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Tag: Rescue

  • Bear with head stuck in metal milk can for month finally freed in Vermont, video shows

    Bear with head stuck in metal milk can for month finally freed in Vermont, video shows

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    Rescuers in Vermont worked for three weeks to trap a black bear with a metal can stuck around its neck before they were finally able to sedate and free the animal.

    Rescuers in Vermont worked for three weeks to trap a black bear with a metal can stuck around its neck before they were finally able to sedate and free the animal.

    Photo from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department

    A black bear with a metal can stuck on its head eluded rescuers for more than three weeks until they were finally able to trap and help the animal.

    A video shared by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department on June 4 shows the bear being set free.

    Starting about a month ago, residents of Enosburgh began reporting sightings of a bear with a metal milk can wrapped around its neck like a cone, the department said on Facebook.

    While wildlife specialists aren’t sure how the bear got its head stuck, they orchestrated a plan to free it.

    “Trapping a bear is actually very tricky,” Vermont Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Josh Morse told McClatchy News.

    Property owners and game cameras had caught sight of the bear, helping direct the response team to good areas to set up traps for the roughly 250-pound creature, officials said.

    “Unfortunately, this was not a surprising report,” wildlife management program manager David Sausville said in an email. “There have been similar occurrences, biologists removed a can about 10 years ago from another bear.”

    The response team set up two culvert traps, which resemble large tubes, specifically designed for black bears, according to the wildlife department.

    The team first set the traps May 10 and moved them around as the bear changed locations, Sausville said.

    Every day someone had to check the traps and would update the team on a text thread, Sausville said. The group also organized around-the-clock staffing in case the bear entered one of the traps.

    Finally, on June 1, 22 days after the group laid the traps, game wardens, biologists and a local resident worked together to nab the bear, sedate it using drugs and get rid of the can.

    They placed cloth over the bear’s eyes and snout as they cut away at the can, the video shows. The team pried it away, protecting the animal from the jagged edges, and the bear was free.

    The roughly 250-pound black bear got its head stuck in an old metal milk can, Vermont wildlife officials said.
    The roughly 250-pound black bear got its head stuck in an old metal milk can, Vermont wildlife officials said. Photo from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department

    “The can surely had an impact on the bear’s hearing and vision, but overall it appeared quite healthy and only had a few minor scratches,” the department said in the video.

    A video taken after the operation shows the bear snapping out of its stupor and getting to its feet before bolting in the woods, can-free.

    Black bears, which are the smallest of the three North American bear species, are the only type of bear found in Vermont.

    “If you live in Vermont, you live in bear country, and we are all responsible for discouraging bears from seeing our yards as food sources,” the department said. “Coexistence is key for bears’ future in Vermont and our part in that includes keeping our food, compost and waste items cleaned up or secure.”

    Enosburgh is a small town in northern Vermont near the Canadian border.

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    Olivia Lloyd

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  • Climber rescued from 20,000-foot mountain — 2 days after partner dies in snow cave

    Climber rescued from 20,000-foot mountain — 2 days after partner dies in snow cave

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    A climber was rescued near the peak of the highest mountain in North America — two days after his climbing partner died inside their snow cave at 19,600 feet.

    A climber was rescued near the peak of the highest mountain in North America — two days after his climbing partner died inside their snow cave at 19,600 feet.

    National Park Service photo

    A climber was rescued near the peak of the highest mountain in North America — two days after his climbing partner died inside their snow cave, officials said.

    The climbers were part of a three-man team from Malaysia that embarked on an extended Denali summit push that left them “exhausted and hypothermic” late Tuesday, May 28, Denali National Park & Preserve said in a news release.

    The climbers first sent an SOS to mountaineering rangers from the 20,310-foot summit at 1 a.m., saying they were “hypothermic and unable to descend the mountain,” officials said in a May 29 news release.

    They communicated back and forth with rangers until 3:30 a.m., when they told rangers “they planned to descend to the ‘Football Field’, a flat expanse at 19,600-foot elevation,” officials said in the release. But after that transmission, rangers stopped hearing from them — and the location of the device did not change.

    “Variable cloud cover on Tuesday morning prevented the park’s high-altitude helicopter from reaching the mountain from Talkeetna,” so rangers contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center for help, officials said.

    The Alaska Air National Guard launched an emergency rescue mission helicopter at 10 a.m. and spotted two of the three climbers between 19,000 and 20,000 feet just before noon, officials said. A climbing guide spotted the third climber below them near Zebra Rocks at 18,600 feet.

    “Although winds were relatively calm on Tuesday, several stagnant cloud layers prevented the park’s high-altitude helicopter from reaching the climbers safely,” officials said.

    Rescuers tried again when the clouds cleared slightly at 5 p.m., and while the summit was still covered in clouds, the helicopter was able to reach a camp at 14,200 feet where mountaineering patrol had been treating another pair of climbers with frostbite injuries, officials said. Rescuers evacuated the frostbitten climbers and transferred the more severely injured climber to an air ambulance for more advanced care.

    By 9 p.m., one of the three Malaysian climbers had descended to a camp at 17,200-feet “with severe frostbite and hypothermia,” where rangers were able to evacuate him, officials said.

    Then clouds began to build back up again and high winds started whipping the upper mountain, officials said.

    Rescuers were on standby through most of Wednesday and Thursday as the two remaining climbers bivvied in a crude snow cave, where they had been since late Tuesday night, officials said.

    At 10:30 p.m. Thursday, the park’s high-altitude helicopter pilot dropped a duffle bag of survival gear near their snow cave on the Football Field. He spotted one of the climbers waving at him, but winds were still too strong to haul them off the mountain.

    The weather had improved enough by 6 a.m. Friday, May 31, for the pilot and another ranger to return to the Football Field to haul them out with a rescue basket attached by a rope to the helicopter’s belly, officials said.

