 3 to 12. Children 2 years old and younger, people with disabilities and members of the zoo are admitted free. Elephant rides are $5 and train rides are $3. Information: Cathi Decker at (714) 953-8555, Ext. 11.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1131160.php
'AnimaLuau' at the Minnesota Zoo
APPLE VALLEY
Dogs and their human companions are invited to a day of demonstrations and contests during "AnimaLuau" from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. May 13 at the Minnesota Zoo. The event is held by the Minnesota Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zookeepers in partnership with the Minnesota Valley Humane Society's "Woofer and Hoofer" Pet Festival. A portion of money raised will benefit animals at the humane society. At the Puma Pavilion, dogs can compete in several categories, including "best trick" and "cutest puppy." The top three dogs in each category win ribbons and prizes. The event is free, but it costs $5 to enter your dog in a contest, plus $1 for each additional entry. Tropical attire is encouraged to enhance the luau theme. All dogs must have current vaccinations and be leashed. Registration forms, which should be filled out and brought to the event, are available at www.MVHSpets.org. For details, call the zoo at 952-431-9500 or visit www.mnzoo.org.
hastings
Annual raptor release: Watch as raptors are returned to the wild from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center, 12805 St. Croix Trail. Learn the real-life stories of the Raptor Center's eagles, hawks, owls and falcons. Participants also can meet the birds, visit the interpretive center or hike. Hands-on activities for children, educational shows and entertainment also are planned. At 1 p.m., at least two raptors will be released. For details, call 651-437-4359.
Inver Grove heights
Concert: The Inver Hills Community Band presents "Best of Band Classics," the sixth annual spring band concert, at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Fine Arts Auditorium of Inver Hills Community College. The performance will include Rimsky-Korsakov's "Procession of the Nobles," Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries," Bizet's "Suite from Carmen" and other classics. The college is at 2500 80th Street E. Admission is free. For more information, go to www.ihcb.org.
West St. PAul
Pancake breakfast: The West St. Paul queen candidates are holding a pancake breakfast from 8 to 10:30 a.m. today at Applebee's, 1753 S. Robert St. Breakfast will include pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs and a beverage. Tickets are available at the door for $5. All proceeds benefit the Celebrate West St. Paul Days program and royalty scholarships. E-mail weststpaulroyalty@email.com for more information.
events elsewhere
Spring tea: The Maplewood Area Historical Society will sponsor a springtime tea May 13 at Bruentrup Heritage Farm, 2170 E. County Road D, Maplewood. Seatings are at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Cost is $25 or $15 for those younger than 15. For information, call Char at 651-776-7183 or Carolyn at 651-748-9009.
Compiled by Andy Rathbun. Send your Dakota County events to news@pioneerpress.com or fax to 651-228-2179.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/14514351.htm
Zoo to celebrate wildflowers on Sunday
PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregon Zoo showcases Oregon wildflowers and their vital role in the web of life during Celebrating Wildflowers, Sunday, May 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The event, sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management, highlights the interdependence of Oregon plants and wildlife through fun, family-friendly activities, and is free with zoo admission.
"Wildflowers and other native plants are critical to a healthy ecosystem," says Tony Vecchio, Oregon Zoo director. "Their vital role is often taken for granted. This event, while involving people with conservation programs, highlights the importance of wildflowers in ways that are fun and exciting for both children and adults."
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=85229
Zoo opens its gates for season
Admission fees waived
By Doug Zellmer
of The Northwestern
The Menominee Park Zoo is dawning on a new era when it opens for the season at 9 a.m. today.
Gone is the zoo entrance fee thanks to a donation by Tom and Penny Harenburg, while a new elk exhibit is taking shape, although it's not expected to open for a couple of months.
"We're looking forward to a good season," said Menominee Park zoo specialist Carrie Hill. "Each year, we try to improve the experience inside the zoo for the animals and the visitors."
The Harnburgs worked with the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation to set up an annual $65,000 fund that will eliminate the city zoo's entrance fees and cover a portion of zoo upkeep and improvement costs.
Tom Stephany, parks director for the city of Oshkosh, said the goal is to open the elk exhibit July 1. Parks department workers began construction of the exhibit last fall.
"It's going to be a very nice exhibit; very naturalistic," Stephany said.
When the elk exhibit is completed, visitors to the zoo will have unobstructed viewing of the elk from an observation deck and log cabin.
Stephany said they'd like to get three young elk for the exhibit — a bull calf and two young heifers.
"The goal is that when these animals are of breeding age they will be reproductive," Stephany said.
The elk exhibit is next to where three wolves — Saleen, Caleb and Rutger — have called their permanent home after arriving at the zoo in mid-August 2002.
The wolves were donated to the zoo for educational purposes by the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn.
The wolves live in a nearly one-acre area that includes a limestone cliff, boulders, vine plantings and prairie grasses.
Hill said new additions to the zoo this year include white crowned mangabeys, which are considered one of the world's most endangered primates.
Also on exhibit at the zoo this season are brown lemurs and a pair of coati, which are like a South American raccoon.
Doug Zellmer: (920) 426-6667 or dzellmer@thenorthwestern.com.
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060506/OSH0101/605060328/1128/OSHnews
continued …
Keep zoo among best in country
I have been following the banter of pros and cons regarding the Toledo Zoo levies. I am aware that residents of Lucas County regard those of us from other counties as non-supporters when it comes to zoo levies. My family has maintained paid membership for years and contributed to various projects, and when visiting the zoo we have added our financial support by purchasing food and mementos.
Remember, too, that residents outside of Lucas County spend a great deal of money in Toledo/Lucas County retail and commercial establishments, which in turn pass on their property tax obligations (including zoo levies) to the consumer. If my family resided in Lucas County, we would not hesitate to vote yes to keep a jewel such as the Toledo Zoo.
Likening the Toledo Zoo to a jewel prompts me to encourage passage of the levies. One only has to visit other famous zoos to realize what a gem our zoo truly is. I recently helped chaperone Northwood High School seniors on a trip to New York City, where several of us opted to visit the Bronx Zoo, well-known and prestigious among zoos.
