joplin missing

In Joplin, a push to find missing; reconnect families

A large metal cross soars above the ruin of the Catholic church, a beacon in a Joplin, Missouri, neighborhood made unrecognizable by Sunday's powerful tornado.

"If we didn't have faith right now, I don't know how we would get through this," said Sharyn Dawson, while her husband, Jerry, continued the search for his mother, Patricia Dawson, 74, who lived across the street from the church.

As the Dawsons dug through the debris Wednesday afternoon, 25 volunteers from Texas stopped by, helping to move steel trusses from St. Mary's Church that landed in the front yard of the housing unit.
Patricia Dawson has been missing since Sunday, when the twister hit the two-story quadplex in which she was living, her daughter-in-law told CNN. A neighbor was killed, Sharyn Dawson said.

The storm killed at least 125 people, and an estimated 750 people were treated at area hospitals.

The city said Wednesday it had no official tally for the missing.

An undetermined number of people remained unaccounted for Wednesday, after the tornado ravaged phone service, destroyed homes and cars, and gutted the regional hospital.


Gov. Jay Nixon told CNN he ordered 20 more state troopers to Joplin to help speed up the process of identifying remains and assisting people looking for missing loved ones.

Nixon said he acted after he became aware of complaints that the process was moving too slowly and that many families felt they were getting conflicting and confusing information. Such additional resources will help agencies dealing with the magnitude of the disaster, he said.

Nixon told CNN's Anderson Cooper officials were working overnight Wednesday on synthesizing information they can release to families.

About 100 volunteers are cross-referencing lists and cell phone numbers in a bid to reconnect families and determine who is truly missing, Lynn Onstot, Joplin public information officer, said earlier Wednesday.

"We feel like we are getting a better handle on it," Onstot said.

Earlier in the week, Keith Stammer, emergency management director for the city and surrounding Jasper County, told CNN that 1,500 people were unaccounted for.

But "when we open up the area and start letting them come back in ... that number of unaccounted for will start to dwindle," Stammer said.

Joplin officials caution that the 1,500 number doesn't equate to missing.
"This does NOT mean they are injured or deceased, just that loved ones are not aware of their whereabouts," the city said on its Facebook page. "Some people may have been out of area when the storm hit or have since left."

Nixon said he expects the 1,500 number to be much smaller Thursday.

The city is encouraging residents to use its Facebook page, a Red Cross website or call 417-659-5464.

Sharyn Dawson has been impressed by the effort, which has included several agencies.
"They've been amazing, given the colossal task," said Dawson, of Springfield, Missouri.

Since Sunday, some 1,500 people in Joplin have registered at safeandwell.org to let loved ones and acquaintances know their status, said Attie Poirier, media relations associate for the American Red Cross, which operates the site.

Site users have conducted 73,000 searches. They must have a name and a predisaster address or telephone number in order to search, Poirier said.

The effort to locate the missing or unaccounted for has gone viral, with Facebook pages allowing users to exchange information.

One, "Joplin, MO - Missing Persons & Survivors Page," includes photos of those who have not been located. Occasionally, someone posts that a relative or friend has been found.

The "Help Find Will Norton" Facebook page asked volunteers to distribute to local hospitals flyers showing the 18-year-old man, who was ripped from his vehicle during the tornado.

Michael Hare continued his search for son, Lantz, 16, who was last seen before the tornado. "I've got to keep pushing," he told CNN Wednesday evening. "You've got to have hope."

Hare said he can't wait for word from officials and will check other cities to see if his son is hospitalized there.

A heart-lifting reunion between a "John Doe" and his family took place Wednesday at Freeman West Hospital in Joplin.

Hundreds of patients arrived Sunday night at the hospital, among them a critically injured man whose face was swollen and was unable to speak, said Allen Overturf, director of critical care.

The patient had no identity and the staff was going to have state police fingerprint him.

The family of Mark Lindquist had heard of a "John Doe" at the hospital and called, informing them that Lindquist has a distinctive brown spot in the eye.

The match was made.

