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Thursday, May 13, 2021

Wikinews extended invitations by e-mail in the first week of May to Philip Sturm, a candidate running in the mayoral election of the US city of Minneapolis, Minnesota set to take place November 2 alongside that for city council, two seats of the Board of Estimate and Taxation and nine seats of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Sturm discussed information about his campaign and policies with Wikinews.

Sturm is a veteran who served from 1999 to 2003 in the US Marine Corps, stationed on Okinawa Island, Japan before performing operations in the US invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq. According to his web site, Sturm has a career in “manufacturing and operations”. According to his web site’s ‘civic vitae’ section, Sturm was co-chair for the DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party), District 62 in 2005 and a member of Veterans for Kerry.

He was a volunteer special deputy in Hennepin County, Minnesota, a member of the 9-1-1 emergency helpline workgroup for the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), the 9/11 and GWOT (Global War on Terrorism) Remembrance Task Force with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs and the racial equity fund with H.B. Fuller.

According to Minneapolis’ official website Jacob Frey won the last election in 2017 receiving 44.69% of the vote in the final round of voting. KSTP-TV reported Frey announced his run for re-election January 21. Sturm registered his candidacy on March 22.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Seven months after suspicions were first raised, United States Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns confirmed that a second American cow has tested positive for BSE (also known as ‘mad cow disease’), as determined by a lab in Weybridge, England. The department believes that this cow was born in the United States.

The delay in confirmation followed two conflicting test results from last November. The “Western blot” test, which is a more sophisticated test, could have helped reach a final determination, but the U.S. refused to perform it in November. The department’s inspector general, Phyllis Fong, ordered the Western blot test in June without advising Johanns and by the time Johanns found out about it, the testing was under way.

Johanns was annoyed that the round of testing which confirmed “Mad Cow” had been ordered without him being consulted first.”I was asked by the Senate and the president to operate the department,” Johanns said. “I believe, in this area, very clearly, the secretary should be consulted, whoever the secretary is, before testing is undertaken. From my standpoint, I believe I was put there to operate the department and was very disappointed.”

A senior research associate with Consumers Union, Michael Hansen, said USDA officials “almost sound like some Keystone Kops.”

Johanns reassured Americans that they should not be afraid of eating beef, saying: “This animal was blocked from entering the food supply because of the firewalls we have in place. Americans have every reason to continue to be confident in the safety of our beef.”

On June 17, the Associated Press reported: “American cattle are eating chicken litter, cattle blood and restaurant leftovers that could help transmit mad cow disease — a gap in the U.S. defense that the Bush administration promised to close nearly 18 months ago.”

John Stauber, co-author of “Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?” said: “Once the cameras were turned off and the media coverage dissipated, then it’s been business as usual, no real reform, just keep feeding slaughterhouse waste. The entire U.S. policy is designed to protect the livestock industry’s access to slaughterhouse waste as cheap feed.”

Critics of the U.S. testing regimen said the fumbles this time increase their concerns about America’s screening process.

“How can we be sure they were really negative?” Craig Culp, a spokesman for the Center for Food Safety asked; “After all, (here is a cow that was) negative in November that is positive in June.”

The companies which render slaughter waste say new restrictions are not warranted. “We process about 50 billion pounds of product annually — in visual terms, that is a convoy of semi trucks, four lanes wide, running from New York to L.A. every year,” said Jim Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute Foundation.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Fargo, North Dakota is preparing itself for what could be its worst flood ever. Hundreds of high school and college students worked with two hundred National Guard soldiers Monday on the task of filling over a million sandbags in the effort to stave off the rising Red River. Classes at North Dakota State University were canceled in order to lend the assistance of its students and faculty.

The threat of further rainfall has increased the flood risk, with the river now predicted to crest as high as 52 feet (15.8 meters), over twice that of its lowest flood stage. An emergency levee south of town is also being hastily constructed. Three machines capable of filling 15,000 sandbags an hour are being used around the clock to keep up with demand.

Temporary dikes from Louisiana are being flown in. The dikes, 4 foot high interlocking containers filled with sand, were used during Hurricane Katrina. In Emmons County, several dozen homes were evacuated on Sunday, and families in the town of Beulah, North Dakota have also been forced to leave ahead of the rising waters.

The current scenario is a reminder of the record 1997 flood which inundated the Red River Valley. Fargo constructed a levee system following the disaster to help prevent future flooding. Up to 6000 homes are currently at risk, with many communities farther downriver also preparing for flooding.

The American Red Cross has sent over 20,000 prepackaged meals, along with cots and blankets. Its volunteers around the country have been put on standby, ready to travel to North Dakota if necessary.

