Recag/C4_7 · Datasets at Hugging Face

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The borough contained 9,317 units for rent in March, up from 8,607 in February, according to the real estate report.
Annual prices dipped by 2.92 percent from $3,966 in March 2015 to $3,850.26 last month.
Market inventory was highest in Financial District doorman studios (239 units), Upper East Side non-doorman studios (290 units) and Midtown West one-bedrooms with doormen (446 units).
Harlem saw the largest decrease in annual rent at 12.7 percent. This drop was affiliated mostly with the doorman sector.
Although prices remained stable overall month-to-month, MNS reports an 8.25 percent increase in Manhattan apartment listings in its new March rental report. The borough contained 9,317 units for rent in March, up from 8,607 in February, according to the real estate report. Although prices hardly moved on the overall scale with a decrease of .005 percent, MNS expects to see prices gradually increase closer to mid-year.
A blue-ribbon panel led by former New York state Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman will recommend closing Rikers Island — and potentially replacing it with a series of new jails spread across the city’s five boroughs, The Post has learned.
The 10-year plan also calls for slashing Rikers’ population by putting hordes of jailbirds back on the streets under “supervised release,” a source familiar with the commission’s work said Thursday.
The violence-plagued correction complex is currently home to around 10,000 inmates, about 80 percent of whom are locked up awaiting trial.
Lippman plans to release a report with the recommendations Sunday, the source said.
The Post spotted Lippman entering City Hall early Thursday evening, and he spent about 90 minutes meeting with both Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.
“Some of the people there will be on supervised release,” said Sturz, a former deputy mayor and Planning Commission chairman under then-Mayor Edward Koch.
Lippman convened his Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform last year at the request of Mark-Viverito, who has called for Rikers to be shut down, a position endorsed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Earlier last year, de Blasio publicly rejected the idea of closing Rikers, calling it a “noble concept” but saying it would cost “billions and billions of dollars” and leave the city with nowhere to lock up its hordes of jailbirds.
Both de Blasio and Mark-Viverito are expected to back the panel’s recommendations, according to a City Hall source.
The commission hired two teams of consultants to draw up plans to transform Rikers, according to sources familiar with their work.
One team, from HR&A Advisors, has been developing a proposal that includes replacing the jail complex with a third runway for La Guardia Airport, a sewage treatment plant and a garbage transfer station, the source said.
That team was told to clear their calendars for Sunday, the source said.
The other consultants are identifying potential locations for new jails that would distribute the inmates evenly across the boroughs, the source said.
Pursuing that plan would be politically perilous, as shown by the fate of former Staten Island Borough President Ralph Lamberti, who cut a failed deal to put a jail in the Rossville neighborhood in exchange for the closure of homeless shelters.
Lamberti, a Democrat, was ousted in 1989 by Republican Guy Molinari, who pounded him on the issue.
De Blasio, Mark-Viverito and Lippman all declined comment following their meeting.
Hawaii, HI, September 10- Gasoline prices in Hawaii have risen 1.1 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $4.00/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 355 stations in Hawaii. This compares with the national average that has increased 1.6 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.84/g, according to GasBuddy.
$3.34/g in 2017, $2.74/g in 2016, $3.01/g in 2015, $4.26/g in 2014 and $4.32/g in 2013.
Including the change locally during the past week, prices yesterday were 66.6 cents per gallon higher than a year ago and are 4.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has dropped 2.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 18.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
Alaska- $3.38/g, up 4.3 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.34/g.
Anchorage- $3.18/g, up 0.4 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.18/g.
Honolulu- $3.60/g, up 3.7 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.57/g.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian on Dec. 12 recommended the county explore the feasibility of having sheriff's deputies wear body cameras to protect the public from officer misconduct and officers from unfounded allegations.
Simitian said that the idea of body cameras for deputies has been floating around in the county, and given recent incidents of alleged police wrongdoing across the nation, he felt it was time to direct staff to study and report on the desirability of using them.
Body worn cameras would not eliminate instances of alleged officer misconduct, but they could help the county reduce the risk, he said.
"Like everyone else around the country, I have watched these instances unfold," Simitian said. "I'm really convinced that body-worn cameras can make a difference."
Based on research by his staff, Simitian said he thinks that body-worn cameras on deputies would reduce misconduct including excessive force against the public, assist deputies in cases of unsupported charges and help increase the public's confidence in law enforcement and other public institutions.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen has been working with the county's Police Chief's Association on protocols for deploying the cameras and Sheriff Laurie Smith earlier this year proposed using funds from a 2012 tax measure to purchase the technology, he said.
