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Beau's Journey » 2008 » November » 29

Archive: November 29th, 2008

November 29, 2008: Snow chances in the coming days…

  Well, our snow system is shaping up just about as forecast.  It looks like we will get some light snow and flurries on Sunday night and Monday morning.  I am not expecting any major accumulation for Paducah or Metropolis.  It still appears that a little snow is possible across areas to our north.  Looks like 1-4" for portions of Central Illinois into Indiana.  Lucky them!

  Our next chance of snow will be Wednesday night and Thursday.  Too soon to put numbers on that system.   Will should receive rain before it changes over to snow. 

  We had our family Thanksgiving today at Dione’s.  I think everyone had a good time.  I did take a few photos – will have to grab them off the camera later.

  Very busy week ahead!  Finals – big subject of the week.  They are SUPPOSED to start on my house – we shall see.  Four test grades will come in on Wednesday – 2 quarter tests and 2 quizzes.  Need to make decent grades on those.  That leaves my finals.  I am reallllllly hoping to wrap this up by next weekend.  Then we will get a break.  Snow chase?  ")  Maybe.  Need a big storm system first.


Check out the snow this evening in Missouri.  🙂  If that were only a few hundred miles further south and east. 

 

November 29, 2008: Expert: Small Ark. earthquakes could be warning

Expert: Small Ark. earthquakes could be warning

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A series of small earthquakes that rattled central Arkansas in recent weeks could be a sign of something much bigger to come.

By this weekend, seismologists hope to install three measurement devices to gather data about future temblors in the area. That information could show whether the rumbles come from heat-related geological changes or from an undiscovered fault — which could mean a risk of substantial earthquakes in the future.

"The potential for generating a high-magnitude earthquake is real," said Haydar Al-Shukri, director of the Arkansas Earthquake Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Five earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 2.2 to 2.7 have hit central Arkansas this month. Quakes with a magnitude of 2.5 to 3 are typically the smallest felt by people.

While hundreds of earthquakes occur each year, including several in Arkansas, the location of the recent ones give Al-Shukri pause. Arkansas quakes generally occur in the state’s northeast corner, part of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, where three temblors with magnitudes of around 8 struck during the winter of 1812 and smaller ones continue today.

But central Arkansas does not have any seismic history, Al-Shukri said.

"It is abnormal. It is significant," he said. "We need to carefully watch this activity."

The area does not have any permanent seismograph, so researchers asked the University of Memphis in Tennessee if they could use its portable equipment. The nearest seismographs aren’t close enough to provide the detailed readings scientists need to determine what could be causing the tremors or properly locate their origin, said Scott Ausbrooks, the geohazard supervisor for the Arkansas Geological Survey.

"I don’t know if you’ve looked at a map of where these events are located, but they’ve got a scatter on them," he said. "We’re thinking this is probably the inherited error built in when you try to locate events of this small a magnitude from that far away."

Ausbrooks said officials would install the three seismographs around Magnet Cove, a Hot Spring County community near where a magnitude-2.7 earthquake hit on Nov. 1. Residents told police dispatchers they heard what sounded like an explosion.

One possible culprit could be a hydrothermal quake, caused by extremely hot fluid pushing into rocks under the surface. The hot fluid percolates into the cracks of the rocks and causes movement, Al-Shukri said.

That theory matches the geologic history of the area. Central Arkansas is home to Hot Springs, a city that grew up around its namesake spas. The springs have 143-degree waters rushing to the surface continuously.

If that’s the case, the earthquakes likely wouldn’t pose a drastic danger to the area, Al-Shukri said. At their strongest, such quakes reach only a magnitude of 5, the U.S. Geological Survey’s threshold for "moderate."

However, if the earthquakes are caused by a previously unknown fault, that could mean a much more powerful temblor in the future. A recently discovered fault in eastern Arkansas near Marianna caused an earthquake with a magnitude of between 7.2 and 7.5 in the past 5,000 years, Al-Shukri said. That could cause widespread, heavy damage.

"Now, it’s not active, but in geologist time, that’s yesterday," he said.

Ausbrooks wouldn’t speculate on what could be causing the earthquakes, saying he wanted to see what data the seismographs capture. However, he acknowledged an unknown fault could be running through the area.

"There are numerous faults across the state, both known and unknown," Ausbrooks said. "This area has got a lot of faults associated with it from the mountain building of the Ouachitas, but they’re considered inactive."

November 28, 2008: Billion dollar investment in Metropolis?

  Well, this is certainly good news for the City of Metropolis.

Support 1st step in proposed port plan: State Rep. Phelps says developer stands ready to invest study money

Nov 26, 2008 (The Paducah Sun – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — METROPOLIS, Ill. — — Metropolis’ show of support paves the way for studying the development of a massive riverport and transportation hub along the bank of the Ohio River.

A memorandum of understanding the Metropolis City Council unanimously approved Monday night shows Vieste, an infrastructure developer, and its investors that they can expect cooperation, which is an important first step, said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg.

"I assume the ball is in their court now," Phelps said.

Phelps said Chicago attorney Sanford M. "Sandy" Stein, on behalf of Vieste, had requested a show of support from the Metropolis city government to encourage the company that it should make its initial investment in feasibility, marketing, environmental and engineering studies.

Stein suggested the company is poised to invest $1.5 million in studies with city’s cooperation, Phelps said.

As Stein projected, Vieste proposes the creation of a products and materials distribution center using river, rail, highway and airport transportation on 200 acres along the city’s riverfront west of the railway bridge during an initial phase that could be five years in the making. Infrastructure investment would be $60 million and total investment could be $300 to $400 million, Stein said.

The project could produce 800 to 1,000 jobs.

The long-term, 10-year prospects could bring as much as $1 billion in total investment over a total of 800 acres and could create more than 2,000 jobs, Phelps said Stein told him.

"I want to be sure that everybody knows that this is a long process," Phelps said. "It’s in its infant stages now, and there’s a lot that has to happen to bring this about, but this is the stuff you dream about.

"It could be a blessing for all of southern Illinois and the region," Phelps said. "There could be a lot of spin-off industry that would benefit the area even more.

Phelps said he has no long-term familiarity with Vieste, but he said he is confident in the proposal Stein delivered.

"I’ve known Sandy Stein for some time and know he is an honorable man," Phelps said. "I know that to even be considered for this is a home run. And if you don’t try, you’ll never succeed."

Vieste, on its Web site, posts a list of major ongoing projects for the company with offices in Chicago, Indianapolis, New York, and more recently, Memphis.

Bryan Messmore, the county administrator in Dearborn County, Ind., said on Tuesday that his dealings with Vieste have been positive. Development planners in Dearborn County went to Vieste when they were ready to hash out an economic development plan to acquire Honda automobile plant-related industries.

The people in the county did not embrace some of the development ideas the planners came up with, Messmore said. So no investor was found.

But, he added, Vieste put together a model for land development that could serve as a blueprint for the future if enough people would support it.

However, to date, the county hasn’t spent a dime on it, Messmore said.