Jacob Beisecker started a non-profit to provide off-road wheelchairs for those who need them (Credit: Jacob Beisecker)
HARTSVILLE, S.C. (WPDE) —Each month, ABC15 presents someone in the community with the Jefferson Award, an award that’s been given for 50 years to leaders who inspire action.
This month’s recipient, Jacob Beisecker, found a ‘way’ to ‘make’ a near death experience a blessing to those who may have given up.
“Christmas Eve 2020, I was in a duck hunting accident,” said Beisecker. “My brother leaned over on his gun, it went off and it shot me in my side. I was fortunate enough to get out of the woods.”
But that was just the beginning of Beisecker’s long road to recovery. The accident left him with a spinal cord injury causing him…
It’s been 5 years since the first Airbow showed up, loud and proud, at the annual ATA Show. If you attended the show, you no doubt heard the weapon being demonstrated on the range through the 3-day event. It’s gotta be the loudest weapon to ever grace the range at an ATA event.
Later that year, we posted anarticleaddressing all the excitement and controversy this new weapon was creating.Some thought this Airbow, which isn’t really a bow at all, would be the death of the archery industry as we know it. Others saw it as nothing more than another non-bow weapon trying to wiggle its way into archery hunting seasons across the country.
So after 5 years, we want to take a moment to revisit this most controversial of weapons to see how states are welcoming…
Published:Mar. 30, 2023 at 4:07 AM PDT|Updated:10 hours ago
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Meteorologist Jake Dunne says it is a noticeably milder morning with wake-up temperatures in the 40s. Like Wednesday we will climb into the upper 60s this afternoon, but unlike yesterday skies will stay mostly cloudy and south winds between 20-30 will gust to over 40 mph.
Fire weather concerns in western Kansas today will spread across the entire state on Friday as the humidity drops and strong, gusty winds (from the west) continue. Red flag warnings have been posted as any wildfire will become difficult to impossible to contain.
An isolated storm is possible late this evening into the night. Some storms may be strong producing small hail and gusty wind, but most or all the activity will be along and east of the turnpike.
Russia to station nuclear weapons in Belarus, Honduras severs ties with Taiwan
nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own.
Chloe Taylor
Thu, March 30, 2023 at 3:44 AM PDT·3 min read
The world has entered a new era where nuclear war is once again a genuine threat, according to Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov.
In an interview with the BBCpublished on Thursday, Muratov said he was anxious about just how far Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to go in his standoff with the West over Ukraine.
“Two generations have lived without the threat of nuclear war,” he told the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg. “But this period is over. Will Putin press the nuclear button, or won’t he? Who knows? No one knows this. There isn’t a single person who can say for sure.”
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, Calif. —
Monterey County officials are warning people to stay away from the marine wildlife, as sea otters, seals, and other mammals on the Central Coast have been under duress due to human interactions.
Marine officials say it is natural to see these marine mammals and want to interact with them, but experts are saying to keep away from them, especially when you’re close to the shore
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As new data from the marine mammal center shows that there were 30 confirmed cases of harassment of seals, otters and sea lions in San Luis Obispo County in 2022. As for here on the central coast, there are, on average, 444 disturbances a year at Elkhorn, according to the Monterey Bay national marine sanctuary
“It’s incredibly tempting to want to get close and be able to watch them up close. but we need to remember that this is their home as well, said Dan Haifley from the Monterey bay national marine sanctuary foundation. So if we allow them to go about their business, do what their doing, live their lives, we can enjoy viewing them from a safe distance.”
Officials say that by law, beach visitors have to keep a distance of at least 50 feet from species protected by the marine mammal protection act.
The footage shows a group of 33 swimmers “aggressively pursuing, corralling, and harassing the pod” in Hōnaunau Bay on Sunday, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said.
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March 30, 2023, 6:54 AM PDT / Updated March 30, 2023, 8:08 AM PDT
By Julianne McShane
Federal authorities are investigating a group of swimmers who were caught on camera allegedly harassing a pod of dolphins on Sunday in violation of federal law, officials announced this week.
A drone video deployed by officers with the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources caught the 33 swimmers allegedly “aggressively pursuing, corralling, and harassing the pod” in Hōnaunau Bay on Sunday morning, officials announced Tuesday.
The 39-second clip the agency posted online appears to show over a dozen of the swimmers pursuing 11 dolphins. The dolphins eventually split off into two directions in the waters, and some of the swimmers turn around and appear to stop pursuing some of the dolphins.
The allegations could put the swimmers in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a law enacted in 1972 that makes it illegal to harass wild marine mammals, including dolphins, whales, seals and sea lions.
The act stipulates two levels of harassment, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: one referring to “any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance” that could injure a marine mammal, and another referring to “acts that have the potential to disturb (but not injure) a marine mammal” by disrupting their breeding, feeding and other routines.
The spinner dolphins involved in the Sunday incident are also protected by a specific rule published in 2021. It prohibits swimmers and vessels from coming within 150 feet of the dolphins within two miles of the Hawaii shoreline, according to Katie Wagner, a NOAA spokesperson.
