Bear crashes in runaway car

(Reuters Life!) – A black bear attracted by the smell of a peanut butter sandwich managed to open the door of a car, climb in and got stuck, knocking the gear stick into neutral and sending the car rolling down a slope into trees.

The blare of the car horn alerted the members of the Story family who realized 17-year-old Ben’s Toyota was no longer parked in the driveway of their home in Larkspur near Denver.

When they went to explore they discovered the car and trapped culprit at the bottom of the hill — a giant bear with teeth bared and claws tearing through the car’s interior.

The bear was trapped inside the car for two hours before police were able to release the animal who ran off into nearby woods.

Ben and his sister Becky said the bear was likely lured into the car by a certain scintillating scent.

“There was a peanut butter sandwich in the back seat,” Ben told reporters, adding that his car was ruined.

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson of Reuters Television, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

Pro-Maoist groups stage road block in West Bengal

West Midnapore, Apr 26 (ANI): Pro- Maoist groups on Monday blocked several roads in West Bengal’s West Midnapore District demanding release of a doctor arrested on suspicion of being in connection with rebels.

The groups threatened to block the road indefinitely if the state Government fails to release the arrested doctor.

Maoist-backed People”s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) blocked roads in Lalgarh, Salboni and Midnapore regions by digging up roads and blocking them with felled trees.

The doctor, Jawaharlal Mahato, who runs a clinic in Mathurapur village, reportedly provides medical aid to some Maoists.

He was arrested on April 8.

Security forces said that Dr. Mahato, treated Maoists leader Koteshwar Rao who was reportedly injured in a recent gun battle.

Activists also took out a march demanding the development of the area.

They said that blockade is an effective medium to get the government to pay attention to their demands.

“Only when we create blockades like these, they (government) will realise that there is some problem,” said Dilbodh Mahato, a PCAPA member. (ANI)

Cyclonic storm causes havoc in many parts of Manipur

Imphal, April 19 (ANI): Over 100 houses in different parts of Manipur state were damaged following a cyclonic storm and heavy winds during the wee hours of Sunday.

The storm swept across the State and left a trail of destruction in many areas.

The gale, accompanied by hailstones, caused widespread damage in different parts of Bishnupur and Imphal West districts, however, there were no reports of human casualties.

“Yesterday, when all people were asleep at around 1.45 or 2.00 am, there were violent storms that occurred twice. The first one was a strong one and continued for a longer period. However, the second storm was stronger than the first one and continued for a short period,” said Chaoba Nameirakpam, a villager.

Some of the houses were totally razed while tin roofs of many houses were blown away. The storm also uprooted many trees and electric poles, and led to snapping of wires.

More than 50 houses were damaged in Oinam Assembly constituency of Bishnupur district.

The gale left a similar trail of destruction at Chajing Karam in Imphal West district as well.

Apart from the houses, the storm also razed down a school.

Local residents here are faced with a lot of inconvenience, as fallen electric poles are still lying across roads. (ANI)

Penola plans for Mary MacKillop pilgrims

The town of Penola is preparing itself for an influx of pilgrims in the lead-up to the canonisation of Australia’s first saint, Blessed Mary MacKillop.

While the official ceremony will be in Italy in October, the South Australian south east, which was Mary MacKillop’s former home, will also be a strong focus of attention.

Wattle Range projects manager Glenn Brown says the Council has met with consultants and has come up with a list of infrastructure priorities.

“It’s really about appropriate footpaths, improved lighting, parking for buses and visitors and also the street furniture and planting of trees that’s been identified – and the need for additional public toilets,” he said.

“We’re estimating the cost to be $810,000 and that may be sufficient to do all of the work or in fact the majority of the work.

“We’re just waiting for the final report from the consultants who are advising us on the nature and style of footpaths and street furnishings and just how to get the best approach to solving these problems and we hope to have that report in the next two months and that will give us a plan that’s very consistent and appropriate to the Penola situation.”

Farmer fined for roaming cows

A north Queensland dairy farmer is facing a $3,000 fine after a dozen cows escaped from his property following cyclone Ului.

Eungella farmer Peter Woodland says the cattle escaped three weeks ago when strong winds caused trees to flatten fences on his property, west of Mackay.