    As they rescued the surviving climber, he told them his partner had died in their snow cave about two days earlier, officials said.

    The surviving climber climbed into the basket, was flown to the Kahiltna Basecamp at 7,200 feet and evacuated to the Talkeetna State Airport, where he was transferred to an air ambulance, officials said.

    Officials will release the identity of the climber who died after notifying his family of his death. Rangers plan to recover his body in the next few days.

    “Memorial Day weekend is the start of the busiest two weeks of the Denali mountaineering season,” officials said in the May 29 release. “As of Wednesday morning, there are 506 climbers attempting climbs on Denali. So far this season, an additional 117 climbers have come and gone, 17 of whom reached the mountain’s summit, equating to a 15% summit rate.”

    Brooke (she/them) is a McClatchy Real-Time reporter who covers LGBTQ+ entertainment news and national parks out west. They studied journalism at the University of Florida, and previously covered LGBTQ+ news for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. When they’re not writing stories, they enjoy hanging out with their cats, riding horses or spending time outdoors.

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    Brooke Baitinger

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  • Hiker stranded on Utah hoodoo with ‘sharp, catastrophic drop on all sides,’ photo shows

    Hiker stranded on Utah hoodoo with ‘sharp, catastrophic drop on all sides,’ photo shows

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    A hiker found himself stranded in a precarious spot on top of a “hoodoo with a sharp, catastrophic drop on all sides” in Utah, rescuers said.

    A hiker found himself stranded in a precarious spot on top of a “hoodoo with a sharp, catastrophic drop on all sides” in Utah, rescuers said.

    Photo by Linda Knicely via Unsplash

    A hiker found himself stranded in a precarious spot on top of a “hoodoo with a sharp, catastrophic drop on all sides” in Utah, rescuers said.

    The man in his 60s injured his ankle and had leaped over a 5-foot chasm onto the rock spire — and then couldn’t get back across the gap, Grand County EMS and sheriff’s search and rescue officials said in a May 10 post on Facebook.

    Rescuers shared a dramatic photo showing the hiker stranded on the mushroom-shaped spire at Pucker Pass in Long Canyon around 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 4. Another photo shows a rescuer wearing a helmet and strapped into a harness as she carefully crawls across a ladder secured to both sides of the ground with ropes to get medical gear to the hiker.

    The rescuer tended to the hiker’s injured ankle, and he was able to crawl back across the ladder to safety, officials said. The rescue took about three hours.

    “A huge thank you to (Grand County Search And Rescue) for their leadership, technical skills, and unparalleled creativity to access the patient,” officials said in the post. “As we head into another beautiful weekend here in Moab, remember — just ‘cause ya saw a picture of it online, doesn’t always mean it’s the best idea.”

    The post caught the attention of a social media account known as @TouronsofYellowstone on Instagram, which highlights bad behavior in national parks.

    “How (awful) and sad,” someone wrote in the comments on the account’s May 11 post on Instagram. “I cannot go to that park. People do the scariest things!!!! Every step of (the) way people were practically falling off walkways doing selfies. Hanging their feet over 2,000 feet drops. I was sick. Just horrified.”

    Brooke (she/them) is a McClatchy Real-Time reporter who covers LGBTQ+ entertainment news and national parks out west. They studied journalism at the University of Florida, and previously covered LGBTQ+ news for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. When they’re not writing stories, they enjoy hanging out with their cats, riding horses or spending time outdoors.

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    Brooke Baitinger

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  • Hope for South Africa building collapse survivors fuels massive search and rescue operation

    Hope for South Africa building collapse survivors fuels massive search and rescue operation

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    Cape Town, South Africa — Rescue teams searching for dozens of construction workers missing after an apartment complex collapsed in South Africa brought out more survivors Tuesday as they entered a second night of desperate work to find anyone alive in the wreckage. At least seven people have been confirmed dead.

    Authorities said 26 workers had been rescued from the site where the five-story building collapsed Monday while under construction in George, about 250 miles east of Cape Town on South Africa’s south coast. An additional 42 people were still believed to be buried in the debris of concrete and metal scaffolding.

    Rescuers were hopeful of more people being found alive after saying earlier that they had made contact with at least 11 workers trapped in the rubble and were communicating with them.

    It wasn’t immediately clear how many of those had been rescued, but five survivors were brought out on Tuesday, adding to the 21 found on Monday, according to a count provided by city authorities. There were 75 construction workers on the site when the building collapsed.

    TOPSHOT-SAFRICA-ACCIDENT
    Rescue workers at the scene of a collapsed building in George, South Africa, May 7, 2024.

    WILLIE VAN TONDER/AFP/Getty


    Rescuers erupted in applause as one of the survivors was brought to the surface. They yelled at the man to “stay with us!” as he was pulled out of a gap in the wreckage and put on a stretcher. They then shouted to him, “you are outside now!”

    Authorities haven’t given updated details on the extent of the injuries but said in the first few hours after the collapse that at least 11 of the workers rescued had severe injuries.

    Colin Deiner, head of the provincial Western Cape disaster management services, said the search-and-rescue operation would likely take at least three days. He said it would take at least the rest of Tuesday to bring out all 11 of the survivors they had located, which included a group of four workers trapped in what was the basement of the building.

    Some of those workers had limbs under concrete slabs and couldn’t move, Deiner said.

    “We are going to give it the absolute maximum time to see how many people we can rescue,” Deiner said at a news conference. “It is very, very difficult if you are working with concrete breakers and drillers close to people.”

    A drone view of the scene of a building collapse where several construction workers are thought to be trapped in George
    A drone view of the scene of a building collapse where several construction workers are thought to be trapped in George, South Africa, May 7, 2024.