While the Bronx Zoo is in a beautiful setting and has far more acreage, it does not compare to the number and quality of exhibits we have here. Several students even commented about how they prefer the Toledo Zoo.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060501/OPINION03/605010306/0/OPINION
Rajasthan zoos go extra mile to beat the heat
Jaipur, May 9: Bears in Rajasthan zoos are being served chilled milk and herbivorous animals treated to water melons and seasonal fruits to help them keep their cool under the hot summer sun.
"We woke up to the plight of the animals after a leopard cub suffering from sun stroke was brought to our zoo a few days ago. His condition is improving day by day but we are leaving no stones unturned to save our animals from the heat," Jaipur Zoological Park Director Manoj Parashar told PTI today.
He said the zoo had installed special coolers padded the cages with 'khas' while in the enclosures of animals kept in the open, sprinklers had been started. "To ensure better cooling is our utmost necessity," Parasher said.
http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=56668
Caucus covers panda points
By Wayne Risher
Contact
May 10, 2006
The giant panda haves and have-nots gathered in Memphis Tuesday to caucus about saving the beloved bears in the wild and displaying more of them in zoos.
Members of the Giant Panda Conservation Foundation prepared to send a team to China to check on conservation programs funded by panda loan fees.
The fees have been in the news recently as officials from panda-holding zoos started negotiating with the Chinese government to secure lower prices for future loans.
Finances were on the back burner this week, but not completely out of the picture, said Dave Towne, foundation chairman, and Dr. Chuck Brady, Memphis Zoo president and CEO. The meeting drew officials from four zoos that have pandas and four that want them.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_4686596,00.html
Oh deer! Where they go from here?
Wednesday May 10 2006 11:51 IST
BHUBANESWAR: The Supreme Court notice to state governments and Central Zoo Authority (CZA) on unrecognised zoos could land Orissa in a tight spot.
The apex court notice came after a PIL filed by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) seeking a prohibition on running of these zoos. It also requested that all inmates there be taken over by the government.
Going by statistics available with CZA, there are 17 zoos in Orissa of which nine are running without recognition for failing to meet the parameters.
Incidentally all are deer parks - starting from the one at Papadahandi to the one in Cuttack. Most of these parks are running into serious fund and infrastructure crunch.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20060510013019&Page=Q&Title=ORISSA&Topic=0
Zoo signs big names to perform in Toledo
By ROD LOCKWOOD
BLADE STAFF WRITER
One of pop music's most venerable stars and a newcomer who has reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 with her first two releases will headline this year's Toledo Zoo Summer Concert Series.
Paul Simon, whose new release "Surprise" hits stores today, will play at the zoo Sunday, July 2, while Ashlee Simpson appears at the amphitheater on Tuesday, July 25, with Australian pop stars The Veronicas as her opening act.
The series - which is rounded out by alt-rockers Guster on Aug. 8 and a Pink Floyd laser show on Aug. 11 - represents some of the most significant star power on the Toledo concert scene in recent memory.
This year's zoo series is a departure from previous years because the three acts all are either in their prime or touring behind new releases, compared with previous years that had more of an "oldies" sheen.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060509/NEWS38/605090349
Low central-city turnout hurt zoo levy
'New' label also a factor, experts say
By JENNI LAIDMAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Failure to bring out the central-city vote may have contributed to the defeat of the Toledo Zoo's 1-mill capital improvement levy.
Low voter turnout in minority neighborhoods, where levies generally are favored by a large percentage of the voting public, may have cost the zoo enough votes that would have pushed the issue over the top. Also eroding support was the fact that the 10-year tax issue was on the ballot as a "new" tax.
The capital improvement issue was to pay off debt, build better elephant facilities, and pay for maintenance at the aquarium. A 0.85-mill, five-year operating levy was approved by voters May 2.
"Historically, the minority areas are very supportive of levies," said Stanford Odesky, who runs a market research firm that bears his name and frequently analyzes vote outcomes in Lucas County.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060509/NEWS09/605090428
Seized white gator expected to bask in limelight at zoo
BY BO PETERSEN
A rare white alligator at Riverbanks Zoo is about to become a crowd fave.
The alligator is a charmer. It's leucistic, or lacking color pigments, although unlike an albino, it has dark eyes and a brown patch on its head. It is one of only a few leucistic American alligators in the world and may be the only one in South Carolina.
The Columbia zoo and gardens, which has kept it for the Natural Resources Department since it was seized in 2003, will put it on exhibit July 1 in a former anaconda snake display, after beginning live-time webcam broadcasts of it on June 1.
The zoo is where the alligator will stay, despite the outcome of charges against the Edisto Island Serpentarium owners who may have saved its life. Meanwhile, they are about to face a judge.
Heyward and Ted Clamp, the owners and brothers, pulled the alligator as a vulnerable hatchling from a Sea Pines plantation lagoon on Hilton Head Island in 2003. Since 1999, the Clamps have run the Edisto Island exhibit that features hundreds of snakes and other reptiles. Lifelong snake collectors, they have worked with state biologists on reptile studies.
They have a preliminary hearing June 7 in Beaufort on the misdemeanor charge of possessing an alligator, which is a federally protected species, after being arrested by the S.C. Department of Natural
Resources. They could be sentenced to as much as 30 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted.
"Somebody needs to get real and see what these guys were doing is what they have been doing all their lives ? conserving reptiles," said Charles Macloskie, their attorney.
The Clamps and another man pulled the alligator and two other leucistic hatchlings from the lagoon after being alerted they were there. They did it after unsuccessfully asking the Natural Resources Department to do it, Macloskie said. Leucistic animals don't tend to survive. They often have health problems and in the wild their color exposes them to predators. The other hatchlings died in captivity.
As a hatchling, the alligator's head was only twice as long as a cricket. It's now more than 2 feet long and growing.
