White Killer Whale Spotted In Alaska

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 7, 2008

This photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the white killer whale spotted in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Feb. 23, 2008.  (AP Photo/NOAA)

(AP) The white killer whale spotted in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands sent researchers and the ship’s crew scrambling for their cameras.

The nearly mythic creature was real after all.

“I had heard about this whale, but we had never been able to find it,” said Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle who photographed the rarity. “It was quite neat to find it.”

The whale was spotted last month while scientists aboard the Oscar Dyson, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research ship, were conducting an acoustic survey of pollock near Steller sea lion haulout sites.

It had been spotted once in the Aleutians years ago but had eluded researchers since, even though they had seen many of the more classic black and white whales over the years.

Fearnbach said the white whale stood out.

“When you first looked at it, it was very white,” she said Thursday.

Further observation showed that while the whale’s saddle area was white, other parts of its body had a subtle yellowish or brownish color.

It likely is not a true albino given the coloration, said John Durban, a research biologist at NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. That’s probably a good thing – true albinos usually don’t live long and can have health problems.

Durban said white killer whales have been spotted elsewhere in the area twice before: in 1993 in the northern Bering Sea around St. Lawrence Island and in 2001 near Adak in the central Aleutians. There have also been sightings along the Russian coast.

While Alaska researchers have documented thousands of black and white killer whales in the Bering Sea and the Aleutians during summer surveys, this was something new and exciting, Durban said.

“This is the first time we came across a white killer whale,” he said.

The scientists observed several pods over a two-week period. The white whale was in a family group of 12 on a day when the seas were fairly rough. It was spotted about 2 miles off Kanaga Volcano on Feb. 23.

The ship stayed with the whale for about 30 minutes.

“Everybody actually came out and was taking pictures,” Fearnbach said. “It was a neat sighting for everybody.”

The whale appeared to be a healthy, adult male about 25 to 30 feet long and weighing upward of 10,000 pounds.

No #&@% cussing! Calif. town a profanity-free zone

By JOHN ROGERS
Associated Press

Published on: 03/07/08

South Pasadena, Calif. — What the $%#? This community on the edge of Los Angeles has become a cuss-free zone.

So if you’re headed to South Pasadena this week, be sure to turn down the volume on that Snoop Dogg CD, and, if the little old lady from Pasadena cuts you off in traffic, don’t even think about flipping her the bird.

NICK UT/AP
(ENLARGE)
McKay Hatch, 14, the founder of the 50-member South Pasadena High School’s No Cussing Club, jokes with his father, Brent Hatch, at his father’s restaurant Wednesday in South Pasadena, Calif.

• More Nation/World news

Not that police will slap cuffs on you and haul your sorry, er, butt off to jail. But you could be shamed into better behavior by the unsettling glares of residents who take their reputation for civility seriously.

“That’s one of the purposes of this,” Mayor Michael Cacciotti said of the proclamation designating the first week of March as No Cussing Week, passed by the City Council. “It provides us a reminder to be more civil, to elevate the level of discourse.”

The proclamation will be in effect for the first week of every March.

South Pasadena isn’t the first to try to rein in potty mouths. What’s different about the latest push to stop saying in public the words that Jane Fonda and Diane Keaton recently discovered we still can’t say on television is that it was proposed by a 14-year-old boy.

“My mom and dad always taught me good morals, good values, and not cussing was one of them,” said McKay Hatch, who founded South Pasadena High School’s No Cussing Club in June.

Lawmakers Propose Casino Bill in Georgia

It will kill you though.

Group Seeks Volunteers To Get Malaria

Seattle Institute To Pay Volunteers To Be Bitten By Mosquitoes Inflected With Malaria

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(AP) The Seattle Biomedical Research Institute will pay volunteers as much as $4,000 to be bitten by mosquitoes infected with malaria. Scientists say no lives are in danger because the volunteers can be cured. The institute is testing which vaccines work fastest.

The head of the program, Dr. Patrick Duffy, says volunteers will spend several nights under medical supervision in a hotel.

All of the human trials will be reviewed for safety by the Food and Drug Administration.

