STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The U.S. wine industry is currently faced with declining consumer demand and, as a result, excess supply, according to a report. And this shift can be on Staten Island, as business owners have said they are seeing lower sales of vino.

The reality is that we have never seen these market conditions. Weve never experienced excess inventory because of declining consumer demand. Prior periods of excess have always been due to over-planting, noted the State of the U.S. Wine Industry 2020, an annual report published by renowned wine analyst Rob McMillan.

And according to a recent Wall Street Journal report, changing demographics have slowed wine sales. Americans drank less wine last year, the first such drop in a quarter of a century, as millennials opt for alternatives like hard seltzers, cocktails and nonalcoholic beer," the report stated.

From Arrochar to Annadale, that assessment can be seen in consumer trends locally.

Joe Labriola, the chef and co-owner of Marina Cafe in Great Kills, said his drink sales are strong from the bar to table-side orders. But he credited a new generation of cocktail-loving patrons to such a shift in consumption. He said younger patrons are drinking vodka-based drinks instead of wine to be more health conscious" as wine is perceived as more fattening than vodka. .

Edward Gomez, of DaNoi restaurants in Fort Wadsworth and Travis plus Cargo Cafe in St. George, said the decrease in wine consumption started a long time ago.

At least I noticed it in all my restaurants. I attributed it to stricter driving laws and the wine gets you tired theory, he said. He also surmised that its pure economics at work: As his older patrons move away and the restaurants see a younger generation dining out theyre not so much into spending.

That observation locally has been a growing pattern for the past few years, a fact reflected in a report by IWSR, a source for beverage industry research.

Adam Rogers, IWSRs research director for North America, wrote for the organization: "Coupled with a preference for less but better, consumers are more discerning about how they spend their disposable income, increasingly preferring premium spirits and cocktails over red or white wine.

Franco Ortega, chef and owner of Italianissimo in South Beach, said he sees a decrease in the number of bottles hes selling. But he added that patrons still enjoy ordering wines by the glass.

You cant have a meal without a glass of wine in fine dining, said the proprietor.

Wine racks at Taverna on the Bay, Stapleton(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Si

The folks at Flagship Brewing Co. said the wine is a necessary component to its taproom, and expanded its menu with the product. Recently, the Tompkinsville brewery added New York State wines to the inventory. Co-owner Jay Sykes called the addition a great experience" with a broader picture.

Our commitment to New York State Agriculture has given us the ability to offer our customers great, locally made wine that is directly correlated to an industry that is creating jobs and sustaining small business," said Sykes. While the wine product is a handy menu addition for non-beer drinkers, the facilitys craft styles represents the lions share of its sales.

As a wine rep for major New York distributor Southern Wines and as a winemaker for his Vino Divino Wines, Charleston, Rob Rispoli said he sees both the spirit store owners and producers perspectives. He said retailers are experiencing lower wine sales, but his barrel production is up. He said he believes that consumers are more price-conscious than ever.

I think people are more educated wine drinkers, buying better wine for the house. I think theyre tired of paying too much in the restaurants, said Rispoli, adding that, in his realm, the dining-out crowd has a drink at home beforehand to save money.

According to a wine industry reports wine sales are down in the United States. Local proprietors and business owners say that consumers have switched over to cocktails and spiked seltzers.

Willowbrook Beverage owner Steve Magnavita said he thinks the slump in wines just means a shift over to other beverages. He said he has observed this trend with spiked seltzers vs. beer.

Even though it has been more of a summer drink, said Magnavita, White Claw is still holding its own. Competition for the line will be a new product, Budweisers Bud Lite Seltzer. This is a fresh product in what Magnavita described as a stagnant suds field at the moment.

And its is a sentiment expressed by other beer-centric markets in the borough.

I think the beer business is a little stale. I couldnt tell you if thats trending into liquor sales," said Magnavita. Consumers switch back and forth sometimes, he explained.

So, will that mean consumers will gravitate into the vino-centric beverages in the store?

Over the years, Ive always noticed its like a pendulum, said Magnavita, adding, For instance as Im speaking to you, someone is just buying a case of White Claw.

More:

Are Americans drinking less wine? Staten Island business owners weigh in. - SILive.com

The Great Blasket Island off the coast of Co Kerry is in need of two people to mind the area's accommodation and coffee shop.Ireland's Content Pool

The Great Blasket Island off the coast of Co Kerry is looking for two people to live and work there full time this year

Looking for a new job in Ireland? The Great Blasket Island off the coast of Co Kerry is in need of two people to manage the Island's accommodation and coffee shop from April through October 2020.

** Job Vacancy ** Its that time of year again! A unique position required - looking for long term management of...

Read More: On This Day: The Blasket Islands evacuation of 1953

The Great Blasket Islands, off the beautiful coast of Co Kerry, were abandoned back in 1954 after a decline in population, along with concerns about the difficulty of reaching the island in the event of an emergency. The island, which remains largely uninhabited, does not have electricity or hot running water but is still attracts tourists in the warmer months.

On January 10, the official Twitter page for the Great Blasket Island shared a glimpse of what your new office could look like:

The office #GreatBlasketIsland pic.twitter.com/vTvvLzr6GV

Read More: Will the Blasket Islands ever be a state park? Government efforts ended on this day in 1999

In 2019, the enviable position was filled by Irish couple Lesley Kehoe and Gordon Bond who traded their Dublin city jobs for a simpler life on the Great Blasket Islands.

Kehoe kept followers up to date on her new way of life over on Twitter @island_lesley. On January 8, she revealed that she would not be returning to the position in the new year:

We made the tough decision not to work on the island for the 2020 season The Great Blasket Island Experience are looking for two fit, enthusiastic people to manage the accommodation and cafe from April-October. Email Alice on info@greatblasketisland.net for more info! pic.twitter.com/KTBP96O9BK

Read More: From the Great Blasket to America - a memoir of the longest surviving islander

If you're interested in learning more or visiting The Great Blasket Island, check out their website.

Think youre up for the job? You can email Alice at info@greatblasketisland.net for more information!

Would you consider living full-time on The Great Blasket Island? Let us know in the comments!

The Great Blasket Island off the coast of Co Kerry is in need of two people to mind the area's accommodation and coffee shop.Ireland's Content Pool

Follow this link:

Heres how you can live on a remote Irish island for free this year - IrishCentral

Treasure Island Resort and Casino

Treasure Island has announced Matchbox Twenty and The Wallflowers as the latest additions to its 2020 summer concert series.

Matchbox Twenty, led by frontman Rob Thomas, will headline the show at the Treasure Island Amphitheater on Sept. 4.

The four-piece had its heyday in the late '90s, thanks to hits including "Real World," "Push," "If You're Gone" and "Bent."

They hit the big-time with their album, Yourself or Someone Like You,which was diamond-certified after its release in 1996.

They'll be joined by another '90s band, The Wallflowers. Led by Jakob Dylan, the son of Minnesota's own Bob Dylan, the group had their breakthrough in 1992 with their self-titled album.

They hit the big time in 1996 with the release of Bringing Down The Horse, which spawned hits including "One Headlight," "6th Avenue Heartache," and "The Difference."

Tickets go on sale this Friday, Jan. 17, at 10 a.m. and will range in cost from $26.50 to $105.

You can get tickets either fromTIcasino.com or at the Treasure Island Box Office.

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Originally posted here:

Matchbox Twenty, Wallflowers announced for Treasure Island concert series - Bring Me The News

The view from Treasure Island is magical. In the morning, the sun hits the towers of downtown San Francisco from the east, illuminating the city's skyline. At night, the buildings' lights shine against a dark sky next to the glistening Bay Bridge.

Liz Washington used to live on the island, a 400-acre artificial land mass in the middle of the San Francisco Bay.

People approached her all the time with envy during those years, she told Business Insider, saying things like, "It must be wonderful living on Treasure Island," and "Oh, the city views!"

"They know nothing, nothing, nothing," Washington said.

For years, Treasure Island residents have complained that the land has made them sick. Some people who live there attribute the health issues of current and former residents, including chronic coughs and cancer, to radioactive material left behind from Naval training exercises conducted from 1942 to 1997.

Washington said she knows neighbors who've developed lung and thyroid cancer. She herself has experienced respiratory and gastrointestinal issues.

"We all have a cough that we call the Treasure Island cough," Washington said. Hers sounds dry; she is constantly clearing her throat.

Despite these reports, Treasure Island is being primed for a $6 billion development project consisting of 8,000 new residential units.

A Navy ship at Hunter's Point. Wikimedia Commons

To build Treasure Island, the US Army Corps of Engineers dredged sand and covered the loam with soil, trees, and flowers. The "Magic Isle" opened to the public in 1939, then became a Naval base as the US entered World War II. The Navy would go on to occupy the land for more than five decades.

