Public private partners come to potoroo rescue Video Reuters
Visit: http://uk.reuters.com/video/2013/08/25/public-private-partners-come-to-potoroo?videoId=258206777 Australia #39;s threatened long-nosed potoroo may be maki...
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Tim Morales and his wife, Pam, bought more than 250 acres in the hills above Glendora, the site of a former Girl Scouts summer camp. They owned it for more than 40 years.
They developed two private gated communities on the land, built a complex of homes complete with a swimming pool and horses and raised their children and grandchildren there. They even gave the city 60 acres for parks and open space.
A few months ago, deciding that it was too big for them to handle, they decided to move to Huntington Beach and sold the property. But when Morales heard from a friend Thursday morning the fire was within striking distance of his former home, he jumped in his car and raced up the freeway to Glendora.
On the way, the smoke over LAX was a murky, thick brown. By the time he arrived after 9 a.m., the flames had already burned up to the backyard fence of what had once been his daughter's house. He breathed a sigh of relief that everything else seemed intact.
But later in the afternoon, stubborn hot spots remained.
"It's 42 years of my life I spent here" he said, staring as flames burned at the bases of a towering grove of palm trees 100 yards away.
Helicopters dropped load after load of water over the trees, sending their trunks swinging like pendulums and and smoldering palm fronds floating to the ground. Loud, popping noises could be heard as the fire continued to burn, some of the flames reaching 30 feet in the air, but the air tankers quickly got the spot fire under control.
"There's a lot of sentimental memories here," Morales said.
He was always fascinated by the history of the property. Before it was a Girl Scout camp, he says it belonged to a Judge Silent, a Superior Court judge for Los Angeles in the 1800s. He aimed to build a castle in the manner of Hearst castle and had fountains, ponds and a lake to enjoy.
He also built a jail of sorts on the property and was known to sentence convicts to hard labor on the land, Morales said. The "jail" sits intact beside the pool today. The land was later granted to the Girl Scouts, Morales said, which built a summer camp complete with mess halls, a swimming pool and plenty of wilderness to explore. He said he's sad to think of all the history and memories that could have burned up in the fire.
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Colby fire: Threatened land once housed 'jail,' Girl Scout camp
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Thousands of vacant, blighted and abandoned properties in Pittsburgh would be acquired and redeveloped or sold under legislation introduced this morning by District 7 city councilor Deb Gross.
The legislation calls for the creation of a Pittsburgh land bank, which would operate as a repository for properties that often have little prospect of redevelopment, costing the city millions and bringing down the value of surrounding property.
"The legislation allows us to stabilize our housing infrastructure," Gross says. "It's basically a tool for neighborhoods to rebuild."
Properties in the land bank can be used for everything form community projects like urban gardens or green spaces to private developments and side yards.
Mayor Peduto has said on numerous occasions that hes very supportive of land-banking," says Liz Hersh, executive director of the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania. "The community has done a lot of work on what a land bank might look like.
Although Pittsburgh already has a role in property redevelopment, the process is often time consuming and cumbersome for developers or community organizations who must negotiate existing tax liabilities and potentially conflicting property ownership claims.
In the context of a land bank, those liabilities and claims of ownership have already been dissolved, creating a single entity separate from the city responsible for helping communities put blighted and abandoned land back to use.
Gross' bill comes just a day after Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter signed legislation authorizing what will likely become the largest city to have a land bank.
That's no coincidence; Philadelphia's legislation served as a model. Pennsylvania land banks were authorized under state legislation enacted late in 2012.
Prior to this law ... there really was no one who was authorized at the local level to look at blighted, vacant or tax foreclosed property, Hersh says. "It was essentially nobodys job to create an inventory to get clear titles or to market those properties in a comprehensive way.
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Gross introduces land bank legislation
CAMERONHIGHLANDS:The farmers here are unstoppable, with illegal land-clearing along Sungai Bertam, the scene of the flash floods that killed three people less than three months ago, back at full steam.
The Oct 23 tragedy, which saw tonnes of water from the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam released after it hit the dams maximum threshold limit following heavy rains, has failed to serve as a reminder to the more than 1,500 farmers operating in Bertam Valley.
Recent checks by the New Straits Times revealed fresh, full-scale farming along the river reserves and buffer zones, roadsides and hilly terrain notwithstanding.
Except for a few marked sections, where river widening and deepening activities are being carried out, almost every metre of the river reserve is dotted with rows and rows of leafy greens and flowers.
Even the spot where the body of the last victim was found was not spared, with preparations being made to plant flowers and vegetables.
A farmer, who wanted to be known only as Kamaluddin and operates a strawberry farm in Habu, some distance from Bertam Valley, said those affected by the floods were back in business within just a few days of the tragedy.
"They know that the river is off-limits because of the widening project, but they just can't be bothered.
"The debris from the floods was cleared within days and you can see the plots of vegetables now ready for harvesting."
The more than 80 houses destroyed in the incident had also been rebuilt, he said.
"Replacing the old dilapidated shacks and semi-wooden houses washed away by floods are concrete houses built close to each other mainly for their workers, who are mostly Indonesians and Bang-ladeshis.
