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Four people died Friday after two TV news helicopters collided. The copters were covering a police pursuit in central Phoenix.

The man, identified as 23-year-old Christopher Jones, was then caught and arrested. He has a history of criminal acts.

The helicopters from KNXV (Channel 15) and KTVK (Channel 3) were covering the police pursuit of a work truck around noon today.

TV viewers did not witness the accident, because both stations had their cameras pointed towards the ground. One station reportedly switched back to the studio after the camera revealed that something was wrong as the copter began spinning and losing control.

Both helicopters went down in a park in central Phoenix and caught fire. No one on the ground was hurt.

Posted by Annie Snider at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jama Mohamed was working at a Nebraska meatpacking plant in June, when he wished to pray. He was then harassed and told that his prayers were not welcome.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has drafted a complaint to federal officials that is awaiting the signatures of dozens of Muslim Somali workers who allege they were fired or harassed by supervisors at a Grand Island meatpacking plant for trying to pray at sunset.

At least 44 workers voluntarily quit, or were fired, due to this issue.

Swift and Company allegedly violated civil rights laws by not allowing the workers to pray at sundown.

Mohamed said it is important for Muslims to pray within scheduled times and not to postpone prayers or say them early.

"I would never forgive myself and God would not forgive me if I do not pray on time because I want to earn some money," he said.

Posted by Annie Snider at 6:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune that he had a "gut feeling" about a new period of increased risk.

Al Qaeda's apparent interest in summertime attacks and training along with earlier patterns of terrorists in Europe caused Chertoff to make this statement.

"The threat coming out of there is very real, even if there aren't a lot of specifics attached to it," one of the officials said.

The nation's color-coded terror alert system has not yet been raised. Airlines are currently under orange or "high" alert, the second most serious on a five point scale.

Posted by Annie Snider at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Northwest Airlines has been canceling thousands of flights lately. They say that these cancellations are due to poor weather conditions or pilot absenteeism.

Melodie Thostenson and her co worker Tina Raisanen were just two of the thousands of passengers stranded by Northwest Airlines when it canceled hundreds of flights this week nationwide.

The two women ended up running into a Minnesota man in the same boat, except he decided to rent a minivan and drive cross-country back to Minnesota. After weighing the pros and cons, the two women decided to ride with the man back to Minnesota. All three arrived safe and sound a full 24 hours before their rescheduled flight was due to arrive in the Twin Cities.

Northwest's cancellation rate had risen to between 10 to 15 percent as of Thursday, according to figures compiled by Portland, Ore.-based FlightStats, a Web site that tracks how carriers perform. The national average for the past week was about 2 percent, FlightStats said.

Pilots have denied any organized sickout, but have said increased flying times have contributed to fatigue and stress. Northwest Airlines Corp. restructured contracts with all its unions before emerging from bankruptcy last month.

The sudden increase in cancellations seems a bit sketchy to many travelers but northwest hopes to have all of these problems worked out very soon.

My friend and I are supposed to fly on Northwest Airlines to Florida to visit my dad in Mid-August. If something happens to our flight, I'll be really sad. Dang...

Posted by Annie Snider at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many people across the country have been doing various thing to contribute to the "going green" movement. One of the most talked about issues is alternative fuel sources, such as ethanol. Though various alternative fuel sources are more environment-friendly, people are now complaining about rising prices at the grocery store.

Higher fuel prices mean it costs more to grow and transport crops. But Swanson says an even bigger factor is hundreds of millions of bushels of corn that used to feed people and livestock, now being converted into ethanol.

The price of corn has risen almost 70% in the last 6 months. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, this year the country is going to use 18 to 20 percent of its total corn crop for the production of ethanol, and by next year that will jump to 25 percent.

The controversy over corn and ethanol in our country leaves many wondering if we'll ever find the right balance between "going green" and "saving green".

Posted by Annie Snider at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)