Local flavor - non political please

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This is getting national attention but it happened right near us...

Six dead in Washington state shooting rampage: reports

1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A shooting spree in Washington state left six dead and two wounded, with the suspected gunman described as mentally disturbed with numerous convictions, local media reported Wednesday.

The victims included a sheriff's deputy, Anne Jackson, 40, in the killings that took place Tuesday in Skagit County in the northwest of the state, Seattle newspapers reported.

The suspect was identified as 28-year-old Isaac Zamora, who was arrested after fleeing police in a high-speed car chase on Interstate 5, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The suspect's mother, Dennise Zamora, told the paper that her son had a history of mental illness but had refused treatment. Court records reportedly showed numerous misdemeanor convictions for various charges, including drug possession and petty theft.

"We're devastated for everybody," she was quoted as saying. "I'd rather it had been him or me, rather than these dear people."

Her son had been released from jail on August 6 on a drug conviction.

The dead were shot at several locations, including the sheriff's deputy who was responding to a call about a disturbance at a house when she was killed near the town of Alger, said State Patrol Trooper Keith Leary.

Police became concerned about the deputy when she did not respond to calls from the house and reinforcements were sent in, officers said at a news conference in Mount Vernon.

When a backup officer arrived at the house, Jackson was found dead.

"From what we were told, he was just going down the road and shooting at people," Leary said.

A second victim was killed in Alger and two construction workers were shot nearby. Another body was found a few houses away, according to Leary.

A motorist was later shot dead on Interstate 5, as the suspect was fleeing south at speeds of more than 90 miles (145 kilometers) per hour with police in pursuit.

Zamora was forced off the freeway at Mount Vernon and drove to the Skagit County Sheriff's Office, surrendering in a parking lot.

The first shootings were reported after 2 p.m. Tuesday (2100 GMT) and the suspect was in custody about two-and-a-half hours later.

Zamora had been on a county sheriff's office watch list, police said.

A motive for the shootings remained unclear.

"It's going to be some time before we know what happened," Leary told The Seattle Times.

Governor Chris Gregoire called for an independent review into the criminal history and supervision of Zamora, who was under the authority of the Department of Corrections for three weeks, the Post-Intelligencer wrote.

Source

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WASHINGTON (AFP) — A shooting spree in Washington state left six dead and two wounded, with the suspected gunman described as mentally disturbed with numerous convictions, local media reported Wednesday.

Tragic.

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WASHINGTON (AFP) — A shooting spree in Washington state left six dead and two wounded, with the suspected gunman described as mentally disturbed with numerous convictions, local media reported Wednesday.

Tragic.

Yes it is. It has really rocked our little town and area.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

The new I-35W bridge, is nearing completion. About 2 months ahead of schedule.

This is the bridge that had collapsed?

Yup, It was scheduled to be reopened in December, but they will be reopening within the next month.

Nice!

Are the same contractors working on I-35 bridge and Chesapeake Bay bridge?

(rather strange coincidence otherwise)

[MrsCat 6]

A little Northern flavour from my home:

Whitehorse man survives 3 weeks stranded in backcountry

A Whitehorse man said he's lucky to be alive after surviving three weeks stranded in the bush in central Yukon.

Dave Layzell was rescued on Aug. 29, following an unscheduled 20-day campout that prompted his family to report the 67-year-old man missing to Whitehorse RCMP earlier last week.

Speaking to CBC News from his home Wednesday, Layzell said he left the city on Aug. 9 to camp out for a couple of days near Clear Creek Road and take photographs of an old gold dredge there.

"I know something about the bush," Layzell said. "I have, I think, a good share of common sense. And so I made a camp as close as I could to my truck, and I sat there and waited."

Layzell had with him a tent, a sleeping bag, a camp stove and three or four days worth of food, but the food eventually ran out.

"We stretched our food for as long as we could, and after about six, seven days, we were out of food," he said.

"We had a large tank of water with us, and we stretched it for … a little over 14, 16 days before we ran out of water. After that, we were drawing water from the creek and boiling it and doing by with that."

By Day 21, Layzell said he was resigning himself to another night without food when he heard a sound he had been hoping to hear all along.

"I was just laying there saying, 'What's next, Lord?' How much else do I have to go through?'" he recalled. "And I heard the sound of the helicopter starting to approach at that point, and I pulled on my boots and I got out of the tent and I saw that red and white bird circling that little valley."

"[After the helicopter landed], the young man came up to me and he said, 'You're Dave, and we've been looking for you.' I said, 'I'm Dave and I'm glad you found me, and you're 25 minutes late,'" Layzell said with a laugh.

Layzell said he suffered from dehydration and dangerously low blood pressure, but he is recovering quickly from his ordeal.

"If you keep your sense and you keep a positive attitude, you can do OK," he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/...zell-found.html

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"If you keep your sense and you keep a positive attitude, you can do OK," he said.

Great story! Thanks for sharing, cat!

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Thanks for sharing all the stories everyone It is cool to hear about whats happening in other parts.

[Marilyn. 340]

COVINA - A man suspected of using bogus credit cards to buy about 250 gallons of gasoline at a Covina gas station while free on bail for allegedly doing the same thing in Ventura County was behind bars today on $1 million bail, police said.

Sisak Khudaverdyan, 28, of Glendale, allegedly used gift cards re- programmed with stolen credit card information to pump gasoline into a white Ford Econoline van Sunday and Monday at a Shell gas station at 110 W. Arrow Highway, said Sgt. Dave Foster of the Covina Police Department.

The van had been modified to bypass its own fuel tank and fill storage drums inside the van, Foster said.

When officers were called to the Shell station Monday, Khudaverdyan led them on a chase to a nearby mobile home park, where he abandoned the vehicle, Foster said.