    Shafiek Tassiem/REUTERS


    “Our big concern is entrapment for many hours, when a person’s body parts are compressed. So, you need to get medical help to them. We got our medics in as soon as we possibly could.”

    Deiner said it was possible that there were more survivors deeper in the wreckage and a process of removing layers of concrete would begin in time.

    More than 100 emergency services and other personnel had been working on the site in shifts. Rescuers were using sniffer dogs to try to locate workers. Large cranes and other heavy lifting equipment was brought in to help and tall spotlights were erected to allow the rescuers to work in the dark.

    Deiner said a critical part of the rescue operation came when they had ordered everyone to remain quiet and shut off machinery so they could listen for any survivors. That’s when they located some of them, he said.

    “We were actually hearing people through the rubble,” Deiner said.

    Several local hospitals were making space in their trauma units in anticipation that more people might be brought out alive. More than 50 emergency responders had also been brought in from other towns and cities to help, including a specialized team that deals with rescue operations in collapsed structures.

    Rescuers work to rescue construction workers trapped under a building that collapsed in George
    A rescue worker removes rubble from the site where construction workers are trapped under a building that collapsed in George, South Africa, May 7, 2024.

    Esa Alexander/REUTERS


    Family and friends of the workers had gathered at the nearby municipal offices and were being supported by social workers, the George municipality said.

    Authorities were starting investigations into what caused the tragedy and a criminal case was opened by police, but there was no immediate information on why the building collapsed. CCTV footage from a nearby home showed the concrete structure and metal scaffolding suddenly collapsing, causing a plume of dust to rise over the neighborhood.

    People came streaming out of other buildings after the collapse, with some of them screaming and shouting.

    Alan Winde, the premier of the Western Cape province, said there would be investigations by both the provincial government and the police.

    Authorities said that under city law the private construction company’s engineers were responsible for the safety of the building site until its completion, when it would be handed over to the city to check and clear.

    Winde said the priority was the rescue effort and investigations would unfold after that.

    “At the moment, officials are focused on saving lives. This is our top priority at this stage,” Winde said.

    The national government was being briefed on the rescue operation, Winde said. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa released a statement offering his condolences to families of the victims and also called for investigations into the cause of the collapse.

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  • Drone, SRO officer aid in rescue of teen with autism from Twin Cities swamp

    Drone, SRO officer aid in rescue of teen with autism from Twin Cities swamp

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    Morning headlines from May 3, 2024


    Morning headlines from May 3, 2024

    04:46

    NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. — A teenage boy was rescued from a Twin Cities swamp Thursday with the help of a drone and several first responders, including a trusted school resource officer.

    New Brighton police say first responders were called to Long Lake Park just before 4 p.m. on a report of a missing teen who lives with autism.

    A drone was used to locate him in “a difficult-to-access swampy area surrounded by water,” police say.

    About a half-hour later, rescuers on foot and boat were able to find him. However, the teen told rescuers he was afraid of “bears in the woods” and was reluctant to leave.

    Several first responders were eventually able to calm him down enough to leave the swamp. One of those first responders was Officer Thai Xiong, an SRO at the teen’s school with whom he has a “strong relationship,” according to police.

    The teen received medical care at the scene for undisclosed injuries.

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    Stephen Swanson

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  • Three Charlotte firefighters injured while evacuating a family, pets from house fire

    Three Charlotte firefighters injured while evacuating a family, pets from house fire

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    Three Charlotte firefighters were injured battling a fire in north Charlotte on Thursday morning.

    Three Charlotte firefighters were injured battling a fire in north Charlotte on Thursday morning.


    plherrera

    Getty Images/iStockphoto

    Three Charlotte Fire Department firefighters were injured early Thursday morning while fighting a house fire in north Charlotte.

    The department said crews arriving at about 2:43 a.m. saw heavy fire coming from a two-story home in the 2800 block of Grimes Street.

    A mayday alarm was sounded at 2:58 a.m. while firefighters worked inside the home, and an immediate second alarm was called, instructing the firefighters to evacuate the building.

    The three that were injured were taken to a hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Three residents inside the home, as well as their pets, were uninjured. The department said the family was alerted to the fire because of smoke detectors in the home.

    After the firefighters evacuated, the department switched to battling the fire, which took about an hour to bring under control.

    The fire is under investigation and the family is being assisted by American Red Cross.

    This story was originally published April 18, 2024, 10:05 AM.

    Related stories from Charlotte Observer

    Jeff A. Chamer is a breaking news reporter for the Charlotte Observer. He’s lived a few places, but mainly in Michigan where he grew up. Before joining the Observer, Jeff covered K-12 and higher education at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in Massachusetts.

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  • Seminole County first responders rescue two people stranded on a boat

    Seminole County first responders rescue two people stranded on a boat

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    Two people are safe after getting stranded on a boat in Geneva on Sunday morning.Seminole County Fire Department crews got a call to Mullet Lake Park around 2 a.m.That’s where they found two boaters trapped on a sand dune about 150 yards from the main waterway. Crews tell us the pair was driving the boat down the creek and ran aground.Responders got them back to shore by 2:45 a.m., and no one was hurt.Fire rescue crews taped off the boat until they could remove it because it was sitting in a high-traffic area.

    GENEVA, Fla. —

    Two people are safe after getting stranded on a boat in Geneva on Sunday morning.

    Seminole County Fire Department crews got a call to Mullet Lake Park around 2 a.m.

    That’s where they found two boaters trapped on a sand dune about 150 yards from the main waterway.

    Crews tell us the pair was driving the boat down the creek and ran aground.

    Responders got them back to shore by 2:45 a.m., and no one was hurt.

    Fire rescue crews taped off the boat until they could remove it because it was sitting in a high-traffic area.

