More than 1,000 Japanese men stormed barbed wire fences at Cowra prisoner of war camp in central NSW on August 5, 1944 Infamous breakout sparked a 10-day manhunt after 359 prisoners escaped The death toll reached 231 in the days following the escape attempt A Japanese man who took part in the breakout returned to NSW for the 70th anniversary held in Cowra earlier this month

By Emily Crane for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 19:10 EST, 22 August 2014 | Updated: 19:10 EST, 22 August 2014

In the dead of the night 70 years ago, more than 1,000 Japanese men stormed the barbed wire perimeter fences of Cowra prisoner of war camp in central NSW.

Armed with improvised weapons including baseball bats and sharpened kitchen knives, hundreds of Japanese prisoners overcame machine gun posts in what would become the biggest POW escape of World War II.

The mass breakout at the detention camp on August 5, 1944 resulted in a 10-day manhunt as Australian soldiers and police searched for hundreds of armed escapees roaming the Cowra countryside, 300km west of Sydney.

This Japanese prisoner of war was one of hundreds who were injured or killed when they tried to escape from the Cowra camp in central NSW in August 1944 - it was to become the biggest breakout of World War II

Japanese prisoners who overcame the machine gun fire of Australian soldiers threw hundreds blankets and clothes over the camp's barbed wire surroundings in a bid to escape

The mass breakout on August 5, 1944 resulted in a 10-day manhunt as Australian soldiers and police searched for hundreds of armed escapees roaming the Cowra countryside, 300km west of Sydney

A total of 359 Japanese prisoners escaped and the death toll reached 231 in the days following, including 31 suicides and 12 who perished in huts they had set on fire themselves.

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The Japanese soldiers who risked death to break out of prison: Historic photos capture the biggest prisoner escape ...

Police say solution to problem of stock on roads lies in partnership, not blame Friday, 22 August 2014 - 11:58am

Waikato

Waikato Police are urging land owners to check the integrity of their fences and gates and motorists to ensure their vehicles are up to warrant of fitness standard following a number of crashes and near misses this week.

District Road Policing Manager, Inspector Freda Grace, said the week started with a driver being seriously hurt in a two car collision with a cow in rongo near Kopu early on Monday morning.

"Then on Tuesday morning another driver was seriously hurt when his car collided with a car on SH2 between Ngatea and Kerephi shortly after 3am."

"If that wasn't of enough concern our staff, animal control officers and concerned members of the public also had to deal with a number of other incidents to try and prevent further road trauma."

Those incidents include;

6-10 sheep on SH23/ Manukau Rd Raglan about midday on Sunday. A cow on SH2 near Steen Rd Waitakaruru about 2pm Sunday. Four cows wandering from Island Block Rd on to SH1 at Meremere about 4pm Sunday. A large sheep on SH27 at Patetonga about 4.15pm Sunday. A cow running along Old Tauranga rd near Waihi about 8am on Monday. Five cows loose on SH1 at Ohinewai about 4.30pm on Monday. Seven large cows on Bush Rd near Ngatea about 6.30am Monday. A large deer on SH29 on the west side of the Kaimai summit about 9.45am on Monday. Three sheep on the road on SH25 near Whitianga at 12.20pm on Monday. 10-15 cows walking along Waitomo Caves Rd about 4.20am Monday. A cow on SH3 near Ohaupo about 11am Tuesday. Three goats on the Thames Coast Rd about midday on Thursday. Two cows on SH3 near Airport Rd, Rukuhia about 6.35am Friday.

"In addition to these we've had about half a dozen incidents of dogs on rural highways over the same period including two incidents where the animals have had to be put down.

"In each incident there was the potential for serious injuries or worse being suffered and Police are very appreciative of motorists taking the time to notify authorities of potential risks and in many cases, making efforts to usher stock back into paddocks before accidents occur."

