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HERMANN MISSOURI OKTOBERFEST 2010
HERMANN MISSOURI OKTOBERFEST 2010 - CLICK ON PHOTO FOR THIS YEARS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
_________________________________________________________________________ Massive Oil Slick Found At BP's Deepwater Horizon Gulf Spill Site - Helicopter Flyover
August 25, 2011
The Alabama Press Register
Youtube User: OnWingsOfCare1
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Gulf Of Mexico Oil Leak Nightmare is Back - Oil Spewing out of BP Deep Water Horizon site (Macondo Well) - Flyover Video of it.
Flyover of the Gulf of Mexico and BPs Deep Water Horizon site showing all the oil on the water.
Notice all the boats out by the oil leak, yet no mainstream media reports, as of yet.
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gawker.com
August 31, 2011
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Facebook might call it a settlement, but there's no question that the gigantic social network is effectively surrendering to scrappy Austin, Texas mockery hub Lamebook. The two sides have ended a federal lawsuit with Lamebook keeping its name and Facebook-like logo, and Facebook slinking back to California.
Facebook can at least content itself with the knowledge that it got Lamebook to put a disclaimer "disavowing any affiliation with its Palo Alto counterpart," as PaidContent put it. But the lopsided settlement clearly a setback to Facebook's attempts to go after other "-book" sites. Facebook was arguably on the ropes every since it lost a bid to move the venue for the case out to California. And with an IPO, FTC inquiry, the Winklevii and a sleazy wood pellet salesman to deal with, Facebook might just have decided to focus its energies, and counsel, elsewhere.
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A skull found last month has now been identified. It was discovered near a creak on the Warren Lincoln County line. Tests now reveal that it belongs to Nicholas Coppola. He was reported missing last December. Officials say there is no sign of foul play at this point.
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Foristell Police Chief Douglas Johnson released new details Wednesday about missing Mizzou student Nicholas Michael Coppola. Johnson said that police now believe Coppola may be in the Warrenton area in an abandoned building or vacant home. Coppola was arrested Dec. 12 by Warrenton police for breaking into an empty house. He apparently sought shelter after his 1998 Suburu Legacy ran out of gas on Interstate 70 earlier that day. Coppola left his wallet and cell phone in his car and did not attempt to call anyone for help after his car stopped running or after he was arrested, Johnson said. "It is odd," he said. "But from what I understand he had become somewhat of an introvert." Coppola was booked at the Warren County Jail but was released at 5:40 p.m. after the homeowner refused to press charges against him, Johnson said. Coppola walked away from the jail.
UPDATED, corrects description based on interview with family. Adds information about changes to Nicholas Coppola's personality during the past six months. FORISTELL • Police are looking for a missing University of Missouri-Columbia student from Weldon Spring. Foristell Police Chief Douglas Johnson said Nicholas Michael Coppola, 25, hasn't been seen since his mother visited his apartment in Columbia on Dec. 10. His 1998 Subaru Legacy was found abandoned on Interstate 70 eastbound just west of the Foristell exit at about 1 p.m. on Dec. 12. Johnson said officers found Coppola's cell phone and wallet in the car. The driver's seat was reclined, he said. Johnson said Coppola's father's birthday was on Dec. 15, and family members believe he may have been traveling home. Johnson said friends described Coppola as having been quiet and secluded lately. Coppola is 6-feet-1-inches tall, weighs about 180 pounds and has blue eyes. He wears black-framed glasses. . Click Here for more info.
In honor of this celebration, several Hermann restaurants will add German specialties to their menus.
Walking Tours
Free maps available at the Welcome Center and museums for three self-guided walking tours: Riverfront, City Park, and George Bayer.
Museum at the German School
312 Schiller Street
See many of Hermann’s most historic treasures exhibited in six rooms of this recently renovated 140-year-old school house.
Monday-Saturday 10:00 to 4:00; Sunday noon to 4:00. (Closed Wednesdays). Adults $5, students $3.