Simitian cited a 16-month study conducted in the city of Rialto in southern California that he said found body cameras worn by police reduced use of force incidents by 50 percent and citizen complaints against officers by nearly 90 percent.
A number of police agencies in the county already use body-worn cameras, including the cities of Gilroy, Los Gatos and Campbell, and Mountain View plans to begin deploying them next year, he said.
Palo Alto police have tested the use of body cameras with select officers and is considering implementing them throughout the force.
The Sheriff's Department also has employed body cameras, and vehicle-mounted ones, on a limited basis and has described the experience as generally positive, according to Simitian.
Simitian's proposal to have the county staff investigate and report on the feasibility and desirability of body-worn camera will be discussed at the Board of Supervisors' next meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at the County Government Building in San Jose.
San Jose police recently announced a planned pilot project, to start at a future date, involving 12 officers who have volunteered to wear body cameras so the department can learn about the management and the cost of such a program.
The use of body-worn cameras and policies regarding them recently came under scrutiny in Menlo Park, when officers fatally shot a burglary suspect. Two of the three officers were wearing body cameras, but only one turned his on, and only after the suspect had been shot.
"I think we've opened some eyes in the law enforcement world. We've shown the potential," said Tony Farrar, Rialto's police chief. "It's catching on."
Body-worn cameras are not new. Devon and Cornwall police launched a pilot scheme in 2006 and forces in Strathclyde, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, among others, have also experimented.
But Rialto's randomised controlled study has seized attention because it offers scientific – and encouraging – findings: after cameras were introduced in February 2012, public complaints against officers plunged 88% compared with the previous 12 months. Officers' use of force fell by 60%.
It is important, though, to have the cameras turned on when there is engagement between officers and the public.
Body cameras have been shown to improve the behavior of both sides of the interaction between police and the public. Plus they eliminate the two contradictory eye witnesses of the same incident with a neutral third party view.
On the other hand, many police officers have arrested witnesses for videoing incidents and states have made it difficult to record police activities. Policing isn't always pretty but a video record is hard to contradict.
Perhaps technology can activate the camera when a gun is pulled, a club is pulled, the arms go above the head, or the heart rate goes up.
I fully support the use of body cameras, it will be beneficial for the police and the public.
Did Redflex go into the police camera business?
Palo Alto police should definitely wear body cameras. The Menlo Park police already do. It imrproves police behavior and reduces false allegations against them. Plus provides valuable evidence. It's a win-win-win.
what good does an on-body camera do if the police officer can turn it on or off at will--as in the recent case of the Menlo Park officers who did not turn their cameras on when pursuing and killing a burglar?
THE sadistic murder of a man with learning difficulties and a depraved attack on a dying woman are included in a book on hate crime against the disabled.
Journalist Katharine Quarmby has included the shocking stories of Keith Philpott and Christine Lakinski in her work Scapegoat.
Mr Philpott, 36, was bound and gagged before being tortured and disembowelled during an attack in Billingham in March 2005.
Sean Swindon, 25, and Michael Peart, 22, both from Middlesbrough, were given jail terms of 28 years and 22 years respectively for the attack.
Miss Lakinski, 50, had curvature of the spine and learning difficulties and was bullied all her life. She was making her way home one day when she collapsed. As she lay dying of pancreatic failure on the pavement outside her Hartlepool home on July 26, 2007, she was subjected to a final humiliation.
Drunken Anthony Anderson, threw a bowl of water over her, then urinated and sprayed shaving foam all over her.
His friends watched laughing during the 30-minute episode and one recorded the act on his mobile phone. Anderson was jailed for three years.
Scapegoat traces prejudice against disabled people from Greek and Roman culture, through the Industrial Revolution and the origins of Britain’s asylum system to the Holocaust.
Also in the book is Andrew Gardner, 46. The Chilton man died in 2009 after being starved and beaten by the mother of his baby, her ex-lover and brother.
Katharine is an associate editor at Prospect magazine and has produced films for the BBC’s Newsnight and Panorama. She has also news-edited Disability Now and written for national newspapers and the Economist.
And she said the news featured a “shocking” story about a sustained attack on a disabled person “every few months”.
“It’s easy to write off such cases as bullying that got out of hand, terrible criminal anomalies or regrettable failures of the care system, but in fact they point to a more uncomfortable truth about how our society treats its most unequal citizens,” she said.
Scapegoat is published on June 7 and Katharine will speak at the Hay literary festival on June 1.
We are a team of entrepreneurs, coders, finance experts and changemakers. We want to create a world that is powered by abundant clean energy sources and owned by people like me and you. We’re excited to build that world with you.
The company says it will use the new funding to build out its platform for crowd funding on a larger scale.
» Airports of Thailand (AoT) has announced a plan to expand Chiang Mai airport.
» Ban Rai Kong Khing in Chiang Mai has won an award at the inaugural Pata Tourism InSPIRE Awards 2015.
