CATEGORY 5
Hurricane Lee’s historic intensification skyrockets storm to rare strength

Mary Gilbert and Allison Chinchar, CNN
Fri, September 8, 2023 

A satellite view of Lee at Category 5 strength. - CNN Weather

Hurricane Lee maintained its Category 4 strength Friday evening as the powerful storm’s indirect – yet dangerous – impacts were expected to reach the waters of the East Coast as early as this weekend.

The hurricane, which briefly strengthened to a rare Category 5 storm in the Atlantic Ocean, is packing destructive maximum sustained winds of 150 mph and is about 500 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands.

“Some fluctuations in intensity are likely over the next few days, however Lee is expected to remain a powerful major hurricane through early next week,” the National Hurricane Center said.

It’s too soon to know whether this system will directly impact the US mainland, but the storm will create dangerous coastal conditions like rip currents and large waves along the East Coast as soon as Sunday regardless of its final track.

Lee, which was a Category 1 storm Thursday, intensified with exceptional speed in warm ocean waters, more than doubling its wind speeds to 165 mph in just a day.

The storm’s winds increased by 85 mph in a 24-hour period, which tied it with Hurricane Matthew for the third-fastest rapid intensification in the Atlantic, according to NOAA research meteorologist John Kaplan. The monstrous hurricane struck Haiti in 2016, killing hundreds in the Caribbean nation while also wreaking havoc on parts of the US Southeast.

Dangerous surf and rip currents will spread across the northern Caribbean on Friday

The center of Lee will pass to the north of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend and into early next week. Tropical storm conditions, life-threatening surf and rip currents could occur on some of these islands over the weekend.
Lee now in rare company

Lee hit a rare strength that few storms have ever achieved. Only 2% of storms in the Atlantic reach Category 5 strength, according to NOAA’s hurricane database. Including Lee, only 40 Category 5 hurricanes have roamed the Atlantic since 1924.

Category 5 is the highest level on the hurricane wind speed scale and has no maximum point. Hurricanes hit this level when their sustained winds reach 157 mph or higher. A 165-mph storm like Lee is the same category as Hurricane Allen, the Atlantic’s strongest hurricane on record, which topped out at 190 mph in 1980.

Hurricanes need the perfect mixture of warm water, moist air and light upper-level winds to intensify enough to reach Category 5 strength. Lee had all of these, especially warm water amid the warmest summer on record.

Sea-surface temperatures across the portion of the Atlantic Ocean that Lee is tracking through are a staggering 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal after rising to “far above record levels” this summer, according to David Zierden, Florida’s state climatologist.

Reaching Category 5 strength has become more common over the last decade. Lee is the 8th Category 5 since 2016, meaning 20% of these exceptionally powerful hurricanes on record in NOAA’s hurricane database have come in the last seven years.

The Atlantic is not the only ocean to have spawned a monster storm in 2023. All seven ocean basins where tropical cyclones can form have had a storm reach Category 5 strength so far this year, including Hurricane Jova, which reached Category 5 status in the eastern Pacific earlier this week.

HURRICANE LEE TO HIT NEWFOUNDLAND IN ALL THREE SCENARIOS

How close will Hurricane Lee get to the US?

Computer model trends for Lee have shown the hurricane taking a turn to the north early next week. But exactly when that turn occurs and how far west Lee will manage to track by then will play a huge role in how close it gets to the US.

Several steering factors at the surface and upper levels of the atmosphere will determine how close Lee will get to the East Coast.

Lee's potential track next week will be determined by multiple atmospheric factors including a strong area of high pressure to its east (yellow circle) and the jet stream (silver arrows) to its west.

An area of high pressure over the Atlantic, known as the Bermuda High, will have a major influence in how quickly Lee turns. The Bermuda High is expected to remain very strong into the weekend, which will keep Lee on its current west-northwestward track and slow it down a bit.

As the high pressure weakens next week it will allow Lee to start moving northward.

Once that turn to the north occurs, the position of the jet stream – strong upper-level winds that can change the direction of a hurricane’s path – will influence how closely Lee is steered to the US.

Scenario: Out to Sea

Lee could make a quick turn to the north early next week if high pressure weakens significantly.

If the jet stream sets up along the East Coast, it will act as a barrier that prevents Lee from approaching the coast. This scenario would keep Lee farther away from the US coast but could bring the storm closer to Bermuda.

Track Scenario: An area of high pressure (yellow circle) to the east of Lee and the jet stream (silver arrows) to the west of Lee, can force the storm to track between the two, away from the US coast.

Scenario: Close to East Coast

Lee could make a slower turn to the north because the high pressure remains robust, and the jet stream sets up farther inland over the Eastern US. This scenario would leave portions of the East Coast, mainly north of the Carolinas, vulnerable to a much closer approach from Lee.

Track Scenario: An area of high pressure (yellow circle) to the east of Lee and the jet stream (silver arrows) to the west of Lee, can force the storm to track between the two, closer to the US coast.

All these factors have yet to come into focus, and the hurricane is still at least seven days from being a threat to the East Coast. Any potential US impact will become more clear as the Lee moves west in the coming days.

CNN Meteorologist Robert Shackelford and Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report.

US NTSB cites inadequate inspections in 2021 United Airlines engine failure

Fri, September 8, 2023


FILE PHOTO: A United Airlines Boeing 777 plane is towed at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday the February 2021 engine failure on a United Airlines Boeing 777 in Colorado was due to a crack in a fan blade and cited inadequate inspections as a contributing cause.

