#natural-resources

#natural-resources

Cottagers and campers hoping to spend the May long weekend around a camp fire should steer clear of Haliburton County, which has banned all fires until at least next week.On Wednesday, all four fire chiefs of the county imposed a total fire ban that Algonquin Highlands Fire Chief Mike French says is part of an effort to protect local resources and the environment.

Investigators probing the toxic train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, are reviewing multiple videos of the train prior to it derailing.One video shows what appears to be a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement Tuesday.

As officials investigate the recent derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in eastern Ohio, concerns about the disaster's effects on human health and the environment are growing, and experts warned that understanding the causes and consequences could require a more comprehensive investigation than what they have seen so far.

During last week's Munich Security Conference (MSC), senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi announced Beijing's peace plan to resolve the war in Ukraine through political means.In a 12-point statement released on Friday morning, the peace initiative includes criticism of unilateral sanctions, calls to resume peace talks and reduce strategic risks associated with nuclear weapons.

Ukraine's president has stripped four people of citizenship, including a Kremlin ally transferred in a prisoner swap.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has revoked the Ukrainian citizenship of four political figures, including pro-Kremlin Viktor Medvedchuk, who was transferred to Russia last year in a prisoner swap deal.

A Russian businessman believed to be a close ally of Yevgeny Prigozhin has been taken to hospital in Central African Republic after an assassination attempt, the RIA Novosti news agency has reported, citing the local Russian embassy.Dmitry Sytii, who officially works as the head of the Russian House culture centre in CAR's capital, Bangui, had sanctions imposed on him by the US in September 2020 for his alleged links to Wagner Group, a private military group founded by Prigozhin that has deployed more than 1,000 fighters in the unstable country to fight rebels.

In February, Maryland's Department of Natural Resources partnered with TowBoatUS to sink a 52-foot cement boat in the Chesapeake Bay just north of Kent Island's Love Point.We had some questions about that-here's what we found out.No, the DNR's sinking of boats is not a regular thing.Turns out, it was just this one.

Downstate Illinois (the 96 counties outside the six metropolitan Chicago counties) is hurting, yet few seem to notice.A bipartisan downstate caucus of lawmakers could establish a dashboard of goals and priorities for their sprawling region and advocate to achieve them.Downstate stretches 400 miles from north to south and has more than 4 million residents, to Chicago's 2.7 million and about 5.7 million in the suburbs, according to 2020 census data.

A black bear was spotted near the Gurnee Mills mall Wednesday morning.The Gurnee Police Department confirmed to the Tribune that a report regarding the bear was filed about 8:45 a.m.A video on social media showed the bear running through a parking lot.According to Wildlife Illinois, housed under the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, "to date there have been five bears confirmed in Illinois in the past few years."

Human remains discovered last month were identified as a woman with intellectual disabilities who walked away from a nearby group home over two years ago, officials said.Dushawna Glover, then 48, formerly of Merrillville and East Chicago, was last seen between 6 a.m. and 6:15 a.m.May 16, 2020 walking in an industrial complex near the Tri-Union Express Trucking company sign in the 1900 block of Lafayette Court, Griffith Police said previously.

A mountain lion that roamed residential neighborhoods in Springfield was sedated Friday and taken to an Indiana sanctuary that houses big cats, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said.The young male was tranquilized by staff with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services branch and sent to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point, Indiana, the state agency said.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is urging the public to avoid contact with a mountain lion that's been detected in the state capital using technology that tracked the rare animal to Springfield's west side.The DNR said the big cat, which was fitted last year with a GPS collar by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, was detected Wednesday morning by satellite on the city's western edge and remained there for much of the day, mostly sleeping in a secluded area.

Designed by Robert Hutchison Architecture and Javier Sanchez Arquitectos, the Rain Harvest Home, or Casa Cosecha de Lluvia is nestled in the rural town of Temascaltepec, which lies about 140 kilometers west of Mexico City.The family nature retreat features an extensive system for capturing and reusing rainwater!

Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh has created a brick workshop in Louviers, France, for luxury brand Hermès that is the first industrial building to achieve France's highest environmental labelling.The wood-framed Maroquinerie de Louviers workshop, located in Hermès' hub in Normandy, was built from over 500,000 bricks produced by local brick-makers located 70 kilometres from the site.

Fog X, a jacket that can make drinking water from fog, has won the first public vote in the Lexus Design Awards, which recognises prototypes that aim to build a better future.Swedish designer Pavel Hedström won the publicly voted category with the Fog-X jacket, which is designed for travellers in remote and arid locations.

