LOCAL & GLOBAL

Tornado season in the United States has been rough this year. In fact, it is the worse one in over a decade. Over 100 people have been killed, including 8 yesterday, one of which was a 2-year old toddler. Tornado activity typically peaks in the Spring and early Summer and resurges again in the late Fall.

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It was only 6 miles in length (10km), across flat agricultural land. For years it was a bottle neck that hampered movement from the south-side of Mau'i to the central business/industrial core. Often flooding 3-4 feet (1 meter) deep in monsoon rains. Hawaii's State Route 311's widening project began in 2002 to expand the roadway from a narrow two-lane road to a divided 4-lane highway. Tomorrow a ceremony will declare "Mission Accomplished". Of course the project isn't quite finished. The 3 mile section outbound from Kihei to the midway point will still be restricted to one lane as the necessary re-striping is completed. All the politicos are backslapping each other with the equivalent of "Heckofa job, Brownie" pride. Give me a break! 1 mile per year is atrocious. Especially across terrain as flat as a Kansas wheat field. On the mainland, this project would have taken 1 year, 18 months at most. One of the things I am NOT going to miss about Paradise. I guess it is on par with Interstate Highway H-3 on O'ahu, which took 17 years to build its 15 mile length. Don't even bother asking how Hawai'i could have an "Interstate" highway, let alone 3 of them.

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For a former French paratrooper, his 20 year, $20 million quest may come to an end this Sunday when he attempts to set numerous records during the worlds highest sky-dive. The current record has stood since 1960. While it will take him hours to reach altitude, once he steps off, he'll be back on Earth in about 15 minutes and will have broken the sound barrier along the way.

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Will newly announced Libertarian candidate Bob Barr suck votes from McCain in November's General Election? He does have a stronger appeal to the farther "right" of the political spectrum than McCain does.

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Talk about a logistical nightmare. The Chinese gov't is going to evacuate 1,000,000 people from the devastated quake area. It has to be done. There is no infrastructure left. Dams may rupture. Very strong aftershocks continue. 65,000+ confirmed dead and over 23,000 missing. Look at the efforts made to respond military personnel to the area and then try to guess what a headache its going to be to relocate one million people and provide them with shelter and food. Helping them rebuild their lives.

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"