Soon after the failure, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered immediate inspections of 777 aircraft with Pratt & Whitney 4000 engines before further flights, which led to the planes' grounding for more than a year.

The Boeing 777-200 bound for Honolulu after takeoff from Denver showered debris over nearby cities, but no one was injured and the plane safely returned to the airport.

The NTSB cited "the inadequate inspection of the blades, which failed to identify low-level indications of cracking, and the insufficient frequency of the manufacturer’s inspection intervals, which permitted the low-level crack indications to propagate undetected and ultimately resulted in the fatigue failure." Pratt & Whitney is a unit of RTX.

Boeing and Pratt & Whitney did not immediately comment.

United said on Friday it "closely collaborated with the NTSB, FAA, Boeing and Pratt and Whitney on each step of the investigation and are pleased to have these aircraft back in our fleet."

In March 2022, the FAA finalized new safety directives after three reported in-flight fan blade failures including the Colorado incident that prompted enhanced inspections and modifications. The FAA said on Friday it had issued the safety directives in response to the fan blade incidents.

United is the only U.S. operator of 777s with the PW4000 engine and had 52 of those planes as of 2022.

As of January, 17 confirmed cracked fan blades have been found, the NTSB said, the first of which was identified in December 2004 - not including three fan blades that sustained full-blade separation in service.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Grant McCool)

Residents and fishermen file a lawsuit demanding a halt to the release of Fukushima wastewater

MARI YAMAGUCHI
Fri, September 8, 2023 



 TV screen shows a news report on the release of the treated radioactive water of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on Aug. 24, 2023, in Tokyo. Fishermen and residents of Fukushima and five other prefectures along Japan’s northeastern coast filed a lawsuit Friday, Sept. 8, demanding a halt to the ongoing release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

(AP Photo/Norihiro Haruta, File)

TOKYO (AP) — Fishermen and residents of Fukushima and five other prefectures along Japan’s northeastern coast filed a lawsuit Friday demanding a halt to the ongoing release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

In the lawsuit filed with Fukushima District Court, the 151 plaintiffs, two-thirds from Fukushima and the rest from Tokyo and four other prefectures, say the discharge damages the livelihoods of the fishing community and violates residents’ right to live peacefully, their lawyers said.

The release of the treated and diluted wastewater into the ocean, which began Aug. 24 and is expected to continue for several decades, is strongly opposed by fisheries groups that worry it will hurt the image of their catch even if it's safe.

Three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant melted after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed its cooling systems. The plant continues to produce highly radioactive water which is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks that cover much of the plant complex.

The government and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, say the tanks need to be removed to allow the plant's decommissioning.

The plaintiffs are demanding the revocation of safety permits granted by the Nuclear Regulation Authority for the wastewater's release and a halt to the discharge, lawyer Kenjiro Kitamura said.

The government and TEPCO say the treated water meets legally releasable levels and is further diluted by hundreds of times with seawater before being released into the sea. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which reviewed the release plan at Japan’s request, concluded that the release's impact on the environment, marine life and humans will be negligible.

“The intentional release to the sea is an intentional harmful act that adds to the (nuclear plant) accident," said another lawyer, Hiroyuki Kawai. He said the ocean is a public resource and it is unethical for a company to discharge wastewater into it.

TEPCO said it could not comment until it receives a copy of the lawsuit.

China banned all imports of Japanese seafood in response to the release, while Hong Kong and Macau suspended imports from 10 prefectures including Fukushima. Groups in South Korea have also condemned the discharge.

China is the biggest importer of Japanese seafood, and its ban has hit the industry hard.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet on Tuesday approved a 20.7 billion yen ($141 million) emergency fund to help exporters hurt by the Chinese ban. The fund is in addition to 80 billion yen ($547 million) that the government previously allocated to support fisheries and seafood processing and combat reputational damage to Japanese products.

Kishida said while attending a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Indonesia that China’s ban contrasts sharply with a broad understanding of the release shown by many other countries.

China’s Concern About Nuclear Wastewater May Be More About Politics Than Science

Chad de Guzman

TIME
Fri, September 8, 2023 


Chinese newspapers report on the release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific, describing the discharge as "extremely irresponsible" and "an atrocity," in Beijing on Aug. 30, 2023. Credit - Yomiuri Shimbun/AP

Have you considered that “man-tall crabs” or “Cthulu-esque octopuses” could emerge from the sea in 30 to 40 years? China is apparently upset that Japan hasn’t, according to a recent state media report.

In the last two weeks since Japan began releasing into the Pacific Ocean treated wastewater that had been used to cool the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was damaged by a tsunami in 2011, a seemingly coordinated campaign has been waged on social media and Chinese news media to vent outrage and hysteria about the dangers of radiation imposed by China’s neighbor to the east.

China isn’t the only critic of Japan’s discharge, but it is perhaps the loudest. China’s foreign ministry called Japan “a saboteur of the ecological system and polluter of the global marine environment.” And Chinese customs authorities banned all aquatic products coming from Japan since the wastewater release began on Aug. 24, despite being the biggest market for Japanese seafood exports before then. Reports of harassment of Japanese citizens in China soon followed.

In reality, most scientists agree that the health effects of the wastewater on the marine environment and consumers of seafood from the region are negligible. Some observers have even pointed out that similar discharges have been occurring for years by operators of nuclear power plants across the world—including in China.

