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December 2, 2008 9:40:33 PM CST

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blackout news stories

8 Stories

 Dutch Blackout Leads 
 to Baby Boom 


CNN CNN Oct 30, 08 12:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - A mini baby boom in the Netherlands has dark origins: The 44% jump in births in September came nine months after a 2-day blackout left most of the 24,000 residents of a small area in the eastern part of the country freezing. "They went to bed early to keep warm,” said a government spokeswoman. The Maasdriel area gained 18 newborn residents in September 2007, CNN reports. In September 2008: 26. More »

More about:  baby • Netherlands • power outage • baby boom • blackout • Holland

 Calif. Pol Aims to Burst Balloons 

Blames orbs on blackouts; opponents vehemently rally to helium-filled cause

Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal Jul 15, 08 8:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - A California lawmaker is pushing to ban helium-filled foil balloons, blaming the globe-shaped menaces for flying into power lines and causing more than 800 blackouts in the state last year. The bill easily passed the state's senate, but it’s facing an uproar from balloon artists and balloon lovers alike as it awaits an assembly vote, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

More about:  California • Arnold Schwarzenegger • power outage • blackout • helium

Cat and Mouse Cause Massive Albanian Blackout

Cat-mouse battle leads to blackout in  parts of Albanian capital

Reuters Reuters May 16, 08 6:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - It’s an unlikely reason for a power outage: A cat and mouse engaged in a chase accidentally ran into high-voltage cables at the main power station in Tirana, frying themselves and causing a 72-hour blackout in some districts of the Albanian capital, Reuters reports. Outages are relatively common in Albania, but they usually result from the Soviet-era infrastructure, not the law of the jungle. More »

More about:  cat • weird • power outage • Albania • blackout • mouse • Tirana

FCC Member Wants Probe of Ala. TV Station

'60 Minutes' went black as piece linking Rove to ex-gov's case began

Broadcasting & Cable Mar 4, 08 4:10 PM CST
(Newser) - An FCC commissioner wants to know why an Alabama TV station went off the air just as a "60 Minutes" segment critical of Karl Rove started, Broadcasting & Cable reports. WHNT blamed a “technical difficulty," but Michael Copps said today he wants to find out whether Sunday's blackout of most of a segment about the imprisonment of ex-governor Don Siegelman was a political move. More »

More about:  Karl Rove • FCC • governor • Alabama • Kevin Martin • Don Siegelman • blackout • Michael Copps • political decision

Engineer's Goof Turned Out Florida Lights

Worker disabled
two levels of protective backup systems

Miami Herald Miami Herald Mar 1, 08 10:31 AM CST
(Newser) - One engineer's blunder shut off the power in Florida Tuesday, the Miami Herald reports. Florida Light & Power says a field engineer diagnosing a faulty switch disabled two levels of safety backups—against company policy—as he worked. In a bit of extremely unfortunate timing, a fault then occurred that knocked out dozens of transmission lines and substations, including one that served the Turkey Point nuclear reactor. More »

More about:  Florida • electricity • power outage • blackout • engineers • utility companies • mistake

Power Back On in South Florida

Blackout hit 4 million people

Miami Herald Miami Herald Feb 27, 08 5:15 AM CST
(Newser) - Floridians saw the light again last evening when power was restored after equipment failure at a single Miami substation caused a blackout which dominoed across South Florida, leaving millions without power for several hours. Most homes were back on the grid before nightfall, but why a single substation's failure could have such a devastating impact remains a mystery, reports the Miami Herald . More »

More about:  Miami • power outage • blackout • South Florida • Miami-Dade County

Power Returns to Millions in Fla.

Authorities rule out terrorism but disagree on cause

St. Petersburg Times St. Petersburg Times Feb 26, 08 4:40 PM CST
(Newser) - A blackout that cut off millions of Florida residents today is ending, authorities say, but they disagree on the cause. Florida Power & Light blames a substation west of Miami for sparking the outage, and a state emergency office says a station south of Miami suffered a mechanical failure that triggered two nuclear plants to go offline, the St. Petersburg Times reports. More »

More about:  Florida • Miami • power outage • nuclear power plant • traffic accident • blackout

Lobbyists Pack Ethics Crusader McCain's Staff

Forget Iseman: Senior advisers represent major corporations

Washington Post Washington Post Feb 22, 08 8:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Vicki Iseman is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to John McCain’s associations with lobbyists, the Washington Post reports. McCain targets special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are or have been lobbyists representing some of the country’s biggest corporations. Top adviser Charles Black currently numbers GM, JPMorgan, and AT&T among his clients. More »

More about:  John McCain • General Motors • JPMorgan Chase • AT&T • lobbyists • Vicki Iseman • blackout

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