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Friday, September 9, 2005

New Orleans, Louisiana —After Category 4 storm Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, on the night before August 29, 2005, several flood control constructions failed. Much of the city flooded through the openings. One of these was the flood wall forming one side of the 17th Street Canal, near Lake Pontchartrain. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the primary agency for engineering support during such emergencies. A USACE team was assessing the situation in New Orleans on the 29th, water flow was stopped September 2nd, and the breach was closed on September 5th.

Saturday, April 30, 2005

The British Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced a recall of foods containing banned dyes which increase the risk of cancer. The food products were sold at the Tesco, Waitrose, and Somerfield supermarkets.

A Bristol company called “Barts Spices” found the illegal Para Red substance in their Barts Ground Paprika, which was sold in 48g and 46g jars with a “Co-op” label. The batch codes on the affected products are 5032 and 5089 (expiration Dec 2007), and 5075 (expiration February 2007).

Tesco also found that their 130g package of BBQ rice cakes (expiration November and December 2005) contained both Para Red and Sudan I.

“It would be very prudent to assume that it could be a genotoxic carcinogen,” FSA scientific advisers told reporters.

“As a company committed to supplying only the very finest quality food ingredients, we took the immediate decision to withdraw our ground paprika spice from all outlets selling the product and advertised a product recall in the national press,” a Barts Spices spokesman said in a statement.

Sudan I is only authorized for industrial use to colorize petroleum products, such as shoe polish. Para Red and Sudan I are banned under the British Colours in Food Regulations of 1995.

Britain last went through a major food recall in February, when Worcester Sauce was found to contain chili powder dyed with Sudan 1.

Friday, November 7, 2014Albuquerque, New Mexico —Online entertainment is a booming market, and plenty of players are making their play; back in March of this year The Walt Disney Company bought the multi-channel network Maker Studios. What is web entertainment, and the arts therein? And, who are the people venturing into this field? Wikinews interviewed Mario Lucero and Isabel Ruiz, the founders of Heaven Sent Gaming, a small entertainment team. This group has been responsible for several publications, within several different media formats; one successful example was aywv, a gaming news website, which was #1 in Gaming on YouTube in 2009, from September to November; Heaven Sent Gaming was also the subject of a referential book, released in 2014, entitled Internet Legends – Heaven Sent Gaming.

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

In early May, Wikinews extended an invitation to Vitaly Filipchenko, an independent candidate in the 2021 New York City mayoral election, set to take place November 2nd, alongside other candidates. Filipchenko answered some questions about his policies and campaign during a phone interview.

Filipchenko, registered on the New York City Campaign Finance Board as Vitaly A. Filipchenko, is the first Russian candidate for New York City mayor, being born in Tomsk, Siberia in 1973, according to news agency Sputnik. He has since naturalised as a United States citizen. According to the web site, Filipchenko has been educated in road construction and maintenance and owns a moving services company; he describes himself on his web site as a “small business owner”. On his web site’s platform page, he says that “[m]y English may not be perfect – but my platform is.”

Incumbent Democrat mayor Bill de Blasio, who won re-election in the 2017 New York City mayoral election by 66.5%, cannot run for a third term under term limits. As of April 28, 22 candidates are currently running, the majority of whom are also Democrats. Ahead of the June Democratic primary for New York City mayor, a poll conducted May 23 and 24 by WPIX and Emerson College of 12 Democratic candidates with a margin of error of 3.2 per cent has former commissioner for the New York City Department of Sanitation Kathryn Garcia and Borough President of Brooklyn Eric Adams leading with 21.1% and 20.1%, respectively.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

In the United Kingdom, radio personality Chris Moyles has announced his intention to stop presenting his breakfast show, The Chris Moyles Show, on BBC Radio 1 in September of this year, having presented it since January 2004. Nick Grimshaw, who is currently a late-night presenter at the radio station, has been appointed as his replacement.

