BORN IN THE USA ? Stunner ! Supreme Court to give eligibility case another look

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 BORN IN THE USA?

Stunner! Supremes to give eligibility case another look

February 17, 2011
By Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
 
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In a stunning move, the U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled another "conference" on a legal challenge to Barack Obama's eligibility to occupy the Oval Office, but officials there are not answering questions about whether two justices given their jobs by Obama will participate.
The court has confirmed that it has distributed a petition for rehearing in the case brought by attorney John Hemenway on behalf of retired Col. Gregory Hollister and it will be the subject of a conference on March 4.
It was in January that the court denied, without comment, a request for a hearing on the arguments. But the attorney at the time had submitted a motion for Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, who were given their jobs by Obama, to recuse.
Should Obama ultimately be shown to have been ineligible for the office, his actions, including his appointments, at least would be open to challenge and question.
At the time, the Supreme Court acknowledged the "motion for recusal" but it changed it on official docketing pages to a "request." And it reportedly failed to respond to the motion.
Hemenway then submitted a request for a rehearing, pointing out that the situation appeared to be violating the rules of the U.S. Supreme Court. 
He also argued that if court members continue to "avoid" the dispute they effectively will "destroy the constitutional rule of law basis of our legal system."
"We have not exaggerated in presenting the question of the constitutional rule of law being at stake in this matter," Hemenway wrote in a petition for rehearing before the high court. "A man has successfully run for the office of president and has done so, it appears, with an awareness that he is not eligible under the constitutional requirement for a person to be president.
"Despite a vigorous campaign that he has conducted to make 'unthinkable' the very idea of raising the issue of his eligibility under the Constitution to 'be' president the issue has not gone away," Hemenway said.
"Instead it has steadily grown in the awareness of the public. Should we be surprised that he shows no respect for the constitutional rule of law? What else would we expect?" he wrote.
The U.S. Supreme Court today did not respond to WND questions today about whether the two justices would participate in the conference, and there was no response to WND's request that questions be forwarded to the justices themselves about their plans.
"The real question here is one of getting members of the judiciary to take seriously the oath that they swore to protect and preserve the Constitution," Hemenway wrote in his petition for rehearing. "To continue to avoid the issue will destroy the constitutional rule of law basis of our legal system when it is under vigorous assault as surely as if the conscious decision were made to cease preserving and protecting our founding charter."
That the justices are "avoiding" the Obama issue already has been confirmed by one member of the court. It was last year when Justice Clarence Thomas appeared before a U.S. House subcommittee that the issue arose.

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U.S. House Votes to Overthrow 'Czars' Amendment Leaves 9 Obama Senior Advisers Out of a Job

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House votes to overthrow 'czars'

By ROBIN BRAVENDER
2/17/11
www.politico.com
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The House voted Thursday to dethrone nine White House “czars.”

Republicans successfully added an amendment to the continuing resolution that would leave President Barack Obama’s senior advisers on policy issues including health care, energy and others out of a job.
 

