Magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Virginia felt up and down U.S. east coast, Pentagon evacuated

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A 5.8 earthquake struck 4 miles southwest of Mineral, Virginia, 80 miles south of Washington D.C., at 1:51 p.m. EDT (17:51 UTC) and lasted for 15–30 seconds. The quake had a magnitude of 5.8 with an epicenter 27 miles (43 km) east of Charlottesville, Virginia. A 2.8 aftershock was reported at 2:46 pm EDT (18:46 UTC).

According to Twitter reports, the quake was felt inland as far as Cleveland and Toronto and along the coast from Boston to Georgia. Police sergeant James Ryan, from South Brunswick, New Jersey stated that “The 911 line is flooding with calls right now. People want to know what happened. They want to know if there was an explosion.”

The United States Capitol and The Pentagon in Arlington were evacuated, as were police headquarters and city hall in New York City. Numerous minor injuries have been reported in Washington, D.C.; however, none of them are serious. There have been confirmed reports of damage at the Washington National Cathedral and the Smithsonian Castle. The Pentagon was also damaged when a burst pipe caused flooding. The North Anna Power Station lost offsite power and had to shut down, turning to four diesel generators to maintain cooling of the facility. Both the JFK and Newark airports were briefly shut down and the control towers were evacuated. A release from Amtrak stated that trains will be operating at reduced speed, but no damage has been found on any rail lines. The Washington Metro is also operating on reduced speed, with some stations closed down, while lines are evaluated.

In Boston, it was reported that the building at 111 Devonshire Street appeared to be leaning onto the adjacent building at 50 Milk Street, with fears that it could collapse. The street was blocked off while the Boston Fire Department investigated. However, it was determined that the buildings had always appeared like that. Nevertheless, the Boston Fire Department investigated the roof and the inside of 111 Devonshire St. After 30 minutes, the building was determined to be safe.

This is the second strongest earthquake to originate in Virginia since records have been kept, after the one recorded on May 31, 1897, near Giles County, which was estimated at a magnitude of 5.9.

The Dow initially dropped 50 points after the earthquake struck, but later increased over 100 points.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10

The Pentagon was evacuated moments after a 5.8 earthquake was felt throughout the US east cost. Image: U.S. Navy.

A crowd of evacuated businesspeople on Wall Street in New York City. Image: Alec Tabak.

Federal employees evacuated buildings at 13th and C Streets in Washington, D.C.Image: US Department of Agriculture.
The office of the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, D.C. was also evacuated.Image: Antonio Zugaldia.
Building occupants evacuate onto Market Street in Philadelphia.Image: Douglas Muth.
Damage to the Embassy of Ecuador in Washington, D.C. Image: William Neuheisel.
People gather on Vermont Avenue, outside the headquarters of the US Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, DC. Image: Tim1965.
A building in McLean, Virginia sustained some damage to its ceiling. Image: Claire Schmitt.
A crowd of evacuees in McLean, Virginia. Image: Claire Schmitt.
After the earthquake, there were concerns that 111 Devonshire St. in Boston appeared to be leaning onto the adjacent 50 Milk St with fears it may possibly collapse. It turned out the buildings have always appeared like this. Image: Patrick Mannion.
Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Magnitude_5.8_earthquake_in_Virginia_felt_up_and_down_U.S._east_coast,_Pentagon_evacuated&oldid=4242437”

Truthful Answers About Foreign Exchange

One of the largest money markets in the world today is the Forex market. Business people from around the globe meet both in person and online to negotiate different currencies for other currencies in the aim of making big money. But what is Foreign Exchange? How does it work? Whats involved with it? These and many more questions tend to come up when people look into the Forex market. The following is designed to help you discern what this new investment option is, how it works, and how you just might be able to make big bucks by working the system in your favor.

Here are some common questions relating to Forex Trading:

Who can share in the Forex Market?

Basically, only large financial organizations can. This boils down to multi-national banks and companies. There are some allowances for individuals to trade, but this must be done through a broker (and often leaves people open to fraud). There are a few arguements for this. First, the amount of money that is needed to make a decent make money in is usually more than a single individual can invest. Secondly, the way most trades are set up tend to make most of the money “on paper”, which means that while there is profit, it’s not usually profit you can take and directly put into your pocket. These two things alone make the Foreign Exchange fairly unappealing to individuals.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm0uNVxYL8I[/youtube]

How can you make money in the Forex Market?

