Lost Lake Tribune July 20, 2010
BP's Cap on Oil Spill Has Minimal Spilling
NEW ORLEANS -- BP's broken well was leaking oil and gas again Monday for the first time since the company capped it last week, but the Obama administration's spill chief said it was no reason for alarm. The stopper was left in place for now.
Ever since the cap was used to bottle up the oil last week, engineers have been watching underwater cameras and monitoring pressure and seismic readings to see whether the well would hold or spring a new leak, perhaps one that could rupture the seafloor and make the disaster even worse.
Small amounts of oil and gas started coming from the cap late Sunday, but "we do not believe it is consequential at this time," retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.
Also, seepage from the seafloor was detected over the weekend less than two miles away, but Allen said it probably has nothing to do with the well. Oil and gas are known to ooze naturally from fissures in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
At an afternoon briefing in Washington, Allen said BP could keep the cap closed at least another 24 hours, as long as the company remained alert for leaks.
BP and the government are at odds over the company's desire to simply leave the cap in place and employ it like a giant cork in a bottle until a relief well being drilled deep underground can be used to plug up the well permanently.
Allen had made it clear his preference would be to use the cap instead to capture the oil and pipe it to tankers on the surface to reduce the slight chance that the buildup of pressure inside the well could cause a new blowout. But opening up the cap in that way would require releasing millions more gallons of oil into the ocean for a few days during the transition -- a spectacle BP apparently wants to avoid.
Allen said BP and the government are still trying to understand why pressure readings from the well are lower than expected. He offered two possible explanations: The reservoir the oil is gushing from is dwindling, or there is an undiscovered leak somewhere down in the well.
"I'm not prepared to say the well is shut in until the relief well is done," which is still several weeks away, Allen said. "There are too many uncertainties."
BP and the Coast Guard learned that lesson the hard way after they initially said no oil was coming from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig after it exploded April 20, killing 11 workers. Even after it became clear there was a leak, the company and its federal overseers drastically underestimated its size for weeks.
Robert Carney, a Louisiana State University expert on biological oceanography, said the seepage is far enough away from the well that it could be occurring naturally.
"You have little bubbles rising up from the bottom frequently; that's the methane gas" he said. "Oil would be a little black dot, more difficult to see. But both escape into the water regularly."
Work on a permanent plug is moving steadily, with crews drilling into the side of the ruptured well from deep underground. By next week, they could start blasting in mud and cement to block off the well for good. Killing the well deep underground works more reliably than bottling it up with a cap.
Somewhere between 94 million and 184 million gallons have gushed into the Gulf over the past three months in one of America's worst environment crises.
BP said the cost of dealing with the spill has now reached nearly $4 billion. The company said it has made payments totaling $207 million to settle claims for damages. Almost 116,000 claims have been submitted and more than 67,500 payments have been made. BP stock was down slightly Monday.
Information Copied from http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/19/obama-spill-chief-bp-oil-leaking-major-concern/
An arrest has been made in connection with the Downtown Indy shootings on Saturday. At a 4:00 p.m. press conference, police announced they had taken 17-year-old Shamus Patton into custody. He is being charged with nine of the 10 shootings from Saturday night.
Police received a tip last night that the suspect was at the Westpark Townhouses near Maureen Terrace and set up overnight surveillance. He did not resist arrest and did not make a statement.
Earlier, police vowed that a suspect would be caught within 48 hours after the shooting Saturday night. Public Safety Director Frank Straub used the press conference as an opportunity to remind the public that police had kept their promise.
"The message is clear: this police department, this Department of Public Safety will not tolerate violence in this city. We will not tolerate aberrance by individuals that affects families, businesses and homeowners," Straub said. "This is a safe city, this is a city where safety is job one."
Three independent witnesses identified the suspect. He is being held on preliminary charges of aggravated battery and criminal recklessness with possible gang-related charges to come. Police did not state a motive.
Nine victims, all between the ages of 10 and 19, were shot in two separate incidents, though none was hurt seriously. All were reported in good condition today.
Earlier today:
Indianapolis metropolitan police are searching for a 17-year-old in connection with two of the shooting incidents Saturday night in Downtown Indianapolis.
Nine victims, all between the ages of 10 and 19, were shot in two separate incidents, though none was hurt seriously. All were reported in good condition today.
Police identified the suspect as Shamus Patton, Indianapolis. Patton, who is 5-7, 220 pounds, is thought to be in Indianapolis. Lt. Jeff Duhammel, a spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said Patton has had “some run-ins” with the criminal justice system — his mugshot was already on file — but the police spokesman declined to disclose details because Patton is a juvenile.