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On the Net:

http://www.sbri.org

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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com

NEW YORK, March 4, 2008

(CBS/AP) 
Kevin Federline Packs On “Daddy-Weight”

Usmagazine.com recently caught a glimpse of Kevin Federline’s new bod while he played golf in Los Angeles, and he appears to have gained a significant amount of weight.

In his defense, Federline’s ex, Shar Jackson, said “It’s daddy-weight. When you are a fulltime parent, sometimes you can’t focus on you. If gaining a few pounds is your only problem, life’s not too bad.”

According to his rep, “He’s a stay-at-home dad, and people tend to gain weight when they are home with the kids. He’s very happy with the way he looks,” Usmagazine.com reported.

Federline has sole custody of Sean Preston, 2 and Jayden James, 17 months.

It’s a Girl For CBS’ “Shark” Star Jeri Ryan

Jeri Ryan (AP)

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Jeri Ryan and her husband, French chef Christophe Eme, have a new family member.

The 40-year-old actress gave birth Sunday to daughter Gisele in Los Angeles, her publicist David Lust announced.

“Both parents are thrilled. Jeri is resting comfortably and Christophe is playing the part of proud new papa quite well,” Lust said.

The baby, weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces, is the couple’s first. The pair wed in France last June and own L.A. restaurant Ortolan, which Eme heads.

Ryan has a 13-year-old son, Alex, from a previous relationship.

She currently stars on the TV drama “Shark” on CBS. Her TV credits include parts on “Boston Legal” and “Boston Public,” and she gained fame as Borg character Seven of Nine on “Star Trek: Voyager,” which wrapped up in 2001.

Plea Or No Plea, Backstreet Boys Creator Isn’t Off The Hook

Lou Pearlman (AP Photo/John Raoux)

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The creator of the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync has agreed to plead guilty to charges he laundered money and made false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding.

Lou Pearlman will appear in court Thursday, according to a 47-page plea agreement released Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors accuse Pearlman of lying to investors to raise millions of dollars for fake companies. They say the total loss to investors is estimated at more than $300 million.

The plea deal says Pearlman will help investigators develop cases and testify against others who helped in his schemes.

Federal prosecutors still plan to seek a significant prison sentence for Pearlman.

Paris Hilton To Guest On Sitcom

Paris Hilton (AP Photo/Peter Kramer)

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NBC is pumping up the return of “My Name is Earl” with a guest shot by Paris Hilton.

Hilton appears as herself in a dream sequence. Earl has been knocked unconscious and various things from his life and imagination are bleeding into his fevered mind.

Her appearance will come in the one-hour episode on April 3 that is the first new material following the writers strike settlement, NBC said.

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Photos: Paris Hilton Goes To Harvard

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“When we wrote the role of Paris Hilton in the script, we weren’t exactly sure who to go with for the role,” said Greg Garcia, the show’s executive producer. “But after an exhausting search we finally settled on a relatively unknown actress by the name of Paris Hilton.”

Hilton has just finished work on the movie “Repo: The Genetic Opera.”

Hart Still Hearts Pink

Pink, Carey Hart (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

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Motorcross star Carey Hart says that he gets along just fine with his estranged wife Pink.

“She’s the love of my life, and we will remain being friends,” Hart told Us Magazine.

The couple announced in February that they were splitting up after two years of marriage.

A day after announcing their separation through a publicist, Pink wrote on her Web site, “This breakup is not about cheating, anger, or fighting. I know it sounds like cliché bullsh–, but we are best friends, and we will continue to be.”

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Photos: Celebrity Splits

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Bad Taste: Celebrity Chef Fudges Resume

After rising to culinary stardom preparing impossible meals on his Food Network series, Briton Robert Irvine has met an obstacle his kitchen prowess could not overcome – an embellished resume.

The star of “Dinner: Impossible” has acknowledged fabricating some of the more fantastic parts of his resume, including having cooked for Britain’s Royal Family and various U.S. presidents.

Following the revelations, the network announced it would not renew Irvine’s contract, though it would air the remaining episodes of the current season, the series’ fourth.

