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Saturday, October 1, 2022

On Saturday, those who survived a mass shooting at an outdoor festival in Las Vegas are headed there to mark the shooting’s fifth anniversary. For the fifth straight year, the site of the deadly shooting will mark the anniversary with a candlelight vigil, in remembrance of those slain. The Vegas Strong Resiliency Center also holds yearly 5K and 1M races.

The Harvest Music Festival hosted events in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. The 2017 annual music festival lasted three days, running from Friday, September 29 until Sunday, October 1. On October 1, 2017, a crowd numbering roughly 22,000 people were in attendance. One minute, those 22,000 people were enjoying the splendor of a fun night, and the next minute, feelings of splendor, happiness, and fun were quickly replaced with chaos, panic, and bloodshed. Country singer Jason Aldean had been performing the closing act of the festival just before the gunshots started at 10:05 p.m. Pacific Time. Over the next ten minutes, 60 people were killed, and over 800 more were injured. This is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, surpassing the Orlando nightclub shooting from the previous year. The gunman, later identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, was found dead by suicide in a Mandalay Hotel room where he carried out the massacre. Following the shooting, Route 91 Harvest closed indefinitely and has hosted no festival since.

As the anniversary arrives, survivors and witnesses recall hearing loud pops that they originally mistook for fireworks. Nathalie Vanderstay initially believed they were fireworks until she heard the crowd screaming in fear. One couple from Rancho Sante Fe recalls people speculating between fireworks and blown speakers. David Powell and his wife, Erin, are two of the local survivors. They realized the magnitude of the situation when they saw people lying on the ground, and it was then when they, too, lay on the ground. Then, they waited there as they prayed for their lives and waited for the shooting to be over. Today, they, among many other resilient survivors, are opening up about their experience.

“I pretty much laid on top of Erin there, in the aisle, we waited out the eleven minutes while the shooting was happening,” David told 10 News.

Erin described the long-lasting effects of the shooting in her own words. “You have nightmares, you have panic attacks, you can’t make sense of things, your memory isn’t working very well,” she said. To help heal and move forward, the couple has joined Vegas Strong Resiliency Center to receive therapy and to provide therapy for other survivors. The couple has been married for 37 years, and David and Erin have always been united by a common interest in going to concerts. David and Erin will not allow their trauma to define them, nor will they allow it to stop them from attending future concerts.

Nathalie Vanderstay has also expressed gratitude and appreciation for life.

There is now a four-part docuseries, titled 11 Minutes, which details the events of the shooting and celebrates the acts of heroism from positive people, such as the brave police officers who raided and defused the shooter’s room at the Mandalay Hotel.

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Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Buffalo, New York —The proposed Elmwood Village Hotel got the final approval it needed from the city of Buffalo’s Planning Board this morning.

In a unanimous vote, the Board approved most of the design and site plan of the hotel.

The Elmwood Village Hotel is a proposed hotel by Savarino Construction Services Corporation and is designed by architect Karl Frizlen of the Frizlen Group. It is to be placed on the corner of Elmwood and Forest Avenues in Buffalo and will require the demolition of at least five properties (1109-1121 Elmwood).

Despite the fact that today’s meeting was not a “public hearing”, several citizens lashed out at the Board after the approval.

“Thanks for destroying Buffalo,” said one man.

“[I am] disgusted. Because they did not allow the community to speak, it is the bastardization of the concepts of justice and democracy, and that’s what happened [today],” said Clarence Carnahan, a local business owner and concerned citizen, to Wikinews. He also referred to some board members as “immoral pigs.”

“[I feel] frustration because no one could speak. I was going to address the displacement of all the shops that are there and that they should be grand-fathered into the new space. We did not get to say that. [I am disappointed] that they are endorsing this enormous monstrosity.” said Nancy Pollina, co-owner of Don Apparel with Patty Morris at 1119 Elmwood.

Although the Board approved the hotel proposal, Savarino Construction must still go before the board to approve things such as signage and lighting. The Planning Board meets again on April 11, 2006 at 8:00a.m., but it is unknown if the hotel proposal will be on the agenda.

Pano Georgiadis, owner of Pano’s Restaurant at 1081 Elmwood and owner of 605 Forest Avenue in Buffalo, threatened to sue Savarino Construction at a public meeting on March 15, 2006 saying, “if you try to get a variance to change the code, I will sue you. This is my home, number one. If you go against city code, and you try to do the most rooms with a minimal amount of parking, again, I will sue you.”

Today, Georgiadis confirmed to Wikinews that he is “definitely” suing, but that his “situation is different” as compared to others looking into legal action. “This is my property. They did it [changed the code] without my approval.”

Last week, the Common Council voted and approved the rezoning of all five properties including 605 Forest.

Some are also considering taking the case to the New York State Supreme Court to “seek an injunction”and would go “pro se, meaning I am going to present the case myself,” said Carnahan.

Despite the approvals by the Common Council and Planning Board, organizers schedulaed another protest for Saturday April 1, 2006 at 2:00p.m. on the proposed site at Forest and Elmwood.

