SLEAZY CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M 
How the Gaetz probe grew from sex trafficking to medical pot

Sat., May 1, 2021



ORLANDO, Fla. — When Rep. Matt Gaetz vacationed in the Bahamas in 2018, he was joined by a doctor who donated to his campaign and a former colleague in the Florida state legislature.

The Republican congressman, Dr. Jason Pirozzolo and Halsey Beshears were united in their enjoyment of politics, fancy travel and the company of beautiful women. They also had another mutual interest: Florida’s $1.2 billion medical marijuana industry.

The Bahamas trip is a central element of a federal investigation surrounding Gaetz that has suddenly endangered his political career. What began as a probe into sex trafficking and whether Gaetz paid women and an underage girl in exchange for sex has grown into a larger review of public corruption, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Investigators are looking at whether Gaetz and his associates tried to secure government jobs for some of the women, the people said. They are also scrutinizing Gaetz’s connections to the medical marijuana sector, including whether Pirozzolo and others sought to influence legislation Gaetz sponsored. The probe includes legislation from 2018, when Gaetz was in Congress, and earlier work in the state legislature, according to one of the people.

Pressure on the congressman could build in the coming weeks as Joel Greenberg, a Gaetz associate who has been accused of trafficking a minor for sex, faces a May 15 deadline to strike a plea deal with prosecutors. If he does, Greenberg may be pressed to co-operate with federal investigators and deliver damaging information against Gaetz.

None of the people on the trip to the Bahamas has been charged with a crime. Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and has retained high-powered lawyers. The congressman and his representative did not respond to a message seeking comment for this story.

Beshears and a lawyer for Pirozzolo declined to comment for this story.

The Associated Press spoke with more than 10 people familiar with the dynamic among Gaetz, Pirozzolo and Beshears. Three of the people had knowledge of the investigation. They all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to publicly discuss the ongoing probe.

Gaetz's interest in medical marijuana dates back nearly a decade, when he was a member of the Florida House of Representatives. Well before he would gain national attention for his steadfast support of Donald Trump, Gaetz would carve out an unusual reputation in Tallahassee as a Republican who wanted to liberalize marijuana laws.

In February 2014, Gaetz co-sponsored the first state effort to allow marijuana for medical use. His proposal allowing the use of a non-hallucinogenic marijuana extract was limited to patients with cancer or a severe form of epilepsy and slowly earned the support of his father, Don Gaetz, who was then serving as president of the Florida Senate and said he was “being pummeled” by his son about supporting it.

Gaetz cast his proposal as a pared-down alternative to a statewide ballot measure that would have broadly legalized medical marijuana. Gaetz's law was approved with broad bipartisan support and signed into law by Republican Gov. Rick Scott in June 2014, while the statewide measure narrowly failed at the ballot box that November.

The day Gaetz's measure was up for a final debate and vote in Florida's House of Representatives, both Pirozzolo and Beshears were on the floor.

Beshears was a fellow GOP member of the legislature who joined Gaetz to support the legislation. Pirozzolo, an Orlando hand doctor and pilot, was there serving as the physician of the day for the lawmakers — a role he would frequently take on by flying his own plane to Tallahassee.

Once the legislation passed, it created lucrative new opportunities for Beshears' family and Pirozzolo.

The long-standing nursery owned by Beshears' family was awarded one of five highly coveted licenses to cultivate and dispense medical marijuana.

The legislation was written to specify — and restrict — who could win such a license. An amendment added by another lawmaker in the Florida House limited the pool of applicants to nurseries that had been in continuous business for 30 years and had an inventory of 400,000 or more plants.

The Beshears family nursery, joining with two other growers, met that standard.

The Tampa Bay Times reported in 2014 that Beshears had failed to file a conflict of interest report when he voted on the bill, and the lawmaker who sponsored the amendment wanted to “err on the side of limiting who could qualify now” when embarking on such a new industry. More licenses have since been awarded, but the industry is still tightly controlled.

Another amendment added to the 2014 legislation the day Pirozzolo watched in the House required dispensary applicants to employ a doctor as a medical director.

Eight days later, Pirozzolo started a consulting firm connecting marijuana businesses with medical directors, the Orlando Sentinel reported. He later co-founded a group called the American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association, which advocates for doctors who recommend medical cannabis.

