Article:
Photos via Google

 If you venture into a coffee shop in the coming months and see someone with a pair of futuristic glasses that look like a prop from “Star Trek,” don’t worry. It’s probably just a Google employee testing the company’s new augmented-reality glasses.

 On Wednesday, Google gave people a clearer picture of its secret initiative called Project Glass. The glasses are the company’s first venture into wearable computing.

 The glasses are not yet for sale. Google will, however, be testing them in public.

 In a post shared on Google Plus, employees in the company laboratory known as Google X, including Babak Parviz, Steve Lee and Sebastian Thrun, asked people for input about the prototype of Project Glass. Mr. Lee, a Google product manager and originally worked on Google mapping software Latitude, mobile maps and indoor maps, is responsible for the software component and the location-based aspects of the glasses.

 “We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input,” the three employees wrote. “Please follow along as we share some of our ideas and stories. We’d love to hear yours, too. What would you like to see from Project Glass?”

 The prototype version Google showed off on Wednesday looked like a very polished and well-designed pair of wrap-around glasses with a clear display that sits above the eye. The glasses can stream information to the lenses and allow the wearer to send and receive messages through voice commands. There is also a built-in camera to record video and take pictures.

 The New York Times first wrote about the glasses in late February, describing an augmented-reality display that would sit over the eye and run on the Android mobile platform.

 A video released by Google on Wednesday, which can be seen below, showed potential uses for Project Glass. A man wanders around the streets of New York City, communicating with friends, seeing maps and information, and snapping pictures. It concludes with him video-chatting with a girlfriend as the sun sets over the city. All of this is seen through the augmented-reality glasses.

 University of Washington

 Project Glass could hypothetically become Project Contact Lens. Mr. Parviz, who is also an associate professor at the University of Washington, specializes in bionanotechnology, which is the fusion of tiny technologies and biology. He most recently built a tiny contact lens that has embedded electronics and can display pixels to a person’s eye.

 Early reports of the glasses said prototypes could look like a pair of Oakley Thumps — which are clunky and obtrusive sunglasses — but the version Google unveiled Wednesday looks more graceful. There are reportedly dozens of other shapes and variations of the glasses in the works, some of which can sit over a person’s normal eyeglasses.

 People I have spoken with who have have seen Project Glass said there is a misconception that the glasses will interfere with people’s daily life too much, constantly streaming information to them and distracting from the real world. But these people said the glasses actually free people up from technology.

 One person who had used the glasses said: “They let technology get out of your way. If I want to take a picture I don’t have to reach into my pocket and take out my phone; I just press a button at the top of the glasses and that’s it.”

 Project Glass is one of many projects currently being built inside the Google X offices, a secretive laboratory near Google’s main Mountain View, Calif., campus where engineers and scientists are also working on robots and space elevators. ||||| Google is developing a wearable smartphone screen as part of its 'Project Glass' initiative.

 NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Siri is about to get one-upped by Google.

 The company on Wednesday unveiled a long-rumored concept called "Project Glass," which takes all the functionality of a smartphone and places it into a wearable device that resembles eyeglasses.

 The see-through lens could display everything from text messages to maps to reminders. They may be capable of showing video chats, providing turn-by-turn directions, taking photos and recording notes -- all through simple voice commands, according to a concept video produced by the company and released on YouTube.

 Project Glass is nowhere near complete, and Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) says it only went public with its effort to gather outside feedback. The stealth project has been in development for two years by a small team of engineers.

 The "heads-up display" glasses were born in Google's Google X lab, which is the same future-thinking research facility that developed a driverless car and is working on a space elevator.

 Google has no timeline for when the device will go on sale, but Google X engineers are beginning to use prototypes outside of the lab's walls.

 One thing they're working on in field tests: The researchers haven't yet decided whether the glasses should be stand-alone or be wirelessly powered by a smartphone.

 The precise look and feel of the hardware and software is still in the early design phase, but Google produced a concept design that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. They're not quite what you'd see on RoboCop or Geordi LaForge, but they'll never be mistaken for normal eyeglasses either.

 The Google concept shows a video camera and a small piece of glass over the right eye, with no lens on the left. That half-and-half design was an intentional choice.

 "We think technology should work for you -- to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don't," the company said on its Google+ page.

 The software design appears a lot cleaner than the hardware, with friendly icons and unobtrusive notifications. But Google's concept video portrays perhaps the loneliest vision of the future ever.

 A man starts his morning by putting his glasses on, then goes through most of his day talking to himself, without actually interacting with anyone face-to-face, save one friendly pat of a bulldog and a super-quick visit to a coffee truck with a buddy.

 A notification delivered in the morning to "See Jess tonight at 6:30 p.m." turns out not to be an actual date, but a video chat. As the sun sets, Google's protagonist remotely serenades his friend's avatar with a ukulele.

 What Google's final version will look like -- and whether it will actually end up on store shelves -- is anyone's guess.

 But Google X's futuristic sketch proves that those little plastic rectangles we've been accustomed to communicating through could soon be outdated technology. ||||| Smartphones have Google Goggles, an image-recognition search app, but consumers may one day have “Google glasses.” Google has introduced Project Glass, a concept for glasses that integrate directly with Google services. It may sound like a silly project, but there’s a reason the device makes sense.

 Smartphones already have Google Goggles, an image-recognition search app, but consumers may one day have “Google glasses.” The search company publicly introduced Project Glass on Wednesday, a concept for wearable glasses that integrate directly with Google services.

 Google is sharing this video to kickstart ideas and gather feedback for the connected, wearable device concept. It may sound like a silly project, but when you think about it, the device actually makes sense.

 The initial design vision is for lightweight frames that don’t actually have full-sized, traditional glass lenses. Instead, a small display is available up and to the outside of the right eye so that information doesn’t interfere with viewing the world around. And as shown in the video, there would be some type of eye-tracking mechanism allowing users to interact with data on the small display — similar to a touchpad tap — although much of the interface could be controlled through spoken commands.

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 As silly as the idea may look or sound to some, I find merit in the approach, as it seems like a logical next step. We have gone from immobile desktops to portable laptops and now we are toting tablets and pocketable smartphones. Where can we go from here if not to the growing number of connected, wearable gadgets that we have been reporting on for well over a year?

 From a consumer perspective, Project Glass also forwards another theme that has been growing. Touchable user interfaces have reinvented how we use mobile devices, but hardware design is advancing to the point where the interfaces are starting to disappear. Instead of holding an iPad or other tablet, people are interacting directly with an app, Web page, photo or other digital object in a reduced interface, with either voice or minute gestures. In essence, such glasses would allow people to digitally interact with the physical world around them without a device or user interface getting in the way.

 This quote, told to the New York Times from someone who tried the glasses, says it better than I can:

 They let technology get out of your way. If I want to take a picture I don’t have to reach into my pocket and take out my phone; I just press a button at the top of the glasses and that’s it.

 I expect that any first-production version of these glasses would heavily leverage a smartphone’s connectivity, much like many smart watches do today. The glasses would likely have a low-powered wireless connection to a phone, which would provide Internet connectivity, a place to store photos or a way to shoot them to the cloud, a GPS for location purposes, and so on.