After nuclear wastewater is treated, including the water released by Japan, typically what radioactive elements remain are tritium (a hydrogen isotope) and carbon-14, which are both already abundant in nature. The water is then diluted to an acceptable limit so as not to be harmful, though there is no common international standard. It’s then common practice to dispose of the treated water by releasing it into the ocean. TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima plant, dilutes wastewater to a radioactivity of around 15% the World Health Organization’s maximum level for drinking water.

TEPCO has pledged to release no more than 22 trillion becquerels—a unit of emitted radiation—of tritium per year. For reference, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California released liquid effluents containing around 95 trillion becquerels of tritium in 2022, and the Heysham B Power Station in England released about 396 trillion becquerels of tritium in 2019.

While the U.S. and the U.K. have supported Japan’s release plan as safe, as has the International Atomic Energy Agency, China has pressed forward with demonizing Japan. At the same time, the latest China Nuclear Energy Yearbook by the nonprofit non-governmental organization China Nuclear Energy Association shows that plants there have discharged water with much higher radioactivity levels in 2021, the last year for which data are available.

Not all of the numbers are decipherable, but at least 10 nuclear plants in China in just a year discharged liquid effluents containing more than 4.5 quadrillion becquerels of tritium—more than 200 times the self-imposed annual limit for Fukushima’s wastewater release.

When presented with charges of hypocrisy earlier this summer, Chinese officials denied that the situations are comparable. “In fact, there are essential differences between the nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan and the normal liquid effluents from nuclear power plants worldwide,” the National Nuclear Safety Administration said in a statement. Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also said during an August press briefing that “there is a fundamental difference between the nuclear-contaminated water that came into direct contact with the melted reactor cores in the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the water released by nuclear power plants in normal operation.”

That’s not necessarily true. A range of different radioactive isotopes can be present in nuclear wastewater before its treated, but after treatment, the ultimate risk posed by the tritium that remains is not actually affected by how the water was originally contaminated, says Jim Smith, a professor of environmental science at the University of Portsmouth who has extensively studied the impact of radioactive pollutants on the environment. “Basically, it's all been through reactors, or at least the tritium has come from reactors, and the other radionuclides come from reactors,” he tells TIME, “so I don't really see a difference.”

But if not for a legitimate concern for health and science, why else might Beijing be so determined to paint Japan as a villain? Some have speculated that the wastewater issue offers a politically convenient distraction for China, which is facing domestic turmoil—giving citizens something else to be angry about instead of the unexpectedly slow economic growth, record-high youth unemployment, dwindling resources for an aging public, and a real estate sector in crisis. China has already had an historically fractured relationship with Japan due to the latter’s past colonial rule of the former. And just this year, as the geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and China has continued to intensify, Tokyo has strengthened its military partnership with Washington.

China’s state media has even reckoned with questions about why it cares so much about this issue. “Some U.S. media outlets even claimed that China would be the last to be affected from the perspective of ocean circulation. So why is China stepping up?,” an anonymous source quoted in the Global Times asked, before credulously answering: “Because what China has been doing is for the sake of being responsible to humanity and the country really cares about environmental protection.”

—Koh Ewe contributed reporting.

Republicans are trying to find a new term for ‘pro-life’ to stave off more electoral losses

HOW ABOUT ANTI-CONTRACEPTION

Julie Tsirkin and Kate Santaliz and Brennan Leach and Liz Brown-Kaiser

Updated Fri, September 8, 2023 


WASHINGTON — Republican strategists are exploring a shift away from “pro-life” messaging on abortion after consistent Election Day losses for the GOP when reproductive rights were on the ballot.

At a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans this week, the head of a super PAC closely aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., presented poll results that suggested voters are reacting differently to commonly used terms like “pro-life” and “pro-choice” in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, said several senators who were in the room.

The polling, which NBC News has not independently reviewed, was made available to senators Wednesday by former McConnell aide Steven Law and showed that “pro-life” no longer resonated with voters.

“What intrigued me the most about the results was that ‘pro-choice’ and ‘pro-life’ means something different now, that people see being pro-life as being against all abortions ... at all levels,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said in an interview Thursday.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said the polling made it clear to him that more specificity is needed in talking about abortion.

“Many voters think [‘pro-life’] means you’re for no exceptions in favor of abortion ever, ever, and ‘pro-choice’ now can mean any number of things. So the conversation was mostly oriented around how voters think of those labels, that they’ve shifted. So if you’re going to talk about the issue, you need to be specific,” Hawley said Thursday.

Anti-abortion demonstrators outside the Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021. (Emily Elconin / Bloomberg via Getty Images file)

“You can’t assume that everybody knows what it means,” he added. “They probably don’t.”

Abortion is now banned in 14 states, and several others have pursued restrictions. Eleven states, including Missouri, have enacted abortion bans with no exceptions for rape and incest.

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., summarized Wednesday’s meeting as being focused on “pro-baby policies.”

Asked whether senators were encouraged to use a term other than “pro-life,” Young said his “pro-baby” descriptor “was just a term of my creation to demonstrate my concern for babies.”

Senators who attended Law’s presentation said he encouraged Republicans to be as specific as possible when they describe their positions on abortion, highlighting findings that he said could have a negative impact on elections. Many senators in attendance represent states where Republican-led legislatures are pursuing abortion restrictions.