A former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister and municipal leader is now the party's new president.Kathryn McGarry was named to the role Sunday on the final day of the party's annual general meeting in Hamilton.McGarry served as minister of natural resources and transportation minister under former premier Kathleen Wynne, but lost her seat representing the riding of Cambridge in 2018.

Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk released her annual report Wednesday.Here are some of the highlights from the 15 different audits her office conducted.The auditor general's 2022 report covers a wide range of topics, from Ontario's COVID-19 response and vaccine rollout to money laundering in the province's casinos.

A museum on a small island in Orkney that became the Royal Navy's nerve centre during both world wars has been shortlisted for museum of the year.The Scapa Flow Museum tells the story of how the island of Hoy became essential to Britain's defence with the construction of a large naval base.It reopened last year after a 4.4m redevelopment.

The King was greeted by lively drum beats and a warm welcome during his first visit to the new Africa Centre in south London.Charles spoke to artists, popped into a radio station and joined a discussion about the effects of climate change in Africa and the role of African people in the UK, during his visit to the cultural hub in Southwark.

(MOMBASA, Kenya) Droughts, flooding and a shrinking Lake Chad caused in part by climate change is fueling conflict and migration in the region and needs to be better addressed, a report said Thursday.Human rights group Refugees International called for the issue to be central to a high-level international conference on the Lake Chad basin next week in Niamey, Niger's capital.

FILE - Boys play soccer among trash that litters the sand of Yarakh Beach in Dakar, Senegal, Nov. 8, 2022.Reducing waste while boosting recycling and reuse, known as the 'circular economy,' will be vital for halting the loss of nature, organizers of the World Circular Economy Forum said Wednesday, Dec. 7. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)MOMBASA, Kenya - Reducing waste while boosting recycling and reuse, known as the 'circular economy,' will be vital for halting the loss of nature by meeting growing demand with fewer resources and will make communities more resilient to climate change by encouraging more sustainable practices on the African continent, organizers of the World Circular Economy Forum said Wednesday.

BERLIN As polar ice melts, Russia, already a major Arctic power, wants to make the region its own.China has ambitions for a Polar Silk Road.And NATO is embracing Finland and Sweden too, Washington hopes giving the alliance new reach in the Far North.Climate change is accelerating and amplifying competition in the Arctic as never before, opening the region to greater commercial and strategic jostling just at a moment when Russia, China and the West are all seeking to expand their military presence there.

About 4 miles from the Chicago Rockford International Airport, violet wood sorrel has started to grow.The low-lying Illinois native with delicate, trumpet-shaped flowers is a sign of hope for those involved in a last-ditch effort to save some of the soil disturbed by a new road that will run through the heart of Rockford's ancient Bell Bowl Prairie.

Canada's economy added more than 108,000 jobs last month.(Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Canada's economy added 108,000 jobs in October, about 10 times what was expected.The gains were broad-based, with both goods-producing industries and the service sector adding jobs, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Friday.

Drivers will have better views of monuments under new plans to boost the green credentials of England's busiest roads.National Highways said it wants to protect and enhance heritage assets adjacent to motorways and major A roads.This includes improving the visibility and accessibility of historically significant sites, and providing more information to road users about the features of areas they are travelling through.

Police investigating a May 20 grenade blast in Lakes of the Four Seasons have revised their preliminary conclusion as to what happened.Lake County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Pam Jones in an email Sunday said detectives are now considering whether the device may have self-detonated due to its age or other factors or circumstances that could've caused the grenade to explode.

Thursday, March 16, 2023 by Seth Smalley
Following a substantial decrease in demand, Travis County has announced that March 26 will be the last day Mansfield Dam Park will serve as a drop-off location for storm debris.Winter Storm Mara created an outsize need for debris disposal at the beginning of February, after it snapped tree limbs and downed power lines throughout the county.

The environmental activist who was killed by police in Atlanta while protesting against Georgia's planned Cop City was shot more than a dozen times, according to private autopsy results released by his family.Officers from multiple agencies shot and killed Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, also known as Tortuguita, on 18 January after authorities moved through the camp of activists who were in a forest to protest a planned $90m police training facility.

The City of Toronto has issued a weather warning for possible heavy rain Friday through Saturday evening.(Michael Wilson/CBC) The City of Toronto has issued a warning for heavy rainfall the rest of Friday through Saturday.A city news release says 20 to 35 milimeters of rain is expected, as frozen grounds currently have a reduced ability to absorb rainfall.

