Courier Journal
Rain expected for parade
The National Weather Service is calling for showers and now possibly a thunderstorm this afternoon as kick off for the Pegasus Parade draws near. When it's not raining, it will remain cloudy with a high near 68 degrees. East wind between 7 and 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.The outlook for tomorrow’s Kentucky Oaks and Saturday's Kentucky Derby is less promising. Both of the big races go off about 6 p.m.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/DERBYFUN/70502057
Welcome to 2007 C-J Derby DataTrack
Welcome back to Courier-Journal Derby DataTrack, the one-of-a-kind free searchable data base to help you come up with your Kentucky Derby winner.
C-J Derby DataTrack offers information for novices and know-it-alls. Some of the theories behind the nearly 60 factors used in the data are complex, they're also constructed so all you need to know is if it's a positive.
C-J Derby DataTrack will keep you updated on the trail to the Kentucky Derby (with help on those Future Wagers) as well as three minutes before post time.
New this year will be regular summaries by DataTrack author Leslie Huddleston, who will offer developments and horses to watch based on the database. Click here to read her analysis every day through Derby Week.
http://www.courier-journal.com/cjsports/trackside/database/index.html
Kentucky Derby horses tested for performance drug
By Gregory A. Hallghall@courier-journal.comThe Courier-Journal
The entire field for Saturday's Kentucky Derby was subjected to a surprise drug test yesterday for the performance-enhancing drug epoetin, John Veitch, chief steward for the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority announced today.Veitch said it's the first time the entire Derby field has been tested for the drug, also known by the trademark Epogen.Trainers were notified of the test yesterday morning and blood was drawn hours later, Veitch said.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/BUSINESS/70503019
Ex-E'town couple does Derby in Deutschland
By Tamara Ikenbergtikenberg@courier-journal.comThe Courier-Journal
A Kentucky couple living in Germany are doing their part to bring Derby fever to Deutschland.In 2000, former Elizabethtown residents Michael and Sharon Kieta relocated to Germany to work for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. Five years ago, they started attending a Derby party thrown by friends from New Jersey and North Carolina. The Kietas have since become co-hosts of this Euro-Derby bash. “Celebrating the Derby gives us a taste of home,” Sharon Kieta says. “It also gives us the opportunity to share our wonderful Kentucky traditions with our friends, many whom are Yankees.”
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/DERBYFUN/70503017
Try to top this tale of Kentucky Derby entries
By Jessica CurtsingerSpecial to The Courier-Journal
The writer, a student at Bullitt East High School in Mount Washington, Ky., wrote this for a class in which students were asked to use the names of Kentucky Derby hopefuls in a story. Anyone who thinks they can match her achievement, share your effort in the StoryChat for this article.
On Any Given Saturday, the Great Hunter Sam P. would drive out in his Ford truck and go hunting. However, today he needed to drive to Sedgefield to go grocery shopping so he could stock up for the big Storm in May.
While walking out to his truck, he saw a gang named the Circular Quay, including former rapper Scat Daddy, who was the big macho man; Zanjero, a wild man from Africa who could outrun a cheetah; Bwana Bull, a big biker man who could bend metal in half with his teeth; and Stormello, the big mouth who always had something smart to say, trying to rob a lady in the parking lot.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/DERBYFUN/70502058
Diet-drug lawyers own stake in Curlin
Plaintiffs hope to cash in if Derby favorite wins
By Andrew Wolfsonawolfson@courier-journal.comThe Courier-Journal
W.L. Carter of Lawrenceburg says he'll cheer fervently Saturday for Kentucky Derby favorite Curlin -- at the same time he roots against two of the colt's owners.
"We may own a piece of that horse some day," Carter said, laughing.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/SPORTS0801/705030444
Leo, Rosie make Time's most influential
NEW YORK (AP) -- Heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio and envelope-pushers Rosie O'Donnell and Sacha Baron Cohen are among the entertainment newsmakers on Time magazine's list of 100 people who shape the world.
The list of 100 most influential, on newsstands Friday, also includes Queen Elizabeth II, presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, YouTube founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, director Martin Scorsese and model Kate Moss. It does not include President Bush.
In a piece she wrote for the magazine, Barbara Walters, the creator of "The View," had kind words to say about O'Donnell, who announced last week she was leaving the ABC talk show in June because she and the network couldn't agree on a new contract.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PEOPLE_TIME_100?SITE=KYLOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Thousands await Queen's Virginia visit
By BOB LEWIS Associated Press Writer
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Terry O'Neill was just a wee lad from Liverpool the last time he got within a few feet of Queen Elizabeth II.
Years later, the burly owner of the Beatles-influenced Penny Lane Pub in Richmond plans to have a second brush with English royalty on Thursday - with a little help from his friends.
O'Neill and his wife, Rose, were among thousands of people expected to jam Capitol Square for a glimpse of the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, when the royals arrive to mark the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown colony.