The vote was 249-179.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) offered the amendment that blocks funding for various policy advisers to combat what he called “a very disturbing proliferation of czars” under Obama.
“These unappointed, unaccountable people who are literally running a shadow government, heading up these little fiefdoms that nobody can really seem to identify where they are or what they’re doing,” Scalise said Thursday. “But we do know that they’re wielding vast amounts of power.”
The jobs on the chopping block: White House-appointed advisers on health care, energy and climate, green jobs, urban affairs, the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center, oversight of TARP executive compensation, diversity at the Federal Communications Commission and the auto industry manufacturing policy.
These so-called “czars” have been favorite targets of Republicans and conservative talk radio hosts, especially energy and climate adviser Carol Browner, who is leaving the administration.
“This is a person who’s continued to do things behind closed doors,” Scalise said of Browner.
GOP lawmakers assailed Browner’s office after a recent report showed that the White House rewrote crucial sections of an Interior Department report to suggest an independent group of scientists and engineers supported a six-month ban on offshore oil drilling.
“It was found out that it was the climate czar that actually doctored the president’s own scientific study to try to say that scientists that the president appointed recommended a moratorium on drilling,” Scalise said. “It turned out the scientists didn’t say that at all.”
A federal investigation found no wrongdoing by Browner.
But Scalise had harsh words to go around for the other “czars,” too. “There’s actually a czar out there trying to still impose a cap-and-trade regime,” he said of the special envoy for climate change, Todd Stern, who works at the State Department.
The amendment would defund the White House “green jobs czar” slot that has been vacant since Van Jones resigned in 2009 after reports surfaced that he signed a petition seeking an investigation into whether the U.S. government was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“The last green jobs czar we had left in disgrace because he expressed comments embracing communism and actually tried to blame the government, the American government, for September 11th attacks,” Scalise said.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) welcomed Republicans’ use of what he called “gender neutral” language to describe the administration’s appointees.
“A large number of the czars would have been called czarinas in the old days,” Frank said. “So I appreciate the fact that we’ve gotten past sex stereotyping of people.”
And Frank blasted his colleagues for trying to fire Kenneth Feinberg, who was appointed to oversee payments and compensation plans for recipients of federal cash under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
“This amendment would say to AIG and General Motors, and Chrysler and Ally – the financial company – no one will now be supervising what you do, and even though you haven’t yet paid back the federal government, there will be no enforcement of restrictions on your bonuses, no enforcement of restrictions on your compensation,” he said.
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U.S. Unemployment Up to 10 Pct Mid-February Underemployment surged to 19.6 Pct

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Gallup Finds U.S. Unemployment Up to 10.0% in Mid-February

Underemployment surged to 19.6% in mid-February from 18.9% at the end of January

by Dennis Jacobe, Chief Economist

February 17, 2011

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PRINCETON, NJ -- Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, hit 10.0% in mid-February -- up from 9.8% at the end of January.

The percentage of part-time workers who want full-time work worsened considerably in mid-February, increasing to 9.6% of the workforce from 9.1% in January.

Underemployment Surges in Mid-February
Underemployment, in which Gallup combines part-time workers wanting full-time work with the U.S. unemployment rate, surged in mid-February to 19.6% -- mostly as a result of the sharp increase in those working part time but wanting full-time work. Underemployment now stands at basically the same place as it did a year ago (19.8%).

The Jobs Situation Now Versus a Year Ago
The unemployment rate in mid-February is 0.8 percentage points lower than it was at this time a year ago, compared with a 1.1-point improvement at the end of January. This suggests that jobs are less available now than they were in January.
More troubling, however, is the surge in underemployment. On this broader basis, current job conditions are barely improved from what they were at this time last year. Essentially, what has happened over the past year is that some people who were unemployed got part-time jobs but are still looking for full-time work. This is not much to show for a year in which many macro-economic indicators showed improvement.

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'Budget Repair Bill' Protest, Wisconsin Democrat Senators Flee State to Illinois UPDATE: Pro-Labor Rights Protest, Wisconsin Senate to vote on anti-union bill VIDEO

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

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Budget Battle: Democrats Who Left State are Located

By The WTMJ News Team

Story Created: Feb 17, 2011
Story Updated: Feb 17, 2011

MADISON - Democratic State Senators who protested the budget repair bill by leaving the state have been found.
The lawmakers are in the Best Western Clock Tower in Rockford Illinois.
Law enforcement officials have been looking for at least one Democratic senator to bring in for a quorum required for a fiscal measure, but Democratic Senator Jon Erpenbach confirmed to Newsradio 620 WTMJ that he and all of his Democratic colleagues boarded a bus and left the state.
"We're not in Wisconsin right now," Erpenbach said.  "The reason why we're doing this is because there are some jurisdictional issues that we'd be dealing with."
The Senate's Sergeant at Arms cannot compel Senators' attendance in an open session if they are outside of state lines.
According to the Twitter account of Democrat State Senator Chris Larson from Bay View, "For those looking for us, we are right here, standing with the people of Wisconsin."
When asked by TODAY'S TMJ4's Tom Murray why he would not divulge his location, he said "I don't want those details to take away from the message being sent by the people of Wisconsin."
READ MORE

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Wisconsin Senate to vote on anti-union bill

