George Knapp of the Eyewitness News I-Team has a story about a new UFO mystery. A large object with a turquoise hue plummeted out of the sky earlier this summer and plowed into the earth south of Las Vegas near Needles, California. You can read all about it but we’d love to know — do you believe in UFOs? Have you ever seen one? Heard any stories from friends you totally believe? We want to hear about them.
The State of Nevada faces almost a billion dollar budget shortfall. The Nuclear Energy Institute says there is a solution that requires no increase in taxes or cutting programs, but it comes with one very large string attached.
The NEI says the federal government could give the state $1 billion next year, effectively erasing the budget shortfall, but the state would have to drop any objection to shipping the nation’s nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Hot temperatures bring out creepy crawlers. But some were here already. Do you have any war stories about insect infestations in your home?
I am always running across the misuse of the word “firestorm” in news copy, and when I get a chance, I change it.
A firestorm is a real phenomenon, not a “controversy” or an “argument”, but a terrible destructive force of nature that is actually extremely rare.
Just finished a riveting book entitled “Firestorm in Peshtigo”, by Denise Gess and William Lutz. It describes the worst fire in American history.. possibly in North American history. It happened the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, October 8, 1871, and although it has been forgotten by popular history, it was much, much worse. Unimaginably so. The number of dead remains and always will remain undetermined, but it’s between 1500 and 2000. The fire destroyed the lumber and farming community of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and burned through a billion (with a “b”) trees. The fire area stretched from Green Bay, north to Peshtigo and Marinette, and east across the bay to Door County. The authors build up to the fateful date with a thoroughly researched account of weather conditions and human enterprise, whose combined effect was disastrous. The United States did not yet have a Weather Service, but a remarkable man named Increase Lapham was a scientist in the field of meteorology, and he tried to warn of the coming danger. In the weeks leading up to the firestorm, the lumber business was booming (the trees in that area then were enormous pine trees, a few stories tall, and as much as ten feet in diameter. They’re all gone.. cut down or burned down.). a railroad was being built, and farmers were suffering through a drought. Small fires popped up and were put out all over the region in the weeks before October 8, and Lapham could see the potential for an uncontrollable wildfire, given the “right” weather conditions. Few listened and almost no one prepared. When the wind and the heat and the dryness cooked up a wicked meteorological stew, flames swept through the Wisconsin countryside, picking up speed until the fire and wind began to feed on themselves, and a TORNADO of FLAME roared down on the villages of Pestigo and Williamsonville. It was a firestorm. People could not escape, and were incinerated where they stood.
The message I came away with, is that bureaucrats and politicians risk all our lives and futures when they do not heed and pass along to the public the warnings of diligent scientists. The lives of hundreds could have been saved, had the fledgling weather bureau been more alert to Mr. Lapham’s calculations.
PAULA DILWORTH FRANCIS May 22, 2008
Did you feel this quake? Have you felt any others? Tell us about it.
Some say it will be the most historic event governing the use of the Colorado River since 1922. Thursday, the Secretary of the Interior will be in Las Vegas to sign a plan which outlines what will happen to the river’s water if drought conditions worsen.
It been 85 years since the law that governs the river was adopted. In water circles, it is called the “law of the river.” Back then — the west was a far different place.
Troublesome news coming from the Southern Nevada Water Authority — unless we act quickly, there will be no water for hundreds of thousands of Las Vegas Valley residents in just three years.
Channel 8 Eyewitness News looked deeper into the problem and why time may not be on our side. Not only is this a race against time, but it’s going to cost valley residents dearly.
Even if all of the water projects are finished and everything starts working on time, SNWA still predicts a shortage. That means by 2010, the valley will be short 64-million gallons of water a day.
Does Las Vegas need an alternative? Seize the chance to post your comments, concerns, and ideas on the water issue facing the Las Vegas Valley. (SCROLL DOWN TO POST)