 Think of these spectacles as the next iteration of a smartphone, just one that you can wear and not look geeky. Well, not too geeky anyway. I’m all for wearable gadgets, so if Google is looking for beta testers, I’m in. How about you? |||||Summary:

– That report in the New York Times several weeks ago was right on the money: Google is working on a pair of "eyeglasses" that functions as a computer of sorts. The company today unveiled Project Glass with a post on Google Plus, notes PCMag.com. A person straps on the glasses, and texts, emails, weather, you name it, shows up in the field of vision. And look out, Siri, it's voice-activated. They're not for sale yet, but the company is starting to test the glasses in public, adds the Times, which says the concept can theoretically work on contact lenses, too. "As silly as the idea may look or sound to some, I find merit in the approach as it seems like a logical next step," writes Kevin C. Tofel at GigaOm. "We’ve gone from immobile desktops to portable laptops and now we’re toting tablets and pocketable smartphones. Where can we go from here if not to the growing number of connected, wearable gadgets that we’ve been reporting on for well over a year?" One key question: Whether the device ultimately will be stand-alone or run by a smartphone, notes CNN.


Article:
An injured woman is carried to an ambulance in Clovis, N.M., Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, as authorities respond to reports of a shooting inside a public library. A city official says police have taken a person... (Associated Press)

 An injured woman is carried to an ambulance in Clovis, N.M., Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, as authorities respond to reports of a shooting inside a public library. A city official says police have taken a person... (Associated Press)

 CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) — A shooting inside a public library that killed two people and wounded four has deeply shaken an eastern New Mexico community.

 The gunman surrendered after the shooting Monday and was taken into custody without incident after police entered the downtown building, authorities and elected officials with the city of Clovis said during a news conference. Warrants for his arrest were being prepared, but it's wasn't immediately clear what charges he would face.

 Clovis Mayor David Lansford said things could have been much worse had it not been for the quick response, training and courage of police. He called the shooting tragic and senseless.

 "This is a big blow to our community," he said. "Our community is a community that places a high value on life and the sanctity of life. And each life that lives in this community is precious. So we're all hurting right now as a result of what took place this afternoon."

 Clovis, a city of about 40,000, is about 200 miles east of Albuquerque, near the Texas state line. The area is home to Cannon Air Force Base. The nearby community of Portales is home to Eastern New Mexico University.

 The injured included two men and two women, authorities said. Some were taken to a hospital across the state line in Lubbock, Texas. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.

 One woman was seen being helped into an ambulance while a call for air ambulances could be heard over police radio traffic.

 The names of the victims and the gunman were not released.

 Police said they were still working to process the crime scene and piece together what happened. Police Chief Douglas Ford could not immediately say what kind of gun was used in the attack.

 Top elected officials from across New Mexico issued their condolences for the victims and their support for the community. Gov. Susana Martinez called it a "horrific attack."

 "In the coming hours and days we will learn more information about this despicable act, but for now I ask all New Mexicans to pray for the victims and their families, and for the entire Clovis community," said Martinez, a former prosecutor.

 Attorney General Hector Balderas said his office has reached out to the local district attorney to offer its help.

 Sojung Her, a 26-year-old cashier at the Shogun Japanese Steakhouse within view of the library lawn, said the shooting left behind a sense of fear and vulnerability.

 "It's kind of a freak thing," she said. "What if he just walked into our restaurant and started shooting?"

 Police cars and tactical officers crowded the streets outside as she arrived to work at the restaurant late Monday afternoon.

 "This kind of thing never happens here," she said.

 Vanessa Aguirre told The Eastern New Mexico News that she was in the library with her son when a man came in and started to shoot into the air.

 "It all happened so fast," she said. "We took off fast." ||||| CLOVIS, N.M. (KRQE) – Two people are dead and four others are injured after a gunman opened fire after 4 p.m. at the Clovis-Carver Public Library Monday.

 Police say the young man they have in custody surrendered without a fight.

 “Immediately went into the building, made contact with the suspect who immediately gave up, was taken into custody as we continued to clear the building,” Clovis Police Chief Douglas Ford said.

 Police are not releasing the suspect’s name or his age, and they have not indicated a motive, saying they still need to talk to the suspect.

 Witnesses say they saw a young man walk into the library with what appeared to be a handgun and say he started firing rounds.

 Police say six people in total were hit. Two women were killed.

 The four injured — two males and two females — were immediately rushed to area hospitals. At least three were airlifted.

 Clovis Police and Fire Department emergency responders were on scene quickly after the active shooter call came in.

 Once police confronted the shooter though, they say he gave up without a fight.

 Investigators are not releasing the victims’ ages or identities until they notify family members.

 “This is a big blow to our community. Our community places a high value on life and the sanctity of life, and each life that lives in this community is precious,” Clovis Mayor David Lansford said.

 Investigators are combing through the scene and gathering evidence. They have not said how many people were inside the library when the shooting happened.

 The closest trauma center to Clovis is located in Lubbock, Texas. Officials there say they have a total of four patients from the shooting in Clovis, with two being in critical condition.

 KRQE News 13 is also hearing from people who were inside the library when the shooting happened. Witnesses describe a terrifying scene when the young man opened fire in what everyone thought was a safe, quiet place.

 “He just started unloading, pretty much the whole clip. I just kept my head down. I threw the table against the door to barricade myself in there. I thought he was coming my way but by then the cops got there,” witness Sam Nathavong said.

 Nathavong said he’s not sure how long the gunman was inside the library, but it felt like forever.

 Throughout the evening, the tight-knit Clovis community has flocked to social media. People are sending well wishes to the victims and sharing information about the suspect.

 The picture of the suspect got out and people on Facebook immediately started sharing information, describing the teen they believe is the shooter.

 Police have not confirmed his identity, but people in the community describe him as a 16-year-old Clovis High School sophomore.

 KRQE News 13 also heard from a family who says their aunt was one of the two women killed, but police have not confirmed those details.

 The Clovis-Carver Library is closed until further notice.

 Witness Video Courtesy: Liza Southard ||||| SANTA FE, N.M. (Reuters) - A teenager who killed two people and wounded four others in a shooting at a small-town New Mexico library had a troubled past but appeared to have turned his life around after joining a local church, his pastor said Tuesday.

 Sixteen-year-old Nathaniel Jouett had been baptized this summer and was helping the church raise money to send teen members to youth camp just days before he opened fire Monday afternoon at the Clovis-Carver Public Library, Pastor David Stevens said in a telephone interview.

 “Before Christ came into his heart, he was just crying, broken,” said Stevens of the Living Word Church of God in Clovis. “He said, ‘Now I got something to smile about.’ We had no indication of anything wrong with him.”

 Two library employees, Krissie Carter, 48, and Wanda Walters, 61, were killed in the shooting, in which Jouett used two handguns, Clovis police Chief Douglas Ford said Tuesday.

 Among the wounded was at least one child, a 10-year-old boy, Noah Molina, who was airlifted along with three other people to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas and was in satisfactory condition on Tuesday, said Eric Finley, spokesman for University Medical Center in Lubbock.

 Also wounded were Noah’s sister, Alexis Molina, 21, and Howard Jones, 53. Alexis Molina and Jones were in serious condition Tuesday, Finley said. The fourth surviving victim was identified by Ford as Jessica Thron, 30. All are expected to recover, Ford said in a news release.

 Authorities plan to initially charge Jouett as a juvenile with two counts of first degree murder, four counts of assault, four counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of child abuse, the news release said. Prosecutors would then seek to try Jouett as an adult, Ford said.