"I left England to get away from her and what does she do? She follows me over here," O'Neill, 66, joked in the thick Liverpudlian brogue of his youth with Penny Lane's lunch crowd Wednesday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/ROYAL_VISIT?SITE=KYLOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Iraq lawmakers' vacation plans draw fire
By ANNE FLAHERTY Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawmakers divided over whether to keep U.S. troops in Iraq are finding common ground on at least one topic: They are furious that Iraqi politicians are considering a lengthy break this summer.
"If they go off on vacation for two months while our troops fight - that would be the outrage of outrages," said Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn.
The Iraq parliament's recess, starting this July, would likely come without Baghdad politicians reaching agreements considered key to easing sectarian tensions. Examples include regulating distribution of the country's oil wealth and reversing measures that have excluded many Sunnis from jobs and government positions because of Baath party membership.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ?SITE=KYLOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Rice and Syrian FM meet, focus on Iraq
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press Writer
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she raised the issue of foreign fighters entering Iraq from Syria in talks with Syria's foreign minister Thursday but "didn't lecture him" in the first high-level meeting in years between the two countries.
Rice described her half-hour with Syria's Walid Moallem on the sidelines of a major regional conference on Iraq as "professional" and "businesslike."
Ahead of the meeting, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said Syria had stemmed the flow of foreign fighters across its border - a chief demand of the United States. "There has been some movement by the Syrians," said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell. "There has been a reduction in the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq" for more than a month.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_CONFERENCE?SITE=KYLOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Staying on beat with women's heart disease
It's never too early to become aware of risks – and start doing something about them
By Linda Stahllstahl@courier-journal.comThe Courier-Journal
Women and their physicians should concentrate on their lifetime risk for heart disease, not just the question of whether, for example, they may be in danger of having a heart attack in the next 10 years.
That's the latest position of the American Heart Association.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/FEATURES03/705030311
Kindred stock slides over 4% Medicare changes to affect revenue
By Patrick Howingtonphowington@courier-journal.comThe Courier-Journal
Kindred Healthcare shares fell more than 4 percent yesterday after the federal government announced changes in Medicare reimbursements for long-term-care hospitals that will take effect after July 1.
The Louisville company said the new arrangement could reduce Medicare payments to its hospitals by about $25 million in the second half of this year. That is $5 million more than a previous estimate.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/BUSINESS/705030381
Louisville gasoline prices gallop to $3.20 a gallon
Derby gets blame, but experts say no
By Jere Downsjdowns@courier-journal.comThe Courier-Journal
Gas prices leapt to $3.20 per gallon for regular in Louisville yesterday, soaring in many locations 27 cents higher than Tuesday's average.
Some blamed Derby price fever, but experts say recent spikes in wholesale crude oil prices are sweeping Louisville into the middle of a nationwide spring updraft.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/NEWS01/705030446
Ministers call for jobs to curb violence Louisville Urban League program has about 30 slots to fill
By Charlie Whitecwhite@courier-journal.comThe Courier-Journal
When the Rev. Clay Calloway showed up at 35th Street and Broadway Monday morning, shortly after 21-year-old James Bland was fatally shot, the B-Line Food Mart parking lot was packed with people at a time when most around the city were either headed to school or work.“It looked like it might be a festival,” he remembered last night, standing in the same parking lot with about 20 other people, mostly ministers, who want to help bring an end to the violence.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/ZONE07/305030007
Three Democrats vie for secretary of state
By Patrick Howingtonphowington@courier-journal.comThe Courier-Journal
The three Democratic candidates for secretary of state have some differences, but they agree about their dislike of Kentucky’s runoff law for gubernatorial elections.The 1992 law requires a runoff between the top finishers if no candidate gets 40 percent or more of the vote in a primary. A runoff is considered likely this year, with seven Democrats participating in the May 22 primary.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/NEWS01/70503021
Man shot by officer identified
By Jessie Halladay and Charlie WhiteThe Courier-Journal
A single gunshot to the lower left back killed a 25-year-old robbery suspect during a shootout with police last night, authorities said this morning. Ryan Allen Smith, of the 3400 block of Garland Avenue, died at University Hospital about 11:20 p.m., said Rita Taylor, a deputy Jefferson County coroner. The two Louisville Metro Police officers involved in the incident were identified this morning as Officers Brian Peters and Eric Culver.They have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation, as is routine with officer-involved shootings, said Officer Dwight Mitchell, a department spokesman.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/NEWS01/305030008
The Oakland Tribune
I-880 ramp may reopen in 10 days
By Kate Folmar, MEDIANEWS SACRAMENTO BUREAU
SACRAMENTO — The Interstate 80 to I-880 ramp east of the Bay Bridge could reopen within 10 days, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday, offering faster-than-expected relief for Bay Area commuters after the recent tanker-truck inferno at the MacArthur Maze.
In addition, the federal government Wednesday agreed to cover the costs — which are at $14.3million and rising — to get traffic flowing
through the damaged parts of the maze again.
They have committed, Schwarzenegger said of federal officials, to come in and to pay for this. They recognize that this is their responsibility.
