Author Archives: Kami Klein

Historic Heat Hits Northern States and Colorado

On Sunday October 11th the normally cool autumn took to late season heat and went to the extreme with record setting temperatures. What makes this so unusual is that this heat was in  parts of Colorado, Nebraska and the Dakotas. For much of the region, temperatures were higher than any on record for so late in the year.  These places are typically now being lulled into winter by a good chill in the air and fall breezes.  

Fargo, North Dakota was one of the places where Sunday was hotter than any other day in 2015, surpassing the city’s high of 96 from Aug. 14. The mercury hit an astonishing 97, establishing several records:Even more impressively, it appears to be hottest temperature ever recorded in the entire state of North Dakota on or after Oct. 11, beating a 95-degree reading taken in Buford on Oct. 11, 1911.

Unusual late-season heat gripped most of the area east of the Rockies in Colorado Sunday. The cooperative observer at Burlington, near the Kansas border, reported a high of 99 degrees, which  was hotter than any other location in Colorado.

But it wasn’t just the North being hit by the unbelievable heat, From Friday to Sunday, downtown Los Angeles hit 100 degrees.  The oppressive 100-degree stretch was the longest  in 25 years and matched the longest ever recorded in October.

The year 1989 was when Los Angeles’ last experienced four straight days at or above 100. Its longest 100-degree stretch on record occurred in 1955 when the mercury topped the century mark for 8 straight days August 31 to September 7.

The heat stressed electricity generators and at least 6,000 customers were without power Friday and Saturday.

Turkey Warning U.S. & Russia, Do Not Back Kurds in Syria

Turkey summoned the U.S. and Russian ambassadors separately on Tuesday to convey their concerns regarding Syrian Kurdish forces fighting the ISIS terrorist group in Syria and “unacceptable military and political support by the U.S. or by Russia.”

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, said in televised comments: “We have a clear position. That position has been conveyed to the United States and the Russian Federation. Turkey cannot accept any cooperation with terrorist organisations which have waged war against it.”

Turkey has been active on its war on terror against ISIS and with the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) who has waged a bloody insurgency since 1984 into Turkey, but has so far focused almost exclusively on bombing of the Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. The Democratic Union party (PYD) is considered to be a Syrian offshoot of the PKK by Turkey and military officials there are concerned that weapon drops to Syrian rebels by the U.S. and ammunitions being supplied to Assad’s forces by Russia are being confiscated and used by the PYD.   

Involved in harsh fighting with ISIS for many months, the PYD’s Kurdish fighters control large parts of northern Syria on the Turkish border.  

“We know that some of those who fled from [Turkish] operations against the PKK in northern Iraq joined the ranks of the PYD in Syria. We have a clear stance against terrorist organisations which waged a war against Turkey. We have the same attitude against their affiliates.” said Prime Minister Davutoğlu. “Just as the United States and other friendly allies fight against al-Qaida linked groups, Turkey is determined to fight against the PKK and its affiliates.”

Wyoming Wildfire Forces Hundreds of Evacuations

A fast-moving grass fire that started at a landfill Saturday has at least a dozen families that have lost their homes and caused over 500 homes to be evacuated in Central Wyoming. 

Winds gusting up to 50 mph on Sunday pushed the blaze to the east and forced evacuations in the Evansville area. The fire started Saturday in a composting area at a regional landfill near Casper. On Sunday, the fire covered about 7,000 acres and destroyed about 15 homes.

The strong winds in the region for this time of year may have helped to ignite the fire.

About 120 people and 50 fire engines are fighting the blaze. Numerous fire departments from around the state are helping.

The Wyoming State Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the fire, which remained 50 percent contained on Monday evening.

Iranian Lawmakers Approve Nuclear Deal

The Iranian Parliament has given its approval to the deal Tehran reached with world powers over its nuclear program, state media reported.

The deal was passed with 161 votes in favor, 59 against and 13 abstentions, the official IRNA news agency said. Debate over the legislation was so intense that physical fights broke out among lawmakers, and some hard-line opponents of the deal cried when the bill passed.

The deal, which has been widely praised by some and completely criticized by many, including politicians in the United States and especially Israel, regards Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Government international sanctions on Iran will be lifted in return for restrictions on its nuclear program. This agreement has been hard fought in order to prevent Iran from being able to develop an atomic bomb.