Deutschheim State Historic Site
109 West 2nd Street
Visit a significant part of German-American history – and early Missouri settlement – at Deutschheim State Historic Site. Stroll through the restored 1840s and 1850s buildings and explore how German-Americans settled the Hermann area and developed the basis for a Missouri wine industry. Grapevines planted in the 1850s can still be seen on the property as can a number of historic artifacts.
Open daily 10:00 to 4:00 with free exhibits on German Settlement Society.
Tours of Pommer Gentner House and Strehly House/Winery at 10:00, 12:30 and 2:30. Adults $4, students and children $2.50.
Stone Hill Winery
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Stone Hill is Missouri’s oldest winery. Guided tours take visitors through ancient arched cellars, state-of-the-art production facilities, and tasting rooms. Learn how Stone Hill and Hermann helped establish the wine industry in the United States.
Monday-Saturday, 8:30 a.m.to 7:00 p.m.; Sunday 10:00 to 6:00.
Tours every 30 minutes. Tickets: Adults $2.50, Children $1.
Hermannhof Winery
Hermannhof Winery is located in one of 100 historic buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Several of its unique and historic wine cellars, still used today, will be open for free, self-guided tours.
FRIDAY, August 26
Lois Puchta Presentation: Streets of Hermann—Yesteryear
7:30 p.m. • Showboat Theatre
A look at many buildings in Hermann from an architectural and historical perspective.
The Bluff-Tones
7:00 to 10:00 p.m. • Amphitheater
Kickoff the anniversary observance with a free concert featuring one of Hermann’s most popular local bands.
SATURDAY, August 27
Deutschheim State Historic
10:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Special exhibits on the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia
• Translations of the Philadelphia German newspaper, Alte und Neu Welt, regarding the move west and why the society was formed in 1836.
• Comparisons of Philadelphia and Hermann—similar town grids, market houses and other features.
• The Pommer family and their piano-making business in Philadelphia and in Hermann at 110 Market Street.
• Registry of the original 678 shareowners. Descendants are invited to sign in and be recognized for their link to the original settlers.
• Light refreshments
Museum at the German School
10:00 to 4:00 p.m.
See many of Hermann’s most historic treasures exhibited in six rooms of this recently renovated 140-year-old school house. Adults $5, students $3.
Gasconade County Historical Society Archives and Records Center: 10th Anniversary Observance
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
View display of the original 1837 parchment document from George and Catherine Bayer conveying more than 11,000 acres to the trustees of the German Settlement Society.
Old-Fashioned German-Style Games for Children
10:30 to Noon • German School Lawn
Dave Ludig Presentation: German Schutzen Targets
11:00 a.m. • Kunstlerhaus Gallery, East First Street
Barry Bierwirth Presentation: Hand-Cranked Music Boxes
2:00 p.m. • Upper City Park Rotunda
Hermann native Barry Bierwirth presents his rare collection of hand-cranked music boxes (organettes) from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.These boxes provided the first music in homes that did not require playing an instrument.
Tin Mill Brewing Company Tours
Located in a landmark 100-year-old tin mill in downtown Hermann, Tin Mill Brewing Company is the only true lager microbrewery in the state of Missouri and one of the few German style microbreweries in the country. Guided tours at 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30. Cost: $2
Amphitheater Entertainment
Food, Beer and Wine Tent
Open 2:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Schuhplattler Verein Blautaler Dancers from Kansas City
Performances at 4:00 & 6:30
Deutsche Maenner Chor of St. Louis
4:30 p.m.
Deutschmeister Brass Band of St. Louis
Playing throughout the evening, from 5:00 to 10:00
Since its founding in 1963, this group has performed across the United States to provide musical entertainment and German atmosphere for a wide variety of audiences. The band is part of the German Cultural Society of St. Louis and is structured after the European military bands of the late 1800s.
SUNDAY, August 28
Deutschheim State Historic
10:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Special exhibits on the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia
• Translations of the Philadelphia German newspaper, Alte und Neu Welt, regarding the move west and why the society was formed in 1836.
• Comparisons of Philadelphia and Hermann—similar town grids, market houses and other features.
• The Pommer family and their piano-making business in Philadelphia and in Hermann at 110 Market Street.
