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• Elderly man in Lanzhou vandalizes 30 cars that run through red lights

  Jul 13, 2009
  
  
  
  

  74 year-old Lanzhou resident Yan Zheng-ping attacking cars that cross red lights

  A 74-year old retired literature teacher from Qilihe district in Lanzhou, who personally “declared war” against unsafe drivers who drive through red lights, and has vandalized 30 cars using a brick.

  According to the news story, , originally published by the “Beijing Times” (”新景报”) although Yan Zheng-ping admits that his actions are illegal, he has no regrets about what he has done.

  “Within a two hour period on the evening of 9 July, Lanzhou septagenarian Yan Zheng-ping used a brick to vandalize 14 vehicles that drove through the red lights on a pedestrian crossing close to his residence, attracting widespread public attention and discussion.”

  • added by: Mob_Barley

  
  

• California poised to shut gates on 80% of the States great outdoors as parks struggle with budgets

  Jul 13, 2009
  
  
  
  

  It is hard to envisage a no-entry sign tagged to a towering redwood tree. But the recession – writ on an epic scale in California's proposal to close 220 state parks – is forcing the American public to confront the closure of the great outdoors.

  Arnold Schwarzenegger, California's governor, is trying to make up a $26bn (£16bn) budget shortfall, and has suggested that California can no longer afford to run its parks.

  Conservationists are meanwhile arguing that California cannot afford not to. And this week the federal government appeared to partly agree, with the National Parks Service threatening to seize some of the sites if Schwarzenegger goes ahead with the closures.

  The proposed shutdown of the parks would affect 80% of California's nature reserves, historic sites and recreation areas, and restrict access to 30% of the state's coastline. Affected areas would stretch from the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas to the beaches and wetlands of Big Sur, and to the deserts of San Diego, where some of the last peninsular bighorn sheep roam.

  California is not alone. The crisis has also exposed hitherto hidden casualties of the economic downturn, with states from Oregon to Illinois, and New York to Tennessee, struggling to stretch resources.

  • added by: bansheewail

  
  

• 2 convicted killers escape from maximum-security Indiana prison

  Jul 13, 2009
  
  
  
  

  MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — Police and prison guards aided by search dogs hunted Sunday for two convicted killers and a third man who escaped the maximum-security Indiana State Prison, apparently through underground tunnels and pipes.

  All three men were considered dangerous, and prison officials used a telephone notification system to send alerts to nearby residents and others. It was not known if any of the men had weapons.

  Authorities identified the men as Charles Smith, 48, and Mark Booher, 46, both of New Castle, and Lance Battreal, 45, of Rockport. Smith and Booher were convicted of murder in the 1990s. Battreal was serving time for rape. All three faced at least 30 more years behind bars.

  Indiana State Police, federal marshals and local police and sheriff's deputies joined prison guards in searching for the three.

  But authorities did not know where the men might be headed, Indiana Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison said. Investigators were poring over visitor logs and talking to the men's relatives in hopes of finding leads, Garrison said.

  The men were discovered missing from their housing units around 10 a.m. Sunday, Garrison said. The prison said in a news release that it appeared they escaped by getting past the bars in the tunnels and pipe chases under the prison grounds. Garrison said it looked as if bars were removed.

  The prison sits in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Michigan City, about 30 miles west of South Bend and not far from Lake Michigan and the Michigan state line.

  Smith was sentenced in 1999 to 95 years for murder and had a projected release date in 2045. He has a tattoo of a scorpion on his right hand and a cross with dots on his left hand, the prison said.

  Booher was sentenced in 1999 to 65 years for murder and 20 years for robbery. His projected release date was in 2041.

  Battreal was sentenced in 1998 to 50 years for rape, 20 years for criminal confinement and three years for stalking. His projected release date was in 2047.

  Additional details about their convictions were not immediately available from the Department of Correction.

  Battreal and Smith may have both recently cut their hair or shaved it, the prison said.

  New Castle and Rockport, the men's hometowns, are both more than 140 miles from the prison. New Castle is about 30 miles east of Indianapolis, and Rockport is about 30 miles east of Evansville.

  • added by: singrrr