“People require more in-depth discussions; you can’t get away with a label anymore,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. “What we’ve learned is you have to dive in and talk to people about very specifically where you are on that subject if you’re running for public office.”

Senators in the room stressed that the meeting was more conversational and not a political strategy session, emphasizing that Law, the head of the Senate Leadership Fund super PAC, was not trying to persuade any lawmakers about their own messaging.

“I think it was purely informational depending on what state you’re from, because it’s different every state,” said Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind.

The Senate Leadership Fund did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A national strategist who worked on Senate races last year said: “The issue of abortion was problematic for Republicans last cycle, so it’s no surprise [the Senate Leadership Fund] is polling public perception of the issue. It’s the smart thing to do.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of Senate Republicans, “is encouraging Republicans to clearly state their opposition to a national abortion ban and support for reasonable limits on late-term abortions when babies can feel pain with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother,” a source familiar with the organization’s strategy said.

The NRSC, the source said, is “encouraging candidates to contrast that position with Democrats’ support for taxpayer-funded abortion without limits.”

Christina Reynolds, a spokesperson for Emily’s List, an organization that promotes female candidates who support abortion rights, said Republicans’ shift in messaging is “underestimating” voters’ understanding of the issue, adding that “wrapping it up nicely” would not change voters’ minds about abortion.

“I think their messaging was not the problem. Their position is the problem, and they’re going to be stuck with those positions,” Reynolds said. “At the end of the day, voters are clear in poll after poll and in election results after election results that they believe that people should have the right to make their own health care decisions, that they support abortion rights, that they supported Roe v. Wade.”

An NBC News poll conducted in June found that 61% of all voters said they disapproved of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 Dobbs decision, which left the legality and conditions of abortion up to the states.

Abortion is shaping up to be a potent issue on the presidential campaign trail. At last month’s GOP debate, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said her opponents were not being honest with Americans about what would be legislatively feasible when it comes to potential federal restrictions on abortion.

“Can’t we all agree that we are not going to put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty if she gets an abortion? Let’s treat this like the — like a respectful issue that it is and humanize the situation and stop demonizing the situation,” she said.

Asked about potentially abandoning the term the anti-abortion movement has used for decades, a spokesperson for the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List Pro-Life America used the descriptor that is part of the organization’s name and swiped at abortion-rights groups.

“The pro-life movement serves both mother and child. We recognize the need to love and support them both. Today, the pro-abortion side opts to cut women from their communication entirely, choosing instead to speak to ‘pregnant people.’ Now more than ever, the pro-life movement needs to continue emphasizing its commitment to both women and children,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Cramer, asked what terminology senators should use instead of “pro-life,” said: “I think it’s more of a ‘I’m pro-life, but … .’ Or it’s ‘I care deeply about the mother and the children, and we should always have compassion. But I believe that after 15 weeks where the child can feel pain, they should be protected.’

“Whatever your position is, articulate it; don’t try to fool anybody. That’s where you get in trouble,” he added.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

Georgia's Lake Lanier has claimed over 200 lives. Why do people believe it's haunted?

Since 1994, more than 200 people have died at the most popular lake in the Southeast.

Marquise Francis
·National Reporter

YAHOO NEWS
Fri, September 8, 2023

Lake Lanier in Buford, Ga., Oct. 25, 2007. (Chris Rank/ Bloomberg News)

A 23-year-old man drowned last Saturday after slipping and falling off a dock into Georgia’s Lake Lanier, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It’s the fourth death at the lake in as many weeks and the eighth this year alone — a startling number for a popular destination for fun and leisure.

With upwards of 11 million visitors each year, the 59-square-mile body of water with hundreds of miles of shoreline is the most popular lake in the Southeast. It’s also the region’s deadliest.

More than 200 people have died at Lake Lanier between 1994 and 2022, according to USA Today and Georgia DNR, with most of the deaths attributed to drownings.


Read more at Yahoo News: At least 39 drownings reported at Georgia lakes in 2023, including these at Lake Lanier

While some experts point to excessive alcohol use and the sheer volume of visitors to make sense of the growing number of deaths, many Georgia residents are quick to claim the lake is haunted due to its complex and eerie racial history. Situated northeast of Atlanta with waters up to 160-feet deep, the lake sits atop an area that was once home to a small, yet thriving, Black community in the early 1900s, until those residents were violently forced to flee.

“I don’t have to believe in ghosts to believe that a place like Lake Lanier could be haunted,” Mark Huddle, a professor at Georgia College & State University who specializes in African American history, told Yahoo News. “The haunting is that this is a place where the dark and bloody struggle for American race relations played out in a terrible way.”

A boat passes along Lake Lanier, April 23, 2013, in Buford, Ga. (David Goldman/AP)

Decades after its racial cleansing, the lush and fertile land where various Black-owned businesses and homes once stood was flooded to form what is now known as Lake Lanier.

“We are the ones who are haunted by what happened and nobody really wants to confront that history,” Huddle said.
History of Lake Lanier

Well before Lake Lanier was formed, the land it was built on was a bustling community called Oscarville, which formed in the late 1800s during the Reconstruction era. The town was majority white but had a small, mighty Black population, which included carpenters, blacksmiths, bricklayers and successful farmers in the region where a vast majority of the state struggled.

But this all changed in 1912 when an 18-year-old white woman named Mae Crow was found beaten, bloodied and unconscious in the woods near Oscarville under mysterious circumstances, the events of which are documented in Patrick Phillips's book, Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America.