 Stevens said Jouett was being held in seclusion since his arrest at the library on Monday. He said his daughter, who had been dating the teen for the past three-and-a-half months, received a text message from friends Monday saying there had been a shooting and that Nathan, as he was called by friends, was there.

 Jouett was on suspension from Clovis high school for fighting at the time of the shooting, Stevens said.

 “My daughter thought Nathan had been shot,” Stevens said. “So my wife and daughter went downtown to the library, and he had been arrested. He was the shooter.”

 Clovis, with a population of about 40,000, is around 190 miles (300 km) east of Albuquerque. |||||Summary:

– A shooting inside a public library in New Mexico Monday afternoon left two people dead and four injured—and local police with more questions than answers. Reuters reports that a male opened fire inside the library at around 4pm local time, killing two women and injuring two women and two men. The alleged shooter was arrested after police surrounded the building and he surrendered. Authorities have not released the suspect's name, age, or motive, and while they say they are preparing warrants, there is no word yet as to what he will be charged with, the AP reports. Clovis, a city of 40,000 located about 200 miles from Albuquerque, is home to Cannon Air Force Base. The city is situated near the state border with Texas, and the injured victims were taken to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas. Two were said to be in critical condition Monday night. Per KRQE, some in the local community have identified the alleged shooter as a 16-year-old high school sophomore.


Summarize this article:

UPLAND, Calif. — The long road to Lance Armstrong ’s downfall began here, across the world from the French Alps where he climbed to the pinnacle of cycling, at a strip-mall tattoo parlor in the foothills east of Los Angeles.

 Covered in ink from his legs to his neck, Kayle Leogrande, the owner of this shop, competed full time as a professional cyclist for only a couple of years. He met Armstrong only once, he said, at a 2005 race in Ojai, Calif.

 “I talked to him briefly after the race,” Leogrande, now 35, said. “I’m sure he thought, ‘Who is this stupid tattooed guy?’ ”

 But whether Armstrong remembered this tattooed guy or not, their fates would soon become intertwined.

 Four years ago, the United States Anti-Doping Agency suspended Leogrande for using a blood-boosting hormone known as EPO. His case grew into the lengthy investigation that culminated in Armstrong’s lifetime ban from the sport.

 “When I see what’s going on with Lance now, I have to laugh to myself a little bit,” Leogrande said as he sat in his shop this week, still dumbfounded that he played a pivotal role in the fall of one of the most accomplished cyclists in history.

 Travis Tygart, chief executive of the antidoping agency, said Leogrande’s doping sparked a series of events that led the agency and federal investigators to Armstrong and his United States Postal Service team.

 “Without Leogrande, who knows, the Armstrong investigation maybe never would have happened,” Tygart said.

 Just a few years ago, that kind of connection would have seemed impossible. In 2004, as Armstrong was wrapping up the sixth of his seven consecutive Tour de France titles, Leogrande had not touched a bike in years.

 A high-level cyclist as a teenager, he gave up racing at 17. He married, had children, divorced and worked at a series of tattoo parlors.

 But after watching Armstrong on television in that 2004 Tour, Leogrande began riding again. Despite his long layoff, he was still a talented rider, and the next year, he was signed by a professional team.

 By this point, however, the landscape of competitive cycling had shifted drastically from the one Leogrande had departed a decade earlier. When he began to race competitively again, other professionals started talking to him about doping.

 “They would just talk about it in the way that most people would talk about eating healthy,” Leogrande said. “I immediately knew I shouldn’t do it. I knew there would be consequences. But I was strangely attracted to it at the same time.”

 He added, “I wanted to see what the effect would be.”

 Leogrande said he first bought EPO in late 2006 from Joe Papp, a former pro cyclist who has since pleaded guilty to distributing performance-enhancing drugs. Without a doctor to advise him, Leogrande was not sure how much EPO to take, or when to take it. The first few times he took it, he said, it left him feeling as if he had the flu.

 In 2007, he signed with the Rock Racing team, where he was introduced to former teammates of Armstrong’s. He also began doping more regularly, he said.

 Leogrande said he continually felt like a child skipping school. After training rides, he would study every car parked by his house, worried that drug-testing officials were waiting for him.

 But improved results followed. After leaving his professional team, he won the amateur national championship in 2006, then finished in the top 10 in the professional division at the national championships in 2007. Racing in the Tour de France suddenly seemed close enough to taste.

 “That was the year I felt like I could do anything I wanted on a bike,” Leogrande said. “I could climb with the climbers. I could win a sprint.”

 But during a race in July, he was required to take a drug test. Worried that he would fail, he confided in one of his team’s assistants, Suzanne Sonye, the soigneur, about his doping.

 “I remember thinking she was O.K. with it because that’s what cyclists did,” Leogrande said. “I was naïve. I knew cyclists on other teams that did it, and we would talk about it. But Suzanne wasn’t O.K. with it.” ||||| That casual confession — not the drug test — opened a Pandora’s box. Though Leogrande had no firsthand knowledge of Armstrong’s doping, the confession provided the initial thread that would lead investigators to others who did.

 Leogrande’s drug test did not come back positive. But Sonye reported his confession to the antidoping agency. Her testimony, and evidence provided by Papp — photographs of Leogrande with EPO and a handwritten note — sank Leogrande.

 At the end of 2008, the antidoping agency suspended him for two years based on “nonanalytical” evidence, rather than failed drug tests.

 Soon after the suspension he moved out of the house he had been renting, leaving behind a box of EPO in the refrigerator. When his landlady found it, he said, she called and asked him what she should do with the “box of drugs.”

 Depressed, with his biking career derailed and his second marriage on the cusp of divorce, Leogrande said he did not care — even after she threatened to call the authorities. He did not try to stop her, or go back and pick up the box and dispose of it. He told her, “Do what you need to do.”

 She called the Food and Drug Administration. A few weeks later, Leogrande said, Jeff Novitzky, the F.D.A. investigator who had connected several high-profile athletes to steroids, including Marion Jones and Barry Bonds, showed up at his door.

 Leogrande talked. He said he told Novitzky what he knew about doping in cycling, without naming names.

 Novitzky had just begun his investigation into doping in professional cycling. But already, Leogrande said, he asked about Armstrong.

 “He would ask, ‘Do you think Lance is doing this?’ ” Leogrande said. “I would tell him: ‘He’s racing in these barbaric cycling races in Europe. If you were a rider at that level, what would you do?’ ”

 More than a year later, in spring 2010, Floyd Landis, one of Armstrong’s former teammates, had come clean about his own doping, telling officials from the antidoping agency that he and other top riders, including Armstrong, had doped while on the Postal Service team. Landis also said he had information that Michael Ball, the team owner of Rock Racing, was involved in doping.

 Those antidoping officials suggested that Landis reach out to Novitzky with information about Ball, because a criminal investigation into Rock Racing was ensuing. They also said he should tell them what he knew about doping on the Postal Service squad.

 After that initial connection was made between Landis and Novitzky, federal agents began knocking on the doors of other former Armstrong teammates, some of whom later testified against Armstrong.

 As the case moved slowly toward Armstrong, Leogrande had his own legal problems.

 While he was still part of the Rock Racing team, he sued the antidoping agency and brought a defamation case against Sonye. When the lawsuit against Sonye was dismissed, the court ordered him to pay her legal fees, a crippling sum, he said.