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Solution to problem of stock on roads lies in partnership

If Fort Knox isnt what you need for a garden fence, consider something edible, instead of the usual cedars, boxwood, privet, or forsythia.

A dense planting of fruit- or nut-bearing shrubs or small trees is a beautiful, ecofriendly choice, offering privacy, providing the bees with nectar, and the birds and you, if youre quick enough with delicious produce.

Europeans have been planting rows of edibles for centuries, says Mary Ann Van Berlo, a certified master gardener in Ottawa. Unlike most North American homeowners, Europeans dont share our addiction to interlocking brick, pressure-treated lumber fences and green lawns. In England, homeowners often plant gooseberries and currants to delineate property lines, and Van Berlo is starting to see a shift toward this with younger Canadian homeowners. Theyre very interested in backyard food production, she says. They want to know what theyre eating, and if they grow it themselves, they know.

Klaus Tiessen, of Glen Echo Nursery in Caledon, Ont., has been in the plant and landscape business for more than 50 years, and has seen an uptick in fruit-tree sales, especially cherries, for the blossoms and the fruit. A trend that has come from Europe, just last year, is the $10 fruit tree; the price lets people put in fruit hedges, he says.

According to Tiessen, his supplier, Winkelmolen Nursery of Linden, Ont., is barely keeping up with the demand for 60-centimetre, $10 apple, cherry, plum, pear trees.

Its a trend that started in Germany and Holland they sold 20,000 little fruit trees last year and is going to be big here, very soon, he predicts.

But before you start digging, consider these factors:

Patience: It takes three to five years for most fruit-bearing shrubs, vines, and trees to establish, fill out, and bear fruit. Asparagus takes five years; nut trees need seven to 10 years.

Purpose: What is its function? Are you visually delineating an area, creating privacy or a windbreak? To discourage trespassing, go for prickly varieties: blackberries, raspberries, stinging nettles. For something more open, a border of asparagus is delicate and soft. To create a wind barrier, think of a row of tall shrubs, such as serviceberry, Nanking cherry or hazelnut.

Plant for the right conditions: For a shady spot, think fiddleheads (ostrich ferns). Sunflowers and sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) are good choices for sunny, dry areas theyre tough, drought-tolerant, can grow upward of three metres and with time, as the plants spread and mature, youll be able to harvest more, while still maintaining a lush screen.

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Shrubs: Edible fences make well-fed neighbours

NEW YORK Astros owner Jim Crane thinks his management team and one of the games best agents will be able to bury the hatchet.

Crane talked briefly with two VIPs in front of the visiting third-base dugout on Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium: Tigers Woods and Casey Close

Close, the agent to Dexter Fowler who also advised unsigned Astros draft picks Brady Aiken and Jacob Nix, is a leading figure at Excel Sports Management, which represents Woods.

Ill go up and talk to him tonight, Crane said. Well go and visit a little bit. But Im not going to be dealing with Casey Close. Thats Jeffs (general manager Jeff Luhnows) job. I know who he is, and weve talked once or twice, but Im not dealing with contracts. Thats not my job.

Close had some very strong words about Astros management leading up to this years deadline to sign draft picks, when all of Aiken (the first overall pick), Nix (fifth round) and Mac Marshall (21st round) went unsigned as questions about Aikens throwing elbow arose.

A grievance was filed by the players union over alleged impropriety by the Astros.

Im not going to stand for it, the families arent going to stand for it, and frankly, Major League Baseball shouldnt stand for it, Close told Jim Callis of MLB.com about the Astros conduct in the days leading to the July 18 deadline. Its mind-boggling to me that other clubs wouldnt be appalled.

Nix had an agreement with the team and passed his physical. But Aikens deal fell through and created the potential for penalties had the Astros signed Nix without inking Aiken. The Astros did not honor the agreement with Nix, an agreement the Chronicle was told was only verbal.