During that time, it carried out routine training exercises using dangerous radioactive isotopes.

In 1946, after the US dropped two nuclear bombs on 95 target ships in the Marshall Islands as part of a test known as Operation Crossroads, the contaminated ships were sent to San Francisco. Most went to a top-secret nuclear-testing facility at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, but one ship, the USS Independence, made its way to Treasure Island. It was used as a training tool to prepare sailors for nuclear war.

Following World War II, the Navy used Treasure Island to conduct training academies in which radiation-safety officers were asked to handle isotopes like radium-226 and cesium-137.

Radium-226 has a half-life of about 1,600 years, meaning it takes 1,600 years to reduce its concentration by half. Exposure to high levels of the isotope over an extended period of time has been linked to bone cancer. Cesium-137 has a much shorter half-life about 30 years but high levels of exposure to the isotope can lead to burns, acute radiation sickness, and cancer.

In 1950, radium spilled in a Navy classroom following a laboratory exercise. It was left to spread throughout the building, according to a Navy report. Personnel who were exposed to the spill were decontaminated with hand scrubbers and abrasive soap, but by then many of them had carried contamination on their clothing and shoes into their homes and cars.

Six years later, the Navy built a mockup ship outfitted with 11 pieces of cesium-137 so that officers could practice detecting levels of gamma radiation. Navy officers also sprayed the vessel with radioactive isotopes like bromine-82, bromine-80, potassium-42, and sodium-24. As the officers scrubbed the ship clean, the run-off seeped into nearby soil.

Items contaminated with radium-226 and cesium-137 were also stored in facilities, vaults, and classrooms on the island until the 1990s.

Today, the Navy says"all accessible areas of Treasure Island are safe to the public and confirmed to have no radiation above naturally occurring background levels."

But residents aren't convinced.

In 2000, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) warned all Treasure Island residentsto "avoid contact with the soil in your backyard" and "take precautionary measures such as wiping feet, changing shoes, and hosing down the patio area, to avoid tracking soil from your backyard indoors."

The warning came after California regulators received the results of a Navy-run soil analysis, according to a Reuters investigation published in January 2019. The analysis found "chemicals of concern" in some yards. Reuters also reported that residents had complained to the state for years about a host of health problems, including cancer, asthma, and children's hair loss.

Washington, who moved to Treasure Island about two decades ago, said she wasn't aware of the island's history when she arrived. When she first spoke with Business Insider a year ago, remediation efforts were taking place about a block and a half from her home there. The Navy also remediated soil just down the street from her property in the past, she said.

The Navy "didn't notify people that there was radiation and chemicals on the island," she said. The Navy has maintained, however, that it disclosed the contamination through a landlord.

"The only thing I was told was, 'Don't let your kids play in the dirt," Washington said, referring to the warning from the DTSC.

But that was easier said than done, she added.

"If you move somewhere and there's a lot of soil, of course you're going to want to plant some plants," Washington said. "You have kids. You have pets. Of course they're going to dig in the dirt."

Kathryn Buckner, who lived on Treasure Island from 2005 to 2016, told Business Insider that her three children also used to play in the dirt outside her home. As the daughter of a military family, she said, she assumed the Navy would have informed her if the soil was harmful.

"I grew up proud of my country. Trained to believe everything, trained to trust authority," she said.

Bucknersaid she has been diagnosed with melanoma and had a tumor removed from her left arm in 2015.

Trelease Miller, who has been a resident of Treasure Island for almost 12 years, said she received a notice telling her not to dig in the soil about a year after she moved in. By that time, she had already planted grass in her backyard.

Miller believes that there's a link between her health problems and contamination on the land.

Lately, she said, her ankles have started swelling to the size of her calves and she has found it impossible to lift her right arm. She's starting to wonder whether these symptoms could be related to joint damage from radiation. Research from Wake Forest University suggests that radiation exposure can lead to the degradation of joint cartilage.

Miller also uses a nebulizer and sees a breathing specialist every other week. Radiation is not scientifically linked to asthma, but the Navy's cleanup efforts on the island have also exhumed dioxins, a pollutant that can exacerbate asthma and bronchitis.

"I've never had asthma a day in my life never, ever until I moved out here," she told Business Insider.

Buckner said she, too, has a nebulizer and a "Treasure Island cough."

"I didn't have any of this stuff before," she added. "It changed who I was for sure. That person, that citizen, that mom is gone."

A row of housing units on Treasure Island. Katie Canales/Business Insider

Miller and Buckner both said their children have struggled with health issues as well.

Miller's daughter, Brianna, grew up playing in the sandbox near their home, Miller said. When Brianna was around 5, her hair started falling out, leaving bald patches on her scalp. She also developed bubbly blisters on her legs, Miller added.

Buckner said her youngest daughter, who is now 20 years old, started experiencing swollen knees, nosebleeds, and bleeding gums as early as age 6. Around the same time, she began losing her hair and developed rashes on her face that Buckner said "almost looked like burns."

Both women recalled taking their daughters back and forth to doctors.

Buckner said one doctor said her daughter's problems were genetic, but the symptoms don't run in the family. About fix or six years ago, Buckner said, another doctor attributed the symptoms to Treasure Island's contamination and told her to leave. Buckner now lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Miller said her daughter's doctor had a hard time determining the cause of Brianna's symptoms. During one visit, Miller mentioned that she lived on Treasure Island.

"The way that [the doctor's] tone changed it made it seem like he'd heard that before," Miller said.

Still, the doctor assured her that Brianna's health problems weren't related to the island. Indeed,there is no scientific evidence that proves the land has been making residents sick. The Cancer Prevention Institute of California counted 48 total cancer diagnoses on the island from 2002 to 2011, but said that did not constitute "evidence of significantly elevated incidence rates of all cancers among the residents."

Miller sought a second opinion, though, and that doctor attributed the symptoms to toxins in the soil, she said.

Miller now has a nickname for Treasure Island: the radiated rock.

The scope of the Navy's cleanup efforts on Site 12 as of 2018. US Department of the Navy

Around 1,800 people currently live in low-income housing on Treasure Island. Others live in market-rate rental properties, while the rest are formerly homeless residents living in units turned over from military families.

After years of investigation into the extent of radiation on the island, the Navy released a report in 2006 that identified potential contamination sites.The report determined that Site 12, the official name for Treasure Island's residential community, is "radiologically impacted," meaning radioactive materials were likely used, stored, or disposed of there.

Shortly after, the Navy began remediating the land. That's when locals started seeing signs with phrases like "radiologically controlled area" andworkers in hazmat suits.

Miller said remediation workers started showing up at her home unannounced several years ago, pointing handheld geiger counters (which detect radiation) at the ground and recording the results.

"It kind of reminded me of Ghostbusters," she said.

Miller and her two daughters were told to evacuate their home in 2017.

"They gave us 90 days to move and then all of a sudden that 90 days dropped to like 16 days and we were out of there," she said.

Trelease Miller outside her home. Katie Canales/Business Insider

A year later, the Navy demolished the property where Miller had lived, along with the neighboring units, after discovering "soil with chemical contamination" underneath. According to a 2018 Navy report, multiple buildings have been demolished at Site 12.

Miller now lives within walking distance of that former rental.

From 2007 through 2018, Navy contractors detected 1,280 radioactive objects on Treasure Island.

At one unoccupied structure, a technician found "elevated levels" of radiation beneath a slab of concrete, according to reporting by NBC Bay Area in 2013. Radiation levels in that spot were 1 million times higher than what the EPA allows for occupants.

"During housing construction, debris from the SWDAs [solid waste disposal areas] was mixed with clean soil and dispersed across the housing area," a 2014 Navy report found. But it said "the housing structures are not impacted."

Kathryn Buckner in front of her former residence on Treasure Island in 2018. Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters

However, in September, the Navy discovered what it called a low-level radiological object in the soil of an occupied housing unit, according to reporting by the San Francisco Bay View. The Navy said the object had "radiation above the background range" but added that it did not present a health risk.

Still, some residents worry about their proximity to sites that are fenced off because of contamination.

"If there's radioactive waste on one side of the fence, why wouldn't there be radioactive waste on the other?" Bradley Angel, the executive director of the watchdog group Greenaction, told Business Insider.

He added: "I've worked in the field of pollution in communities for over three decades and I've seen a lot of disaster situations. This is right up there in terms of a really bad situation that is a dire health and environmental threat."

Tahirih Linz, the Navy's environmental coordinator for Treasure Island, told Business Insider that "there was no risk to human health and safety in residential areas from subsurface objects discovered through the environmental cleanup program" and added that the island is "safe for residents, employees, and visitors."