 Leogrande served his suspension. He focused on tattooing. And last year, after admitting that he had doped — “I even called Usada and apologized,” he said — he began racing again on a new team that he founded.

 He knows he will never race in the Tour de France. But now, he said, he views his suspension in part as a blessing, for allowing him to regain perspective and spend more time with his children.

 “I’m happy with where I’m at,” he said. “I knew better the whole time, just like I’m sure Lance knew better.” |||||

– When professional cyclist and tattoo artist Kayle Leogrande was busted for doping, he never imagined it would lead to the downfall of one of the most celebrated bikers of all time. But that's pretty much what happened, explains the New York Times. The heavily tatted biker was an aspiring cyclist as a teen, but took a break—until he was inspired by Armstrong in the 2004 Tour de France. He signed on with a pro team and soon discovered that doping was ubiquitous in the sport. He joined in. Leogrande got suspended (thanks to his own confession, not a failed test), in 2008. When he left behind drugs in the freezer of an old apartment, his landlord called the feds, who questioned Leogrande about the sport in general and Armstrong in particular. Asked if he thought Armstrong doped, he recalls responding, "If you were a rider at that level, what would you do?" It wasn't long before the FDA started interviewing Armstrong's teammates. Read the full story here.


Ebola Medevac Fund

 This fund will cover the costs of ensuring health-care workers who become infected can be evacuated and treated. We will match each donation. ||||| October 23, 2014 at 1:26 PM

 Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has upped his pledge in the fight against expanding Ebola crisis to $100 million, and the Seattle billionaire urged other philanthropists to quickly follow suit.

 “Ebola is not somebody else’s problem. It is ours,” Allen wrote on his website this afternoon. “The entire global community needs to step up now with resources that match the speed and scale of this growing outbreak.”

 The Seattle Seahawks owner already has given millions of dollars to the American Red Cross and to UNICEF for Ebola relief efforts in West Africa, as well as contributions to existing medical teams and Doctors without Borders, among others.

 His increased pledge comes on the heels of major donations from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Allen’s former Microsoft colleague, Bill Gates.

 Thursday’s pledge would in part help pay for developing and building two containment units on behalf of the U.S. State Department, which would be used to evacuate medical workers from West Africa.

 Allen also has created a website to coordinate donations to specific organizations: www.TackleEbola.com

 “The Ebola virus is unlike any health crisis we have ever experienced and needs a response unlike anything we have ever seen,” Mr. Allen said. |||||

Write a summary.

– The fight against Ebola is getting another hefty donation from a US billionaire: This time it's Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who today pledged $100 million, reports the Seattle Times. Allen also created a website called TackleEbola through which people can donate to specific projects, from hand-washing stations in West Africa to the creation of an 80-bed center for patients there. “We’re up against an extremely tough opponent here,” Allen tells the New York Times. “The exponential nature of the growth of this disease is really a challenge—we’ve already seen in the US where one case quickly became two.” Some of Allen's money will go to the University of Massachusetts Medical School, which is underwriting the cost of training and medical equipment in Liberia. Allen also is creating a fund to help medical professionals who get sick cover their bills. (Fellow Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates donated $50 million via his foundation.)


– A pair of passengers are launching what appears to be the first lawsuit against Asiana Airlines after the crash of its Flight 214. In a strongly worded complaint, the plaintiffs cite "extreme and catastrophic injuries and emotional distress" resulting from the flight crew's "woeful violation of numerous international and United States airline industry standards," the Wall Street Journal reports. Their lawyer calls the crew's behavior "egregiously reckless and negligent," noting that "these pilots were unable to do the most basic task—land on a runway in the middle of a clear day with no wind." Expect more lawsuits to come, the AP notes: A Chicago law firm has filed a petition for discovery following the crash—an effort to preserve evidence. That comes ahead of a potential suit against Boeing; the law firm, Ribbeck Law Chartered, says the plane's autothrottle may be to blame in the disaster. The firm says it may also take action against Asiana and other parts makers. Asiana itself had threatened to sue a San Francisco TV station for the racist fake names in a report on the crash. But KTVU-TV has apologized, and now Asiana says it won't take the station to court, the AP reports. In other AP news: Under a safety consulting program, South Korea asked the airline to "review its safety policies" two months before the crash, says a transport ministry official. With Asiana planning an expansion, authorities urged the company to boost the hiring of pilots, engineers, and cabin crews, the official notes. The flight's four pilots have been hospitalized over health concerns both physical and psychological, South Korea says; they could face more questioning tomorrow depending on their conditions.

Expand this summary.

Asiana Airlines said Wednesday it no longer plans to sue a San Francisco TV station over the use of racially offensive names.

 The South Korean air carrier said that KTVU-TV has already apologized for using fake names for four pilots on a plane that crashed in San Francisco on July 6. It will no longer sue, as it had said it would do.

 Asiana says it wants to focus on supporting passengers and families. The crash killed three and injured dozens.

 Last week, an anchor for KTVU-TV read the fake names _ apparently someone's idea of a prank to use fake Asian-style names that sounded out distress calls and curse words _ on air and then apologized after a break.

 Asiana earlier said the report seriously damaged its reputation. It said Monday that it would sue the TV station to respond to the racially discriminatory report that disparaged Asians. ||||| Two passengers aboard the Asiana Airlines flight that crashed while landing in San Francisco have sued the carrier, claiming they suffered "extreme and catastrophic injuries and emotional distress" as a result of the accident.

 The suit is believed to be the first following the July 6 crash. A lawyer for Asiana didn't respond to a request for comment.

 Asiana flight 214 hit a sea wall in front of a runway at San Francisco International Airport and skidded to a stop before catching fire. Three passengers died and dozens more were injured.

 In their initial probe, National Transportation Safety Board investigators didn't find evidence of equipment malfunctions, agency Chairman Deborah Hersman said last week. The agency was looking into whether the pilots had received adequate training, according to people familiar with the investigation.

 Asiana officials have repeatedly said the pilots were both highly experienced and the airline's training programs meet all international and South Korean requirements.

 The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco federal court by Younga Jun Machorro and her son, Benjamin Hyo-Ik Machorro. Also joining the suit was Hector Machorro, the husband of Younga and father of Benjamin, who wasn't aboard the flight. He claims losses stemming from his wife's injuries.

 "The conduct of Asiana's flight crew was egregiously reckless and negligent," said Michael Verna of Bowles & Verna LLP, the Walnut Creek, Calif., lawyers for the plaintiffs. "These pilots were unable to do the most basic task—land on a runway in the middle of a clear day with no wind."

 Mr. Verna said that both Ms. Machorro and her son were treated at San Francisco General Hospital after the crash. X-rays revealed no broken bones, said Mr. Verna, but both suffered injuries to their backs and were still undergoing treatment.

 Under an international treaty, Asiana, of South Korea, is liable for up to $150,000 in damages per injured passenger—damages that likely would be paid by the airline's insurers, legal experts said. Passengers might recover more if they can show the airline was at fault for the crash, as the Machorros allege.

 The crash "occurred due to the gross negligence and recklessness of the Asiana flight crew on Flight 214," reads the complaint, "in woeful violation of numerous international and United States airline industry standards and established flight rules."

 The Montreal Convention allows victims of the crash to sue Asiana in U.S. courts if they are permanent U.S. residents, purchased tickets in the U.S. or were flying into the U.S. as a final destination. All three plaintiffs are U.S. citizens, according to the suit.