It does seem toilsome when you consider that most currency exchanges at only a couple of cents more or less. For a moment consider this, the Euro recently traded at 1.29524 United States dollars. A twenty-nine penny divergence doesn’t look like like that much money, particularly when you look at the fact it’s rare for the value of a currency to shift much more than a couple of cents either way unless some major economic change occurs in one of the countries. That said, the organizations that do these trades tend to interchange money in very voluminous sums. At that size of money, even two or three cent differences can end up being a lot of money. In this way, organizations can make a lot of money by taking part of Foreign Exchange.

Are there any other factors that keep individuals from becoming a trader in the Forex Market?

There are a few factors, yes. The primary reason is in the way currencies are purchased. In order to make their own profit, the people who perform the actual trades charge a certain amount extra beyond just the exchange rate. The more money you can trade at once, the smaller that difference is, until you get to the top tier of trading where the difference is literally thousandths and hundred thousandths of pennies. Most organizations and most individuals can’t trade that much money at once, so the differences that they are charged are much more, which in turn makes the draw of Forex trading less attractive.

What are the most common organizations to take part in Forex trading?

The largest organizations to take part in Forex trading are large banks. Given that they tend to have billions of dollars, they can often access the top tier of Forex trading. After that, it would be Commercial companies and Central banks. These two organizations tend to do the most “on paper” trading, trading over longer periods. After that, it would be investment management firms. These companies tend to exchange currencies more to secure foreign assets for their customers than to make a profit. Lastly, retail brokers who take part in the market on behalf of individuals make up about two per cent of the whole market.

What is the Forex Market?

The Foreign Exchange or Forex market is, at its most basic level, any place where one currency is exchanged for another currency. More specifically, it’s where one country’s currency is exchanged for another country’s currency. An organization, such as a bank or a company, in one country will exchange voluminous amounts of their own country’s currency for another country’s currency in the hopes that the exchange rate for the currencies will change in their favor. When and if they do, the organization will then exchange the foreign currency they have for their own country’s currency and will have made a profit.

Will Forex trading continue into the future?

For the near future, most certainly. One cannot, of course, foretell the future, but with as much money as is being made daily in Forex trading, it is doubtful that most people who are taking part would want to quit. When you add in the fact that many organizations simply cannot drop out of the market since they have so many assets tied up in it, you have a market that doesn’t show any sign of weakening. The only way the Forex market will die any time soon is if one or more of the current major trading countries has a huge economic downfall.

Jeter saves the day for the Yankees

Tuesday, April 5, 2005After a blowout win for the New York Yankees on Sunday, their ancient rivalry with the 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox resumed with a close game on Tuesday that went down to the wire. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera had a blown save in the top of the ninth when he surrendered a solo home run to Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek that tied the score at 3-3. Yankee Derek Jeter saved the day in his lead-off at bat in the bottom of the ninth, hitting a walk-off home run off Keith Foulke to win the game for the Yankees. Yankees manager Joe Torre said, “We escaped today. Mariano is still the best in the game as far as I’m concerned. That doesn’t mean that clubs aren’t going to get to him once in a while. These guys we’re playing are the world champs.”

Rivera and the Yankees won’t soon forget the glory snatched from them by the Red Sox in last year’s American League Championship Series. The Red Sox were within three outs of being defeated in a sweep when they rallied against Mariano Rivera at Fenway Park in Game 4. They went on to win in 12 innings, and won the next three games to take the Series, and went on to win the World Series.

Other spotlights included starting pitcher Carl Pavano‘s debut for the Yankees and Hideki Matsui, who hit his second home run in two games.

Today’s game was played in front of 54,690 at Yankee Stadium.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Jeter_saves_the_day_for_the_Yankees&oldid=437995”

Contract to buy properties on site of Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal extended

Monday, October 2, 2006

Buffalo, New York —Sam Savarino, CEO of Savarino Companies, the development company to be in charge of building the Elmwood Village Hotel at Forest and Elmwood Avenues in Buffalo, New York has told Wikinews in an exclusive interview that the contract to buy the properties from 1109-1121 on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo has been “extended,” but would not elaborate on how long the extension would last.

“We have extended our agreement to purchase the property and will have it under contract for what we hope is a sufficient period of time,” said Savarino.