Spinner dolphins — smaller members of the species known for leaping and spinning out of the water — may be sleeping even when they appear to be awake and moving through the water, the Associated Press reported. That’s because half of their brains remain “awake” while they swim, helping them to breathe and remain on the surface of the water.
NOAA warns that disturbing spinner dolphins could disrupt their daytime rest, negatively impacting their health and reproduction and leading them to become aggressive or avoidant.
Officers with the Hawaii agency’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, who were conducting what officials described as a “routine patrol” in the area, deployed the drone after spotting the swimmers from land on Sunday, Hawaii DLNR Senior Communications Manager Dan Dennison said.
The officers alerted the swimmers to the alleged violation while they were still in the water and then met them on land, where they initiated a joint investigation alongside the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, according to the news release.
The swimmers have not been publicly identified.
It was not immediately clear what kind of penalties the swimmers could face — though NOAA guidelines say people prosecuted in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act could face civil penalties of up to $11,000 and up to a year in prison.
Officials urge people to observe wild dolphins from a distance of at least 150 feet by land or sea and to avoid circling, entrapping or swimming with them, NOAA guidelines state.
Ilove my electric car, dear reader, I really do. The driving experience is revolutionary, the acceleration mind-blowing and there are no nasty exhaust fumes or engine noise. After almost three years, I’m not going back: it is far superior, for my purposes, to a petrol-powered vehicle.
But I’m lucky. I can easily charge it and I never drive long distances with it. The Government’s plan to impose a UK-wide ban on the sale of new, pure petrol cars in just six years and nine months’ time is insanely detached from reality. The country and the technology are nowhere near ready for a full roll-out. Sticking with this preposterous timetable will impoverish and inconvenience millions and trigger a seismic, anti-green popular revolt.
The elephant is the largest existing land mammal on Earth, weighing anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 pounds. There are three species of elephants: the African bush elephant (also known as the African savanna elephant), the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant.
In 1930, approximately 10 million wild elephants were in Africa, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Since then, elephant populations have dwindled due to various threats, including habitat loss and illegal poaching.
Today, these declines continue. Here’s what to know about elephants to protect their populations.
Additionally, illegal poaching for the ivory trade has dramatically impacted elephant populations. In 1989, the international commercial trade of elephant ivory was banned. Even though poaching did decrease following this, it started back up around 2010.
African bush elephants can be found in all of sub-Saharan Africa except for central Africa’s dense tropical forests, according to the WWF. The dense tropical forests are home to the African forest elephant.
African bush elephants live in 23 countries with the majority located in southern and eastern African countries, such as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa.
As for the African forest elephant, its largest populations are in Gabon and the Republic of Congo, while smaller populations remain in other countries, such as Cameroon, Liberia and Ghana.
The Asian elephant’s primary habitats are dry to wet forests and grasslands. They can be found in 13 countries in south and southeast Asia.
Advocates of hunting and fishing are pushing for a college course to promote their favored industry. Identical legislation has been pushed by billionaire right-wing lobbyists in other states, and now Maine is their battleground.
The reasoning behindL.D. 271is weak. Contrary to the sponsors’ claims, there is no evidence of a relationship between hunting and conservation. When pressed, hunting advocates admit that there is no evidence. Teaching college students about a “conservation model” that is not scientifically supported would do Maine’s public education system a profound disservice. Outside of the classroom, Mainers who care about wildlife must be aware of the distinction between hunting for sport and real conservation.
The promotion of hunting and fishing through L.D. 271 is not about conservation or education. It is about recruiting new members to an expensive hobby and sustaining an industry that is vastly profitable but likely in…
In this photo provided by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, department enforcement officers speak to swimmers in Honaunau, Hawaii, March 26, 2023, after the swimmers allegedly harassed a pod of wild spinner dolphins. (Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources via AP)
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii authorities on Tuesday say they have referred 33 people to U.S. law enforcement after the group allegedly harassed a pod of wild dolphins in waters off the Big Island.
It’s against federal law to swim within 50 yards (45 meters) of spinner dolphins in Hawaii’s nearshore waters. The prohibition went into effect in 2021 amid concerns that so many tourists were swimming with dolphins that the nocturnal animals weren’t getting the rest they need during the day to be able to forage for food at night.
The rule applies to areas within 2 nautical miles (3.7 kilometers) of the Hawaiian Islands and in designated waters surrounded by the islands of Lanai, Maui and Kahoolawe.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a news release that its enforcement officers came upon the 33 swimmers in Honaunau Bay on Sunday during a routine patrol.
Aerial footage shot by drone shows snorkelers following dolphins as they swim away. The department said its video and photos showed swimmers “who appear to be aggressively pursuing, corralling and harassing the pod.”
Enforcement officers contacted the group while they were in the water, and told them about the violation. Uniformed officers met the swimmers on land where state and federal officials launched a joint investigation.
Hawaii’s spinner dolphins feast on fish and small crustaceans that surface from the ocean’s depths at night. When the sun rises, they head for shallow bays to hide from tiger sharks and other predators.
To the untrained eye, the dolphins appear to be awake during the day because they’re swimming.
But because they sleep by resting half of their brains and keeping the other half awake to surface and breathe, they may be sleeping even when they’re maneuvering through the water.
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Exposing the Big Game 