Crow later died from her injuries, and three young Black men — the only Black people in that part of the county at the time — were accused of raping and murdering her, with little evidence other than a coerced confession from one of them. Later, the three men were lynched, one publicly, in a nearby town square.

The people in this October 1912 newspaper photo are not identified but are believed to be, front row from left: Trussie (Jane) Daniel, Oscar Daniel, Tony Howell (defendant in another rape case involving a white woman), Ed Collins (witness), Isaiah Pirkle (witness for Howell) and Ernest Knox. (Atlanta Constitution)

Read more at Yahoo News: A lynching scarred this Georgia county. Is it willing to confront its dark past?

By the year’s end, all of Oscarville’s Black residents, as well as the greater Forsyth County’s 1,098 Black inhabitants — or 10% of the county’s population — were violently forced out, and their history was largely driven out with them.

“The case of Oscarville is complicated,” Dee Gillespie, a history professor at the University of North Georgia, told Yahoo News. “This particular Black community was not lost because of the lake. Instead, Black communities at Oscarville and throughout Forsyth County were lost much earlier because of mob violence.”

In 1956, what was left of Oscarville was submerged when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Chattahoochee River to create a lake for flood control and power generation for Atlanta and the surrounding counties, according to the Gwinnett County website. It was not initially intended for recreation.

The lake was named after Sidney Lanier, an 18th-century Georgia poet who wrote “Song of the Chattahoochee.” It cost about $45 million to complete, which included buying land and relocating families, businesses and cemeteries.

Buford Dam on Lake Lanier, May 10, 2013. (John Bazemore/AP)

But several structures remained, including unmarked graves, parts of an auto-racing track and concrete foundations of buildings. In recent decades when the water levels drop during a drought, tire parts and other relics have been exposed, which many believe contribute to the drownings. Though engineers say they removed anything they deemed as dangerous during their initial demolition, experts say forest areas with trees that are 60-feet tall and other objects like barbed-wire fences and old chicken coops that may have loosened over time can serve as debris for people to become entrapped in — but they’re hesitant to pinpoint one cause.

“Sadly, there are multiple factors that can cause a drowning in Lake Lanier,” Kimberlie Ledsinger, a spokesperson for the Hall County Fire Rescue, which recovered the body from the lake last week, told Yahoo News.

The volume of visitors alone is also not an adequate explanation for the deaths, as Lake Allatoona, located about 40 miles west of Lanier, has a similar number of visitors each year but one-third of the deaths, according to the Oxford American.

“There is also no way of truly knowing from our point of view as first responders what causes them,” Ledsinger said.

Read more at Yahoo News: ‘The issues at the lake need to be addressed’: Another man dies after swimming in ‘cursed’ Lake Lanier

Closed boat ramps at Lake Lanier's East Bank Park, Oct., 25, 2007.

 (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

In July, Tamika Foster, a fashion designer and the ex-wife of R&B singer Usher, started an online petition to "drain, clean and restore" Lake Lanier. Foster’s 11-year-old son was killed at the lake in the summer of 2012 after a boater struck him while he was floating in an inner tube.

“Lake Lanier has a dark and sordid past, marked by multiple tragic incidents that have resulted in the loss of innocent lives,” read the petition, which has been signed by more than 8,200 people.
Oscarville and Lake Lanier legacy

Much like the Greenwood community of Tulsa, Okla., who in the early 20th century had created Black Wall Street, which evolved into a thriving metropolis for Black Americans until white supremacist violence demolished it seemingly overnight, Oscarville, in its physical form, is a distant memory.

“The real haunting in this story is how history has made it impossible to ignore what was done to the land in North Georgia,” author and historian Lisa Russell, told CNN. “Once a land of wild rivers, North Georgia is now broken with dams and human-made bodies of water that changed the ecosystem. Once a land that [belonged] to indigenous people, it is now buried under the water, making recovering of lost culture impossible.”

Ku Klux Klan supporters in small town of Cumming, Ga., north of Atlanta, along a route of a civil rights march in 1987. Forsyth County had very few minorities living there at the time, and outspoken white supremacist sympathizers wanted to keep it that way. A series of civil rights demonstrations that year helped pave the way for more minorities to relocate into the county.

 (Robin Rayne/ZUMA Wire)

In Lake Lanier, the same playground for some thrill seekers is a painful reminder of the past for others. Even the murky waters that often form at the lake due to runoff from homes and farms and sewage discharge symbolize something more than its distinction as the state’s most polluted lake, which, at its worst, often emits an odd color and odor from the water caused by algae blooms.

It’s a story many believe epitomizes the lack of progress of the greater county as a whole.

“Until [local leaders] confront that history, there’s never going to be true diversity in Forsyth County,” Huddle said. “And it isn’t really about the physical population either. It’s about coming to grips with something that was really ugly.”

'No words': 9/11 death toll continues to rise 22 years later

9/11 ENDED THE WAR ON DRUGS CREATED THE WAR ON TERROR

AARON KATERSKY and BILL HUTCHINSON
Thu, September 7, 2023 




As the nation prepares to mark the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the New York City Fire Department has added 43 new names to its World Trade Center Memorial Wall commemorating firefighters, paramedics and civilian support staff members who have died from illnesses related to the rescue and recovery efforts in the aftermath of one of the darkest days in U.S. history.

The additions to the memorial wall bring the total number of FDNY members who have succumbed to post-9/11 illnesses to 331, which is nearly equal to the number of firefighters killed in the Twin Towers on the day of the attacks.