The hotel would require the demolition of the five properties on Forest and would cause several businesses to relocate or close their doors. The hotel will be 72 rooms and will cost at least 7 to 10 million dollars to build. Wyndham Hotels is expected to be the owner/operator of the hotel. The properites are still owned by Hans Mobius. Two other properties, 605 and 607 Forest might also be part of the proposal, but lawsuits have so far stopped any development from taking place.

Savarino also stated in a recent interview with Wikinews that his company may be “about ready for round two” in the process of resubmitting the hotel proposal to the City of Buffalo’s Common Council and Planning Board.

“If we were to go through the re-zoning process again it could be arduous,” said Savarino.

In July, Savarino “withdrew” the proposal which is undergoing a “do-over,” according to Vice President of Savarino Companies, Eva Hassett.

In related news, several residents around the area of the proposed hotel were speculating that current roadwork to repair and add sewer lines on Forest Avenue were part of the construction process for the proposed hotel. Savarino has denied those claims.

“We are certainly not doing any work on the site nor is any work being performed on our behalf or at our direction [in relation to the hotel],” said Savarino.

So far, the proposal has not been resubmitted to the City’s Common Council or Planning board and there is no word on when the proposal will be resubmitted.

Wyndham Hotels, which is owned by Cendant Corporation, has not commented on the proposal despite several attempts to contact them.

This exclusive interview features first-hand journalism by a Wikinews reporter. See the collaboration page for more details.
Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Contract_to_buy_properties_on_site_of_Buffalo,_N.Y._hotel_proposal_extended&oldid=1981805”

Oral Roberts calls ’emergency meeting’

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Oral Roberts, founder and former faith healer, called an “emergency meeting” to reinstate Richard Roberts as president of Oral Roberts University. Richard stepped down last month when he was accused of illegal political contributions, financial wrong-doing, and wrongful firings in a lawsuit.

On Wednesday Oral called an ’emergency meeting’ for the faculty following the previous “no confidence” vote. At the recent meeting Oral asked for the faculty who were willing to forgive and start fresh to “stand up.” Donald Vance, a professor of Bible studies, said that when no one person at the meeting stood, Oral Roberts asked one of them, “‘Are you not ready to start over?'”

Vance reported, “The faculty member said, “I don’t know what that means, to start over.”

“‘I would think that would be obvious,'” Oral Roberts responded.

After that, Vance stated “No, Chancellor Roberts, it’s not clear, are you asking us to rescind our three motions?” Then Oral Roberts said that the faculty should drop it.

Following the meeting Provost Mark Lewandoswki wrote a letter to ORU Board of Regents promising to step down if Richard Roberts returns as president. Tulsa World reported that the atompshere at ORU is “divise” noting that when Regent chairman George Pearsons, took his position in May he said in an address to the board: “I am standing here today because the Lord clearly spoke to me and said, ‘Do whatever Richard Roberts asks you to do.'”

The school declined to comment on the meetings.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Oral_Roberts_calls_%27emergency_meeting%27&oldid=1469571”

Cheap Bahamas Vacation: An Ideal Way To Rewind

Submitted by: Suzane Gray

A cheap Bahamas vacation package is not a dream anymore. You can have an access to the chain of Islands surrounded by azure oceans with a modest budget now. A decent Bahamas vacation package is all-inclusive with hotel accommodation, airfare, tour and activity fees, once one reaches these beautiful islands. Make sure that you arrive at these Islands in summer rather than in winter because the latter is the busiest season in Bahamas. During spring, discounted vacation packages can be sought as this is the rainier season in the Island, yet warm enough for the travelers. Online facilities are apt to select the perfect Bahamas vacation package with all information on rentals, plane tickets etc. Apart from that, the package includes renting a car as well, if you are planning for the same.

