<p>Vitosha , the ancient Scomius or Scombrus, is a mountain massif, on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Vitosha is one of the symbols of Sofia and the closest site for hiking, alpinism and skiing. Convenient bus lines and rope ways render the mountain easily accessible. Vitosha has the outlines of an enormous dome. The territory of the mountain includes Vitosha nature park that encompasses the best known and most frequently visited parts. The foothills of Vitosha shelter resort quarters of Sofia; Knyazhevo quarter has mineral springs. Vitosha is the oldest nature park in the Balkans.</p><br>
<p>The mountain emerged as a result of volcanic activity and has been subsequently shaped by the slow folding of the granite rock layers and a series of gradual uplifts of the area. It appears dome shaped at first sight, but the mountain, 19 km long by 17 km wide, actually consists of concentric denudational plateaus rising in tiers one above the other. Vitosha is separated into four main parts whose main ridges gather at a crown known as Cherni Vrah ("Black Peak"). This is the highest point of the mountain at 2290 m and is one of 10 peaks of Vitosha over 2000 m in height.</p><br>
<p>Since the ancient times of the Thracians a large population has always existed at the base of Vitosha. For the last four thousand years the economy of this large settlement has always been connected, in one way or another, with the neighboring mountain. The name Vitosha comes from the two-peaked, twin ridge mountain, which rises above the Sofia field and has acquired its present shape in stages over many millennia.</p><br>
<p>A meteorological station was built at the top in 1935, and is still operating. The station also serves as a rest shelter for hikers and is the headquarters for the mountain rescue team. Historical documents show that several centuries ago Vitosha mountain was still covered by the remains of the inaccessible "Great Bulgarian Forest" (Magna Silva Bulgarica). Today, the natural coniferous forests of Vitosha remain only in the reserve Bistrishko Branishte and around Zlatnite Mostove (The Golden Bridges). The Golden Bridges is a stone river consisting of a ribbon of huge boulders running down the mountainside. This scenic spot is located along the Vladayska River in an area of mixed deciduous and evergreen forest. However, this is only one of the stone rivers found in Vitosha and they were once the moraines of ancient glaciers. Their further formation occurred due to the spherical erosion of the sienite rocks and their gradual movement to down stream valleys by the forces of gravity and moving water.</p><br>
<p>At a time when nature conservation ideas were a long way from the present understanding, some enlightened noblemen took the first step in 1934 by declaring 66 km² of Vitosha a nature park, hence Vitosha became the first park of this kind in the Balkans. During the following year, some of the early Bulgarian reserves, Bistrishko Branishte (subsequently expanded to 10.61 km²) and Torfeno Branishte (7.84 km² respectively), were designated within its boundaries. The park boundaries fluctuated over many years and today it encompasses the entire mountain; an area of 266.06 km².</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>Due to a great variability in elevation, a rich diversity of climates, flora and fauna can be found within the park. Research has revealed that on the comparatively small area of the mountain there are 1,500 species of higher plants, 500 species of fungi, 500 species of algae, 326 species of mosses, and 200 species of lichens. Among them 31 species are Balkan endemics and 52 species are included in the Red Book of Bulgaria.</p><br>
<p>The forests are made up mainly of Norway Spruce and Bulgarian Fir, with some Macedonian Pine, Scots Pine, and at the tree-line, Mountain Pine, and mixed deciduous forest at lower altitudes, mainly beech, birch, aspen and alder. Regarding the herbaceous plants, well established populations of Veratrum album are present in the mountain so as other species commonly called lilies. There are also Orchids as the East European green-winged orchid (Orchis morio) that grows in the higher parts. Lungworth (Pulmonaria officinalis) is another widespread herbaceous plant in Vitosha and it develops in dank sites under the shade of the forest.</p><br>
<h2>Honours</h2><br>
<p>Vitosha Saddle, Rezen Knoll, Komini Peak, and Kikish Crag on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica are named respectively for Mount Vitosha, and for the Vitosha peaks of Malak Rezen and Golyam Rezen, Kominite Peak, and Kikish site.</p><br>
<p>Vitosha is also the name of:</p><br>
<p>Radio Vitosha</p><br>
<p>Vitosha Boulevard - a popular main street in Sofia; with shops, boutiques and restaurants.</p><br>
<p>Upper Klamath Lake   is a large, shallow freshwater lake east of the Cascade Range in south-central Oregon in the United States. The largest body of fresh water by surface area in Oregon, it is approximately 25 mi long and 8 mi wide and extends northwest from the city of Klamath Falls. It sits at an average elevation of 4,140 ft.</p><br>
<p>In the early 20th century, most of the wetlands and marshes surrounding the lake were drained for agricultural purposes, damaging the larger habitat. The lake&#39;s water has been used to support the federal Klamath Project for irrigation by local farmers for a century. The lake depth fluctuates due to regulation of its water supply, averaging between 8 to 50 ft deep. The lake level is kept within 4137 to 4143 ft above sea level to ensure a viable fishery in the lake and to protect coho salmon in the Klamath River below the lake.</p><br>