A rendering shows what Treasure Island could look like once the development project is complete. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP; dbox; CMG

The first phase of the proposed $6 billion Treasure Island development project is expected to include around 2,100 residential units, up to 500 hotel rooms, and 90 acres of parks. The final project, which is expected to be complete in 10 to 15 years, will include new roads, 140,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and 100,000 square feet of office space.

The development will also have around 2,000 units of affordable housing. (In San Francisco, that means homes are set aside for households earning 50% or less of the city's median income.)

A group called Treasure Island Community Development (TICD) is spearheading the project it's a joint venture between the development company Lennar and real-estate investment firms Stockbridge Capital and Wilson-Meany.

A similar project, an $8 billion live-work community with 12,000 homes built at Hunters Point in San Francisco, could offer a window into Treasure Island's future. Since the early 2000s, the Navy has overseen the remediation of irradiated soil at Hunters Point, costing more than $1 billion. The Navy transferred the land there to Lennar in 2004.

But former employees of Tetra Tech, the contractor hired by the Navy to perform cleanup at Hunters Point, admitted to falsifying soil tests. The Navy has said residents of Hunters Point are 100% safe and has agreed to retest all areas that were inspected by Tetra Tech.

But the scandal generated new concern among Treasure Island residents, since Navy remediation efforts there were in part planned based on 50 soil samples collected and analyzed by Tetra Tech.

In video footage from the Labor Video Project, Robert McClain, a radiation-control technician who worked at both Treasure Island and Hunters Point, said corrupt soil sampling may have also taken place on Treasure Island in 2007 and 2008. McClain recalled outlining contaminated sites on Treasure Island in paint, but said that when he returned the next day, the soil had been moved and the radioactive objects discovered had "disappeared."

Tetra Tech did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Bob Beck, the director of the Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA), a nonprofit overseeing the economic development of the land, told Business Insider that "naval operations on Treasure Island were dramatically different than those at Hunters Point."

Tetra Tech's field work on the island was limited, he added. He said he'd never heard of a "Treasure Island cough."

A Navy report published in March said Tetra Tech's Treasure Island testing was "consistent and accurate" and that all cleanup areas had been "managed by other contractors before and after" the company was involved.

A spokesperson for the TICD told Business Insider that it "has no incentive to develop land that is environmentally unsafe."

Condemned buildings behind a fence on Treasure Island in October 2018. Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters

Washington said she has brought up her health concerns at local meetings hosted by the Navy and a community board. Navy officials "repeat the same thing over and over and over again," she said: that Treasure Island is safe.

Of the same Navy officials, Angel said: "They're not blind. They're not deaf. They're not dumb. They know what's going on, and they don't give a damn."

Linz said the Navy plans to continue sharing information at these meetings and will allow for questions "as new discoveries are made." But according to Miller, interactions with the Navy are a "sore subject" among residents due to a perceived lack of transparency.

"It just feels like you're not only playing with my intelligence you're actually playing with my life," she said.

Trelease Miller inside her home on Treasure Island. Katie Canales/Business Insider

Buckner said she wishes she had a more complete understanding of the pollutants that could be making her sick.

"I want to get the answers," she said. "I can't even battle half the things that have happened to my kids or my family without accurate information. I can't help my own family that's the most frustrating thing."

Washington said she also discussed her health concerns with the San Francisco Department of Health, but was told no other residents had raised any similar complaints.

Angel thinks some residents who have become ill may avoid speaking out because they fear eviction. But many Treasure Island residents could face eviction anyway once construction on the new development starts. Certain households will be offered a cash payment or new unit from the city, but around 200 others aren't entitled to either and could be told to leave in five to 10 years.

Washington accepted a relocation package and moved off the island in September.

Miller doesn't know whether she's eligible for a payment, but said she'd worry that accepting it could prohibit her from suing the Navy over her health problems later. (The official contract, however, does not contain language that forbids residents from suing.)

"That cash payment comes with a condition as far as I'm concerned," Miller said. "Whatever the hell I have, I'm going to have it anyway. We're going to ride this out."

Read the original post:

Treasure Island residents say contamination could be making them ill - Business Insider

Its Hawaii Week at TPG! The Hawaiian Islands have so much to offer travelers, from the sprawling city of Honolulu to quiet black-sand beaches to restaurants serving inventive island cuisine. And its possible to pull off a visit to the islands using miles and points. It just takes a little savvy planning and well show you how. Visit TPGs Hawaii destination hub for links to more stories about getting to the islands, staying on the islands and what to do while youre there.

No matter where you go in Americas 50th state, Hawaiis eight large islands (one discourages tourists and one is uninhabited) offer a wide variety of topographies, accommodations, activities and experiences.

But each island definitely has its own vibe. How do you choose between so many different versions of paradise? Heres a shortguide to finding the right Hawaiian island to visit on your next vacation.

Related: These are the best times to visit Hawaii

Oahu is Hawaiis most bustling and urban island. Its home to the states largest city and commercial center, Honolulu, which is known for an epic rush hour that sometimes rivals Los Angeles. Within the city limits, Waikiki Beach is the place to see and be seen shop, dine and enjoy the amenities of huge high-rise resorts.

But Oahus offerings are more diverse than just Honolulu. The growing resort area of Ko Olina is not as built up and has a variety of accommodations, including Disneys Aulani Resort and the Four Seasons Ko Olina. On the way to Ko Olina from Honolulu is Pearl Harbor, one of the most visited historic sites anywhere on the islands.

Related: 7 fun things to do on a rainy day in Honolulu

Oahus North Shore provides another vibe, downright chill with its beach hopping, food-truck loving, small-town surfer scene. Hikers can find plenty of trails all over Oahu, from the peaks of Diamond Head to less-traveled spots like Makiki Valley or Waimea Valley.

Oahus gateway for travelers, Honolulu International Airport (HNL), has the most air service of any location in the islands, making it the cheapest destination for travelers from the mainland. It also offers the most nonstop flights.

Related: Best ways to redeem points and miles on Hawaiian Airlines

For more Oahu research:

The second-most-visited island in the state and also its second-largest is Maui, home to the famed Road to Hana, Haleakala National Parkand the best whale watching anywhere in the islands in winter months.

For many travelers, a vacation on Maui is the best of both worlds. The island offers some of the same infrastructure, conveniences and activities of Oahu without the traffic and urban sprawl. Its possible to have an active vacation here and visit a lot of attractions or also just enjoy some island R & R at a resort.

Maui is my top pick for families with kids of school age because of its many activities. It works well for multigenerational groups, because it has experiences that grandparents and grandkids can enjoy, like the Maui Ocean Center or a sunrise at Haleakala National Park.

The island of Maui also has many amazing hotels and resorts at a wide variety of price points. Most are clustered in two major areas on the Lahaina/Kaanapali/Kapalua corridor on the northwest side of the island or in Kihei/Wailea farther south.

For its size, Maui offers an impressive variety of hotels for travelers to book a hotel stay with points. Most major chains are represented and many properties offer condo accommodations that work for families or larger groups. The Hyatt Regency Maui, Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, Westin Nanea, Grand Wailea (Hilton) and Andaz Maui have all scored well with TPG contributors and readers.

For more Maui research:

The island of Hawaii, called the Big Island, is the largest and newest island in the chain. Because its so big, seeing everything requires close to a week but it offers many different travel experiences from day to day.

The vast majority of Big Island visitors stick to the western side of the island near the city of Kailua-Kona and the Kohala Coast, where the large resorts are located. Luxury seekers can enjoy high-end properties like the Four Seasons Hualalai, the Mauna Lani Bay Resort (about to reopen in early 2020 after a major renovation by Auberge Resorts) or the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Families on a moderate budget can find ample hotel offerings too. In particular, the Waikoloa Beach Marriott and Hilton Waikoloa Village cater to travelers with kids. Luaus and pool complexes are a big draw.

Althoug its entirely possible to spend a week on the Big Island relaxing on the beach of a resort, the island can also be an adventure travelers paradise. On the northern part of the island, travelers can zipline, take ATV tours, jump into waterfalls, scuba dive or snorkel with giant manta rays, or flume down historic sugar cane irrigation channels.

On the southern part of the island, you can visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The town of Hilo on the eastern side of the island has its own local vibe that can be a great getaway for travelers looking for an authentic Hawaiian experience.

For more Big Island research:

Kauais lush greenery makes it the most beautiful of all the Hawaiian islands. It is home to waterfalls, hiking trails and a variety of eco-adventures. Most travelers seek out Kauai to avoid the hustle and bustle of Oahu and Maui and have a more unplugged vacation experience.