Mr Woodland says the Mackay Regional Council impounded the animals without contacting him, even thought they were micro-chipped.

“I’m really angry with the council because…you need them to be coordinating with you to get through these times and then you find that this is the attitude,” he said.

Council spokesman Neil Ishenko says wandering cattle is a problem across the region and a fee needs to be paid to release impounded animals.

He says the fee of $250 per animal is justified.

“Generally it’s because we have to go out at all times of the day or night to find these cattle, round them up, and then store them in vehicles, take them to our pound and them feed them for the time that they’re under our care.”

Club won’t be bowled over by locust plague

A bowls tournament in Longreach, in central western Queensland, will go ahead this weekend, despite the town’s largest locust plague in three decades.

The spur-throated locusts have been in the town for a week, eating trees, gardens and pastures.

Tony Barbeler from the Longreach Bowling Club says the grasshoppers have invaded the greens and he has never seen anything like it.

“It looks like a storm of locusts coming off the green as you walk along … it’s different to what we’re used to anyway,” he said.

“It shouldn’t have an impact on the bowls – they are pretty smart and get out of the road when the bowls come. They’ve only eaten the top off it [the green] which is what we do with the mower anyway, we mow it down.”

Mr Barbeler says visiting bowlers from out of town will be amazed at the swarms.

“I don’t know what they’ll do but they’ll have to learn to play under our conditions too I suppose … but I know I drove to Ilfracombe yesterday and the grasshoppers stopped just the other side of the pastoral college [on the outskirts of town],” he said.

“We play through anything anyway. We’ve never had them before so I don’t really know but they shouldn’t worry us.”

Top Heatseekers for the 4/10/2010 issue

Now Last Weeks Peak

1 1 1 School Gyrls – School Gyrls (/IDJMG)

2 3 3 2 Swindoe – Swindoe ()

3 8 6 2 Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons (/Glassnote)

4 2 2 2 Habits – Neon Trees (/IDJMG)

5 1 2 1 Halfway To Heaven – Brantley Gilbert ()

6 13 16 4 Conditions – The Temper Trap (/Columbia)

7 1 7 With Ears To See And Eyes To Hear – Sleeping With Sirens ()

8 14 3 8 Big Echo – The Morning Benders (/Rough Trade)

9 21 33 3 Up From Below – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes (/Vagrant)

10 1 10 The Way Of The World – Mose Allison (/Epitaph)

Kashmir apple growers begin spraying activity

Srinagar, Apr 1 (ANI): Apple growers in Jammu and Kashmir begin spraying pesticides and oil on the trees to keep them away from different tree borne diseases.

This spraying time is very important and pious for the apple growers in valley as they can for see the productions of the upcoming crop.

The growers on this occasion are positive of a bumper apple crop this year as the pairing could be seen in many orchards.

“We are spraying pesticides and oil to the trees to protect them from any diseases and also for the good quality of fruit and that”s why we are working on it and we are expecting good business.” said Arshid Lone, a grower.

Last year, apple production was low in some areas like Kupwara and Handwara due to the hailstorm that destroyed most of the crop.

“We have started this activity and farmers have started giving pesticides to protect them from diseases and for the good quality of fruit for the upcoming season.” said Dilawer Ahmed, a grower.

The apple industry in the Kashmir valley is the backbone of the state”s economy contributing billions of rupees from the export of this fruit to the other parts of the country and abroad. (ANI)

Police called as koala sighting halts Mumbulla logging

Police have been called to the site of an anti-logging protest in the Mumbulla State Forest, on the New South Wales far south coast.

Conservationists say the timber harvesting which began this week will harm a key koala colony.

The program was halted yesterday after evidence was found that a koala was two kilometres from the site.

Forests New South Wales says a pause in the logging will allow for further investigation into evidence of koalas in adjoining areas.

Anti-logging campaigner Harriet Swift says around 70 people are at the protest site, and a barricade was in place this morning until the police intervened.

“We held up loggers and log trucks going into the logging area for about four hours this morning, but eventually they did pass through,” she said.

“But they’ve given us an undertaking that they won’t actually be logging, they’ll just be processing and transporting trees already cut.”

Forest protestor tells court he was dragged and kicked by contractor

An anti-logging protestor has told the Hobart Magistrates Court how a forest contractor dragged him out of a car and kicked him in the face during a blockade in the Florentine Valley.