“We are not going to go down without a fight. We are going to go kicking and screaming,” said Pollina.

Friday, March 20, 2009

In the United States, a suspended Pennsylvania state trooper has been convicted of first-degree murder for killing his girlfriend’s estranged husband.

Kevin Foley, 43, faces a mandatory life sentence without parole for slashing to death John Yelenic, a Blairsville dentist who was in the final stages of divorcing his wife, Michele. Foley’s attorney said he plans to appeal the decision. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

Foley previously said he “loathed Dr. Yelenic” and asked another fellow trooper to help kill him. During his testimony, which lasted several hours, Foley claimed he was joking and had no true intention of carrying out the threat, but the Indiana County jury rejected that defense after about six hours of deliberations.

John Yelenic was found dead in his home on April 13, 2006, one day before he was planning on signing his divorce papers. Charges were brought against Foley in September 2007, more than 17 months after the murder.

Foley, who had been on suspension from the Pennsylvania State Police, was himself the final witness to take the stand Wednesday in the trial. Foley insisted he was innocent during his testimony, and even made jokes that the jury laughed at on a few occasions.

“I never made a threat with the intention of carrying it out,” Foley said under cross-examination by the prosecution.

When Senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony Krastek pressed Foley for what was funny about asking another state trooper to help him kill Yelenic, Foley answered, “There isn’t any joke. It’s just my personality, my behavior (with co-workers).”

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. Yelenic bled to death.

“John has his justice tonight,” Mary Ann Clark, a cousin of Yelenic, told MSNBC. “John deserved this; he was the most wonderful person in the world. He died the most horrible death and tonight, this is his night. The system worked.”

Foley had been living with Michele Yelenic for two years at the time of the homicide. Prosecutors previously said Foley and Michele 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 US$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, who has not appeared at the trial, may face legal action herself, media reports indicated. A sentencing hearing for Foley is scheduled for June 1.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

According to outgoing Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, an explosion that was “equivalent to a 2,000 lb. bomb” and registered 0.5 on the Richter scale decimated an area of Danvers and is also a “Thanksgiving miracle.”

The explosion occurred around 2:45 am EST, this morning in the Danversport area of Danvers, Massachusetts at the plant for solvent and ink manufacturer, CAI Inc. The explosion, which was caught on security camera and was heard up to over 25-50 miles away in southern Maine and New Hampshire.

The explosion damaged over 90 homes, blowing out windows and knocking some houses off their foundations. Officials believe that some of the more extensively damaged houses will have to be leveled and rebuilt. Some of the buildings damaged included a bakery, boats at a close by marina and the New England Home for the Deaf, an assisted-living facility for people who are deaf or deafblind and elderly residents requiring constant care. “These people are extremely fragile,” said state Rep. Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers, whose district includes the affected area. “Many of them have Alzheimer’s and other illnesses. It’s clear they can’t stay here long, but it’s clear they won’t be able to return for quite a while.”

Danvers Fire Chief James P. Tutko toured the area by helicopter and said many residents would be kept from their homes for the foreseeable future. “It looks like a war zone, that’s the only thing I can say,” Tutko said. When asked about the loss of no life at all, he responded “Somebody out there likes us.” Finally, he said that finding out the cause of the explosion would take days.

Outgoing governor Mitt Romney toured the area and said the explosion was a “Thanksgiving miracle” as the explosion was “equivalent to a 2,000 lb bomb going off in a residential neighborhood,” and that no one was killed and only about 10 people suffered only minor injuries in area that included over 300 residents. Residents of the area have been evacuated to the Danvers High School where temporary shelter has been set up by the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay. Donations are being taken for residents affected by the explosion. Residents are also being told to start filing insurance claims right away and to keep track of their expenses for items bought.

There were minor environmental concerns due to water runoff of chemicals. According the Environmental Protection Agency‘s on-scene coordinator Mike Nalipinski, preliminary tests showed low levels of toluene, a solvent, but said it was nothing of significance. Water runoff from the water used by firefighters left a purple sheen on the river and tests were being conducted. However, the water is not a local drinking water supply and the chemical evaporates quickly. Chief Tutko said there was no risk of toxic fumes getting into the air.

An Eastern Propane facility was also located near the area, however, it was not the source of the explosion. A spokesman for the company said that although the property suffered some minor damage, their tanks are secure.

According to WHDH television, a person who answered the telephone at CAI’s Georgetown, Massachusetts headquarters refused comment, and a telephone message left at the company president’s home was not immediately returned.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the only individual convicted in connection with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, has been released by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, on compassionate grounds.

Megrahi is suffering from terminal prostate cancer and will be allowed to return to his home country of Libya.

270 people were killed when, on December 21, 1988, the Pan-Am flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport was destroyed by a bomb whilst in flight over southern Scotland.

A police convoy escorted Megrahi from his former prison home in HMP Greenock to Glasgow Airport, where he boarded an Afriqiyah Airways flight to Tripoli. He was told he could not remain in Scotland on security grounds.

