Free Republic

Residents of St. Vincent and the Grenadines have been told to remain alert after a Caribbean volcano came back to life. La Soufrière is the highest point in St. Vincent and is located near the northern tip of the country but remained dormant for decades before beginning to spew ash on Tuesday this week, AP reported. Steam, gas, and a volcanic dome formed by lava that reached the earth's surface could also be seen above the volcano, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). The country's government, which consists of a chain of islands home to more than...

Public transit services and Connecticut’s transportation building program have been forced to compete for limited resources for nearly a decade. But if Connecticut is to revitalize its economy in an inclusive fashion, experts say, legislators and governors must embrace both priorities in equal measure. Without a comprehensive, time-efficient system of buses and trains — and interconnecting bicycle and walking paths — too many workers can’t get to the jobs, classes and other training they need to make the economy grow. And if a construction industry that has languished since the last recession isn’t allowed to rebuild Connecticut’s aging infrastructure, many...

The caller, identified as “Bob from West Hartford,” hit a nerve when he dialed into Gov. Ned Lamont’s Jan. 9 appearance on WTIC-1080 AM with morning hosts Ray Dunaway and Joe D’Ambrosio. “Hi Governor Lamont. In the most recent [state] budget you diverted $170 million out of gas taxes in the Special Transportation Fund,” Bob said. “That’s a myth that gets perpetrated day-in and day-out,” Lamont responded. “There is no diversion taking place, so you can put that one to rest.” Not so fast, governor. Although Lamont and fellow Democrats insist the diversion charge is a “myth,” the truth is...

The year 2020 will be a year that many will want to erase from memory as soon as possible. The forecasts for 2021 look good with a vaccine approved in many countries and vaccination programs underway. But what about the cruise industry? Is there reason to be hopeful for the year to come, or are there still many pitfalls the cruise lines will need to avoid? We look at what challenges 2021 will bring, what cruise lines will need to do to overcome adversity, and how long financial experts think it will take before the industry is on pre-COVID levels...

People have a hard time hating cruising. They may think they’re going to hate it. They may want to hate it. But then they try it, and they’re hooked. If you don’t believe me, just look at the numbers. When I first started writing about cruising, in the 1990s, barely 5 million people a year were doing it. These days, the number of people cruising each year is six times that level. That’s not the growth trajectory of something that people don’t love. Still, just because people love something doesn’t mean they love everything about it. That’s the case, for...

The Canadian government said Wednesday that passengers must have a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days before they arrive in the country. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the measure will be implemented in the next few days. Canada already requires those entering the country to self-isolate for 14 days and it has already banned all flights from the United Kingdom because of the new variant of COVID-19 spreading there. The decision came a day after the premier of Canada’s largest province said he had ordered his finance minister to end a Caribbean vacation he took at a time...

Earlier this year, several pilots reported seeing a "guy in a jetpack" in the airspace above Los Angeles International Airport on two separate occasions. Now, another pilot says she spotted what appears to show someone flying a jetpack. And this time, the sighting was caught in a jaw-dropping video. Brandy Fogelman, a flight instructor at Sling Pilot Academy, recorded the video last week during an instructional flight with a student.

The year 2020 started great, with cruise lines predicting record bookings at the start of the year and passenger numbers projected to jump up by several million compared to 2019. How different things became in February and March. With COVID-19 outbreaks on several vessels, ships detained in ports worldwide, crew members stuck on board for many months, and the cruise industry under immense scrutiny from government agencies and the mainstream press, 2020 turned out to be a year many will want to forget. If cruising is to become the place that millions choose for their holidays, cruise lines will need...

Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Wildlife officials in Utah said a 11-year-old boy landed a massive 48-pound trout just six months after reeling in a 41-pound trout. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said Tyler Grimshaw drew attention online in June when the then-10-year-old reeled in a 41-pound trout without any assistance at Flaming Gorge. Grimshaw, now 11, bested his own catch this month by reeling in a 48-pound trout in the same area. Both fish were released back into the lake. "Way to go, Tyler," the division tweeted. The Utah state record for lake trout stands at 53 pounds, 15...

Carnival-owned Aida Cruises is suffering from major IT issues and does seem to be a possible cyberattack. This could now be the third major cyberattack against a cruise line this year and shows a worrying trend on keeping systems secure. Aida Cruises IT Issues, What We Know So Far The cruise line has already stated on its Facebook page that it’s currently being affected by IT issues but has not yet detailed anything specific. However, Cruise Law News reports a possible cyberattack after crew members got in touch about the matter. Ransomware is a likely cause and also seems to...