» Busan is Korea's second largest city, but its dazzling array of attractions is second to none. From 3D K-pop cinema, the world's largest department store and a massive buffet restaurant to a party yacht, Busan is drawing more and more tourists, particularly due to the convenience of transportation offered by Korea Train Express (KTX).
» It was the afternoon of the Luckiest Day, August 8, 1888, when a family of grizzly bears stopped to scratch their backs against a boulder on Big Grizzly Mountain. A villager passing by shortly afterwards spotted something gleaming in the rock. All that scratching had worn down the surface and revealed a bright vein of gold. Once the news got out, hordes of people began descending on Big Grizzly Gulch to seek their fortunes, sparking a gold rush that brought much prosperity to that luckiest of towns, Grizzly Gulch.
» Bangkok was once home to many artisan communities, each known for a particular art or craft, but there's been a sharp decline in the number of such neighbourhoods lately.
Administrators and elected officials from Morton’s taxing bodies, the Morton Chamber of Commerce, Morton Economic Development Council, Morton Tourism Association and Morton Community Foundation gather each year for a village joint boards meeting.
Administrators and elected officials from Morton's taxing bodies, the Morton Chamber of Commerce, Morton Economic Development Council, Morton Tourism Association and Morton Community Foundation gather each year for a village joint boards meeting. No decisions are made. No votes are taken. The meeting consists of presentations on what happened the previous year, what's coming up, and how the entities can better work together.
Unfortunately, there was no public announcement of this year's meeting, held in January at Freedom Hall, as required under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Nor was the media notified. The slipups weren't intentional. They were an oversight. But Morton Mayor Norm Durflinger discussed the situation last week at the Village Board meeting.
"We didn't post a notice about the joint boards meeting, and that was an error on our part," he said. "Nobody is trying to hide anything. The minutes from the meeting are available on the village's website."
Indeed they are. The only item in the minutes that caught my attention was Durflinger expressing concern about a lack of traffic at the Field Shopping Center. Durflnger said he has directed Village Attorney Tom Davies to explore possible TIF funding for the center.
A check list is being prepared so the joint boards meeting's organizer can make sure the meeting is publicized properly, and is aware of other tasks that need to be done. The taxing bodies and other organizations organize the meeting on a rotating basis.
Hundreds of troops armed with shovels and power-saws sifted through the splintered remains of a resort hotel in Japan Sunday in search of survivors after a powerful earthquake killed six people.
The Komanoyu hotel, a secluded inn with natural hot springs opened four centuries ago in northern Japan’s rolling hills, was reduced to a heap of wood and shattered furniture by Saturday’s quake.
A huge sheet of mud shoved the hotel’s tiled roof up to 30m from its original location, with seven guests or employees missing, feared trapped underneath.
“It’s more difficult than expected to deal with this mud,” said Masahiro Ishiba, a soldier heading a team of 300 soldiers and civilians who sawed through the debris and tried to dig a ditch to free the water.
“Right now we’re finding it tough to make much progress. But all of us are doing all we can,” he told public broadcaster NHK.
Six people were killed and more than 220 others injured in the earthquake, the most powerful to strike inland Japan in eight years, and measuring 7,2.
Another six people were missing elsewhere in northern Japan, according to NHK’s tally.
Dozens of people stayed overnight at several makeshift shelters set up in public buildings in Kurihara, a sprawling town of about 80 000 people located in a rice-growing region.
Most still had homes but lacked running water or simply were afraid, after more than than 260 aftershocks rocked the region.
With landslides snapping bridges and burying key roads with rocks and dirt, many of the 800 troops deployed to the region scoured by helicopter to find people cut off from the world.
Hidetsugu Takahashi (60) had come to this region 350km north of Tokyo to indulge in his hobby of photography when the quake struck.
He was airlifted to the main town of Kurihara from a country inn, where he said most guests spent the night in the candlelight in the lobby because the furniture was damaged in their rooms.
“I saw big rocks fall down that were as big as eight metres wide. It was so scary,” Takahashi said.
“I stayed inside my car at night because I was afraid of aftershocks.
I couldn’t sleep,” he said.
At the heliport in Kurihara, two ambulances were on standby to take any injured to hospital, but most evacuees were content just having tea and snacks.
Kirino Miura (75) was airlifted along with her husband as the water level rose in a river next to their house.
“I saw rocks falling down from the cliffs. It’s frightening. We didn’t have any choice but to evacuate,” she said.
More than 330 people had been evacuated by Sunday morning. But about 30 people were resisting calls by authorities to leave, saying they had to take care of their farmland, said military spokesperson Lieutenant Shoichi Chiba.
“The administration is trying to persuade them to evacuate. It’s not as if we won’t take care of their land,” Chiba said.
The transport ministry said around five “quake lakes” had been formed after the earthquake, but it said all were relatively small and under control.
Quake lakes were a major problem after last month’s massive earthquake in China’s Sichuan province.
The Australian Securities Exchange's website came back online at 12.08pm AEST following a morning-long outage from a cause that has yet to be determined.