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  • Video shows NYPD lieutenant, officer help save woman from jumping off Brooklyn Bridge

    Video shows NYPD lieutenant, officer help save woman from jumping off Brooklyn Bridge

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    BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) — The NYPD have released video showing a lieutenant and fellow officer help save a 25-year-old woman from jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday.

    Lieutenant Hak Kim and officer Brendan Giardino were called to the bridge around 3:52 p.m. responding to reports of the female walking across the beam from the Brooklyn Bridge toward the cables in an attempt to jump.

    Both officers were able to establish dialogue with the woman, while Kim climbed the bridge letting the woman know she was not alone, according to police.

    “My name is Lieutenant Kim, okay? I don’t know what kind of trouble you’re having, what kind of problem you’re going through. We’re gonna help you out. Save your life — it’s not worth it,” he said, “Trust me, I got three kids…I don’t know if you have a id. We care about you, okay? Don’t do this.”

    Lieutenant Kim said that being a father of three, it was hard to see a person in distress and in crisis. He says up until that moment, she was not responding to his pleas. He wanted to let the woman know she was not alone. When he mentioned his family, she finally broke through. The woman gave her na,e and age.

    Officer Giardino held his lieutenant steady as he started to scale the bridge from the roadway — a 25-foot climb on a drenching wet day with no harness.

    “It’s a dangerous condition for the fact that there’s vehicles traveling on the roadway and that there’s also heavy rain that day to make the steel platform slippery,” Giardino said.

    Once Lieutenant Kim finally got the woman to engage in a conversation, he got close enough and grabbed her leg after almost a half an hour talking her off the ledge.

    “It’s a good feeeling. It’s moreso for her. We do care about the community. We wanna make sure everybody gets home safely,” said Officer Giardino.

    The woman was taken to Woodhull Hospital for evaluation.

    If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or text TALK to 741-741 or visit 988lifeline.org/ for free confidential emotional support 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Even if it feels like it, you are not alone.

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    CeFaan Kim

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  • Venezuela pit mine collapse reportedly leaves dozens of people buried in mud

    Venezuela pit mine collapse reportedly leaves dozens of people buried in mud

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    The wall of an open pit mine in central Venezuela collapsed on Tuesday, reportedly leaving dozens of workers trapped under mud and sparking a frantic rescue effort. Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional cited Edgar Colina Reyes, the government security secretary for Bolivar, the nearest city to the mine in the town of La Paragua, as confirming the accident, but his office had provided no further detail as of Tuesday evening.

    CNN’s Spanish language service quoted local mayor Yorgi Arciniega as saying at least 30 people were killed in the collapse, with about 100 more buried, but there was no immediate confirmation of that toll from national officials.

    The newspaper, and regional outlet Correo del Caroni, said Reyes was heading for the Bulla Loca mine Wednesday morning to assess the situation.

    The newspapers both quoted a local journalist as saying the mine wall that collapsed was approximately 115 feet tall. Photos posted to social media from the scene showed a large, open pit of clay-colored mud, with workers and others racing to help people injured or trapped by the apparent landslide.

    Iron ore, gold, bauxite and other minerals are extracted from mines across the Venezuelan state of Bolivar, including many unsanctioned sites. 

    The last major accident in the region, according to Correo del Caroni, was only a couple months ago in the Gran Sabana district. At least 12 people were reportedly killed in that incident, which came only a month after a previous accident at the same mine that did not result in any deaths, according to the newspaper.

    Local journalist Fritz Sanchez was sharing images and information from the Bulla Loca mine on his social media accounts Tuesday.

    “What we were warned of this past December has happened today,” he said in one post. “They tell me of a collapse in the Bulla Local mine, which has left more than 100 people buried.”

    He indicated the pit may have been an illegal gold mining operation, but there was no information immediately available from Venezuelan authorities to confirm the nature of the site or the number of people trapped or injured.

    Human rights groups have previously voiced serious concern over the number of children working in Venezuela’s open gold mines. 

    TOPSHOT-VENEZUELA-MINING-ENVIRONMENT-CHILDREN
    A pair of boots and other tools used in an open pit mine are seen as Venezuelan children work through the mud in search of gold in El Callao, Bolivar State, Venezuela, in a Sept. 2, 2023.

    YRIS PAUL/AFP/Getty


    Tucker Reals

    Tucker Reals is cbsnews.com’s foreign editor, based in the CBS News London bureau. He has worked for CBS News since 2006, prior to which he worked for The Associated Press in Washington D.C. and London.

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  • ‘Canine lovebirds’ spent over 1,000 days in shelter. Now, they have a home — together

    ‘Canine lovebirds’ spent over 1,000 days in shelter. Now, they have a home — together

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    Romeo and Juliet’s luck took a turn after more than 1,000 days of waiting for a home, a North Carolina shelter said.

    Romeo and Juliet’s luck took a turn after more than 1,000 days of waiting for a home, a North Carolina shelter said.

    Screengrab from the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society on Facebook

    Two “canine lovebirds” spent more than 1,000 days in a shelter — and now, they have a new home together.

    The long-awaited adoption brought the “most perfect” ending to the week of Valentine’s Day, according to the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society in North Carolina.

    “Romeo & Juliet now have an awesome mom and dad and a loving forever home,” the shelter wrote Feb. 18 on Facebook.

    The aptly-named dogs finally got new owners more than three years after they were rescued as strays in December 2020. Early on, the humane society tried to separate them since it can be tougher to find a home for two dogs.

    “Juliet was fine, she was really more into human affection and didn’t seem too bothered by not being with Romeo,” a shelter spokesperson told McClatchy News in an email. “He, on the other hand, was completely shut down without her. We knew pretty quickly that in order for him to have any quality of life, he would need to stay with her.”

    As the years passed, the dogs became some of the shelter’s longest residents and were known for adoring one another. The shelter hoped Romeo, a bluetick coonhound mix, and Juliet, a redbone coonhound mix, would continue their close bond.