 Litigation over air disasters typically takes months or longer to unfold. Often, lawsuits are consolidated and handled by a single federal judge, a process known as multidistrict litigation.

 Ladd Sanger, an aviation lawyer and commercially rated pilot in Dallas, said this would likely happen to any suits related to the Asiana incident. "We're going to see a lot of these filed in the weeks to come," he said. "This is probably the first of many."

 The crash has stoked a long-running debate over how aggressively plaintiff attorneys are permitted to seek out clients after an aviation tragedy.

 Federal law mandates what is effectively a 45-day moratorium, during which lawyers are barred from directly soliciting to represent commercial air-crash victims or their families. The restrictions often aren't enforced effectively, and veteran lawyers are replete with stories about how the rules have been skirted.

 But in the case of the Asiana crash, federal accident investigators and local law-enforcement appear to have tried particularly hard to make lawyers toe the line.

 James Kreindler, a veteran aviation litigator with the New York law firm Kreindler and Kreindler LLP, said he has never experienced such a show of force by local police to keep certain lawyers from entering the hotel where many family members were staying after the Asiana crash.

 "I've never seen such tight controls," he said. "You couldn't get through the front door unless you had a prearranged meeting with a specific hotel guest."

 Mr. Kreindler said he supports such restrictions because it prevents lawyers from trying to land clients with unfounded or exaggerated promises.

 The NTSB also stepped up its game. Several days after the crash, the agency's general counsel's office sent out a mass email to members of the San Francisco Bar Association about the 45-day rule.

 "We are closely following the activities of attorneys," the message said, "and will immediately notify state bar ethics officials and other appropriate authorities if impermissible activity is suspected."

 A spokeswoman for the NTSB said "it is typical for local law enforcement to secure the family center," or hotel where family members are housed.

 —Joe Palazzolo and Jon Ostrower contributed to this article.

 Write to Ashby Jones at ashby.jones@wsj.com

 A version of this article appeared July 18, 2013, on page A5 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Asiana Jet Passengers File Suit. ||||| South Korea's transport ministry said Thursday it asked Asiana Airlines Inc. to review safety measures two months before an Asiana flight crash-landed in San Francisco.

 Kwon Yong Bok, director general of aviation safety policy at the transport ministry, said the government informed Asiana on April 30 it should hire more pilots, engineers and cabin crew as the airline planned to increase its fleet of airplanes by 20 percent by 2017. It currently has 80 planes.

 "We asked the company to review its safety policies once again," Kwon said by phone.

 He said the ministry also recommended that Asiana centralize its safety management system and set up an oversight team for aircraft maintenance.

 The recommendations were made as part of a safety consulting program that the ministry set up for the airline industry to minimize the risk of accidents.

 Asiana Flight 214 crash-landed at San Francisco's international airport on July 6, killing three people and injuring dozens. Twelve people are still hospitalized including five cabin crew, South Korea's transport ministry said Monday.

 The crash of the Boeing 777 was Asiana's first accident since a cargo plane landed in waters near South Korea's Jeju island in 2011, killing two pilots. Its deadliest plane accident was in 1993 when a domestic flight crashed south of Seoul, killing 66 people.

 The cause of the San Francisco accident is still being probed but investigators have so far found no evidence of mechanical problems with the plane. ||||| A Chicago law firm has taken steps to sue Boeing Co. on behalf of 83 people who were aboard the Asiana Airlines flight that crash-landed in San Francisco earlier this month, alleging that a malfunction of the plane's autothrottle may have caused the crash.

 Ribbeck Law Chartered on Monday filed a petition for discovery, which is meant to preserve evidence, in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, where the aircraft manufacturer is headquartered. The firm said in a news release that additional pleadings will be filed against Asiana Airlines and several component parts manufacturers in coming days.

 In addition to potential problems with the Boeing 777's auto throttle, some emergency slides reportedly opened inside the plane, injuring passengers and blocking their exit, and some passengers had to be cut out of their seatbelts with a knife, the firm contends.

 Three Chinese teenage girls were killed when the airplane, carrying 307 passengers and crew on a flight from South Korea to San Francisco International Airport on July 6, approached the runway too low and slow. The plane clipped a seawall at the end of a runway, tearing off the tail and sending the plane spinning down the runway. The impact caused the plane to catch fire.

 "We must find the causes of the crash and demand that the problems with the airline and the aircraft are immediately resolved to avoid future tragedies," attorney Monica R. Kelly, head of Ribbeck's aviation department, said in a written statement.

 Boeing spokesman John Dern said the company had no comment.

 The petition asks a judge to order Boeing to identify the designer and manufacturer of the airplane's autothrottle and its emergency evacuation slides. It also seeks information on the systems that indicate the airplane's glide slope and that warn how close it is to the ground. Kelly said the firm wants to protect the wreckage "from destructive testing" and to obtain maintenance records, internal memos and other evidence.

 A passenger filed a lawsuit against Asiana in San Francisco federal court on Monday, saying the airline showed "wanton and willful disregard for the rights and safety of all passengers," the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Younga Jun Machorro and her 8-year-old son, Benjamin Machorro, were seated toward the front of the plane and both suffered back and neck injuries, their lawyer, Michael Verna, told the newspaper.

 The pilots of Asiana Flight 214 have told investigators they were relying on automated cockpit equipment to control their speed. Inspectors found that the autothrottle had been "armed," or made ready for activation, but investigators are still determining whether it had been engaged, the National Transportation Safety Board has said.

 Two of the plane's eight slides malfunctioned, opening inside the cabin and pinning two flight attendants underneath. ||||| The wreckage of Asiana Flight 214, which crashed on Saturday, July 6, 2013, seen at San Francisco International Airport, in San Francisco, Friday, July 12, 2013. Two people were killed and dozens of others... (Associated Press)

 The wreckage of Asiana Flight 214, which crashed on Saturday, July 6, 2013, seen at San Francisco International Airport, in San Francisco, Friday, July 12, 2013. Two people were killed and dozens of others... (Associated Press)

 The four pilots of the Asiana jet that crash-landed in San Francisco are being treated for psychological trauma and injuries caused by the accident, South Korean officials said Wednesday.

 The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry officials said the pilots have been hospitalized following medical checkups after returning home over the weekend.

 Asiana Flight 214 crashed July 6 at San Francisco International Airport, killing three and injuring dozens.

 The pilots underwent questioning by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and South Korean investigators while in the United States.

 South Korean officials plan to conduct a separate interview with them. The ministry officials said that could begin as early as Friday if the doctors allow it.

 The officials gave no further details and spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.

 Meantime, Asiana Airlines said Wednesday it no longer plans to sue a San Francisco TV station over the use of racially offensive names.

 The South Korean air carrier said that KTVU-TV has already apologized for using fake names for the four pilots.

 Asiana said it wants to focus on supporting passengers and families of the dead and injured passengers.

 Last week, an anchor for KTVU-TV read the fake names on air _ apparently someone's idea of a prank to use fake Asian-style names that sounded out distress calls and curse words. The anchor apologized after a break.

 Asiana earlier said the report seriously damaged its reputation. It said Monday that it would sue the TV station to respond to the racially discriminatory report that disparaged Asians. |||||


Write a summary based on this article:

Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d type: a candidate running for president had to issue a statement insisting that he was not talking about a female journalist on her period, but instead blood coming out of her nose.