One of the most visited locations in the world, Bahamas is an ideal location for adventure lovers. Cheap Bahamas vacation packages offer you flexible packages even at the last minute of booking. An excellent option for the tourists, a number of activities like scuba diving, snorkeling, underwater diving and fishing and other underwater sports are included in them. Besides, some of the famed golf resorts are present in this captivating nation, which are ideal for the lovers of the game. In Bahamas, one can find both 9 holed and 18 holed golf courses which are landscapes carved out of lush green surroundings. A cheap Bahamas vacation package provides tourists with specialty packages for fish and the golf lovers. Also, there are all inclusive travel packages as well as cruise ships including the provisions for meals and drinks. Spa packages are also available at the popular resorts for which plans should be drawn in advance to avail treatments and massages.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMKF4EUtBOw[/youtube]

If looking for the best travel package in the city, an online or a regular travel agent is of immense help. It is always better to purchase a package which can be availed with the help of customers who have been previously associated with them. Travel agents guide you towards getting some of the best rates available for these vacations and packages. With the help of internet, you are able to get the cheap Bahamas vacation deals at the last moment also. There are numerous websites available which will help you in locating online vacation packages suiting every type of budget. These packages are much less expensive than what you thought and leave you with a large amount. In turn, this can be used for the purpose of shopping, eating out and sightseeing in Bahamas.

While traveling to Nassau, Freeport, Abaco Island or Paradise Island, different travel packages have been introduced which can take care of most of your travel needs. If one desires for complete information on the Bahamas vacation package, then Bahamas vacation info is what provides you with complete details. These include information about rentals, family vacations, resorts and villas and other cheaper options for the people in general. A perfectly planned trip to Bahamas involves the judicious use of expenses and understanding this, many travel agents provide various facilities matching the pockets of their clients. A cheap Bahamas vacation package is truly economic for most of the travelers with modest budgets, as it involves proper arrangements of accommodation, city tours and other travel schedules.

About the Author: Suzane Gray has been offering Bahama travel and vacation packages advice for quite some time.To find cheap Bahamas vacation,bahamas golf vacation and grand Bahamas Island that best suits your needs,visit

gobahama.com

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=273787&ca=Travel

Last British volume car manufacturer closes down

Friday, April 15, 2005

The last British-owned volume car manufacturer, MG Rover, has closed down, with the loss of 5,000 jobs.

International accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCooper was brought in last week to put the company into administration. Today PwC announced that MG Rover’s only hope, the Chinese car company SAIC, had no interest in buying the ailing firm. With no further source of revenue, PwC has closed the company’s factory in Longbridge, Birmingham and has laid off 5,000 workers.

Some 1,000 workers will continue for a while to complete the remaining cars left on the production line.

The BBC reported PwC joint administrator Tony Lomas as saying “We’ll explore what we would describe as the break-up of the business, we will carry on with the interested parties who want to talk about pieces of the business.”. PwC said around 70 offers for various parts of the company had been made but no serious offers of money made.

Recent efforts to save the company had been centered on convincing SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.) to buy the company as a going concern, but the Chinese company stated it would only buy the company if it’s financial position could be guaranteed to be secure for at least two years. The British government could not make such a commitment due to European Union trade and competition rules.

The SAIC company did buy the designs for the 75 and 25 models and for the K-Series engines for £67m.

The Rover car company has a long but troubled history. It was formed in 1968 after a series of mergers of existing car manufacturers, and was nationalized in 1975 after it ran into financial difficulties. In 1979 a long-running deal to collaborate on developing new vehicles was established with the Japanese company Honda. In 1988 the company was privatized and was bought by British Aerospace. In 1994 British Aerospace sold the business to BMW, who then sold the Land Rover brand to Ford and finally sold the company in 2000 for just £10, retaining the well-known Mini brand for themselves. The MG Rover company was run by a private group until its collapse.

MG Rover has not launched a new model since the 75 was introduced in 1998 during the period of ownership by BMW. Their next newest model was the 25, originally launched as the 200 series some ten years ago. Rover also produced the 45, which dates from 1990, and the ZF sports car first launched in 1995. Sales of Rover cars accounted for just 3% of the UK car market in 2004.

Tony Blair announced a £150 million support package for the recently unemployed workers of the MG Rover plants, though it has been claimed that his generous offer may be more as a result of the nearby marginal seats in the upcoming elections than compassion on his part.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Last_British_volume_car_manufacturer_closes_down&oldid=2496425”

Second Chance Auto Loans Explained

Submitted by: Rachel Anthony

Number of consumers has experienced trouble through late credit card payments and late mortgage payments. Those problems commonly make possible bad credit scores or even bankruptcy. Through after the consumer has caught up on the payments, the resulting hurt has been complete and it turn out to be tough to finance the purchase of a new or used car. The financial crisis in the banking industry has made lending very tight and more complicated.