“I was wrong to exaggerate in statements related to my experiences in the White House and the Royal Family,” Irvine said in a written statement. “I am truly sorry for misleading people and misstating the facts.”

Mar. 3, 2008

Air Charter Must Pay Up For Secretly Taping King of Pop In Route

The owner of a Santa Monica-based air charter service has been ordered to pay attorney Mark Geragos and an associate more than $12 million for ordering secret videotaping of Michael Jackson and the lawyers as they flew with the pop star to his surrender on molestation charges in 2003.

A lawyer for XtraJet owner Jeffrey Borer says he’ll appeal Monday’s judgment.

Borer and a co-defendant pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiracy for installing digital cameras aboard an XtraJet plane that flew Jackson from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara.

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Photos: Jackson in Japan

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The damages awarded Monday resulted from an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit. Jackson was acquitted in the molestation case

Steve-O Arrested, And Not Over A Silly Gag This Time

Steve-O had his own untelevised “Jackass” moment on Monday when he was arrested for investigation of vandalism and possession of a controlled substance at his Hollywood home.

Police arrested the 33-year-old co-star of MTV’s prank-filled “Jackass” at 5 a.m. Monday after a neighbor made a citizen’s arrest following a dispute over a fence, Los Angeles police Officer Ana Aguirre said.

Steve-O, born Stephen Glover, was booked at a Hollywood police station on suspicion of vandalism and an outstanding traffic warrant, Aguirre said.

He was also booked for investigation of possessing a controlled substance for allegedly having a small quantity of drugs on him, Aguirre said.

Manmade Flood Unleashed In Grand Canyon

Manmade Flood Unleashed In Grand Canyon; Meant To Boost Ecosystem By Redistributing Sediment

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PAGE, Ariz., Mar. 5, 2008

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(AP) Twin torrents of water unleashed from a dam coursed through the Grand Canyon on Wednesday in a flood meant to mimic the natural ones that used to nourish the gorge’s ecosystem by spreading sediment.

“This gives you a glimpse of what nature has been doing for millions of years, cutting through and creating this magnificent canyon,” Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said after he pulled the lever releasing the water from the Glen Canyon Dam.

More than 300,000 gallons of water per second were being released from Lake Powell above the dam near the Arizona-Utah border, enough water to fill the Empire State Building in 20 minutes, Kempthorne said.

The water level in the canyon will only rise a few feet as a result of the three-day flood, but officials hope that will be enough to restore sandbars on the Colorado River downstream from the dam. Officials have flooded the canyon twice before, in 1996 and 2004.

Before the dam was built in 1963, the river was warm and muddy, and natural flooding built up sandbars that are essential to native plant and fish species. The river is now cool and clear, its sediment blocked by the dam.

The change helped speed the extinction of four fish species and push two others, including the endangered humpback chub, near the edge.

During this week’s flood, flows in the Grand Canyon are expected to increase to 41,000 cubic feet per second for nearly three days _ four to five times the normal amount of water released from the dam.

Scientists will conduct several experiments during and following the flood. One study will document habitat changes and determine how backwater habitats are used by the chub and other fish, and another will look at how higher water flows affect the aquatic food base.

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On the Net:

Grand Canyon National Park: http://www.nps.gov/grca

Bureau of Reclamation: http://www.usbr.gov

Moms Allegedly Brawl At Chuck E. Cheese

Moms Allegedly Brawl At Child’s Birthday Party At A Chuck E. Cheese Over Arcade Game ‘Hogging’

NATICK, Mass., Mar. 3, 2008(AP) A child’s birthday party at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant was cut short after a fight broke out between two mothers. Natick police said the mom of the 9-year-old birthday boy apparently became enraged because the other woman’s son was “hogging” an arcade game.

Sgt. Paul Thompson said Catherine Aliaga, 38, and Tarsha Williams, 33, both of Boston, would be summoned into court to answer charges of simple assault and battery stemming from the scuffle.

Thompson told the MetroWest Daily News that police received a number of 911 calls about the fight Saturday night.

He said what started as a birthday celebration turned into a “birthday melee.”

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Information from: MetroWest Daily News, http://www.metrowestdailynews.com