Unfortunately, Kauais natural beauty also makes it less reliable as a vacation destination. The islands greenery comes from the substantial rainfall it gets, which makes it possible that your vacation in paradise is a damp one. For that reason, its probably best to plan for a longer trip, just in case the weather doesnt cooperate all of the time.

Hotel offerings on Kauai are ample. For families, the hands-down winner is the Grand Hyatt Kauai in Poipu, known for having one of the best waterslides and pools anywhere on the island. Poipu to the south is home to quite a few other major resorts; Princeville to the north has many others.

For more Kauai research:

Although the vast majority of travelers to Hawaii visit Oahu, Maui, the Big Island and Kauai, there are two smaller islands that tourists can visit as well. Getting to both of them requires a little extra effort, as neither has air service from the mainland.

Lanai, the island owned by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is accessible by boat from Maui. It has two Four Seasons resorts on the island, so its also luxurious and pricey.

Molokai, in contrast, has no name-brand accommodations, making it a place of refuge for local residents and travelers looking for authentic Hawaii travel experiences. Molokai has commuter air service from Honolulu International Airport (HNL) and Mauis two airports: Kahului (OGG) and Kapalua (JHM).

I wouldnt recommend that travelers head to either of these places until theyve visited several of the larger Hawaiian islands first. Youll likely get more out of them (and know which one is the right fit for you) once you have more context to appreciate them.

For more Lanai and Molokai research:

Are you planning a trip to Hawaii? Heres some more advice:

Featured image by YinYang/Getty Images.

Read more here:

6 versions of paradise: How to choose the right Hawaiian island for you - The Points Guy

By Allison G. S. KnoxContributor, EDM Digest

One of the most worrisome types of environmental emergencies is an oil spill in the open ocean, due to the potential for the oil to kill wildlife, contaminate water and permanently damage coral reefs. Because of the nature of these emergencies, it is particularly important for authorities to handle an oil spill swiftly in order to prevent further damage to the environment.

The Ecuadorian government is currently working to clean up after an oil spill near the Galapagos Islands that occurred on Sunday, December 22. Fortunately, the Ecuadorian government reacted soon after the disaster occurred.

According to an article published by the New York Times, a barge sank and dumped 600 gallons of diesel into water near the Galapagos Islands. Another article published by ABC News reporter Karma Allen says that "the spill occurred off San Cristobal Island when a barge carrying 600 gallons of diesel fuel collided with a crane at the La Predial pier on Sunday. The crane was loading a container onto the barge when it suddenly tipped over onto the barge, sinking the vessel."

Ecuadorian government authorities declared an emergency soon after the incident. ABC News also reported that "Ecuadorean President Lenn Moreno said he declared the state of emergency when the collision first occurred but said the situation was under control as of early Monday." ABC News added that "Park and naval crews were on site Monday, laying out containment barriers and absorbing cloths to contain the spill, but the extent of the damage is unknown."

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Associations Office of Response and Restoration, containing an oil spill needs to happen quickly, but there's also a lot of technology that goes into it. NOAA says booms and skimmers are some of the most important elements of managing an oil spill.

The NOAAs Office of Response and Restoration notes that "Booms are floating, physical barriers to oil, made of plastic, metal, or other materials, which slow the spread of oil and keep it contained." Skimmers are "boats and other devices that can remove oil from the sea surface before it reaches sensitive areas along a coastline.

It is currently unclear what specific procedures the Ecuadorian government is using. As the cleanup continues, authorities in Ecuador will ultimately need to continue evaluating the progress of containing the oil spill.

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Oil Spill Occurs in the Galapagos Islands; Emergency Declared - EDM Digest

The invitation from the prime ministers office came in mid-November, almost exactly two months after the event referred to as the switch the day the government of Solomon Islands, after more than 30 years of diplomatic allegiance to Taiwan, unceremoniously switched recognition to China.

The PRC [Peoples Republic of China] want to take SI [Solomon Islands] media on an Look and Learn tour of China, the email said, youre on the list.

In three decades of covering political developments in the Solomon Islands, the only other event that has generated as much controversy and media attention as the switch was a coup perpetrated in the dead of the night in 2000.

The move away from Taiwan has genuinely perplexed many Solomon Islanders, who ever since have been incessantly debating the implications for our sovereignty, our already waning control over our forests and minerals, our religious and other freedoms and even the economic wisdom of signing up to Chinas Belt and Road when for some nations it appears to have been less of a belt and more of a noose around their necks.

So, it was in this context that the delegation of Solomon Islands journalists accepted the invitation for an all-expenses tour to a land most of us had never expected to have the opportunity to go. I know I accepted just as I have many invitations to conferences and training events funded by the Australian government over the years in order to be better informed, and ultimately to see with my own eyes how this international juggernaut actually works.

Landing in Beijing, what struck us first was the vast physical scale of the place; the sight of huge structures and seemingly endless rolling boulevards and cities was hard for us islanders to get our heads around.

In Beijing we visited the newsrooms of CCTV and their international branch CGTN. The size of their staff numbers and the digital system they were using were, to us, the equivalent to going to the moon. I was pleased to get the chance to attend a press conference at the ministry of foreign affairs. Conducted fully in Mandarin, the only words I could make out were Donald Trump.

One of our team joked, I will go back and ask our local Chinese, why are you here when you come from a big and better country like this! He obviously wasnt thinking about the constraints faced by ordinary people when it came to personal freedoms.

Unsurprisingly these issues were not highlighted on our trip. Given the language barrier there was never going to be any real chance to speak spontaneously or confidentially with ordinary Chinese citizens about the reality of their lives.

But that didnt stop us discussing the issues of freedoms and civil liberties constantly.

We wondered out loud if our leaders actually understood how China carries out its diplomacy and if all we were hearing from around the Pacific and the world, about China being a bully, was true or not. But then again Australia who we largely see as a friendly and decent neighbour is still locking up those seeking refuge on their shores, so what exactly should we expect from this communist dictatorship?

In Guangdong province, from which many of the Chinese people now in Solomon Islands originated, the deputy mayor hosted lunch with a little side dish of frankness. We still have poor people and we as a country are struggling with our own internal issues, he said. Solomon Islands has to find a shoe that fits it. Each country has to find what system works for it.

The completely new town in Hainan Province, Sanya City totally blew us a way with its fabulous tourism port and new age architecture. I was impressed with what they had achieved in Sanya City but I kept thinking that such a huge leap of development and economic progress would not be possible without total control over the system and people.

I saw China as a country with money to burn and a point to prove. But from the beginning, all I could think was: how can we, a tiny island nation, ever hope to partner equally with this giant of a country, the worlds fastest growing superpower.

By the time our tour concluded in Shanghai, I was personally convinced that our political leaders are not ready or able to deal effectively with China. Solomon Islands regulatory and accountability mechanisms are too weak. We have already shown some spirit with our attorney general rejecting a hasty deal to lease the island of Tulagi, the capital of one of our provinces, to a Chinese company, but I fear how fragile and weak my country is against any large developed nation let alone China.

Solomon Islands has always prided itself on setting its own course in international relations, recognising Taiwan for three decades, and in the 1980s, as a newly independent state, standing up to the Americans over an illegal fishing boat fiasco.

In the end, it will be history that judges our leaders and whether the switch from Taiwan to China was the right move, and if they handle it in the countrys best interest. My hope is that in the meantime, the price extracted from our island nation is not too steep or too painful.

Dorothy Wickham is founder of Melanesian News Network.

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The lesson from my trip to China? Solomon Islands is not ready to deal with this giant - The Guardian

TREASURE ISLAND (KRON) Planning on watching some fireworks if youre in the San Francisco Bay Area for New Years Eve?

If you are, do NOT go to Treasure Island, city officials are advising.

In a statement, the Treasure Island Development Authority said it does not advise the public to visit TI on the holiday due to ongoing construction related to the TI Development Project.

Officials said viewing areas and parking will be extremely limited on New Years Eve and roadways into parking areas will be inaccessible.

Besides, why not watch the fireworks from the comfort of your own home?

Join KRON4 on New Years Eve where well be live from the Embarcadero with Grant Lodes and Justine Waldman to bring you the fireworks from over the Ferry Building.

Learn more about KRON4s NYE Live celebration here.

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Watching NYE fireworks? Stay away from Treasure Island, officials warn - KRON4

You cant say that the recently completed 39th season of CBS enduring reality show Survivor didnt lack for drama even if much of it was the result of questionable behavior beyond the normal routine of the show.

Top most was the inappropriate touching accusations by Kellee Kim against Dan Spilo, a bad situation made worst when the network and the producers dragged their feet on fully addressing the matter. That allowed two female contestants to exploit the situation to get ahead in the game by telling castaway Janet Carbin that they had problems with Dan, too, and lied about planning to vote him out at the next tribal council.