The borough contained 9,317 units for rent in March, up from 8,607 in February, according to the real estate report.

Annual prices dipped by 2.92 percent from $3,966 in March 2015 to $3,850.26 last month.

Market inventory was highest in Financial District doorman studios (239 units), Upper East Side non-doorman studios (290 units) and Midtown West one-bedrooms with doormen (446 units).

Harlem saw the largest decrease in annual rent at 12.7 percent. This drop was affiliated mostly with the doorman sector.

Although prices remained stable overall month-to-month, MNS reports an 8.25 percent increase in Manhattan apartment listings in its new March rental report. The borough contained 9,317 units for rent in March, up from 8,607 in February, according to the real estate report. Although prices hardly moved on the overall scale with a decrease of .005 percent, MNS expects to see prices gradually increase closer to mid-year.

A blue-ribbon panel led by former New York state Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman will recommend closing Rikers Island — and potentially replacing it with a series of new jails spread across the city’s five boroughs, The Post has learned.

The 10-year plan also calls for slashing Rikers’ population by putting hordes of jailbirds back on the streets under “supervised release,” a source familiar with the commission’s work said Thursday.

The violence-plagued correction complex is currently home to around 10,000 inmates, about 80 percent of whom are locked up awaiting trial.

Lippman plans to release a report with the recommendations Sunday, the source said.

The Post spotted Lippman entering City Hall early Thursday evening, and he spent about 90 minutes meeting with both Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

“Some of the people there will be on supervised release,” said Sturz, a former deputy mayor and Planning Commission chairman under then-Mayor Edward Koch.

Lippman convened his Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform last year at the request of Mark-Viverito, who has called for Rikers to be shut down, a position endorsed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Earlier last year, de Blasio publicly rejected the idea of closing Rikers, calling it a “noble concept” but saying it would cost “billions and billions of dollars” and leave the city with nowhere to lock up its hordes of jailbirds.

Both de Blasio and Mark-Viverito are expected to back the panel’s recommendations, according to a City Hall source.