Later Wednesday, Lindquist's 11-year-old son and sister came to the hospital, where their loved one remained in critical condition.
Source:articles.cnn.com

'Macho Man' Savage dies

'Macho Man' Savage dies in car wreck

Former pro wrestling star "Macho Man" Randy Savage died at age 58 Friday of injuries suffered in a car accident in Tampa, Fla., TMZ reported.

The Florida Highway Patrol told TMZ that Savage was driving his 2009 Jeep Wrangler when he veered across the center median and struck a tree. He did not hit any oncoming vehicles.

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Savage's brother, Lanny Poffo, told TMZ the wrestling legend suffered a heart attack while behind the wheel.

Savage died of his injuries at Largo Medical Center, TMZ reported.

Savage's wife, Lynn, was a passenger in the vehicle and suffered minor injuries, authorities said. She was treated at a separate hospital.

According to the report, both Savage and his wife were wearing seatbelts, and police say alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

Lanny Poffo, also a former pro wrestler, posted on his website, "In Loving Memory. Randy Mario Poffo November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011."

Savage, whose real name was Randy Poffo, was one of wrestling's biggest stars through the mid-1980s and 1990s. He retired in 2005.

A native of Sarasota, Fla., Savage signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly known as the WWF) in 1985 and quickly became a fan favorite. He squared off over the next decade with fellow wrestling legends like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ultimate Warrior and Ric Flair.

Hogan expressed his sadness Friday on Twitter, saying he and Savage had just begun to rekindle their friendship after a decade.

"I'm completely devastated, after over 10 years of not talking with Randy, we've finally started to talk and communicate," Hogan wrote. "He had so much life in his eyes & in his spirit, I just pray that he's happy and in a better place and we miss him. I feel horrible about the ten years of having no communication. This was a tough one."

Using his signature finishing move, the flying elbow drop, the Macho Man won the WWF title for the first time at WrestleMania IV in 1988. Savage moved to World Championship Wrestling in 1994 for a five-year stint. He last wrestled for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2004 and 2005.

Savage married the late Elizabeth Hulette in 1984, and she would later go on to WWF fame as his ring escort, Miss Elizabeth. The couple divorced in 1992 and Savage remarried last May.
Source: msn.foxsports.com

Queen makes historic visit

British queen makes historic peace trip to Ireland

Undeterred by real or fake bombs, Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday began the first visit by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland, a four-day trip to highlight strong Anglo-Irish relations and the success of Northern Ireland peacemaking.

Resplendent in a cloak of emerald green and a dress of St. Patrick's blue, the 85-year-old queen stepped out from a bombproof, bulletproof Range Rover outside the official residence of Irish President Mary McAleese. Irish Army artillery units fired a 21-gun salute as a military brass band played "God Save the Queen."

The painstakingly choreographed visit has been designed to highlight today's exceptionally strong Anglo-Irish relations and the slow blooming of peace in neighboring Northern Ireland following a three-decade conflict that left 3,700 dead.

The queen arrived 100 years after her grandfather George V visited Dublin and an Ireland that was still part of the British Empire.

Beaming smiles by the queen and McAleese — a Belfast-born Catholic who has spent 14 years lobbying for Elizabeth II to visit — demonstrated genuine warmth between the two women, who have met several times before.

McAleese said Britain and Ireland were "determined to make the future a much, much better place." The queen didn't comment ahead of her planned speech Wednesday night at Dublin Castle, the former seat of British rule of Ireland.

Four fixed-wing propeller aircraft from Ireland's minuscule Air Corps flew overhead in tight formation as a white-gloved, gun-toting honor guard stood to attention.

Inside the president's residence, McAleese introduced the queen and husband Prince Philip to Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny. Outside, the queen introduced the president to British Foreign Minister William Hague. The two leaders then planted a tree as two children rang the residence's Peace Bell.

A 33-motorcycle police escort led the queen to McAleese's residence in Dublin's vast Phoenix Park through the unusually empty streets of Dublin — cleared to ensure no anti-British extremist could launch an attack. Nearby Dublin Zoo was closed as a security precaution and no civilian aircraft were permitted over Dublin for the day.

Irish Republican Army dissidents opposed to reconciliation with Britain still tried to undermine the visit with real and hoax bombs, but they caused no significant disruption.