    “Romeo and Juliet MUST BE ADOPTED TOGETHER as they deserve a forever home that has room for both,” the shelter wrote on Facebook in June.

    Then after 1,154 days of waiting, the “sweet” dogs started their next chapter with a familiar person. A shelter volunteer and her husband are now the “new pet parents for one of the strongest-bonded pairs of dogs we have ever had the honor of caring for,” the animal organization wrote.

    Social media users were fans of the update, including several who congratulated the “canine lovebirds” on their new family.

    The dogs were adopted in the Sapphire area, roughly 55 miles southwest of the popular mountain town of Asheville.

    Simone Jasper is a reporter covering breaking stories for The News & Observer and real-time news in the Carolinas.

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  • Rescuers race setting sun to save duo stranded in tree surrounded by water, officials say

    Rescuers race setting sun to save duo stranded in tree surrounded by water, officials say

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    Emergency crews rush to save a duo stranded in a tree.

    Emergency crews rush to save a duo stranded in a tree.

    Screengrab from video by Chula Vista Fire Department

    Two people got stuck in a tree, surrounded by water, about 300 yards from shore, according to California firefighters.

    Two fire departments, a helicopter and Border Patrol then raced to beat the setting sun to rescue them at about 6 p.m. Feb. 10 in Jamul, the Chula Vista Fire Department said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    How the two men got there remains a mystery, but officials said their location was about a quarter-mile from Skydive San Diego, according to KGTV.

    Videos released by the fire department show the sun sinking behind the hills while a helicopter circles overhead. Rescue teams contemplated their next moves from shore. Eventually, they sent a boat crew into the water.

    Rescuers in the boat crossed the dark water. When they arrived at the tree, they were safely able to get the stranded duo out, firefighters said.

    The two were then “brought to shore and evaluated for minor injuries,” according to the post.

    Jamul is about 20 miles east of San Diego.

    Julia Daye is a national real-time reporter for McClatchy. She has written for numerous local and national outlets and holds a degree from Columbia Journalism School.



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    Julia Daye

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  • 12-year-old stuck on oceanfront cliff rescued by helicopter, California officials say

    12-year-old stuck on oceanfront cliff rescued by helicopter, California officials say

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    A helicopter helps rescue a 12-year-old boy who became stranded on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco.

    A helicopter helps rescue a 12-year-old boy who became stranded on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco.

    Photo from San Francisco Fire Department on X

    A helicopter helped rescue a 12-year-old boy who became stranded on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco, California firefighters reported.

    The rescue took place around 4:50 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, officials told KTVU.

    A 12-year-old boy climbed down the bluff at Fort Funston, a former military installation, and couldn’t climb back up, KNTV reported.

    A California Highway Patrol helicopter carried a firefighter to the boy and then hoisted him aboard, the San Francisco Fire Department said on X, formerly Twitter.

    A video with the post shows a firefighter holding onto the boy as the helicopter lifts them from the bluff.

    The boy was uninjured, KGO reported.

    Fort Funston on the southwestern edge of San Francisco is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The bluffs overlooking the beach are 200 feet high.

    Don Sweeney has been a newspaper reporter and editor in California for more than 25 years. He has been a real-time reporter based at The Sacramento Bee since 2016.

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  • ‘Utter disbelief’: Missing dog named Patches found nearly four years after wandering away

    ‘Utter disbelief’: Missing dog named Patches found nearly four years after wandering away

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    NEARLY 600 MILES AND FOUR YEARS LATER, A MISSING DOG IS RESCUED JUST MINUTES AWAY FROM THE MEXICO BORDER. GOOD EVENING. I’M QUANECIA FRASER PATCHES IS NOW. ALMOST TEN YEARS OLD. HER OWNER SAYS SHE WANDERED AWAY FROM A FAMILY FRIEND’S HOUSE IN COLORADO IN 2020. BUT LAST WEEK SHE WAS FOUND BY A SHELTER IN NEW MEXICO. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S MADDIE AUGUSTINE SAT DOWN WITH PATCH’S OWNER IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, QUANECIA BENJAMIN BAXTER TELLS ME HE NEVER THOUGHT HE WOULD SEE PATCHES AGAIN, BUT LAST WEEK HIS WIFE CALLED WHILE HE WAS ON HIS LUNCH BREAK WITH THE NEWS. PATCHES MAY BE ALIVE THE BEST WAY TO DESCRIBE THAT DAY WAS JUST UTTER DISBELIEF. DISBELIEF THAT AFTER NEARLY FOUR YEARS, BENJAMIN BAXTER’S CHILDHOOD DOG PATCHES IS STILL ALIVE AND SAFE. THEY HAD PUT A LOST OR A FOUND A ADD UP FOR HER. AND I’M LOOKING AT THIS PICTURE. I’M JUST LIKE, THERE’S NO WAY BENJAMIN SAYS HE FIRST BROUGHT PATCHES HOME TEN YEARS AGO WHEN SHE WAS ONLY SIX WEEKS OLD, AND THEY WERE INSTANT BEST FRIENDS. I WOULD BE HUNTING OR, UH, ROCK CLIMBING OR WHATEVER, AND SHE’D BE RIGHT THERE. AND SHE WAS THE ONLY DOG I’VE EVER BEEN AROUND TO THAT ACTUALLY LOVED ROCK CLIMBING. BUT SHE’D ALWAYS HAD THIS BIG OLD GOOFY GRIN ON HER FACE THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE OUT. BUT IN 2020, BENJAMIN HAD TO LEAVE PATCHES WITH A FAMILY FRIEND IN CALHAN, COLORADO. AFTER MOVING TO NEBRASKA BECAUSE HIS APARTMENT DIDN’T ALLOW PETS, SHE DECIDED THAT SHE WOULD TAKE PATCHES FROM ME UNTIL I COULD FIND ANOTHER PLACE WHERE I COULD HAVE A DOG WITH ME. BUT JUST A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER, IN APRIL 2020, PATCHES ESCAPED HER KENNEL AND WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. BY DAY SEVEN, I STARTED REALIZING THAT WE WEREN’T GOING TO FIND THIS DOG AND I WAS DEVASTATED UNTIL THIS YEAR. ON JANUARY 31ST, BENJAMIN’S WIFE, ELIZABETH BAXTER, GOT A CALL FROM BENJAMIN’S MOM. SHE’D BEEN GETTING MISSED CALLS FROM AN AREA CODE IN NEW MEXICO, UM, SAYING THAT THEY HAD PATCHES, AND SHE WAS LIKE, IS THIS A SCAM? IS THIS NOT I DON’T KNOW, PATCHES HAD BEEN FOUND AS A STRAY IN LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO. ALL IN ALL, LIKE CONSIDERING THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HER BEING FOUND ON THE STREET AS A STRAY. YEAH, LIKE SHE LOOKS VERY, VERY GOOD. BENJAMIN SAYS MULTIPLE SHELTERS WORK TO BRING PATCHES BACK TO COLORADO TO HIS FAMILY FRIEND. OVER THE LAST WEEK. NOW HE’S JUST HOURS AWAY FROM BEING REUNITED. WE’VE GOT LOTS OF TIME TO MAKE UP FOR, AND I JUST WANT TO GIVE HER A PLACE WHERE SHE CAN BE AT PEACE AND BE AT REST. AND THESE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS THAT WE’RE GOING TO GET TOGETHER. BUT BENJAMIN SAYS HE EXPECTS TO DRIVE TO COLORADO AND REUNITE WITH PATCHES BY NEXT WEEK. THEY’VE ALSO SET UP A DONATION FUND TO HELP THANK THE SHELTERS THAT BROUGHT PATCHES HOME SAFE. THAT LINK CAN BE FOUND IN THIS STORY