The commission hired two teams of consultants to draw up plans to transform Rikers, according to sources familiar with their work.

One team, from HR&A Advisors, has been developing a proposal that includes replacing the jail complex with a third runway for La Guardia Airport, a sewage treatment plant and a garbage transfer station, the source said.

That team was told to clear their calendars for Sunday, the source said.

The other consultants are identifying potential locations for new jails that would distribute the inmates evenly across the boroughs, the source said.

Pursuing that plan would be politically perilous, as shown by the fate of former Staten Island Borough President Ralph Lamberti, who cut a failed deal to put a jail in the Rossville neighborhood in exchange for the closure of homeless shelters.

Lamberti, a Democrat, was ousted in 1989 by Republican Guy Molinari, who pounded him on the issue.

De Blasio, Mark-Viverito and Lippman all declined comment following their meeting.

Hawaii, HI, September 10- Gasoline prices in Hawaii have risen 1.1 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $4.00/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 355 stations in Hawaii. This compares with the national average that has increased 1.6 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.84/g, according to GasBuddy.

$3.34/g in 2017, $2.74/g in 2016, $3.01/g in 2015, $4.26/g in 2014 and $4.32/g in 2013.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices yesterday were 66.6 cents per gallon higher than a year ago and are 4.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has dropped 2.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 18.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

Alaska- $3.38/g, up 4.3 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.34/g.

Anchorage- $3.18/g, up 0.4 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.18/g.

Honolulu- $3.60/g, up 3.7 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.57/g.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian on Dec. 12 recommended the county explore the feasibility of having sheriff's deputies wear body cameras to protect the public from officer misconduct and officers from unfounded allegations.

Simitian said that the idea of body cameras for deputies has been floating around in the county, and given recent incidents of alleged police wrongdoing across the nation, he felt it was time to direct staff to study and report on the desirability of using them.

Body worn cameras would not eliminate instances of alleged officer misconduct, but they could help the county reduce the risk, he said.

"Like everyone else around the country, I have watched these instances unfold," Simitian said. "I'm really convinced that body-worn cameras can make a difference."

Based on research by his staff, Simitian said he thinks that body-worn cameras on deputies would reduce misconduct including excessive force against the public, assist deputies in cases of unsupported charges and help increase the public's confidence in law enforcement and other public institutions.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen has been working with the county's Police Chief's Association on protocols for deploying the cameras and Sheriff Laurie Smith earlier this year proposed using funds from a 2012 tax measure to purchase the technology, he said.

Simitian cited a 16-month study conducted in the city of Rialto in southern California that he said found body cameras worn by police reduced use of force incidents by 50 percent and citizen complaints against officers by nearly 90 percent.

A number of police agencies in the county already use body-worn cameras, including the cities of Gilroy, Los Gatos and Campbell, and Mountain View plans to begin deploying them next year, he said.

Palo Alto police have tested the use of body cameras with select officers and is considering implementing them throughout the force.

The Sheriff's Department also has employed body cameras, and vehicle-mounted ones, on a limited basis and has described the experience as generally positive, according to Simitian.

Simitian's proposal to have the county staff investigate and report on the feasibility and desirability of body-worn camera will be discussed at the Board of Supervisors' next meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at the County Government Building in San Jose.

San Jose police recently announced a planned pilot project, to start at a future date, involving 12 officers who have volunteered to wear body cameras so the department can learn about the management and the cost of such a program.

The use of body-worn cameras and policies regarding them recently came under scrutiny in Menlo Park, when officers fatally shot a burglary suspect. Two of the three officers were wearing body cameras, but only one turned his on, and only after the suspect had been shot.

"I think we've opened some eyes in the law enforcement world. We've shown the potential," said Tony Farrar, Rialto's police chief. "It's catching on."

Body-worn cameras are not new. Devon and Cornwall police launched a pilot scheme in 2006 and forces in Strathclyde, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, among others, have also experimented.

But Rialto's randomised controlled study has seized attention because it offers scientific – and encouraging – findings: after cameras were introduced in February 2012, public complaints against officers plunged 88% compared with the previous 12 months. Officers' use of force fell by 60%.