I think itll be fine. Every deal is different, and you know, unfortunately that one didnt work out, and we did the best we could, Crane said. And he did the best he could, and we couldnt get a deal. Its unfortunate for everybody.

Crane said he hoped change to MLBs draft setup would come out of this years draft.

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Astros owner Jim Crane looks to mend fences with agent

SUNNYVALE -- Police are on the lookout for vandals they say used paint to deface cars, fences, sidewalks and the roadway along Santa Rosa Avenue late Sunday night.

Police said when officers responded to the neighborhood Monday morning, 16 cars had paint on them, and an additional four vehicle owners reported through the department's online reporting system that their cars had also been vandalized. Police added, however, that many of the cars did not sustain permanent damage, and the paint was removable.

Some residents told officers of a string of ongoing vandalism that had been happening in the neighborhood, including cars being scratched and tires being slashed. Officers have increased patrol in the neighborhood, but so far, no suspects have been caught.

Police have asked that if residents see more evidence of vandalism to contact the department at 408-730-7100.

Contact Katie Nelson at 408-920-5006 and follow her at Twitter.com/katienelson210.

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Sunnyvale: Police looking for suspects who splashed paint on cars, fences, road

By Roger Aylworth

raylworth@chicoer.com @RogerAylworth on Twitter

CHICO >> Colorful chalk messages, bright smiling faces and wrought-iron fences were part of the first day of school on some of the Chico Unified School District campuses Monday.

The first day of school found CUSD Superintendent Kelly Staley playing a helper role at Chapman School.

Staley was shuttling documents around the campus Monday morning. She said all of the district administrators were assigned to a school to help in whatever way they could.

The superintendent said she saw lots of parents and "lots of smiling, happy children. It's a happy place."

The district is tentatively hoping there might be a slight rise in enrollment this year.

Staley said if the student population does climb, it could be because of the "transitional kindergarten" program. This is the third year of the program that allows 4-year-olds to attend what amounts to "pre-kindergarten."

Students in the transitional program will have two years in kindergarten. She said the popularity of the program has grown each year.

Across town at Pleasant Valley High School, students arrived on campus to find something that if done at other times, in different places, using different tools, would not have been the source of happiness.

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First day of school in Chico brings smiles, chalk, wrought iron

August 17, 2014

Image Caption: A remote camera recently captured P-13 and her 10-month-old kittens, P-28 and P-30, on a kill in Malibu Creek State Park. The three of them spent two nights sharing their meal of mule deer. After investigating more than 400 kill sites during our study, we found that mule deer accounted for 95 percent of mountain lion kills. Credit: National Park Service

Cell Press

That mountain lions have managed to survive at all in the Santa Monica Mountains of California in the vicinity of the megacity of Los Angeles is a testament to the resilience of wildlife, but researchers studying these large carnivorous cats now show in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on August 14 that the lions are also completely isolated, cut off from other populations by the freeway. According to the researchers analyses, only one young mountain lion successfully dispersed into the Santa Monica Mountains in a decade.

Due to their almost complete isolation, the Santa Monica mountain lions show dangerously low levels of genetic diversity, the study shows. The circumstances have also made the Los Angeles-area cats incredibly sensitive to individual behaviors. That single male that immigrated in 2009 and successfully mated substantially enhanced the genetic diversity of the entire population all on his own.

Many of these phenomena, including very low genetic diversity and close inbreeding, have only been previously seen in Florida panthers, an endangered and completely isolated population of mountain lions, says Seth Riley of the National Park Service. In our case, the fact that lions in the Santa Monica Mountains are completely surrounded by roads and development likely lead[s] to behaviors that would be rare or nonexistent if normal population and social processes could occur.

Among those behaviors, Riley and his colleagues found evidence of close inbreeding events between fathers and daughters and of intraspecific killing, even of offspring, siblings, and mates, all behaviors that the researchers suspect would be rare or nonexistent if sufficient movement between populations was possible.