The fiery crash early Sunday produced such searing temperatures that one freeway overpass weakened and collapsed onto another deck below. Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency to help fast-track reconstruction.
It is the lower deck, which connects I-80 to I-880 near Oakland, that can be salvaged rather than scrapped. That means the section can be repaired, at a cost of about $8 million, and reopened much sooner than some had hoped.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5807809
Tanker truck had troubled history
Faulty brakes among many citations received
By Leslie Griffy, Ian Hoffman and Connie Skipitares, MEDIANEWS STAFF
The tanker truck that erupted into a fireball and weakened an Oakland freeway was one of the most trouble-prone in its company fleet, having been cited 27 times in the last 21/2years.
In the last 15 months alone, the California Highway Patrol ordered the truck off the road for carrying too large a load, driving on balding tires or having a problem with the exhaust system, according to federal truck safety records obtained by MediaNews. The truck also was cited, but not sidelined, for problems with its braking system.
"It just raises a flag for all of us," said Richard Henderson, director of government affairs for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, an association of state and federal officials who promote motor vehicle safety in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5807808
SUV slams into students
School janitor acts quickly to lift vehicle off trapped kids
By Michael Manekin, STAFF WRITER
BELMONT — An SUV jumped a curb and plowed into a crowd of middle-schoolers at the main entrance of Ralston Intermediate School Wednesday, injuring 13 students as they waited in line to catch a bus at the end of a shortened school day.
None of the injured students, ranging in age from 11 to their early teens, appeared initially to have life-threatening injuries, but between five and seven children suffered broken bones and other trauma. Victims were sent to at least five different area hospitals, according to authorities.
The driver of the SUV, whose name was not available, was also hospitalized.
The freak accident occurred at about 12:30 p.m. and quickly converted the school's parking lot into a chaotic swirl of firefighters, police and paramedics.
According to police, the driver of the vehicle apparently lost control, drove between two school buses and rammed into the crowd of children before crashing into the tree, which ultimately stopped the SUV from striking the school's front entrance.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5807620
East Bay's only drive-in reopens; pack the cars
Concord theater returns after 2 years
By Tanya Rose, MEDIANEWS STAFF
CONCORD — After a two-year hiatus, the Solano Drive-In Theater is reopening tonight.
A week ago, potholes dotted its vast parking lot — the very lot where thousands had, over four decades, craned their necks inside the family car to watch "The Odd Couple" or "Die Hard" just after sunset.
The last East Bay drive-in theater had faded into oblivion in summer 2005 with no explanation. People just assumed it stopped making money like drive-ins across the nation, that movie buffs had given in to Blockbuster and Netflix. Or maybe the long commutes finally had us hating our cars.
The marquee sat empty and had started to rust.
But a funny thing happened over the last two years: West Wind Drive-Ins, which owns the two-screen theater, received a tidal wave of complaints from locals. The company listened, and this week workers paved over the potholes, returning the lot to its former black sleekness.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5807847
America, say hello to Bay Area prices
Cost of gasoline surges as refinery, import problems continue
By Gary Richards, MEDIANEWS STAFF
Motorists across the country are howling over rising gas prices, fearing they will soar to California levels. After the release of a new energy report Wednesday, they have good reason to worry.
Gasoline supplies nationwide have fallen for a 12th consecutive week, according to an Energy Department report, the longest decline in nearly two decades and a drop that has helped send the U.S. average to $2.98 a gallon, up almost 30 cents in a month and just 8 cents shy of the national record.
That may seem cheap to Bay Area drivers, who are paying record prices — an average Wednesday of $3.56 a gallon in the San Francisco-San Mateo area and $3.45 a gallon in the East Bay and in the South Bay, according to AAA. But it's a shock to drivers from St. Paul to Manhattan to Phoenix.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5807814
Once-a-year treatment for bone loss, promising
Therapy could provide alternative to weekly dosing available now
By Rebecca Vesely, STAFF WRITER
A simple annual infusion of a new drug is just as effective at reducing bone fractures as weekly or monthly bone loss drugs currently on the market, according to a study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco published today.
The findings on the drug — called zoledronic acid and marketed as Reclast by Novartis Pharmaceuticals — could offer millions of older women a more convenient alternative to preventing bone loss. Reclast has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Older women who took Reclast experienced a 70 percent reduction in the risk of spinal fractures and a 41 percent reduction in the risk of hip fractures. Risk of other types of fractures were also reduced, by about 25 percent.
Bone mineral density increased in the spine by 6.7 percent and in the hip by 6 percent among the women on Reclast, according to the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5807846
Berkeley High graduate slain
Canon Jones dies in apparent low-stakes robbery near Alabama university he attended
By Kristin Bender, STAFF WRITER
Canon Jones, a 2006 Berkeley High School graduate, was killed during a robbery near Tuskegee University in Alabama last weekend, authorities said.