It is important, though, to have the cameras turned on when there is engagement between officers and the public.

Body cameras have been shown to improve the behavior of both sides of the interaction between police and the public. Plus they eliminate the two contradictory eye witnesses of the same incident with a neutral third party view.

On the other hand, many police officers have arrested witnesses for videoing incidents and states have made it difficult to record police activities. Policing isn't always pretty but a video record is hard to contradict.

Perhaps technology can activate the camera when a gun is pulled, a club is pulled, the arms go above the head, or the heart rate goes up.

I fully support the use of body cameras, it will be beneficial for the police and the public.

Did Redflex go into the police camera business?

Palo Alto police should definitely wear body cameras. The Menlo Park police already do. It imrproves police behavior and reduces false allegations against them. Plus provides valuable evidence. It's a win-win-win.

what good does an on-body camera do if the police officer can turn it on or off at will--as in the recent case of the Menlo Park officers who did not turn their cameras on when pursuing and killing a burglar?

THE sadistic murder of a man with learning difficulties and a depraved attack on a dying woman are included in a book on hate crime against the disabled.

Journalist Katharine Quarmby has included the shocking stories of Keith Philpott and Christine Lakinski in her work Scapegoat.

Mr Philpott, 36, was bound and gagged before being tortured and disembowelled during an attack in Billingham in March 2005.

Sean Swindon, 25, and Michael Peart, 22, both from Middlesbrough, were given jail terms of 28 years and 22 years respectively for the attack.

Miss Lakinski, 50, had curvature of the spine and learning difficulties and was bullied all her life. She was making her way home one day when she collapsed. As she lay dying of pancreatic failure on the pavement outside her Hartlepool home on July 26, 2007, she was subjected to a final humiliation.

Drunken Anthony Anderson, threw a bowl of water over her, then urinated and sprayed shaving foam all over her.

His friends watched laughing during the 30-minute episode and one recorded the act on his mobile phone. Anderson was jailed for three years.

Scapegoat traces prejudice against disabled people from Greek and Roman culture, through the Industrial Revolution and the origins of Britain’s asylum system to the Holocaust.

Also in the book is Andrew Gardner, 46. The Chilton man died in 2009 after being starved and beaten by the mother of his baby, her ex-lover and brother.

Katharine is an associate editor at Prospect magazine and has produced films for the BBC’s Newsnight and Panorama. She has also news-edited Disability Now and written for national newspapers and the Economist.

And she said the news featured a “shocking” story about a sustained attack on a disabled person “every few months”.

“It’s easy to write off such cases as bullying that got out of hand, terrible criminal anomalies or regrettable failures of the care system, but in fact they point to a more uncomfortable truth about how our society treats its most unequal citizens,” she said.

Scapegoat is published on June 7 and Katharine will speak at the Hay literary festival on June 1.

We are a team of entrepreneurs, coders, finance experts and changemakers. We want to create a world that is powered by abundant clean energy sources and owned by people like me and you. We’re excited to build that world with you.

The company says it will use the new funding to build out its platform for crowd funding on a larger scale.

» Airports of Thailand (AoT) has announced a plan to expand Chiang Mai airport.

» Ban Rai Kong Khing in Chiang Mai has won an award at the inaugural Pata Tourism InSPIRE Awards 2015.

» Busan is Korea's second largest city, but its dazzling array of attractions is second to none. From 3D K-pop cinema, the world's largest department store and a massive buffet restaurant to a party yacht, Busan is drawing more and more tourists, particularly due to the convenience of transportation offered by Korea Train Express (KTX).

» It was the afternoon of the Luckiest Day, August 8, 1888, when a family of grizzly bears stopped to scratch their backs against a boulder on Big Grizzly Mountain. A villager passing by shortly afterwards spotted something gleaming in the rock. All that scratching had worn down the surface and revealed a bright vein of gold. Once the news got out, hordes of people began descending on Big Grizzly Gulch to seek their fortunes, sparking a gold rush that brought much prosperity to that luckiest of towns, Grizzly Gulch.

» Bangkok was once home to many artisan communities, each known for a particular art or craft, but there's been a sharp decline in the number of such neighbourhoods lately.