<p>Upper Klamath Lake is fed by a watershed of 3,768 square miles including the Williamson and Wood Rivers, and is drained by the Klamath River (known here as the Link River), which issues from the south end of the lake. The lake is connected by a short channel to the smaller Agency Lake to the north. The Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge has been established on land along the northern edge of the lake to preserve natural habitat.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Upper Klamath Lake is the largest remnant of Lake Modoc, a giant pluvial lake that existed in the region until about 10,000 years ago. At its largest, Lake Modoc covered over 1,000 square miles, joining Upper Klamath, Lower Klamath, and Tule Lakes, as well as all of the major wetlands in the upper Klamath River basin, into a contiguous body of water. The lake was more than ten times the size of present-day Upper Klamath Lake and sat nearly 100 ft higher in elevation. Lake Modoc disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene due to a warming and drying climate.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The region around Upper Klamath Lake and the Williamson, Sprague and Wood Rivers to the north of the lake were originally inhabited by the Klamath people. The Modoc people inhabited the lands to the south of Upper Klamath Lake, around the Lower Klamath and Tule lakes.</p><br>
<p>The first recorded persons of European descent to visit Upper Klamath Lake were a party of Hudson&#39;s Bay Company fur trappers commanded by Peter Skene Ogden in December 1826. Ogden called the lake "Dog Lake", after obtaining nine dogs from the local Klamaths for food. They explored the lake and the Klamath River headwaters, helped by native guides. However, they did not stay in the area for long, instead moving south to tributaries of the Klamath River in search of beaver.</p><br>
<p>Animosity between American immigrants and Native Americans led to armed conflicts. In 1846, a military expedition led by John C. Frémont and Kit Carson were attacked by Native American warriors near Upper Klamath Lake. In revenge, Frémont and Carson&#39;s party attacked a local village, killing fourteen people.</p><br>
<p>As more settlers entered the region, the Modoc people resisted by raiding parties along the South Emigrant Trail, which passed through the Klamath River Valley south of Upper Klamath Lake. In 1873, the Native Americans were defeated in the Modoc War, and were relocated to a reservation on the north side of the lake.</p><br>
<p>Being naturally eutrophic, the lake has been known since early times for its poor water quality. Frémont noted the "often foul smelling waters" of the lake, and the Applegate Trail was purposely routed away from the lake because the water was "so bad that it might be too dangerous for livestock to drink late in the season".</p><br>
<p>Starting in the mid-1800s, the valleys both north and south of Upper Klamath were settled and developed for agriculture. Since 1917, the water level in the lake has been regulated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation (BOR)&#39;s Link River Dam as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project, to supply irrigation waters to support agriculture in the upper Klamath Basin. The original timber crib dam was replaced by a more permanent concrete structure in 1921.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>Prior to the 20th century, the lake was surrounded by widespread marshes and wetlands, which supported fish, birds and wildlife, as well as protecting water quality in the lake. Much of these important habitats were drained to be converted to cultivated farmland, as farmers did not understand the value of the wetlands for the environment. The lake is naturally eutrophic, due to a high concentration of nutrients. In the 20th century, the augmentation of nutrients by agricultural runoff from the surrounding farming valley has caused the lake to become hypereutrophic, resulting in blue-green algae blooms over the lake ( largely Aphanizomenon flos-aquae). The algae blooms turn the water an opaque green in the summer and reduce the opportunity for recreational uses of the lake. State standards for dissolved oxygen are routinely violated, meaning that fish are endangered. The lake is still a vital stop for waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway, and is known for its rainbow trout fishery.</p><br>
<p>The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is responsible for protecting and maintaining sucker populations in the lake. In 1988, the FWS placed the Lost River sucker and the shortnose sucker (Catostomidae) on the federal endangered species list; the numbers of the two formerly abundant Upper Klamath Lake fish species had sharply fallen due to the decline in water quality. As a result, the government abandoned a planned dredging project, which would have further damaged the water quality. The project was to dredge a deeper navigation channel from one end of the lake to the other; it was planned between several government agencies and Aqua Farm&#39;s Inc.</p><br>
<p>A drought in the summer of 2001 heightened environmental concerns about the lake. The BOR stopped withdrawing irrigation water for the Klamath Project in order to protect the sucker population. The farming community protested, as they depended on a supply of lake waters for their operations. As of 2003, the FWS was monitoring the lake regularly due to water shortfalls, which endangered both fish in the lake and salmon in the Klamath River. The future uses of Klamath Lake are of national interest because of competing claims between farmers&#39; property rights (supported by federal subsidies and programs) and larger environmental goals.</p><br>