Jones, 18, a freshman at the university, was fatally shot in the head about 8:40 p.m. Sunday during a robbery, authorities said.
A witness driving near the university saw two men shove Jones up against a fence and start patting him down; gunshots followed, authorities said.
When police arrived on the scene they found Jones lying face down on the sidewalk with a bullet wound to his head. Paramedics arrived and Jones was pronounced dead on the scene. Dave Manson, the president of the board of directors of the Berkeley Boosters Police Activities League, in which Jones was involved while he was in high school, said the victim had no more than $40 on him because his father had just wired him money Saturday.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5807817
Pair of inspiring heroes die only two days apart
Dave Newhouse
ADOUBLE DOSE of death has rocked my world. Renowned journalist David Halberstam was killed in an auto wreck last week in my hometown of Menlo Park. Shot-putting legend Parry O'Brien died during a swimming race two weeks ago.
Both men impacted my life as "good neighbors," not geographically, but inspirationally. I feel compelled to salute these two important giants, so powerful in different ways.
O'Brien influenced me first, and it also happened in Menlo Park. I was floundering as a teenage athlete when I turned out for track and field as a last resort. Because I was big, I became a shot-putter.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5807818
Oakland shooting sends three to hospital
Bay City News Service
Article Last Updated: 05/03/2007 09:37:23 AM PDT
OAKLAND (BCN) Multiple suspects assaulted three adults this morning, Oakland Police Officer John Wilson said today.
Officers responded to reports of a shooting this morning at 1:53 a.m., according to Wilson. Police founds three victims on the 3300 block of 72nd Avenue suffering gunshot wounds. All three were transported to a local hospital in stable condition, Wilson said.
Oakland police are continuing to investigate, Wilson said, and there are no suspects in custody at this time.
Struggling to find the 'right' school
Oakland parents grapple with decision
By Katy Murphy - STAFF WRITER
Today: We follow an Oakland couple through the difficult process of choosing a school for their daughter.
Friday: Grass roots parent movements around the city are encouraging more middle-class families to consider their neighborhood school.
OAKLAND — This fall, 4-year-old Amelia Moore will walk to school, a few blocks away from her home in the Glenview area.
In retrospect, it seems an obvious choice. Glenview Elementary School has high test scores, a well-regarded principal and a growing base of active parents.
But the decision to send Amelia to the neighborhood school, or any public school in Oakland, was hardly automatic. Her parents, an environmental lawyer and a stay-at-home mom, spent the months leading up to the decision in various states of soul-searching, anticipation and self-doubt.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5133240
Mope springs eternal for Morrissey faithful
By Jim Harrington, STAFF WRITER
THE LIGHTS went dark and a computerized voice spoke up. It began listing seemingly random things — rape, the death of the rain forest, Tiananmen Square, Nelson Mandela's imprisonment, Jesse Helms.
Why were all these things lumped together? What did it all mean?
Not a clue. Maybe that's just how Morrissey pumps himself up before performing.
As witnessed again Tuesday night in Oakland, Morrissey's music isn't happy. But it sure makes some people happy.
People like the person who drove to the gig in the Mazda plastered with Bauhaus, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees bumper stickers, and the young men in thin ties and young women with moussed-up hair who nearly trampled me once Morrissey took the stage.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_5807694
Clorox reports higher profits
, Bloomberg News
Clorox Co., the Oakland maker of bleach and Glad trash bags, said third-quarter profit increased 17 percent, more than analysts estimated, on sales of new disinfectant wipes and cat litter.
Net income rose to $129 million, or 84 cents a share, in the three months through March 31 from $110 million, or 72 cents, a year earlier, the company said Wednesday in a statement. The profit beat the average estimate of analysts by 7 cents.
Sales expanded 7.3 percent to $1.24 billion, helped by a new version of Fresh Step cat litter. Chief Executive Don Knauss, on the job since October, reduced this quarter's profit forecast because of higher costs for agricultural products including soy beans.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_5807826
Warriors act loose, talk loose before Game 6
Players confident about getting clincher at home, say they beat selves in Game 5
By Marcus Thompson IIMEDIANEWS STAFF
DALLAS — After their meltdown late in Game 5, the Warriors are applying an extra coat of pressure repellant.
The consensus among practically anyone who knows how to spell the word basketball is that their last chance to dethrone the Dallas Mavericks comes tonight at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
The Warriors either close out this first-round Western Conference playoff series at home in Game 6, or they'll inevitably be extinguished in Game 7 in Dallas.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports/ci_5807556
New Zealand Herald
Mt Cook glaciers 'permanently damaged' by climate change
3:20PM Thursday May 03, 2007By Xavier La Canna
Mount Cook stands 3800 metres above sea level. Photo / Christchurch Star
New Zealand's famed Mount Cook glaciers are so affected by a warming climate they will never return to their former splendour, a New Zealand glaciologist has said.
Glaciologist Dr Trevor Chinn, who has been studying the Mount Cook structures since the 1960s, said some had already shrunk up to five kilometres, about 20 per cent, and it was too late for any of them to completely recover.
