World News
Dave Portnoy blasts Nantucket wind farm after broken blade shuts down beaches
Barstool Sports President and CEO Dave Portnoy is speaking out after an offshore windmill blade snapped and sent nonbiodegradable fiberglass shards into the water, washing up on Nantucket shores and forcing the town to close its beaches.
On Tuesday, the Nantucket harbormaster announced that six of the Massachusetts town’s beaches would be temporarily closed after pieces of fiberglass washed ashore and said anyone walking the beach should wear footwear to protect themselves from the sharp debris.
Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between foreign entities Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which built wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts, said Tuesday that a blade from a turbine had snapped and that power production from the turbines was stopped immediately.
The company also said “nearly the entirety of the blade remains affixed to the turbine.” But a photo obtained by Fox News Digital depicts the blade mostly severed from its base.
SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH FISHERMEN IN LANDMARK CASE DECIDING FATE OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE
Portnoy, a Nantucket homeowner, told Fox he thinks it should be a “one-strike you’re out policy” for Vineyard Wind and that “they should no longer be allowed to operate these windmills.”
“Everybody wants a healthy planet, but when the ones advocating for a green planet are the ones damaging it, it makes you pause,” he told Fox News Digital.
Portnoy also suggested the company should “be forced to refund every person who rented a house on Nantucket for as long as the beaches are closed.”
“Families save up for years to take a vacation to Nantucket only to have it ruined by negligence,” he said.
“Also, there is no telling how much sea life will be affected,” he added.
LOCAL FISHERMEN SLAM BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S NEWLY UNVEILED PLANS TO INDUSTRIALIZE GULF OF MAINE
New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) CEO Jerry Leeman also reacted to the incident, saying that “the scariest thing” is that “it could happen again.”
“As a fisherman, I know how powerful and volatile the North Atlantic is. If this blade fell off on a beautiful summer day, what would happen during a winter squall or a hurricane?” he told Fox News Digital.
He went on to say that “the environment effects are tragic.”
“Shards of fiberglass, which are not biodegradable, are a huge threat to whales, dolphins and porpoises, some of which are endangered,” he said.
“Nanoparticles from the fiberglass could even enter the food web if zooplankton mistake particles for forage. This slow-rolling disaster is a serious threat to fishery sustainability,” he added.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Vineyard Wind said it “deployed services vessels immediately to recover three large blade pieces from the ocean” and that “debris of non-toxic blade material has washed up on Nantucket beaches and are being recovered.”
“The cause of the breakage is unknown at this time. GE, as the project’s turbine and blade manufacturer and installation contractor, will now be conducting the analysis into the root cause of the incident,” Vineyard Wind said.
Vineyard Wind also said that upon ceasing power production, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issued a work suspension order on Monday afternoon.
“Vineyard Wind is in full compliance with the order, and is working in collaboration with BSEE to support its assessment and advance critical safety response and debris recovery efforts,” the company said.
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Offshore wind farming has been a contentious push by the Biden administration, which aims to hit aggressive green energy goals by 2030. Agencies within the Biden administration have been accused of moving too fast to approve wind projects at the expense of both environmental and marine life.
Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, testified in March last year before a House Committee that “[w]hile some offshore wind may hold promise, federal and state levels have moved forward without transparency, robust and sound science or good governance.”
Zipf testified that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) previously found that offshore wind can increase ocean noise, which can affect behaviors of whales; introduce electromagnetic fields that impact their navigation, predator detection and communication; and change species composition and survival rates, among other things.
“The NMFS concludes with, ‘Offshore wind is the new use of our marine waters, requiring substation scientific and regulatory review,’” Zipf testified. “So, where is the substantial review? Where is the commitment to the precautionary principle?”
Clean Ocean Action noted last February following the ninth whale death in the Northeast that the “alarming number of [whale] deaths is unprecedented in the last half century.” The only unique factor from previous years is the excessive scope, scale and magnitude of offshore wind power plant activity in the region, the group noted.
Zipf emphasized that “climate change is real” and “living resources on the planet are in crisis.” But offshore wind projects should only be approved after pilot-scale projects are proven to be successful and when science supports industrial-scale plants.
In April, NEFSA, a fishing advocacy group that represents wild harvesters in fisheries across New England, criticized the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) recently unveiled plans to lease 2 million acres of ocean in Maine for more offshore wind development – an unprecedented leasing area that would allow for construction of enough wind turbines to produce 32 gigawatts of energy.
NEFSA, along with Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, said the administration is “rushing” to “political-proof” a green energy plan insulated from a possible administration change in November.
BOEM told Fox News Digital that it will conduct a “phased leasing approach, and that BOEM does not intend to lease the entire final WEA (wind energy area) … but rather BOEM will now consider proposed lease areas from within the final WEA based on certain criteria.”
They said the WEA was finalized “after extensive engagement with lobster fishermen in fishing communities” and “avoids several other important fishing areas and habitats, including important groundfish areas.”