<p>Washington Square, originally designated in 1682 as Southeast Square, is a 6.4 acre open-space park in Center City Philadelphias southeast quadrant and one of the five original planned squares laid out on the city grid by William Penns surveyor, Thomas Holme. It is part of both the Washington Square West and Society Hill neighborhoods. In 2005, the National Park Service took over ownership and management of Washington Square, through an easement from the City of Philadelphia. It is now part of Independence National Historical Park.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>During the 18th century, the Square was used to graze animals and for burials by the citys African American community and as a potters field, much like the park of the same name in New York&#39;s Greenwich Village. During the Revolutionary War, the square was used as a burial ground for citizens and troops from the Colonial army.</p><br>
<p>After the Revolution, victims of the city&#39;s yellow fever epidemics were interred here, and the square was used for cattle markets and camp meetings. Improvement efforts began in 1815, as the neighborhoods around the square were developed and became fashionable. In 1825, the park was named Washington Square in tribute to George Washington and a monument to Washington was proposed. This monument was never built but served as the seed for the eventual tribute to soldiers of the Revolutionary War.</p><br>
<p>Washington Square included an area called Lawyers Row at 6th and Walnut, on the site of the former Walnut Street Prison. The square was also home to the citys publishing industry, including the Curtis Publishing Company, J. B. Lippincott, W. B. Saunders, Lea & Febiger, the Farm Journal, and George T. Bisel Co., law publishers, now the sole remaining publishing house on the Square, with Franklin Jon Zuch serving as president since 1992. It has been located there since 1876 and still owned by the Bisel family.</p><br>
<p>Washington Square was the site of the first human flight in the Americas in 1793 when Jean Pierre Blanchard ascended in his hot-air balloon from the Walnut Street Prison.</p><br>
<h2>American Civil War</h2><br>
<p>Initially, the square contained monuments to those who had fought in the American Civil War. One such monument was the Washington Grays Monument. In 1954, the decision was made to remove the civil war commemorations and focus the square solely on the memory of the Revolutionary War.</p><br>
<h2>Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier</h2><br>
<p>In 1954, the Washington Square Planning Committee decided that, instead of the original proposed monument to Washington, a monument to all soldiers and sailors of the Revolutionary War would be built. The monument, designated the "Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier", was designed by architect G. Edwin Brumbaugh and includes a bronze cast of Houdons statue of Washington as the monuments centerpiece. The Tomb includes remains which were disinterred, after archeological examination, from within the park from when it was a cemetery. The remains are that of a soldier, but it is uncertain if he was Colonial or British. An unknown number of bodies remain buried beneath the square and the surrounding area; some are still occasionally found during construction and maintenance projects.</p><br>
<h2>Moon Tree</h2><br>
<p>A sycamore moon tree in the square, planted in 1975, was grown from seeds that had been carried to the moon by astronaut Stuart Roosa on the Apollo 14 mission.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The pop-punk group, The Wonder Years, wrote about Washington Square in their song "Washington Square Park", from their album, The Upsides.</p><br>
<p>The Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the principal USA art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri, where it is visited by up to a half million people every year. Admission is free through a subsidy from the cultural tax district for St. Louis City and County.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the featured exhibitions, the museum offers rotating exhibitions and installations. These include the Currents series, which features contemporary artists, as well as regular exhibitions of new media art and works on paper.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The museum was founded in 1881 as the Saint Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts, an independent entity within Washington University in St. Louis, housed in a downtown building. The building was originally built by Wayman Crow as a memorial to honor his son, Wayman Crow, Jr. Crow employed Boston architects Peabody & Stearns to design the building located at 19th and Lucas Place (now Locust Street). The school, led by directory Halsey C. Ives, educated two generations of St. Louis artists and craftspeople and offered studio and art history classes supported by a museum collection. After the school moved to Washington University&#39;s campus and the museum moved to Forest Park, the building fell into disrepair and was eventually demolished in 1919.</p><br>
<p>The museum moved after the 1904 World&#39;s Fair, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, to the Palace of Fine Arts, built for the fair from 1902 to 1903. The building was designed by architect Cass Gilbert, who took inspiration from the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy. The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum remained part of Washington University, and the collection was lent to the Saint Louis Art Museum for several years.</p><br>
<p>In 1908, the museum&#39;s first director, Halsey Cooley Ives, arranged for a municipal tax to support the museum. The following year, the museum separated from Washington University and was renamed the City Art Museum. An organizing board was assigned to take control in 1912.</p><br>