He said that while some of the world's glaciers would grow back if the climate cooled to its pre-global warming levels, those fronting lakes, like some at Mount Cook, would not.
"You can't get a re-advance that will come back if you apply the previous climate ... a re-advance across a lake is difficult because the ice breaks off the front of the glacier and floats away," Chinn said.
He said local warming since the 1890s had started the trend, but man-made climate change in recent decades had exacerbated the effect.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10437601
Erik Kirschbaum: Meltdown on highest mountain
5:00AM Thursday May 03, 2007By Guest Columnists
Germany's highest mountain, the country's last glacier, is melting away despite Herculean efforts to counter the effects of climate change.
Spreading giant anti-glare shields over the glacier each April after piling tonnes of loose snow upon it, workers at the Zugspitzebahn cable car operator are fighting a losing battle to keep their glacier alive - for business and ecology reasons.
"We're doing all we can to preserve it as long as possible, but I'm not God and there's only so much we can do," said Frank Huber, the manager of cable car and skiing operations on the 2962m peak in the northern Alps.
"I grew up with the glacier and it's sad to think one day my children's children won't know what it feels or looks like."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437436
Tougher building requirements revealed
The changes will make it easier to install solar heating systems. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times
The government has revealed a raft of new regulations aimed at increasing energy efficiency, including tougher requirements for home insulation and energy efficient lighting in offices.
Prime Minister Helen Clark and Building and Construction Minister Clayton Cosgrove announced the changes to the Building Code and Compliance Documents today.
Miss Clark said the changes would help New Zealand move towards being a "truly sustainable nation".
"Creating more efficient houses and commercial buildings is a triple win for New Zealanders? health, our environment and our power bills," she said.
From November new houses in the South Island and the North Island?s Central Plateau will need more insulation and double-glazing.
Improvements to house insulation in the North Island will take effect in most of the North Island in July 2008 and for Auckland and further north from October next year.
Other changes include a compliance document that would reduce the cost of installing solar water heating systems by up to $500 and new requirements for energy efficient lighting in new and refitted commercial buildings.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10437608
Australia water supplies below 30 per cent
10:15AM Thursday May 03, 2007
MELBOURNE - Melbourne's dwindling water reserves have dropped below 30 per cent of capacity for the first time in almost 40 years.
Melbourne's nine reservoirs are holding just 29.9 per cent of capacity, the lowest level since May 29, 1968, when Victoria was recovering from the 1967-68 drought, News Limited newspapers reported today.
The news comes as the Victorian government faces a backlash for not having earmarked funding for a major water initiative, such as a desalination plant, in the budget brought down by Treasurer John Brumby on Tuesday.
The budget included A$136 million ($154 million) for various water projects, A$24 million less than was allocated to similar water initiatives in the last budget, the report said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437551
Rainmakers deal drought a king-hit
5:00AM Wednesday May 02, 2007
By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat
The Bureau of Royal Rainmaking takes to the air every day during Thailand's dry spell. Photo / Reuters
Every day during the scorching heat of Thailand's dry season, four ageing planes take off from an airstrip southwest of Bangkok carrying cargoes of salt.
The pilots seek out whatever clouds might be floating around, and then, at 1800m, tell their crew to start shovelling the crystalline powder out the door to seed them in the hope of provoking rain.
Welcome to the work of the Bureau of Royal Rainmaking, a small frontline in Thailand's fight against drought - a struggle likely to become increasingly desperate if scientists and governments meeting in Bangkok this week fail to agree on a masterplan to tackle global warming.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=68&objectid=10437283
Herceptin advocates slam Pharmac funding decision
6:50PM Thursday May 03, 2007
Anne Hayden said the nine-week course did not have Medsafe approval. Photo / Dean Purcell
Advocates of the breast cancer drug Herceptin have responded angrily to today's decision from drug funding body Pharmac to fund nine-week courses of the medication, rather than the preferred 52-week option.
Pharmac announced today it would fund nine-week courses of Herceptin, in combination with a taxane drug, for women with early HER2-positive breast cancer.
A joint release from Pharmac and District Health Boards (DHBs) said 350 women each year would benefit, with funding available from July 1 in a move representing an investment of $6 million a year by DHBs.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10437623
Eyeing up gene therapy for blind
5:00AM Thursday May 03, 2007By Jeremy Laurance
Scientists have claimed a world first for a new form of gene therapy that could help the blind to see.
Specialists at University College London and Moorfields eye hospital are testing the revolutionary treatment on 12 patients, aged 8 to the mid-20s, with an inherited eye disorder in the first trial of its kind.
The technique has been shown to work in animals affected by the same disorder, inherited retinal degeneration, whose sight was restored.
If proved successful in humans, the scientists hope the technique can be extended to other eye diseases.
Professor Robin Ali, who is leading the research, said it was "very exciting" and represented "a huge step towards establishing gene therapy for the treatment of many different eye conditions".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437433
Magnetic pulses promise cure for insomniacs
5:00AM Thursday May 03, 2007
Scientists may have discovered a way of triggering deep sleep in people suffering from chronic insomnia.
