Flooding Grand Ole Opry House causes curtains to close

The Grand Ole Opry House is closed for repairs after record amounts of rain sent water two feet above its historic stage, damaging instruments, memorabilia and archival tapes at the country music landmark.Gaylord Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Colin Reed said he did not know how long the facility will be closed. The neighboring Gaylord Opryland Resort, a two thousand nine hundred room hotel, also is closed for restoration but will be open before the end of 2010, he said. "We're going to do everything in our power to restore the stuff that's been damaged by water," Reed said Friday. He said that quick thinking by Opry management Sunday saved much of the memorabilia there. Shows scheduled at the facility will move to other Nashville venues during repairs, he said. Massive flooding has caused more than $1.5 billion in property damage in the Nashville area, city officials said Friday. Investigators were still searching for two people reported missing and surveying the damage in the city and surrounding Davidson County. Now that is scary to have two missing people. The flood damaged at least two thousand residential properties, city officials said in a statement. Cleanup crews have collected about eighty truckloads of debris from flooded neighborhoods. Most of the water that inundated several neighborhoods in Nashville receded by Friday, seven days after heavy rain swelled the Cumberland River. One of the city's main water treatment plants remained closed because of the flooding Friday, prompting officials to tell residents to put off washing dishes and to limit toilet flushing. Last weekend's storm system devastated Tennessee and neighboring states, leaving at least 31 people dead in three states, authorities say. Twenty-one people have been confirmed dead in hard-hit Tennessee. One person died in a tornado in Hardeman County that was spawned by the storms, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. The same storm system killed six people in Mississippi and four in Kentucky, emergency management officials said. The death toll could rise as rescue crews continue to search for several people who have been reported missing, including two kayakers in Kentucky and several people in Tennessee, officials said. Nashville has obviously been hard-hit, and it's a well-known city, but there are so many other counties in the state and areas ... that have been hit very hard as well," Gov. Phil Bredesen said Thursday morning."A lot of people who didn't have flood insurance, because they never thought floodwaters would ever come anywhere near their home, are really looking at a total loss of their home," he said. "It's very tough on a lot of people right now."The federal government has declared 27 Tennessee counties disaster areas.
Some things to think about are do people move elsewhere and find new jobs or do they rebuild and get flood insurance? Those are some things to think about.

NFL 2010 Draft

The draft was televised for the 28th consecutive year on ESPN and ESPN2. The NFL Network also broadcast coverage of the event, its second year doing so. There were two hundred and fifty five draft selections this year. There were two hundred and twenty three regular selections in rounds one through seven and thirty two compensatory selections, which were announced on March 26, 2007, distributed among rounds three through seven. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season. This was the first draft presided over by new NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The first round was the longest in the history of the NFL Draft, lasting six hours, eight minutes. The draft's biggest surprise was the fall of Notre Dame Quarterback Brady Quinn. Quinn, who was projected as the first pick overall in early mock drafts and had been invited to attend the draft in person, fell to the twenty second pick in the first round, where the Cleveland Browns selected him, after trading with the Dallas Cowboys to acquire the pick. LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell replaced Quinn as the projected first selection after his performance in the 2007 Sugar Bowl against Quinn and Notre Dame. Nine Florida Gators were drafted, more than any other University. Ohio State was second with 8 players drafted. Of the forty underclassmen that entered the draft, twenty nine were selected, including four in the top ten. LSU set a school record with four players drafted in the first round.

I’m sure quite a few women don’t watch the draft as much as men. But I know there is quiet of bit of talk about Tim Tebow and how he was drafted first round to Denver. I personally only watched about one hour of it and was sick of it. I really don’t have a favorite NFL football team and I never watch college football unless there is absolutely nothing else on. The draft is really important to people that take interest in fantasy football for the upcoming years. I personally think that people are way to focused on the draft and who is going where. In some people’s eyes the draft is a way of life because they put so much money into it. All I’m saying is that people should love a hobby but don’t let it take over your life.