Gaetz has spoken at least twice at the association’s annual conferences, including an appearance with longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, according to the group’s social media posts and the recollections of a member.

With recommendations from Gaetz and Beshears in 2018, Pirozzolo was appointed by current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to serve on a board that runs Orlando International Airport. In 2019, he stood next to DeSantis on an airport tarmac and greeted Trump as he arrived in Orlando to kick off his reelection campaign, according to video posted online by an Orlando Sentinel reporter.

Two years after Gaetz's first medical marijuana law, he sponsored another measure in the Florida legislature to expand on it, allowing near-death patients to use non-smokable marijuana of all strengths and doses.

The day it came up for a vote in the Florida House, Beshears voted for it, and Pirozzolo witnessed it, again serving as the doctor of the day.

By the time Gaetz was in Congress in 2018, he introduced legislation that would increase the number of entities that would conduct cannabis research. The legislation included provisions similar to what Pirozzolo's group was pushing to also expand research.

Nearly five months later, the men would meet in the Bahamas.

___

Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Fla., and Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Price on Twitter at twitter.com/michellelprice and Balsamo at https://twitter.com/MikeBalsamo1.

Michelle L. Price And Michael Balsamo, The Associated Press

How regenerative farming could help Canada meet its new carbon emission targets

CBC Sat., May 1, 2021


Claudia Wagner-Riddle, an agro-meteorologist at the University of Guelph, says cover cropping, integrating livestock and increased diversity are key components to using agriculture to fight climate change through improved soil health. 

(Mia Sheldon/CBC - image credit)

Standing in a field of alfalfa, 79-year-old Carl Israel picks up a handful of soil, smells it and remarks on its sweetness.

"I remember my dad saying … that when you're out there all day on the plow, you really get an appetite because of the smell of the soil."

That same soil, crucial to healthy crops and livestock, could also play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and help the Canadian government meet ambitious targets it announced recently.

Carl's grandson Brett, 24, says that by adopting a series of regenerative farming techniques like the ones used by his family's 3Gen Organics operation, farmers can reduce agricultural emissions while simultaneously improving soil health.

"Farmers are on the forefront of climate change, we are seeing more intense weather systems," Brett Israel said. "So we need to build resilient systems to overcome these issues and enrich the environment around us."

Building those resilient systems starts with allowing soil to capture and sequester more carbon through cover cropping, promoting crop diversity, protecting watersheds and integrating livestock into the farm system, according to Claudia Wagner-Riddle, an agro-meteorologist at the University of Guelph who studies agricultural emissions and greenhouse gases.

Agriculture is responsible for 10 per cent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. As part of its strategy to address climate change, the government earmarked $270 million in its April 19 federal budget to support agriculture and climate-smart solutions, including regenerative farming.

"They [regenerative practices] are making the system more resilient to extreme climate events or weather events," Wagner-Riddle said, adding that keeping carbon sequestered in the soil in organic compounds means it is not easily accessible to be returned to the atmosphere. "That is the magic of carbon sequestration."

Brett Israel switched to regenerative farming five years ago, which includes rotating through 20 different types of crops on his organic pig farm in Wallenstein, Ont.

"We've been able to integrate forages back into our cropping system, keeping the ground covered over winter, reducing our tillage which helps us sequester more atmospheric carbon into our soils, and ultimately trying to balance our livestock with our crop land."

Crumbling soil in his hands, tracing the intricate root systems and nitrogen nodules, Israel says planting crops like alfalfa, oats or winter wheat throughout the year instead of leaving the ground bare over the winter — a practice called cover cropping — makes his soil healthier.

"The cover crop might not be feeding my physical livestock or feeding people, [but] it's feeding the biology below our ground right now."

Brett Israel's family farm in Wallenstein, Ont., rotates through 20 different types of crops and has reduced tillage to help keep the soil healthy.(Ousama Farag/CBC)

It can take up to a decade to see the benefits of regenerative farming and carbon sequestration, and the practice has remained a relatively fringe approach to agriculture until recently. But a growing body of research is showing its effectiveness in reducing agricultural emissions and improving the soil.

"In the last 10 years, there has been a lot of effort put into from various organizations to raise awareness of soil health to better measure and be able to say when the soil is healthy or not," said Wagner-Riddle.

