WESLEY C. SKILES

Memorial Celebration and Service Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at Ginnie Springs

The memorial service will begin at 6:00 pm followed by a celebration of Wes’s life. Ginnie Springs will be open to our guests all afternoon. The celebration will last into the evening. You may want to bring the beverage of your choice and a picnic supper or food to share.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made in Wes’s name to the Alachua Conservation Trust: alachuaconservationtrust.org

via Karst Productions Home Page

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is issuing a new moratorium on deep-water offshore drilling and it's no longer based on water depth.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made the announcement Monday, arguing that a pause is still needed to ensure that oil and gas companies implement safety measures to reduce risks – and are prepared to handle spills.

via Obama Offshore Drilling Moratorium: Administration Issues New Rule.

PORT FOURCHON, La. (AP) — Kevin Costner's company has sent an oil-skimming vessel to help clean some of the crude that has fouled the Gulf of Mexico.

The actor told workers and visitors Thursday who had come to see the latest in the fight against the oil spill that “the machine I once dreamed of is here to help you.”

via Kevin Costner’s Oil Spill Cleanup Machine Now At Work In The Gulf (PHOTOS).

A month ago, National Incident Commander Thad Allen issued an order granting the media “uninhibited access” to the areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It was routinely and often brazenly ignored.

Thirty days later, it should be said that the order essentially has no real-world meaning at all. Here's Daniel Tencer at Raw Story:

via BP Media Clampdown: Journalists Now Face Possibility of Fines, Prison Time.

It’s not just skin rashes and blisters. At community forums, I commonly hear from adults and children with persistent coughs, stuffy sinuses, headaches, burning eyes, sore throats, ear bleeds, and fatigue. These symptoms are consistent across the four Gulf states that I have visited. Further, the symptoms of respiratory problems, central nervous system distress, and skin irritation are consistent with overexposure to crude oil through the two primary routes of exposure: inhalation and skin contact.

via Riki Ott: BP, Governments Downplay Public Health Risk From Oil and Dispersants (PHOTOS).

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA has used computer models to estimate the potential threats to U.S. coastlines that might result if oil spilling from the Deepwater Horizon site continues until a relief well successfully stops the flow.

Much of the west coast of Florida has a low probability (1%–20%) for impact, but the Florida Keys, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale areas have a greater probability (61%–80%) due to the potential influence of the Loop Current [leaves OR&R site].

via Deepwater Horizon: Statistical Modeling | Recent and Historical Incidents | Emergency Response | NOAA’s National Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration.

Federal officials Friday scrambled to get ready for the possibility that a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico could shut down containment operations at BP's leaking oil well for two weeks.

via Nation & World | Gulf braces for storm, halt to oil containment | Seattle Times Newspaper.

Follow the story at www.handsacrossthesand.com

The storm is expected to become better organized, meteorologist Marie Trabert with the National Weather Service in Jacksonville said Friday.

“There is an 80 percent chance of this storm becoming a tropical cyclone,” Trabert said. The storm is forecast to slowly move north/northwest toward the Yucatan Peninsula.

Locally, the system that could become the region’s first tropical storm of the 2010 hurricane season — while it is far away — could bring some rainy weather to North Central

Watch this:
Is It RAINING OIL In New Orleans?
This shocking video shows what appears to be the aftermath of oily rain, filmed in River Ridge — just outside New Orleans. The filmmaker captures…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/23/raining-oil-in-louisiana_n_622815.html