Historic town fights federal government and lead poisoning

by Sean McLachlan on

You may never have heard of Caledonia, Missouri, but it’s one of the most historic spots in the state. While the town has fewer than two hundred residents, its tiny downtown is filled with old homes and shops. It boasts 33 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places and a steady stream of visitors who take up the town’s invitation to “step back in time”.

Sadly, that all might be in danger. The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to designate 175 square miles of Washington County as a Superfund Site in order to clean up dangerously high lead levels in the soil and ground water. The little town of Caledonia is right in the middle of this area and stands to lose a lot of business if it’s slapped with the label of being dangerous. People may not want to eat at the local diner or attend the annual Pumpkin Festival if they think they’re going to get lead poisoning.

Caledonia is in southwest Missouri in what used to be known as the “lead belt” thanks to its large lead mining operations from the 18th to late 20th century. Lead from the mines has made it into the soil and ground water across much of this region. There are already three Superfund Sites in Washington County that have dangerously high lead levels.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a gallery dedicated to Caledonia. The town is protesting the EPA’s move, but there seems little it can do about it.

Carnival Splendor in nightmare engine fire incident – Navy airlifts supplies

by Scott Carmichael on

What was supposed to be a week long Mexican Riviera cruise on board the Carnival Splendor, has turned into a nightmare for the passengers. Three days ago, a massive engine fire knocked out almost all the facilities on this 3300 passenger vessel.

Propulsion systems, electricity, climate control, water and entertainment were all disabled, and the ship was been stuck 200 miles off the coast of San Diego. The situation was so bad, that the U.S. Navy had to be called in to supply food for the stranded passengers. The USS Ronald Reagan used its helicopters to drop thousands of pounds of supplies and Navy sailors were airlifted to the Splendor to assist with unloading.

The 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew members have cold water and toilet usage back, but most other services are still disabled. A tug boat reached the ship yesterday, and she is expected to arrive in San Diego tomorrow.

Carnival has made hotel and flight arrangements for the passengers, and everyone is being offered a full refund and a complimentary future cruise on Carnival.

Sadly, the ship has already has its fair share of bad luck – and despite being less than two years old, some are already asking whether the vessel is cursed. For more coverage on the Carnival Splendor fire, head on over to our friends at AOL Travel News.

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[Image: US Navy / Getty / AP]

JW Marriott opens in Chicago

by Melanie Nayer on

Marriott certainly is making the rounds. The first ever JW Marriott Marquis opened in Miami last week and coming Thursday, Nov. 11, the JW Marriott Chicago will open its doors.

Situated in the historic Continental & Commercial National Bank Building in Chicago’s financial district, the JW Marriott Chicago will be the first of its brand in the windy city. Occupying the first 12 floors of the building at 151 W. Adams St., the hotel will have 610 guestrooms, including 29 corner suites and more than 44,000-square-feet of meeting space, a 20,000-square-foot world class spa and fitness center, and two different dining options – an Italian Steakhouse and a lounge serving more casual plates and sushi.

Each guestroom will offer complimentary in-room coffee/tea service and nightly turndown service. All rooms have 10-foot ceilings with handcrafted crown molding and spacious bathrooms clad in Italian marble, featuring stand alone tubs and separate marble showers. Forty-two inch flat-panel high-definition televisions grace each room with hookups for A/V stations and Wi-Fi capabilities.

The spa, VALEO, is a 20,000-square-foot space of ultimate serenity combining fitness facilities, traditional and non-traditional spa services and myriad salon services. The fitness center will feature cardio and circuit training equipment, a large pool for laps as well as a therapeutic whirlpool.

The hotel’s restaurants, The Florentine and the lobby lounge, give travelers and hotel guests the option of fine dining or casual take-out. The Florentine, a concept from the BLT Restaurant Group, offers Italian-American fare from Corporate Executive Chef Rodelio Aglibot and Executive Chef Todd Stein, of Sunda and mk fame respectively. For a more casual experience, the JW Marriott Chicago’s lobby lounge will serve light fare like appetizers and sushi.

To celebrate the opening of the hotel, individual room reservations will be available beginning November 11, 2010 with introductory rates from $179 – $329.

Bad week for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner – more delays and cabin smoke

by Scott Carmichael on

It has been a pretty lousy couple of years for the new Boeing Dreamliner. Initially, the 787 was supposed to be delivered to its first customer in May of 2008 – that was then delayed till November 2008. And since then, the delays have kept on coming.

The previous delay set a 2010 target, but last week it became obvious that they’d hit another snag – so the first delivery won’t take place till some time in 2011.

Delivery delays are not the only issue grounding the new plane – this afternoon one of the flight test planes had to make an emergency landing at Laredo airport after the pilot declared an emergency due to smoke in the cabin. The plane landed, and the 40 members of the test crew had to evacuate down the emergency slides. According to one report, there were several minor injuries.

Boeing and the FAA will gather as much data as they can about the incident, and it is currently unknown what kind of impact this latest setback will have on the 2011 delivery dates.

Update: The Seattle Times reports that the smoke came from a serious fire in the electronic equipment bay of the plane.

The fire affected the cockpit controls, and the the plane lost its flight displays and auto-throttling systems. This means that the plane had to land with limited electronic flight controls. Flames were observed coming from the bay, and a person “close to the situation” said that if the incident had happened at 25,000 feet, the fire could have been extremely serious.

[Photo: JEREMY MELLOUL/AFP/Getty Images]

Neil Patrick Harris lends voice to Disney ride

by Leigh Caldwell on

Disney California Adventure theme park has introduced a new ride recording for California Screamin’, featuring the voice of actor Neil Patrick Harris.

The official Disney Parks Blog says NPH’s new recordings are meant to emulate a classic carnival sideshow barker.

California Screamin’ is in the Paradise Pier section of Disney California Adventure. That part of the park has a classic boardwalk amusement park feel.

California Screamin’ is the longest and fastest ride at Disneyland Resort in California, with a 120-foot drop and top speeds of 58 miles per hour. The roller coaster is steel, though it is painted and styled to look like a classic wooden ride.

NPH’s love of Disney is well-documented. He has been a narrator during EPCOT’s holiday Candlelight Processional show in past years, and last month, he hosted an event celebrating Disney animatronics at the Disneyland Hotel.

He professes his love for theme parks in his Twitter profile, and he hinted on Twitter about his California Screamin’ involvement over the weekend.