Standing between two fields at the university, one that uses regenerative practices and one that does not, the side using regenerative techniques is green with the remains of a radish crop. The other dry and brown. Wagner-Riddle says leaving fields dormant is a missed opportunity for farmers. The dormant land could be growing crops, feeding the soil and helping to offset climate change.

Claudia Wagner-Riddle walks between two fields at the University of Guelph. The one that uses regenerative techniques is green with the remains of a radish crop that continues to feed microbes in the soil, while the one that does not is bare.(Mia Sheldon/CBC)

But a big hurdle, she says, is persuading farmers of the benefits.

"Overall, it's extra work for the farmers, right?," she said. "Basically they have to plant the [cover] crop by the seed without getting an income, because you're not selling it to feed people or animals. You're using it to feed the soil."

Another issue hampering wider adoption has been the difficulty of quantifying the economic and environmental impact of regenerative farming, because hard data has been scarce. Wagner-Riddle says she hopes to help address those concerns later this year when she publishes results summarizing the first three years of her study of the soil's ability to store carbon.

Blain Hjertaas has also been trying to get other farmers to adopt regenerative farming practices. He started using them himself in the late '90s on his cattle farm in southeastern Saskatchewan, helping foster both the overall health of the soil and the growth of the microbes living and dying in it that sequester carbon.

"In my mind it's really simple. There are three types of agriculture. There's degenerative, in which the soil health is going down. In sustainable [agriculture], it stays the same," he explained.

"Regenerative [agriculture] is when we turn the corner and we say, oh, we're going to make it go better again. So that's regenerative."

In recent decades, tilling has been blamed for disturbing soil and advancing erosion. The practice has mostly subsided on the prairies, but Hjertaas says much more needs to change to make a larger dent in agricultural emissions.

"We got to capture that sun up there, get photosynthesis to happen, and get that sugar down into the roots, which feeds the organisms below our feet."

A cover crop may not feed people or livestock, but it helps feed microbes below ground that keep the soil healthy and productive.(Mia Sheldon/CBC)

Hjertaas uses rotational grazing with his livestock to encourage plant regrowth, for example, naturally distributing nutrients and allowing roots to grow deeper.

"On this farm, we are sequestering enough carbon to more than offset 400 Canadians' footprint [per year]" he said. The average Canadian's carbon footprint is 15.6 tonnes annually.

Hjertaas is confident in those numbers, but admits it is not an exact science. And unlike organic farming, there are no regulatory bodies for regenerative agriculture and the practice remains more of philosophy.

Even so, major corporations are recognizing the benefits and getting involved.

Cargill has pledged to promote regenerative agriculture on more than four million hectares of farmland in North America by 2030.

Walmart has also announced its intent to become a regenerative company.

General Mills began working with farmers across North America in 2019 to advance regenerative agriculture over about 400,000 hectares, a project that includes 45 oat farmers in Saskatchewan. The company offers soil testing and coaching to participating farmers, to help offset its own carbon footprint.

Blain Hjertaas started using regenerative farming practices in the late '90s on his cattle farm in southeastern Saskatchewan. He also teaches other farmers about the benefits of regenerative techniques.(Bonnie Allen/CBC)More

Hjertaas is one of the trainers with General Mills. "They have very little greenhouse gas emissions in their own processing, but most of the greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. So that's why they want to work with us as the farmers producing their products, to get us to lower our greenhouse gas emissions."

Agriculture is an industry steeped in tradition, and Israel admits it can be a struggle to get some farmers to try something new.

However, he tells others it's actually like going back to how his great-grandfather used to farm the same land before climate change was a crisis.

"At the start you get some questions and some strange looks from the neighbours," he said, noting the unconventional grains or crops he might be growing as a pork producer. But he's hopeful more farmers will start using regenerative agriculture.

"These [climate change issues] are universal problems, and farmers should be taking a step."

DOUG FORD'S CONSERVATIVE PARTY

Ontario had no plan to address pandemic or protect residents in long-term care, final commission report says

CBC
Fri., April 30, 2021

Crosses representing residents who died of COVID-19 are pictured on the lawn of Camilla Care Community, in Mississauga, Ont., on Jan. 13, 2021. The long term care home is among Ontario’s hardest-hit by the pandemic. 

(Evan Mitsui/CBC - image credit)

Ontario was not prepared to address a pandemic and had no plan to protect residents in long-term care thanks to years of neglect, according to a final report from an independent commission released Friday evening.