• Registry of the original 678 shareowners. Descendants are invited to sign in and be recognized for their link to the original settlers.
• Light refreshments
Museum at the German School
Noon to 4:00 p.m.
See many of Hermann’s most historic treasures exhibited in six rooms of this recently renovated 140-year-old school house. Adults $5, students $3.
Dave Ludig Presentation: German Schutzen Targets
2:00 p.m. • Kunstlerhaus Gallery, East First Street
Amphitheater Entertainment
Food, Beer and Wine Tent
Open 2:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Loehnig Family Band
3:30 p.m.
Old-Fashioned German-Style Games for Children
3:30 p.m.
Wurstjaeger Dancers and Junior Wurstjaegers
5:00 p.m.
Waterloo German Band
6:30 p.m.
This legendary German band from Waterloo, Illinois, has performed on the White House lawn for several Presidents. In September, the band will play in the German Steuben Parade on 5th Avenue in Manhattan.
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Australia 60 minutes episode about Fukushima. The Japanese people are human guinea pigs. Radiation is covering the Earth and an Unspeakable impact will be felt upon all humanity and the Earth.
How can anyone in this world say Nuclear energy is clean? One accident makes the whole world toxic and kills people and the Earth.
It is so hard to comprehend this is really happening. Australia's 60 minutes should be commended for discussing this, especially since it seems most media around the world has made Fukushima a forbidden subject and it is never spoken by name any more in Mainstream Media.
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Area Bank Now Charges for Account Help Over the Phone. Yes, Peoples Savings Bank now charges you $2.00 if you have questions about your account over the phone.
Most people work during banking hours so if you need to talk to a live person over the phone it will cost you!!!
LOBBY HOURS FOR PSB Mon - Wed: 8:00 am - 3:30 pm
Thurs: 8:00 am - 3:30 pm
Fri: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sat: 8:00 am - 12:00 pm
Tired of outlandish Bank Fees? We are!!! We are taking our business elsewhere!!!
adj.
Conspicuously unconventional; bizarre. See synonyms at strange.
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August 25, 2011
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- America is swiftly becoming a granny state. Less frail and more involved, today's grandparents are shunning retirement homes and stepping in more than ever to raise grandchildren while young adults struggle in the poor economy.
The newer grandparents are mainly baby boomers who are still working, with greater disposable income. Now making up 1 in 4 adults, grandparents are growing at twice the rate of the overall population and sticking close to family - if their grandkids aren't already living with them.
Grandparents in recent decades have often filled in for absent parents who were ill or battled addiction, or were sent to prison. The latest trend of grandparent involvement, reflected in census figures released Thursday, is now being driven also by the economy and the graying U.S. population, including the 78 million boomers born between 1946 and 1964 who began turning 65 this year.
"We help out in terms of running errands, babysitting, taking the grandkids to doctors' appointments, and for back-to-school shopping," said Doug Flockhart of Exeter, N.H., listing some of the activities that he and his wife, Eileen, do for their five kids and seven grandchildren. But that's just the start.
They also pitch in with health care payments for family members due to insurance gaps, and their pace of activity has picked up substantially since their daughter, who lives three blocks away, gave birth to her first child this month. Flockhart, a retired architect, likes the family time even if he and his wife worry about their grandkids' futures. Their oldest grandchild is 16.
"It's not so much the day in and day out, it's the big picture as to how these young kids will grow up and pay for a college education and buy a house," he said. "The middle class is so much less well-off than it used to be. We've put aside some savings for them, but with seven grandchildren it can only go so far."
Flockhart's situation is increasingly common, demographers say.
"Grandparents have become the family safety net, and I don't see that changing any time soon," said Amy Goyer, a family expert at AARP. "While they will continue to enjoy their traditional roles, including spending on gifts for grandchildren, I see them increasingly paying for the extras that parents are struggling to keep up with - sports, camps, tutoring or other educational needs, such as music lessons."
The latest numbers are based partly on separate analyses by Goyer and Peter Francese, founder of American Demographics magazine who is now a population analyst for the MetLife Mature Market Institute. Their data were supplemented with the latest 2010 census figures as well as interviews with Census Bureau and other experts.