    ‘Utter disbelief’: Missing dog named Patches found nearly four years after wandering away

    Nearly 600 miles and four years later, a missing dog is rescued just minutes away from the Mexico border. Benjamin Baxter told sister station KETV that he never thought he would see Patches again after she wandered away from a family friend’s house in Colorado in 2020, but last week, she was found by a shelter in New Mexico. “The best way to describe that day was just utter disbelief,” Baxter said. Disbelief that after nearly four years, his childhood dog, Patches, is still alive and safe. “They had put a lost or a found ad up for her, and I’m looking at this picture, and I’m just like, there’s no way, right?” Baxter said. “I haven’t seen this dog in four years, and there’s just no way my brain literally could not comprehend that I was seeing a picture of my dog as she is now.”Baxter said he first brought Patches home 10 years ago when he was just 13 years old and Patches, was just 6 weeks old. He says they were instant best friends. “I traveled all over the country, state to state and bounced around here, there and pretty much everywhere, and she was there by my side through everything,” Baxter said. “I would be hunting, rock climbing or whatever, and she’d be right there. She was the only dog I’ve ever been around that actually loved rock climbing, but she’d always have this big, goofy grin on her face the whole time.”But in 2020, Baxter made a difficult decision after his new living situation didn’t allow dogs. He had to leave Patches with a family friend in Calhan, Colorado, while he moved to Nebraska for a new job. “She decided that she would take Patches from me until I could find another place where I could have a dog with me,” Baxter said. But just a couple of months later, in April 2020, Patches escaped her kennel and was nowhere to be found.”I thought, OK, you know, like this isn’t a big deal,” Baxter said. “And like I said, she’s a Houdini, so she loves wandering and we’ll get her back fast. But, the days go by, weeks go by. Nothing, I mean, absolutely nothing. Nobody ever responded to any of our lost posters or ads or whatever. By day seven, I started realizing that we weren’t going to find this dog, and I was devastated.”Patches was missing. Until this year.On Jan. 31, Elizabeth Baxter, Benjamin’s wife, got a call from Benjamin’s mom. “She’d been getting missed calls from an area code in New Mexico saying that they had Patches, and she’s like is this a scam?” Elizabeth said. “Is this not? I don’t know.”After several phone calls and emails containing Patches’ past medical records, photos and documentation, it was clear this was, in fact, not a scam.”They’re like, If you want her back, she’s yours,” Elizabeth said. “And I was like, for sure, we want this dog back because I knew how much it would mean to him to have her back.”A day Benjamin never thought would happen. He said at this point, he thought Patches had either found a new home, was eaten by predators, or had simply passed from old age.But, Patches had been found as a stray in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Hundreds of miles away from her home. “All in all, like, considering the circumstance of her being found on the street as a stray, like, she looks very, very good,” Elizabeth said. And with the help of multiple shelters and volunteers, Patches is on her way home. Over the last week, Patches has traveled from New Mexico back to Benjamin’s family friend’s house in Colorado. “I’m just excited to get my dog back,” Benjamin said. “We’ve got lots of time to make up for, and I just want to give her a place where she can be at peace and be at rest in these last couple of years that we’re going to get together.”Reuniting with his long-lost best friend, Benjamin said he plans to drive to Colorado by next week to bring Patches home for good. “If only an animal could tell you stories, because I would love to find out how the heck she can just disappear and where she was, who she was with, how she ended up so close to Mexico,” Benjamin said. Both Elizabeth and Benjamin are grateful to the shelters and family that have helped bring Patches home safely.”We’re just really grateful,” Elizabeth said. “We feel like, we’re really strong believers, and we feel as though God has really just guided and directed this.”The Baxters have set up a donation fund to help thank those shelters and volunteers, if you would like to donate, click here.