 K then.

 Yes, on CNN last night Donald Trump continued to rip Megyn Kelly for having the audacity to ask him tough questions at a presidential debate. And he actually, seriously said, ““There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her… wherever.”

 But the comment that politics Twitter kind of blew up over and got Trump disinvited from the RedState gathering today wasn’t what you thought, you sickos.

 First, Trump tweeted these out:

 So many "politically correct" fools in our country. We have to all get back to work and stop wasting time and energy on nonsense! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2015

 Re Megyn Kelly quote: "you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever" (NOSE). Just got on w/thought — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2015

 .@redstate I miss you all, and thanks for all of your support. Political correctness is killing our country. "weakness." — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2015

 Oh, and Trump’s full statement on the matter is even better. Here’s the highlight:

 Mr. Trump made Megyn Kelly look really bad––she was a mess with her anger and totally caught off guard. Mr. Trump said “blood was coming out of her eyes and whatever” meaning nose, but wanted to move on to more important topics. Only a deviant would think anything else.

 He also trashed Erick Erickson for disinviting him in the ongoing Trump cycle of 1) being honored to go somewhere or be with someone, 2) a person involved with said thing disparaging him in some way, and 3) Trump throwing a temper tantrum, doing a complete 180 and calling this person a loser, and claiming he never wanted to go in the first place.

 And once again, I would just like to emphasize that we have someone running for president who had to clarify which orifice on a female journalist he believed blood was coming out of.

 [image via screengrab]

 — —

 Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| Donald Trump is once again pushing the limit, bringing Megyn Kelly’s anatomy into a feud that had already opened him to charges of sexism — and the risk of losing support among the Fox News anchor’s rabid following.

 After a day of escalating hostility, Trump took his attacks on Kelly to the next level on Friday night, apparently insinuating that the moderator had been menstruating when she questioned him during Thursday’s first Republican debate.

 Story Continued Below

 “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her — wherever,” he told anchor Don Lemon during an appearance on CNN.

 The crudeness of the comment sparked an immediate flurry of rebukes, including from RedState.com’s Erick Erickson, who revoked an invitation for Trump to speak at his Saturday conference on the grounds that it showed he wasn’t a “legitimate” candidate.

 On Saturday morning, Trump appeared to tweet a clarification of his previous remark: “Re Megyn Kelly quote: ‘you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever’ (NOSE). Just got on w/thought.”

 He also released a statement lashing Erickson and the decision to exclude him. “… not only is Erick a total loser, he has a history of supporting establishment losers in failed campaigns so it is an honor to be uninvited from his event. Mr. Trump is an outsider and does not fit his agenda.”

 Nevertheless, Trump was a hot topic of conversation at the RedState event. Speaking there, Republican 2016 candidate Mike Huckabee said, “The Republican Party is not engaged in a war on women, the Republican Party is not engaged in saying things about Megyn Kelly,” he said. “One individual is.”

 Carly Fiorina, the only female Republican presidential candidate in the race, took to Twitter to condemn Trump.

 “Mr. Trump. There. Is. No. Excuse,” she wrote. “I stand with @megynkelly.”

 In a tweet sent Saturday, Gov. Scott Walker also repeated the “stand with @megynkelly” line, adding, “There’s no excuse for Trump’s comments.”

 Gov. John Kasich tweeted a statement, saying, “Everyone deserves respect and dignity, whether they agree with you or not. You don’t tear people down just because they disagree with you or stand up to you or question you.”

 In a statement, Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “I applaud Erik [sic] Erickson for doing the right thing when he disinvited Donald Trump from a gathering of Republican activists. As a party, we are better to risk losing without Donald Trump than trying to win with him. Enough already with Mr. Trump.”

 Also in a statement, Sen. Rand Paul called Trump’s statements “inappropriate and offensive.”

 And then there was the nature of the target itself. Unlike undocumented immigrants, John McCain or Rosie O’Donnell, the Fox News anchor enjoys a huge following among the network’s viewers, who happen to make up the core of the Republican primary electorate. So picking a fight with Kelly — as Trump did when he chided her during a tough debate question about insults he’s lobbed at women, dissed her in the spin room, and tweeted his complaints about her — carries risks that Trump’s other feuds do not.

 So does making such a gendered attack on a journalist at a time when his party is battling the perception that it’s waging a “war on women.”

 But if Trump world is worried about taking on the only person who might be more popular with the Republican base than their boss is right now, they’re not showing it.

 Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, maintained that the mogul’s willingness to take on Kelly makes him the kind of equal-opportunity brawler Republicans will need next fall.

 “If the Democratic nominee is going to be Hillary Clinton, then you would want a strong person to stand up to make America great again,” he said earlier on Friday, before the “blood” comment.

 Trump political adviser Roger Stone sounded a slightly more cautious note. “Certainly Fox reaches a disproportionate number of Republican primary voters,” he said, adding that as of Friday afternoon he hadn’t yet sorted out his thoughts about the matter.

 Stone said Trump was satisfied with his debate performance when the two conferred last night. And Stone offered a positive assessment, if not a ringing endorsement, of his boss’s performance. “He held his own. He was fine. He made all his key points.”

 But Trump and his associates clearly had a bone to pick after a debate in which Fox’s moderators, especially Kelly, trained some of their toughest questions on the controversial front-runner. Trump’s annoyance showed during the debate when he told her, “I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me” in response to a question about his name-calling of women (which he joked he’d only ever done to his longtime Twitter nemesis O’Donnell). After the debate, Trump said Kelly “behaved very nasty to me.”

 It only devolved from there.

 In the early morning hours on Friday, his Twitter account tweeted that Kelly was “not very good or professional”and retweeted anti-Kelly tweets from supporters, including one calling her a “bimbo.”

 Trump’s deputy and surrogate, Michael Cohen, retweeted a tweet from a Trump fan (@hawaiiluvstrump) after the debate that included the hashtag “boycottmegynkelly” and the message “we can gut her.”

 Cohen told POLITICO that he does not believe the tweet implied any sort of physical violence but did not back down from his beef with Kelly. “It is interesting to note that the only attacks against Mr. Trump last night came from the moderators,” Cohen said in a statement. “It appeared to all viewers that it was a coordinated effort. Megyn Kelly clearly tried the hardest and failed as Mr. Trump has been deemed the winner of last night’s debate by multiple polls and media outlets.”

 Because he works for Trump Enterprises, rather than the campaign, Cohen said that his being in conflict with Kelly shouldn’t affect Trump’s political fortunes. “It doesn’t matter if I am or I’m not,” he said.

 Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray told POLITICO after Thursday’s debate that Trump’s back-and-forth with Kelly, in which he dismissed her question about insults lobbed at women as “political correctness,” could end up hurting him with female Republican primary voters, a group he is currently winning, though by a smaller margin than he’s winning men.

 And despite the negative reaction of a focus group convened for Fox News by Republican messaging guru Frank Luntz to Trump’s interactions with Kelly, as well as his refusal to pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee, there were indications that his trademark Trump bluster continued to play well with important Republican constituencies.