"It's obviously a unique story. There's been a lot of interest in it," said Satch Krantz, zoo executive director.
"He's really cool looking," said Sean Foley, a zoo herpetologist who takes care of the gator. "He's been fun to take care of. As far as alligators go, he's a little flighty at times. He'll slither away from you."
The case has been delayed by turnover in the 14th Judicial Circuit solicitor's office. The hearing normally gives prosecutors and defendants an opportunity to plea out cases.
Macloskie said the Clamps are happy the alligator has survived, will be kept at the zoo and exhibited. They won't accept any plea bargain.
"Their interest was in saving the alligator and that they did. Their position is they did not do anything wrong," Macloskie said. "Apparently, DNR thought they broke the law."
Reach Bo Petersenat 745-5852 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.
http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=86225§ion=localnews
Zoo animals beat the heat with chilled milk
May 10 2006 at 02:15AM
New Delhi - Bears in an Indian zoo are being served chilled milk with glucose to help them beat the scorching summer temperatures that have already killed 55 people, officials said on Tuesday.
Authorities at the zoological park in Jaipur, capital of the desert state of Rajasthan, were also serving melons to other animals as the mercury shot up to 48°C over the weekend.
"We woke up to the plight of the animals after a leopard cub suffering from sun stroke was brought to our zoo a few days ago," zoo director Manoj Parashar told the Press Trust of India.
The official said the heat made the animals irritable.
Authorities said the zoo had also installed water sprinklers to keep the outdoor animals cool and padded cages with special khas grass which helped keep them cool.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=143&art_id=qw1147210562354B253
Look Around MS --Jackson Zoo
By Walt Grayson
walt@wlbt.net
There's something new at the zoo. It's the new Wilderness Mississippi Exhibit. It's a new section just opened in April that highlights the animals we have living in the wild in Mississippi. And there are a few of them that are fast becoming favorites at the zoo.
Sometimes it's hard to tell just who's looking at who when you go to the zoo. By the way, I'll try not to make a rhyme out of this story, but there is something new at the zoo, too. I'll strike off in another direction. Which is exactly what the Jackson Zoo has done.
Used to, we'd go to the zoo to see lions, tigers and elephants. Yes, I know lions, tigers and bears is what Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, but the bears come in HERE, now. In the new Mississippi Exhibit at the Zoo.
Chris Mims with the Zoo is proud to show it off. "A lot of these animals are endangered; some of them are just downright elusive. We have a black bear. And there are a few black bear still left in the state, most of them are around the Mississippi River. But chances are most Mississippian this will never see one in the wild. We have 3 Cougars. They used to be indigenous to the state. There hasn't been a confirmed spotting in the wild in a while. So whether or not they still exist in Mississippi is up for debate. And our river otters specifically; I know growing up in the Delta you'd see things and out in the river and not know quite what they were some times. They've were probably river otters and their noses were sticking out of the water and you couldn't quite identify them."
Some of these guys in the snake house, I've seen in the wild. Last rattle snake I saw was running me out of the cemetery at Windsor. I'd rather meet up with them this way. But I, like most visitors to the new area, found myself glued to the beavers and river otters.
Mims says, "They are certainly my favorite. I work at the zoo and everyday I have to come see the river otters swim around. Every single day."
The best of the old mixed in with the latest of the new. That's what you'll find at the Jackson Zoo. It's hard NOT to become a poet, when your proud of the zoo and you just want to show it. Not that you have to be a poet to be proud, but I just came up with that last rhyme and thought I'd throw it in.
http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4882443&nav=2CSf
Zoo announces rare births
By CHRISTINE S. DIAMOND, The Lufkin Daily News
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Ellen Trout Zoo staffers were all smiles Tuesday morning as they welcomed the three-week-late arrival of three Louisiana pine snakes from their large eggs in the snake house, and watched a young buck who set rare and endangered hooves to earth Monday bond with his exotic mother, also an endangered species.
The Louisiana pine snakes' parents, residents of Lufkin's zoo since 2002, laid the set of four 4-inch eggs on Jan. 6 — each weighing about 75-80 grams. Reptile caretaker Ben Roberts said he expected the baby snakes to emerge April 12. They didn't.
http://www.lufkindailynews.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/05/10/20060510LDNzoo.html
U.S. panda zoos meet to discuss species' fate
Zookeepers pleased with conservation progress in China
The Associated Press (apwire)
Published on 2006-05-10 15:34 (KST)
Representatives of U.S. zoos that either have pandas on display or are seeking them gathered to discuss the species before a trip to discuss loan fees with the Chinese government, according to a media report.
The trip is planned by members of the Giant Panda Conservation Foundation to check on the programs funded by the loan fees zoos pay to display the animals and to try negotiating better terms.
Most American zoos pay at least $1 million (euro790,000) a year to borrow pandas for the display and research. That money pays for projects in the pandas' natural habitat, like wildlife preserves, reforestation and training conservation workers, The Commercial Appeal reported.
The Memphis Zoo is paying $1.1 million (euro870,000) a year for pandas Ya Ya and Le Le on a 10-year conservation and research loanthat began in 2003.
Dave Towne, the foundation's president and retired director of the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, told the paper that during a recent trip to China he observed 16 baby pandas being raised in facilities improved by funding and expertise from American zoos.
''I am impressed with the progress that's been made,'' Towne told the paper. Before the loans began, ''China really had no money for wildlife conservation. The money that came out of U.S. zoos has made a major difference.'' Chuck Brady, Memphis Zoo's president and CEO, said the aim of lowering loan fees is to allow more zoos to help efforts to revive the species.
''The more zoos that have them, the more the word will get out, and the more positive the impact is going to be on giant pandas in the wild,'' Brady said.
Participating zoos with pandas were the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., the San Diego Zoo and Zoo Atlanta. Zoos that want pandas were the Oakland (California) Zoo, the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, the Toronto Zoo and the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Zoo.
http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?no=291124&rel_no=1
Don't patronize Game Preserve's 'Kangaroo Walkabout'
''The problem with captive wild animals is the stress they feel in their penned situation.''