The #MeToo issues certainly undercut the theme of the season having former champs Rob Mariano and Sandra Diaz-Twine act as undercover mentors to the players while cutely hiding out on another island. That is especially true given how Dan was allowed to hang around until the penultimate episode, which resulted in a downer of a reunion show when Dans main victim Kelleefinally got to fully speak her mind with lawyer in tow while host Jeff Probst apologized to her and the viewers.

SEE46% of Survivor fans wanted Janet Carbin to win Island of the Idols Sorry, Tommy Sheehan! [POLL RESULTS]

For those reasons and others, we asked Survivor watchers how they felt about the Island of the Idols season, including whether the deck was stacked against female contestants winning as well as how the show handled an overly touchy-feely male player.

That led to 12% of respondents declaring Season 39 as the worst season ever and 19% saying that there should have been an all-female final three. Instead, Tommy Sheehan won Sole Survivor with Dean Kowalski as the runner-up and Noura Salman coming in third. A full 18% thought that the shows handling of the Dan situation was reprehensible and made it more difficult for women who were still in the game.

SEESurvivor #MeToo fallout: Sue Hawk felt dehumanized 15 years ago by naked Richard Hatch, who now insists she concocted story [WATCH]

For a reality contest that revels in villains who often stoop to deceit and questionable actions in order to take advantage of other players and get ahead, it makes sense that 12% fear that now a post-Dan monitor of contestant behavior will be nearby each season might put a crimp in the fun of the show.

The fact that there was maybe too much reality in Season 39 reflecting both social issues even beyond inappropriate touching, including topics about race and ethnic backgrounds, that was enough to cause 4% to drop Survivor from the must-see viewing.

But have no fear CBS. A full 38% cant wait until Season 40 titled Winners at War arrives on Feb. 12, 2020 with 20 past champs including Ethan Zohn, Parvati Shallow, Yul Kwon, Natalie Anderson, Tyson Apostol as well as Queen Sandra, Boston Rob and his now-wife and fellow winner Amber Mariano.

SIGN UPfor Gold Derbys newsletter with experts latest predictions

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38% of Survivor fans cant wait until Winners at War, even if 12% thought Island of the Idols was the worst season ever [POLL RESULTS] - Gold Derby

Turks and Caicos and Bahamian police forces transfer the survivors to shore (USCG)

By The Maritime Executive 12-24-2019 11:42:00

On Saturday, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), Turks and Caicos Islands Police (TCIP) and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Senecarescued 187 people from a small raft about 17 miles southwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew based out of Great Inagua spotted a 30-foot vessel heavily overloaded with people. Coast Guard 7th District watchstanders and the Coast Guard liaison officer for the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands coordinated a response with the RBDF, TCIP and the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Seneca.

The Seneca and a Her Majesty's Bahamian Ship crew arrived on scene and embarked the 187 people between the two ships. The Seneca took aboard 86 people and the Bahamian ship took the remaining 101. The Seneca later transferred the survivors to the TCI Police Marine Unit. No injuries were reported.

As a precautionary measure, the Seneca destroyed the raft, as it posed a hazard to navigation.

"Safety at sea is our number one priority and we are always grateful to work with our international partner agencies to save lives," said Lt. Cmdr. Justin Matejka, Coast Guard liaison officer for the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. "This case involved 187 people on a 30-foot boat with no safety or communication equipment. That's over a hundred lives traveling in an unpredictable, unforgiving environment with no safety net. Without our intervention, many people could have been injured or worse."

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187 Rescued from Small Raft Off Turks and Caicos Islands - The Maritime Executive

Dashing away in quiet snowy seclusion is how some celebrities do it for the holidays. Others can make like Succession's Roy family and embark on enormous and, if you know where to look, trackable ships.

Superyachts, as they are called, are finite in number. Only 2,374 are floating around out there according to SuperYachtNews.com, and if anyone should know, it seems like it would be them. (The actual definition of what makes a superyacht remains slippery, suffice to say that the best way to know if you are on a superyacht is not having to ask.) When there is an uptick in superyacht movement, as there is from November to December, it becomes easier to assess which island is more enticing for a billionaire holiday retreat.

Shipspotters have returned with data and, as reported by Bloomberg, we have a clear champion this season in Sint Maarten, the Dutch bottom half of the island of Saint Martin. (The French have Saint-Martin on the top; jot that down, this may be on the pop quiz.)

Sint Maarten clocked a jump from 16 to 52 superyachts, including Eclipse owned by Roman Abramovich, head of Millhouse Capital and owner of the British Premiere Leagues Chelsea F.C. They came in 3rd place last year, which is fitting in that Eclipse is the third-largest superyacht out there on the seas. Hey, Roman, bubi, come on, lets try for some silver medals next year, huh? We believe in you!

For comparison, Eclipse is 533 feet and Solandge, the actual, rentable boat at the end of last seasons Succession, is a mere 279. (That charter will cost you 1 million for a week plus expenses, which converts to dollars as boatloads.)

After Sint Maarten the other big changes in superyacht appearances were off the coast of St. Barts, Antigua and Turkey. The ships were departing in largest numbers from Spain, The United States and Italy.

If any of you aqua-snoops would like to spend an entire afternoon looking for yachts owned by celebrities, check out the very addictive interactive map on MarineTraffic.com. Once you get familiar with who owns which vessel you might actually catch someone en route to a vacation destination. After a little poking around it appears that Seven Seas, owned by Steven Spielberg, is staying put off the coast of Florida, but Tiger Woods's ship is en route to a port in the Bahamas. We won't get into more detail than that, as the name of the ship is Privacy.

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Billionaires and Their Superyachts Are Flocking to This Caribbean Island - Vanity Fair

One of the police officers who arrived at Caroline Flack's home after the alleged assault described the scene as resembling a "horror movie," the court heard, according to the UK's PA news agency.

The presenter pleaded not guilty to assaulting 27-year-old Lewis Burton -- a former professional tennis player and model -- during a preliminary hearing at London's Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on Monday, PA reported.

Flack, 40, was charged with assault by beating on December 13 following an incident at her home in north London. Her full trial will take place next March.

Flack's lawyer, Paul Morris, told judge Julia Newton that Burton did not support the prosecution, and was a witness, "not a victim", PA reported.

However, prosecutor Katie Weiss said of Burton: "He is a victim -- he sustained a significant injury to his head."

Weiss said Burton believed the assault occurred after Flack had seen text messages leading her to believe he was cheating on her. "He said he had been asleep and was hit over the head by Caroline with a lamp, causing a visible cut to his head," Weiss said.

On a call to the emergency services, Burton was "almost begging the operator to send help," Weiss said, according to PA. "Both were covered in blood and in fact one of the police officers likened the scene to a horror movie," Weiss said.

The presenter was released on bail, with conditions that prevent her from having contact with Burton ahead of a trial in March, PA said.

CNN has attempted to contact Burton's representatives.

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Ex-'Love Island' host Caroline Flack hit boyfriend with lamp as he slept, court hears - CNN

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) and North Island Credit Union recently brought the holiday spirit to more than 56 military families in need through STEP's annual Sharing the Joy program.

On December 18th, STEP distributed more than 300 toys, diapers, food boxes, and household items to young military and transitioning veteran families facing financial hardship at its holiday Warehouse on Wheels event. As a program partner, all 11 North Island Credit Union branches in the greater San Diego area served as collection points for new, unwrapped toys, which were distributed during the event. STEP is a San Diego-based organization that helps junior enlisted service members and transitioning veterans achieve financial self-sufficiency.

"It's partnerships like this, with North Island Credit Union, that makes days like this possible. We are able to provide budget relief and holiday cheer all in one to young families truly in crisis. We're grateful for NICU's support," said STEP CEO & Co-Founder Tony Teravainen.

North Island Credit Union CEO Steve O'Connell commented, "North Island Credit Union is honored to partner with STEP in Sharing the Joy to military families and help relieve the financial burden that can come with the holiday season. We have served our local military for 80 years, and are proud to continue that tradition by supporting the critical services that STEP provides. We were overwhelmed with the generosity of our members and community in donating to our toy driveand the caring and excitement they shared with us in making the holidays a special, joy-filled time for these families."

Gift Distribution Event Photos: https://www.ccu.com/sites/default/files/images/step-event-photo-1.jpghttps://www.ccu.com/sites/default/files/images/step-event-photo-2.jpg

Each year, STEP distributes holiday gifts to military families in need through its Sharing the Joy Toy Drive and Holiday Adoption programs. During the event, participating military families were offered a personal shopper experience to support their basic and family gift needs. The festive holiday event also featured a food truck, music, giveaways, photo opportunities, and activities for participating families.