After a brief search, officers located Khudaverdyan, who allegedly fought with officers as he was taken into custody. He was treated for minor injuries.

Khudaverdyan had about 30 re-programmed gift cards in his possession, Foster said.

Multiple felony charges were filed, including theft of gasoline with stolen credit account information, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest.

His bail was set at $1 million.

He was free on bail for allegedly committing the same crime in Ventura County when he was arrested.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_10336472

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Sisak Khudaverdyan, 28, of Glendale, allegedly used gift cards re- programmed with stolen credit card information to pump gasoline...

Interesting name. Anyone know where it's from?

[*julez* 124]

New traffic roundabouts are moving experiences

A funny thing happened to traffic on Harlem Road in Cheektowaga the other day: It kept moving.

Cars, motorcycles, trucks and buses approached the intersection with Cleveland Drive from the north and the south — even as vehicles were coming from Cleveland in two directions toward Harlem at the exact same time — and the wheels never stopped turning. They slowed down, but they never stopped. It was mesmerizing.

The roundabout era has arrived in Western New York. They’re here, they’re not square, and they’re not going anywhere.

And, by the way, they work.

Even as extensive road construction continues on Harlem, watching the flow of traffic there suggests that motorists have adjusted to the roundabout. Meanwhile, 15 miles south of Cheektowaga’s lone roundabout, drivers in Hamburg have learned to navigate two in use on Buffalo Street, with two more to come by the time that project is finished.

“I understood philosophically and theoretically how [roundabouts] would work,” said Hamburg Village Trustee Michael Cerrone. “But things in theory, sometimes you just don’t know how they’ll work in practice. But we’ve heard very, very few complaints from folks. I think most people are very happy with them.”

If statistics hold true, their popularity should only grow.

In his just-published book, “Traffic,” Tom Vanderbilt notes that the traditional intersection is where fully half of all road crashes occur, partly because there are 56 potential points of conflict where your car can hit another car or a pedestrian. In a roundabout, the conflict number falls to 16. One study he cites found that at 24 intersections that had been converted from signs and lights into roundabouts, the number of crashes fell by 40 percent and fatal crashes by 90 percent.

“The system that many of us would feel is more dangerous is actually safer, while the system we think is safer is actually more dangerous,” he wrote.

Still, it’s not hard to understand why people balked when state officials first pitched the idea of replacing traditional four-way intersections with roundabouts. The intersection, with its traffic signs or lights telling drivers precisely what to do and when to do it, feeds our need for order.

Roundabouts, on the other hand, seem so random. Stop. Go. Whatever.

Engineers and other supporters who predicted their success offered hard-to-fathom explanations about aesthetics and slower traffic, but it was hard to answer the question: If there’s no sign or light telling someone to stop or go, how do you know?

As drivers in Cheektowaga and Hamburg are learning, you just do.

But why? Ask yourself how you drive when you see a green light in front of you. If you’re honest, you know you press down just a little harder and narrow your focus to try to make it. But when you know a roundabout is coming, Vanderbilt says, you expand your focus, slow down, look for an opening, watch the other traffic. In a nutshell, you start paying more attention.

“This is not in itself a bad thing, because intersections are, after all, dangerous places,” he wrote. “The system that makes us more aware of this is actually the safer one.”

Many people still are not convinced. Proposals for roundabouts in Clarence, East Aurora and the Town of Tonawanda have met with varying levels of opposition.

Before you make up your own mind, take a ride through Cheektowaga and Hamburg. You’ll see that driving in a roundabout is a moving experience.

[Marilyn. 340]

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Speed limit could be reduced on Azusa Avenue

WEST COVINA - Speed limits and cell phone towers are among the items on the agenda for West Covina's City Council meeting tonight.

The City Council will consider reducing the speed limit to 35 miles per hour from 40 miles per hour on Aroma Drive and Azusa Avenue.

There will also be a discussion about whether to allow PCS to add a cell phone tower at Shadow Oak Park on an already-existing cell phone tower at 2121 East Shadow Oak Drive.

Regarding the budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year budget, Councilman Roger Hernandez wants to consider additional cuts, according to the city council agenda.

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_10363436

[Marilyn. 340]

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Police: Woman flees kidnapper by leap from trunk

COVINA, Calif. —

Authorities say a 21-year-old woman allegedly attacked by a man in Covina and forced into the trunk of her own car escaped by leaping from the vehicle as it raced down a freeway.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Gary Lindenmayer says the woman, whose name has not been released, met a 25-year-old man at a party and left with him early Sunday.

Lindenmayer says the man then knocked the woman unconscious. He says the woman woke up in the trunk and managed to jump out of the vehicle as it sped along the 57 Freeway.

She suffered road rash and injuries believed to be non-life threatening.

A suspect's identity is being withheld pending further investigation.

http://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/415451.html

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New traffic roundabouts are moving experiences

There's a circle near here that used to be quite nice a few decades ago (or so they tell me, I wasn't around), but now it's a nightmare.

This is what it looks like today:

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New traffic roundabouts are moving experiences

There's a circle near here that used to be quite nice a few decades ago (or so they tell me, I wasn't around), but now it's a nightmare.

This is what it looks like today:

Wow We just started getting simple roundabouts here as well. Something like that would be a disaster here. Everyone has a hard enough time with the simple ones.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

New traffic roundabouts are moving experiences

There's a circle near here that used to be quite nice a few decades ago (or so they tell me, I wasn't around), but now it's a nightmare.

This is what it looks like today:

Wow We just started getting simple roundabouts here as well. Something like that would be a disaster here. Everyone has a hard enough time with the simple ones.

Yup, that circle is a complete mess. I only wish some mapping service would take images of it during rush hour. That would be awesome to see from up above!