By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press
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Feb 17, 2011

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MADISON, Wis. – Protesters clogged the hallways of the Wisconsin state Capitol on Thursday as the Senate prepared to pass a momentous bill that would strip government workers, including school teachers, of nearly all collective bargaining rights.
The nation's most aggressive anti-union proposal has been speeding through the Legislature since Republican Gov. Scott Walker introduced it a week ago. After clearing a major legislative hurdle Wednesday night, it was headed to votes in the Senate and Assembly.
Hundreds of protesters massed outside the Senate chamber on the second floor of the Capitol early Thursday, hours before the planned vote. Republican leaders said it has the votes to pass in both the Senate and Assembly.
The bill marks a dramatic shift for Wisconsin, which passed a comprehensive collective bargaining law in 1959 and was the birthplace of the national union representing all non-federal public employees.
Thousands of protesters, including children and teachers from more than two dozen schools forced to close due to high absences, were expected in and outside the Capitol for a third day of protests. Schools in Madison, the state's second largest district with 2,600-union covered employees, closed for a second day.
Hundreds of people, many of them students from the nearby University of Wisconsin campus, slept in the rotunda for a second night leading up to the vote.
They chanted "Kill the bill!" and "Recall Walker!" early on Thursday. But there appeared to be little doubt the bill would pass.
The head of the 98,000-member statewide teachers union called on all Wisconsin residents to come to the Capitol on Thursday for the votes in the Senate and Assembly.
"Our goal is not to close schools, but to instead to remain vigilant in our efforts to be heard," said Wisconsin Education Association Council President Mary Bell.
The Legislature's budget committee passed the bill on a partisan vote just before midnight. Several opponents in the crowd broke into tears as Democrats on the committee encouraged them not to give up the fight.
"I'm sad. Scared. Disappointed," said Kelly Dzurick, a 31-year-old fifth-grade teacher in Elkhorn, who came to the Capitol on Wednesday night. "Nobody's listening to what people say."
Democrats have been powerless to stop the bill.
"The story around the world is the rush to democracy," said Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar. "The story in Wisconsin is the end of the democratic process."
In addition to eliminating collective bargaining rights, the legislation also would make public workers pay half the costs of their pensions and at least 12.6 percent of their health care coverage — increases Walker calls "modest" compared with those in the private sector.
Republican leaders said they expected Wisconsin residents would be pleased with the changes and that the bill was about saving money. The union concessions would save the state $30 million by July 1 and $300 million over the next two years to address a $3.6 billion budget shortfall.
"I think the taxpayers will support this idea," Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said.
As protesters chanted "Recall Walker now!" outside the governor's office, Walker insisted he had the votes to pass the measure. He says it's needed to help balance the budget and avoid massive layoffs.
"We're at a point of crisis," the governor said. He has said he would call out the National Guard if needed to keep state operations, including prisons, running.
In an interview with Milwaukee television station WTMJ, President Barack Obama said he was monitoring the situation in Madison and acknowledged the need for budget cuts. But, he said, pushing public employees away from the bargaining table "seems like more of an assault on unions."
While other states have proposed bills curtailing labor rights, Wisconsin's measure is the most aggressive anti-union move yet to solve state budget problems. It would end collective bargaining for state, county and local workers, except for police, firefighters and the state patrol.
Wisconsin has long been a bastion for workers' rights. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees was founded in 1936 in Madison.
But when voters elected Walker, an outspoken conservative, along with GOP majorities in both legislative chambers, it set the stage for a dramatic reversal of Wisconsin's labor history.
Under Walker's plan, state employees' share of pension and health care costs would go up by an average of 8 percent.
Unions still could represent workers, but could not seek pay increases above those pegged to the Consumer Price Index unless approved by a public referendum. Unions also could not force employees to pay dues and would have to hold annual votes to stay organized.