The province's Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission submitted its final 322-page report to the provincial government Friday night, which highlighted the actions and inactions that contributed to the devastation in long-term care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It found that the province failed to learn lessons from the SARS epidemic in 2003 and that sweeping reforms are needed to protect Ontario's vulnerable residents in the future.

"This investigation has shown that long-standing weaknesses in the long-term care sector figured prominently in the death and devastation COVID-19 inflicted on residents, their loved ones and the staff who care for them."

The report looked into the shortcomings of the government's response, the best practices and promising ideas to improve long-term care and presented its final recommendations.

The commission said poor facility design and resident overcrowding heightened sickness and death in the nursing homes, with nearly 4,000 residents and 11 staff dying of COVID-19 by the end of April.

It said a severe staffing shortage and a workforce poorly trained in infection control measures compounded the situation.

The report said new facilities need to be built to address the needs of the province's aging population and adds that the government also needs to reconsider how those nursing homes are managed, with a focus on quality care.

"It is plain and obvious that Ontario must develop, implement, and sustain long-term solutions for taking care of its elderly and preparing for a future pandemic."

The commission interviewed more than 700 people and reviewed thousands of documents since it began work last summer.

GOOD NEWS
Iran negotiator: based on accords so far, U.S. sanctions on oil, banks would be lifted


Meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna


By Francois Murphy
Sat., May 1, 2021

VIENNA (Reuters) -Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said on Saturday Tehran expects U.S. sanctions on oil, banks and most individuals and institutions to be lifted based on agreements so far in Vienna talks, Iranian media reported, while Washington again played down the prospect of an imminent breakthrough.

Russia and Western European powers meanwhile gave contrasting accounts of the task ahead in the talks to bring Iran and the United States fully back into compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal, as the talks adjourned for six days.

"Sanctions ... on Iran's energy sector, which include oil and gas, or those on the automotive industry, financial, banking and port sanctions, all should be lifted based on agreements reached so far," Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.

Araqchi did not say under which mechanism sanctions would be lifted or refer to how Tehran would meet Washington's demands and return to its commitments under the deal.

"We will negotiate until the two sides' positions come closer and our demands are met," he said. "If they are met there will be an agreement, if not there will naturally be no agreement."

Asked to comment, the U.S. State Department referred back to past statements, including remarks on Friday from the U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, who said the talks were in "an unclear place."

"We've seen willingness of all sides, including the Iranians, to talk seriously about sanctions relief restrictions and a pathway back into the JCPOA," Sullivan said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal's title.

"But it is still uncertain as to whether this will culminate in a deal in Vienna," he said.

The State Department also referred to remarks by State Department spokesman Ned Price on Thursday, when he said the sides were "not on the cusp of any breakthrough" and there was "a potentially long road ahead."

President Joe Biden is seeking to return to the deal that former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018. Trump reimposed sanctions against Tehran and Iran responded by breaching many of the deal's limits on its nuclear activities.

Talks began last month in Vienna with the remaining parties to the deal - Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - meeting in the basement of a luxury hotel, and the United States based in another hotel across the street. Iran has refused to hold direct meetings with U.S. officials.

"We have much work, and little time, left. Against that background, we would have hoped for more progress this week," senior diplomats from the so-called E3 - France, Britain and Germany - said in a statement.

Officials have said they hope to reach a deal by May 21, when an agreement between Tehran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog on continued monitoring of some Iranian nuclear activities is due to expire.

"We have yet to come to an understanding on the most critical points. Success is by no means guaranteed, but not impossible," they added.

Russia's ambassador to the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Mikhail Ulyanov, told reporters after a meeting of the remaining parties wrapping up the third round of talks that breakthroughs should not be expected in the days to come. He said the talks would reconvene on Friday.

"We need simply to continue diplomatic, day-to-day work, and we have all the reasons to expect that the outcome, (the) final outcome, will be successful and it will come quite soon, in a few weeks," said Ulyanov, one of the more optimistic voices at the talks.

The break in talks was widely expected as diplomats said officials from several countries are also involved in the Group of Seven foreign ministers' meeting in London that begins on Monday and ends on Wednesday.

In his remarks, Araqchi said that "There are individuals and institutions that have been specifically sanctioned and their (the U.S.) list is long. Talks on the list are still ongoing". He added that under what had been agreed so far, more than a majority of the list would have the sanctions lifted.