Forest workers Rodney Howells, Terrence Pearce and Jeremey Eiszelle have pleaded not guilty to assaulting two protesters in the Florentine Valley in October 2008.

One of the protesters, 23-year-old Nishant Datt, told the court he locked himself onto a disused car blocking a forestry road to prevent trees from being logged.

He said forest contractors started smashing the car’s windows with a sledgehammer because they could not start work.

Mr Datt told the court he was trying to get out of the car when a contractor dragged him out of a shattered window and then kicked him in the head several times.

The hearing continues.

Bid made for norfolk pines heritage listing

Port Fairy’s historic norfolk pine avenues could soon appear on the Victorian Heritage Register

Heritage Victoria executive director Jim Gardner has received a proposal from the Port Fairy branch of the National Trust to register the 269 trees.

Mr Gardner says the listing will give the trees more protection.

“We’ll normally have permit exemptions to allow normal tree maintenance like pruning and tree management,” he said

“But a permit would be required from the executive director of Heritage Victoria for more major works, like the removal of trees or the replanting with a different species [and] things like that.”

He says the trees offer aesthetic and community value to Port Fairy.

Pair walk away from crash landing

A flying instructor has managed to make a successful crash landing on the New South Wales north coast.

Geordie Paton says he was supervising a student on a navigational exercise between Cessnock and Lismore when the Jabaroo’s engine cut out.

The 20-year-old says he had about 45 seconds in which to react.

He says he was lucky to find a mowed paddock near Whiporie, south of Casino.

“Well the aeroplane wouldn’t be sitting in one piece at the end of a paddock, we probably would have had to put it into the trees, there’s a lot of forest in that area, so we were very fortunate to find a suitable landing area,” Mr Paton said.

“We do a lot of training to cope with these things, I’m an instructor and so I do this every day basically so it’s not a problem at all,” he said.

23-year-old student Lauren Porter says she was happy to relinquish the controls to a more experienced pilot.

“I’ve only got about 30 hours or something like that whereas Geordie’s got thousands, he’s much more reliable,” Ms port said.

It is not yet known how the aircraft will be retrieved.

Shire probes illegal land clearing

The Augusta-Margaret River Shire has expressed disappointment after someone illegally cleared land it has spent the past three years trying to revegetate.

The shire says a small block of land on the banks of the Blackwood River east of Augusta has been cleared illegally for the second time in three years.

Shire officers believe trees were cut down to create a better view of the river but it is continuing to investigate the matter

The shire’s David Nicholson says it is frustrating for locals and the shire.

“The matter was brought to our attention by locals who were outraged, because they’ve spent a lot of their time tending the revegetation over the last few years to provide a nice, pleasant environment as well as habitat for native fauna,” he said.

Mayor defends cyclone green waste move

The Whitsundays Regional Council in north Queensland is defending its decision to clear green waste created by ex-Cyclone Ului from residential blocks only.

Council crews and volunteers are continuing to clean up from the cyclone more than a week after it made landfall.

Whitsundays Mayor Mike Brunker says some rural ratepayers are unhappy with the council’s decision.

“We’ve had a lot of people in rural blocks saying ‘are you coming to get me’, ‘are we discriminating against rural blocks?’” he said.

“It would be a sheer impossibility – we would just fill our landfills up with green waste if we had to go and get [waste from] someone that’s been living in a mini rainforest on a four or five acre block [with] a lot of their trees down.

“I think it’s unacceptable that council would have to come out and pick those up.”

Councillor Brunker says it is not viable for council to collect green waste from its rural ratepayers.

“First of all it would cost an absolute fortune and then we’d be there for the next six months,” he said.

“What we’re saying to the people in the bigger rural blocks [is to] gather or push it … to the corner of your block and then we’ll get some fire permits so that you can burn it.

“I think to do rural blocks would just be an absolute nightmare.”

Forestry land could be rezoned after sale: Lucas

The Queensland Government says some freehold forestry land that is being sold as part of its privatisation plans could be re-zoned.

The sale of Forestry Plantations Queensland will include 33,000 hectares of freehold land.

The Opposition says the Government was not upfront about the land sale and is concerned shops and houses could be built on it.