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Gas prices hit 28-month high, Missouri Lowest in Nation, $ 1.20 higher than two years ago

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Gas prices hit 28-month high but Mo. is cheapest

by Meghan Lane

02.16.2011www.connectmidmissouri.co
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Prices at the gas pump have reached a 28-month high, even though oil and gas supplies continue to grow and demand for gas is weak.
While you might dread handing over cash at the pump, you might be happy to learn that Missouri has the cheapest gas in the country.
The average price of a gallon of gas in the Show-Me state is $2.94.
The national average for regular gasoline is now $3.13 a gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service.
That's about $1.20 higher than two years ago.
Just eight states have average prices less than $3 a gallon, Misssouri, the lowest.
Hawaii has the highest average of $3.746 a gallon.
Tom Kloza, OPIS chief oil analyst, predicts gas prices will range from $3.50 to $3.75 a gallon this spring and then drift lower, to between $3 and $3.40 a gallon.
The Charlotte Observer reported the reason for the increase is being blamed on a number of factors.
The current spike in prices is being attributed by many analysts to the recent unrest in Egypt.
While that country is not a major oil producer, commodities traders worried that political upheaval could spread across the Mideast and interrupt shipments of crude oil.
Kloza called the recent conditions "a perfect storm."
“Frigid winter temperatures increased the demand for oil, in addition to increased demand from China and the revolution in Egypt,” Kloza said.
But Kloza saw a silver lining to the rising gas prices.
"I do believe that this year is front-end loaded," Kloza said. "I think that perhaps the first third of the year sees higher retail prices for gasoline and diesel, than the middle or final thirds."
MSNBC reported Mastercard SpendingPulse said in its weekly survey, gasoline consumption across the country fell 3 percent last week compared to the week before and suggested that higher prices may be discouraging driving and trips to the gas station.
Average gas prices have climbed steadily from about $2.80 a gallon in November.
In January Executive Director of MPCA Ron Leone told KRCG gas stations and convenience stores were not to blame for the increases.
He said there's actually a positive side to the price hike.
"The increase at the pump is a good news, bad news situation. The good news is prices are going up because demand is going up, and the economy is recovering,” Leone said. “The bad news is, if it goes too high it tends to dampen the recovery we're seeing here in the U.S."
Not only are gas prices on the rise, so are groceries.
The New York Times reported there are four main factors driving prices higher: weather, higher demand, smaller yields and crops diverted to biofuels. Volatile weather patterns often attributed to climate change are wreaking havoc with some harvests. Heavy rains in Australia damaged wheat to the extent that much of its usually high-quality crop has been downgraded to feed, experts noted.
KPAX reported the price of lettuce jumped 10 cents to tie its highest price in 13 months. The cost in February is $1.59, marking a 25% hike in price since last February.
KPAX said Bananas have also hit their most expensive price in a year. They're now averaging 64 cents a pound which is up two cents from January. Cheese, eggs and diapers are also costing more this month.
Crude oil prices have also been climbing.
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Destination Hermann: Chocolate Wine Trail, Six Local Missouri Wineries Saturday, Sunday, February 19, 20, 2011

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February 19-20, 2011
Saturday 10:00 to 5:00 • Sunday 11:00 to 5:00

When winter settles over Wine Country, thoughts turn to chocolate, the food of love.

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Adam Puchta
Chocolate for Breakfast, paired with Vignoles

Bias
Death by Chocolate, paired with Raspberry Weisser Flieder

Dierberg Star Lane
Ganache in Fillo with Crème Chantilly, paired with Three Saints Cabernet Sauvignon

Hermannhof
Black Forest Brownies, paired with Chambourcin

OakGlenn
Chocolate Toffee Trifle, paired with River View Red

Röbller
White Chocolate Blondies with Macadamia Nuts, paired with Vignoles

Stone Hill
Chambourcin-Scented Mousse, paired with Chambourcin

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$30 per person—Advance Purchase Required

Ticket price includes a souvenir wine glass. A limited number of tickets are available.
Purchase tickets online, or call the Hermann Welcome Center, 800-932-8687.

Please note—This event will be held regardless of weather. No refunds.