While one male lion moved into the Santa Monica Mountains during the study period, to the researchers knowledge not a single young mountain lion has successfully dispersed out, when normally 75% of young lions all of the males and half of the females would likely disperse. Riley says the one possible exception that proves the rule is a single male who dispersed likely from the Santa Monica Mountains out to Griffith Park, where he lives in a tiny dead-end home range.

Increased connectivity is critical for the long-term survival of mountain lions and other wildlife in the region, Riley says. Unfortunately, no one was thinking about that 60 years ago when the Los Angeles freeway was built. As a result, Route 101 is a development corridor, with very little natural habitat on either side. Riley says the National Park Service, the California Department of Transportation, and other local agencies have been working for over a decade to try to obtain the funds for a wildlife crossing, ideally an overpass, for carnivores.

On the bright side, that one successful male immigrant shows that it might not take many successful crossings to get wild populations in much better shape at the genetic level. Otherwise, the future is easy to predict, Riley says.

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Freeways As Fences, Trapping The Mountain Lions Of Los Angeles

Our Emerging Artists picks for the Aug. 23 chart week are notable for two reasons: each video is not only thought-provoking, but adds to the overall context of the song, making this week's picks well-worth a peek.

Fences featuring Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, "Arrows": Fences' new track with its high-profile guests was released on July 29 via Sound Cloud, through Elektra/Atlantic. The song, from Fences' album Lesser Oceans, due Oct. 14, has already charted on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart (No. 24, Aug. 16). Its video was the catalyst for Fences to debut on the weekly Billboard + Twitter Emerging Artists chart this week at No. 4. The concept for the clip was created by Jason Koenig, Chris Mansfield and Macklemore and Lewis. The video is as inventive as the song is catchy.

Young Kato, "Sunshine": The fun track is the newest single from the six-piece U.K. indie-pop band. It ranks at No. 13 on this week's Emerging Artists chart after its video was released on Vevo on Aug 3. As the video suggests, the song encourages listeners to live free, dance if you feel like dancing and, of course, enjoy the sun.

Years and Years, "Take Shelter": The song by the London trio caused waves on Twitter when its video dropped on Aug. 3. The release spurs a re-entry for the act at No. 14 on the Emerging Artists tally. "Take Shelter" is the lead single from the band's self-titled EP, due Tuesday (Aug. 19). The vibrato in lead singer Olly Alexander's voice gives the song power and depth and the feel of the song is aptly conceptualized in its video.

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Billboard + Twitter Real-time Charts: Emerging Picks for the Week feat. Fences, Young Kato, Years & Years

LOCKPORT Attaching a padlock to a fence or railing has become a symbol of love and commitment in some quarters, but on Saturday Lockport promoters hope it will become a symbol of Lockport.

At the Lockport Community Market on Canal Street on Saturday, the new Lockport Beautiful group will offer padlocks for sale for $5, in hopes that buyers will decorate them with decorations available at its booth, and attach them to one of the fences overlooking the Flight of Five, the original Erie Canal locks. Then, buyers will be encouraged to take a photo of their lock and post it on Twitter or Instagram, using #lockthelocks.

People may bring their own padlocks instead of buying them at the market.

Brian S. Smith, vice president of the Greater Lockport Development Corp., said participants will be randomly selected to win prizes ranging from free food to gift cards at Lockport businesses.

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Lockport to decorate canal fences with padlocks

Minecraft Snapshot 14w32d - COLORED FENCES, NEW DOOR DESIGNS UPGRADED BEACONS! [HD]
Minecraft Snapshot 14w32d - COLORED FENCES, NEW DOOR DESIGNS UPGRADED BEACONS! [HD] 14w32d was released to fix a bug in 14w32c that crashed/kicked the client when joining dedicated servers....

By: BULLZNAKAZ

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Minecraft Snapshot 14w32d - COLORED FENCES, NEW DOOR DESIGNS & UPGRADED BEACONS! [HD] - Video