Irish Army experts overnight defused one pipe bomb on a Dublin-bound bus that was detected in Maynooth, 15 miles (25 kilometers) west of the capital. Police said the bomb was properly constructed but not primed to detonate.

A second device abandoned near a light-rail station in west Dublin was deemed a hoax Tuesday morning. Later, police responded to at least two more reports of suspicious packages in working-class districts of north Dublin, but no further bombs were confirmed.

Police said IRA dissidents using a recognized codeword warned about the bus bomb, which was left in overhead luggage.

Several small IRA splinter groups concentrated along the Irish border continue to plot gun and bomb attacks in Northern Ireland in hopes of undermining the success of its 1998 peace accord, particularly its stable Catholic-Protestant government.

But Irish and British officials were keen to stress that the queen's visit to Dublin, Kildare, Tipperary and Cork would proceed as planned — accompanied by the biggest security operation in the Republic of Ireland's history.

"This is the start of an entirely new beginning for Ireland and Britain," Kenny said. "I really do hope that the welcome she gets will be genuine and memorable for her."

On her first day in Dublin, the queen was also visiting Trinity College — founded in 1592 by her royal namesake, Queen Elizabeth I — and laying a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance, a central Dublin memorial that honors two centuries of Ireland's rebel dead.

The latter gesture has been designed to symbolize Britain's reconciliation with Ireland 90 years after a brutal guerrilla war led to independence for the Catholic south of the island.

More than 8,000 police, two-thirds of the entire country's police force, shut down key roads in central Dublin and erected pedestrian barricades for several miles (kilometers). About 1,000 Irish troops were kept in reserve.

Police made it extremely difficult for protesters to get within sight of any of the queen's engagements. Onlookers were given few vantage points to see the queen unless they had been included in carefully vetted guest lists.

A few dozen supporters of an anti-British pressure group Eirigi — Gaelic for "rise" — scuffled with police on Dublin's major thoroughfare several hundred yards (meters) from the Garden of Remembrance. No serious injuries were reported as police successfully moved the protesters to a fenced-off area.

Britain and Ireland spent decades in frosty opposition following Ireland's 1919-21 war of independence and the creation in 1922 of the Irish Free State. Northern Ireland, created in 1921, remained in the United Kingdom.

Ireland stayed neutral in World War II and offered condolences to Germany over Adolf Hitler's death. It broke all symbolic ties with Britain by declaring itself a republic in 1949 and offered sympathy and a relatively safe haven when the modern IRA in 1970 began shooting and bombing in Northern Ireland.

But after Britain and Ireland joined the European Union in 1973, and as the bloodshed in Northern Ireland spilled over into the Catholic south, the governments in London and Dublin gradually found common cause.

Their cooperation provided the essential bedrock for Belfast's Good Friday peace accord in 1998. IRA disarmament and a coalition government of Northern Ireland's British Protestant majority and its Irish Catholic minority eventually followed.

While the Irish remain proud of their independence, many concede that they are closely linked culturally and economically to their much bigger neighbor.

Today's Ireland is home to 4.5 million residents who watch British television and read newspapers daily, and shop in the British chain stores that dominate Irish retail life.

Many follow English and Scottish soccer with passion while the English, in turn, have made the Emerald Isle a favored tourist destination.

Ireland's struggle to prevent a national bankruptcy — the Irish have spent three years raising taxes and cutting spending, and six months ago received a euro67.5 billion ($95 billion) credit line from international lenders — has found its greatest champion in Britain, its No. 1 trading partner.

Prime Minister David Cameron's government offered Ireland a particularly low-interest loan and is pressing other European Union members to give the Irish a cheaper deal, too.

 Source:news.yahoo.com

Derek boogaard

Derek boogaard

It may be weeks before authorities know exactly how and why New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard died, although foul play was not immediately suspected.

The 28-year-old player was found dead Friday in his Minneapolis apartment. Few details were available, but the news rippled across the NHL, where the 6-foot-7 Boogaard was a fan favorite and one of the game's most feared fighters. He missed most of last season because of a concussion and shoulder injury from a fight.

