76 year old Texas hiker on Appalachian Trail in NH rescued

SHELBURNE, N.H. (AP) - A Texas man who became ill while hiking the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire has been rescued by a Black Hawk helicopter crew sent by the National Guard.

New Hampshire wildlife officials said 76-year-old William Kimer of Livingston, Texas, began hiking on Saturday with two other people but began suffering from an undisclosed illness the next day. Officials said the three tried to hike out over the next couple of days to get medical treatment for Kimer but could not make it because his condition worsened.

They called for help Tuesday. Rescuers did not have enough people to carry Kimer the three miles remaining so the Guard sent the helicopter, and it hoisted him off the trail near Shelburne about 2:30 p.m.

Kimer was flown to a hospital in Berlin.

Information from: WMWV-FM, http://www.wmwv.com/index.html

Previous UPDATE:

A NEW HAMPSHIRE FISH AND GAME OFFICER SAYS SEARCH TEAMS ARE TRYING TO GET TO A LONG DISTANCE HIKER WHO BECAME ILL WHILE HIKING ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL.

CONSERVATION OFFICER LT. DOUG GRALENSKI SAID TUESDAY MORNING HIKING COMPANIONS ARE WITH THE 76-YEAR-OLD MAN ON MOUNT HAYES IN SHELBURNE.
BASED ON GPS COORDINATES, GRALENSKI THINKS THE HIKER IS CLOSE TO THE SUMMIT OF THE MOUNTAIN, JUST NORTH OF GORHAM.

GRALENSKI SAYS HE’S LOOKING INTO THE POSSIBILITY OF USING A HELICOPTER TO EVACUATE THE MAN, WHO IS SUFFERING FROM UNKNOWN MEDICAL ISSUES.
MEANWHILE, A SPOKESPERSON FOR FISH AND GAME SAYS THE FULL SCALE SEARCH FOR THE MISSING 72-YEAR-OLD NORTH CAROLINA MAN –HUGH ARMSTRONG – IN THE RUMNEY, NEW HAMPSHIRE AREA, HAS CONCLUDED.

JANE VACHON SAYS DESPITE AN INTENSIVE MULTI-AGENCY SEARCH THAT LASTED THROUGH THE WEEKEND, NO SIGN HAS BEEN FOUND OF ARMSTRONG – WHO NEVER RETURNED AFTER LEAVING FOR AN EARLY MORNING WALK AROUND STINSON LAKE LAST WEDNESDAY.

A SMALL GROUP OF FISH AND GAME OFFICERS AND VOLUNTEERS ARE CONTINUING THE SEARCH TUESDAY AND DIVERS PLAN TO SEARCH THE LAKE WEDNESDAY, AUG. 1.

Police are at the scene of a "death investigation" at 33 Wheeler Ave. Salem NH (UPDATE)

SALEM, N.H. — Police are at the scene of a "death investigation" at 33 Wheeler Ave.



Deputy police Chief Shawn Patten said there is no danger to the public.
New Hampshire State Police Major Crimes Unit and the Attorney General's Office are en route to the scene, he said, and any more information would have to come from them.
Wheeler Avenue has been closed for about an hour. There were reports of multiple shootings, but police are not releasing details at this time.

Updates can be found at: eagletribune.com

NOTE: 
Radio transmissions initially identified 3 people at the scene (details have not posted on this blog).


UPDATE:

	Three Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide One man and two women were found dead of gunshot wounds.... By Marc Fortier Article from the Salem Patch. Read more »

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Man injured off Truro beach shore on Cape Cod; authorities suspect shark bite

A man who suffered lacerations to his legs while in the water at a Massachusetts beach Monday apparently was bitten by a shark, authorities said.

"It looked like a shark bite to me," Truro, Massachusetts, Fire Chief Brian Davis said of the incident at nearby Ballston Beach. "Witnesses said they saw (a) fin. They saw him go under water. He was hollering for help."

The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries on the lower part of both legs, Davis said. The man was conscious and able to speak to first-responders before being taken to a Cape Cod hospital.

Davis said the man was less than 25 yards from shore when he was injured.

States receive grants to monitor bats

Little Brown Bat with White Nose Syndrome

Vermont has received a grant for $22,000 to monitor bat populations left nearly destroyed by White-Nose Syndrome.

Bat biologist Scott Darling, of the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the state will use the money to continue monitoring known colonies of northern long eared bats and little brown bats in an effort to learn what led some bats to survive .