Duhammel said he did not know if Patton was a member of a street gang or if the shootings were gang-related. He declined to assign a motive to the shooting.
“Any time a person shoots that many rounds, it’s hard to tell a motive,” he said. He said Patton was identified by persons at the scene but that other people could also be involved.
Information Copied from http://www.indystar.com/article/20100719/NEWS02/100719021/Suspect-arrested-in-Indy-shootings
Xcel crews restore power to most
Lots of trees fell, but little other significant damage was reported in the wake of Saturday's storms.
About 5,000 Xcel Energy customers in the Twin Cities metro area were still without power Sunday evening, a small fraction of the 80,000 who lost electrical service during Saturday's night intense midsummer storms. Lost Lake Tribune Editor Benjamin Fugate was one of the customers who lost power and did not get it back for about 12 hours.
POWER BY MONDAY NIGHT: The utility brought in extra repair crews to work overnight and through Sunday and expects to have power fully restored by Monday night, said spokeswoman Mary Sandok.
DAMAGE INSPECTIONS: Saturday evening's siege of funnel clouds, tornado touchdowns, high winds, hail, heavy rain and flooding was the second in four days across central and southern Minnesota. For that reason, the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service didn't have enough staffers Sunday to investigate damage from Saturday's storms and determine whether any was from tornadoes, said meteorologist Mike Griesinger. They'll be out in the field Monday.
Law enforcement dispatchers from the St. Cloud area across to the Wisconsin state line Sunday reported numerous trees down but little significant damage and no confirmed tornadoes.
RAIN AND HAIL: North and west of the Twin Cities, 2 inches of rain fell in half an hour near Hillman, southwest of Lake Mille Lacs, and observers near St. Cloud were pummeled by 2- to 3-inch hail. Little Falls had winds of 81 miles per hour. Rush City reported 2.47 inches of rain overnight. In the seven-county metro area, amounts ranged up to 1.75 near downtown Minneapolis.
TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS: Meteorologist Paul Douglas said he counted at least seven touchdowns: Cushing (Morrison County), Foreston (Mille Lacs County), Dayton, Anoka, Kingston (Meeker County), Watertown (Carver County) and Lake Elmo.
"There may have been more," he said. "The truth is we won't know the extent of damage until we can get helicopters in the air and National Weather Service employees dispatched to some of these towns to get a better idea of the extent of damage."
Information Gained from: http://www.startribune.com/local/98709309.html?page=1&c=y
The Oklahoma Sooners Win the Two-Match
Aggregate of the Neillsville Cup!
At Fugate Field III in Neillsville, WI the Oklahoma Sooners scored eight goals in two matches to win the 2010 version of the Neillsvillle Cup over their rivals the Wisconsin Powercats.
The soccer started on Friday July 2 in the evening when Oklahoma's Aaron Fugate scored the first goal after several minutes of volleying for the lead. It is normal in the Neillsville Cup for the first goal to take alot of minutes to be scored. Ben Fugate and Rachel Fugate helped the Wisconsin Powercats take the lead by each scoring a gaols to make the score 2-1. Ben Fugate's goal came on a direct free kick about 6 or 7 yards away. Then Aaron added a goal as a center and another as goalkeeper to make the halftime score 3-2.
On Saturday, the match continued and Pastor Mark Fugate made the score 4-2 on a penalty kick. Rachel Fugate had intentionally touched the ball within 12 feet of the goal allowing Oklahoma to capitalize on the mistake. Aaron scored a few minutes later to give the Sooners an automatic win of 5-2.
But the Fugates decided to play on and in match number two the results were a bit different. The Powercats got on the board first as Ben Fugate broke several minutes of scoreless play with a goal scored by a rebound. Rachel Fugate scored the next two goals and it looked like Wisconsin might score more goals than Oklahoma in the two matches. Wisconsin 3-0 lead started to dwindle as Mark Fugate scored the next two goals. Ben Fugate decided to make the aggregate interesting by scoring another goal and making the score 4-2. But Mark Fugate wanted victory more than anyone else did and so he scored the aggregate's eighth goal to help the Sooners win the cup! Mark and Aaron Fugate shared the MVP honors as they won their second straight cup.
This year featured the first non-Fugate player ever. Lindsae Dockum, a friend of the Fugates also played in the cup. She appeared for several minutes of the first match. Although she didn't score a goal, she did play well and she learned the ropes of the Fugate ways of soccer.
The 2010 Neillsvile Cup may continue later this year.