In announcing the release on compassionate grounds, Justice Secretary MacAskill stated, “Al-Megrahi now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power. It is one that no court in any jurisdiction could revoke or overrule. It is terminal, final and irrevocable. He is going to die”.

The conviction remains controversial. Last year then-president of US group Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 told Wikinews that the vast majority were satisfied in Megrahi’s guilt. UK Families Flight 103 painted a very different picture to Wikinews of the opinions in Britain: “UK Families have different views about Megrahi’s guilt or innocence. Certainly some, including my husband and I, believe that we are not in a position to make a judgment about whether he was involved in some way or not,” said group coordinator Jean Berkley, whose son was killed. “Much of the evidence at the trial was circumstantial and confusing and it is a fact that the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, after considering the matter for three years, came to the conclusion that there were grounds for appeal. The UK families are united in believing that the full independent inquiry for which we have been asking since 1989 should now take place, to deal with the many unanswered questions and enable the evidence which would have emerged from the now abandoned appeal to be made public.” This is in sharp contrast to The Daily Telegraph, which earlier reported that the majority of British families felt Megrahi was innocent.

The United States government had been strongly opposed to any possible release. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had previously called the possibility “absolutely wrong”. MacAskill sought to justify the decision by commenting that “Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs th[at] we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people – no matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated.”

Megrahi issued a statement shortly before leaving HMP Greenock in which he maintained his innocence. “The remaining days of my life are being lived under the shadow of the wrongness of my conviction. I have been faced with an appalling choice: to risk dying in prison in the hope that my name is cleared posthumously or to return home still carrying the weight of the guilty verdict, which will never now be lifted. The choice which I made is a matter of sorrow, disappointment and anger, which I fear I will never overcome,” said Megrahi.

Robert Gibbs, press secretary for the White House, said “The United States deeply regrets the decision by the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi. As we have expressed repeatedly to officials of the government of the United Kingdom and to Scottish authorities, we continue to believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland.” Many US victims have also reacted with anger.

Many US victims’ families have reacted with anger. One relative commented that “This might sound crude or blunt, but I want him returned from Scotland the same way my wife Lorraine was and that would be in a box.” Dr. Jim Swire, a UK victim, disagreed, saying Megrahi had “nothing to do with” the disaster and calling the earlier dropping of the appeal “a blow to those of us who seek the truth.”

Megrahi’s plane was greeted by crowds in Tripoli waving both Libyan and Scottish flags. Seif al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, held his hand as he exited the aircraft amid heavy security. Loudspeakers broadcast patriotic music and it is reported that celebrations are ongoing in Tripoli.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The President of the Swiss Confederation, Mrs. Micheline Calmy-Rey, has begun a 2-day visit to Ghana.

The trip is part of an African tour which includes Senegal, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Burundi. She has already been in Benin.

She held talks with John Kufuor her host. Mrs. Calmy-Rey praised Ghana’s successful democracy and said Ghana has a special role to play in Africa and is partners with Switzerland in that role. She is also keen to see more Swiss investment in Ghana.

They also discussed issues such as trade, taxation relief to help boost Swiss investments in Ghana and Swiss support for Ghana’s cocoa and pineapple industry. Also discussed was possible increased budgetary support as well as assistance to the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

A power outage hit large parts of Tokyo, and Chiba, Japan. The electrical blackout occurred due to an industrial accident, in which a crane damaged some power lines accidentally at 7:40 AM local time (2240 UTC), the Kyodo News agency reported, quoting Tokyo Power Electric Co. Power was reported to have been restored to most areas within a few hours.

At least two elevators stopped with an unknown number of people trapped inside, said a fire official in Tokyo. Some train services were halted. The number of passengers was lower than normal due to a holiday. About 800,000 residences were affected by the blackout, according to the power company. Most services have since then been restored.

Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea delayed opening by an hour as many rides did not function due to the power problems.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Anyone planning on attending the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China can forget about renting a car when they get there.

Newspapers reported on September 18 that no private cars would be allowed near any of the venues in the host city, in an attempt to combat the gridlock that has plagued the city.

Known for its stand-still traffic, Beijing’s transport authority believes it needs to curb at least 20% of traffic flow to ensure the Games run smoothly. The number of cars in the city is set to increase from 2.7 million to 3 million by the time of the Olympics. Country-wide, annual car sales are expected to reach 10 million annually by 2010.

A good infrastructure is one of the International Olympic Committee’s top priorities when searching for bid cities. The IOC requires that athletes, support staff such as coaches, venue volunteers, spectators, and the press all should be able to get from venue to venue without hassle.

Existing plans in Beijing say that private cars may only drive in the city on alternate days. Plates with odd numbers would drive one day, while even numbered licenses would drive the next day.

Wired magazine has suggested fuel-cell vehicles may be China’s next cultural revolution. Vancouver-based venture capitalist Mike Brown told the National Post: “If they get aggressive about this, and they decided to build up a fuel cell manufacturing capability to sell half a million of these things, they’ll get the costs down faster than anybody else.”