5/6/08

Read a news article on www.cnn.com, www.foxnews.com, or www.msnbc.com and write a brief summary and reaction to the article.

Kilauea's toxic gas kills crops, sickens islanders
For eight years, Tony and Sam Bayaoa have grown thousands of bright red, yellow and pink protea flowers on their farm. Then in March, Kilauea volcano opened a new vent and began spewing double the usual amount of toxic gas.Now about 70 percent of their crop is dried, brown and brittle. "The first reaction was -- did someone poison the plants?" said Tony Bayaoa, whose two-acre farm is 35 miles from the volcano. "I've lost my livelihood." Big Island crops are shriveling as sulfur dioxide from Kilauea wafts over them and envelops them in "vog," or volcanic smog. People are wheezing, and schoolchildren are being kept indoors during recess. High gas levels led Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to close several days last month, forcing the evacuation of thousands of visitors. Residents of this volcanic island are used to toxic gas. But this haze is so bad that farmers are thinking about growing different crops, and many people are worrying about their health
GI's Graphic Afghan Firefight Recorded on Family's Voice Mail
The Otis, Ore., soldier was stationed halfway around the world in Afghanistan, part of a military police detail. But technology — in this case, a cell phone — gave Sandie Petee the comfort that her MP son was no more than just a call away. Until, that is, a simple glitch — the inadvertent redial — sent the family into panic. Phillips was on patrol when his unit engaged the Taliban. Not only did a firefight ensue, but his cell phone automatically called the Petee home, leaving a three-minute frightening message laced with the sounds of gunfire and panicked soldiers yelling for "more ammo." "His friend died a year ago in Iraq," Sandie Petee told KPTV, "and I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, this may be the last time I hear my son's voice on the phone.' " To make matters worse, at the end of the heart-wrenching message, "you could hear a guy saying 'Incoming! RPG!' And then it cut off," Phillip's brother John Petee said