 | Promo action, son. (For full potential WATCH IN HIGH-QUALITY) A short and appropriately titled skate video with park and street footage (because I don't care). Featuring some of the Native kids in Winnipeg. If you were wondering, I'm all about Windows Movie Maker. *still filming...get your tricks. Song: Sweatshop Union - Oh My Album: Water Street Next Step: Go skate. |
 | Year of the tornado-Boy scout camp tragedy This year, there was one tornado that really stuck out for a group of boy scouts in Little Sioux, Iowa. On June 11, a new storm system formed over the Midwest producing more severe weather including flooding rains, damaging wind and 53 tornado reports.[33] At approximately 6:35 pm (2335 UTC) a tornado hit the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Little Sioux, Iowa, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Omaha. The tornado killed four people and the camp and injured 48 others. The camp received a tornado warning 12 minutes before it struck. There were 93 campers and 25 staff members at the camp. The campers were between 13 and 18 years old and were attending a leadership training camp before the tornado hit. The tornado was one of 28 reported late Wednesday moving across eastern Kansas and into Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota. The Scouts who were attending the weeklong Pahuk Pride event at the camp were from eastern Nebraska, western Iowa and South Dakota. The National Weather Service office in Valley, Nebraska, said they issued a tornado warning 12 minutes before the twister hit the camp. People at the camp reported having five minutes between sighting the funnel cloud and touch down at the camp. According to a camp counselor, nearly all the injuries and fatalities happened when a small cabin that some campers took shelter in was destroyed by the tornado. A tornado siren went off at the camp, but the Scouts had already taken cover before the siren sounded. The Scouts were split into two groups when the storm hit, with the groups taking shelter in two different buildings. Many of the injuries were reported to have happened when a brick fireplace in one shelter where the Scouts were taking cover was ripped apart by the storm. It is also believed that the fireplace was impacted by an airborne truck that was parked nearby. At least two buildings had been turned into piles of rubble and some trees were severed at ground level. When it was over, The tornado killed Josh Fennen, 13; Sam Thomsen, 13; Ben Petrzilka, 14, all three from Omaha and Aaron Eilerts, 14, from Eagle Grove, Iowa. The Scouts' first aid training was immediately used, with one of the youth leaders reporting, "We knew that we need to place tourniquets on wounds that were bleeding too much. We knew we need to apply pressure and gauze. We had first-aid kits, we had everything." The mayor of the nearby town of Little Sioux told the media that there were 46 boys in the north section of the camp when the tornado struck. First responders had to hike with their gear and backboards across a ditch and field while other rescue personnel sawed a large downed tree blocking access to the area. Two triage areas were set up in the camp, with one in the north section of the camp for the seriously injured and one south of the downed tree for those who had less-severe wounds. An access road leading to a shelter house that was still standing after the tornado was used to transport wounded to hospitals in nearby Sioux City. Medical helicopters took to the sky before the storm passed to pick up two injured boys. At least four of the injured were airlifted from the camp. According to the local Omaha World-Herald, the wounded were taken to several locations. Four were brought to the Saint Joseph Hopital at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, all in stable and good condition; Four were brought to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa, and were in stable condition; Nineteen were taken to Burgess Medical Center in Onawa, Iowa; Fourteen were taken to Community Memorial Hospital in Missouri Valley, Iowa. Three of those were transferred to Creighton, and; Eight were brought to Memorial Community Hospital and Health System in Blair, Nebraska, including one in critical condition. After the tornado struck, surviving Boy Scouts were taken to West Harrison High School in nearby Mondamin, Iowa to wait for their parents to pick them up. Some boys reportedly waited up to five hours. The Omaha Police Department helicopter conducted an infrared scan of the camp early in the morning on June 12, despite the fact that as of 12am CST all people have been accounted for. A police lieutenant suggested it may just be as a precaution. As many as 42 Scouts remained hospitalized the following morning with wounds ranging from cuts and bruises to major head trauma. This video shows what the twister looked like as it moved towards Little Sioux Iowa and the Boy Scout Camp on June 11, 2008. This was recorded just shortly before the tornado hit the camp . The conversation in the background is between a local TV Meteorologist and a hired storm chaser. They were describing the storm evolve, aware that it could develop into a tornado. |
 | A Visit to Mount Rushmore SD 16—the road to Mount Rushmore from Rapid City, South Dakota—meanders through and up and down the conifer encrusted Black Hills mountains. As you crest the top of a curving stretch of SD 16, a panoramic vista opens up on your right or left. You might see a vast gorge or a green covered valley stretching out to the next side of mountain in the distance. When you reach the entrance to the monument, you go through the park entrance after paying a $10 parking fee, the only charge required. Beyond the parking lot you pass through the visitors entrance, which comprises a length of grey granite columns. Upon passing through the open columns, the wall on your right contains the names carve in marble of all the workers who help create the Mount Rushmore Monument. On the opposite wall is a statue of Gutzun Borglum, the man credited with creating the sculpture and directing its construction. Moving toward the area for viewing the monument, you walk down a long path lined with granite columns on either side, each carrying four state flags and the states' motto. At the end of the walk, you are confronted with a wide rectangular esplanade. And in the distance ahead, you see the four presidents high atop Mount Rushmore: Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Lincoln. It is a spectacular view, the cold and snow clinging to the ground in early June 2008, notwithstanding. Beneath the esplanade is a visitor's center with theaters showing a movie on the creation of the monument, narrated by Tom Brokaw. An educational film it describes Gutzun and his marvelous feat. You learn about how to use dynamite to sculpt larger than life size sculptures, about the years it took to bring each figure into being, and about the tools used besides dynamite to give the figures the smooth appearance they have today. |
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
![Daily flights from NYC to Mont Tremblant\](images/articles/thumbs/nytremblantthumb.jpg "Daily flights from NYC to Mont Tremblant\")