Currently about 5.8 million children, or nearly 8 percent of all children, are living with grandparents identified as the head of household, according to 50-state census data released Thursday. That's up from 4.5 million, or 6.3 percent, who lived in such households in 2000.
Much of the increase in grandparent caregivers occurred later in the decade after the recession eliminated jobs for many younger people, surveys indicate. The 8 percent share of children now living with grandparents is the largest in at least 40 years - and it is believed to be the largest share ever, the population experts say.
In all, there are 62.8 million grandparents in the U.S., the most ever. They are projected to make up roughly 1 in 3 adults by 2020.
Nearly half the states had increases of 40 percent or more over the last decade in the number of grandchildren living with grandparents. They were led by states such as Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona and Kentucky, which had influxes of young families or suffered higher rates of poverty.
On the other end of the scale, New Jersey, New York, Michigan and Louisiana saw the smallest increases, less than 10 percent. Each of those states saw slower population growth overall since 2000, particularly among young people.
The District of Columbia posted a decline of more than 20 percent in grandchildren living with grandparents, a sign of growing gentrification in the nation's capital in which smaller-sized white families are replacing black families with grandparent caregivers, who are moving to suburban areas.
Francese says the stereotype of grandparents who are frail, receding and dependent is changing. He noted that unemployment among workers ages 25 to 34 last year was double that of Americans aged 55 to 64. U.S. households headed by baby boomers also commanded almost half of the nation's total household income, and are more likely to be college graduates than grandparents in previous generations.
These grandparents reject living in senior communities in favor of "aging in place" in their own homes, near family. In 2009, households ages 55 or older spent billions of dollars on infant food, clothes, toys, games, tuition and supplies for grandchildren, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"Grandparents are supposed to be old, gray-haired people tottering around, but the vast majority are actually in the work force," said Francese, who released a paper on the topic last month. "There is not much doubt that the recent recession has brought grandparents and grandchildren together."
The government figures come as a congressional supercommittee considers possible reductions to Medicare and Social Security to achieve $1.5 trillion in federal spending cuts under the terms of the debt ceiling agreement. Up until now, lawmakers' proposals to cut the entitlement programs have met resistance from older Americans, including those 45 and older, who now make up a majority of the voting-age population.
The committee must issue its recommendations by late November, with action by Congress before year's end, or various parts of government will face automatic spending cuts.
Estella Hyde, 65, who lives near Erie, Pa., said additional government aid - not spending cuts - would go a long way for grandparents. She and her husband have raised their granddaughter, now 18, off and on since she was a year old, when Hyde's daughter-in-law at the time said she didn't want the burden.
Eventually the Hydes were able to adopt their granddaughter legally, which allowed her to have coverage under their health plan, but only after the couple fought through red tape and paid $10,000 in adoption fees. After a difficult childhood, her granddaughter will attend college this fall.
"It never happens in a happy situation where a son or daughter comes and says, `I need you to raise a child for me,'" said Hyde, a nursing professor who is now retired. "We were very lucky, we were able to financially take care of her and support her. But many grandparent caregivers need other sources of assistance."
In all, the states with the highest shares of children living in households headed by grandparents are in the South and West. They include Hawaii, Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Carolina and Texas, each with at least 1 in 10 children living in grandparent households.
Among the states with high concentrations of grandparents overall - regardless of their living arrangement - are Maine, West Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa and New Hampshire, according to some estimates.
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Well before any humans ducked beneath desks or sought shelter in doorways on Tuesday, wildlife at the zoo started to react to the oncoming earthquake.
In the small mammal house, the red-ruffed lemurs started barking an alarm call, 15 minutes before the shift along the Central Virginia Seismic Zone caused Richter scales to leap at 1:51 p.m. However, the lemur's housemates, the howler monkeys, were not as keen. They only started making noise after the zoo started shaking.
"Animals we know from experimental studies, can hear above and below our range of hearing, that's part of their extra-sensory abilities," said Don Moore, associate director of animal care at the zoo.