On the other hand, there re many lenders who concentrate in second chance auto loans that provide to those having bad credit profiles. As long as the borrower has a way to pay back the loan, bad credit auto loan lenders could often work out the guarantee so that the borrower could get the car. Bear in mind that rate of interest would often be much higher compared to those obtainable to customers having good credit as the borrower is careful high risk.

Picking the Bad Credit Auto Lende

The primary step is to obtain a free credit report and perhaps a FICO score to understand how bad the circumstances are. If the credit report is bad, get rid of prime lenders from consideration would save time and hassle.

As few second chance car lenders work through dealerships, it is necessary to find out from each car dealer if sub-prime customers could be financed through the dealership for those who don’t have 2nd chance financing auto loans lined up earlier. Majority dealerships only work with prime lending institutions so this additional groundwork is needed before going to the dealer without a pre-approved bad credit auto loan.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EqwxsOB1MM[/youtube]

Know the Second Chance Auto Loan Requirements

The issues lenders search for in financing auto loans with bad credit are the same as those for a prime loan. Nevertheless, the necessities are more relaxed. Some of the most important factors in approving or denying an application take in:

Income steadiness and history

Present monthly debt payments relative to present earnings

Borrower’s financial statement

Recent payment conduct

Amount of down payment

FICO score

Whether or not the borrower is presently filing for bankruptcy

Lower the Amount Borrowed

Choose a car through a purchase price along with monthly payment that’s sensible for the borrower’s earnings. Even though second chance car loan companies would work with a customer to get a car, they will not be able to pull off miracles such as a brand new Ferrari. A gently used sedan is probably a much more appropriate choice that can lower the monthly payment and help pass loan underwriting.

In many cases, the dealership will go through the borrower’s financing before looking at the cars. The dealership will determine the maximum loan amount and price of car that passes the underwriting requirements of a second chance auto loans company. The reason for looking at financing first is as the sub-prime borrowers often can t fit higher priced cars into their financial statement. Consequently the customer would only look at cars which he could afford. If the second chance car loan has been approved, this financing step at the dealer could be omitted just similar to with a prime lender. There are many high risk auto loan lenders who offer a second chance for people to finance a car. When you get a second chance, be sure that you make your auto loan payments on time to rebuild your credit.

About the Author: If you have deprived credit second chance auto loans can help auto drivers get a car with bad credit score. However, lenders like

AutoLoanFinance.net

provides guaranteed auto loans especially for people all credit score. For more details visit

autoloanfinance.net/

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=789827&ca=Finances

Ohio man dies after sitting in chair for two years

Friday, April 1, 2011

A morbidly obese Ohio man died Wednesday after being found unconscious in his home several days earlier. The man had been sitting in a chair for two years and was physically fused to it when he was discovered by two roommates, one of which was his girlfriend.

Authorities who arrived at the house in Bellaire reported seeing the man sitting amidst his own urine and feces, which were infested with maggots. The man’s skin had become attached to the recliner’s cloth, said law enforcement officers, one of whom had to dispose of his uniform after responding to the home. In order to transport the man to the hospital, officers had to carve out a portion of the wall.

Identified as 43-year-old Richard Hughes, the man died after being taken to Wheeling Hospital in West Virginia. The residence’s landlord said Hughes, weighing 348 pounds (157 kilograms), began sitting in the chair after his knees started to hurt, and refused to get up. Hughes’ girlfriend told police that she fed him because he was unable to move around.

Jim Chase, a city official, called the room where the man stayed “very filthy, very deplorable” and said it was “unbelievable that somebody live[d] in conditions like that.”

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Ohio_man_dies_after_sitting_in_chair_for_two_years&oldid=1209948”

Wikinews interviews Joe Schriner, Independent U.S. presidential candidate

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Journalist, counselor, painter, and US 2012 Presidential candidate Joe Schriner of Cleveland, Ohio took some time to discuss his campaign with Wikinews in an interview.

Schriner previously ran for president in 2000, 2004, and 2008, but failed to gain much traction in the races. He announced his candidacy for the 2012 race immediately following the 2008 election. Schriner refers to himself as the “Average Joe” candidate, and advocates a pro-life and pro-environmentalist platform. He has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles, and has published public policy papers exploring solutions to American issues.

Wikinews reporter William Saturn? talks with Schriner and discusses his campaign.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Wikinews_interviews_Joe_Schriner,_Independent_U.S._presidential_candidate&oldid=4497624”