A study has found a way of stimulating the brain so that sleep-deprived people can feel the full restorative powers of an eight-hour period of slumber.
The researchers have developed an electronic device that stimulates the brain with harmless magnetic pulses which cross the skull into the nerves that control a type of deep sleep called "slow-wave activity".
Giulio Tononi, professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437438
LA to Auckland plane forced to turn back
1:15PM Thursday May 03, 2007
File photo
A Qantas plane carrying 288 passengers from Los Angeles to Auckland was forced to turn back after a mid-air engine problem.
It was reported that one passenger saw sparks coming out of an engine.
The Boeing 747-400 took off from Los Angeles International Airport at 9.55pm LA time on Tuesday (4.55pm Wednesday NZT), and soon after takeoff there were "vibration issues" with one of the aircraft's four engines.
The pilot shut down the engine as a precaution and the aircraft landed back in Los Angeles at 11.05pm. The flight number was QF 26.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10437584
Mothers and fathers equally likely to kill children - study
3:00PM
Thursday May 03, 2007
Mothers and fathers are equally likely to kill their children, new child homicide findings suggest.
Victoria University researcher Liz Moore studied the post mortem examination results of 69 children, who were among the more than 200 murdered between 1980 and 2003.
She said most of that group were killed by a parent, or someone in a parental position, and that the offending was split between males and females.
Ms Moore said 30 of the children were killed alongside one or all of their siblings, and most of the offenders acted alone.
Of the 69 murdered children, 42 were boys, and the majority lived in nuclear family situations with both their biological parents.
Liz Moore presents her findings at a Victoria University seminar this afternoon.
- NEWSTALK ZB
Yachting: Schumacher experiences a different type of acceleration
2:37PM Thursday May 03, 2007By Robert Lowe
Formula One driver Michael Schumacher (L) takes the wheel of NZL92 with Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker. Photo / Chris Cameron, ETNZ
Formula One legend Michael Schumacher got a taste of a different type of top-level racing today, and at a much more leisurely pace than he's used to.
Schumacher was Team New Zealand's "18th man" for the first of their two latest wins in the America's Cup challengers' yachting series in Spain.
The German, who claimed a record seven drivers' championships before his retirement last year, would have regularly seen his speedometer record more than 300km/h during his F1 days.
Off Valencia, NZL92 averaged around 10 knots, or 18 to 19km/h, as it comfortably beat Italian syndicate +39 Challenge by 45 seconds in the Louis Vuitton Cup.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10437594
Blogging economists draw cyber-crowds
12:00PM Thursday May 03, 2007By Emily Kaiser
CHICAGO - To debate leading economists on hot topics like globalisation and free trade, you can hang out at Harvard -- or log on to a growing group of brainy blogs.
Blogging, the soap box for the masses, is getting a bit more high-brow as elite professors look to share their views on the issues of the day and interact with an audience that may not spend much time on exclusive college campuses.
"It allows you to reach outside the Ivory Tower," said Daniel Drezner, a professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. He blogs on global political economics at www.danieldrezner.com.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10437571
Peter Griffin: Web entrepreneur is a little too Keen on the bad aspects of the net
5:00AM Thursday
May 03, 2007By Peter Griffin
He hates MySpace, thinks YouTube contributors are digital narcissists and believes the internet is destroying culture. Web entrepreneur Andrew Keen's book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting Our Economy hasn't even hit the shelves yet and already it is causing rabid debate around the world.
That's a good thing. We need to have this discussion and Keen the contrarian is right in one respect. There's been far too much euphoric celebration of many of the Web 2.0 services that have emerged in the last couple of years and not enough analysis of how good they actually are, what value they have to society. A victim of the last dotcom crash, Keen knows only too well how an industry can be built on a blast of hot air only to fall flat on its face.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10437430
The Smacking Bill: Amendment passes by landslide - only three MPs vote no
5:00AM Thursday May 03, 2007
Does telling police not to prosecute parents go far enough?
The amendment brokered by Prime Minister Helen Clark and National's leader John Key that ended the battle over the bill to amend the law on smacking was passed by Parliament last night on a vote of 117-3.
Act's two MPs, Rodney Hide and Heather Roy, and Independent MP Taito Phillip Field voted against it.
Mr Hide said the amendment saying the police had the discretion not to prosecute complaints that they considered to be "inconsequential" made no difference at all to the bill.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10437509
145 state tenants in $1m homes
5:00AM Thursday May 03, 2007
By Claire Trevett and Anne Gibson
Kupe St in Orakei has some of the highest-value state houses in the country, according to MP Phil Heatley. Photo / Martin Sykes
What should be done with $1m state houses?
National has accused the Government of letting 145 state tenants live in $1 million-plus grandeur while 11,000 others wait and "ordinary hard-working New Zealanders" struggle to save for their own homes.