Photo by Austin Resource Recovery
Thursday, March 2, 2023 by Seth Smalley
The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday mulled the county's ongoing response to Winter Storm Mara, which rattled Central Texas with sleet, ice and rain four weeks ago, snapping power cables and tearing down tree branches.

A professor at Texas A&M-Commerce failed more than half of his class after ChatGPT wrongly flagged papers.In a report by Rolling Stone, ChatGPT falsely flagged papers, resulting in diplomas being withheld.So how did this happen?Well according to the report, Dr. Jared Mumm, the professor in question, sent an email to the class in which he informed them that he had submitted three of their last essay assignments into OpenAI's ChatGPT.

The Karner blue butterfly, an endangered species, faces threats from climate change.An anticipated federal rule would empower wildlife officials to relocate such species, a tactic known as assisted migration.(iStock)Nine years ago, a team of scientists studying a violet-blue, thumb-sized butterfly found only two remaining in a rolling landscape of dunes along southern Lake Michigan.

Rachel Gross tried to fend off her nosy neighbor, a wild turkey, outside her home in Coon Rapids, Minn., on Jan. 25.(Video: The Washington Post)
As Rachael Gross climbedthe steps of her Coon Rapids, Minn., home in the summer of 2021, a turkey dropped from her roof and forced her to the ground.The turkey ripped her jacket, Gross said, and scattered her bags of eggs, coffee and other groceries across her front lawn.

Bonny Omara (left) works with Edgar Mujuni at Japan's Kyushu Institute of Technology on the satellite that will be used to observe land conditions in Uganda.Bonny Omara When Uganda's very first satellite was launched into space last week on Nov. 7, Bonny Omara, the lead engineer on the satellite development team, was filled with emotion.

Get behind the queer community with a month of protests, parties, talks and events which culminates in one of the best parties in the diary London Pride ( July 1).The month is in remembrance of the Stonewall riots a series of gay liberation protests in 1969.Wondering how to show your support or what to do? Queer Britain in King's Cross is a great starting point, Museum of London has a great account of LGBTQ+ history, Chelsea Physic Garden usually puts on a few queer botany workshops and, London's not short on fun gay bars.

Here's a conversation starter for your next dinner party: Ask your guests how many types of sugar they can name.If people tap out at white sugar, brown sugar, castor sugar, and maybe jaggery, it is understandable.The first three types dominate grocery store shelves and eclipse other kinds, particularly those from Southeast Asia, namely rock sugar and palm sugar.

Ribbe, or roasted pork belly, is the most popular Norwegian Christmas dish in the country, just above traditional cured lamb ribs (pinnekjøtt).Yet, this holiday dish of crackling fat and pork is not an old dish in Norway like pinnekjøtt is.In fact, it probably arrived in the 18 th century, perhaps making its way from Denmark, and was found in eastern Norway, Trøndelag and the flatter regions where there was more emphasis on grain production and pig farming.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Hidden at the end of a narrow, rutted dirt road in central Uganda, wedged between a concrete wall and a hillside dotted with palm trees, is the only baseball academy run by a major league team in Europe or Africa.The Dodger blue paint and the white interlocking LA on the archway above the entrance identify the owner, but the team will say nothing about the facility, about its interest in Uganda and what, exactly, goes on behind that concrete wall.

The principal at a primary school in West Virginia was given a shock when a bear leapt out of the bin he was unlocking.James Marsh, 58, head of Zela Elementary School, ran for his life when a sizeable bear emerged from the bin he was standing by at around 7.15am on Monday.Mr Marsh can be seen in the video unlocking the bin before a bear pokes its head out from under the lid, with the principal running one way while the bear leaps out and scarpers in the opposite direction.

The US and UK have launched a new joint effort to stabilise energy prices in the face of continued efforts to reduce Europe dependency on Russian oil and gas.It comes as Britain faces a cost-of-living crisis driven largely by soaring costs for heating and power as a result of the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.

SSE has agreed an almost 1.5 billion deal to sell a quarter of its power transmission network business to a Canadian pension fund.The UK power company said it will see the 25% stake in SSEN Transmission to Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board.The transmission arm operates under its licenced entity Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission.

A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzes the state of telework in 2022.The data finds that the percentage of businesses with little to no telework skyrocketed last year.That comes as companies tighten their purse strings and try to claw back power from workers.It's the end of a remote work era, as employers call their employees back into offices - and workers see their power dwindling.