Moyles, who presents Channel 4 game show Chris Moyles’ Quiz Night, broke the record for the longest-running breakfast show on Radio 1 in September 2009, surpassing Tony Blackburn’s record from September 1967 to June 1973. The Chris Moyles Show has also achieved two Sony Awards. Moyles hosted an edition of his show in March 2011, lasting for 52 hours, which raised £2.4 million for British charity Comic Relief. It was at the time the longest radio broadcast ever. From September of this year, Moyles is to portray the role of Herod in a UK tour of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar.

In July 2011, Moyles had signed a BBC contract, worth a million pounds, to allow him to continue presenting his show until January 2014. According to The Guardian, Greg James had been widely anticipated to take Moyles’ position after his departure. Moyles said his position was “his dream job” and one he had “wanted since I was a child … I know some kids want to be a professional footballer or a fireman but not me, I’m a geek and I wanted to be on the radio and I wanted the biggest radio show you could get and eventually I got it.”

Moyles, who has referred to himself as the ‘saviour of Radio 1’, wished to “give [the listeners] a heads up and tell [them] that we are going to wrap it up” on his show. In a speech, Moyles said he has had “the best time of [his] life” and spoke of his belief that “it’s almost time to go, and so we’re off. I just wanted to let you know. A couple more months of us and then it’s someone else’s turn to have a go, so thanks for listening and I hope you stay with us until the end because I promise it’s going to be brilliant.”

BBC Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper considered Moyles to be “the most successful breakfast show host in Radio 1 history” and described him as “fantastic”. Grimshaw said that he “love[s] Chris and have always looked up to him as one of the best broadcasters ever”.

In contrast, Daily Mail columnist Paul Connolly criticised Moyles, calling him a “cultural barbarian” who “assault[s] our eardrums with drivel” and describing him as “deliberately, determinedly yobbish”. There have been numerous occasions when Moyles has caused controversy, such as feeling the breasts of singer Melanie Brown live on air in June 2008 while providing a running commentary as he was doing so. After his appearance on BBC television programme Who Do You Think You Are? in January 2009, he remarked: “[U]nlike a lot of the Who Do You Think You Are? shows I didn’t go to Auschwitz. Pretty much everyone goes there whether or not they’re Jewish. They just seem to pass through there on their way to Florida.” This caused the BBC to state in response: “[W]e regret that on this occasion his comments were misjudged and we are speaking to Chris and his team about them.”

Moyles said in a May 2006 programme: “I don’t want that [ringtone], it’s gay”, prompting accusations of homophobia. In his defence, the corporation explained “the word ‘gay’, in addition to being used to mean ‘homosexual’ or ‘carefree’, was often now used to mean ‘lame’ or ‘rubbish’.” The LGBT charity Stonewall subsequently awarded Moyles ‘Bully of the Year’ at their award ceremony that year. The Guardian also quoted him as saying in November 2006: “Yeah, I’m homophobic, I don’t like the gays. Sorry, it just does my head in.”

Cooper has reportedly been placed under pressure to try and decrease the age demographic of the audience of Radio 1. Having been told that the station should attempt to broadcast primarily to individuals aged between 15 and 29 by a BBC Trust review in 2009, a separate review by the body in June 2012 found that too many of its listeners were over the age of 30.

Recent figures have suggested BBC Radio 2 breakfast show host Chris Evans is more popular than Moyles’ programme. RAJAR statistics for the latest period indicate that Evans’ programme received a peak of 9.2 million listeners every week on average while The Chris Moyles Show achieved a figure of 7.1 million at the same time. During the same period last year, Moyles’ show was getting an audience of approximately 7.5 million.

Grimshaw, who is one of the presenters of youth programming block T4 on Channel 4, commented he was “super-excited to be hosting the iconic Radio 1 Breakfast Show, it’s been a dream of mine since the age of 11 and to be honest it hasn’t really sunk in yet.” Cooper describes Grimshaw as a “great broadcaster with a passion for music and a mischievous sense of humour, which has made him a hit with our listeners” and believes he will be an “excellent” replacement for Moyles, “bringing a new generation of listeners with him.”