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Visit any or all of the participating wineries and enter a drawing for a night’s stay at a Hermann B&B and a $30 gift certificate from each winery. Participating Wineries: Adam Puchta, Bias, Dierberg Star Lane, Hermannhof, OakGlenn, Röbller, Stone Hill

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Destination Hermann Missouri River Runner Train AmTrak Ridership Up 14 Pct in Jan 2011

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Destination Hermann, Missouri River Runner Train, AmTrak Ridership Up 14% in Jan. 2011.
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PRESS PLAY> directly above to Hear Story!!!
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 CLICK HERE FOR RELATED STORY:'Move Your Caboose' Hermann Missouri City Aldermen Accepted Ownership of Iconic Train Caboose to facilitate Move


CLICK HERE FOR RELATED STORY: NEW TRAIN STATION TO BE BUILT IN HERMANN


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Missouri Lawmaker Seeks Voter-backed Laws Protected From Legislative Tinkering

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Thursday, February 17, 2011
BY The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY — A Missouri House member wants to make it harder for legislators to tinker with laws approved by voters.

Democrat Scott Sifton of Affton says his proposed constitutional amendment would encourage lawmakers to amend voter-approved measures only when there's a problem that needs to be fixed.

Sifton's proposal states that for two years after a ballot measure is approved, the legislature would need a two-thirds majority vote to change it. For the next two years, lawmakers would need a four-sevenths majority vote.

Bills have been filed in the legislature this year to overturn parts of the dog-breeding law approved by voters in November. There's also legislation to change a voter-backed law on earnings taxes.

Sifton's measure would go on a future statewide ballot if it clears the House and Senate.



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U.S. Consumer Prices Climb, Jobless Claims Rise, Higher Than Expected

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Consumer Prices in U.S. Climb More Than Forecast

By Bob Willis - Feb 17, 2011
www.bloomberg.com

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The cost of living in the U.S. climbed more than forecast in January, led by higher prices for food and fuel that may be starting to filter through to other goods and services.
The consumer-price index increased 0.4 percent for a second month, exceeding the 0.3 percent median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. The so-called core rate, which excludes volatile food and fuel costs, rose 0.2 percent, the biggest gain since October 2009.
Growing economies in Asia and Latin America are boosting global demand for oil and other commodities, raising costs for American factories. Accelerating growth is prompting some companies to carry out beginning-of-year price increases even as consumers remain constrained by unemployment at 9 percent.
“You’re going to see more companies that attempt to pass through” higher costs, said Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets Corp. in New York, who correctly forecast the gain in core prices. “How successful they are depends on the economic backdrop. We’re looking at a slightly firmer inflation backdrop.”
The projected gain in consumer prices was based on the median of 79 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Estimates ranged from increases of 0.2 percent to 0.5 percent.

More Claims

Another Labor Department report showed more Americans than projected filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, a sign the improvement in the labor market will take time to develop.
Applications for jobless benefits increased by 25,000 to 410,000 in the week ended Feb. 12, exceeding the 400,000 median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The total number of people receiving unemployment insurance was little changed, while those collecting extended payments decreased.

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Texas scrutinizes GOOGLE Search Tactics, monopolization of internet search advertising

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US state scrutinizes Google search tactics

Feb 17, 2011www.breitbart.com
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The top attorney for the state of Texas on Wednesday revealed a list of demands for inside information intended to ferret out whether Google abused its power in the online search ad arena. Texas attorney general Greg Abbott wanted names of people responsible for Google ads, search results, and business relations along with internal documents and minutes from meetings at the California firm.

The "civil investigative demand" paperwork dated July 29 of last year stated the intent was to investigate "the possibility of monopolization in the market for Internet search advertising."
Abbott's office would not discuss whether Google had complied with the demands.
"We're continuing to work with the Texas attorney general's office to answer their questions and understand any concerns," Google said in an email response to an AFP inquiry.
"Since we started Google we have worked hard to do the right thing by our users and our industry, and while there?s always going to be room for improvement, we're committed to competing fair and square."
Google is focused on delivering the most relevant results and ads to users, said deputy counsel Don Harrison who disclosed Abbott's antitrust inquiry more than five months ago in a blog post.
"Our focus is on users, not websites," Harrison said.
"Given that not every website can be at the top of the results, or even appear on the first page of our results, it's unsurprising that some less relevant, lower quality websites will be unhappy with their ranking."
The more than 50 requests itemized on three pages included any documents related to the manual override of search results generated by Google's automated algorithm, as well as the blacklisting of any websites.
Google's dominance of the multi-billion-dollar online search market has put it in crosshairs of regulators concerned it might abuse its position.
The US Justice Department is reportedly considering a court challenge to Google's $700 million acquisition of travel information company ITA Software.
Federal antitrust lawyers were said to be examining whether acquiring ITA, which powers many of the Web's most popular travel sites, would give the Internet search giant too much sway over the online travel industry.
Online travel firms have urged the US authorities to block the deal. 
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Be Wary of GOOGLE, Government Ties, Censorship, Leak Private Information