The private group that has leased the Lehigh Valley Zoo at the Trexler-Lehigh County Game Preserve and gotten $1.9 million of county taxpayer money has announced a new exhibit, the ''Kangaroo Walkabout.'' Zoo members ($150 a year) can walk in the kangaroo habitat twice, and then again if you pay more. (Regular admission is $5.)
The Morning Call published what I call a puff piece on the Walkabout in the May 4 Go Guide. It showed a picture of two kangas eating from a bowl placed next to the rope defining the human walkway. So, the kangas would have to go up to the rope, with four adults and six children hanging over them, to eat. The story said one child ''squealed in delight,'' another child exclaimed, ''They hop!'' A baby kanga ''stuffed'' itself in its mother's pouch, (to escape, I say), and yet another child called out, ''What are you doing, joey?'' while her parents laughed.
Some people who run zoos limit what is done to animals to only what is good for their welfare. But others say animals will adapt to anything and allow anything they can get people to pay for. Of course, this pays for the zoo, or more particularly, for the salaries, benefits and perks of the professional zoo managers. But I believe there is a line limiting what can be done to zoo animals that should not be lowered, and should be defended or raised.
http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-quote-c-a-amay09,0,3635867.story?coll=all-newsopinionanotherview-hed
Dallas Zoo Re-Opens Gorilla Exhibit
(CBS 11 News) DALLAS The Dallas Zoo is almost finished with a $2 million renovation.
On Wednesday, for the first time in 2 years, since Jabari the gorilla escaped and attacked several people, visitors were able to look at the gorilla exhibit.
This is the first time the animals have been let loose in 6 months. They had been inside while the renovation project was underway.
“It’s taken us a long time to do it,” said Dallas Zoo director Rich Buickerood. “It’s been under construction for two years.”
“I never thought it was unsafe to begin with. I think it was a freak accident,” said Kim Vance, a zoo visitor.
Regardless, the zoo made changes just to be safe.
“Jabari did an extraordinary thing,” said Chuck Siegel with Dallas Zoo Animal Management. “What we’ve done is to be on the safer side and increase the height of the walls and increase the distance.”
The walls are now all at least 15 feet tall with a wire around the top. The exhibit also features several boulders, what some are calling “gorilla speed bumps.”
said, “It’s also an opportunity for us to cut down on running lanes so young ambitious gorillas can’t get a head of speed and make another phenomenal jump like a couple years ago.”
Even the youngest visitors have noticed the changes. Jessica Skelton, one little girl enjoying the Dallas Zoo on Wednesday, said, “There’s no possible way for them to get out. There’s no way because a bunch of people have been working here and they’ve been working so hard and no animals will get out and everyone can be safe.”
Half of the gorilla exhibit is open to the public now. The other half will open next month.
http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_123173654.html
Zoo Tycoon 2 Goes on Golden Safari
05/03/06
Microsoft would like you to believe the savannah is heating up, but in reality, it's just their marketing department getting warm for E3 next week, as they announced today that Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure has gone gold and will ship to retailers on May 16.
The expansion includes a bunch of new content, including 20 new African animals that range from the striped hyena roaming the desert landscape to the wildebeest roving the savannah, new scenarios, new challenges and the ability to create African habitats and zoo attractions.
http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/005550.php
Zoo levies: one passed, one didn't
WTVG-- May 3, 2006 - It turned out ot be a bittersweet election day for the Toledo zoo. It had two levies on the ballot and only one was passed, leaving them with the question: "What now?".
Issue 3, the capital improvement levy the zoo said it so needed, got shot down. Zoo officials were going to use that money to make upgrades around the facility. Issue 4, the operating levy for day-to-day operations, passed but zoo director Dr. Anne Baker says they really needed both. She called it "a significant setback. We are about to begin strategic planning. I had hoped to go into that process with a real clear idea of what our funding base was going to be, where now it's sort of limbo again until November."
That's when she says they have to go back to voters, and if it gets turned down again, the public should expect major cuts. "I think we would not just be looking at Louie; we'd be looking at our whole elephant program. We can't run a program without the appropriate space and if we can't do what's right for the animals, then we won't have the animals; they'll have to go elsewhere."
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=local&id=4138680
Detroit Zoo Breeds Rare Panamanian Frogs
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 3, 2006; 7:55 PM
ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- The Detroit Zoo reports success in breeding the scarce Panamanian golden frog, threatened with extinction in the wild. Five pairs of the frogs, with distinctive black blotches, have mated and produced large numbers of eggs. Some have hatched into tadpoles.
A sixth pair are mating now and also may produce eggs.
The Detroit Zoo for five years has been part of an international plan to save the rare mountain frogs. The amphibians are threatened by habitat destruction, pollution, climate change and a frog-killing fungus.
The Panamanian golden frog is one of thousands of frog species dwindling in number worldwide, Bill Flanagan, associate curator of amphibians, told the Detroit Free Press for a story Wednesday.
"The amphibian decline rate is much greater than anything else we've seen in our time," he said.
The zoo chose the Panamanian golden frog for attention because "they make great zoo animals," Flanagan said. "They're so colorful, and they're active during the day."
The zoo's amphibian exhibit is closed for renovations and is expected to reopen before Memorial Day.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/03/AR2006050302130.html
Problems Put Honolulu Zoo's Accreditation On Hold
Association Gives Zoo 1 Year To Resolve Issues
POSTED: 4:40 pm HST May 3, 2006
UPDATED: 11:33 am HST May 4, 2006
HONOLULU -- A national zoo group has put the accreditation of the Honolulu Zoo on hold because of maintenance deficiencies, a manpower shortage and other problems there.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association could revoke the zoo's accreditation if the problems do not improve in one year. Accreditation is important to the zoo because it means the zoo meets basic standards and it also allows Honolulu to trade animals with other zoos around the country.
A three-member team from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association toured Honolulu Zoo for three days in January.