The bill now goes before the Guardian Council for review. The 12-member clerical body, which is charged with interpreting the country’s constitution. This body could approve or reject it as well as revise and send back to the parliament for reconsideration.

The final say on all matters of state, including the nuclear deal, rests with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has vowed that the historic agreement won’t change his government’s stance toward the United States. Khamenei has made many threats to the United States and Israel even during the negotiations and continues to do so.  

Under the agreement, Iran is expected to start work on rolling back its nuclear program from 18 October – labelled as adoption day – which includes taking out thousands of centrifuges at its enrichment facilities and pulling out its heavy-water reactor and filling it with concrete.

Ukrainian Warhead Brought Down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17

The mystery of what brought down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 that killed 298 people has been solved according to the Dutch Safety Board (DSB). The Boeing 777 was heading from Amsterdam to Malaysia when it was shot down by a Russian developed BUK missile on July 17, 2014, over Ukrainian territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

According to the DSB the missile detonated less than a yard away from Flight 17’s cockpit, caused the plane to break up in midair and scatter over a 20-square-mile area over eastern Ukraine.  The Board cannot assign blame for the bombing so who actually fired at the plane has not yet been established.  

The West and Ukraine say Russian-backed rebels brought down the Boeing 777, but Russia blames Ukrainian forces. The safety board’s chairman told the press conference that because of the armed conflict in Ukraine, there would have been “sufficient reason to close the airspace as a precaution” but “the Ukraine authorities failed to do so.”

Tjibbe Joustra, chairman of the Dutch Safety Board, said the explosion killed the plane’s three crew members in the cockpit and that investigators had found “high energy fragments” in their bodies. Whatever happened to the plane happened quickly, leaving the passengers dazed or unconscious. And while it’s not clear if anyone died in mid air, no one could have survived the plane’s impact with the ground, the DSB said.

The disaster and its aftermath — when armed men initially prevented international monitors from reaching the crash site and recovering the scattered bodies — shocked the world.

Violence Escalates; Sweeping Through Israel

At the beginning, the tension in Israel centered at the al-Aqsa the holy site for Palestinians otherwise known as the Temple Mount for the Jewish people in Jerusalem’s Old City.  Palestinians feared that Israel wants to change the status quo there and the violence began with a vengeance.  The cycle now has no answers as to the beginning or end and reports of what is causing the random stabbings and shootings throughout Israel depends on who you are speaking to at the moment.  It has become a never ending cycle.  

Four suspects were shot in three separate attempted stabbing attacks in Jerusalem on Monday, Israeli police said.

Extra police were deployed around the Old City as the latest wave of violence  blankets Israel and the West Bank show no signs of abating.

“To our shock and horror, the cruelty of murderers who attack innocent civilians and children on their way home from school knows no limit, confronting us all with a shocking form of evil,”Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat said in a statement. “We must act swiftly and decisively.” So far, 23 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed.

Around 20 Israelis and more than 500 Palestinians have been injured.

A number of rocket attacks have been launched from Gaza in recent weeks amid an escalation in violence against Israeli security forces and civilians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.  

On Sunday, a pregnant Palestinian mother and her 3-year-old daughter were killed when their house in the Gaza Strip collapsed after an Israeli airstrike that allegedly targeted a Hamas weapons site.

El Nino to Bring Blessing but Possible Disaster for the Pacific

The El Nino weather pattern is taking shape and according to scientists there is no way this El Nino is going to fail from giving rain to some areas in California and elsewhere that are desperate for rain.  

“There’s no longer a possibility that El Niño wimps out at this point. It’s too big to fail,” said Bill Patzert, climatologist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, Los Angeles Times reported. “And the winter over North America is definitely not going to be normal.”

Rainfall opportunities this week across the Southwest may be the beginning of more substantial drought relief heading into the winter as an El Niño-fueled weather pattern takes shape in the region.

While most are calling this unusual and very strong El Nino an answered prayer there are countries who are suffering already with lack of food and crops dying off.  Papua New Guinea’s drought has already claimed two dozen lives, and the looming El Niño weather pattern could be as severe as in 1997-98, when over 23,000 people died.  

Forecasters say that this El Nino could leave 4 million people in the Pacific without food or drinking water.