Moore also speculated the animals can pick up on vibration through their feet much more acutely than humans, which adds to their "extra senses."
The big mammals also started shrieking before the quake registered. Zookeepers said Iris the Orangutan started "belch vocalizing" before the earthquake started, and didn't quit until it was over. Keepers say the orangutan saves that particular sound for moments of extreme upset and irritation. According to the zoo, about three seconds before things started to shake, the gorilla Mandara gave a yell, gathered up her baby, Kibibi, and then climbed a tree.
Elsewhere in the National Zoo, a flock of flamingos also proved prescient. In the moments before the quake, 64 of the long-legged birds gathered together and huddled up. They stayed in a group throughout the shaking.
The pride of lions also knew what to do. As the ground began to tremble, they drew together and walked away from their shelter in a group. Don Moore said they stood on the opposite side of their enclosure and watched as the structure shook.
But just like humans, some zoo residents barely registered yesterday's major tectonic motion. Zookeepers said throughout the shaking, the giant pandas hardly moved a paw.
Don Moore said none of the zoo's animals were hurt, but after the shakeup, some lost their appetites.
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The small central Missouri town of Owensville is getting a major economic boost with the expansion of a factory that prints textbooks and workbooks for elementary and secondary education. R.R. Donnelly will add 105 jobs by the end of the year at its Owensville facility. The state is providing about $1.5 million in incentives. Governor Nixon was on hand Monday as officials at commercial printing firm RR Donnelly announced the addition of 105 new jobs to the 340 member workforce. The company recently purchased two new printing presses and started three new binding lines at a cost of $6 million. The workers should be hired by the end of the year. RR Donnelly produces school text books, business-to-business catalogs and federal and state government publications. The company opened its facility in Owensville in 2007. Owensville is a town of about 2,600 in Gasconade County.
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August 23, 2011
mdc.mo.gov__________________________________________________________________________
Some fishing records stand for decades. Others last only days. Two impressive records set last year in Missouri already are history.
The 58-pound state pole-and-line record for a striped bass caught at Bull Shoals Lake in July of 2010 was edged out on June 18 by a 60-pound, 9-ounce fish caught by Bruce Cunningham, of Fordland, also at Bull Shoals. He was fishing with a plastic swim bait. It was his first time fishing for stripers, and the first one he caught.
Small increases are the rule when it comes to new fishing records. However, there was nothing normal about a 143-pound blue catfish caught at Kerr Reservoir on the Virginia-North Carolina border in June. That catch shattered the world record set in July of 2010, when Greg Bernal pulled a 130-pound blue catfish from the Missouri River near Columbia Bottom Conservation Area.
“Thirteen pounds is a pretty good increase,” said Andrew Branson, who maintains fishing records for the Missouri Department of Conservation. “It’s worth mentioning, however, that 13 pounds is only 10 percent of our state record’s weight. There is no question in my mind that the Missouri River holds blue cats that outweigh the new world record. It’s just a question of whether someone manages to hook one of them.”
Earlier this year, Missouri anglers established first-time records for gizzard shad (1 pound, 8 ounces) and highfin carpsucker (1 pound, 6 ounces). Both records were in the alternative methods category.
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August 20, 2011
abc2news.com
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ROSEVILLE, Mich. - Fred Flintstone brakes don't work -- as a Detroit-area man has learned the hard way.
Police in Roseville, Michigan, say the 24-year-old tried to stop his runaway pickup using his feet as brakes.
Police say the man knew his brakes were out but drove the truck anyway.
Roseville Deputy Police Chief James Berlin says, "This guy's no rocket scientist." Police say the driver was unable stop at a red light and eventually hit four cars.
Deputy Chief Berlin says the man told officers he planned to fix
his brakes when he got home.
Berlin tells the Macomb Daily the driver now must explain his "moronic decision making" in court.
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In this night exposure, U.S. soldiers from Bravo Company, 2-87 Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team and Afghan security forces conduct their final boarding maneuver before departing on a Chinook helicopter at Forward Operating Base Pasab in Zahri district, Kandahar province southern Afghanistan on August 15, 2011 to conduct a combined air and ground assault operation in Maiwand district. (ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)
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Bin Laden may be dead but the US seems ready to stay in Afghanistan for many more years.
