Monday Newsbreak: 1/7

--A severe storm passed through California and Oregon into Nevada Saturday, causing (at this writing) three deaths, hundreds of thousands cut off from power, and a broken levee in a small northwestern Nevada town. The storm caught many completely off guard, depositing large amounts of snow and bringing wind gusts in places up to 165 mph. The storm reminds me of the incredible Storm of the Century in March, 1993, which brought hurricane-like conditions to Florida and snow blizzards to the Deep South before devastating the Northeastern U.S..

--The school board for Alachua County (where I reside) is currently undergoing criticism from parents whose children are being switched from one public high school to another due to their new rezoning plan. The problem, as I see it, is that Gainesville has only three public high schools (aside from the University of Florida's "special" P.K. Yonge school). One, appropriately called Eastside, is on the far eastern end of town. In Gainesville's center is Gainesville High, and toward the west is Buchholz High. The problem with this is that new construction and housing in Gainesville lie overwhelmingly to the (sometimes far) west of all three of these. And thus, while many, many parents may want their kids to attend Buchholz, the school board must assign some of them to one of the two more eastern schools for lack of space. My town (in my opinion) desperately needs a new public high school to be built a few miles southwest of Buchholz.

--Going on right now, almost completely unnoticed in the news, may be the largest mass extinction of species since the dinosaurs! According to Steve Newman in his feature Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet, an epidemic of chytrid fungus infection among amphibians is unstoppable and sweeping through native populations of toads, frogs, salamanders, and other amphibians. To prevent as many ultimate species extinctions as possible, there is a modest movement afoot by some concerned scientists to rescue some from the most immediately-dangered species to protected areas free from the fungus. The rescue project, called Amphibian Ark, is headed by St. Louis Zoo CEO Jeffrey Bonner, who is understandably concerned about the crisis. I can't figure out why this story doesn't merit a higher priority in the news! Maybe Keith Olbermann can spare a few seconds from his Britney-bashing to devote to an ongoing worldwide biological cataclysm!

--With football, I'm looking forward to the National Championship game tonight between LSU and Ohio State. Most people following the game think that the (LSU) Tigers will prevail, but I beg to differ. Something tells me that the (Ohio State) Buckeyes will be ready for this game, although I'm pulling for the "Bayou Bengals". In the NFL, I'm not so certain that the (so far) undefeated New England Patriots will be able to get past everyone to win the Super Bowl. There are too many good teams lined up to face them, especially in their own conference. Starting with the nearby (to me) Jacksonville Jaguars next week! And if the Pats happen to beat the Jags, they'll still have to play the San Diego/Indianapolis winner. Both of those teams have scores to settle against the Patriots. And we're not even talking Super Bowl yet! Yes, I think the folks affiliated with the perfect '72 Miami Dolphins team should still keep their champagne handy for a possible celebration in the near future!