"I don't think we have any answers as to what happened or why it happened," Ron Salcer, Boogaard's agent, said Saturday.
Authorities received a report of a man not breathing shortly before 6:15 p.m. Friday, Minneapolis police Sgt. William Palmer said. Minneapolis fire officials were the first to arrive and determined he was dead.

Palmer said authorities do not suspect foul play at this point, but the police department's homicide unit and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office are investigating. Palmer said the medical examiner will decide the cause of death.

An autopsy was being conducted Saturday, but county spokeswoman Carol Allis said results probably will not be released for at least two weeks.

She said in cases with no obvious signs of physical trauma or an obvious immediate cause of death, it takes time to receive results of laboratory tests. Allis said the medical examiner's office doesn't anticipate releasing preliminary autopsy findings until all results are in.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on its website Saturday night that Boogaard's family has agreed to donate his brain to Boston University researchers who are studying brain disease in athletes.

Findings released earlier this year by Boston University revealed that former enforcer Bob Probert suffered from the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Probert died of a heart attack last July at age 45. Reggie Fleming, a 1960s enforcer who played before helmets became mandatory, also had CTE.

A moment of silence was observed for Boogaard in Boston before the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Bruins 5-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

"The news that we have lost someone so young and so strong leaves everyone in the National Hockey League stunned and saddened," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. "The NHL family sends its deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Derek Boogaard, to those who played and worked with him and to everyone who enjoyed watching him compete."

Marian Gaborik was Boogaard's teammate on both the Rangers and the Minnesota Wild, and benefited greatly by the protection the hulking forward provided for him as he fueled the offense.

"It was devastating news," Gaborik said from Slovakia. "I played with Boogey for a long time in Minny and then in New York. He was a great guy. We got along together great. We helped each other out on the ice and off the ice. We were very close. I tried to help him along in New York, and we had a very good relationship. It's just very sad."

"He was one of the very best at what he did. Every team would have loved to have him, whether on the ice or off the ice as a great teammate."

Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Boogaard was "always joking and having fun."

"Anytime anything happened or if you needed anything, Boogey was always there," he said. "He was always a pleasure to be around."

Added Rangers forward Brandon Prust on Twitter: "At a loss for words. I'll miss my roomy Derek Boogaard. You will be missed by everyone. Great friend and teammate."

Prust was still dealing with the shock on Saturday.

"It keeps hitting me off and on all day as I'm driving," Prust said. "Though he was a fighter on the ice, he was definitely a gentle giant off the ice. He was just a real good guy, a team guy all the way. I've been looking at some of the silly pictures I have from when we were roommates and it just hits me what a good guy he was. I still can't believe I am referring to him in the past tense."

Fans, meanwhile, flocked online to express their sadness. For years, fans have been going to YouTube to watch "The Boogeyman" do battle.

His final game was Dec. 9 at Ottawa when he fought Matt Carkner and sustained a concussion and shoulder injury. That was the 70th fight of his NHL career, and by midday Saturday more than 80,000 people had watched replays of that fight on YouTube.

Boogaard signed a four-year, $6.5 million deal with the Rangers in July and appeared in 22 games last season. He had a goal and an assist to go with 45 penalty minutes.

Boogaard was out for the last 52 games of the regular season because of his injuries and did not play in the playoffs. He didn't skate again until about three months after the concussion. He was sent home to Minnesota late in the season to work on conditioning.

Gaborik said he recently spoke to Boogaard, who had his sights set on making a full recovery and having a much better second season with the Rangers.

"We had a lot of good times together," Gaborik said. "He was a really easygoing guy, really caring. We talked pretty much about everything. He's just the type guy who would be there for you whenever you needed him.

"We were in touch a lot. He was focusing on coming back, training every day. He was really looking forward to coming back in great shape and prove that he's the best at what he does. He was really looking forward to that. He was always so positive and optimistic."

In several player polls, Boogaard was voted as the league's most intimidating player. When the Rangers signed him last summer, general manager Glen Sather said the decision was made because Boogaard was "the biggest and toughest."

He had seven fights with the Rangers. His lone goal of the season came at home against Washington on Nov. 9. That ended a drought of 234 games without a goal, dating to Jan. 7, 2006. It was the longest such streak in the league.