The National Party's housing spokesman, Phil Heatley, yesterday revealed Quotable Value documents showing that at least 145 state houses were now worth more than $1 million each.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10437489
'Inhumane' care led to suffering and death
5:00AM Thursday May 03, 2007By Martin Johnston
Lois Hudson says her father's starving five times for operations that were then cancelled contributed to his death. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey
An elderly man recovering in hospital from a hip operation fell and caused himself further injuries when staff failed to answer his call for help to go to the toilet.
He then waited more than 20 days for repeat hip-replacement surgery in Auckland City Hospital and died after his condition worsened.
The hospital has apologised over the case.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10437507
Heart failure killed veteran marathon runner
5:00AM Thursday May 03, 2007
Veteran Christchurch runner William Roland Wells died from heart failure after running 30km of his 21st Buller Marathon this year, Westport coroner Peter Roselli ruled today.
A former carpet and vinyl quantifier, Mr Wells died in Buller Hospital on February 10. It was his 63rd birthday.
Dr Roger Williams told the inquest Mr Wells was admitted in severe shock and with high blood pressure. The Solid Energy rescue helicopter was called to transfer him to Grey Hospital, but he died before it arrived.
Mr Wells had had a heart by-pass in 1999 and had what appeared to be a mild heart attack last November.
Mr Wells' widow Dianne told the Westport News in February Mr Wells had seen his doctor the week before the marathon and was advised not to run.
His family had a history of heart disease - his father, mother and brother had had heart problems.
- NZPA
Stink bombs prompt terror alert on Sydney train
6:20PM Thursday May 03, 2007
SYDNEY - A childish prank -- detonating a stink bomb on a commuter train -- sparked a counter-terrorism investigation in Sydney today.
Two teenage boys are accused of detonating the prank devices -- which have a strong odour but are harmless -- on a commuter train on the northern line at about 10.30am (AEST) today.
The boys, who have been captured on security camera footage but have not been arrested, then let one off at St Leonards railway station in Sydney's north.
Assistant Police Commissioner Dave Owens said passengers began to panic after hearing an explosion on the train between St Leonards and Wollstonecraft stations.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437615
Last electoral test could be bitter farewell for Blair
12:15PM Thursday May 03, 2007By Adrian Croft
LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair faces the last electoral test of his decade in power today, a vote that could set Scotland on course for a referendum on independence.
Blair's Labour Party is expected to suffer heavy losses in the elections to local councils, the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly as the Iraq war, political scandals and discontent with public services cost the party support.
The result could be a bitter farewell for Blair, the Labour Party's longest-serving prime minister, who is expected to announce next week he will leave office by July.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437579
Royal forces Sarkozy onto defensive in TV debate
2:30PM Thursday May 03, 2007By Crispian Balmer
Nicolas Sarkozy (L) and Segolene Royal (R) meet in a television studio before their debate in Paris. Photo / Reuters
PARIS - Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal forced her rightist rival Nicolas Sarkozy onto the defensive during a fiery TV debate today, attacking his record in office and accusing him of political immorality.
At times unsettled, Sarkozy managed to hit back, questioning whether she could handle the pressures of the presidency, and analysts said neither contender appeared to have landed a knockout blow just four days before their run-off election.
Royal set the tone from the outset of the 160-minute duel, charging that the outgoing conservative government in which Sarkozy served as both interior and finance minister, had failed to tackle unemployment, cut debt or reduce street crime.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437537
Bush vetoes Iraq pullout bill
10:40AM Wednesday May 02, 2007
By Richard Cowan and Caren Bohan
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush vetoed legislation today that would force him to begin withdrawing US combat troops from Iraq this year, setting up a new showdown with Democratic leaders in Congress over funding the war.
"Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a deadline for failure, and that would be irresponsible," Bush said in a nationally televised speech shortly after issuing only the second veto of his presidency.
Bush's rejection of the legislation came on the four-year anniversary of his 2003 speech announcing the end of major combat operations in Iraq beneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner, an event roundly condemned by war critics.
"Stop the war now," shouted a protester outside the White House gate.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437344
Chelsea vice president dies in mystery copter crash
9:05AM Thursday May 03, 2007
Phillip Carter, honorary vice president of Chelsea football club died in a helicopter crash. Photo / Reuters
LONDON - Bodies have been found in the wreckage of a helicopter carrying an honorary vice president of Chelsea football club and three other men which came down on its way back from Tuesday night's Liverpool/Chelsea match.
The downed helicopter was found in Cambridgeshire woodland today morning after it was reported missing from radar screens, police said.
Phillip Carter, chief executive of Nottingham-based vocational training company Carter & Carter, had been aboard the helicopter, which disappeared in the early hours of Wednesday after leaving Liverpool on Tuesday night.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437543
Jeans firms pollute Mexican city with blue dye
3:15PM Thursday May 03, 2007By Frank Jack Daniel
TEHUACAN - Jeans factories have given jobs to thousands in the city of Tehuacan, the heartland of Mexico's denim industry, but they are pumping blue chemicals into rivers used to irrigate corn fields downstream.
