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  • What a way to start a week!

    What the H _ _ L was that?!

    Bird deaths shut down downtown Austin


    Police shut down 10 blocks of businesses in the heart of downtown early Monday after dozens of birds were found dead in the streets, but officials said preliminary tests showed no dangerous chemicals in the air.

    As many as 60 dead pigeons, sparrows and grackles were found overnight along Congress Avenue, a main route through downtown. No human injuries or illnesses were reported.

    "We do not feel there is a threat to the public health," said Adolfo Valadez, the medical director for Austin and Travis County Health and Human Services. He said preliminary air-quality tests showed no dangerous chemicals and the area should reopen around noon.

    U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said officials had no credible information to suggest any imminent threat to the city.

    On Congress Avenue, just outside the state Capitol, emergency workers donned yellow hazardous-material suits Monday morning, and dozens of fire trucks and ambulances were parked nearby.

    Workers were testing for any sort of environmental contaminant or gas or chlorine leaks that might have cause the bird deaths, said police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz. At least one bird carcass was being tested locally for other possible causes, and other carcasses were shipped to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Texas A&M University.

    Valadez said the tests on the dead birds would likely take several days and look for signs of poisoning or viral infections, though he said officials do not think bird flu is involved.

    A 10-block stretch of Congress Avenue, several side streets and all buildings in the area were shut down and declared off-limits as a precaution, Chovanetz said.

    The street closure stretched from just outside the Capitol to a section of the Colorado River known as Town Lake. The Capitol opened on schedule Monday, the day before the legislative session was to begin.

    On the East Coast, New York City also had a scare Monday morning when a mysterious gas odor moved across Manhattan. It wasn't immediately clear what had caused the odor, and it dissipated fairly quickly. No injuries or damage to wildlife was immediately reported.



    Diplomacy, it's a way of saying “nice doggie”, until you find a rock!

  • #2
    Wait, there is more:


    Gas-like odor permeates Manhattan

    NEW YORK (AP) -- Authorities were investigating the source of a mysterious gas-like odor Monday that stretched across a large part of Manhattan, including Rockefeller Center.

    "One thing we are very confident of, it's not dangerous," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference.

    The Fire Department began getting calls about the odor around 9 a.m. Monday, said spokesman Tim Hinchey. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey temporarily suspended some of its PATH commuter train service between New Jersey and Manhattan as a precaution.

    Bloomberg said the city's air sensors had not detected an elevated level of natural gas.

    Bloomberg said there was a small gas leak at Bleecker Street and Sixth Avenue, but the odor from that leak would not account for the pervasive smell.

    Utility crews from Consolidated Edison were investigating, but they had found no abnormal changes in the gas flow with in its transmission system, said spokesman Chris Olert. "If there was a big leak, we would see a change in the gas flow," he said.

    Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said there was no indication of terrorism and no credible intelligence to suggest any imminent threat to the city. He said the agency is closely monitoring the situation.

    In some areas, office buildings and apartment buildings were evacuated as a precaution.

    The mayor advised people affected by the smell to open windows and turn on fans to ventilate rooms.

    Across the Hudson River, Jersey City, New Jersey, mayor's spokeswoman Maria Pignataro said when she left her downtown apartment Monday morning she was immediately hit with gas fumes.

    "If you were in a gas station, [the odor] would be magnified 1,000 times," she told CNN.

    "The smell was very strong. It was very scary," said Yolanda Van Gemd, an administrator at ASA, a business school near the Empire State Building that was evacuated as a precaution.

    In August, seven people were treated at hospitals after a gaseous smell in the boroughs of Queens and Staten Island.

    Diplomacy, it's a way of saying “nice doggie”, until you find a rock!

    Comment


    • #3
      Once when I was a teacher in a small town in Oklahoma (Ada) I ran out of my house after coming home and smelling gas.
      Turned out EVERYONE smelled gas in their houses.
      They had a local gas company and some idiot had put something like 10,000 times too much Methanethiol in the gas (it doesn't take much).
      Even just what escaped unburned from a lit water heater pilot light was enough to make a small house smell like it had a huge gas leak
      I took about a day for the lines to clear.

      Hopefully the NY thing is something like that.
      Chuck
      秋音的爸爸

      Comment


      • #4
        I'd buy that.

        How'd you explain the birds?


        .
        Diplomacy, it's a way of saying “nice doggie”, until you find a rock!

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by ND66 View Post
          I'd buy that.

          How'd you explain the birds?


          .
          I have no idea, but I sure hope it isn't bad for people.
          My in-laws live in Austin.
          Chuck
          秋音的爸爸

          Comment


          • #6
            I’ve been to Austin, just love that city.
            Hope you’re In-Laws are fine.

            On the other hand I wonder if we’ll ever know what happened there (we as a general public, if you know what I mean).


            .
            Diplomacy, it's a way of saying “nice doggie”, until you find a rock!

            Comment


            • #7
              I'm done checking the news for today.



              Plastic explosives detected at Miami


              A package that was going to be loaded onto a cruise ship at the Port of Miami tested positive for plastic explosives Monday, the Coast Guard said.

              The package was tested six times and each time it came back positive for C4, said Petty Officer James Judge.

              Miami-Dade police were examining the package to confirm whether explosives were present.

              The developments came a day after three Middle Eastern men in a cargo truck sparked a brief terrorism scare at the port. After a bomb squad search, authorities concluded that the men were carrying automotive parts and that the scare stemmed from miscommunication.
              Diplomacy, it's a way of saying “nice doggie”, until you find a rock!

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by ND66 View Post
                I'm done checking the news for today.
                Ummm...
                I think that might be a good idea.
                Chuck
                秋音的爸爸

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by ND66 View Post
                  I'm done checking the news for today.
                  Sounds like a usual day in Miami
                  “And, remember: there's no 'I' in 'irony'” ~ Merlin Mann

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Jessterw View Post
                    Sounds like a usual day in Miami

                    You're a CSI Miami fan, aren't you?


                    .
                    Diplomacy, it's a way of saying “nice doggie”, until you find a rock!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Umm no, hate that show. I'm just from Florida with a number of friends who do or have lived in the area.

                      *And yes, my original comment wasn't meant to be taken seriously.
                      Last edited by Jessterw; 8 January 2007, 20:14.
                      “And, remember: there's no 'I' in 'irony'” ~ Merlin Mann

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Then you'll know I just had to bring this SONG up!



                        Diplomacy, it's a way of saying “nice doggie”, until you find a rock!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          LOL. Haven't heard that one in awhile.
                          “And, remember: there's no 'I' in 'irony'” ~ Merlin Mann

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