About Support The Enlisted Project (STEP)Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit assisting active duty enlisted members and recently discharged veterans and their families in Southern California who are facing financial crisis achieve long-term financial self-sufficiency through counseling, education, and grants to alleviate critical near term obligations. Best contact is through its website atwww.stepsocal.org. STEP is a GuideStar Platinum Exchange Participant, a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity (A+), and the recipient of a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.

About North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit UnionCalifornia Credit Union is a federally insured, state chartered credit union founded in 1933 that serves public or private school employees, community members and businesses across California. With more than 165,000 members and assets of $3 billion, California Credit Union has 24 branches throughout Los Angeles and San Diego counties. The credit union operates in San Diego County as North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union. California Credit Union offers a full suite of consumer, business and investment products and services, including comprehensive consumer checking and loan options, personalized financial planning, business banking, and leading-edge online and mobile banking. Please visit northisland.ccu.com for more information or follow the credit union on Instagram or Facebook @northislandcu.

SOURCE North Island Credit Union

https://northisland.ccu.com

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Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) and North Island Credit Union Distribute Over 300 Holiday Gifts & Supplies To Military and Veteran Families -...

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND It can seem we live in an age in which the internet has accustomed us to snark and Twitter sarcasm. Then you meet someone like Jane Brand.

There she is: Unfiltered cheerfulness without a hint of irony, who in 1970 began a family holiday tradition and has kept going every year.

Monday marked 50 years in a row that her family had a group photo taken with Santa Claus. In our dispersed society, its hard enough to get immediate family together for anything. But 50 years? In a row?

It has meant Jane and Stan Brands grown children had to fly in from various locales, including England, the Caribbean, the East Coast.

I dont think any of us ever thought of skipping it. It was something we did, says Emily Brand Goehring, 39, the youngest of Jane and Stan Brands childrenand a risk-management attorney for Amazon in Seattle.

But then Brand, 71, just cant help but go all out during the holidays.

Im always ready for Christmas. People are so much nicer, she says.

You walk into the Brands home on Bainbridge Island and youre instantly engulfed in that holiday spirit. Just inside the front door is a display of the Santa pictures for each of those five decades. Above them is a sign that reads, We believe in Santa Claus as if there was any doubt.

Theres something else about the Brands family tradition.

Theirphotos are a direct connection to the man credited with inventing the department store Santa photograph.

That would beArt Happy French, who years ago started the practice of taking department store photos with Santa at the old Frederick & Nelson.For generations, the Seattle-based store was associated with the slogan, Christmas is not Christmas without a visit to Frederick & Nelson.

Although department store Santas had been around for decades, it well might have been at Frederick & Nelson that the first department store Santa photo was taken.

An article in the March 4, 1946, issue of Time magazine deemed the Frederick & Nelson Santa photos newsworthy.It told how French, an enterprising former Seattle Post-Intelligencer photographer, grew tired of being chased out on sorts of assignments by them stupid bastards on city desk.

In newsroom tradition, French was nicknamed Happy, says the story, because he never looked it.

Among Frenchs enterprising newsroom efforts were producing better memorable snowstorm photos than his rivals by splattering ink on his negatives.

In 1943, seeing a long line of kids trying to get into Frederick & Nelson to see Santa, French had that proverbial Eureka moment.

He took a leave of absence from the P-I and began taking candid shots of muppets on Santas knee, at $1 print, says the Time story. He did so much business he had to hire 15 helpers to deal with lines that blocked traffic.

He quit the P-I, figuring that in five weeks he had netted more than $10,000 $141,000 in todays dollars.

Thats where the Brands come in. Their Santa photos have all been taken in some manner associated with Frederick & Nelson. The only time they did not was in 1971 and 1972, when Stan was in the Navy and the couple visited the Santa atCamp Pendleton in California.

After French died in 1962, Hazel and Kenneth Viydo bought his Frederick & Nelson Santa-photo business. It has continued in the family since then, eventually taken over by their son, Hillard Viydo.

When Frederick & Nelson closed in 1992 and its content were sold, the Viydo family bought the Cozy Cloud Cottage and the Santa chair and fake fireplace that were used in those photos. That original set now part of the Santa photos takenat the Town Center at Lake Forest Park, continuing the tradition.

The Brand family tradition has followed the Santa setting there.

In 1970, the first year of the photos, Jane and Stan were boyfriend and girlfriend. She still has the red coat she wore that day. An unabashed sentimentalist, she wore it for Mondays photo.

As the years passed, the sequence of photos continued with the two of them, now married, and their dog, Woofer, a cockapoo. Then it continued to show the couple and their first child, Erik Brand, now 44, a Bellevue sports medicine doctor.

Erik is later joined in the Santa photos by a brother, Kristian Brand, now 42, a San Francisco commercial real estate attorney.

Then comes along Emily. The latest photos include grandkids, as well as Butter, the couples current dog.

On Monday, the group seven adults, three grandkids and Butter, waited in line with 100 or so people, everyone posed, and Jane smiled and said, Thank you, Santa.

Stan Brand, 76, a retired dentist, says being festive around Christmas is part of their Scandinavian heritage. But he admits, if it wasnt for Jane, the Santa pictures wouldnt have gone on for 50 years.

This is a woman who has kept a Christmas tree decoration she made as an 11-year-old by using string to go around tacks on a board in the shape of a tree. This is a woman who kept little teddy bears given to kids at Frederick & Nelson Christmas breakfasts.

Jane Brand talks about this being the last year for arranging the group Santa pictures. Its a lot of work, she says.

Her daughter doesnt believe it.

I cant imagine wed ever stop doing this, she says, because, you know, its Christmas. Accept it.

Correction: In an earlier version of this story, Stan Brands first name was misspelled.

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50 years, 50 photos with Santa: Bainbridge Island family members come from near and far to keep tradition going - Seattle Times

The National Weather in Hastings has issued a winter storm watch for potential accumulations of ice and snow starting this evening through Saturday night.

According to the weather service, a storm system will cross Nebraska and Kansas Friday through Sunday, bringing a variety of precipitation.

The moisture will begin as rain Friday afternoon and then change over to freezing rain, sleet, and snow over parts of the area Friday night into Saturday.

A heavy mixed precipitation may be possible. Total snow accumulations of 2 to 6 inches and ice accumulations of at least one-tenth of an inch are possible. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph.

The winter storm watch was issued for portions of north-central Kansas, and central and south-central Nebraska.

The weather service advises to plan on slippery road conditions. Blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. Holiday travelers are urged to keep track of weather conditions as they develop going into the weekend.

For Grand Island, on Friday there is a slight chance of rain and snow before 1 p.m., then a chance of rain between 1 and 5 p.m. and a chance of rain and snow after 5. It will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. South/southwest winds will be at 5 to 10 mph. becoming southeast in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Little or no snow accumulation is expected during the day.

On Friday night, rain and sleet, possibly mixed with snow and freezing rain, are forecast before 1 a.m, then sleet between 1 and 3, then rain after 3. The low will be about 31. The southeast wind at about 5 mph will become northeast after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow and sleet accumulation of less than 1 inch are possible.

On Saturday, rain showers are likely before 4 p.m., then rain is likely, possibly mixed with snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. It will be cloudy, with a high near 40. There will be a north wind at about 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch is possible.

On Saturday night, there will be a chance of drizzle and snow before 7 p.m, then a chance of snow and freezing drizzle between 7 and 2 a.m., then a chance of snow after 2. It will be mostly cloudy, with a low of about 20. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than one-tenth of an inch possible.

On Sunday, there will be a 20% chance of snow before noon. It will be partly sunny, with a high near 30. The wind will be blustery. Sundays night low will be about 18.

On Monday, it will be sunny, with a high near 30 and a low of about 15.

On Tuesday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 36 and a low of about 22.

On New Years Day, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 39.

Grand Island has recorded 38.3 inches of precipitation since Jan. 1, which is the fifth-highest yearly precipitation recorded since weather information first began to be gathered in the late 1800s.

According to NWS Hastings, the years ranking could increase to the third-wettest year as precipitation is expected this weekend. The fourth-wettest year on record was in 1903 at 38.55 inches. The third-highest total was 38.69 inches in 2007. The all-time wettest year was in 1905 at 45.5 inches, followed by 1903 at 41.68 inches.

For Grand Island, the five wettest months this year were: August, 11.94 inches; May, 6.68 inches; July, 5.21 inches; June, 4.1 inches; and March, 3.67 inches. Nearly 28 inches of precipitation fell from May through August.

As of Thursday, December has been above normal temperature-wise, with an average daily temperature 6 degrees above the 30-year average of 26. It has also been dry, with only .09 of an inch of precipitation recorded this month.