 (Trump tweeted that Luntz “is a low class slob who came to my office looking for consulting work and I had zero interest. Now he picks anti-Trump panels!” In a statement, Luntz told POLITICO, “I really enjoy him. I respect him, I respect his success as a businessman, and I respect his ability to tap into the genuine frustrations of the American people. His performance last night was Trump being Trump — and so are his attacks today.” An aide to Luntz said the messaging guru did not believe Trump himself was responsible for the “bimbo” retweet about Kelly: “We talked about that and agreed that one of his staffers had to have tweeted that she’s a bimbo. Even he wouldn’t use that word about her.”)

 Attendees who gathered to watch the debate from the RedState summit of conservative activists in Atlanta cheered Trump’s performance and a highly unscientific reader poll on the Drudge Report, the news aggregation site beloved by conservatives, gave Trump an overwhelming victory in the debate, with 45 percent of respondents — more than 250,000 people as of Friday afternoon — saying he won, compared with 14 percent for the second-place Ted Cruz.

 Katie Glueck contributed to this report. |||||

– Donald Trump is getting hammered over his latest Megyn Kelly slam, but he now insists it's not as bad as everyone thinks. What Trump said: "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever." In a tweet and statement, Trump says the "wherever" refers to her nose, with the statement adding that "only a deviant would think anything else," reports Mediaite. Meanwhile, Politico points out that Kelly has a large following on Fox News, and it rounds up some of the backlash brewing against Trump, including shots from his fellow candidates: Carly Fiorina: “Mr. Trump. There. Is. No. Excuse. ... I stand with @megynkelly.” John Kasich: “Everyone deserves respect and dignity, whether they agree with you or not. You don’t tear people down just because they disagree with you or stand up to you or question you." Scott Walker: "There's no excuse for Trump's comments." Lindsey Graham: “I applaud Erik [sic] Erickson for doing the right thing when he disinvited Donald Trump from a gathering of Republican activists. As a party, we are better to risk losing without Donald Trump than trying to win with him. Enough already with Mr. Trump.”


Here is a news article: Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| JUNEAU, Alaska A man with a soft white beard who prides himself on being an advocate for young children has been elected as a city councilman in North Pole, Alaska.

 The rosy-cheeked 68-year-old candidate, who happens to be named Santa Claus, won a three-year term in the community of about 2,200 residents southeast of Fairbanks, according to election results released on Tuesday.

 "My thanks to everyone who voted for me ... and all who supported my campaign," Claus wrote on Facebook. "I'll do my best for all!"

 Claus, who legally changed his name from Thomas Patrick O'Connor about a decade ago while living in Nevada, said he has been an advocate for legislation and services that benefit at-risk children.

 He could be seen in recent days wearing his trademark red velvet outfit and holding a campaign sign in North Pole, the namesake of the home of the legendary Christmas gift-giver.

 Claus was one of two write-in candidates for two vacant seats in the Oct. 6 election. He will take office on Oct. 26, North Pole City Clerk Kathy Weber said.

 In an interview with Reuters, Claus said that calling state lawmakers and saying: "This is Santa Claus from North Pole," either got their attention or a quick, though temporary, rejection. "It's been a valuable tool for developing legislation to protect children."

 (Reporting by Steve Quinn in Juneau; Editing by Eric M. Johnson and Peter Cooney) |||||
A summary of this is?

– Santa Claus has been chosen to represent the people of North Pole. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that a man whose legal name is Santa Claus won a write-in campaign for an open City Council seat in the 2,200-person Alaska town. He began campaigning in his red velvet suit just two weeks before the election, in which he received 58 votes and a seat on the six-person council. No official candidates had filed for the two open council positions. Claus—who was living in Nevada when he changed his name from Thomas O'Connor a decade ago—tells Reuters that he's an advocate for programs that help at-risk children and that state lawmakers tend to pay attention when they get a call from "Santa Claus from North Pole."


The initial cleanup along the oil-fouled Yellowstone River could be tested Tuesday as rising waters make it harder for Exxon Mobil Corp. to get to areas damaged by the crude spilled from a company pipeline.

 Clean up crews work to collect oil from along side the Yellowstone River in Laurel, Mont., Monday July 4, 2011. An ExxonMobil pipeline near Laurel ruptured and spilled an estimated 1,000 barrels of crude... (Associated Press)

 Jim Swanson talks about the oil impact on his property in Laurel, Mont., Tuesday July 4, 2011. An ExxonMobil pipeline near Laurel ruptured and spilled an estimated 1,000 barrels of crude into the Yellowstone.... (Associated Press)

 Oil soaked leaves are seen on property owned by Jim Swanson Monday July 4, 2011, in Laurel, Mont. An ExxonMobil pipeline near Laurel, Mont., ruptured and spilled an estimated 1,000 barrels of crude into... (Associated Press)

 Exxon Mobil contractors put absorbent sheets over oil that came into the backyard of a home along the Yellowstone River near Laurel, Mont. on Monday July 4,2011. An estimated 1,000 barrels of oil spilled... (Associated Press)

 Oil swirls in a flooded gravel pit in Lockwood, Mont. after a pipeline break early Saturday, July 2, 2011. The ExxonMobil pipeline that runs under the Yellowstone River near Billings in south-central... (Associated Press)

 Exxon Mobil contractors put absorbent sheets on oil that came into the backyard of a home along the Yellowstone River near Laurel, Mont. on Monday July 4,2011. An estimated 1,000 barrels of oil spilled... (Associated Press)

 Clean up crews use an absorbent boom to collect oil from along side the Yellowstone River in Laurel, Mont., Monday July 4, 2011. An ExxonMobil pipeline near Laurel ruptured and spilled an estimated 1,000... (Associated Press)

 Jim Swanson surveys the oil impact on his property in Laurel, Mont., Tuesday July 4, 2011. An ExxonMobil pipeline near Laurel ruptured and spilled an estimated 1,000 barrels of crude into the Yellowstone.... (Associated Press)

 Clean up crews work to collect oil from along side the Yellowstone River in Laurel, Mont., Monday July 4, 2011. An ExxonMobil pipeline near Laurel ruptured and spilled an estimated 1,000 barrels of crude... (Associated Press)

 Oil from a ruptured ExxonMobil pipeline is seen in the Yellowstone River and along its banks near Laurel, Mont., Saturday July 2, 2011. The pipeline break was contained early Saturday morning but the... (Associated Press)

 Clean up crews work to collect oil from along side the Yellowstone River in Laurel, Mont., Monday July 4, 2011. An ExxonMobil pipeline near Laurel ruptured and spilled an estimated 1,000 barrels of crude... (Associated Press)

 Oil swirls in a flooded gravel pit in Lockwood, Mont. after a pipeline break early Saturday, July 2, 2011. The ExxonMobil pipeline that runs under the Yellowstone River near Billings in south-central... (Associated Press)

 An Exxon Mobil contractors mops up oil along the Yellowstone River near Laurel, Mont. on Monday July 4,2011. An estimated 1,000 barrels of oil spilled from a ruptured pipeline underneath the river. (AP... (Associated Press)

 A sheen of oil can be seen in the water on property owned by Jim Swanson in Laurel, Montana, Monday July 4, 2011. An ExxonMobil pipeline near Laurel, Montana ruptured and spilled an estimated 1,000... (Associated Press)

 The National Weather Service predicts the Yellowstone River, swelling with mountain snowmelt amid hot summer temperatures, will peak at Billings on Tuesday afternoon _ a day after Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. President Gary Pruessing promised to do "whatever is necessary" to mop up oil spilled from the duct at the river bottom. That pledge included sending crews to walk the river banks in search of pooled oil once the flooding river recedes.