The grant is from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which awarded funds to 29 others states, which included many in New England, and places as far south as Alabama and as far west as Hawaii. Altogether the grants total $962,981.

White-Nose Syndrome is believed to be caused by a fungus, which appears as a white substance on the bats' noses. Scientists think it affects how well the animals hibernate, causing them to burn energy in a time when the should be conserving it. Bat populations have declined by 90 percent in some places, and Vermont has placed the most affected species on its endangered list.

In April, the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife launched its "Got Bats," campaign, which encouraged people to go to the department's Website, www.fishandwildife.com, and report the locations of bat colonies of all sorts, from ones that live in attics, to caves.

Northern Long Eared Bat

"Grants like these provide essential support to our state partners in responding to white-nose syndrome," said Dr. Jeremy Coleman, national WNS coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service . "Responding to the rapid spread and severity of this disease has been difficult for state agencies and other partners. Providing funds directly to states helps to improve capacity for response within those states, but also provides support for critical research projects and strengthens our national response effort overall."

According to the service, White-Nose Syndrome was first detected in New York in 2006 and has spread across North America killing upwards of 5.5 million bats. In Bennington, bat caves in Dorset and Pownal were noted to have suffered massive loss of bats that hibernated there.

The grant was funded through the Endangered Species Recovery fund. It total, states asked for $1,183,480. Requests ranged from $14,646 to $50,000.

Others states in the Northeast received the following:

* Maine, $24,099.

* New Hampshire, $14,646

* Rhode Island, $22,819

Maine blueberries producing biggest crop in a decade

Maine’s wild blueberry growers are expecting their biggest crop in more than a decade. 115,000 pounds more than the 2010 crop, which the USDA estimated at 95 million pounds.

This year’s crop is projected to come in between 90 million to 95 million pounds, with the monthlong harvest kicking into gear the first week of August. If the yield reaches 90 million pounds, it would be the largest harvest since 2000, when production reached a record 110 million pounds.

Maine’s blueberry crop has averaged from 80 million to 85 million pounds a year the past five years, said David Yarborough, blueberry specialist for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

“This year we’re maybe looking at another 10 million pounds, perhaps 90 to 95 million,” he said. “It’s contingent upon weather conditions between now and the end of August. If we have a drought it won’t hold true, but if we have a lot of rain it could exceed that.”

August typically marks the beginning of the blueberry harvest in Maine, which is the No. 1 wild blueberry state by far, with 60,000 acres of fields.

Wild blueberries grow naturally in Maine and eastern Canada and are different from cultivated berries, which are larger and grow on high bushes. Cultivated blueberries are commercially grown in about 10 states.

A small amount of Maine’s crop is sold fresh, but 99 percent is processed, making its way into blueberry muffins, cereal, yogurt and other food products.

Growers in 2011 averaged nearly 91 cents a pound for their harvest, up from 61 cents in 2010 and 36 cents in 2009, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Last year’s harvest was worth $75 million.

The price is holding up for wild blueberries because of what’s happening with cultivated berries.

The crop in Midwest has been hurt by hot, dry weather, said Ed Flanagan, president and CEO of Jasper Wyman & Son, a wild blueberry company based in Milbridge. There’s also been strong demand for fresh cultivated blueberries, meaning the supply going to the processed market isn’t as large as anticipated, thereby creating more demand among processors for wild blueberries.

Prices in Maine should remain strong, but probably won’t be as high as last year, Flanagan said.

“Depending on what side of the buyer-seller desk you’re on, it looks like it’ll probably be another pretty good year for blueberry sellers,” he said.

The higher prices for growers could result in higher prices for food manufacturers and consumers.

If prices go too high, food processing companies could turn to other ingredients for their end products, said Yarborough. It wouldn’t be unheard of for jam makers in Japan to stop making blueberry jam altogether if the price is too high, he said.

Food manufacturers might absorb the costs if the higher prices are short-term, but eventually they’ll have to pass them on to consumers, he said.

“If the berries are higher and that’s a significant part of the product, then consumers will pay more for it,” he said.

Growers don’t want the prices to go too high, Flanagan said.

“If the price of blueberries gets too high, then the product development departments, let’s say it’s a muffin baker, they’ll start putting more chocolate chip muffins on the shelf rather than blueberry muffins,” he said. “We really need to be mindful of that.”