U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday reviewed federal government programs that provide billions of dollars in surplus military weapons and equipment to civilian police departments. The action comes amid growing calls to end the so-called “militarization” of local law-enforcement agencies after last month’s police response to protests in Ferguson, Missouri. Events in Ferguson drew worldwide attention when […]
Storms have been the major cause of the huge fires that California has been battling in its northern regions. A lightning strike from a storm on August 12, 2014 started the fires in the Happy Camp Complex. There are currently 99,200 acres affected and the fire complex is at 30% containment. At around 4pm PDT […]
The number of California blue whales has rebounded to near historical levels, according to new research by the University of Washington, and while the number of blue whales struck by ships is likely above allowable U.S. limits, such strikes do not immediately threaten that recovery. This is the only population of blue whales known to […]
From Francis Scott Key’s pen in 1814 through war, peace and even Jimi Hendrix’s screeching electric guitar at Woodstock, the Star Spangled Banner has lasted as an American icon — and an anthem that’s nearly impossible to sing. But as Joe Janes of the University of Washington Information Schooldiscovered when studying Key’s rockets’-red-glare-lit inspiration for his Documents that Changed the […]