(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris, Dubai newsroom and Davbid Brunnstrom in Washington; Writing by Francois Murphy; Editing by John Stonestreet, David Holmes, Frances Kerry and Daniel Wallis)

Homeland Security to repair damage created by TRUMP'S border wall




SAN DIEGO — The Biden administration said Friday that it will begin work to address the risks of flooding and soil erosion from unfinished sections of the wall on the U.S. border with Mexico and will cancel military-funded contracts as it shuts down one of President Donald Trump's signature domestic projects.

Construction under the Trump administration “blew large holes" into the flood barrier system of low-lying regions in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, the Homeland Security Department said. It said it will “quickly repair” the flood barrier system without extending the wall.

Hidalgo County, Texas, officials have expressed alarm about flooding risks during the hurricane season starting in June from breaches in a levee system after Biden halted border wall construction immediately upon taking office in January.

The department said it would also fix “improper compaction of soil and construction materials” along parts of a 14-mile (22. 4-kilometre ) barrier in San Diego and soon unveil plans to address additional damage from border wall construction during Trump's presidency. The San Diego wall is largely in unpopulated stretches in areas restricted to Border Patrol agents.

Biden ordered a pause on all wall construction on his first day office, leaving billions of dollars of work unfinished — but still under contract — after Trump worked feverishly last year to build more than 450 miles (720 kilometres ), a goal he said he achieved eight days before leaving office.

Biden gave aides until late March to determine how much it would cost to cancel contracts and whether money could be spent elsewhere. Answers began emerging Friday.

The Defence Department said it in a statement that it is cancelling contracts and will use unobligated money for military construction projects for its initial purpose. It is reviewing which of the billions of dollars in delayed projects would get priority.

As of Jan. 15, the government had spent $6.1 billion of the $10.8 billion in work it signed contracts to have done, according to a Senate Democratic aide with knowledge of the contracts who spoke on condition of anonymity because details have not been made public. The full amount under contract would have extended Trump’s wall to 664 miles (1,069 kilometres ).

Publicly, the Trump administration said it secured $15 billion for the wall. The Senate aide said it was actually $16.45 billion, $5.8 billion of which was appropriated by Congress and the rest diverted from the Defence and Treasury departments.

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez recently told Border Report that there were at least four breaches in the levee system protecting Hidalgo County’s low-lying region from floods during a major storm.

The dirt levee was built under 2006 legislation to protect the delta region from flooding but was also a staging ground for Trump’s border wall. Cortez said the areas were left vulnerable when Biden halted work.

Environmental advocates welcomed Friday's announcement.

“This long overdue reprieve is a huge step toward justice for people and wildlife in the borderlands,” said Laiken Jordahl of the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re grateful that the Biden administration has stopped this senseless destruction."

Elliot Spagat, The Associated Press

Fri., April 30, 2021

#ENDCUBAEMBARGO

Pandemic and economic crisis dampen May Day in Cuba

Marc Frank and Nelson Acosta
Sat., May 1, 2021

May Day in Havana


By Marc Frank and Nelson Acosta

HAVANA (Reuters) - For a second consecutive year Communist-run Cuba canceled its emblematic May Day march though Havana's Plaza de la Revolution Square on Saturday as it battles a surge in COVID-19 cases and a scarcity of basic goods.

Across the island, small groups of dignitaries gathered at abandoned squares that would usually be filled by crowds of banner-waving citizens marking International Workers Day, the country's most important holiday after Jan. 1, victory day of former leader Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution.

"Congratulations workers! It is monumental what has been done to survive the pandemic under a reinforced blockade and still move forward," President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is also first secretary of the Communist party, wrote on Twitter.

Cuba's economy shrunk 11% last year under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic, harsh U.S. sanctions and its Soviet-style system.

The country has recorded more COVID-19 cases and deaths this year than in all of 2020, though the mortality rate remains among the best in the world and two homegrown vaccines are in final trials.

Ulises Guilarte de Nascimiento, head of the official and only trade union federation, said on state-run television on Friday that workers faced layoffs and inflation and some struggled to "meet their basic needs". He blamed U.S. sanctions and said hard work and greater efficiency would lead to better days.

Speaking on Saturday morning to a small group of national leaders gathered in front of the monument to independence hero Jose Marti in Revolution Square, he was defiant.