“El Niño has the potential to trigger a regional humanitarian emergency and we estimate as many as 4.1 million people are at risk from water shortages, food insecurity and disease across the Pacific,” Sune Gudnitz, head of the Pacific region office of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Putin Confirms Protecting Assad Regime

It seems now that President Vladimir Putin has confirmed what many have continued to suspect. On state run Russia 24 TV Putin acknowledged that the Russian airstrikes in Syria are meant to bolster President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

“Our task is to stabilize the legitimate government and to create conditions for a political compromise … by military means, of course, The units of international terrorists and their ilk have no desire to negotiate with the Syrian government, who is almost sieged in its own capital.”
Russia has said it’s coordinating with the Syrian regime to target ISIS and other terrorists. Al-Assad has used the term “terrorists” to describe Syrians who seek his ouster.

Until now, Putin and the Russian military have stated numerous times that their main objective in Syria was to fight the Islamic State.

CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona said he had no doubt Russia was targeting Syrian rebels rather than ISIS.

“I think it’s very apparent from the target sets that we’re watching. Even the maps that are released from the Russians themselves show where they’re concentrating their airstrikes,” Francona said.

“And if you look at the map where they are hitting, most of them are concentrated in that area between Hama and Aleppo — and that’s where the Syrian rebels have had success over the past two months.”

The bombings are numerous. The Russian Defense Ministry said it has struck 53 alleged Islamic State targets in the past 24 hours, destroying command centers, ammunition and fuel depots as well as training camps.

In the meantime, according to a government official, U.S. forces carried out an airdrop of small arms ammunition on Sunday to Syrian Arabs in northern Syria, a U.S. military official said on Monday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the airdrop of supplies to the opposition fighters was part of a revamped U.S. strategy announced last week to help rebels in Syria battling Islamic State militants.

“A Different Kind of Bad” 2nd Wave of Flooding to Hit South Carolina Coast

Predictions for more rain in South Carolina are throwing more concerns on an already battered state as the low areas of the coast brace for the water heading their way.

Gov. Nikki Haley said at a news conference that people in flood-prone parts of four counties should “strongly consider evacuating,” including the 10,000 residents of Georgetown.

“If you’re in the area of Georgetown you’re going to see people knocking on your door telling you to get out,” she said.

The Governor is concerned that residents who have already gone through the historic rainfall and have been through hurricanes, will be complacent about this new wave of flooding heading their way.  “This is a different kind of bad.”

Churches have risen to provide essential support for those affected, according to Vocativ, an online publisher that used geo-location technology to assess social media posts from areas hardest hit by the flooding,

NewSpring Church, which has 10 locations throughout the state, has launched a massive effort tagged #FloodSCWithLove to provide aid to families affected by the disaster.

The church has delivered truckloads of supplies, including water, non-perishable food items and blankets, to local shelters.  Other churches have manned together to volunteer and also help distribute these much needed items.  

New Kind of Troubles for Drought Ravaged California

California is sinking because of the four year drought that has farmers digging deeper and deep down in order to find groundwater for their crops, resulting in a higher risk of flooding,

Nearly half of America’s fruits, vegetables and nuts are produced in California. As farmers dig deeper down to find water, the land gradually starts to cave in, an effect scientists refer to as subsidence. Some parts of California are settling lower at a rate of two inches a month

According to Michelle Sneed of the United States Geological Survey, the area being permanently affected by subsidence is enormous, stretching about 1,200 square miles, roughly the size of the state of Rhode Island.Because of this sinking  problem, when rains eventually do come the flooding will destroy the crops while also washing away more of the land.

Sinking land is not the only problem faced by California farmers.

Anger is building in central California at state and federal agencies, who are being blocked by environmentalists from pumping water from rivers onto their arid lands, farmers blame both regulations and the agencies and activists who go to court to enforce them.

“These are communities who rely almost solely upon agricultural production or agri-business activities,” Gayle Holman, spokeswoman for the nation’s largest agricultural water supplier, the Westlands Water District, told FoxNews.com. “If we continue down this path, we will most likely see our food production turn to foreign soil. We could lose the economic engine that agriculture brings to our nation.”

California continues to pray for rain and in the hopes that the forecasted El Nino this winter will offer relief, although many are concerned that too much rain could be just as much of a disaster as this historic drought.