    Nearly 600 miles and four years later, a missing dog is rescued just minutes away from the Mexico border.

    Benjamin Baxter told sister station KETV that he never thought he would see Patches again after she wandered away from a family friend’s house in Colorado in 2020, but last week, she was found by a shelter in New Mexico.

    “The best way to describe that day was just utter disbelief,” Baxter said.

    Disbelief that after nearly four years, his childhood dog, Patches, is still alive and safe.

    “They had put a lost or a found ad up for her, and I’m looking at this picture, and I’m just like, there’s no way, right?” Baxter said. “I haven’t seen this dog in four years, and there’s just no way my brain literally could not comprehend that I was seeing a picture of my dog as she is now.”

    Baxter said he first brought Patches home 10 years ago when he was just 13 years old and Patches, was just 6 weeks old. He says they were instant best friends.

    “I traveled all over the country, state to state and bounced around here, there and pretty much everywhere, and she was there by my side through everything,” Baxter said. “I would be hunting, rock climbing or whatever, and she’d be right there. She was the only dog I’ve ever been around that actually loved rock climbing, but she’d always have this big, goofy grin on her face the whole time.”

    But in 2020, Baxter made a difficult decision after his new living situation didn’t allow dogs. He had to leave Patches with a family friend in Calhan, Colorado, while he moved to Nebraska for a new job.

    “She [family friend] decided that she would take Patches from me until I could find another place where I could have a dog with me,” Baxter said.

    But just a couple of months later, in April 2020, Patches escaped her kennel and was nowhere to be found.

    “I thought, OK, you know, like this isn’t a big deal,” Baxter said. “And like I said, she’s a Houdini, so she loves wandering and we’ll get her back fast. But, the days go by, weeks go by. Nothing, I mean, absolutely nothing. Nobody ever responded to any of our lost posters or ads or whatever. By day seven, I started realizing that we weren’t going to find this dog, and I was devastated.”

    Patches was missing.

    Until this year.

    On Jan. 31, Elizabeth Baxter, Benjamin’s wife, got a call from Benjamin’s mom.

    “She’d been getting missed calls from an area code in New Mexico saying that they had Patches, and she’s like is this a scam?” Elizabeth said. “Is this not? I don’t know.”

    After several phone calls and emails containing Patches’ past medical records, photos and documentation, it was clear this was, in fact, not a scam.

    “They’re [shelter who found Patches] like, If you want her back, she’s yours,” Elizabeth said. “And I was like, for sure, we want this dog back because I knew how much it would mean to him [Benjamin] to have her back.”

    A day Benjamin never thought would happen. He said at this point, he thought Patches had either found a new home, was eaten by predators, or had simply passed from old age.

    But, Patches had been found as a stray in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Hundreds of miles away from her home.

    “All in all, like, considering the circumstance of her being found on the street as a stray, like, she looks very, very good,” Elizabeth said.

    And with the help of multiple shelters and volunteers, Patches is on her way home. Over the last week, Patches has traveled from New Mexico back to Benjamin’s family friend’s house in Colorado.

    “I’m just excited to get my dog back,” Benjamin said. “We’ve got lots of time to make up for, and I just want to give her a place where she can be at peace and be at rest in these last couple of years that we’re going to get together.”

    Reuniting with his long-lost best friend, Benjamin said he plans to drive to Colorado by next week to bring Patches home for good.

    “If only an animal could tell you stories, because I would love to find out how the heck she can just disappear and where she was, who she was with, how she ended up so close to Mexico,” Benjamin said.

    Both Elizabeth and Benjamin are grateful to the shelters and family that have helped bring Patches home safely.

    “We’re just really grateful,” Elizabeth said. “We feel like, we’re really strong believers, and we feel as though God has really just guided and directed this.”

    The Baxters have set up a donation fund to help thank those shelters and volunteers, if you would like to donate, click here.

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  • Japan earthquakes death toll climbs to at least 48 as temblors continue rocking country’s west

    Japan earthquakes death toll climbs to at least 48 as temblors continue rocking country’s west

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    Wajima, Japan — A series of powerful earthquakes hit western Japan, leaving at least 48 people dead and damaging thousands of buildings, vehicles and boats, with officials warning people in some areas on Tuesday to stay away from their homes because of a risk of more strong quakes. Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas a day after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the area on Monday afternoon.

    Forty-eight people were confirmed dead in Ishikawa, with the casualties concentrated in the cities of Wajima and Suzu, according to Japan’s state broadcaster NHK and other media outlets. At least fourteen others were said by officials to have been seriously injured, while damage to homes was so great that it could not immediately be assessed.

    Japanese media reports said tens of thousands of homes were destroyed. Government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi said 17 people were seriously injured and gave a slightly lower death tally, while saying he was aware of the prefecture’s tally.

    TOPSHOT-JAPAN-QUAKE
    Firefighters inspect collapsed wooden houses in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan, Jan. 2, 2024, a day after a major earthquake struck the Noto region.

    KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty


    Water, power and cellphone service were still down in some areas, and residents expressed sorrow about their destroyed homes and uncertain futures.

    “It’s not just that it’s a mess. The wall has collapsed, and you can see through to the next room. I don’t think we can live here anymore,” Miki Kobayashi, an Ishikawa resident, said as she swept around her house.

    Their house was also damaged in a 2007 quake, she said.

    Japan’s military dispatched 1,000 soldiers to the disaster zones to join rescue efforts, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday.

    “Saving lives is our priority and we are fighting a battle against time,” he said. “It is critical that people trapped in homes get rescued immediately.”

    A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 shook the Ishikawa area as he was speaking.

    Firefighters managed to bring a fire under control in Wajima city which had reddened the sky with embers and smoke. Japan’s Kyodo news agency, citing Ishikawa prefectural officials, said several fires in Wajima had engulfed more than 200 structures and there were more than a dozen reports of people being trapped under rubble in the city.

