Blue Ridge Parkway

Park Service defends actions after finding arsenic at Fort Reno
May 15, 2008 - 12:28pm
The National Park Service was fending off uncomfortable questions Wednesday after it waited 14 hours to tell the public that one of Northwest’s most popular parks was potentially tainted with poison. The Park Service and U.S. Park Police swooped into Fort Reno Park early Wednesday, moving out pedestrians and throwing up storm fences. Officials said satellite pictures from the U.S. Geological Survey revealed pockets of arsenic on the ground that were nearly twice federal safety standards. The park has been closed to visitors until the arsenic can be removed, officials said. There was no timetable for reopening. It took until 9 a.m. for federal officials to call the D.C. Department of Health. The D.C. fire department wasn’t notified until around 1 p.m., a spokesman told The Examiner.

Vets get heroes' welcome
May 15, 2008 - 12:27pm
A crowd of hundreds whooped, clapped and waved signs and American flags as one by one, about 100 World War II veterans from Simpsonville and across the Upstate descended the escalators on their return to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.The group, part of Honor Flight Simpsonville, returned May 7 from a daylong trip to Washington, D.C., where they visited the National World War II Memorial and other historic sites.Honor Flight Simpsonville, a project announced by the city of Simpsonville on Veterans Day last November, flew the veterans, guardians and a doctor on a chartered U.S. Airways flight to the nation's capital. The flight returned to Greenville at 7:45 p.m. after a day that started with a 9 a.m. flight and included visits to Arlington National Cemetery and the National Mall.

Young guides give free tours, but welcome tips
May 15, 2008 - 12:26pm
With a little bit of rap (about King George III, of all people: "He was a meany and we were so teeny"), a healthy but not overbearing dose of history and a whole lot of nerve, two recent college graduates are rattling the genteel world of Washington tour guides. Ben Hindman and Brody Davis are giving tours for free. Working only for tips, the two friends in bright orange caps are attracting tourists who find themselves on the National Mall knowing little more than that the really tall one has to do with Washington; the squat, columned one is where Forrest Gump liked to hang out; and the one with the dome is where the president lives, or something like that. "A lot of tourists really don't know anything about Washington or history," Hindman says. "We thought we could entertain people and get them interested in history at the same time."

Jefferson Memorial Needs Repair, Study Says
May 15, 2008 - 12:25pm
The sea wall at the Jefferson Memorial has sunk almost a foot in places since the monument was built, and the rate seems to have increased in recent years, according to a year-long study commissioned by the National Park Service. As a result, the sea wall, in the Tidal Basin, should be reinforced with pilings driven through the mud flats and anchored in bedrock far below, a project that would probably cost more than $10 million, a Park Service spokesman said. Park Service officials said they would study the report and conduct further investigations before deciding on a course of action. The 32,000-ton memorial does not appear to be sinking. But the report urges continued monitoring of the 18-acre complex to understand what is happening in the ground. One engineer said that if nothing is done, the problems will worsen.

Kayaking Trips at Channel Islands National Park
May 15, 2008 - 12:22pm
My friend Craig and I were nearing the end of our paddling excursion through Channel Islands National Park: a circumnavigation of Santa Rosa Island, followed by an open ocean sprint through pea soup fog to Santa Cruz Island, and an exploration of the natural wonders on that island’s craggy front side. We kayaked past volcanic sea stacks and configurations such as Profile Point, then paddled into the Dardanelles, where we ducked under triangular and keyhole-shaped arches. But it was the black mass that swarmed beneath Craig’s kayak at Potato Harbor that we remember most.We couldn’t have asked for cleaner paddling conditions: no swell or wind, and the water clarity mirrored the South Pacific. We’d paddled the entire front side of the largest island in the archipelago without a break, and decided to stretch our legs at Potato Harbor, the last protected cove before Scorpion Anchorage on the southeast end of the isle. As soon as our hulls scraped wet sand, that black mass appeared in the waist-deep water. A gazillion silverfish bonded into a giant baitball. Stiff-legged, Craig gently shoved his kayak back into the protected waters of Potato. Perhaps instantly drawn toward his multicolored vessel, the baitball swayed beneath him, a sort of aquatic ballet and another Channel Islands natural wonder within the ebb and flow of a draining tide.