Peanut Butter News

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NEW ORLEANS – Stark differences exist between the oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico and the blast that led to the massive BP spill. Mostly notably, no one was killed and no crude was gushing into the water, but the distinctions don’t end there.

Even though the Mariner Energy-owned platform that erupted in flames Thursday was just 200 miles west of the site of the spill, everything from the structures to the operations to the safety devices were different.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Alesaundra Tafoya’s parents have been teaching their daughter about safety in their Northern California community, pointing out such safe havens as fire stations if she ever finds herself in trouble.

They weren’t, however, expecting 3-year-old Alesaundra to call upon those lessons when one of them needed help — but that’s exactly what she did Friday when her father collapsed in their Manteca, California, home.

Frank Tafoya told CNN affiliate KOVR that he “took a mixture of medication I wasn’t supposed to at the time — a bed-time dose — and I guess I collapsed.”

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — A 20-year-old man waiting in line for a ride at Disney’s California Adventure Park fell 25 to 30 feet Wednesday night, Anaheim police spokesman Sgt. Rick Martinez said Thursday.

The man was in the building housing the queue for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, when he put his leg over the railing and fell, Martinez said.

“The guest was standing in line with friends on a second-floor platform when he climbed over a barrier to the area below and lost his balance and fell approximately 25 feet,” Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said in a statement.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — The bodies of two children trapped inside a car submerged in the Edisto River in South Carolina have been recovered, and their mother has been arrested, authorities said Monday.

State troopers responded to a report of a car accident early Monday and found a Chrysler sedan in the water near a boat landing in Orangeburg County. Divers discovered the bodies of the two boys, ages 1 and 2, which were taken from the car and sent to the county coroner for autopsies, authorities said.

Full Story at msnbc.com

A 13-year-old boy was struck by lightning — at 13:13 hours on Friday the 13th, according to reports.

The teen was watching an air show at Lowestoft, England, when he was struck and was later treated for burns to his shoulder, the U.K.’s Mirror newspaper said. He is expected to fully recover.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Four men died after horsing around in a boat on a southern Idaho reservoir, authorities said late Monday.

The bodies of four men were found Monday evening in the American Falls Reservoir in the same area where the men had fallen into the water a day earlier, said Cpl. Leilani Morgan of the the Power County Sheriff’s Department.

The search began Sunday for the four boaters after authorities received a 911 call from a child on their boat, said Power County, Idaho, Sheriff Jim Jeffries. The four men were “horsing around,” he said. One man was standing up in the front of the boat and another man pushed him into the water as a joke, not realizing he could not swim, he said.

Full Story atYahoo.com

JUNEAU, Alaska – Anyone who has ever stepped foot on an airplane in Alaska is keenly aware of the dangers that lurk in every mountain pass and cloud on the horizon.

Ted Stevens was so mindful of the risks that he once called plane crashes an occupational hazard for politicians in Alaska, and he spoke from experience. He survived a plane crash in 1978 that killed his wife.

The crash that killed Stevens and four others on a salmon fishing trip this week has served as another tragic reminder about just how dangerous flying is in Alaska.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Investigators will be on the scene Wednesday of a plane crash that killed former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and four others. Also, autopsies are expected to be completed by the end of the day.

Brutal terrain and bad weather on the remote Alaska mountain kept survivors waiting 12 hours for rescue after the crash, officials and witnesses said Tuesday.

“The weather was very challenging for those responding,” said Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Full Story at WISN.com

WEST ALLIS, Wis. –
Riders got stuck Thursday night when the Sky Glider stopped working on opening day of the Wisconsin State Fair.

Fair organizers got the Sky Glider back operating on Friday afternoon.The West Allis Fire Department moved trucks onto the State Fair Grounds,
according to Patrice Harris with the fair. The department has been
trained for this type of evacuation.

Full Story at msnbc.com

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO — BP said Wednesday that it had reached the “desired outcome” in a procedure in which it pumped mud down the throat of the blown-out well that is leaking in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams said the mud is holding the oil down. She called the initial results “a very big deal.”

However, it doesn’t mean the well has been ultimately killed. The company will decide its next steps during the day Wednesday, Williams added.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — If you think you’ve heard it all, follow this tale of a hungry black bear who went for a ride, literally.

Douglas County, Colorado, Sheriff’s deputies early Friday got a call about a honking car and a commotion inside. Perhaps it was teenagers or a thief, they thought as they approached Ralph Story’s 2008 Toyota Corolla.

It turns out it was a thief, albeit the furry variety.

The deputies’ first clue to something unusual was that the car was 125 feet below its normal parking spot in the driveway of the Storys’ Larkspur home, which sits on five acres.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Testing continues and scientists are evaluating the results to decide whether to resume collecting oil from BP’s ruptured deepwater well, the company said Monday.

BP’s statement came hours after Thad Allen, the federal government’s oil spill response director, said that testing had revealed a “detected seep a distance from the well.” He ordered the company to quickly notify the government if other leaks were found.

“When seeps are detected, you are directed to marshal resources, quickly investigate, and report findings to the government in no more than four hours,” Allen said in a letter to BP Chief Managing Director Bob Dudley released late Sunday.