Original article source: ‘Ruined by negligence’: Dave Portnoy blasts Nantucket wind farm after broken blade shuts down beaches
World News
Missing California mother found dead near hiking trail after partner threatened 3-year-old daughter: police
![](https://i1.wp.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/missing-mother-found-dead-trail-thumb.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
A missing mother in Northern California was found dead near a hiking trail in the mountains on Sunday, hours after authorities say the woman’s partner threatened their 3-year-old daughter with a knife and charged at a police officer.
The body of Lizbeth Arceo Sedano, 25, was found around 9:40 a.m. near Eureka Canyon Road and Grizzly Flat Road in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies responded to the call and investigators determined the body belonged to the 25-year-old mother, who had been reported missing in Watsonville a day earlier.
Sedano’s family reported her missing after the mother’s partner, Joshua Gonzalez, called the Watsonville Police Department from outside the police station at around 9:20 p.m. Saturday and threatened to harm their 3-year-old daughter, the department said.
IDAHO 5-YEAR-OLD FOUND DEAD AFTER WANDERING AWAY FROM HIS BIRTHDAY PARTY: POLICE
![hiking trail where Sedano's body was found](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/body-found-santa-cruz-hiking-trail.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Sedano’s body was found around 9:40 a.m. Sunday near Eureka Canyon Road and Grizzly Flat Road in the Santa Cruz Mountains. (Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office)
A responding officer exited his patrol car and ordered Gonzalez to drop the knife. Gonzalez ignored the officer’s command, according to police, and instead charged toward the officer.
![Lizbeth Arceo Sedano](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/Lizbeth-Arceo-Sedano.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
The death of 25-year-old Lizbeth Arceo Sedano is being investigated as suspicious, the sheriff’s office said. (Watsonville Police Department)
The officer then opened fire on Gonzalez, who was injured and taken to an out-of-county trauma center, where he is in stable condition, police said.
![Joshua Gonzalez](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/Joshua-Gonzalez.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Sedano’s partner, Joshua Gonzalez, was taken into custody after threatening to harm their 3-year-old daughter with a knife and charging at a police officer, mere hours before Sedano’s body was found, authorities said. (Watsonville Police Department)
The three-year-old child was unharmed and was under the care of family members.
TEXAS FAMILY MISSING ON ALASKA VACATION AFTER BOAT CAPSIZES OFF COAST
The sheriff’s office said Sedano’s death “is being investigated as suspicious.”
“Cause and manner will be determined by our Forensic Pathologist and detectives will continue to investigate this case,” the sheriff’s office said.
World News
Government concerned by immigration lawyer ‘hitlist’
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The government says social media platforms “clearly need to do far more” after it emerged a list purporting to contain the names and addresses of immigration lawyers was being spread online.
Initially shared on the Telegram messaging app – along with the phrase “no more immigration” – it has now begun appearing on other platforms.
Lawyers have told the BBC they have been advised by police to work from home, board up office windows and install fireproof letterboxes.
Jim McMahon, minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government, told the Today programme, on BBC Radio 4, that he was “concerned”.
The Law Society of England and Wales said it was treating the list as a “very credible threat” to its members.
“This week has been a stark reminder that the anti-lawyer rhetoric has very real-world consequences for solicitors working tirelessly for their clients, access to justice and the rule of law,” said its president Nick Emmerson.
“We don’t know if they will transpire to be protests like we’ve seen in other places or whether it’s a list that’s intended just to cause alarm and distress or even to provoke,” Mr McMahon said.
“But to be clear we are absolutely prepared in terms of our policing response, in terms of our prosecutor response, and also in terms of our court response.”
The BBC has approached Telegram for comment on the spreading of the list – it is yet to respond.
However, in a previous statement about the unrest it said its moderators were “actively monitoring the situation and are removing channels and posts containing calls to violence.”
It said such “calls to violence” were explicitly forbidden in its terms of service.
Mr McMahon warned people could “expect the full force of the law” if they “cross the line”, whether it is “on the street or online”.
The Telegram group was created just hours after the killing of three children at a holiday club in Southport, on Merseyside, on 29 July.
That triggered waves of unrest in England and Northern Ireland, partly fuelled by far-right activists and online misinformation.
One immigration lawyer on the list told the BBC she had been repeatedly threatened, and received messages on Monday telling her she was “on a hitlist”.
Mr McMahon would not be drawn on whether Telegram could be told to remove channels where the list is being spread, or whether the messaging app could be blocked altogether.
He said it was important that police and prosecutors were able to do their jobs “without any political interference”.
Mark Webster, the chief constable of Cleveland Police, told Today people should be “very careful” about “naming individual premises or saying what we’re doing individually in forces”.
“You will see an awful lot of resource today and over the following days to make sure we can manage responses to all of the intelligence that comes in,” he said.
He urged people to focus on official communications online, and not to “react to things on social media from sources you can’t verify”.
World News
California earthquake: Magnitude 5.2 quake rattles SoCal
![](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/99cdd9a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1622x852+0+148/resize/1200x630!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F28%2F8e%2Ff695d126453da1062362a18ec750%2Fla-mwe-earthquake-usgs.jpg)
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake, centered about 18 miles southwest of Bakersfield, was felt across a wide swath of Southern California on Tuesday night.