America and Afghanistan are close to signing a strategic pact which would allow thousands of United States troops to remain in the country until at least 2024, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The agreement would allow not only military trainers to stay to build up the Afghan army and police, but also American special forces soldiers and air power to remain.
The prospect of such a deal has already been met with anger among Afghanistan’s neighbours including, publicly, Iran and, privately, Pakistan.
It also risks being rejected by the Taliban and derailing any attempt to coax them to the negotiating table, according to one senior member of Hamid Karzai’s peace council.
A withdrawal of American troops has already begun following an agreement to hand over security for the country to Kabul by the end of 2014.
But Afghans wary of being abandoned are keen to lock America into a longer partnership after the deadline. Many analysts also believe the American military would like to retain a presence close to Pakistan, Iran and China.
Both Afghan and American officials said that they hoped to sign the pact before the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan in December. Barack Obama and Hamid Karzai agreed last week to escalate the negotiations and their national security advisers will meet in Washington in September.
Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Mr Karzai’s top security adviser, told The Daily Telegraph that “remarkable progress” had been made. US officials have said they would be disappointed if a deal could not be reached by December and that the majority of small print had been agreed.
Dr Spanta said a longer-term presence was crucial not only to build Afghan forces, but also to fight terrorism.
“If [the Americans] provide us weapons and equipment, they need facilities to bring that equipment,” he said. “If they train our police and soldiers, then those trainers will not be 10 or 20, they will be thousands.
“We know we will be confronted with international terrorists. 2014, is not the end of international terrorist networks and we have a common commitment to fight them. For this purpose also, the US needs facilities.”
Afghan forces would still need support from US fighter aircraft and helicopters, he predicted. In the past, Washington officials have estimated a total of 25,000 troops may be needed.
Dr Spanta added: “In the Afghan proposal we are talking about 10 years from 2014, but this is under discussion.” America would not be granted its own bases, and would be a guest on Afghan bases, he said. Pakistan and Iran were also deeply opposed to the deal.
Andrey Avetisyan, Russian ambassador to Kabul, said: “Afghanistan needs many other things apart from the permanent military presence of some countries. It needs economic help and it needs peace. Military bases are not a tool for peace.
“I don’t understand why such bases are needed. If the job is done, if terrorism is defeated and peace and stability is brought back, then why would you need bases?
“If the job is not done, then several thousand troops, even special forces, will not be able to do the job that 150,000 troops couldn’t do. It is not possible.”
A complete withdrawal of foreign troops has been a precondition for any Taliban negotiations with Mr Karzai’s government and the deal would wreck the currently distant prospect of a negotiated peace, Mr Avetisyan said.
Abdul Hakim Mujahid, deputy leader of the peace council set up by Mr Karzai to seek a settlement, said he suspected the Taliban had intensified their insurgency in response to the prospect of the pact. “They want to put pressure on the world community and Afghan government,” he said.
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Missouri teachers union sues over social networking law
August 19, 2011 kmov.com
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A teachers union is challenging a new Missouri law that limits teachers' contact with students on social networks. The Missouri Teachers Association said it filed suit Friday against the state and two officials seeking an injunction to block enforcement of the new measures, which take effect Aug. 28. The law prohibits private communication through websites such as Facebook between teachers and current students or former students who are still minors. The lawsuit asserts the restrictions are so vague and overboard that it would be difficult to know what is allowed. It contends teachers' free speech and association rights would be restricted. State Sen. Jane Cunningham, who sponsored the proposal, is confident it will withstand legal scrutiny. She says critics misunderstand the restrictions and that only private communication is banned.
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According to the annual Kids Count report recently released, Child deaths in Gasconade County, ages 1-14 per 100,000, increased from 35.2 in 2000-04 to 51.3 deaths in 2005-09 (up 37.6%)
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_________________________________________________________________________ Ron Paul in New Hampshire spoke at a campaign event in concord, Thursday. He Talked aboutr lack of media coverage of his campaign, and how he would make government smaller.
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