US troop deaths double in Afghanistan

The number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan has roughly doubled in the first three months of 2010 compared to the same period last year as Washington has added tens of thousands of additional soldiers to reverse the Taliban's momentum. Those deaths have been accompanied by a dramatic spike in the number of wounded, with injuries more than tripling in the first two months of the year and trending in the same direction based on the latest available data for March. United States officials have warned that casualties are likely to rise even further as the Pentagon completes its deployment of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and sets its sights on the Taliban's home base of Kandahar province, where a major operation is expected in the coming months."We must steel ourselves, no matter how successful we are on any given day, for harder days yet to come," Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a briefing last month.
In total, fifty seven U.S. troops were killed here during the first two months of 2010 compared with twenty eighth in January and February of last year, an increase of more than one hundred percent, according to Pentagon figures compiled by The Associated Press. At least twenty American service members have been killed so far in March, an average of about point eight per day, compared to thirteen, or point four per day, a year ago. The steady rise in combat deaths has generated less public reaction in the United States than the spike in casualties last summer and fall, which undermined public support in the U.S. for the eight-year-old American-led mission here. Fighting traditionally tapers off in Afghanistan during winter months, only to peak in the summer. After a summer marked by the highest monthly death rates of the war, President Barack Obama faced serious domestic opposition over his decision in December to increase troops in Afghanistan, with only about half the American people supporting the move. But support for his handling of the war has actually improved since then, despite the increased casualties.

Flood on the Way

There have been rumors for a couple of months now about if we were going to flood or we weren't going to flood. The National Weather Service has said that there is a high chance that it will still flood in Western, West-Central, and in the south-central part of the state even with the recent dry spell. The Fargo city officials have released a flood evacuation guide to the public that is available on the internet. Midwest prepares for flood:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEb9pIxit5rnCSvNw60nuuD-O46QD9E8JI201

It also said that the flood risk is lower than it was 2 weeks ago, but the risk could go up again with more snow or rain. The Corps spokesperson has released a statement, the two dikes present no immediate danger to the public, but the corps will implement risk-reduction measures at both areas to warrant if there is more work that is needed. The measures will include updated emergency action plans and training exercises. Here is a Video on last year’s flood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmAWmOV-W64

Pomeroy stated that he is more worried about severe flood protection than his upcoming re-election in November. In this article it says the National Weather Service is expecting it to flood on the James and Sheyenne rivers. Rich Scheuneman the Bald Hill Dam manager, showed Pomeroy and the city official’s airborne views of the Upper Basin of the Sheyenne that show the snow pack and moisture content are close in relation to last year. On Friday there was another flood forecast released for our region.

http://www.newsdakota.com/favicon.ico

In preparation of the next flood, citizens of Fargo have been sandbagging since March 1st, and are getting them stockpiled just in case of another serious flood. Inmates, city officials, and volunteers are part of the people that have been doing this. Fargo is at risk for 90% flooding, and 19% record flooding. I from experience have sandbagged quite a bit last year around Fargo and my friend’s homes. This year in Valley City I believe that we should be getting ready now considering that a flood warning is on March twenty third. If we can get students out working and helping early it will make the future easier. People always talk about how bad it will be. Why don’t we play it safe and get bags ready now and dikes build up to where they were last year. I know it sounds dumb in a way but I was always raised to the motto better safe than sorry.