"Basically, that's what the accreditation team said, 'Get your house in order,'" city Enterprise Services Director Sidney A. Quintal said.
The team complained that the zoo's overall look, especially behind the scenes, was "unkempt and cluttered." The inspectors said clutter was so bad in the maintenance area that they couldn't inspect some places.
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/9157342/detail.html
State House approves funding to keep open Detroit Zoo
LANSING, Mich. The Michigan House has approved four (m) million dollars in state funding for the Detroit Zoo, but lawmakers still have to negotiate differences in other parts of a supplemental budget bill before the zoo funding is finalized.
The measure includes four (m) million dollars for the nonprofit Detroit Zoological Society, which is taking over operations of the zoo from the city of Detroit.
In February, the Detroit City Council initially rejected a deal to hand over control of the zoo, putting the state's offer of funding in jeopardy. But the council later voted to transfer control to the zoological society.
The next step is to restore the state funding.
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4856889
No plans for local zoo
By MaltaMedia News
May 4, 2006, 08:09 CET
The Malta Environment Planning Authority (MEPA) has never received any applications for a local zoo. This was stated by Minister George Pullicino during a parliamentary sitting on Wednesday.
In response to Stefan Buontempo’s parliamentary question regarding whether any interested parties had presented an apllication to open a zoo since the setting up of MEPA, Minister Pullicino answered negatively.
The only animals in zoo-like state in Malta are the dolphins at the Mediterreaneo in Bahar ic-Caħaq.
San Anton gardens used to house animals including monkeys and camels between the 1970’s and 80’s, but it is now only host to a number of exhibitions like the Spring Horticulture show.
http://www.maltamedia.com/news/2005/ln/article_9882.shtml
MBA group helps promote insect zoo
Published on Thursday, May 4, 2006
Kerry Fischer
Kansas State Collegian
Three K-State students are in business, in the bug business that is.
The College of Business Administration offers a masters of business administration practicum option to all of its graduate students as a way to gain real world experience.
“It’s the last course in a student’s program of study,” David Vruwink, assistant dean of accounting, said. “Second-year MBA students take it, and it’s their first exposure to real world problems at a management level.”
The students are placed into a team by the graduate program director, said Jeff Katz, professor in management.
“Once they’re assigned to a team, they have to make it work,” Vruwink said.
There are seven projects in the works this semester.
“I like to meet on a weekly basis to get an update on the status of the project, and periodically I check in with the client to see if they’re communicating,” Vruwink said. “I do that with all seven projects.”
Katz said the most important concept he conveys to his MBA group is identifying the nature of the project.
http://kstatecollegian.com/article.php?a=10266
House reinstates $4M zoo grant
Badly-needed funds will keep financiall-troubled facility in operation
LANSING -- Legislation reinstating a badly needed $4 million grant for the Detroit Zoo was approved by the House on Wednesday.
The money is part of a supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, containing a host of added state spending items and recommended by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
The House made changes in the bill, which already had passed the Senate, so it must return there for final approval.
Lawmakers originally had approved the $4 million grant in December, but made their action contingent on an agreement by the Detroit City Council to give control of zoo operations to the Detroit Zoological Society within 60 days.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/METRO/605040415
Zoo survives with help from friends
By Ann Keyes
FOR THE NEWS-LEADER
Who: Friends of the Zoo
Mission: FOZ shares the goals of the Springfield-Greene County Park Board property the group supports: Dickerson Park Zoo. The nonprofit FOZ and the zoo seek "to provide meaningful recreation experiences, educate the public about nature, conserve animals and plants and conduct research," says zoo public relations director Melinda Mancuso.
About: Most noted for its Asian elephant, cheetah and wolf-breeding programs, Dickerson Park Zoo houses more than 500 animals representing 170 species. Now highly regarded throughout the country, the property wasn't always a gem. In the late 1970s, the zoo was on the verge of being closed, says the park's Web site.
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/LIFE06/605040314/1037
Zoo animals join artistic efforts
AMANDA PIERRE
STATE OF THE ARTS
May 4, 2006
Local artists have painted new murals at the Blank Park Zoo, proving that some people are just wildly artistic. They are the winning participants in a competition held by zoo officials in conjunction with Metro Arts.
The work of Liz Regenold and her son, Alex, will welcome "Tarzans and Janes" to the area where folks truly answer nature's call - the restrooms and drinking fountains of the Discovery Center.
Liz Regenold, who won first place, has adorned the wilderness retreat with an Africa scene, including savannah residents such as lions, giraffes and a zebra. Second place went to Jill Wells, who painted the lower floor of the Discovery Center with an ocean theme. Johnston Middle School eighth-grader Yiming Qin was also selected to add to the zoo's wild decor.
The Blank Park Zoo will host a show of each artist's work for one month during the summer in the Discovery Center's Zoo Safari Snack Shop.
Zoo animals have caught the bug, too. Their art, created by their paws, feet and hooves, will be on display and available in the zoo's gift shop starting Monday.
OPERA LEGEND COMES TO WAUKEE: The Waukee Area Arts Council will present a concert with Simon Estes at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Waukee High School Auditorium. Tickets are $25. Estes will speak to Waukee schoolchildren today as a part of the Character Counts program, and conduct workshops with the sixth- through 12th-grade choirs. Tickets to his show will be available at the Chit-n-Chat Coffee House, 13 Carefree Lane, Waukee, or by phone at (515) 402-7870.
DINOSAURS IN THE EAST VILLAGE: From Our Hands, 400 E. Locust St., Ste. 8, hosts an "Art for the Garden" Show through May 13. On view and sale are the large-scale dinosaur sculptures by Ben Britton of Zearing. For more info, call 282-3496.
IOWA FRINGE FEST SET: Folks are lining up their offerings for the next Iowa Fringe Festival, set for July 20-23. The Drama Workshop and Tramp Theatre Troupe will co-produce "Character Assassination" by playwright Jules Joyce, a Des Moines native. Frisky about the fest? Go to www.iowafringe.com/.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/ENT01/605040360/1047/ENT01
Parade of steel animals begins journey to Midwest zoo
BUFFALO, N.Y. A rolling menagerie of sculptured animals has begun its 800-mile parade from western New York to Saint Louis, Missouri.