"We workers are aware that we are going through a complex and challenging scenario, but we also carry the conviction that Fidel taught us, that only those who fight, resist and do not give up have the right to succeed," he said.

State-run media urged citizens to turn their homes into squares and share their celebrations on social media. Small groups of workers rallied at some workplaces. People hung flags from balconies and played the national anthem.

"Today is a special day, a sad day, because in all this time of the pandemic we have lost valuable workers," Havana resident Enrique Tondique Domínguez said early Saturday at a small rally in front of the Mining and Energy Ministry.

"It is a happy day because it is May Day, but it is also a sad day because many workers are no longer with us," he said.

(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Haida Gwaii hobby farmer invites guests to spend time with her baby goats

CBC Sat., May 1, 2021, 

During her time with the baby goats, Rose said she noticed how happy she was interacting with them and felt it was too selfish not to share the joy with others. (Submitted by Harmonie Rose - image credit)

A hobby farmer in Haida Gwaii is offering a new way to kick the COVID-19 blues and is welcoming guests to her farm to spend some time with her new baby goats.

Harmonie Rose said seven baby goats were all born within a span of one week and she felt it was too selfish to be enjoying them all to herself, especially during a time when everyone could use some extra joy.

"It always made me feel good watching them play, watching them nuzzle around, picking them up, holding them, and listening to their little noises," Rose said on the CBC's Daybreak North.

"I thought this is too good to hoard to myself."

She said she made a post on the Haida Gwaii Communities Facebook page and invited "all fellow Islanders" to come see, hold and cuddle her baby goats — with safety measures like social distancing in place.

"I said hey, you know, if you want some goat lovin,' I've got seven babies so just drop by and I'll keep my distance and you can have some goat time," Rose said.

Rose said she immediately got three or four messages and she's already had a few families come for a visit.

"A couple of families came up and spent a bit of time last weekend and it was great," she said. "I also had a little boy [visit]. He was two and he really loved the farm. He was really, really upset about having to leave."

She said there's no end date to her invitation and anyone needing some time with the goats is welcome to visit her hobby farm.

LISTEN | Harmonie Rose talks about offering goat therapy to the community on Daybreak North:

Watch | Harmonie's baby goats parade around a Haida Gwaii boardwalk:

Subscribe to Daybreak North on CBC Listen or your favourite podcast app, and connect with CBC Northern British Columbia on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

1. Haida Gwaii - Wikipedia

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haida_Gwaii
   • Overview

   Haida Gwaii is an archipelago located between 55–125 km (34–78 mi) off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Hecate Strait. Queen Charlotte Sound lies to the south, with Vancouver Island beyond. To the north, the disputed Dixon Entrance separates Haida Gwaii from the Alexander Archipelago in the U.S. state of Alaska.
   Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island (Kiis Gwaay) in the north and Moresby Island(T'…

   Wikipedia · Text under CC-BY-SA license

NOT A TROPHY HUNT

'I hit him good': Trophy elk nets Alberta bowhunter a world record


The math doesn't matter too much to O'Shea. He was happy to have meat to feed his family through the winter and a good story to tell. He plans to have a taxidermist create a full-body mount.

THAT'S ONE OLD BULL I WONDER HOW TASTY IT WAS

Sun., May 2, 2021

Shawn O'Shea poses with the elk that would soon earn him a world record. (Submitted by Shawn O'Shea - image credit)

An Alberta farmer who waited three years for a clean shot at an elusive elk now holds a world record for bowhunting.

Last month, the U.S-based Pope and Young Club confirmed Shawn O'Shea's trophy is the largest bow-harvested non-typical American elk ever in North America.

It scored 449 4/8 inches, beating the previous record by 7 4/8 inches.

O'Shea, a 55-year-old former oilfield worker, killed the animal last fall, not far from his farm near Vegreville, 100 kilometres east of Edmonton.

"In 2017 I got some trail cam pictures of it just passing through the area that I hunt," he said. "No idea that it would ever be a record of any kind; just knew that it was huge and something we wanted to pursue."

The bull made a few more trail-cam cameos but continued to elude O'Shea and his sons Tyson, Keefe, Ryan and Timothy.

Shawn O'Shea first learned of the big bull when his trail camera snapped a photo of the animal rubbing a tree that draws elk.(Submitted by Shawn O'Shea)

Last September, Tyson and Keefe spotted the elk. They got close, but not close enough. O'Shea caught up with it a week later.