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Year-end wet weather could push Grand Island to its third wettest year on record - Grand Island Independent

The September releaseof a male wolf from Michigans Upper Peninsula on Isle Royale. The wolf population now numbers 15, with sevenfemales and eightmales.

By Christine MlotDec. 20, 2019 , 9:00 AM

Island life isnt for everyone, nor, it seems, for every wolf.

One year into a federal effort to restock the wolf population in Isle Royale National Parkin Michigans Lake Superior, a pack of eight relocated from a nearby island appears to be thriving, while four of 11 wolves brought from the mainland have died.Another wolf voluntarily departed last winter, returning to Minnesota over an ice bridge.

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) today released news of the most recent wolf deaths, and the emerging pattern is clear: Wolves relocated as a pack from Canadas Michipicoten Island Provincial Park have so far been more successful on Isle Royale than wolves brought individually from either mainland Minnesota, Michigan, or Canadas Ontario province. The Michipicoten wolvesprovenance as a bonded group was likely crucial to the fact they have all survived so far in the new environment, says wildlife ecologist Rolf Peterson from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, who has studied Isle Royale wolves since 1971. Thats about the only explanation I can think of, to account for the difference in the wolves fates.

Population ecologist Brent Patterson of Trent University in Peterborough, Canada, has been studying the Michipicoten wolves since a breeding pair crossed an ice bridge from mainland Canada to that island in 2014.Their large size, about50 kilograms, is another important factor in their survival on Isle Royale, he suspects.Before settling on Michipicoten, where they hunted woodland caribou, the wolves had been preying on moose in northern Ontario, so they came equipped to hunt Isle Royales moose.At the time they were moved to Isle Royale, the Michipicoten wolves were food stressed and battered, having eliminated the cariboubut the presence of their pack mates and their large physical stature gave them a leg up in getting through the snow to hunt moose again, Patterson says.

The relocated U.S. mainland wolves, in contrast, were not moose hunters and were generally smaller, although they were considered healthy at the times they were movedto Isle Royale. The circumstances of their deaths have all been different.One Minnesota male died of pneumonia shortly after being moved in fall 2018. The body of another male, from Ontario, was retrieved from a bog in April;it was too decomposed to determine a cause of death.In September, two recently relocated females died;one from Michiganhad an infection and wound from the leg trap used in her capture. The second, from Minnesota, died from severe trauma after an attack by another wolf or wolves.(Another Minnesota wolf intended for relocation in 2018 died before its move because ofcapture stress.)

NPS expected some wolf deaths, as well as wolf fights, or other random events to take a toll on the relocated animals, but all the mortalities are surprising, says NPS wildlife biologist Doug Smith, who directed a similar relocation of wolves to Yellowstone National Park and has worked on Isle Royale but is not involved in the current effort.In Yellowstone, 41 wolves introduced to restore the predators to the park all survived their relocation.Those wolves belonged to three packs, but individual wolves have also been successfully relocated, Smith says. He points out that moving wolves on a large scale to restore predation is still relatively new. This is an art, not a science.

Isle Royale researchers have been watching the movements of the new radio-collared wolvesexcept for the breeding male from Michipicoten, who slipped his collar in Julyand consider their social dynamics to still be in flux.The public can investigate which wolves are hanging out together and where with a new online tool.

The last male wolf of the intensely studied island-born population also died this fall.It dropped dead on a hiking trail, where a ranger found its intact, though emaciated, body on 17 October.Eleven years old, it far outlived most wild wolves and was apparently survived by the 9-year-old island-born female that is both its daughter and its half-sibling. The femalehad been prodding the male along for several years.Pathologists at the United StatesGeological Surveys National Wildlife Health Center in Madison noted broken ribs, as well as several puncture wounds they attributed to wolf attack. It is still a question in my mind what it actually died of, Peterson says, noting that wolf attacks dont usually break bones, although moose kicks commonly do. He may get more answers as the frozen corpse arrivesthis week in Houghton,where he will dissect the body and preserve the skeleton.Other Michigan Tech researchers plan to sequence the wolfs genome.

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Relocated island wolves outlasting mainland wolves in new Isle Royale home - Science Magazine

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A crash Saturday night on the Staten Island Expressway sent a sedan hood first into the center barrier and left at least one other driver with a damaged vehicle.

Dash camera video obtained by the Advance shows the driver of a dark sedan collide with an SUV, then careen into the wall just before 10 p.m. on the New Jersey-bound side of the expressway. The crash occurred on the approach to the Victory Boulevard exit.

Police said Tuesday the driver of the sedan was transported to a local hospital for minor injuries. No charges were filed in connection with the incident. It remains unclear if two, or three vehicles were damaged.

The woman whose camera captured the ordeal told the Advance she was driving with a baby in the back seat.

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Watch: Driver smashes into SUV, then barrier on Staten Island Expressway - SILive.com

By Carmine Angioli/For the Staten Island Advance

The College of Staten Islands Tournament of Heroes, Friday and Saturday at the Sports and Recreation Center in Willowbrook, will be the 18th and final edition under the current format.

But it sure wont be the last ever.

When the college announced its move up to NCAA Division II this is year one of a three-year transition Division III teams started dropping out of non-conference games with the Dolphins.

Once Division III teams started dropping us, I started worrying about getting teams in the tournament, said CSI coach T.J. Tibbs. What helped was the relationships I have.

For instance, Bridgewater College of Virginia committed to the tournament before Moore Catholic product Shawn Postiglione left its head coaching spot for the same job at Moravian College. Postiglione and St. Peters product Tibbs played against each other throughout grammar school and high school.

Coach Post set this up and assured me when he left they werent going to cancel, Tibbs related.

Curry, CSIs first-round opponent tomorrow night at 7:30, is coached by Tibbs future brother-in-law Joe Busacca, a Monsignor Farrell grad. Wheaton, which meets Bridgewater Friday at 5:30, jumped in late, but with enthusiasm.

Curry was rock solid, and Wheaton reached out to me and I gave them the rundown and they werent deterred by it, Tibbs said.

So, with a field in place, something else popped up.

(As the transition to D-II began), we were in limbo about what rules we had to follow, D-II wise, D-III wise, Tibbs recalled. We stumbled across a rule where every D-II team takes off at the same time. And that was running right into the tournament.

So we were able to get some help. Erin (Van Nostrand), our compliance director, did a great job in running that through the NCAA and the (East Coast Conference) office and saying, Hey, look, this is something thats very important.

I just remember walking into (athletic director Charles Gomes) office and Erins office saying, This has to happen. They made sure. Everybody here understands the importance of the tournament.

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TOURNAMENT OF HEROES GLANCE

WHAT: College of Staten Islands 18th annual Tournament of Heroes

WHERE: CSIs Sports and Recreation Center, Willowbrook

MATCHUPS

Friday

Bridgewater vs. Wheaton, 5:30 p.m.

CSI vs. Curry, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

Third place game, 1 p.m.

Championship, 3 p.m.

ADMISSION: Its five dollars per person each day, with proceeds going to support the tournament.

HISTORY: CSI defeated Bates and Tufts last December to win the tourney for the first time since 2015 and third time overall.

IN MEMORY OF: Former CSI coach Tony Petosa launched the tournament in memory of Terrance Aiken, Scott Davidson and Tom Hannafin, ex-Dolphins who perished in the attack of Sept. 11, 2001. Aiken worked in the WTC. Davidson and Hannafin were members of FDNY.

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The significance, of course, is the event honors three former Dolphin players Tom Hannafin, Curtis Aiken and Scott Davidson who perished in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Former CSI coach Tony Petosa, who coached or played with all three men, helped launch the tourney. Tibbs played in it for CSI and was committed to carrying on.

The first night is the most important night, when we honor the three young men, Tibbs said. When I took the job and being an alum, I (said) as long as I am here its going to happen. Thats just the CSI pride in me. But also understanding what it means to the community.

When 2020 rolls around, the format will be altered to conform to D-II regulations. The tournament will have new dates most likely the first weekend of the season, in early November and will be a tip off event, with opponents pre-determined, so there wont be a formal championship game. The opponents will all be D-II teams from CSIs region, allowing the Dolphins two extra games. D-IIs are permitted 26 regular-season games, but games in this sort of event do not count against the total.

Well make it work because thats really an important event for us, Gomes said back in September. Its important for us to honor those guys and their families.

NOTES: CSI is 3-6 overall, 1-5 against Division II opponents. Curry is 3-5, but the three wins under second-year head coach Busacca are one short of the programs win total for the previous four years combined. Wheaton is 3-4 overall and Bridgewater is 4-6. The third place and title games are at 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday.