Rochester sculptor Albert Paley has created a series of massive figures that will stand at the entrance of the Saint Louis Zoo. When it's reassembled at the zoo, the 200-ton display will be 130 feet long and 36 feet high -- making it the world's largest public zoo sculpture.
Yesterday, a Buffalo-area trucking company began hauling the sculpture to its destination. The steel pieces included a two-ton rhinoceros and an elephant and giraffe chained upright on flatbed trucks. More trucks are scheduled to depart today, with the rest to follow next week.
The dozens of animal figures were fabricated by Klein Steel Services of Rochester and welded by General Welding of Attica.
Paley is a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. His works are on display at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
http://www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=4858533&nav=2aKD
Cincinnati Zoo Expecting Two Baby Gorillas
POSTED: 8:02 am EDT May 4, 2006
UPDATED: 11:17 am EDT May 4, 2006
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CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Zoo's gorilla breeding program is expecting its first babies since 1998.
Muke, 24, a mother of two, is due in August, and Samantha, 36, mother of six and grandmother of 11, is expecting in September, said Ron Evans, primate center team leader. Muke delivered the last gorilla baby here.
The father-to-be is Jomo, a 15-year-old silverback on loan from Toronto.
The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, with 47 gorillas born since 1970, ranks second nationally to the Bronx Zoo, which has had 57 births, said Dan Wharton, North America coordinator for the Gorilla Species Survival Plan.
http://www.channelcincinnati.com/health/9158319/detail.html
L.A. Zoo has baby animalon view
Just in time for Mother's Day, the Los Angeles Zoo invites families to see the zoo's new babies. The proud mothers include a tiger, a kangaroo, a giraffe and a Cape vulture. In all, there are more than 15 baby animals on display at the zoo throughout the month of May during its special "Everybody Loves a Baby" exhibit.
Visitors are invited to take a special self-guided tour and view the zoo's latest arrivals. Located in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, the zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For admission information and directions, call (323) 644-4200 or visit www.lazoo.org.
http://www.toacorn.com/news/2006/0504/On_The_Town/155.html
Working at the Zoo
"My job is to feed the customers – aka 'the animals.' "
Listen to this Commentary!
By Corinne Sampson
I wish there was such a thing as a fast, legal source of money for a high school senior.
I work for the animals who come to see the animals.
I’m a food service cashier for the National Zoo. Basically, I’m the epitome of customer service. My job is to feed the customers – aka “the animals”. Every weekend, I endure rude people – loud children, parents with attitudes, and impatient mongrels who snatch food out of my hand and start stuffing their faces right in front of my register.
People constantly complain about the prices, but the zoo is free. Everything is free, except for the food and souvenirs. What they don’t realize is that all the proceeds – from the pretzels to the t-shirts to the binoculars to the stuffed monkeys – go to animal research.
The poor animals are sick of the customers as well – banging on their glass cages and screaming at them. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t want anyone staring at me every day as if I was on Broadway. Go home rude people! Watch Animal Planet or National Geographic and stay away from my register
http://www.youthradio.org/jobs/wtop030504_zoo.shtml
Cincinnati Zoo's breeding program makes comeback
Associated Press
CINCINNATI - The Cincinnati Zoo's gorilla breeding program is expecting its first babies since 1998.
Muke, 24, a mother of two, is due in August, and Samantha, 36, mother of six and grandmother of 11, is expecting in September, said Ron Evans, primate center team leader. Muke delivered the last gorilla baby here.
The father-to-be is Jomo, a 15-year-old silverback on loan from Toronto.
The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, with 47 gorillas born since 1970, ranks second nationally to the Bronx Zoo, which has had 57 births, said Dan Wharton, North America coordinator for the Gorilla Species Survival Plan.
Cincinnati's breeding program had been on hiatus since 1999, when Chaka, a silverback on loan from Philadelphia and father of nine babies here, returned home. The zoo's other male, Colossus, never showed any interest in breeding before he died April 11.
About 75,000 endangered lowland gorillas remain in the wild, and they're disappearing at the rate of 1,000 a year, zoo officials said.
For breeding purposes, Evans hopes for girls.
"One male is good for four or five females, which means females are at a premium," he said. "I'd be thrilled with two girls, but mostly I want two healthy, happy babies."
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/14499862.htm
SB Zoo Faces New Pachyderm Protection Plan
Elephants in the Santa Barbara Zoo may soon have to pack their trunks and move, pending an upcoming decision by the California State Legislature.
On April 25, a California Assembly committee passed the Elephant Protection Act, which will go to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for approval May 10. The bill, CA AB 3027, would require California’s zoos to expand their elephant enclosures to at least five acres and to stop using certain elephant handling tools, or risk losing their elephant exhibits altogether. Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, a Democrat from Van Nuys, authored the bill with backing from the Sacramento-based Animal Protection Institute. The Santa Barbara Zoo currently houses its Asian elephants, Sujatha and Little Mac, in a 13,000-square-foot exhibit, which is less than a third of an acre, Animal Protection Institute Media Relations Officer Zibby Wilder said.
Wilder said the legislation is not meant to close down elephant programs at the zoos, although it could potentially force some zoos to get ride of their animals.
“The intent is to keep elephants in zoos, [but] if you cannot properly care for the animals you should not be allowed to keep them,” Wilder said. “Zoos would have plenty of time - until 2009 - [to meet the requirements].”
http://www.ucsbdailynexus.com/news/2006/11624.html
Watoto's first birthday a success story for zoo
Friday, 5 May 2006
THE success of Monarto Zoological Park's southern white rhinoceros breeding program was heralded with the birthday of the first rhino born in South Australia last week. The male rhino, Watoto, celebrated its first birthday on Friday and rhino keeper Tony Austin (pictured) said the occasion was a big day for everyone.