 The 12-inch pipeline burst Friday upstream from a refinery in Billings, where it delivered 40,000 barrels of oil a day. Up to 1,000 barrels, or 42,000 gallons, of crude oil oozed into the legendary Yellowstone before the leak was stopped, according to Exxon Mobil estimates.

 After downplaying assertions from state and federal officials that damage from the spill was spread over dozens of miles, Exxon Mobil acknowledged under political pressure Monday that the scope of the leak could extend far beyond a 10-mile stretch of the river. Company officials also said their statements were misconstrued.

 "We're not limiting the scope of our cleanup to the immediate site," Pruessing said at a news conference along the river near Laurel, as crews mopped up oil in the background. "We are not trying to suggest in any way that that's the limit of exposure."

 The 20-year-old Silvertip pipeline followed a route that passes beneath the river. It was temporarily shut down in May after Laurel officials raised concerns that it could be at risk as the Yellowstone started to rise. Also twice in the last year, regulators warned Exxon Mobil of several safety violations along the line.

 The company decided to restart the line after examining its safety record and deciding it was safe, Pruessing said.

 The cause of the rupture has not yet been determined, but company and government officials have speculated that high waters in recent weeks may have scoured the river bottom and exposed the pipeline to damaging debris.

 The Yellowstone River at Billings had dropped nearly 2 feet by Monday from its peak Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. But temperatures reached the mid-90s Sunday, causing the melt of mountain snow to accelerate.

 It is possible cleaned areas would become fouled again as waters rise.

 Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who earlier criticized the company's inspection of the spill, planned to tour the damaged areas Tuesday.

 Underscoring rising anger over the spill among some riverfront property owners, Pruessing was confronted after his news conference Monday by a goat farmer and environmental activist who said his partner was sickened by oil fumes and had to be taken to the emergency room.

 "I need to know what we've been exposed to. People are sick now," Mike Scott said. Scott's partner, Alexis Bonogofsky, was diagnosed Monday with acute hydrocarbon exposure after she experienced dizziness, nausea and trouble breathing, he said.

 Pruessing said air and water monitoring had not revealed any health risks. But he told Scott the company would provide the public with more information.

 The Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement Monday afternoon that officials were still taking air and water samples to determine the impacts.

 EPA officials said they and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel conducted an aerial assessment of the Yellowstone from Laurel to 30 miles downstream of Billings, finding oil deposits along the river banks, in slow water and in small pools in backwaters at intermittent points.

 The U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees pipelines, notified Exxon Mobil in July 2010 of seven potential safety violations and other problems along the pipeline. Two of the warnings faulted the company for its emergency response and pipeline corrosion training.

 Transportation Department spokeswoman Patricia Klinger said the company has since responded to the warnings and the case was closed.

 The company also was cited for "probable violations" in a February letter. Those included inadequate pipeline markers in a housing development, a section of pipeline over a ditch covered with potentially damaging material and debris, vegetation in a housing area that covered a portion of line and prevented aerial inspections, and a line over a canal not properly protected against corrosion.

 The company responded in a March letter that it had corrected all of the problems, most of them within a few weeks of being notified. Company spokesman Alan Jeffers said there was no direct connection between those problems and the pipeline failure.

 "These are important things we needed to take care of, and we took care of them by the time we got the notice," Jeffers said. No fines were issued, he said.

 The Yellowstone spill has amplified calls from some safety advocates and environmentalists who want the government to impose more stringent regulations on the industry.

 Anthony Swift, a policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the fact that Exxon Mobil's Silvertip line was apparently in compliance with federal rules underscores that those rules need to be strengthened.

 "These are the sort of spills that we shouldn't be tolerating," Swift said. "We need to incorporate tougher safety standards."

 The company said only one case of wildlife damage _ a dead duck _ had been reported, but Pruessing said that could not be confirmed. A local newspaper, the Billings Gazette, has run pictures of a turtle and a group of pelicans apparently with oil on them.

 If another surge of water pushes oil further into back channels as expected, it could be a potential threat to fisheries, said Bruce Farling, executive director of Trout Unlimited's Montana chapter. Farling said there are many fish eggs and recently hatched fish in those channels.

 The stretch of the Yellowstone where the spill occurred contains sauger, bass catfish, goldeye, trout and, farther downstream, below Miles City, native pallid sturgeon.

 "If we get a bunch of oil in some of these backwater areas, these are precisely where these small fish rear," Farling said.

 ___

 Associated Press correspondent Matt Volz in Helena, Mont., contributed to this report. ||||| — Oil from a Yellowstone River pipeline has spread at least 15 miles beyond the initial leak, Exxon Mobil acknowledged Monday — five miles farther than the company estimated a day earlier.Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. President Gary Pruessing pledged to do "whatever is necessary" to find and mop up spilled crude from the 12-inch pipeline that broke at the bottom of the river near Billings over the weekend.As cleanup of up to 42,000 of gallons of oil intensified, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said authorities would review the safety of all oil and gas pipelines that cross state waterways and close those that do not meet standards."We'll make the decision over the next couple of days whether to shut off some pipelines," Schweitzer told Reuters in a telephone interview. "The last thing I want is for another pipeline to break."The cause of the spill has not been determined, but officials have speculated that surging waters may have scoured the river bottom and exposed the pipeline to debris that could have damaged the pipe.Pruessing said the company was using aircraft to assess damage, but the flooding river prevents crews from venturing out in boats or walking the banks in some areas for a closer look. That will happen when the river recedes, he said."The river is well over its banks, very turbulent," he said at a news conference along the Yellowstone near Laurel. "I've never seen the river like this in my life."The spill's effects on wildlife were unclear Monday, but the Audubon Society and experts from International Bird Rescue would be on hand to help, Pruessing said.Exxon Mobil is continuing to test air and water for safety, he said, and will make the results available to the public.After the news conference, Pruessing was confronted by an angry goat farmer and environmental activist who said his wife had been sickened by oil fumes and had to be taken to the emergency room."I need to know what we've been exposed to. People are sick now," said Mike Scott, who also works for the Sierra Club. Scott said his wife, Alexis Bonogofsky, was diagnosed Monday with acute hydrocarbon exposure after experiencing dizziness, nausea and trouble breathing.Bonogofsky, who works for the National Wildlife Federation, had gone to the riverbank with her camera to photograph oil on their property south of Billings.The Yellowstone River, the longest undammed river in the continental United States, is renowned for its trout fishing and bird life. The leak happened more than 100 miles downstream from Yellowstone National Park. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Exxon Mobil's Montana oil spill cleanup faces a big hurdle today as the swollen Yellowstone River peaks at Billings this afternoon. The rising water means that areas already cleaned may be re-contaminated, and the AP reports that Exxon officials acknowledged under fire yesterday that the scope of the disaster was at least five miles beyond the 10-mile radius it initially said was affected. "We're not limiting the scope of our cleanup to the immediate site," said Exxon CEO Gary Pruessing. "We are not trying to suggest in any way that that's the limit of exposure." Pressure is mounting on Exxon as allegations surface that it ignored potential safety problems with the line, which was likely ruptured by objects in the flooding river scraping it. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is calling for a review of all pipelines in the vicinity of water, reports the LA Times. "We'll make the decision over the next couple of days whether to shut off some pipelines," Schweitzer said. "The last thing I want is for another pipeline to break."