NEW ORLEANS -- BP's broken well was leaking oil and gas again Monday for the first time since the company capped it last week, but the Obama administration's spill chief said it was no reason for alarm. The stopper was left in place for now.
Ever since the cap was used to bottle up the oil last week, engineers have been watching underwater cameras and monitoring pressure and seismic readings to see whether the well would hold or spring a new leak, perhaps one that could rupture the seafloor and make the disaster even worse.
Small amounts of oil and gas started coming from the cap late Sunday, but "we do not believe it is consequential at this time," retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.
Also, seepage from the seafloor was detected over the weekend less than two miles away, but Allen said it probably has nothing to do with the well. Oil and gas are known to ooze naturally from fissures in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
At an afternoon briefing in Washington, Allen said BP could keep the cap closed at least another 24 hours, as long as the company remained alert for leaks.
BP and the government are at odds over the company's desire to simply leave the cap in place and employ it like a giant cork in a bottle until a relief well being drilled deep underground can be used to plug up the well permanently.
Allen had made it clear his preference would be to use the cap instead to capture the oil and pipe it to tankers on the surface to reduce the slight chance that the buildup of pressure inside the well could cause a new blowout. But opening up the cap in that way would require releasing millions more gallons of oil into the ocean for a few days during the transition -- a spectacle BP apparently wants to avoid.
Allen said BP and the government are still trying to understand why pressure readings from the well are lower than expected. He offered two possible explanations: The reservoir the oil is gushing from is dwindling, or there is an undiscovered leak somewhere down in the well.
"I'm not prepared to say the well is shut in until the relief well is done," which is still several weeks away, Allen said. "There are too many uncertainties."
BP and the Coast Guard learned that lesson the hard way after they initially said no oil was coming from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig after it exploded April 20, killing 11 workers. Even after it became clear there was a leak, the company and its federal overseers drastically underestimated its size for weeks.
Robert Carney, a Louisiana State University expert on biological oceanography, said the seepage is far enough away from the well that it could be occurring naturally.
"You have little bubbles rising up from the bottom frequently; that's the methane gas" he said. "Oil would be a little black dot, more difficult to see. But both escape into the water regularly."
Work on a permanent plug is moving steadily, with crews drilling into the side of the ruptured well from deep underground. By next week, they could start blasting in mud and cement to block off the well for good. Killing the well deep underground works more reliably than bottling it up with a cap.
Somewhere between 94 million and 184 million gallons have gushed into the Gulf over the past three months in one of America's worst environment crises.
BP said the cost of dealing with the spill has now reached nearly $4 billion. The company said it has made payments totaling $207 million to settle claims for damages. Almost 116,000 claims have been submitted and more than 67,500 payments have been made. BP stock was down slightly Monday.
Information Copied from http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/19/obama-spill-chief-bp-oil-leaking-major-concern/
17-year-old Shamus Patton arrested for
Downtown Indy shootings
An arrest has been made in connection with the Downtown Indy shootings on Saturday. At a 4:00 p.m. press conference, police announced they had taken 17-year-old Shamus Patton into custody. He is being charged with nine of the 10 shootings from Saturday night.
Police received a tip last night that the suspect was at the Westpark Townhouses near Maureen Terrace and set up overnight surveillance. He did not resist arrest and did not make a statement.
Earlier, police vowed that a suspect would be caught within 48 hours after the shooting Saturday night. Public Safety Director Frank Straub used the press conference as an opportunity to remind the public that police had kept their promise.
"The message is clear: this police department, this Department of Public Safety will not tolerate violence in this city. We will not tolerate aberrance by individuals that affects families, businesses and homeowners," Straub said. "This is a safe city, this is a city where safety is job one."
Three independent witnesses identified the suspect. He is being held on preliminary charges of aggravated battery and criminal recklessness with possible gang-related charges to come. Police did not state a motive.
Nine victims, all between the ages of 10 and 19, were shot in two separate incidents, though none was hurt seriously. All were reported in good condition today.
Earlier today:
Indianapolis metropolitan police are searching for a 17-year-old in connection with two of the shooting incidents Saturday night in Downtown Indianapolis.
Nine victims, all between the ages of 10 and 19, were shot in two separate incidents, though none was hurt seriously. All were reported in good condition today.
Police identified the suspect as Shamus Patton, Indianapolis. Patton, who is 5-7, 220 pounds, is thought to be in Indianapolis. Lt. Jeff Duhammel, a spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said Patton has had “some run-ins” with the criminal justice system — his mugshot was already on file — but the police spokesman declined to disclose details because Patton is a juvenile.
