ALBANY, N.Y. — For the first time in more than a century, scientists have found wild-born Atlantic salmon in a Lake Ontario tributary that once teemed with the fish. A federal biologist said more than 40 yearling wild Atlantic salmon were collected this summer in the Salmon River at the eastern end of the lake in New York. He said the discovery suggests that the native species is recovering after many years of reproductive failure. The introduction of the alewife more than 50 years ago is cited as a major cause for the decline of wild salmon because the invasive fish disrupts reproduction in salmon that eat it. The biologist said the alewife population has declined.
Storm mangles historic elms
Hundreds of century-old trees lay snapped in half and uprooted throughout Central Park on Wednesday after a severe thunderstorm with winds as high as 80 mph barreled through the city overnight. “I’ve never seen a wind of that velocity in New York City,” a parks commissioner said. “It looks like pictures that I’ve seen of war zones where artillery shells have shredded trees.” The storm swept through the area Tuesday night, snapping the park’s famous American elm trees in half while uprooting others.
D.C.: Guns at Obama events
Armed men seen mixing with protesters outside recent events held by President Obama acted within the law, the White House has said, attempting to allay fears of a security threat. A White House press secretary said that individuals are entitled to carry weapons outside such events if their states allow it. “There are laws that govern firearms that are done state or locally,” he said Tuesday. “Those laws don’t change when the president comes to your state or locality.”
Florida: Shuttle launch plan
NASA will try to launch Discovery to the international space station next week, less than a month after the last shuttle mission. Senior officials set Tuesday as the launch date following a two-day flight review that ended Wednesday. Hours later, the seven astronauts flew in from Houston. Discovery and its crew will haul equipment and supplies to the space station, including a new treadmill named after Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert. Boeing is a prime contractor for the shuttle program.
Colorado: Solar power plant
Denver International Airport wants to build a $7 million solar electric-generating system to power its fuel storage and distribution system. Airport officials said Wednesday they will ask the City Council for approval to sign a contract with two companies to develop the 1.6-megawatt project on about 9 acres north of the airfield. It would provide almost all the electricity needed to power the airport’s fuel farm. The airport already has a 2-megawatt solar photovoltaic system near the terminal.
California: Reality star sought
A former contestant on the reality TV show “Megan Wants a Millionaire” is being sought for questioning in the death of a woman whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase in an Orange County trash bin. Buena Park police said they want to speak with 32-year-old Ryan Alexander Jenkins about the strangulation death of 28-year-old Jasmine Fiore. The nude body of the swimsuit model was found in a Buena Park trash bin Saturday morning.
Afghanistan: Polls are open
Thousands of polling centers across Afghanistan opened for voting today, and millions of Afghans are expected to choose a new president to lead a nation plagued by armed insurgency, drugs and corruption eight years after the U.S. invasion. In the capital, Kabul, helicopters circled overhead as police manned extra checkpoints. In one northern Kabul neighborhood, a car with loudspeakers encouraged people to vote. President Hamid Karzai is among 36 official candidates on the ballot to win a five-year term. His top challenger is his former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah.
Mexico: A record ‘Thriller’
Led by a Michael Jackson impersonator in sunglasses, a sequined black jacket and white glove, dozens of the singer’s Mexican fans are practicing the steps in his “Thriller” video to attempt a new world record. The organizer said in Mexico City that more than 10,000 people have signed up to take part in the dance routine Aug. 29, which would have been Jackson’s 51st birthday. The Guinness Book of World Records said the most people to dance to “Thriller” simultaneously in one place is held by a group of 242 College of William &Mary students who performed the routine in May.
From Herald news services
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