Some is zoned rural production and cannot be developed but Deputy Premier Paul Lucas says other parcels would be subject to normal re-zoning processes.

“Any freehold land in Queensland, no matter where, is subject to town planning and zoning laws and of course they can be,” he said.

“If someone wants to apply something different, that is then considered,” he said.

Meanwhile Mr Lucas has defended the Government from Opposition attacks over a brochure promoting the forestry privatisation.

He says a brochure saying the “trees and not the land” would be sold was just a summary document.

On ABC Local Radio this morning, Mr Lucas said the details are available in other documents.

“The summary document is the summary document and 90 per cent of their land is freehold,” he said.

But Opposition treasury spokesman Tim Nicholls says the brochure is misleading.

“Does that mean 90 per cent of what’s said in Parliament on your side is true?” he said.

“Does that mean 90 per cent of what the other things being offered for sale is true?

“Where else should people be looking to say what are we being told is accurate and what are we being told is false?”

Council takes crack at bat eradication

The City of Greater Bendigo is trying to prevent a colony of bats from damaging historic trees in central Bendigo.

About 2,000 bats have migrated from northern Australia and are now living in Rosalind Park.

Chief executive Craig Niemann says the park includes several protected trees and the council wants to minimise any damage.

“They tend to be congregating in a few of those trees and we took some action yesterday by using … fairly low-impact air horns and we did crack a stock whip a couple of times just to see if we could disperse them around the trees a bit more,” he said.

Fraser defends terms of forestry plantations sale

The Queensland Government says it has been honest about selling land as part of its privatisation program.

Forestry Plantations Queensland (FPQ) is for sale, including 33,000 hectares of freehold land, but not the Crown Land.

Deputy Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg says no land was supposed to be sold at all.

“The myths and facts flyer in relation to the privatisation of Queensland Forestry specifically states the sale will be the trees and not the land,” he said.

Treasurer Andrew Fraser says it was spelled out in the bid document and the forestry annual report.

“What we’ve put into the public arena at the time of announcing the sale is that there are some parts of this estate which are freehold land – they generally relate to buffer zones,” he said.

Mr Fraser says that land which is sold will still have to be used for forestry business.

Cyclone doesn’t disturb school asbestos

Education Queensland (EQ) says no asbestos has been disturbed at schools near Mackay, in the state’s north, by Cyclone Ului.

EQ central Queensland regional director Wayne Butler says buildings at Mackay North and Mirani state high schools were damaged by trees but the buildings did not contain asbestos.

There were evacuations at both schools earlier this month after ceiling particles that may have contained asbestos fell into classrooms.

Mr Butler says the schools have been tested and are safe.

“In relation to Mirani State High School, a tree did fall against a building and knocked the eaves to the ground and those eaves have also been tested and there is no asbestos in those eaves.” he said.

Land buy gives threatened birds space to spread wings

Endangered animals in Western Australia’s great southern will benefit from the purchase of 1,000 hectares of land by a national conservation organisation.

Bush Heritage Australia yesterday announced its purchase of the land at Monjebup North.

The organisation wants to revegetate about 400 hectares previously cleared.

Heritage ecologist Angela Sanders says it will give a boost to endangered native animals, including the carnaby’s cockatoo.

“We’re starting to incorporate their food plants into the revegetation, so that will give them more feeding grounds,” she said.

“It will give them larger areas they can actually collect food from.

“What we’re also doing is we’ve put up some artificial nest pipes, called cokatubes, because a lot of the larger trees out there have been cleared for farming.”

Investigators examine black boxes from fatal crash

The black box recorders from the burnt out wreckage of an Airnorth plane that crashed on Monday have arrived in Canberra for analysis.

Two Airnorth pilots, Shane Whitbread and Greg Seymon, were killed after their 30-seat Embraer 120 aircraft crashed into trees shortly after take-off.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says it will release its preliminary findings into the crash in a month.

Meanwhile, one of the pilots killed in Monday’s plane crash in Darwin has been described as a “true Territorian” who loved the outdoors.

Shane Whitbread’s friend, Anthony Harrison, says it has been difficult dealing with the tragedy.

“He loved his fishing and his outdoors,” Mr Harrison said.

“He loved his boys and his wife big time.

“So yeah, basically, that’s the make up of the man.

“He was a true Territorian. A very nice man.”