It's a big deal for us because it's our first one, he said.
Watoto has grown from 40 kilograms to 300kg in 12 months and Mr Austin said he was happy about the success so far.
It's one of the things we have never bred before so you don't know if it's going to work, he said.
As a birthday treat, Watoto was given large bail of lucerne hay.
Monarto zoo has five rhinos and the park plans to continue breeding, aiming to send them back to protected conservation game reserves in Southern Africa.
http://murraybridge.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&story_id=478299&category=General%20News&m=5&y=2006
Serious cuteness on display at the zoo
Zoo Babies starts Saturday; you can see why it's so popular
JIM KNIPPENBERG ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Call it the "ooh and aah" factor - little tangles of fur and fluff, waddling around on shaky legs, sometimes clinging to Mom, sometimes just lying there staring at you.
Zoo Babies, the annual month-long show and tell at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, kicks off Saturday, and is expected to draw a crowd of 200,000, up from 150,000 in a typical summer month. That makes the event the zoo's second busiest party of the year, right after the Festival of Lights.
And no wonder. The place always has a goodly sized crop of babies - more than a dozen at the moment - with a gaggle of others expected before the May 28 finale.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/ENT09/605050328/1025
Bronx zoo goes ape
BY BOB KAPPSTATTER
DAILY NEWS BRONX BUREAU CHIEF
Fans went bananas at the Bronx Zoo's Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit yesterday as the four latest young additions made their official debuts.
Three male gorillas and a little girlrilla came out with the warm weather, cradled in their nursing moms' arms, piggybacking and even doing some shoulder climbing to explore some tree leaves.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Look at them!" cried an excited 8-year-old Colleen Freyer to her dad, Paul, and friend Michelle Kenny, 8, of Croton-on-Hudson as they entered the exhibit - a wall of thick glass the only thing separating them from the gorillas.
Zookeepers said the youngest - and only female - was born March 21 to first-time mom Halima, while mom Julia's son was born Sept. 8, and is getting coaching in gorilla ways from older brother Pierrepont.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/414991p-350717c.html
3 of 4 gorillas set to return to zoo's renovated outdoor exhibit
By EVA-MARIE AYALA
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Finger painting and movies are fine, but for gorillas that have been cooped for nearly a year, nothing beats playing in the grass and foraging for food.
Three of the Dallas Zoo gorillas are returning to the outdoor exhibit of the Jake L. Hamon Gorilla Conservation Research Center on Saturday after almost a year living solely in their indoor quarters while the exhibit has been renovated.
Officials recently tested the north portion of the exhibit by letting Jenny, 51, roam by herself for a while.
"She just lay on her back and looked at the sky, ate some vegetation and was as calm as could be," said Chuck Siegel, deputy director for animal management.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/14507919.htm
Zoo hosts Humane Society adoption
Welcome a cat or dog into the family
May 5, 2006
People heading to the Detroit Zoo this weekend can do more than just gawk at the animals -- they can also bring one home.
OK, so you can't tote back a python or a polar bear, but there will be hundreds of dogs and cats that need homes.
The Detroit Zoo and the Michigan Humane Society will partner with about 25 other local animal welfare organizations on Saturday and Sunday for the 14th annual spring Meet Your Best Friend at the Zoo. Parking and admission to the event, which will be held in tents in the lot beneath the zoo's water tower, is free.
Amy Popp, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Humane Society, estimates between 750 and 1,000 puppies, kittens, dogs and cats will be at the event, hoping for new families.
She added that those who can't find a dog or cat they mesh with on Saturday should come back Sunday for a whole new group of animals.
Those who want puppies, however, must come early on either day. Because of the demand, the first 25 people at the event who say they wish to adopt puppies will be given a "puppy pass." The pass allows them to enter the tents 15 minutes before the event officially begins at 10 a.m.
In order to adopt, you must be at least 18 years old and have a proof of identification. The animals are up to date on their immunizations.
Organizers ask that attendees leave current pets at home.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/FEATURES01/605050365/1026
Sedated lionesses enter NEW Zoo like lambs
Pair expected to attract visitors, join captive-breeding program
By Paul Brinkmann
pbrinkma@greenbaypressgazette.com
SUAMICO — A long-awaited pair of young lionesses arrived Thursday afternoon at Brown County's NEW Zoo from the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison.
The new lionesses are the latest step in an expansion at the NEW Zoo. Besides helping to attract visitors, the lionesses will be part of an exchange captive-breeding program for the rare African lion. The American Zoological Society approved of the transfer through its Species Survival Plan. In another two years, they may be producing lion cubs.
Officially, their names are Etana and Ajia, which are Swahili, respectively, for "strong one" and "quick". But they were better known in Madison by their nicknames, Piggy and Bones, for their opposite eating habits.
The Columbus Zoo in Ohio accepted one of the NEW Zoo's longtime favorites, an aging female lion named Raja. The new pair is taking over her former den. It's near the home of new young giraffes that arrived in the winter.
"It's going to be a tremendous new addition. With the giraffes and the new lions, this should be a great year," said Neil Anderson, zoo director.
The lions were anesthetized for loading in their trailer in Madison and again upon arrival in Suamico.
The two females were part of a five-cub litter born a year ago that made headlines and drew a steady stream of visitors in Madison. The other three were males, and one of them has been shipped to the zoo in Racine.
"Their genetics are known and recorded. There's probably only about 80 of them in the United States," said James Hubing, director at the Henry Vilas Zoo.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/GPG0101/605050589/1207/GPGnews
Electric train becomes permanent zoo inhabitant
Steam train moves over for newer model, which has been on a yearlong tryout.
The Orange County Register
SANTA ANA – The Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park bought a new Zoofari Express train after a yearlong test drive.
A new electric train has replaced the 1860s-style steam train at the Santa Ana Zoo. Several contributors made the purchase of the environmentally friendly engine and train possible: Ludwick Foundation, Bud Hurlbut, the manufacturer, and William Sommerville, a Santa Ana developer and longtime advocate; Friends of Santa Ana Zoo Board of Directors; and members of the Platinum 1036 Train Club.
