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The Maunder Minimum (also known as the prolonged sunspot minimum) is the name used for the period roughly spanning 1645 to 1715 when sunspots became exceedingly rare, as noted by solar observers of the time. Like the Dalton Minimum and Spörer Minimum, the Maunder Minimum coincided with a period of lower-than-average global temperatures. During one 30-year period within the Maunder Minimum, astronomers observed only about 50 sunspots, as opposed to a more typical 40,000-50,000 spots. (Source) Climatologist John Casey, a former space shuttle engineer and NASA consultant, thinks that last year’s winter, described by USA Today as “one of...

The tour guides at the old Governor's Mansion in Sacramento are trying to solve a mystery, one that involves a black cat. One of the guides, John Casey, is the grandson of former Gov. Pat Brown, the last governor to live in the Victorian mansion at 16th and H streets, and therefore the nephew of the current governor, Jerry Brown. Casey was given the black ceramic cat by his aunt, former Treasurer Kathleen Brown, with a story that Pat Brown used it to denote whether his conversations with reporters at the mansion were on or off the record. If the...

The pastor of a Roman Catholic church has been removed after a church inquiry into allegations he sexually abused a minor 18 years ago. In a letter read over the weekend to parishioners of St. Joseph's Church, Metuchen Bishop Paul Bootkoski said the Rev. John Casey has been removed from his post and all active church ministry. He is accused of molesting a minor when he served as a parochial vicar at St. Peter The Apostle Church in New Brunswick. The bishop noted that Casey denies the allegation. Bootkoski said the diocese conducted its own investigation after law enforcement authorities...