Duhammel said he did not know if Patton was a member of a street gang or if the shootings were gang-related. He declined to assign a motive to the shooting.
“Any time a person shoots that many rounds, it’s hard to tell a motive,” he said. He said Patton was identified by persons at the scene but that other people could also be involved.
Information Copied from http://www.indystar.com/article/20100719/NEWS02/100719021/Suspect-arrested-in-Indy-shootings
Xcel crews restore power to most
Lots of trees fell, but little other significant damage was reported in the wake of Saturday's storms.
About 5,000 Xcel Energy customers in the Twin Cities metro area were still without power Sunday evening, a small fraction of the 80,000 who lost electrical service during Saturday's night intense midsummer storms. Lost Lake Tribune Editor Benjamin Fugate was one of the customers who lost power and did not get it back for about 12 hours.
POWER BY MONDAY NIGHT: The utility brought in extra repair crews to work overnight and through Sunday and expects to have power fully restored by Monday night, said spokeswoman Mary Sandok.
DAMAGE INSPECTIONS: Saturday evening's siege of funnel clouds, tornado touchdowns, high winds, hail, heavy rain and flooding was the second in four days across central and southern Minnesota. For that reason, the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service didn't have enough staffers Sunday to investigate damage from Saturday's storms and determine whether any was from tornadoes, said meteorologist Mike Griesinger. They'll be out in the field Monday.
Law enforcement dispatchers from the St. Cloud area across to the Wisconsin state line Sunday reported numerous trees down but little significant damage and no confirmed tornadoes.
RAIN AND HAIL: North and west of the Twin Cities, 2 inches of rain fell in half an hour near Hillman, southwest of Lake Mille Lacs, and observers near St. Cloud were pummeled by 2- to 3-inch hail. Little Falls had winds of 81 miles per hour. Rush City reported 2.47 inches of rain overnight. In the seven-county metro area, amounts ranged up to 1.75 near downtown Minneapolis.
TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS: Meteorologist Paul Douglas said he counted at least seven touchdowns: Cushing (Morrison County), Foreston (Mille Lacs County), Dayton, Anoka, Kingston (Meeker County), Watertown (Carver County) and Lake Elmo.
"There may have been more," he said. "The truth is we won't know the extent of damage until we can get helicopters in the air and National Weather Service employees dispatched to some of these towns to get a better idea of the extent of damage."
Information Gained from: http://www.startribune.com/local/98709309.html?page=1&c=y
The Oklahoma Sooners Win the Two-Match
Aggregate of the Neillsville Cup!
At Fugate Field III in Neillsville, WI the Oklahoma Sooners scored eight goals in two matches to win the 2010 version of the Neillsvillle Cup over their rivals the Wisconsin Powercats.
The soccer started on Friday July 2 in the evening when Oklahoma's Aaron Fugate scored the first goal after several minutes of volleying for the lead. It is normal in the Neillsville Cup for the first goal to take alot of minutes to be scored. Ben Fugate and Rachel Fugate helped the Wisconsin Powercats take the lead by each scoring a gaols to make the score 2-1. Ben Fugate's goal came on a direct free kick about 6 or 7 yards away. Then Aaron added a goal as a center and another as goalkeeper to make the halftime score 3-2.
On Saturday, the match continued and Pastor Mark Fugate made the score 4-2 on a penalty kick. Rachel Fugate had intentionally touched the ball within 12 feet of the goal allowing Oklahoma to capitalize on the mistake. Aaron scored a few minutes later to give the Sooners an automatic win of 5-2.
But the Fugates decided to play on and in match number two the results were a bit different. The Powercats got on the board first as Ben Fugate broke several minutes of scoreless play with a goal scored by a rebound. Rachel Fugate scored the next two goals and it looked like Wisconsin might score more goals than Oklahoma in the two matches. Wisconsin 3-0 lead started to dwindle as Mark Fugate scored the next two goals. Ben Fugate decided to make the aggregate interesting by scoring another goal and making the score 4-2. But Mark Fugate wanted victory more than anyone else did and so he scored the aggregate's eighth goal to help the Sooners win the cup! Mark and Aaron Fugate shared the MVP honors as they won their second straight cup.
This year featured the first non-Fugate player ever. Lindsae Dockum, a friend of the Fugates also played in the cup. She appeared for several minutes of the first match. Although she didn't score a goal, she did play well and she learned the ropes of the Fugate ways of soccer.
The 2010 Neillsvile Cup may continue later this year.
Comments