The panel is being hosted bya producer of culturally moving art experiences best known for his paintings/murals and nonprofit, Paint the City, which impacts social justice issues.The Lyric Opera of Chicago commissioned Keithley to create three original mural installations in the spirit of its other world premiere this season, " Lyric Unlimited and The Factotum."

Aquatic plants and debris are exposed by the falling water levels at the Kakhovka Reservoir.Researchers say that the draining of the reservoir by Russian forces are but one example of the war's effect on Ukraine's water supply.Dmytro Smoliyenko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty At the massive Kakhovka Reservoir in southern Ukraine, water levels should be rapidly rising.

The US Forest Service will move forward with killing feral cattle in New Mexico's Gila National Forest, officials say.The agency issued its decision in a news release on Thursday, stating the feral cattle pose a significant threat to public safety and natural resources.Aerial shooting of the cattle will take place from February 23 to February 26, according to the news release.

Environment The right whale "Nimbus" was among them.Slow zones were put into effect in the waters near Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard as part of an ongoing effort to save endangered right whales, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.These voluntary speed advisories were implemented Friday and will remain in place until March 25 in the hopes of decreasing vessel strikes on whales.

French Armies Minister Sebastien Lecornu looks on as he leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting at the presidential Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on November 29, 2022.Emmanuel Dunand, AFP Paris' defence minister on Sunday condemned the latest instalment of Marvel's Black Panther franchise, which depicts French troops caught trying to steal resources belonging to the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda.

A growing debate over the possible environmental damage caused by fireworks shows, especially over waterways, recently erupted in federal court where climate activists are pushing for stronger regulations of a popular Independence Day celebration in Southern California.While fireworks have for years been known to cause significant air pollution - with July 4 and 5 recording some of Southern California's worst air quality days - activists and attorneys with the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation want officials to help minimize the damage fireworks pose to waterways when the pyrotechnics debris and chemicals sink into the ocean or other water sources.

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day-but your help is essential.If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us.Thanks for your support!Good Afternoon, Portland!Did you watch that scary new TV show where fungi are the new COVID?

Portland's Charter Review Commission voted to send seven charter amendments to voters in 2024 and five potential charter amendments to City Council for final deliberation Tuesday evening.The commission could technically revote on the proposals this coming Saturday, but they likely won't have enough members present to changes the results of Tuesday's vote.

Just over a week after Portlanders voted to significantly alter the city's form of government through amendments to the city charter, residents will have another opportunity to shape Portland's founding document.On Thursday, the volunteer commission appointed to review the charter will hold its first public hearing on additional proposed amendments to the charter, which functions as the city's constitution.

In ecology, as in comedy, timing is everything.Hours, minutes or even seconds can make the difference for an animal between stumbling upon a predator and avoiding one, between finding a bush loaded with berries and discovering branches that have already been gnawed bare.Mere moments can determine whether a raccoon comes face-to-face with a bobcat at night, whether a flock of cocky turkeys finds its field already occupied by cranes, whether a deer disappears into the trees before a coyote appears on the scene.

A group of German lawmakers said their visit to Taipei is a gesture of "solidarity."The visit has sparked criticism and condemnation from the Chinese government.Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen thanked Germany for its support following a meeting with a delegation of senior German lawmakers on Tuesday.

Three remote Spanish communities have been named as among the best villages in the world for tourists  the most entries for a single country.The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recently revealed its annual list of the best tourism villages across the globe, with those included in the list scoring highly on social and environmental sustainability as well as their tourism work.

Imagine that you're shopping for jewelry online, and the company's brand biography webpage advertises that the gold mine from which it sources its material was discovered unintentionally when the company's founder, a geologist, was on a hike.How would learning about the unintentional discovery of the gold mine influence your interest in shopping at the jewelry company?

Cars parked in between intermittent trees planted along a street in Bologna, Italy.This photo was shared on Twitter by Sam Bloch, a journalist currently writing a book on shade.How and where we plant street trees impacts the quantity and quality of benefits we get in return such as how cool our streets feel during hot summer days, and how efficiently trees can filter rainfall and serve as stormwater management infrastructure.

Have you ever noticed white noise videos always trending on YouTube with millions of views?Well, if you have noticed, you might have also wondered, why?To answer in a more simple way, white noise helps us to relax and people watch such videos to soothe and unwind themselves.White noise videos are highly watched during bedtime because white is the most generally known "color" of noise.