Friday, January 14, 2011

Over the course of the last week, fifteen people who have suffered from influenza have died in Wales, as reported to the Welsh Assembly Government. The total amount of flu-related deaths in Wales since October 2010 has now increased to 27.

On Tuesday, 49 people were being treated in critical care beds in hospitals around Wales, according to health officials. With twelve reported admissions, Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board had the highest amount of critical care patients in Wales. Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board has the second highest total number of patients experiencing this critical care in the country, with eleven being cared for. Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board have nine important care admissions each. Cwm Taf NHS Trust contains five of such patients, while Hywel Dda NHS Trust has three.

The age group of 25–34 years old had the largest amount of meetings with general practitioners; the rate of consultation was 147 people for every 100,000. For all age groups, 93 people out of every one hundred thousand have been consulting with a GP; on January 5, the total figure stood at 85 meetings per 100,000.

“Despite the slight increase in the clinical consultation rate for influenza this week compared to the previous week, the rate of consultations for flu-like illness in Wales still remains within the levels of normal seasonal flu activity,” said Dr. Tony Jowell, the Chief Medical Officer of Wales. “Most healthy people will recover from flu-like illnesses within five to seven days with plenty of rest and drinking non-alcoholic fluids. On the issue of vaccination against seasonal flu, whilst we have been working to make stocks of the vaccine that was developed against swine flu available to be used where supplies of seasonal flu vaccine have run low, we are now well into the flu season.”

According to Media Wales, 13 patients experiencing flu-related symptoms were getting treatment at Withybush General Hospital in Haverfordwest on Tuesday. Meanwhile, five were receiving hospital treatment at Bronglais General Hospital in Aberystwyth. Also, Carmarthenshire NHS Trust in Llanelli and West Wales General Hospital in Carmarthen both had a solitary patient.

Jowell also commented: “People in at-risk groups are at a higher risk of complications from seasonal flu, and the best protection is early vaccination. A press and publicity campaign has been running since October and has included television, radio and bus adverts to let people know if they are in an at-risk group, and that the vaccine is available free of charge to those groups from GPs. We have also encouraged health boards and GPs to ensure that their patients and front line NHS staff are vaccinated against seasonal flu.”

Throughout the United Kingdom, 62 individuals reportedly died in the last week, as the result of suffering from influenza. The majority of these victims were suffering from swine flu. In most of these cases, the sufferers were aged between 15 and 64. However, nine of the fatalities were of children aged below fourteen.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Neverland Valley Ranch, owned by Michael Jackson, is to be sold at auction on March 19, 2008, unless Jackson pays over US$24 million.

Financial Title Company, the trustee of his Santa Barbara County, California, home and amusement park, has foreclosed on the property. They notified Jackson of the foreclosure and sale on Monday. Jackson had only just recently paid an overdue property tax bill of $600,000.

The court filing, addressed to Jackson, says, “You are in default of a deed of trust … Unless you take action to protect your property it may be sold at a public sale.” Fox News published the filing.

The foreclosure includes the ranch and all possessions on the property, inside or out.

The foreclosure auction will take place in front of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse in Santa Barbara. Jackson has until then to pay $24,525,906.61 he owes the title company.

In 2006, Jackson refinanced previous loans that had been bought up by Fortress Investment Group. The $300-million loan was secured with the aid of Sony Music Entertainment. However, the Neverland property was not part of that deal.

Jackson has not lived at Neverland since June 30, 2005, when he moved to Bahrain after a rape charge and subsequent acquittal.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Japanese entrepreneur Daisuke “Dice-K” Enomoto, 34, is set to become the fourth private citizen in space. The Arlington, Virginia-based company “Space Adventures”, which specializes in spaceflight-related travel, announced on March 7 that Enomoto was approved by the Russian space agency as a flight candidate.

Enomoto has now passed the physical examinations necessary to be cleared for training, finished the medical preparation, and signed the contract for the flight. His training with the Russian Federal Space Agency will include physical and aeronautical preparation as well as Russian language instruction.

Enomoto will be the first Japanese person to fly to the International Space Station (ISS). His trip, to take place in a Soyuz TMA-9 rocket, is scheduled for September, with a ticket price of US$20 million.

United States entrepreneur Gregory Olsen returned from the ISS in October 2005; previous space vacationers were American Dennis Tito in 2001 and South African Mark Shuttleworth in 2002.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Due to a US$23 million budget shortfall, all public libraries in Jackson County, Oregon are scheduled to close April 6. The U.S. Congress did not renew the Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act, which replaces property tax revenues with revenue sharing from timber harvests. Jackson County used the revenue to pay for libraries and sherriff’s patrols. Voters rejected a property tax increase last November. A similar increase will appear on the May ballot; such increases must pass a double-majority vote: a majority of county voters must turn out for the election, and a majority of those must support the increase.

Supporters hope the measure will pass this time. “Many people didn’t believe we were going to close libraries.” said County Commissioner C.W. Smith. The Ashland City Council has said it would find a funding solution to keep their branch of the library open; other cities have not made similar statements. Some alternative funding solutions, such as charging subscription fees, have been considered. However, charging fees for access to libraries is illegal in Oregon.

Jackson County is located in Southern Oregon, and has a population of 181,000. The Jackson County Library System consists of 15 branches.

Monday, December 31, 2007

What would you tell your grandchildren about 2007 if they asked you about it in, let’s say, 20 year’s time? If the answer to a quiz question was 2007, what would the question be? The year that you first signed on to Facebook? The year Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse fell apart? The year author Kurt Vonnegut or mime Marcel Marceau died, both at 84?

Let’s take a look at some of the international stories of 2007. Links to the original Wikinews articles are in bold.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Todd Herzog, a flight attendant from Pleasant Grove, Utah, has won the US$1,000,000 grand prize on the CBS American reality television series Survivor: China. Herzog, 22, defeated New York City waitress Courtney Yates and former Miss Montana USA Amanda Kimmel in the final vote.

Herzog was voted ‘Sole Survivor’ by four of the seven jury members, while Yates received two votes and Kimmel received one. He was described as being the smartest and most strategic of the final three contestants. When making his opening statement to the jury, he said, “The main thing I can ask tonight is that you are able to see the difference between my strategic game and the relations that I actually built with you because they were all real.”

Herzog, who was only 14 years old when the first season of Survivor premiered, was once the founder of his school’s Survivor club and was voted by his graduating class as “Most likely to appear on Survivor.”

The finale aired on December 16, 2007.

Monday, October 7, 2019

Friday evening, mockumentary Mister America had its world premiere at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California as part of Hulu’s Beyond Fest film festival. Mister America is a continuation of the elaborate multimedia universe of Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington’s web series On Cinema at the Cinema. Wikinews attended the premiere.

The film follows a fictionalized version of comedian Tim Heidecker who hosts the absurd and shallow On Cinema film review Web series with purported film expert Gregg Turkington. When Heidecker narrowly avoids a murder conviction, he sets out to run for District Attorney of San Bernardino County and fails to even be on the ballot.

The premiere was accompanied by a question-and-answer session moderated by Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder, delving into the logistics of shooting with a five-person crew over the course of three days on a shoestring budget. Fans in the audience probed the stars about their comedic backgrounds, including Turkington’s alias of insult comedian Neil Hamburger and Heidecker’s interest in political comedy.

In addition to the cast of the film, additional On Cinema alumni including Alessandro Serradimigni, Joe Estevez, and Manuel Giusti were in attendance.

The Beyond Fest 2019 continues through October 8 and Mister America debuts to a wider audience on October 9.