THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012
WEATHER
PAGE 5A
Hurricane Isaac slams Gulf
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tropical storm Isaac stalled for several hours before resuming its slow trek inland, and forecasters said that was in keeping with its erratic history. The slow motion over land means Isaac could be a major soaker, dumping up to 20 inches of rain in some areas.
Research students from the the University of Alabama measure wind speeds as Hurricane Isaac makes landfall. Wednesday, in New Orleans, La. Isaac was packing 80 mph winds, making it a Category 1 hurricane. It came ashore early Tuesday near the mouth of the Mississippi River, driving a wall of water nearly 11 feet high inland and soaking a neck of land that stretches into the Gulf.
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NEW ORLEANS—Newly down-graded Tropical Storm Isaac plowed its way across Louisiana on the seventh anniversary of Katrina, with officials weighing whether to bust a hole in a levee to relieve some of the water that was spilling over a wall in a rural part of the state Wednesday.
Rescuies were carried out there while in New Orleans, the levee system was holding, though power lines were downed and debris littered the streets, prompting officials to impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said officials may cut a hole in a levee on the east bank of Plaquemines Parish to relieve pressure on the structure. At a news conference in Baton Rouge, Jindal there was no estimate on when that might occur.
He said as many as 40 people are reportedly in need of rescue in the area.
Plaquemines Parish has also ordered a mandatory evacuation for the west bank of the Mississippi River below Belle Chasse, worried about a storm surge. The order affects about 3,000 people in the area, including a nursing home with 112 residents.
Joshua Brockhaus, an electrician who lives in the flooded area, helped rescue neighbors in his boat.
Officials said the evacuation was ordered out of concern that more storm surge from Isaac would be pushed into the area and levees might be overtopped.
The hurricane's impact was a surprise for him.
"I'm getting text messages from all over asking for help," he said. "I'm dropping my dogs off and I'm going back out there."
"We didn't think it was going to be like that," he said. "The storm stayed over the top of us. For Katrina, we got 8 inches of water. Now we have 13 feet."
Alvin Sylve, a disabled former long-distance truck driver, was preparing to evacuate. He lived on street with rows of doube- and single-wide trailers in Jesuit Bend in Plaquemines Parish, an area outside the federal levee system where people were ordered to evacuate Wednesday as conditions worsened.
"We've never seen it this bad" he said. "The way this wind is shifting."
He was hunkering down at a friend's double-wide with leaks springing in the ceiling.
"This double-wide is shaking, even though it's anchored down. You see another piece came off the roof," he said, pointing to a flying piece of roof tile. "It's falling apart!"
Meanwhile in New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu issued a curfew for the city as Hurricane Isaac lashed the city on the seven-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's destructive arrival. The curfew was issued to prevent looting and to make it easier for utility crews to restore electricity. So far, there had been only sporadic arrests for looting.
Police cars had been patrolling the nearly empty streets since Isaac began bringing fierce winds and heavy rains to the city Tuesday night. The curfew was set to start Wednesday night and would last until further notice.
In Vermilion Parish, Sheriff Mike Couvillon had a 36-year-old man
had gone to help two friends move a vehicle from under a tree to prepare for Isaac on Tuesday evening, and fell to his death after climbing 18 feet up a tree. Deputies don't know why the man climbed the tree.
Rescuers in boats and trucks plucked a handful of people who became stranded by floodwaters in thinly populated areas of southeast Louisiana. Authorities feared many more could need help after a night of slashing rain and fierce winds that knocked out power to more than 600,000 households and businesses.
Although Isaac was much weaker than Katrina, which crippled the city in 2005, the threat of dangerous storm surges and flooding from heavy rain was expected to last all day and into the night as the immense comma-shaped storm crawled across Louisiana.
Army Corps spokeswoman Rachel Rodi said the city's bigger, stronger levees were withstand the assault.
"The system is performing as intended, as we expected," she said. "We don't see any issues with the hurricane system at this point."
There were initial problems with pumps not working at the 17th Street Canal, the site of a breach on the day Katrina struck, but those pumps had been fixed, Rodi said.
In Plaquemines Parish, a fishing community south of New Orleans, about two dozen people who stayed behind despite evacuation orders needed to be rescued.
Two police officers had to be rescued by boat after their car became stuck. Rescuers were waiting for the strong winds to die down before moving out to search for other people.
