US Releases Heating Oil Reserves for First Time Ever -

US Releases Heating Oil Reserves for First Time Ever - 



The Energy Department will release fuel from the northeast heating oil reserve to help in the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.

An evacuee is helped off a National Guard truck October 31, 2012 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy which made landfall along the New Jersey shore, has left parts of the state and the surrounding area flooded and without power.
This release includes diesel fuel for emergency equipment and buildings, including electrical generators, water pumps, GSA buildings, trucks and other vehicles.

“Today’s announcement is part of the broader federal effort to respond to those impacted by Hurricane Sandy,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “This loan from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve will help ensure state, local and federal responders in the impacted area have access to the diesel fuel they need to continue response and recovery efforts.”

This is the first time fuel has been released from the heating oil reserve.

Read more -
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49666279

UK man charged after children given trick-or-treat cocaine bags -

UK man charged after children given trick-or-treat cocaine bags - 



Police in northern England were called to investigate this week after children who were out trick-or-treating for Halloween were given small snap-top bags of what turned out to be cocaine.
The bags, containing white powder, were given to police after they were handed to the children Wednesday evening in the small town of Royton, Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.
Testing confirmed that they contained cocaine, and a man was arrested.
Donald Junior Green, 23, has been charged with drug possession and is due before a magistrates' court in Oldham, near Manchester, on Friday.
A 21-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of drug possession and was later released without charge, police said.
Police Superintendent Catherine Hankinson said: "The parents and police acted quickly when this report was made, in the interests of public safety.
"We understand this to be an isolated incident."

Read more -
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/02/world/europe/uk-halloween-cocaine-arrest/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2

Stock certificates feared damaged by Sandy - more than 3.6 million securities worth an estimated $36.5 Trillion -

Stock certificates feared damaged by Sandy - more than 3.6 million securities worth an estimated $36.5 Trillion - 



Trillions of dollars worth of stock certificates and other paper securities that were stored in a vault in lower Manhattan may have suffered water damage from Superstorm Sandy.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., an industry-run clearing house for Wall Street, said the contents of its vault "are likely damaged," after its building at 55 Water Street "sustained significant water damage" from the storm that battered New York City's financial district earlier this week.
The vault contains certificates registered to Cede & Co., a subsidiary of DTCC, as well as "custody certificates" in sealed envelopes that belong to clients.
The DTCC provides "custody and asset servicing" for more than 3.6 million securities worth an estimated $36.5 trillion, according to its website.
"At this point, it is premature to make an accurate assessment as to the full impact of the water damage nor would it be helpful to project on what specific actions need to be taken with respect to our vault," said DTCC Chief Executive Michael Bodson in a statement. "We are aggressively working on this situation to minimize disruption to our clients and will provide additional updates as more information becomes available."
Bodson said the DTCC's computer records are intact and that the corporation has "detailed inventory files of the contents of the vault."
The building remains inaccessible, but the lower floors are believed to be flooded. The full extent of the damage cannot be assessed until power is restored and the building is deemed safe to enter.
The DTCC has been operating from remote facilities since the onset of the storm and has maintained clearing, settlement and other services that are crucial to the functioning of Wall Street, according to Bodson.

Read more - 
http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/11/02/stock-certificates-sandy/

Guard for Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge unintentionally discharged a gun inside the police car -

Guard for Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge unintentionally discharged a gun inside the police car - 



One of the guards for Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge is having a moment of publicity he might like to forgo.

A protection officer believed to be guarding William and Kate’s cottage on the remote Welsh island of Anglesey unintentionally discharged a gun while in an unmarked police vehicle Wednesday afternoon, London’s Metropolitan Police said Friday.

The round damaged only the vehicle’s floor, and no one – including the two officers in the car – was injured, according to Scotland Yard.

The firing of the gun near royal property made homepage headlines on major UK news websites Friday. Buckingham Palace has not yet released a statement.

“As a matter of course, an internal inquiry is being carried out into the circumstances of the incident,” Metropolitan Police said.

The couple lives at the cottage on Anglesey, where William has been working as a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter pilot. It’s not clear whether either was home when the gun was fired.

Read more - 
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/02/uk-police-investigate-guards-gunfire-outside-william-and-kates-home/?hpt=hp_t3

Ohio Voting Count 'Nightmare' Looms - could force entire country to wait 10 days to find out who will be president -

Ohio Voting Count 'Nightmare' Looms - could force entire country to wait 10 days to find out who will be president - 



With the presidential election expected to hinge on Ohio, the state’s former secretary of state, GOP stalwart Kenneth Blackwell, is warning that a little-known change in the Buckeye State’s absentee-ballot process could lead to a “nightmare scenario.”

And that scenario could force the entire country to wait 10 days after the election to find out who will be the next president of the United States. It’s a complicated situation, to say the least, but one that could have a far-reaching impact on the Nov. 6 election process.

For the first time in the key swing state’s history, Blackwell says, virtually all Ohio voters this year were mailed an application for an absentee ballot. In previous elections, most Ohio voters had to request an application for an absentee ballot to receive one.

The concern is that thousands of Ohio voters may complete the absentee-ballot application and receive an absentee ballot, but not bother to complete and mail in the ballot. 

Anyone who is sent an absentee ballot — including those who do not complete it and mail it in — and later shows up at the polls on Election Day to cast their ballot in person will be instructed to instead complete a provisional ballot.

And under Ohio election law, provisional ballots cannot be opened until 10 days after an election. 

“I would just say that this is a potential nightmare-in-waiting,” says Blackwell.

Blackwell believes that could result in an unprecedented number of provisional ballots being filed – some 250,000 or more. Such a large number of ballots being held, presumably under armed guard, for 10 days until they can be opened, would bring to mind the historic 2000 post-election battle in Florida. That recount was marked by ballot disputes — and inevitably, lawsuits.

“You’re talking about craziness for 10 days,” Blackwell tells Newsmax in an exclusive interview. “They won’t even be opened to be counted for 10 days.”
According to a report by Barry M. Horstman of the Cincinnati Enquirer, absentee-ballot applications were mailed to 6.9 million of Ohio’s 7.8 million registered voters.

As of Oct. 26, Ohio election officials had mailed out 1.3 absentee ballots. Of those absentee ballots, 950,000 had been completed and mailed back in.
That leaves some 350,000 absentee ballots that had been requested and sent to voters, but had not yet been received. 

Ohio voters who requested an absentee ballot, but did not complete it and mail it back in, will not be allowed to vote normally.

Explains Blackwell: “So they go to the polls and say, ‘I want my ballot.’ And [poll workers] say, ‘Oh, we see you applied for an absentee ballot.’ The voter says, ‘Oh, I changed my mind.’ And they say, ‘That’s well and good, but we have to guarantee that you don’t vote twice. You have to fill out a provisional ballot.’” 

Provisional ballots are used whenever someone shows up at the polls whose eligibility to vote cannot be immediately verified. Their name may not show up on the voter rolls, for example. 

Rather than turn them away, state election officials typically have those individuals indicate their voting preference with a provisional ballot. Once their eligibility to vote has been established, the vote can be counted.

The use of provisional ballots is intended to prevent any voter from casting one ballot by mail, and then a second ballot at the polling place.

Read more - 
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/ohio-provisional-ballots-delay/2012/11/01/id/462413