    The quake has also caused injuries and structural damage in Niigata, Toyama, Fukui and Gifu prefectures.

    “It is extremely difficult for vehicles to enter northern areas of the Noto Peninsula,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a press conference, adding the central government has been coordinating shipment of relief supplies using ships.  

    JAPAN-QUAKE
    This aerial photo provided by Jiji Press shows smoke rising from an area following a large fire in Wajima, in Japan’s western Ishikawa prefecture, Jan. 2, 2024, a day after a major earthquake struck the Noto region.

    STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty


    Nuclear regulators said several nuclear plants in the region were operating normally. A major quake and tsunami in March 2011 caused three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation at a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan.

    News videos showed rows of collapsed houses. Some wooden structures were flattened and cars were overturned. Half-sunken ships floated in bays where tsunami waves had rolled in, leaving a muddied coastline.

    Japanese media, quoting the Ministry of Transport, said 500 people were trapped at Noto Airport in Wajima, including airport staff, passengers and local residents. Because the airport’s windows were shattered and glass and debris scattered around the terminal, all were sheltering in the parking lot, inside rental cars and tour buses, the reports said, with the airport not scheduled to reopen until Jan. 4.

    On Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings or advisories for the rest of the western coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu, as well as for the northern island of Hokkaido.

    The warning was downgraded several hours later, and all tsunami warnings were lifted as of early Tuesday. Waves measuring more than 3 feet hit some places.

    The agency warned that more major quakes could hit the area over the next few days.

    Damages After Strong Earthquake Hits Northwestern Japan
    A damaged vehicle is pinned under a collapsed house following an earthquake in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, Jan. 2, 2024.

    Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg/Getty


    People who were evacuated from their houses huddled in auditoriums, schools and community centers. Bullet trains in the region were halted, but service was mostly restored by Tuesday afternoon. Sections of highways were closed.

    Weather forecasters predicted rain, setting off worries about already crumbling buildings and infrastructure.

    The region includes tourist spots famous for lacquerware and other traditional crafts, along with designated cultural heritage sites.

    U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that his administration was “ready to provide any necessary assistance for the Japanese people.”

    Japan is frequently hit by earthquakes because of its location along the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

    Over the last day, the nation has experienced about a hundred aftershocks.

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  • Shelter dog’s face after getting adopted just in time for Christmas

    Shelter dog’s face after getting adopted just in time for Christmas

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    After winding up in a shelter in December 2021, this dog has spent the last two years hoping that one day he will find his forever home. Finally, his wish has come true this holiday season as he’s been adopted just in time for Christmas.

    The lovable pit bull mix found his world turned upside down when he ended up in a shelter just four days before Christmas in 2021, as his owner sadly died. The staff at Associated Human Societies (AHS) in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, were devastated for the poor pup, who would no longer be enjoying scraps of turkey or opening presents with his owner.

    Despite his heartbreaking experience, Mack continued smiling and brightening people’s days at the shelter. Sandy Hickman, the media coordinator for the AHS Popcorn Park Shelter, told Newsweek that “to know Mack is to love him.”

    Staff spent the subsequent two years trying to find a home for Mack so he could live the rest of his years in peace and happiness. It may have taken longer than planned, but that day finally came in November 2023, and this Christmas looks a whole lot brighter for Mack.

    Mack the pit bull mix at an adoption event before his adoption in November 2023. Mack wound up in a New Jersey shelter on December 21, 2021 when his owner sadly passed away.
    Associated Humane Popcorn Park Shelter

    Hickman continued: “Mack was very big, happy, and healthy when he came to our shelter. He received lots of attention from our staff and volunteers who walked him and spent time with him on a regular basis. He attended several adoption events as well.

    “His adopter loved him immediately, and she came in several times to spend time with him so she could get to know him prior to taking him home for good.”

    While Mack’s story ends on a happier note, that isn’t true for every shelter animal. With an estimated 6.3 million companion animals winding up in shelters across the country each year, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals believes that only 4.1 million of those eventually get adopted.

    With such an influx of animals in need of a home, around 3.1 million are thought to be dogs, there’s little surprise that shelters are struggling to cope with the intake. As Newsweek has previously reported, many shelters are way over capacity and seeing a substantial drop in adoptions. It’s thought that this is in part due to expensive living costs and unethical breeding.

    After seeing one of their long-term residents finally find a home, the shelter shared pictures of Mack smiling gleefully on Facebook, showing that he’s now “living his very best life.” The post warmed many hearts and generated more than 1,600 reactions and 170 comments in a matter of days.

    While so many people were delighted by the news that Mack has a home for the holidays, the shelter has many more dogs waiting for their day to come.

    Mack from New Jersey shelter
    Mack is a pit bull mix who had to wait two years before finding a forever home. Mack received plenty of interest while at the shelter, but not enough to finally get adopted until November 2023.
    Associated Humane Popcorn Park Shelter

    “All three of our AHS shelters in New Jersey have so many wonderful dogs like Mack, who have been waiting for so long to be noticed,” Hickman said. “Mack is one of so many pit bull-types in shelters and we feel that there is a stigma attached to the breed, which negatively impacts their chances for adoption.

    “They are all unique in their own way and we ask that potential adopters keep an open mind, meet the ones that are a little older or a little shy. You would be surprised at what you find when you spend some time with a shelter dog outside of the kennel environment and not judge them based solely on age or breed.”

    Among the delighted comments on the post, one Facebook user wrote: “OMG awesome news! Happy life Mack!”

    Another person responded: “So happy for Mack.”

    While one person commented: “I love these adoption stories. You can just see the happiness on the dog’s face.”

    Do you have any amazing rescue or adoption stories you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.