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The trial began today for a Pennsylvania state trooper accused of killing his girlfriend’s estranged husband.

Kevin Foley, 43, is accused of cutting the throat of John Yelenic, a dentist who was in the final stages of finalizing a divorce from his wife, Michele. According to prosecutors, Foley “loathed Dr. Yelenic” so much that he asked another fellow trooper to help him commit the alleged murder, which occurred in Yelenic’s Blairsville home.

Deputy Attorney General Anthony Krastek told an Indiana County jury that Foley also prayed Yelenic would die, and spread false rumors that Yelenic molested his adopted son.

“You will see Kevin Foley has the motive, the opportunity and the ability to commit this crime, almost to the exclusion of anybody else,” Krastek said.

Foley’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Monzo, said during opening statements that DNA evidence was not conclusive. Monzo admitted to the jury that Foley did not like Yelenic, but said that does not mean he murdered him.

“Kevin Foley is innocent,” he said.

Prosecutors said they could call as many as 70 witnesses to try and prove Foley wanted Yelenic to die. The trial, at the Indiana County Courthouse, is expected to last about three weeks.

Foley, who is on unpaid suspension from the Pennsylvania State Police, is charged with criminal homicide. The jury has the option of convicting him of first-degree murder, which could put Foley in prison for life without parole, or of a lesser degree charge, like manslaughter.

John Yelenic was found dead in his home on April 13, 2006, one day before he was planning on signing his divorce papers. Prosecutors said Foley killed Yelenic after going to the dentist’s house to confront him over the terms of the divorce. Prosecutors claim Foley slashed Yelenic several times with a knife and pushed his head through a small window, causing a further gash on his neck. Yelenic bled to death.

Foley had been living with Michele Yelenic for two years at the time of the alleged homicide. Krastek said Michele also helped perpetuate rumors that Dr. Yelenic molested their son. John and Michele Yelenic had been separated in 2002. Michele Yelenic stood to collect Dr. Yelenic’s estate and a $1 million life insurance policy, and could lose about $2,500 a month in support if the divorce was finalized, a Pennsylvania grand jury previously determined.

Michele Yelenic is expected to testify that Foley was home with her when the alleged murder occurred. Krastek told the jury DNA under Yelenic’s fingerprints will ultimately link him to the murder, as will bloody shoe prints found at the crime scene that match athletic shoes Foley is known to wear.

Monzo also said authorities have failed to investigate several other suspects, including Yelenic’s neighbor. Monzo said Yelenic was on very friendly terms with the neighbor’s wife, which could have given him a motive to commit the murder.

Prior to the trial, Foley’s defense attorneys unsuccessfully sought a change of venue because an overwhelming majority of the jury pool was familiar with the allegations. The change was denied when jurors insisted they had not formed an opinion about the charges.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

A large hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold has been found in a field in Staffordshire, England.

The hoard, which was found in a private field over the course of five days in July 2009, is in fact the most Anglo-Saxon gold that has ever been unearthed at one site in the United Kingdom. Roughly 1,500 gold and silver pieces were found and the hoard contains roughly 5kgs of gold and 2.5kgs of silver — far more than the previous record of 2.5kgs of gold which was found at Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge.

The big haul in Staffordshire was found by 55-year-old Terry Herbert, while he was using a metal-detector. He had asked a local farmer’s permission to search the land beforehand. Terry is unemployed, and has been in the hobby of metal-detecting for the last 18 years. He said: “People laugh at metal detectorists.

“I’ve had people go past and go ‘beep beep, he’s after pennies’. Well no, we are out there to find this kind of stuff and it is out there.”

It is estimated to take over twelve months before the value of the hoard can be valued specifically. South Staffordshire Coroner Andrew Haigh declared it “treasure“. That means that it belongs to the Crown. Archaeology experts have predicted that it could be worth “a seven-figure sum” and that the treasure may date back to the 7th century. The exact location where the hoard was found is currently being kept secret.