Scotty, the chief engineer on the fictional U.S.S. Enterprise who was always scrambling to heed the cry, “Beam me up, Scotty!” has been transported himself. The ashes of James Doohan, the actor who portrayed the original “Star Trek” character Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, have been interred for a dozen years on the International Space Station (ISS). And on Monday, the backstory of how they came to be there was revealed in full....

April 17, 2019 was an important date for India’s Jalesh Cruises. It was the first time passengers set foot onboard the recently purchased Karnika for a cruise from Mumbai. Less than a year later, the cruise line is out of business and the ship sold for scrap. COVID-19 is to blame, but sources tell Porthole Cruise that the cruise line’s financial issues were obvious onboard long prior to the pandemic. Jalesh Cruises was one of six cruise operators that was forced to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving behind lost opportunity and a number of outstanding debts owed...

“The vaccine may not be a panacea for the cruise line industry versus airlines or leisure hotels, where the outlook is a little bit better,” Jason Ader, CEO of SpringOwl Asset Management, tells Yahoo Finance Live. “The perception of the cruise industry is that it's a floating petri dish. And that's a bad perception.” “I don't think you'll see a return to peak profitability in the cruise industry until 2030,” says Ader. “And that's just not a function of demand coming back, because I do think the cruise industry will see people want to go on cruises. But the prices...

Christmas is celebrated in many ways in many corners of the globe, and the cuisine that marks the holiday is as diverse as the people feasting on it. Even when we can't travel to be together, food traditions are comforting at a time when many of us are separated from our families and have had a challenging year in the wake of Covid-19. And Christmas dishes are particularly special in many households. The typical Christmas meal may be different by destination, but the idea of indulging in a feast, be it on the day itself or the night before, isn't....

The task of sniffing out passengers infected with Covid-19 at Chile’s Santiago international airport is going to the dogs. A team of Golden Retrievers and Labradors sit when they smell the virus and get a treat. The canines sport green “biodetector” jackets with a red cross. Passengers at an airport health checkpoint wipe their necks and wrists with gauze pads that are then put in glass containers and sent to the dogs to see if they detect Covid-19. Sniffer dogs are best-known for finding drugs and explosives but have also previously been trained to detect malaria, cancer and Parkinson’s disease....

(Vahtera et al, ZooKeys 2020) The Movile cave in southeast Romania wouldn't be top of your holiday destination list: no light gets down to it, the air is thick with poisonous gases, and it was cut off from the outside world for around 5.5 million years before its accidental discovery in 1986. Life does exist in the Movile though, and scientists have identified the largest creature they've found there yet. It's a troglobiont (or underground) centipede that has been given the name Cryptops speleorex, and it grows up to 52 mm (2 inches) in length. The discovery takes the number...

Harris County Commissioners approved a restructuring of how county toll road revenue can be used, which is concerning some people in northwest Harris County about how road projects will be funded. The measure approved creates a corporation to oversee duties performed by the Harris County Toll Road Authority. According to HCTRA, this measure would also change the grip the state has on where toll revenue can be spent by the county. A memo from Peter Key, HCTRA’s interim executive director, said HCTRA currently can only provide the issuance of revenue bonds for tolled infrastructure, and not non-toll transportation infrastructure challenges....

With many people stuck indoors, visiting many of Earth’s wonders is no longer possible – at least not in person. As a replacement, however, France’s Ministry of Culture is bringing one of the most important archaeological sites in the world to your home with a virtual tour of Chauvet Cave. Filled with some of the best-preserved cave paintings in the world, this free tour guides you through its many chambers, explaining the paintings and their historical relevance throughout. Not only is the tour fascinating, it is also a great way to learn about how our ancestors lived around 25,000-40,000 years...

A man, woman and their service dog used the emergency slide to slip out of an airplane that was preparing to take off from LaGuardia Airport on Monday morning. The passengers opened a cabin door, activating the slide, and took off as the Delta flight bound for Atlanta, Ga., was taxiing out of the runway at around 10:55 a.m., according to law enforcement sources and an airline spokesman. Antonio Murdock, 31, told Port Authority cops that his post-traumatic stress disorder was triggered on the plane, the sources said.

HOUSTON — Harris County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to change the engineer of record on the Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge after a review found one portion that had not yet been built contained a potential design flaw. The Harris County Toll Road Authority hired an independent consultant, COWI North America, Inc., to review the design of the bridge. HCTRA deputy director John Tyler told KHOU 11 in January that COWI found the possible weakness in December 2019. The design comes from FIGG Bridge Engineers, Inc., the same company behind a Florida pedestrian bridge that collapsed in 2018,...