The new names were unveiled at a ceremony on Wednesday and represent the second largest group to be added to the memorial wall since it was created 12 years ago with 55 names.

New York Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh told relatives of those being added to the wall that their loved ones died as "heroes."

"As we approach the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, the FDNY continues to feel the impact of that day," Kavanagh said at the ceremony in Lower Manhattan. "Each year, this memorial wall grows as we honor those who gave their lives in service of others. These brave men and women showed up that day, and in the days and months following the attacks to participate in the rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site. We will never forget them."

Many of those added to the wall Wednesday have died within the past year, officials said.

"There's no consolation, no words. There's nothing we can say to replace the pain that they sustained in the experience throughout the years as we mourn further and further away from the September 11th attacks," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at the service. "But they are heroes, not only those who were in the building, but those who responded after."

The inscription on the wall, which was dedicated in 2011, reads that the memorial is "dedicated to the memory of those who bravely served this department protecting life and property in the City of New York in the rescue and recovery effort at Manhattan Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center."

MORE: 'The Longest Shadow': 20 years later, 9/11 families seek justice -- and peace

"These events remind us of the promises we made to all of you and the never-ending dedication we have made to your loved ones," Kavanaugh said. "These events are symbols of our support and at their core, they are based in love and respect."

A bronze parapet bearing the names of victims in the 9/11 attacks is adorned with a fire helmet and U.S. national flags at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, Sept. 10, 2021. (Xinhua News Agency via Getty Ima)

She said the fallen FDNY members "lived with honor, humility and bravery and that is how they spent their last days fighting cancer and other illnesses that would eventually take their lives."

MORE: Dramatic new details released of Bush, Cheney dealing with 9/11 attacks

During the ceremony, the photos and names of the FDNY members being added to the wall were flashed on screens.

Those to be added to the memorial wall are Firefighter Dennis J. Komar, EMS Capt. Faye Baughman, EMS Lt. Gloria Gordon, Lt. Baudon C. Malmbeck, Firefighter Russell Feliciano, Dr. Sabina B. Ostolski, EMT Steven Thorsen, Lt. Arthur J. Darby, Firefighter Richard C. Toshack, Supervising Fire Marshal James E. Devery, Firefighter Edward V. Hronec, Firefighter Michael J. Arriaga, Firefighter Thomas D. Healy, EMT Patricia Scaduto, Lt. Michael G. Hance, Lt. Donald J. Kelly and Firefighter Thomas J. McDougall.

Also being added to the wall are Marine Wiper Bruce Peat, Lt. Joseph Brosi, Battalion Chief James J. Hanley, Firefighter Victor A. Cantelmo, Battalion Chief Vincent G. Lyons, Capt. Paul W. Schmalzried, Firefighter Ronald J. Kirchner, Firefighter William M. Hughes, Firefighter Gregg Lawrence, Battalion Chief Joseph A. McKie, Lt. James F. McCauley, Jr., Battalion Chief Stephen J. Geraghty, Firefighter George J. Tripptree, Firefighter Peter A. Chiodo, Firefighter John F. McDonnell, Battalion Chief Brian E. O'Flaherty, paramedic Peter L. Bushey, paramedic Paul Daniels, Capt. Gary A. Nybro, Firefighter James C. Mager, Firefighter Douglas F. Harkins, Lt. Richard Kobbe, Fire Marshal Karl J. Sederholt, Lt. James J. Burns II, Firefighter Michael T. Costa and Capt. Neil R. Ferro.

Mayor Adams, a retired New York City police captain who responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11, said, "We often reflect on the 11th. But I also remember Sept. 12th."

"We got up," he said. "The entire country was watching news. We were the epicenter of the most hate that you witnessed on our soil, but we responded not by buckling to terrorism and terror, but by responding with the level of bravery that we are known for."

"$170K A Year?" Some People Think UPS Workers Are Being Overpaid, So This 33-Year-Old Driver Broke Down The Numbers

Skyler said, "I never said that I should make more than anybody in the medical industry. Now, this might be a little bit of an unpopular opinion, but I don't think I should make less. I think they should make more."


BuzzFeed
Thu, September 7, 2023

2022 was the year of quiet quitting (which, let's be real, was just people taking back work-life balance and not really "quitting" in any meaningful sense of the word). But in 2023, labor unions are on the rise. Between the writers and actors strikes in Hollywood, a potential United Auto Workers union strike on the horizon, and other strikes around the US, some have dubbed these last few months "Hot Labor Summer."

David Mcnew / Getty Images
It's not hard to see why organized labor is having such a moment. Prices of basically everything have been going up, but for the average person, wages haven't risen accordingly. Plus, low unemployment rates mean that workers have more leverage in this moment to demand better conditions and better pay. And for many workers, this has been a long time coming.
One of this year's biggest labor stories was the historic contract the International Brotherhood of Teamsters negotiated for workers at UPS, averting a strike. UPS reportedly said that this five-year contract will result in the average driver making about $170,000 a year, a figure that's led to some online chatter from people claiming that UPS drivers are being overpaid.

Rivernorthphotography / Getty Images
But that's not the whole picture, and recently, 33-year-old UPS driver Skyler Stutzman went viral on TikTok for the way he explained what this deal actually means for drivers. In a video that's been viewed over 18 million times, Skyler says, "$170,000 a year is a bit of an exaggeration here, but let me break it down for you. Now, I don't know about you, but I love factual information. So I'm going to do my best to just be transparent about the wages that we make."