Boogaard began his NHL career with Minnesota and appeared in 255 games with the Wild from 2005-10. He missed four games with the Wild because of a concussion. With Minnesota and the Rangers over six seasons, he had three goals and 13 assists and 589 penalty minutes.

"I received a phone call last night at 1:00 a.m. from my son, Connor, who is a freshman in college," Wild owner Craig Leipold said in a statement. "Connor interned for the Wild last year, and his favorite person (not just player) was Derek. You could hear in his voice just how affected he was, since he had just learned of Derek's passing.

"He had a lot of questions, and I had no answers."

That feeling was shared by many, including Minnesota center Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who played with Boogaard for five years.

"Every player on our team felt a little bit more safe with him on the ice with us," Bouchard said in a phone interview. "He was really tough on the ice, but outside the ice he was a great guy."

Wild media relations coordinator Ryan Stanzel first met Boogaard when he was working the ECHL and Boogaard was assigned to Lafayette, La., in 2002.

"I remember the first day he was on the ice, he was larger than life," Stanzel said. "He was so much bigger than everybody in that league. He certainly wasn't the best skater in the world, but he worked 45 minutes to an hour every day after practice with the coaches on his footwork."

San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan coached Boogaard for two years in the minors in Houston.

"He was a lovable guy that everybody liked," McLellan said. "Obviously mean and nasty on the ice. He'll be sorely missed."

Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Boogaard was drafted by Minnesota in 2001 in the seventh round, the 202nd choice. He drew notice in 2007 when he and brother Aaron ran a hockey-fighting class in Saskatchewan. Some voiced concern about such a camp. Boogaard insisted he wasn't teaching kids how to hurt each other, but rather how to protect themselves so they don't get hurt on the ice.

This is the second death of a player in the Rangers organization in the past three years. Alexei Cherepanov, drafted in 2007 but never signed by New York, died at 19 in Chekhov, Russia, in 2008, after collapsing on the bench during a game.

Roman Lyashenko, who briefly played with the Rangers several years ago, was found dead in a hotel in Turkey in 2003. His death was believed to be a suicide.

Zombie ants fall victim to mind-control fungus

Zombie ants may sound like the title of an Ed Wood movie, but, according to National Geographic, they are quite real.
Oddly, there's nothing very zombie-like about the actual ants. It's only when a particular fungus takes over the ant's brain that things get weird.
Once the "stalk of the newfound fungus species Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani infects an ant, the ant gives up control over its own body. After the fungus is in control, it forces the ant to scamper toward "a location ideal for the fungi to grow and spread their spores." Then, it's lights out for the ant. Who knew a fungus could be so diabolical.

Lodged in a zombie ant's brain, the fungi species 'direct' the dying ants to anchor themselves to leaves or other stable places, as pictured above—providing a stable 'nursery' for the fungus. For instance, as the Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani fungus is about to kill the ant, the insect bites down hard into whatever substance it's standing on. This attachment is so strong that a dead zombie ant can remain stationary even when hanging upside down, the scientists say.

White fungus stalk begins to poke
A white fungus stalk (left) of the Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis species begins to poke through the head of a zombie ant two days after death. Also noticeable are faint, white, slightly fuzzy fungal growths on the ant's joints. Once the insect dies, the fungus rapidly spreads through the body. During the first couple days, though, very little evidence of the fungus is visible from the outside.

Later stages of Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis ...

During later stages of Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis infection, the fungus rapidly consumes the nutrients inside a zombie ant and begins to colonize the outside of the ant's body, as pictured. The fungus stalk growing from the back of the head (upper right) also becomes longer and more noticeable.

Mature fungus stalk, shown, differs

Final stalk: The mature fungus stalk, shown growing from a zombie ant's head during the final stage of infection, differs among fungi species.

These wild discoveries were made by a group in Brazil headed by entomologist David Hughes. National Geographic published a series of pictures of ants that have "lost their minds" to the fungus. You can check out a sample of them below. Not for the squeamish.

House of the Russian fighter against corruption

Basmanny court of the capital issued an arrest warrant director of the bureau to coordinate the fight against organized crime and other dangerous types of crimes on the territory of the CIS Alexander Bokov. Police general suspicion of fraud on a large scale.