Read the original:

College of Staten Island hitting refresh button on Tournament of Heroes - SILive.com

View to Hart Island from City Island in New York City (2016) (photo by Allison Meier for Hyperallergic)

New Yorks Hart Island, the resting place of over 1 million, is fertile ground for civic good and an urban metaphor. What has traditionally been a site of mourning on the eastern shore of the Bronx (a literal gravesite) can be reincarnated as a public space. A bill that passed in New York state last month has plotted the islands future as a more accessible park for residents and visitors to the borough.

Historically, the island the worlds largest tax-funded cemetery has operated under the purview of the Department of Corrections (DoC), which pays Rikers Island inmates $1 an hour to handle the areas many bodies. The bill, which Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law earlier this month, will transfer control of Hart Island to the New York City Parks Department.

To advocates, Hart Island its bureaucracy, inaccessibility, and injustice is notorious.

During the DoCs controversial reign, mourners were only permitted to visit the site during limited hours a few times per month. (For years, loved ones were barred from the site altogether; visiting privileges were only granted after a lawsuit in 2015.) During those limited hours, friends and family were under strict watch by DoC personnel and surrounded by unfriendly barbed wire fences.

Not only has Hart Island erected literal barriers to entry, but the area has reinforced harsh social borders. Since the 1860s, Hart has been the final stop for New Yorks indigent population homeless, stillborn babies, early victims of the AIDS epidemic, the unclaimed, the poor, and the otherwise forgotten by the city government. Strikingly, the graves on Hart Island are unmarked. By the mass graves which hold coffins for up to 150 adults or 1,000 babies anonymous white markers stand in lieu of headstones. (In 2015, the Hart Island Project launched the digital Traveling Cloud Museum to acknowledge and honor the identities of those who were buried there.)

According to Melinda Hunt, who founded the project in 2011, revoking the DoCs control over Hart Island lifts the stigma associated with public burials in New York City.

Hart Island is the largest natural burial ground in the United States, she told Hyperallergic in an email. It is a sustainable, ecological alternative to cremation and embalming. New York City is not running out of burial space. If the burials continue and the land is managed by Parks, it will become a model urban cemetery.

To Hunt, an artist-photographer, all cemeteries are places of storytelling.

Under Hunts leadership, the Hart Island project has facilitated roughly 500 visits to the site.

The Parks Department measure belongs to a group of four related bills, all of which passed in December. One such bill tasked the citys Department of Transportation with creating a ferry service and transport plans to shuttle visitors to and from the island.

Although each bill sailed through committee, some on the city council argue the city may be trading one set of publicly funded problems for another.

Councilman Mark Gjonaj who represents Hart Island, among other districts told Curbed that the infrastructure does not exist to maintain a ferry service from City Island to the gravesite. Extending ferry service, he continued, would create a public safety hazard.

Hart Island has been in poor condition since Hurricane Sandy passed through New York, debilitating Harts infrastructure.

But to Hunt, the principle stands firm.

In New York City we live in close proximity to one another and are buried inches apart. Our graves are marked using GPS and we owe our public parks to generations whose bodies saved our greenspaces from development, she said.

NYC Parks has not announced whether Hart Island will continue to accept new bodies for burial.

More here:

Hart Island Cemetery Will Be Reincarnated as a Public Space - Hyperallergic

Traveling to an island sounds like the ultimate getaway with pristine white sand beaches, crystal clear waters and a sun that never stops shining. But while most islands around the world are safe to travel to, there are still quite a few that are deemed dangerous and pose a threat to anyone's life.

There are islands across the globe that are extremely troubling for travelers.Then there are the islands that are home to indigenous tribes of people that have rejected any contact of the outside world and will harm anyone they deem threatening.North Sentinel Island is home to the Sentinelese people, one of a few remaining people on Earth that are untouched by modern civilization.

Here are 20 islands around the world that are just plain dangerous and should be avoided by travelers at all costs.

There are poisonous gases lingering in the air on Izu Island that are so strong, residents must wear gas masks. According to My Travel Islands, these gases seep up through the ground and when levels are high, a siren sounds letting everyone know that they must put on their gas mask.

Mother Nature is not a fan of Saba Island, which has been impacted by more severe storms in the last 150 years than any other place on the planet, writes My Travel Islands. There have been at least seven category five hurricanes and ten category three hurricanes.

In 1942, British scientists took 50 sheep to this island and dropped an anthrax bomb to see if the disease was deadly. No more than two weeks later, all of the sheep had died. Unfortunately, the island was also contaminated and people were banned from traveling to Gruinard Island for 50 years, reports My Travel Islands.

A saltwater crocodile can weight up to 2,000 pounds and easily kill a person. Ramree Island is home to thousands of these crocodiles and while they are not deadly, they are known to attack people who enter their territory. But according to The Active Times, travelers can also find poisonous scorpions just about everywhere.

Ilha da Queimada (Snake Island)is one of the most dangerous islands on earth because of the thousands of venomous snakes, including the Golden Lancehead Viper, that dominate the area. According to The Active Times, the area is so risky the Brazilian Navy has banned all humans from the island.

North Sentinel Island is home to a group of indigenous people known as the Sentinelese who are known to attack any stranger that approaches the island. According to The Active Times, these indigenous people have rejected any contact with the outside world and are one of the few remaining people untouched by modern civilization.

The Farallon Islands are located near San Francisco, California and are off-limits to people because of the 47,500 55-gallon drums of nuclear waste dumped onto the ocean floor. The government has no idea where these drums are located exactly and don't even want to bother locating them, reports My Travel Islands.

Not many people visit the islands of Comoros and for good reason. The Active Times reports that the islands are infected with malaria-carrying mosquitoes and the water is potentially contaminated. People on the island are urged to boil all water and milk because it is unpasteurized.

Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands was once a nuclear weapon testing site between 1946 and 1958. Even though people returned in the late '80s, food and plants are still said to be contaminated and eating any local produce is highly discouraged, reports The Active Times.

This spooky-looking island hasn't seen residents for quite some time because of the difficulties they may face trying to sustain themselves and produce food. The coastline is filled with large cliffs and it is very rocky making it hard for anyone to secure a boat, reports My Travel Islands.

Enewetak Atoll is a coral island not fit for human life because of the 43 nuclear active tests the United States conducted between 1948 and 1958 in a huge dome structure pictured above. According to The Active Times, due to the high contamination and radioactivity, no human can live on the island. However, it's reported to be safe by 2027.

Reunion Island is known for its diverse landscape, with a volcanic, rainforest interior and stunning beaches and coral reefs. According to The Active Times, while the island is a dream vacation, the government has warned travelers about shark attacks, with 16 percent of the world's fatal attacks from 2011 to 2016 having happened there.

Isola La Gaiola is comprised of two small islands connected by a bridge and seems like a perfect place for a getaway. According to Blogroom, this picturesque island in Italy is supposedly cursed since many people with great wealth who once lived here but passed away unexpectedly or failed in their businesses.

The Korowai Tribe lives in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Many of the Korowai people believe outsiders posed a threat and will use bow and arrows to attack intruders from rival clans and foreigners. Because they live in140-foot tree houses, it's also difficult for travelers to spot the Korowai.

Bouvet lies 1,000 miles north of Antarctica's mainland with over 93 percent of the 119-square-mile island covered by a glacier all year long. It's considered to be the most remote island on the planet with only six Norwegian Weather Service workers staying for short periods.

Millions of tourists travel to Jamaica each year, but most of these travelers stay put at all-inclusive resorts, and for good reason. Crime in Jamaica is extremely high with areas in Kingston, including Mountain View, Trench Town, Tivoli and several areas in Montego Bay are considered all high-threat areas.

The Mergui Archipelago is located between Burma and Thailand and consists of around 800 small islands. Both governments of Burma and Thailand have warned travelers about the dangers of some of these particular islands because they are inhabited by the Moken Tribe. The Moken people are known to shoot arrows at anyone they do not recognize.

Poveglia Island in Italy is known for its paranormal activity that keeps travelers away. Located between Lido and Venice in Northern Italy, it is one of the creepiest islands in the world and contains plague pits or graves of the thousands of people who lost their lives when the Black Death spread in the nation.

The largest accumulation of garbage and marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not only hurting thousands of sea creatures but is very disturbing. The amount of garbage and plastic in the area is equivalent to an area twice the size of Texas.

Australia is home to a number of venomous and poisonous animals. The island has more venomous snakes than any other nation and sharks pose a risk to surfers. There are also deadly spiders, tons of saltwater crocodiles, and in the ocean, divers may come close to a southern blue-lined octopus that carries toxic venom.

Read the rest here:

Snake Island And 19 Other Islands That Are Just Plain Dangerous - TheTravel