@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
Speaking before the new contract was voted on, Skyler explained, "Under current contract, our wage is $41.51 an hour. Now, this contract that has been seen all over social media, once that contract ratifies, which is in the voting process right now, we'll be making $44.26 an hour. Now, if you do some quick math here, if you were to take $44.26 an hour times 2,080 hours, which is 40 hours a week, that comes out to about $92,000 a year, but that's not including overtime, and it's also not the important part that we're missing here."


@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
Skyler continued by explaining how the medical insurance and pension he receives as a driver add up to this total: "Now, our pension, don't quote me, but it's roughly somewhere between $11 and $13 per hour that's paid into our pension at the 2,080 hours, which comes out roughly about $25,000 a year. Now, you can figure the medical insurance at whatever you want, but you can quickly see that it would actually take about a $170,000-a-year job to replace this one for me. Now, while the media is making it a little more profound than it really is, they're really not that far off of how amazing it is to work for this company."


@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
Basically, the $170,000 number represents total compensation, which is an important thing to take into consideration when you're looking at your pay or comparing salaries. Without a strong benefits package, you could end up in a situation where you make more on paper than you actually end up holding on to after shelling out for necessities like health insurance.

Teera Konakan / Getty Images
Watch the whole video here:


@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
Most of the top commenters were supportive of Skyler's message and really appreciated the transparency. One commenter wrote, "People, get mad at the corporations, hospitals, and businesses that are UNDERPAYING, not at an employee who has a living wage now."

@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
Another commenter chimed in, "If you're making less in another field and upset, don't bring these workers down, find out why your field isn't willing to offer you a livable wage!"

@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
Other commenters referenced the less-publicized fact that the new UPS deal will also make air conditioning in UPS trucks a requirement for the first time, after more than 100 UPS workers have been hospitalized for heat-related illness in the last few years. (I genuinely can't believe that UPS workers have been driving around in the heat without AC in the year 2023.)

@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
Some gently roasted UPS drivers, like this person who wrote, "$90k I would expect my package to be on time and delivered to my door and not the neighbors."

@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
Some fellow UPS workers also pointed out that the $170,000 figure doesn't apply to everyone. One person wrote, "I'm a loader at UPS, I make $19.20 per/hr and only get 4.5hrs a day. There is a HUGE disparity between drivers and everyone else."

@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
And others praised the power of unions and half jokingly requested a little bit of help. One commenter wrote, "Can the UPS union come help out teacher unions?"

@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
Another commenter added, "The only reason why it's amazing to work for UPS is the Union. Which fights against corporate executives and against the shareholders."

@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
While others rightfully pointed out that delivering packages is so much harder than it looks (most jobs are, tbh). As someone who regularly lost my temper while doing much lighter food delivery shifts, yes, I can say this absolutely checks out. Driving all day is tiring and can be dangerous at times, not to mention the heavy lifting involved in some UPS deliveries. And to do all that without air conditioning in this heat? I wouldn't last an hour.

@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
There were also quite a few commenters who liked seeing that Skyler showed himself clocking out to make the video, then clocking back in when he was done. If you're gonna post about work on social media, this is a great way to do it.

@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
But some commenters were not so happy to learn about how much UPS drivers make. One commenter wrote, "I'm sorry, this is ridiculous. Most RNs don't make that much." In a video made in response, Skyler said, "I never said that I should make more than anybody in the medical industry. Now, this might be a little bit of an unpopular opinion, but I don't think I should make less. I think they should make more."

@skylerleestutzman / Via tiktok.com
Skyler told BuzzFeed that he's been working for UPS since 2008, and in another video he said, "I've actually been with the company for 15 years now. And to be able to say that at such a young age, I feel very blessed."

In a statement, Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said of the deal, “Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry. This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and nonunion companies like Amazon better pay attention.”

"$170K A Year?" Some People Think UPS Workers Are Being Overpaid, So This 33-Year-Old Driver Broke Down The Numbers (yahoo.com)

Walmart's pay change for entry-level employees another signal of easing labor market

Brooke DiPalma
·Reporter
Fri, September 8, 2023

Walmart's (WMT) updated pay structure sent another signal to Wall Street that the labor market appears to be shifting.

In mid-July, Walmart changed the way it pays entry-level workers. Stockers and personal shoppers for online orders who join the Walmart workforce now make the same starting wage as cashiers — about $1 less per hour than the starting wage for those roles three months ago. Pay for existing workers did not change.

The world's largest retailer said it updated its pay structure to be "more consistent" across jobs and to create "new opportunities for associates to gain new skills from experience across the store," Anne Hatfield, a Walmart spokesperson, told Yahoo Finance. Hatfield added that nearly 50,000 employees received a wage increase following the change.

"This news does indicate the labor market tightness is easing more broadly," Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlowe wrote in a note, adding: "We don't believe that this change will have a material impact on Walmart's payrolls."

A Walmart worker organizes products at a Walmart store in Teterboro, New Jersey, U.S., October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

To some on Wall Street, the move suggests Walmart now has a leg up on workers, setting a different tone than earlier this year when it hiked its average hourly wage to $17.50 as companies struggled to attract enough staff.

The tight labor market also led other major retailers such as Home Depot (HD) to announce billion-dollar investments in wages earlier this year. But that may no longer be the norm going forward, as Walmart is seen as a bellwether for the economy.