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No clear end to illegal land-clearing
14 January 2014| last updated at 11:11PM
Its minister, Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, said the Perak Land and Mines director-general and environment director-general would discuss the matter with the district land office.
He said the district land office, state government and the Attorney-General's Chambers should immediately put a stop to such illegal activities in the affected areas.
"Furthermore, land clearing on hilly areas will cause soil erosion and floods," he said in a statement here yesterday.
Palanivel was commenting on a News Straits Times report which stated that the Sungai Bertam tragedy had failed to prevent stubborn farmers from farming along river reserves, buffer zones, roadsides and hilly terrain.
On Oct 23 last year, tonnes of water were released from the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam after it hit the dam's maximum threshold limit, following heavy rains. In the ensuing flash floods, three people were killed.
Palanivel, who is also Cameron Highlands member of parliament, said illegal land-clearing activities in the highlands should cease, and the land office should take stern and immediate action to protect the land.
He said Cameron Highlands was a tourist area but arrivals were dropping due to illegal clearing of land for agriculture activities, which had also adversely impacted the environment.
Palanivel said environmentalists were "very angry and annoyed" at the rampant destruction caused by illegal land-clearing activities. Bernama
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Palanivel: Illegal land clearing must stop
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 (Bernama) -- The natural resources and environment ministry will send two senior officers to the Cameron Highlands in connection with illegal land clearing along Sungai Bertam.
They are the Perak Land and Mines director-general and environment director-general.
The minister, Datuk Seri G. Palanivel said the two would discuss the illegal land clearance with the district land office.
He said the district land office, state government and the attorney-general's office should immediately put a stop to such illegal activities on the affected areas.
"Furthermore, land clearence on hilly areas will cause heavy soil erosion and floods," he said in a statement here Monday.
Palanivel was commenting on a news report which stated that the Sungai Bertam tragedy had failed to prevent stubborn farmers from farming along river reserves, buffer zones, roadsides and hilly terrain.
On Oct 23 last year, tonnes of water were released from the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam after it hit the dam's maximum threshold limit, following heavy rains. In the ensuing floods which occurred, three people were killed.
Palanivel, who is also Cameron Highlands member of parliament, said illegal land clearing activities at the highlands should cease and that the land office should take stern and immediate action to protect the land.
He said Cameron Highlands was a tourist area but tourist arrivals were dropping due to illegal clearing of land for agriculture activities, which also adversely impacted the environment.
He said, environmentalists were "very angry and annoyed" at the rampant destruction of illegal land activities.
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Immediate Action Needed On Illegal Land-clearing Along Sungai Bertam - Palanivel
SIBU: The land-clearing contractor who was alleged to have killed three members of his family in the case, which had shocked the nation, has been charged with murder at the magistrate's court.
On Monday, the accused, Jacob Tiang Lee Yee, 42, was charged with murder of his wife,Ling Yung Ming, 40, his daughter Christine Tiang Soon Ai, 14, and his son Victor Tiang Soon Sheng, 2.
The murders happened between 6.20am and 9.50am on July 5 last year at No 14B, Lane 1B, Pulau Li Hua, in what is believed to be premeditated due to a RM3.5mil debt incurred by the accused.
If convicted, the offences carry a mandatory death sentence by hanging under Section of 302 of the Penal Code.
Tiang also faced another charge under Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempting to murder another son, Vincent Tiang Soon Sheng, 18, by hitting the teens nape with a bamboo stick, including trying to suffocate him with a pillow.
The offence provides for a jail sentence of up to 10 years and a fine.
He could also face an imprisonment of up to 20 years if the victim was injured.
His fifth charge was for trying to kill himself under Section 309 of the same Code by hanging himself using a belt under the staircase of the house.
He is liable to a jail sentence of up to one year, or fine, or both, if convicted.
Tiang understood the charges when it was read to him in Foochow. No plea was taken from the accused, who was spotted in a new bold hairstyle.
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Contractor charged with murder in triple homicide
Protesters have launched a blockade at Whitehaven's controversial Maules Creek coal mine project to stop construction at the site.
Anti-mining alliance Lock the Gate said the blockade began on Monday at the site near Boggabri, in northwest NSW, and aimed to turn back "vehicles seeking to clear the forest for construction of rail infrastructure".
"Protesters have established a blockade at the edge of the forest, and are preventing bulldozers from felling trees for an access road," Lock the Gate said in a statement.
"Construction work has been halted and the protesters are vowing to remain in place."
The group claims the project will clear-fell a large area of the Leard State Forest that comprises endangered woodland and wildlife habitat.
"It's opposed by members of the local farming community," Lock the Gate added.
In December, protesters blockading at the mine site were arrested by police.
That action came after the Federal Court dismissed an application by the Northern Inland Council for the Environment (NICE), which had called for the approval granted by former environment minister Tony Burke of the $767 million Maules Creek mine to be overturned.
Whitehaven has previously said the project will create 800-plus jobs and had support from most local residents.
Mine construction is due to begin early this year.
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Protesters 'blockade' NSW mine project
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