"When I first saw him, my heart was just beating like crazy out of my chest, and I'm like 'Holy, I've got to calm down,'" he said.

"He just stood there for probably the better part of three or four minutes and I was able to regain my composure and think about the shot I had to make."

He was hidden in a blind, with the elk at 35 yards and closing.

It was dusk; the light was fading.

"He couldn't see me and I had his wind perfect so I didn't have to worry about him smelling me. He had to walk just to get past me before I could draw with the bow, otherwise he'd sense movement."

O'Shea had his elk call at the ready.

"I just let out a little chirp and he stopped, and as soon as he stopped I was drawn and ready to shoot."

'Amazing is the only word I can think of'

"He was at 18 yards which is pretty much even a chip shot for me," O'Shea said. "Everything can go wrong. You've still got to get him perfect with the bow but I hit him good."

Tyson and Keefe, hunting nearby, joined their father at the site.

"Lots of guys hoot, holler and whatever but we walked up to it as a group, the three of us, and everybody just kind of looked at it and we just looked at each other," O'Shea said. "Amazing is the only word I can think of."

They field-dressed the elk and got it to Tyson's home after midnight. A closer look at the antlers told them they had something special.

A neighbour asked O'Shea if he was interested in getting it officially scored.

That's how he learned he had beaten the previous world record.

Official measurers with the Pope and Young Club pose with O'Shea's trophy antlers.(Pope and Young Club)

In an email, Pope and Young record chair Roy Grace explained how trophy elk are measured.

"All qualified points that are grown on an elk's antler structure are measured to the nearest ⅛-inch," Grace wrote.

"First the typical frame (normal points) is measured and deductions occur for side-to-side symmetry. Once that is completed, the abnormal, or 'non-typical' points are added to the net typical score for the final net non-typical score."

The math doesn't matter too much to O'Shea. He was happy to have meat to feed his family through the winter and a good story to tell. He plans to have a taxidermist create a full-body mount.

The trick will be finding room for it in his home.

Grand Canyon opens lottery for shooting bison in the park

TOO BAD YOU KILLED ALL  THE WOLVES

Fri., April 30, 2021



FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The National Park Service is opening a rare opportunity for skilled shooters to help reduce the number of bison roaming the far reaches of northern Arizona.

Come Monday, potential volunteers will have 48 hours to submit an application to kill the massive animals at Grand Canyon National Park this fall. Thousands of people from across the country are expected to apply. Only 12 will be chosen through a lottery system and notified in mid-May.

“It's a unique experience and you can walk a long ways before you see one, then you gotta get a shot,” said Dave Arnold, a Sun City resident and hunter who harvested a bison in 2002 in South Dakota. “That's where the fun ends. ...It's going to be a lot of work if they get a good-size animal."

The non-physically fit need not apply. Much of the work will be done on foot in elevations of 8,000 feet (2,438 metres ) or higher at the Grand Canyon's North Rim. Volunteers can't use motorized transportation or stock animals to retrieve the bison that can weigh up to 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms).

Each volunteer can choose a support crew and will have to prove firearms proficiency.

Officials at the Grand Canyon say the bison increasingly have been trampling archaeological resources, creating deep ruts and wallows in meadows, and spoiling ponds. They can be hunted on the adjacent national forest, which has pushed them to make their homes almost exclusively within the Grand Canyon.

“They are very skilled climbers. They can get down in places humans can’t,” Grand Canyon spokeswoman Kaitlyn Thomas said.

The park service released a plan in September 2017 that called for a mix of corralling the animals near the highway that leads to the North Rim and relocating them, and for skilled volunteers to shoot.

Hunting is prohibited within national parks. But the agency has authority to kill animals that harm resources, using park staff or volunteers.

Other national parks have turned to volunteer shooters to reduce the number of wildlife, including mountain goats at Olympic National Park in Washington, and elk at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

Between 300 and 500 bison are on the Grand Canyon's North Rim. The park wants to reduce the number to 200, and it has made progress with corralling and relocating the animals.

Grand Canyon Superintendent Ed Keable revived talks over the lethal option after they had stalled. An agreement reached last year between the park and the Arizona Game and Fish Department lets each volunteer shooter keep up to one full bison. The work will happen in September and October.