Dozens of industrial laundries, some of which put the finishing touches to jeans for export, discharge a cocktail of bleach, dye and detergents into Tehuacan's wide valley with almost no government controls, residents say.
In just one example of the widespread pollution, a dark blue sludge fills a ditch behind the high-tech Grupo Navarra factory, where jeans are bleached and dyed for brands made by Levi Strauss & Co and Gap Inc.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437531
Canada confirms mad cow case
2:15PM Thursday May 03, 2007
CALGARY - Another Canadian case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, has been confirmed in a mature dairy cow in the province of British Columbia, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said today.
The CFIA said the cow was 66 months old, within the age range of other Canadian cattle found to have the disease. The cow was born and died on a farm in the western part of the province's Fraser River valley.
The agency has the animal's carcass and no part of it entered the human or animal feed systems.
The case is the tenth found in Canadian cattle since 2003, and the second in less than three months. Many of the cases have been blamed on exposure to contaminated feed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437587
Demonising of Hicks continues, says father
1:15PM Thursday May 03, 2007
ADELAIDE - The father of confessed terror supporter David Hicks says the demonising of his son continues with concerns over community safety following his release from prison.
South Australian Premier Mike Rann has written to Prime Minister John Howard raising concerns over the ongoing security issues and has asked if the federal government will move to place a control order on Hicks.
Mr Rann also has promised to introduce legislation into state parliament if necessary to stop the 31-year-old from selling his story.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437581
Palestinians explore contacts in BBC kidnapping
8:15AM Thursday May 03, 2007
GAZA - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said today his aides were seeking a possible meeting with people close to those involved in the suspected kidnapping of the BBC's correspondent in Gaza.
Haniyeh told reporters in the troubled enclave that those believed to have been holding Alan Johnston since his car was found abandoned on March 12 had also sought guidance from Muslim clerics on the religious legitimacy of their actions.
"I have instructed a person from my office to follow this issue with a channel of contact and I have asked him to look into the possibility of convening a meeting with people close to the suspected kidnappers," Haniyeh said.
"The arrangements for this meeting are under way."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437527
Fiji raises departure tax
7:15AM Thursday May 03, 2007
Fiji has raised its departure tax for visitors from $F30 to $F40 ($25.34 to $33.79).
The increase was for security costs.
Turkey presidential vote hanging on a headscarf
5:00AM Thursday May 03, 2007
By Stephen Castle
Presidential candidate Abdullah Gul and his wife Hayrunisa Gul. Photo / Reuters
BRUSSELS - Turkey is in crisis because of a wife's headscarf.
The prospect of the country's next President being married to someone who chooses to wear the veil has plunged the country into the most serious political and economic crisis for years, even prompting fears of a military coup.
Turkey's top court yesterday intervened in the country's biggest political crisis for years, striking down the result of a vote among MPs for the key post of President.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437449
Caught in World Bank storm
5:00AM Thursday May 03, 2007By Simon Louisson
New Zealander Graeme Wheeler, a World Bank managing director, has unwittingly found himself a central figure in the fate of one of the world's most powerful men, Paul Wolfowitz.
Wolfowitz, one of United States President George W. Bush's closest advisers, is under siege, with worldwide calls for his resignation from the leadership of the powerful aid agency.
He has been revealed to have had inappropriate involvement in his Libyan girlfriend Shaha Ali Riza getting a highly paid job in the US State Department.
Ironically, one of his objectives as bank President was to cut down on corruption, graft and cronyism. He has been criticised for bank appointments of other supporters.
Wheeler was not the whistle blower who revealed the Wolfowitz influence in his girlfriend's appointment, but he did publicly call on him to resign.
In doing so, the man New Zealand colleagues remember as a straight shooter took a stand in line with good old fashioned public service ethics.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437424
Democrats win in US good for Pacific, says visiting leader
5:00AM Thursday May 03, 2007By Angela Gregory
The Pacific region could benefit if Democrats Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton win the 2008 United States presidential election, says a visiting Hawaiian leader.
At a Pacific trade lunch meeting in Auckland yesterday Mufi Hannemann, Mayor of Honolulu, said both candidates had strong connections to Hawaii, which would help in their understanding of Pacific issues.
Mr Hannemann, who has Samoan heritage, said Senator Obama was born in Honolulu, where he graduated from high school and Senator Clinton often visited the state.
He said their knowledge of Hawaii would help him make his case for the Pacific to Congress and the areas in which the region needed assistance.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10437422
Quakes recorded in Bay of Plenty, Canterbury
1:25PM Thursday May 03, 2007
GNS Science recorded two small earthquakes shortly before midday.
The first at 11.44pm was within 5km of Matata in eastern Bay of Plenty and measured 4.2 on the Richter scale.
The second at midday was centred 30km west of Culverden in Canterbury at depth of 6km and measured 4.4.
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