As America's biggest private employer, providing nearly 1.6 million jobs in the US, Walmart often sets precedents for other retailers.

"The application rates must be up," Sucharita Kodali, Forrester Research retail analyst, told Yahoo Finance. "This will definitely trickle over to other parts of retail."

Other signs of slowing wage growth are emerging too. As Yahoo Finance's Myles Udland reported on Friday, wage gains for job switchers also point to an easing labor market.

The three-month average of annual wage growth for job-hoppers dropped to 5.6% in August. That's down from 8.5% in July 2022, according to data from the Atlanta Fed.

"We expect this labor market rebalancing to continue," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last month.

Meanwhile, Walmart stock continues to get a boost from investors, up nearly 20% from a year ago as consumers turn to the retail giant for value.

In the retail giant's second quarter earnings, the Arkansas-based chain posted same-store sales that rose 6.30%, more than the 4.04% expected.

—

Brooke DiPalma is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.

New union at Werner/ECM New Jersey operations files complaint with NLRB
John Kingston
Fri, September 8, 2023

The union representing a small number of workers at Werner subsidiary ECM have filed an action against ECM with the National Labor Relations Board. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The relationship between the newly elected union and a Werner Enterprises subsidiary is off to a rocky start.

Local 152 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, voted in late last month to represent 26 workers across three locations of Werner subsidiary ECM Transport, on Wednesday filed an unfair labor action charge against ECM with the National Labor Relations Board.

Although the details in the charge are not available on the NLRB website without a request under the Freedom of Information Act, FreightWaves has obtained a copy of the charging letter through the union.

The complaints made by the UFCW are not lengthy but their significance may be in how rapidly they were filed — less than two weeks after the union representation victory on Aug. 24. That may not bode well for a contract to ever be agreed upon by the union and ECM/Werner.

When the workers at ECM voted to be represented by the UFCW, it was the first union at Werner (NASDAQ: WERN).

In the letter, UFCW said workers who voted in favor of the union saw their hours reduced and regular shifts were eliminated. By not engaging with the union on the changes, the UFCW said that “the conduct constitutes a failure to bargain with the union,” citing a section of the National Labor Relations Act.

Mike Thompson, the vice president and director of organizing with the union, said the actions only have occurred at ECM’s facility in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. The workers who voted in favor of the union came from Cinnaminson as well as Hamilton and Piscataway, New Jersey.

“Since the election, they are sending drivers home or just telling them to stay home,” Thompson said in an email to FreightWaves. “The company has cited losing customers and the holiday. If that was the case, it would affect other terminals and it hasn’t.”

Drivers on site “can see loads in other yards that normally come to them” and the drivers among various facilities can see that there is volume at other facilities that have not voted in the union, Thompson said. “The company is punishing them for exercising their rights and we hope the labor board will address this.”

Werner, in a comment emailed to FreightWaves, said “It is unfortunate the union filed a ULP. The charge is completely without merit. We have and will continue to comply with our legal obligations.”

ECM is a regional truckload carrier that Werner acquired in July 2021. The unionization drive by the UFCW at the small concentration of workers was considered significant enough by Werner that CEO Derek Leathers made a personal visit to meet with the workers in New Jersey.

By being a regional truckload carrier, the ECM employees work out of a particular depot, similar to an LTL company, which makes unionization possible. Over-the-road truckload carriers are considered far more difficult, if not impossible, to unionize.

Stellantis sees long road ahead for internal combustion engine cars

Giulio Piovaccari
Thu, September 7, 2023 

 A Stellantis sign at the entrance of the carmaker's factory in Hordain, France

MILAN (Reuters) - Carmaker Stellantis believes internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles could be on the road until 2050, making it necessary to contain their carbon emissions until they're finally replaced by fully electric ones.

The world's third-largest carmaker by sales, whose brands include Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep, said this week tests it ran with Saudi oil giant Aramco showed 24 types of internal combustion engines in European vehicles it produced since 2014 can use advanced e-fuels without modification.

Stellantis has reaffirmed its commitment to all new car sales in Europe being battery-electric by 2030, although the European Union has excluded cars that run on e-fuels from its 2035 deadline to phase out new carbon dioxide-emitting cars.

Many of the new ICE vehicles being sold by Stellantis between now and 2029 would still be on the roads in more than two decades, Christian Mueller, Stellantis' Senior Vice President, Propulsion Systems for the EMEA region said on Thursday.

"We have to really take care about our inventory fleet," he said, adding that the long lifespan of cars made the development of synthetic e-fuels, which are produced with renewable energy, more important.

"I think 25% of our vehicles are still in use after 20 years. Hence, this kind of exposure time to e-fuels is considerable, very considerable," he told a briefing.

Stellantis estimates that its engine types identified as compatible with e-fuels represent about 28 million vehicles on the roads in Europe, with a potential CO2 emission reduction in the region of up to 400 million metric tons between 2025 and 2050.

Many sceptics however point out e-fuels are not a viable alternative in the short time, due to their low availability and high costs.

Aramco's Transport Chief Technologist Amer Amer said production of e-fuels was expected to start in early 2025 from the group's two demonstration plants in Saudi Arabia and Spain.

Stellantis and Aramco executives said e-fuel availability was expected to increase and their prices to go down, also thanks to favourable taxation in the European Union, "in the future", but without providing more specific predictions.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Keith Weir)