Native American tribes will have a separate opportunity to become volunteer shooters, but those agreements aren't finalized, Thomas said.

The state wildlife office will select and vet 25 applicants and forward those to the park service, which will choose 12 in a lottery. Employees of the Arizona Department of Game and Fish and the park service aren't eligible.

Unlike hunting, volunteers won't have to pay for a bison tag that can top $5,400 for non-Arizona residents. Shooting a bison at the Grand Canyon also won't count against the one bison lifetime limit for hunters.

“None of the things that a person has to think about when they're getting drawn for a regular bison hunt through the Arizona Game and Fish Department apply,” said Larry Phoenix, a regional supervisor for the department.

Environmental groups have said lethal removal appeases the state wildlife agency and is far less efficient than other methods. They also contend the sound of gunshots will affect other wildlife that aren’t the targets.

“It’s not the appropriate way to go about this in our eyes,” said Alicyn Gitlin of the Sierra Club.

Volunteer shooters must bring their own equipment and use non-lead ammunition to avoid the risk of poisoning the endangered California condor that scavenges on gut piles. The park service will provide cold storage for the work week.

Wildlife officials say shooting bison within the park should pressure the animals to move back to the Kaibab National Forest. The bison are descendants of those introduced to northern Arizona in the early 1900s as part of a ranching operation to crossbreed them with cattle and are owned by the state.

Arnold, the Sun City resident, said a few people in his sportsmen's group have said they are interested in applying for the volunteer effort. But at 78, he won't be a contender.

“It’s going to be very appealing to some people,” Arnold said. “If I was 20 years younger, I would be right there in line.”

Felicia Fonseca, The Associated Press

Myanmar protesters march three months after coup; U.N. warns of 'standstill'


FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators march to protest against the military coup, in Dawei


(Reuters) - Protesters against military rule marched in Myanmar on Saturday three months after a coup ended a democratic transition, with several small blasts compounding a sense of crisis that a U.N. envoy warned could bring state administration to a halt.

The military has tried to end dissent and impose its authority on a people largely opposed to the return of rule by the generals after 10 years of democratic reforms that included a government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi.

Despite a relentless crackdown in which at least 759 protesters have been killed, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group, crowds come out day after day to reject the junta.

"Our cause, democracy, our cause, a federal union. Free arrested leaders," protesters chanted at one of two rallies in the main city of Yangon.

Suu Kyi, 75, has been detained since the coup the along with many other members of her party. The AAPP says more than 3,400 people have been detained for opposing the military.

People also rallied in the second city of Mandalay and the southern town of Dawei, media reported.

There were no immediate reports of violence.

Media reported several small blasts in different places including Yangon late on Friday and on Saturday. There were no immediate reports of casualties and no claims of responsibility.

A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls seeking comment. The military has accused pro-democracy activists of planting bombs.

The U.N. special envoy on Myanmar told the Security Council on Friday that in the absence of a collective international response to the coup, violence was worsening and the running of the state risked coming to a standstill, according to diplomats who attended the private meeting.

Christine Schraner Burgener briefed the 15-member council from Thailand, where she has been meeting regional leaders. She hopes to travel to Myanmar but the military has yet to approve a visit.

"The general administration of the state could risk coming to a standstill as the pro-democracy movement continues in spite of the ongoing use of lethal force, arbitrary arrests and torture as part of the military's repression," Schraner Burgener said, according to diplomats.

She told diplomats that reports of a continuing crackdown risked undermining momentum toward ending the crisis following a meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on April 25 with the junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

Schraner Burgener, expressing concern about rising violence, cited reports of bomb attacks and of civilians, mostly students from the urban areas, getting weapons training from ethnic minority insurgents.

U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said Min Aung Hlaing had used the summit as a "propaganda ploy".

"Indeed, he tried to appear to be what he is not - a legitimate leader," Andrews said in a post on Twitter.

"The good news: Those who ARE legitimate are ready to engage: the National Unity Government."

Ousted members of parliament from Suu Kyi's party, politicians representing ethnic minorities and democracy activists set up the unity government but it has yet to win the international recognition it says it is due.

The U.N. Security Council reiterated its "deep concern" at the situation and its support for Myanmar's democratic transition. The council has issued several statements since the coup but diplomats say Russia and China are likely to prevent any stronger council action against Myanmar.