Supporters welcome the new train 10 a.m. Saturday at the zoo with a check presentation.
The Zoofari Express has trekked through the park since spring 1999 after serving a 43-year run at Santa's Village in Skyforest. The zoo began test driving the electric train, a prototype for the manufacturer, last year, but only recently committed to its purchase. With the new train running, the zoo will now replace the steam engine of the old train with an electric one. Later, two trains will make runs.
The train travels throughout the Crean Family Farm, the Children's Zoo, and into the northern part of the zoo for a 6 ½-minute ride. The locomotive pulls six cars: a tender, four passenger cars and a caboose.
The Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park is at 1801 E. Chestnut Ave. The zoo is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for seniors and children ages 3 to 12. Children 2 years old and younger, people with disabilities and members of the zoo are admitted free. Elephant rides are $5 and train rides are $3. Information: Cathi Decker at (714) 953-8555, Ext. 11.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1131160.php
'AnimaLuau' at the Minnesota Zoo
APPLE VALLEY
Dogs and their human companions are invited to a day of demonstrations and contests during "AnimaLuau" from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. May 13 at the Minnesota Zoo. The event is held by the Minnesota Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zookeepers in partnership with the Minnesota Valley Humane Society's "Woofer and Hoofer" Pet Festival. A portion of money raised will benefit animals at the humane society. At the Puma Pavilion, dogs can compete in several categories, including "best trick" and "cutest puppy." The top three dogs in each category win ribbons and prizes. The event is free, but it costs $5 to enter your dog in a contest, plus $1 for each additional entry. Tropical attire is encouraged to enhance the luau theme. All dogs must have current vaccinations and be leashed. Registration forms, which should be filled out and brought to the event, are available at www.MVHSpets.org. For details, call the zoo at 952-431-9500 or visit www.mnzoo.org.
hastings
Annual raptor release: Watch as raptors are returned to the wild from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center, 12805 St. Croix Trail. Learn the real-life stories of the Raptor Center's eagles, hawks, owls and falcons. Participants also can meet the birds, visit the interpretive center or hike. Hands-on activities for children, educational shows and entertainment also are planned. At 1 p.m., at least two raptors will be released. For details, call 651-437-4359.
Inver Grove heights
Concert: The Inver Hills Community Band presents "Best of Band Classics," the sixth annual spring band concert, at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Fine Arts Auditorium of Inver Hills Community College. The performance will include Rimsky-Korsakov's "Procession of the Nobles," Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries," Bizet's "Suite from Carmen" and other classics. The college is at 2500 80th Street E. Admission is free. For more information, go to www.ihcb.org.
West St. PAul
Pancake breakfast: The West St. Paul queen candidates are holding a pancake breakfast from 8 to 10:30 a.m. today at Applebee's, 1753 S. Robert St. Breakfast will include pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs and a beverage. Tickets are available at the door for $5. All proceeds benefit the Celebrate West St. Paul Days program and royalty scholarships. E-mail weststpaulroyalty@email.com for more information.
events elsewhere
Spring tea: The Maplewood Area Historical Society will sponsor a springtime tea May 13 at Bruentrup Heritage Farm, 2170 E. County Road D, Maplewood. Seatings are at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Cost is $25 or $15 for those younger than 15. For information, call Char at 651-776-7183 or Carolyn at 651-748-9009.
Compiled by Andy Rathbun. Send your Dakota County events to news@pioneerpress.com or fax to 651-228-2179.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/14514351.htm
Zoo to celebrate wildflowers on Sunday
PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregon Zoo showcases Oregon wildflowers and their vital role in the web of life during Celebrating Wildflowers, Sunday, May 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The event, sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management, highlights the interdependence of Oregon plants and wildlife through fun, family-friendly activities, and is free with zoo admission.
"Wildflowers and other native plants are critical to a healthy ecosystem," says Tony Vecchio, Oregon Zoo director. "Their vital role is often taken for granted. This event, while involving people with conservation programs, highlights the importance of wildflowers in ways that are fun and exciting for both children and adults."
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=85229
Zoo opens its gates for season
Admission fees waived
By Doug Zellmer
of The Northwestern
The Menominee Park Zoo is dawning on a new era when it opens for the season at 9 a.m. today.
Gone is the zoo entrance fee thanks to a donation by Tom and Penny Harenburg, while a new elk exhibit is taking shape, although it's not expected to open for a couple of months.
"We're looking forward to a good season," said Menominee Park zoo specialist Carrie Hill. "Each year, we try to improve the experience inside the zoo for the animals and the visitors."
The Harnburgs worked with the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation to set up an annual $65,000 fund that will eliminate the city zoo's entrance fees and cover a portion of zoo upkeep and improvement costs.
Tom Stephany, parks director for the city of Oshkosh, said the goal is to open the elk exhibit July 1. Parks department workers began construction of the exhibit last fall.
"It's going to be a very nice exhibit; very naturalistic," Stephany said.
When the elk exhibit is completed, visitors to the zoo will have unobstructed viewing of the elk from an observation deck and log cabin.
Stephany said they'd like to get three young elk for the exhibit — a bull calf and two young heifers.
"The goal is that when these animals are of breeding age they will be reproductive," Stephany said.
The elk exhibit is next to where three wolves — Saleen, Caleb and Rutger — have called their permanent home after arriving at the zoo in mid-August 2002.
The wolves were donated to the zoo for educational purposes by the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn.
The wolves live in a nearly one-acre area that includes a limestone cliff, boulders, vine plantings and prairie grasses.
Hill said new additions to the zoo this year include white crowned mangabeys, which are considered one of the world's most endangered primates.
Also on exhibit at the zoo this season are brown lemurs and a pair of coati, which are like a South American raccoon.
Doug Zellmer: (920) 426-6667 or dzellmer@thenorthwestern.com.
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060506/OSH0101/605060328/1128/OSHnews
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