EXTRA...

Ted's letter to the Pope; Ice battle heats up; Why our sea level rose this summer; Hyannis attackers sought; Hurricane birds; View from the Dyke Bridge

TODAY's quote: "Most Holy Father... I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago and although I continue treatment, the disease is taking its toll on me. I am 77 years old and preparing for the next passage of life. I have been blessed to be part of a wonderful family and both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained and nurtured and provides solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith I have tried to right my path..."
- Senator Ted Kennedy letter to Pope Benedict XVI. (photo: Ted with father visit Pope in 1939.

The seas levels rose an average of six inches to two feet all along the East Coast this summer according to a report below by NOAA. This is Silver Springs, MD as reported in the piece. Photo courtesy of NOAA.

Hot Ice Battle
Cape Pond Ice cries foul over competitor's 'false scare tactics'

The New England ice industry has heated up over the Gloucester water emergency. In an e-mail to Mayor Carolyn Kirk's office, the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce and the Times, Cape Pond Ice President Scott Memhard blasted what he called "slanderous" and "false scare" tactics on the part of a Cape Cod company, and assured customers and residents that the ice being distributed by Cape Pond Ice during the city's water emergency is safe.
   In the letter, Memhard said that the head of Cape Cod Ice, based in Sandwich, had falsely told Gloucester customers that Cape Pond's product was tainted by the water crisis — an allegation Memhard vehemently denies, with the state Department of Health backing his stand... Gloucester Times.

After Kennedy's Death: Silence from the Pope, Text of letter revealed

There was a poignant footnote to President Obama's historic July 10 meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Behind closed doors in the papal library, Obama handed Benedict a letter that Senator Edward Kennedy had asked him to personally deliver to the Pontiff. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs later told reporters that nobody - not even the President - knew the contents of the sealed missive. Obama asked Benedict to pray for Kennedy and called the ailing Senator afterward to fill him in on his encounter with the 82-year-old Pope.

The letter, most likely already resealed and tucked away in the Vatican archives, was probably just a dying Catholic's request for a papal blessing. (UPDATE: At Kennedy's burial at Arlington on Saturday, retired Cardinal Theodore McCarrick read excerpts from Kennedy's letter; he also provided portions of the Vatican's response to it.) In the eyes of the traditionalist wing of the Church, however, Kennedy should have been asking the Pope for forgiveness. The Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reported Kennedy's death, praising his work on civil rights and fighting poverty, but noted that his record was marred by his stance on abortion... TIME.
_____

Three sought after reported Hyannis beating

Police are looking for three men who allegedly set up and beat another man Thursday afternoon in a parking lot on Route 28, reports the Cape Cod Times. Shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday Barnstable police Officer John Campbell found an 18-year-old man injured and bleeding walking on Barnstable Road, police Sgt. Sean Sweeney said.
   After being taken to Cape Cod Hospital the victim told Campbell he was walking with another teen toward the Cape Cod Mall at about 4 p.m. when he was assaulted, Sweeney said. The other man identified as Denzel Smith, 17, of Marstons Mills, was texting on his cell phone as they were walking, the victim told police... Herald.

High Sea Level Along U.S. Atlantic Coast
Due To Ocean Current And Wind Changes

Persistent winds and a weakened current in the Mid-Atlantic contributed to higher than normal sea levels along the Eastern Seaboard in June and July, according to a new NOAA technical report.

After observing water levels six inches to two feet higher than originally predicted, NOAA scientists began analyzing data from select tide stations and buoys from Maine to Florida and found that a weakening of the Florida Current Transport-an oceanic current that feeds into the Gulf Stream-in addition to steady and persistent Northeast winds, contributed to this anomaly.

"The ocean is dynamic and it's not uncommon to have anomalies," said Mike Szabados, director of NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services. "What made this event unique was its breadth, intensity and duration"...

The full report, Elevated East Coast Sea Level Anomaly: June-July 2009, is available as a PDF. Science Daily.
_____

         A reporter's notes
         from Dyke Bridge

I watched the TV news off and on from morning to night the day Ted Kennedy died, enough to hear summations of what were obviously thought to be the key events in an important life...
   In all the newscasts I watched that day, Chappaquiddick was mentioned once. A few times, newscasters and commentators talked of Kennedy's "dark side" without mentioning any details.
   Dyke Bridge, Poucha Pond and Kopechne were not mentioned even once in all the time I watched and listened... Philadelphia Daily News.

Hurricane bird watch on Cape Cod

The big news to most people on the Cape was Hurricane Bill. The concern for beachgoers was to not get swept away, while the concern for birders was to find a good spot to view the ocean and look for "storm birds.''

The big "storm bird'' this week was off the Cape: an immature white-tailed tropicbird seen in Carlisle. It is very rare in Massachusetts waters, let alone on north shores. Keep an eye out for any other oddities that may still be around.

A "storm bird'' watch at First Encounter Beach in Eastham on Sunday had the following: common eider, surf scoter, white-winged scoter, common loon, Cory's shearwater, greater shearwater, sooty shearwater, Manx shearwater, Wilson's storm-petrel, Leach's storm-petrel, Northern gannet, double-crested cormorant, great blue heron, semipalmated plover, greater yellowlegs, willet, whimbrel, ruddy turnstone, semipalmated sandpiper, least sandpiper, white-rumped sandpiper, short-billed dowitcher, phalarope sp, laughing gull, ring-billed gull, herring gull, great black-backed gull, least tern, gull-billed tern, black tern, roseate tern, common tern, pomarine jaeger, and parasitic jaeger... Globe.