Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags - New York Times

ron says:An EZ way to help the environment... Do all these bags come from China? ... A double whammy if they do! I think Freddy's sells cloth bags at the register...

Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags - New York Times: "n 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them must now pay 33 cents per bag at the register. There was an advertising awareness campaign. And then something happened that was bigger than the sum of these parts.

Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. Within a year, nearly everyone had bought reusable cloth bags, keeping them in offices and in the backs of cars. Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable — on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one’s dog."

Hummingbirds Chirp With Tail Feathers When Diving

Hummingbirds Chirp With Tail Feathers When Diving: "Loud chirps during male hummingbirds' aerial displays come from the birds' tails, not their throats, a new study says.

Anna's hummingbirds make rapid, swooping dives during courtship rituals that are punctuated by high-frequency squeaks."





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NewsGator Online

"How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct."

NewsGator Online

"Silly is you in a natural state, and serious is something you have to do until you can get silly again."

Colored Waves on Oregon Beaches Cause Confusion

Colored Waves on Oregon Beaches Cause Confusion: "(Seaside, Oregon) – Mysterious brown waves are freaking out visitors to the Oregon coast – especially the Seaside area. But there’s nothing inexplicable about it.

“Those folks unfamiliar with this phenomenon may think that the water is polluted or the beaches are dirty,” said Tiffany Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium. In fact, tourists have been enquiring at local businesses about the brown goo."


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POLICE VOLUNTEERS

This Friday at 5:30pm there will be a meeting at City Hall for the purpose of introducing to the Newport Community the first ever Volunteer Police Program. Discussed will be the vision of how the organization will be developed for the community and what it offers volunteers for their service. After the presentation volunteers will be invited to join the program.

If you need further information prior to the meeting contact Ed Simon here in the park or at the Newport Police Department.

email from John Spangler>>>

The dates are Feb 4-9 for the electronics and latex paint collection at Thompson's sanitary service...Latex paint is FREE and electronics are one dollar... TV and monitors over 20 inches are an additional charge..Kevin

Citizens Emergency Response team responds to drill - Whitman, MA - Whitman Times

In other communities.....

Citizens Emergency Response team responds to drill - Whitman, MA - Whitman Times: "Of the 16 CERT volunteers who responded, 10 were licensed Amateur Radio operators. This radio training was in addition to the professional CERT training that qualified them for situations like this.

The 16 CERT volunteer participants were; Bob Schmitt KB1MTY WEMA Director, Bill Hayden N1FRE EOC-Radio Control operator, Mike Supple KB1OEP, Susan Supple, Stacey Supple, Paul Moss KB1MTW, Ron Stundze KB1OEQ, Gloria Chiaramonte KB1OAV, Skip O’Malley KB1MTZ, Cathy Costello KB1MTX, Erika LaFlamme KB1MTV, Rick Peterson KB1OEU, Joan Peterson, Mark Huska, Ted Petersen and Don Taylor.

The EOC radio control center was activated by radio operator Mike Supple KB1OEP and later manned by the Whitman Radio Amateur Civilian Emergency Service and RACES Radio Officer Bill Hayden N1FRE. During the day, radio contact was available between the EOC and CERT participants, Fire and Police at the drill scene. As many as 30 VHF and UHF radio frequencies were constantly being monitored at the EOC radio center during the exercise. Skip O’Malley KB1OEZ was assigned to drive one of the busses during activities. Although the CERT members played a small back-ground type support role in this exercise, such as bus driving and delivering food and drinks to the others at the town hall, all were ready willing and able to perform what ever task was assigned."

FREE!!!!

Refrigerator...

The Shimek's on Deer Ln are giving away away a 14 cuft refrig in good working order. Be QUICK!
Get it now because tommorow is the last day... youcan get it.

To contact them call from the resident's phone list.

Newport News-Times: Newport's icon gets crabby

Newport News-Times: Newport's icon gets crabby: "Also receiving icons are the four districts in Newport. The Bayfront is now represented by a boat, South Beach an octopus, Nye Beach a sand dollar, and the Deco District the Yaquina Bay Bridge. These icons rest on a white background below a blue 'Newport,' above 'Oregon' and the city's new slogan, 'Newport, the coast you remember.' These icons are to create a user-friendly Newport in terms of navigation and identification."


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Outdoors - StatesmanJournal.com

Outdoors - StatesmanJournal.com: "OREGON COAST

Several brown pelicans continue to be seen along the Southern Oregon Coast. A clay-colored sparrow has been seen along a trail at Hatfield Science Center, at South Beach in Newport. Two tree swallows were at Seal Rock Stables near Waldport, and six at Myrtle Point, nine miles south of Coquille. Bald eagles, redtail hawks and gray whales are being seen at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, three miles north of Newport."

Record number of soldiers committed suicide last year - On Deadline - USATODAY.com

Record number of soldiers committed suicide last year - On Deadline - USATODAY.com: "The paper cites an internal Army study that shows 121 soldiers committed suicide in 2007. That's a 20% increase over the prior year, the Post says."

No Delays As New Border ID Rules Begin | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited

No Delays As New Border ID Rules Begin | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited: "People entering the country will no longer be allowed to simply declare to immigration officers at border crossings that they are citizens. Instead, those 19 and older will have to show proof of citizenship - a passport, trusted traveler card or a birth certificate and government-issued ID such as a driver's license."