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Glenn Beck Urges Google Boycott
www.nbcbayarea.com
Feb 17, 2011
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Conservative pundit Glenn Beck said he will no longer use Google or its products because of perceived ties to government agencies and its involvement in the uprising in Egypt, he said on his Fox television program Wednesday.

"I'm really not sure that I want my search engine involved in government overthrows, good or bad," Beck said on his Fox show. "There is a strange thing going on with this search engine and our government. And we all have to choose who we do business with."

However, most of his vitriol was aimed at Google working with "hardcore leftists."

Although Beck said he was not suggesting a boycott, he implored viewers to follow him in his -- well, boycott -- against Google. Beck said he would outline ways that viewers could avoid using Google on his Thursday show.

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Arkansas Earthquakes Continue, 700 Quakes Last 6 Months, Still Unexplained, Near Guy and Greenbrier

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Arkansas cities feel unexplained surge in earthquakes

  By SARAH EDDINGTON St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Thursday, February 17, 2011
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Jim Sutterfield was briefly puzzled by a thumping sound that seemed to slam the back of his office chair. But when the small-town Arkansas fire chief turned and saw no one was around, he quickly realized it was just an earthquake _ again.

"That was only my second time to feel one, but others here have felt them for three or four months now," Greenbrier chief Jim Sutterfield said after feeling the latest tremor on Wednesday. "Now when it happens, people say, 'Well, there's another one.'"

Several small earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 1.8 to 3.5 have rattled the north-central Arkansas cities of Greenbrier and Guy this week, and the cause is unknown.

The U.S. Geological Survey has reported 29 earthquakes in the area since Sunday, with 16 of them occurring Wednesday, two of which were magnitude 3.2 and 3.5. More than 700 quakes have occurred in the region over the past six months.

Scott Ausbrooks, geohazards supervisor for the Arkansas Geological Survey, said the quakes are part of what is now called the Guy earthquake swarm _ a series of mild earthquakes that have been occurring periodically since 2009. A similar swarm occurred in the early 1980s when a series of quakes hit Enola, Ark.

Ausbrooks said geologists are still trying to discover the exact cause of the recent seismic activity but have identified two possibilities.

"It could just be a naturally occurring swarm like the Enola swarm, or it could be related to ongoing natural gas exploration in the area," he said.

A major source of natural gas in Arkansas is the Fayetteville Shale, an organically-rich rock formation in north-central Arkansas. Drillers free up the gas by using hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" _ injecting pressurized water to create fractures deep in the ground.

But Ausbrooks said geologists don't believe the production wells are the problem, but rather the injection wells that are used to dispose of "frack" water when it can no longer be re-used. The wastewater is pressurized and injected into the ground.

"We see no correlation between natural gas production wells and earthquakes, but we haven't ruled out injection wells," he said, adding that if production wells were the cause, the earthquakes would be scattered all over the region underlain by the Fayetteville Shale formation and not in just one area.

Ausbrooks said the earthquakes are occurring in the vicinity of several injection wells.

Guy Police Chief Dave Martini said the locals continue to blame the gas companies for the quakes.

"We have a disposal well here just outside of the city," Martini said. "People are suspecting that to be causing it, even though there isn't any proof of that."

Martini said the earthquakes started increasing in frequency over the past week and that the disposal well has seen an increase in use recently.