2010 Olympics

Almost everyone that I know has watched the Olympics’. The Olympics is a very popular sport in today’s society. I’m sure most people have heard of the accident that killed a man. His name was Nodar Kumaritashvili, and he was a Georgian luge slider competing at the Vancouver Olympics, he died after crashing during a training run and hitting his head on a metal pole. He was twenty one years old. On this website I also found that Kumaritashvili told his father that he was terrified of the track and that he was nervous for the next run. Those were his last words to his father. This website also includes graphic pictures and a video of Nodar Kumaritashvili’s accident. So if you don’t wise to see this I strongly suggest that you don’t go to my first website. At Friday night's Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, a moment of silence was observed to honor Kumaritashvili and his fellow Georgian Olympians wore black armbands in his memory.
This year USA had the most Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. I am an American and I live in the United States so I was rooting for them all the way. Germany came in second and Norway placed third. There are all sorts of events to compete in like ice hockey, figure skating, snowboarding, and many more.
This time of year there is no other sport being broadcasted so it’s the thing to do I guess you could say. Preparation for the Olympics is important as well. Certain countries are selected to host the Olympics and they know three to four years in advance. The Olympics is a dangerous sport and people are always putting their lives in danger, just like any other sport. The responsibility of hosting the summer or winter Olympics is tremendous. It involves tons of planning, renovating, making sure safety standards are met and even getting Olympic staff hired. Sure this all might sound simple but think of all the work needed to make the Olympics happen and flow smoothly. As I told you about earlier there are many different sports and games made up into the Olympics. They all need their own track, court, rink or slopes. Each one of these components must be manufactured to certain Olympic game standards and criteria. These are just a few of the main things I can think of.
So as you can see the Olympics involve tremendous work to get them to where they are.




Medal count and talks about all the events : http://www.vancouver2010.com/

Superbowl - Colts vs Saints

About 106 million worldwide watched Super Bowl XLIII in its entirety, according to a report. The word "billion" is thrown out a lot come Super Bowl time. The audience and ads don’t always live up to the expectations though. It's certain that the National Football League wants more and thinks that more people watch the Super Bowl but last year’s Super Bowl didn’t get the best views compared to the past. But little do American’s know is that it's far from the most watched game in the world. Outside the U.S., Canada and Mexico, only a couple million people see the Super Bowl, and probably a lot of them are expatriate Americans. Soccer, tennis, and racing are among the most popular draws beyond North America. The NFL, however, has been making a push into Europe for years and has staged regular-season games in London since 2007. High Definition T.V. also is a factor in today’s society, because they are going down in price more and more people are buying HD T.V’s for big games like the Super Bowl. Expectation for this year’s Super Bowl will be one of the biggest ones ever according to be viewed and possibly a record breaker. The Colts and Saints are the number two teams this year and are both playing in the Super Bowl this year. This is the first time since 1993 that the two number one seed teams have been the Super Bowl. This is also the first time the Saint have gone to a Super Bowl. Statistics show that the Colts have the upper hand to the Saints. So if you got a HD T.V. and you’re not doing anything this Sunday, grab some friends, some chip and dip, and watch the most viewed game in America. Even if you don’t like football the commercials can be hysterical a lot of the time.

Recent U.S. Bank Crisis

Recently President Barack Obama stated that regulatory oversight of the country's banks might now be to cautious. Obama said it was not his desire to interfere with bank supervision. But he had told Timothy Geithner to make sure that the country has not seen a major swing with regulators now being too tough, compared to the past where they were lenient and lazy. He also said that a jobs bill rising in Congress has to include tax breaks for small business hiring, and for people trying to make their homes much more energy efficient. In the end these were two proposals he wasn’t able to get the bill into the House for quite a few months. The banks feel as if regulators are looking over their shoulder, discouraging them from lending. He strongly defended unpopular actions he has taken to bail out banks and insurers and to rescue automakers from collapse. But these measures have not gone over well in many quarters. Obama states that also quotes that wants every time that the big companies been giving out as bonuses. He says that companies don’t need to give out such massive bonuses he wants to start a plan that will last for ten years for fifty billion, depending on how large the bank is at dept. I personally think that it is a good idea in some ways. I do believe that giving to the poor is good and the right thing to do but I also think that the poor should work so they know what hard work and an accomplishment feels like. I know from experience that working a full sixty hours a week is hard but the pay check is one of the best feelings ever. So say I would get a bonus from my boss I will no longer get it or now a small portion now? That’s not fair to the hard working person in America. I know not all poor people can go out and get a job, and I also know that not everyone is as success as Bill Gates. All I am saying is that a lot of people deserve what they work for. So in conclusion I believe that what Obama is doing is the right thing for the United States and America.