Administrators and elected officials from Morton’s taxing bodies, the Morton Chamber of Commerce, Morton Economic Development Council, Morton Tourism Association and Morton Community Foundation gather each year for a village joint boards meeting.

Administrators and elected officials from Morton's taxing bodies, the Morton Chamber of Commerce, Morton Economic Development Council, Morton Tourism Association and Morton Community Foundation gather each year for a village joint boards meeting. No decisions are made. No votes are taken. The meeting consists of presentations on what happened the previous year, what's coming up, and how the entities can better work together.

Unfortunately, there was no public announcement of this year's meeting, held in January at Freedom Hall, as required under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Nor was the media notified. The slipups weren't intentional. They were an oversight. But Morton Mayor Norm Durflinger discussed the situation last week at the Village Board meeting.

"We didn't post a notice about the joint boards meeting, and that was an error on our part," he said. "Nobody is trying to hide anything. The minutes from the meeting are available on the village's website."

Indeed they are. The only item in the minutes that caught my attention was Durflinger expressing concern about a lack of traffic at the Field Shopping Center. Durflnger said he has directed Village Attorney Tom Davies to explore possible TIF funding for the center.

A check list is being prepared so the joint boards meeting's organizer can make sure the meeting is publicized properly, and is aware of other tasks that need to be done. The taxing bodies and other organizations organize the meeting on a rotating basis.

Hundreds of troops armed with shovels and power-saws sifted through the splintered remains of a resort hotel in Japan Sunday in search of survivors after a powerful earthquake killed six people.

The Komanoyu hotel, a secluded inn with natural hot springs opened four centuries ago in northern Japan’s rolling hills, was reduced to a heap of wood and shattered furniture by Saturday’s quake.

A huge sheet of mud shoved the hotel’s tiled roof up to 30m from its original location, with seven guests or employees missing, feared trapped underneath.

“It’s more difficult than expected to deal with this mud,” said Masahiro Ishiba, a soldier heading a team of 300 soldiers and civilians who sawed through the debris and tried to dig a ditch to free the water.

“Right now we’re finding it tough to make much progress. But all of us are doing all we can,” he told public broadcaster NHK.

Six people were killed and more than 220 others injured in the earthquake, the most powerful to strike inland Japan in eight years, and measuring 7,2.

Another six people were missing elsewhere in northern Japan, according to NHK’s tally.

Dozens of people stayed overnight at several makeshift shelters set up in public buildings in Kurihara, a sprawling town of about 80 000 people located in a rice-growing region.

Most still had homes but lacked running water or simply were afraid, after more than than 260 aftershocks rocked the region.

With landslides snapping bridges and burying key roads with rocks and dirt, many of the 800 troops deployed to the region scoured by helicopter to find people cut off from the world.

Hidetsugu Takahashi (60) had come to this region 350km north of Tokyo to indulge in his hobby of photography when the quake struck.

He was airlifted to the main town of Kurihara from a country inn, where he said most guests spent the night in the candlelight in the lobby because the furniture was damaged in their rooms.

“I saw big rocks fall down that were as big as eight metres wide. It was so scary,” Takahashi said.

“I stayed inside my car at night because I was afraid of aftershocks.

I couldn’t sleep,” he said.

At the heliport in Kurihara, two ambulances were on standby to take any injured to hospital, but most evacuees were content just having tea and snacks.

Kirino Miura (75) was airlifted along with her husband as the water level rose in a river next to their house.

“I saw rocks falling down from the cliffs. It’s frightening. We didn’t have any choice but to evacuate,” she said.

More than 330 people had been evacuated by Sunday morning. But about 30 people were resisting calls by authorities to leave, saying they had to take care of their farmland, said military spokesperson Lieutenant Shoichi Chiba.

“The administration is trying to persuade them to evacuate. It’s not as if we won’t take care of their land,” Chiba said.

The transport ministry said around five “quake lakes” had been formed after the earthquake, but it said all were relatively small and under control.

Quake lakes were a major problem after last month’s massive earthquake in China’s Sichuan province.

The Australian Securities Exchange's website came back online at 12.08pm AEST following a morning-long outage from a cause that has yet to be determined.