Massive ice island drifts toward Canada

A Manhattan-sized chunk of ice that broke off a glacier in Greenland nearly a year ago is drifting toward the coast of Newfoundland, Canada — providing a stunning sight to scientists and curiosity-seekers but also posing a potential threat to ships.

The ice island is 20 square miles — roughly 6.2 miles long and 3.1 miles wide. It was formed when a 97-square-mile chunk of ice broke off Greenland's Petermann Glacier on Aug. 5, 2010, possibly due to warming of the Atlantic Ocean.
The ice island, the largest single chunk remaining from the massive parent chunk, has been winding its way through Arctic waters ever since.
In the past few days, it has been moving south at a rate of 5 to 6 miles per hour. On Thursday, it was about 11.5 miles off the Labrador coast, drifting toward Newfoundland, said Lionel Hache, senior ice forecaster with Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa. The Ice Service, a department of Environment Canada, has been tracking the movement of the ice island.
Hache said it was hard to project what course the ice island would take because it was following the water current. "The general direction is south but not in a straight line," he said. "You have different branches of the current. One of the branches could bring it toward shore, other branches could move it further offshore."
It's unlikely the ice island will get too close to shore because it would probably be "grounded" — meaning it would touch the bottom of the ocean — before reaching the coast, Hache said.
Nonetheless, it could interfere with shipping lanes and possibly threaten some offshore oil rigs, he said.

But, Hache noted, "a ship going through this water is already watching for icebergs. This one is quite easy to see, so unless you're blind you shouldn't run into this thing."
The Canadian Ice Service has been tracking the ice island, dubbed PII-A, via satellite and radio beacon.
'This was unreal' A Labrador crab fisherman, Eldred Burden, shot breathtaking video of the ice chunk late last month from his trawler off the coast of Black Tickle, Labrador. Pieces have been breaking off, reducing its size since then.
“I’ve seen icebergs before but this was unreal. It looked like something that shouldn’t be there,” the 52-year-old fisherman recently told the Toronto Star from his home in Port Hope Simpson.
He described the ice chunk as a dazzling white, with valleys, brooks, ponds and even seals on it.
Burden told the Star he poured himself a cup of coffee and just stared.
“I’d never seen anything like this. The boat felt very small.”
Hache said there should be no fear of an impending apocalypse.
"Except for navigation I don’t think there will be any threat; it won't ever go too close to shore," he said.-MSNBC

City man convicted of first-degree murder in boy's slaying

Rodrigo Arana on Thursday after being convicted in Berks County Court of first-degree murder in the Sept. 12 slaying of a 15-year-old boy.

A 20-year-old city man was convicted Thursday in Berks County Court of first-degree murder in the Sept. 12 slaying of a 15-year-old boy, whose sneakers were stolen.

Rodrigo Arana, of the 200 block of Pearl Street, was convicted of killing Willy Tineo-Ferreira during a 1:30 a.m. fight in the 900 block of Green Street.

Arana did not testify.

The jury deliberated for one hour following a three-day trial before Judge Scott D. Keller.

First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Arana’s lawyer, Mary Maran, of Philadelphia argued the slaying was in self-defense because Arana thought Tineo-Ferreira was going to kill him.

Assistant District Attorney Dennis J. Skayhan argued that the victim was shot eight times while lying on the ground without his sneaker on.

Earlier in the day, a Berks County judge dismissed second-degree murder charges against 19-year-old Julio Romero, accused of being the getaway driver.

Judge Scott D. Keller agreed with Romero’s attorney, Jack McMahon of Philadelphia, that there was no evidence presented to prove that Romero was involved in the fatal shooting.

Prosecutors said Romero drove three others to the 900 block of Green Street, where Willy Tineo-Ferreira was killed.

“Julio Romero had no knowledge of what was going to happen down the street from where he parked,” Keller said this morning.

McMahon’s request to dismiss the charges came after prosecutors completed presenting their case Wednesday.

Romero and Arana, both of Reading, have been on trial this week before Keller in the slaying of Tineo-Ferreira of Reading.

"My reaction is that Judge Keller should be highly commended for having the intellect and integrity to do the right thing based on the woeful evidence presented by the DA's office," McMahon said. "Wise and courageous decisions by the court should be admired by all who believe in fair justice.

"On the other hand the district attorney's office should be ashamed to have arrested and held in jail almost a year a young man they knew was not a participant in any way in the killing of young Wiley Tineo.

"They used the authority of their office to try to force and intimidate Mr.Romero to cooperate with them and give them information he could not have known all to further their agenda. Having been a homicide prosecutor myself years ago this 'strategy' should be repugnant to all decent people.

"Mr.Romero should be commended for having the guts not to fall victim to this abuse of authority and let justice take its course. Justice in this case being the fair-minded and enlightened Judge Keller."

District Attorney John T. Adams declined to comment until Arana’s trial is over.

During testimony Wednesday, prosecution witnesses Alfredo Uribe and Mario Ceballos, who are also co-defendants, testified under cross-examination by McMahon that Romero stopped the car to buy beer for the group, not start a fight.

“There was no discussion of robbing anyone or hurting anyone other than getting beer?” McMahon asked Uribe.

“Yes, sir,” Uribe answered.

Arana is charged with first-degree murder. Uribe and Mario Ceballos are charged with second-degree murder. The co-defendants each face a sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Ceballos testified Wednesday that he hit Tineo-Ferreira and stole his sneakers.

Romero was freed from the county prison, where he had been held without bail.

When the trail resumed this morning, Arana's sister, Theresa Robles of West Lawn, testified her brother was part of an anti-violence program.

“He’s peaceful,” Robles said. “Everyone loves him.”


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