Two Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants close in Buffalo, New York, USA
Friday, May 11, 2007 At least two Kentucky Fried Chicken [KFC] restaurants, operated by G & H Restaurant Specialties, have closed in Buffalo, New York “for remodeling,” according to signs placed on the front doors of at least one location on Elmwood Avenue and Bryant Street in Buffalo. The other KFC is located on East Delavan Avenue, also in the City of Buffalo. Despite the claim of closing for remodeling, the Erie County Health Department says that several health code violations were found at both locations. The most recent violation was logged by the health department in March at the Elmwood location for failing to keep food stored at correct temperatures. Violations were also cited for failing to keep cooking supplies and equipment sanitary and for not supplying hot water to the bathroom for employees. G & H Restaurant Specialties has not released a statement regarding the violations, but the…
South African apartheid assassin Eugene de Kock granted parole
Saturday, January 31, 2015 South African Justice Minister Michael Masutha yesterday announced he is granting parole to Eugene de Kock, an apartheid-era assassin who has spent twenty years in prison. After South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 de Kock was arrested and subsequently detailed his actions to the nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). As head of a police ‘counter-insurgency’ unit de Kock took responsibility for murdering and torturing dissidents opposed to white-only rule. His methods included bombings, shootings, and stabbings and he operated internationally and at home. His revelations earned him the nickname “Prime Evil”. The TRC granted de Kock immunity for most crimes in exchange for his testimony. He was charged with remaining offences, not covered due to limits in TRC power, and in 1996 jailed for life for six murders. Additional convictions include kidnap and attempted murder. He received an additional 212-year term for those crimes.…
Niobium discovered in Mbeya
Monday, June 19, 2006 A large quantity of Niobium was discovered at Panda Hill in Mbeya Region in Tanzania. Two companies did the prospecting assessment; one of which is Rex Well, a subsidiary of Euronet Africa of UK. Mining could start any time. Last year’s survey by the firm indicated that the area has about 90 million tonnes of Niobium. The company would use open cast method, as most of the mineral is found near the surface. Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Niobium discovered in Mbeya
Tornadoes cause millions in damages in Waco, Texas
Saturday, May 6, 2006 Early Saturday morning winds up to 90 miles per hour struck Waco, Texas and central McLennan County, United States, causing widespread damage and leaving many households without electricity. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported; however, there is a tremendous amount of damage in 15 areas of the city, leading Mayor Virgina DuPuy to declare the city a disaster area. The hardest hit area was Franklin Avenue, where the Coca-Cola bottling plant’s roof was peeled open as if by a giant can-opener. There were Sprite bottles spread out onto the street. The nearby Furniture Row shopping center was also hit hard. Some furniture was found as far as three-quarters of a mile away. Other hard-hit areas were Robinson, Hewitt, Woodway, and Speegleville. Densely populated Inner Waco was spared of any catastrophic damage, though hundreds, and possibly thousands, of trees have fallen, and roofs destroyed. The…
Google removes German BMW from search results
Monday, February 6, 2006 The search engine Google announced the removal of the official German BMW web site from its search results today. Google is reported to have removed the website due to the use of a trick to raise its website ratings in the search engine’s results. The online version of Forbes magazine reported that the German word for used car, Gebrauchtwagen, appeared 42 times in a doorway web page created by the German car manufacturer. Doorway web pages contain many keywords designed to attract search robots. The page presented to Google’s robot for indexing was significantly different from the page presented to the site’s visitors. According to a recent blog post by Matt Cutts, one of Google’s software engineers, this technique is “a violation of our webmaster quality guidelines.” These guidelines encourage webmasters to “avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings.” BMW reacted to the measure by…
Five hundred cattle die of neglect on West Australia property
Thursday, February 17, 2005 RSPCA inspectors found about 500 cattle dead on a remote station in Western Australia. Water is being trucked in to care for another 2500 cattle on Windidda station, east of Wilun, which is leased to an Aboriginal corporation. State Agriculture Minister Kim Chance says the propery was found abandoned and only two of the property’s 13 watering stations were working. “The lease is owned by an aboriginal corporation (but) the precise of identity of the corporation is somewhat obscure,” Mr Chance said. WA RSPCA spokesperson Kelly Oversby said they made the shocking discovery after an anonymous tip-off. “Experienced inspectors have told us it is the worst case of animal cruelty they have ever seen,” Ms Overby said. “As well as the cattle, brumbies, camels, dogs and kangaroos have all perished.”
Deadly flash flooding hits northwestern Turkey
Friday, September 11, 2009 Heavy overnight rains flooded Istanbul, Turkey, stranding motorists and flooding arterial roads. The floods led to the death of at least 31 people and the cost of damage has been estimated as being in excess of $70 million in northwestern parts of the country. The flood devastated businesses, swept away cars and swamped houses, roads, and farming land. Fueled by the worst rain in 80 years, waters rose up to six feet (2 meters) high in the city’s ?kitelli district, cutting off the route to Istanbul’s main airport and the highway to Greece and Bulgaria on the European side of the sprawling city. “We are saddened by the loss of lives. There are still some people missing and we are searching for them,” said Mustafa Demir, the Turkish Procurement Minister, as quoted by the Associated Press news agency. Over 1000 people have been rescued by emergency…
Honda wins car, truck of the year, unveils Fit
Monday, January 9, 2006 Honda’s Civic and Ridgeline truck won the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards at the International Auto Show in Detroit. This is the first time a company has won both awards in the same year. The finalists were the Ridgeline, the Ford Explorer SUV and the Nissan Xterra. The awards are intended to recognize vehicles for their innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction, and value.File:Ford Explorer.jpg Honda also unveiled its latest model the Fit, a US version of the Honda Jazz sold in nonUS markets. The Fit comes with a 109 horsepower engine, antilock brakes, six air bags, fold flat seats, full iPod connectivity, 90.1 cubic feet of passenger and cargo space, and 33 mpg for the city 38 mpg for the highway. A sport package will also include Honda’s first steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. The car will go against another two…
Victoria Wyndham on Another World and another life
Thursday, December 13, 2007 Victoria Wyndham was one of the most seasoned and accomplished actresses in daytime soap opera television. She played Rachel Cory, the maven of Another World‘s fictional town, Bay City, from 1972 to 1999 when the show went off the air. Wyndham talks about how she was seen as the anchor of a show, and the political infighting to keep it on the air as NBC wanted to wrest control of the long-running soap from Procter & Gamble. Wyndham fought to keep it on the air, but eventually succumbed to the inevitable. She discusses life on the soap opera, and the seven years she spent wandering “in the woods” of Los Angeles seeking direction, now divorced from a character who had come to define her professional career. Happy, healthy and with a family she is proud of, Wyndham has found life after the death of Another World…
Moon water possibly originated from comets, data shows
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 Data from recent detailed analyses of samples collected on NASA Apollo moon missions, released Sunday, show that Lunar water may originate from comets that collided with the moon early in its geologic history. A team of astrophysicists led by James Greenwood of Wesleyan University in Connecticut analyzed samples collected on the Apollo 11, 12, 14, and 17 missions and found that the chemical properties of traces of lunar water in these samples differ from water typical of Earth. “The values of deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) that we measure in apatite in the Apollo rock samples”, Greenwood told Space.com, “is clearly distinguishable from water from the Earth, mitigating against this being some sort of contamination on Earth.” Greenwood and his team of researchers studied in particular the variations of hydrogen in the mineral apatite. The newfound data show that the chemical properties of water in the apatite samples resemble…