Lawrence Bengal, director of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, said a six-month moratorium was established in January on new injection wells in the area. He said four companies are operating already-drilled injection wells: SEECO Inc., Chesapeake Operating Inc., Clarita Operating LLC and Deep-Six Water Disposal Services LLC.

The moratorium, which is expected to end in July, is intended to allow time to study the relationship _ if any _ between the injection wells and earthquakes in the area.

The largest quake of the Guy Earthquake Swarm was a magnitude 4.0, which occurred in October, Ausbrooks said. The region could possibly see quakes reaching as high as 5.0, but he said anything above 6.0 is unlikely.

The magnitude scale for earthquakes is logarithmic, meaning a magnitude 3 earthquake would produce waves with amplitudes 10 times greater than a magnitude 2 and 100 times greater than a magnitude 1. Geologists say quakes of magnitude 2.5 to 3.0 are generally the smallest felt by humans.
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LINK http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/

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School Make-Up Days On Saturdays Question Is a SCAM to Sell Web Subscriptions

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Crazy rumors are circulating that if there are any more school closings due to "Inclement weather," school make-up days may have to be held on Saturdays. This is rumor only!!!  Listed below are the make up days so far for Gasconade R-1 and the Missouri Revised Statutes concerning--Make-up of days lost or canceled, number required--exemption, when--waiver for schools in session twelve months of year, granted when.

Gasconade County R-1
Revisions in the school year to adjust for snow days

Feb. 16 – Full day of attendance (No early release for Professional Development)

Feb. 21 – Students in attendance (Presidents’ Day Holiday)

Mar. 9 – Full day of attendance (No early release for Professional Development)

Mar. 18 – Students in attendance (Third Quarter Work Day)

April 25 – Students in attendance (Easter Monday Holiday)

May 23 to 26 – Full attendance days

May 27 – Students in attendance until 1:00 pm.  

Missouri Revised Statutes

Chapter 171
School Operations
Section 171.033

August 28, 2010


Make-up of days lost or canceled, number required--exemption, when--waiver for schools in session twelve months of year, granted when. 171.033. 1. "Inclement weather", for purposes of this section, shall be defined as ice, snow, extreme cold, flooding, or a tornado, but such term shall not include excessive heat.
2. A district shall be required to make up the first six days of school lost or canceled due to inclement weather and half the number of days lost or canceled in excess of six days if the makeup of the days is necessary to ensure that the district's students will attend a minimum of one hundred forty-two days and a minimum of one thousand forty-four hours for the school year except as otherwise provided in this section. Schools with a four-day school week may schedule such make-up days on Fridays.
3. In the 2008-09 school year a school district may be exempt from the requirement to make up days of school lost or canceled due to inclement weather in the school district when the school district has made up the six days required under subsection 2 of this section and half the number of additional lost or canceled days up to eight days, resulting in no more than ten total make-up days required by this section.
4. In the 2009-10 school year and subsequent years, a school district may be exempt from the requirement to make up days of school lost or canceled due to inclement weather in the school district when the school district has made up the six days required under subsection 2 of this section and half the number of additional lost or canceled days up to eight days, resulting in no more than ten total make-up days required by this section.
5. The commissioner of education may provide, for any school district in which schools are in session for twelve months of each calendar year that cannot meet the minimum school calendar requirement of at least one hundred seventy- four days for schools with a five-day school week or one hundred forty-two days for schools with a four-day school week and one thousand forty-four hours of actual pupil attendance, upon request, a waiver to be excused from such requirement. This waiver shall be requested from the commissioner of education and may be granted if the school was closed due to circumstances beyond school district control, including inclement weather, flooding or fire.
(L. 1978 S.B. 954 § 2, A.L. 1982 S.B. 832, A.L. 1994 S.B. 442, A.L. 1997 H.B. 797, A.L. 2001 H.B. 274, A.L. 2003 H.B. 554, A.L. 2006 S.B. 769, A.L. 2007 S.B. 64, A.L. 2009 H.B. 682 merged with S.B. 291) Effective 5-14-09 (H.B. 682)
8-28-09 (S.B. 291)
CROSS REFERENCE:
Make-up days lost due to inclement weather when and how made up, 160.041
SOURCE http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C100-199/1710000033.HTM

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