All eyes are currently on the skies, as the fate of many communities will be determined largely by how much rain and snow falls over the next week.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

CEO of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, Corp., Duncan Brown, has stepped down after recent allegations that lottery retailers are winning more than customers.

“By mutual agreement, Duncan Brown and the Board of OLG have decided a change of leadership is appropriate,” the lottery corporation said on Friday. “Brown has stepped down from his post as CEO.”

Before Brown joined OLG in 2004 he was CEO of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. He has worked in the lotto industry since the 1970s.

A new CEO will be chosen by the Board in the coming months, the Interim CEO will be chosen in a few days.

This month OLG recalled over 1,000,000 scratch and win tickets. The “Super Bingo” tickets were also removed after complaints that one could see which were the winning tickets.

Ontario Ombudsman André Marin will conduct an investigation into allegations that lottery retailers are winning more than customers.

“They’re faced with a wall of silence,” Marin said. “The OLG essentially turns against them and instead of investigating the complaint, investigates the complainant.”

Marin will release the report on Monday.

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

On Saturday, the Indonesian Navy announced its submarine KRI Nanggala 402, which had lost contact early morning 4:30 am local time on Wednesday, had sunk and cracked off in the Bali Strait during a training exercise. The Navy also declared the submarine’s crew of 53 dead, and said the wreckage was found.

According to Air Marshall Hadi Tjahjanto, pictures received were of the parts of the submarine such as the rear vertical rudder, anchors, outer pressure body, and embossed dive rudder.

The Navy stated on Saturday, the submarine was now considered sunk, not merely missing, having previously said that the oxygen supply would have run out by Saturday morning.

Per reports, items were found from the submarine that included a bottle of grease, prayer mats and a piece of metal pipe. The ones found near the last location of the submarine were parts of the submarine itself, and would not have gotten out unless there was water pressure, Tjahjanto said.

Tjahjanto also said there was an oil spill in the area and the debris were indications the submarine had a leakage due to diving too deep, or released the oil while rising to the surface.

The search team focused on determining the exact location of the submarine, but authorities warned it would be hard to do any salvage operation because of the deep waters.

The Singapore Navy’s MV Swift Rescue submarine rescue ship helped in the effort and deployed a robot which took the images. Other countries including Malaysia, the United States, India and Australia aided search for potential rescue. KRI Rigel, an Indonesian ship, scanned the area where the submarine was presumed to have sunk using multi-beam sonar and a magnetometer.

According to military chief Yudo Margono, the scan determined the submarine to be at a depth of 850 metres. According to Al Jazeera, it was well below its survivable limit of 500 metres. “The cracks happened gradually in some parts when it went down”, Margono said.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, has died at the age of 91. Considered the “founding father” of Singapore, Lee led Singapore through the aftermath of independence to become one of the world’s richest nations. He died yesterday under treatment for pneumonia at the Singapore General Hospital.

The current Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, announced the former Prime Minister’s death in a televised statement. Prime Minister Lee, who is the eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew, said “The first of our founding fathers is no more. He inspired us, gave us courage, and brought us here[…] To many Singaporeans, and indeed others too, Lee Kuan Yew was Singapore.”

More tributes came from within Singapore and around the world. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, called Lee “a true giant of history.” Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, said “Lee Kwan Yew’s passing is as much a loss for the international community as it is for Singapore”.

Lee, co-founder of the People’s Action Party, was the nation’s first Prime Minister from 1959 continuously to 1990. Despite no longer holding the office he remained highly involved within Singaporean politics until his death. He was both admired and criticized throughout the world during his rule.

He was condemned by opponents over many of his strict home policies. During his tenure the press and media was strictly controlled and chewing gum was banned. He was however highly regarded for his financial tact, leading Singapore to vast financial success through his economic policies.

Lee defended his tough stance in a 2010 New York Times interview, saying “I’m not saying everything I did was right[…] But everything I did was for an honourable purpose.” He admitted to ordering “nasty things” such as “locking fellows up without trial.”

A period of national mourning has begun and his body is to lie in state from Wednesday until Saturday. A state funeral for Lee is to take place on Sunday, followed by private services on Monday and Tuesday.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

The following is the second in a monthly series chronicling the U.S. 2012 presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after a brief mention of some of the month’s biggest stories.

In this month’s edition on the campaign trail: the campaign manager for a candidate already seeking two presidential nominations discusses the likelihood his candidate will run for the Reform Party’s nomination; a lesser known candidates forum reveals an alternative fuel possibility and concludes in a dramatic fashion; and the newly nominated candidate for the Boston Tea Party talks with Wikinews.