The earthquake, originally estimated at magnitude 5.3, struck at 9:09 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was followed by dozens of aftershocks of magnitude 2.5 and up, including a magnitude 4.5 earthquake that occurred less than a minute after the first, and a magnitude 4.1 temblor at 9:17 p.m.
The epicenter was in sparsely populated farmland, about 14 miles northwest of the unincorporated community of Grapevine in Kern County, 60 miles northwest of Santa Clarita, and about 88 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Two minutes after the earthquake hit, a large boulder — the size of an SUV — was reported blocking multiple southbound lanes of Interstate 5, about a mile south of Grapevine Road, the California Highway Patrol said. The boulder was still blocking lanes of traffic at least an hour after the earthquake.
The area closest to the epicenter felt “very strong” shaking as defined by the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale; that zone includes a section of the California Aqueduct, which transports water from Northern California to Southern California.
By the time shaking was felt in more populated areas, including Bakersfield, Santa Clarita and Ventura, the USGS calculated that only “weak” shaking was felt, which can rock standing cars and cause vibrations in a building similar to the passing of a truck.
Some residents affected by the quake reported an extended period of shaking. One person in Los Feliz felt 45 seconds of movement, with at least three different waves — one weak, followed by a strong one, then again a weak one. In South Pasadena and Whittier, people felt about 20 seconds of shaking, contained in two distinctive waves.
In Pasadena, seismologist Lucy Jones said she felt about three seconds of shaking.
There were no immediate reports of damage. And not everyone felt the earthquake. L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Jose Gomez said he didn’t feel the shaking during his drive into work at the sheriff’s Santa Clarita station. No damage was reported there.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said no significant damage was reported within city limits.
The USGS said the quake was felt across the Los Angeles Basin and inland valleys and in Santa Maria, Bakersfield and Fresno.
Many Southern California residents described getting alerts from the USGS’ earthquake early warning system, such as through the MyShake app or on their Android phones. (The earthquake early warning system is automatically installed on Android phones, but people with Apple iOS phones need to install the MyShake app to get the most timely alerts.)
One person described getting 30 to 45 seconds of warning before feeling the shaking arrive. Another person, in east Anaheim, reported 30 seconds of warning before shaking arrived.
Jones, a research associate at Caltech, said the duration of shaking can vary so much in the L.A. area because the length of time the earth moves at any given spot can depend on the soil and rocks beneath the location, whether a person is sitting still or moving around, and even whether an individual is on the ground floor or on top of a skyscraper — those on higher floors feel the shaking more strongly.
The reason some people may have felt more than one wave of shaking is that the first aftershock occurred so soon — less than a minute — after the main shock, Jones said.
Geophysics professor Allen Husker, head of the Southern California Seismic Network at Caltech, said it wasn’t surprising that so many people in the L.A. area felt significant shaking from a magnitude 5.2 earthquake north of the Grapevine. The temblor occurred at night, when people are resting and more likely to feel shaking from a distant quake than if they were out and about during the day and active.
Another reason many people felt substantial movement is due to the way shaking is amplified in the Los Angeles Basin. The basin is a 6-mile-deep, bathtub-shaped hole in the underlying bedrock filled with weak sand and gravel eroded from the mountains and forming the flat land where millions of people live. It stretches from Beverly Hills through southeast L.A. County and into northern Orange County.
“The basin effect … increases the shaking that you would otherwise normally have,” Husker said.
The effect happens when waves from the shaking arrive and hit the walls of the basin, then bounce back at the walls of the basin, Jones said, resulting in an “extended duration.”
A major earthquake on the San Andreas fault would result in perhaps 50 seconds of strong shaking in downtown L.A. “This earthquake was much, much smaller, of course,” Jones said, “but it was large enough to set up some of these basin effects and get things bouncing around.”
As with all earthquakes, there was a 1 in 20 chance that Tuesday’s temblor was a foreshock to a larger earthquake. The risk that a follow-up quake will be larger diminishes over time.
In the last 10 days, there had been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.0 to 6.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample.
Tuesday’s earthquake occurred about 12 miles northwest of the epicenter of the magnitude 7.5 Kern County earthquake that struck on July 21, 1952. That earthquake resulted in 12 deaths, and, according to the USGS, old and poorly built masonry buildings suffered damage. Some of those structures collapsed in communities including Tehachapi, Bakersfield and Arvin; heavy damage was reported at Kern County General Hospital.
Shaking from the 1952 earthquake was felt as far away as San Francisco and Las Vegas, and caused nonstructural but extensive damage to tall buildings in the Los Angeles area and damage to at least one building in San Diego, according to the USGS.
The 1952 earthquake occurred on the White Wolf fault. Tuesday’s earthquake wasn’t associated with any previously mapped faults.
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 5.6 miles. Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.
Find out what to do before, and during, an earthquake near you by signing up for our Unshaken newsletter, which breaks down emergency preparedness into bite-sized steps over six weeks. Learn more about earthquake kits, which apps you need, Lucy Jones’ most important advice and more at latimes.com/Unshaken.
The first version of this story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.
Times staff writers Jon Healey, Ian James, Jason Neubert, Sandra McDonald and Raul Roa contributed to this report.
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