As Isaac's eye Isaac passed overhead, authorities in armored vehicles saved a family whose roof was ripped off, Larpenter said.
"I think a lot of people were caught with their pants down," said Jerry Larpenter, sheriff in nearby Terrebonne Parish. "This storm was never predicted right since it entered the Gulf. It was supposed to go to Florida, Panama City, Biloxi, New Orleans. We hope it loses its punch once it comes in all the way."
rain too strong;" Plaquemines Parish spokeswoman Caitlin Campbell said.
"The winds are too strong and the
Water driven by the large and powerful storm flooded over an 18-mile stretch of one levee in Plaquemines Parish. The levee, one of many across the low-lying coastal zone, is not part of the new defenses constructed in New Orleans after Katrina.
After maintaining hurricane strength through the morning, Isaac weakened to a tropical storm Wednesday afternoon with 70 mph winds and was expected to continue losing strength. It came ashore at 7:45 p.m. EDT Tuesday with 80 mph winds near the mouth of the Mississippi River, driving a wall of water nearly 11 feet high inland and soaking a neck of land that stretches into the Gulf.
The storm stalled for several hours before resuming a slow trek inland, and forecasters said that was in keeping with the its erratic history. The slow motion over land means Isaac could be a major soaker, dumping up to 20 inches of rain in some areas. But every system is different.
LAW
Trade secret stealer sentenced four years
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chinese-born American Hanjuan Jin was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday for stealing top trade secrets from Motorola.
CHICAGO — A federal judge sentenced a Chinese-born American Wednesday to four years in prison for stealing millions of dollars in trade secrets from Motorola, describing her as a soft-spoken, unassuming woman who carried out a "very purposeful raid" on the company in the dead of night.
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In a barely audible voice and heavily accented English, 41-year-old Hanjuan Jin told the judge she was "so sorry for what happened" and pleaded for a second chance. Her lawyers had argued that she took the files merely to refresh her knowledge after a long absence from work and was not spying for China. They appealed for leniency and asked that Jin receive probation, in part because of her poor health.
But U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo said it was important to send a message that would deter others with access to trade secrets from siphoning off vital information.
"In today's world, the most valuable thing that anyone has is technology. ... The most important thing this country can do is protect
At Wednesday's sentencing, however, Castillo noted that Jin had also possessed confidential Chinese military documents and was identified as an employee of China-based Sun Kaisens, a telecommunications firm that U.S. government attorneys say develops products for China's military.
Castillo found Jin guilty in February of stealing trade secrets but acquitted her of more serious charges of economic espionage. The judge said the evidence fell short of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that she stole the information to ultimately benefit the Chinese military, as prosecutors alleged.
Jin must report to prison on Oct. 25. She also has to pay a $20,000 fine.
jm, who worked as a software engineer for Motorola Inc. for nine years, was stopped during a random security search at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Feb. 28, 2007, before she could board a flight to China. Prosecutors say she was carrying $31,000 and more than 1,000 confidential Motorola documents, many stored on a laptop, four external hard drives, thumb drives and other devices.
Typical symptoms are fever, headache and body aches, and most people get better on their own in a few days. Less than 1 percent develops neurological symptoms such as stiff necks and even coma and
About half of the cases are serious illnesses, and the CDC considers those the best indicator of West Nile activity because many mild cases do not get reported and their symptoms may not even be recognized.
West Nile virus cases are up 40 percent since last week and may rival the record years of 2002 and 2003, federal health officials said Wednesday.
So far this year,1,590 cases of the mosquito-borne disease have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 66 deaths.
West Nile deaths rising
its trade secrets," Castillo said.
HEALTH
Based on reports of West Nile so far this year, "we think the numbers may come close" to those of 2002 and 2003, when nearly 3,000 severe illnesses and more than 260 deaths occurred each year, said the CDC's top expert on the disease, Dr. Lyle Petersen.
The disease first appeared in the United States in 1999. Officials say this year's early spring and hot summer may have contributed to the current boom in cases.
Missouri Iowa
Health officials think that West Nile activity will peak in mid-to-late August, but likely will continue through October. Because symptoms can take two weeks to appear, reporting cases lags behind when people became infected.
paralysis.
Associated Press
Thursday, September 6, 2012
2:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Overland Park Convention Center
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PCC directions at http://www.opconventioncenter.com
MINK LAW DAY 2012
Nebraska Kansas
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Law School Fair: 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Pre-Register at http://law.missouri.edu/mink/