PLEASE GIVE ME A CALL (ron thomas) IF.....

You were awake at 5:30AM this morning(Thursday, January 31).... and have an FRS radio that you have tuned to CH 6.16, the Longview Hills Emergency frequency that you leave on all the time in a charger cradle and spoke to someone or an animal when you were close to that radio.


How would I know that? Your radio is set to VOX and will transmit any time there is a noise close to it. We, that listen 24/7 as volunteers, heard you loud and clear. In fact we all woke up out of a sound sleep to hear that.


We would like to fix your radio so it does not do that... It's a simple fix we just get into the programing and turn it off. We are not angry and you should not be embarrassed. You simply did not know that this was happening. So, please give me a call and let me take a look at your radio... I'll fix it.. You'll be safe and all the listeners will sleep better.. Looking forward to hearing from you.... Ron Thomas.

Poor Haitians Resort to Eating Dirt

Poor Haitians Resort to Eating Dirt: "It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud.

With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some must take desperate measures to fill their bellies.


Charlene, 16 with a month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.

The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places such as Cit�Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings, and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt, and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal."

Photo in the News: Panorama Marks Mars Rover's 4th Year

Photo in the News: Panorama Marks Mars Rover's 4th Year: "Panoramic images released by NASA last week show the so-called Lyell section of a band of light-colored rock that rings the interior of the red planet's massive Victoria Crater.

The band, which sits about 20 feet (6 meters) inside the rim, is believed to be an exposed layer of the Martian surface as it existed millions of years ago, before the impact that formed the crater."


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"Bionic" Contact Lens May Create Tiny Personal Displays

"Bionic" Contact Lens May Create Tiny Personal Displays: "A new contact lens embedded with electronic circuits could be the seed for 'bionic eyes' that can see displays overlaid on a person's field of view, researchers say.

Rabbit wearing a contact lens picture


The minute circuitry could aid the vision-impaired or could be used to create tiny but discernible readouts offering data such as driving directions or on-the-go Web surfing."

Ruins of 7,000-year-old city found in Egypt oasis - Yahoo! News

Ruins of 7,000-year-old city found in Egypt oasis - Yahoo! News: "A team of US archaeologists has discovered the ruins of a city dating back to the period of the first farmers 7,000 years ago in Egypt's Fayyum oasis, the supreme council of antiquities said on Tuesday.
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'An electromagnetic survey revealed the existence in the Karanis region of a network of walls and roads similar to those constructed during the Greco-Roman period,' the council's chief Zahi Hawwas said."

STRONG SO. WINDS

OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 65 MPH ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP TONIGHT ALONG THE COASTAL HEADLANDS AND
BEACHES. THE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF A STRONG
PACIFIC COLD FRONT. THE WINDS WILL TURN TO THE SW AND
DECREASE ONCE THE COLD FRONT MOVES ONSHORE LATE TONIGHT.

Central Oregon Coast Cert team...

With a lot of Longview Hills CERT team members present, they participate in a mudslide disaster drill held by Newport Samaritan Hospital. Our team practiced using the supplies that we have built up and did a credible job of first aid on all the victims.. Our weekly training shows the confidence and skills we are learning.

Home Safe Home, For Those Eager To Grow Old In The Comfort Of Home, High-Tech Solutions - CBS News

Home Safe Home, For Those Eager To Grow Old In The Comfort Of Home, High-Tech Solutions - CBS News: "'See, my brother wants us to move to an assisted-care program,' Sandy says.

'But I don't want to,' Margaret said.

Sandy is convinced their age-old problem could be improved with some new-age ideas.

'The technology is there, we just need to figure out how we can orchestrate it to live comfortably,' Sandy said."

NewsGator Online

"The world is my lobster."

NewsGator Online

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."

"Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so."

"Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so."

An email from Bev Garvey to the community.....


JUST A QUICK NOTE TO LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT PAPA PICKLE IS IN THE HOSPITAL RECOVERING FROM SURGERY FROM A BROKEN FEMAR ON HIS RIGHT LEG. HE WILL BE GOING TO REHAB FOR A WEEK OR SO AND THEN WILL BE COMING HOME. HIS RIGHT KNEE HAS BLOWN OUT AND WE WILL BE HEADED TO NEWPORT, OR. TO HAVE THE KNEE REPLACEMENT DONE IN SALEM. HE HAD A STEEL ROD AND SCREWS PUT IN THE RIGHT LEG. THIS MUST HEAL BEFORE HE CAN HAVE THE REPLACEMENT. NEEDLESS TO SAY, HE CAN USE ALL YOUR PRAYERS AND GOOD THOUGHTS. HE IS ALREADY OUT ON HIS WALKER BUT CANNOT BEAR ANY WEIGHT ON THIS RIGHT LEG. HE IS IN GOOD SPIRITS AND HIS EYES ARE STILL THE BLUEST BLUE I HAVE EVER SEEN. OUR BEST TO YOU ALL. BEV, OR GRAMMA OCEAN FOR PAPA PICKLE.

NewsGator Online

"The time not to become a father is eighteen years before a war."