<p>During the 1950s, the museum added an extension to include an auditorium for films, concerts and lectures.</p><br>
<p>In 1971, efforts to secure the museum&#39;s financial future led voters in St. Louis City and County to approve the creation of the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District (ZMD). This expanded the tax base for the 1908 tax to include St. Louis County. In 1972, the museum was again renamed, to the Saint Louis Art Museum.</p><br>
<p>Today, the museum is supported financially by the tax, donations from individuals and public associations, sales in the Museum Shop, and foundation support.</p><br>
<h3>Expansion</h3><br>
<p>Plans to expand the museum, which existed in the 1995 Forest Park Master Plan and the museum&#39;s 2000 Strategic Plan, began in earnest in 2005, when the museum board selected the noted British architect Sir David Chipperfield to design the expansion; Michel Desvigne was selected as landscape architect. The St. Louis-based firm, Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum (HOK) was the architect of record to work with the construction team.</p><br>
<p>On November 5, 2007, museum officials released the design plans to the public and hosted public conversations about those plans. A model of the new building was displayed in the museum&#39;s Sculpture Hall throughout the construction project. In 2008, citing the declining state of the economy, the museum announced that it would delay the start of the expansion, whose cost was then estimated at $125 million.</p><br>
<p>Construction began in 2009; the museum remained open. The expansion added more than 224,000 ft&sup2; of gallery space, including an underground garage, within the lease lines of the property. Money for the project was raised through private gifts to the capital campaign from individuals, foundations and corporations, and from proceeds from the sale of tax-exempt bonds. The fundraising campaigned covered the $130-million cost of construction and a $31.2 million increase to the museum&#39;s endowment to support incremental costs of operating the larger facility. The expanded facility opened in the summer of 2013.</p><br>
<h2>Collection</h2><br>
<p>The collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum contains more than 30,000 art works dating from antiquity to the present. The collection is divided into eleven areas:</p><br>
<p>The modern art collection includes works by the European masters Matisse, Gauguin, Monet, Picasso, Giambattista Pittoni and Van Gogh. The museums particularly strong collection of 20th-century German paintings includes the worlds largest Max Beckmann collection, which includes Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery. In recent years, the museum has been actively acquiring post-war German art to complement its Beckmanns, such as works by Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Martin Kippenberger and others. The collection also includes Chuck Close&#39;s Keith (1970).</p><br>
<p>The collections of Oceanic and Mesoamerican works, as well as handwoven Turkish rugs, are among the finest in the world. The museum holds the Egyptian mummy Amen-Nestawy-Nakht, and two mummies on loan from Washington University. Its collection of American artists includes the largest USA-museum collection of paintings by George Caleb Bingham.</p><br>
<p>The collection contains at least six pieces that Nazis confiscated from their own museums as degenerate. These include Max Beckmann’s “Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery” which came to the museum through a New York art dealer, Curt Valentin, who specialized in Nazi confiscations, and Matisse&#39;s “Bathers with a Turtle” which Joseph Pulitzer purchased at the Galerie Fischer auction held in the Grand Hôtel National, Lucerne, Switzerland, June 30, 1939.</p><br>
<p>In the context of the museum&#39;s 2013 expansion, British artist Andy Goldsworthy created Stone Sea, a site-specific work for a narrow space between the old and new buildings. Twenty-five tightly packed, ten-foot-high arches made of native limestone rise in a sunken courtyard. The artist was inspired by the fact that the sedimentary rock was formed when the region was a shallow sea in Prehistoric times.</p><br>
<h2>Services</h2><br>
<p>Art classes for children, adults, and teachers. Each costs about $10–$200.</p><br>
<p>Richardson Memorial Library, one of the largest centers for the history and documentation of art in the Midwest, holding more than 100,000 volumes and the museum&#39;s archives. Both can be searched through their online catalog.</p><br>
<p>Resource Center, a loan collection of educational materials circulated through the museum&#39;s nine satellite resource centers in Missouri.</p><br>
<p>Free guided tours for groups led by trained docents.</p><br>
<p>The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately 61 mi southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside counties.</p><br>
<h2>Geography and climate</h2><br>
<h3>Peaks and boundaries</h3><br>
<p>The range starts in the north at the Whittier Fault and Santa Ana Canyon, through which the Santa Ana River flows. To the north of the canyon are the smaller Chino Hills in Los Angeles County. the highest summit in the range; form Saddleback Ridge. Saddleback, located approximately 20 mi (32 km) east of Santa Ana, is visible from much of Southern California.</p><br>
<p>South of Saddleback are Trabuco Peak, 4,613 ft; Los Pinos Peak, 4,510 ft and Sitton Peak, 3,273 ft. Elsinore Peak, 3,575 ft is included in a subrange called the Elsinore Mountains, which are west of Lake Elsinore. San Mateo Peak 3,591 ft marks the highpoint of this range. Margarita Peak, 3,189 ft; and Redonda Mesa, 2,825 ft are part of the Santa Margarita Mountains, a subrange of the Santa Anas that extends down to Camp Pendleton and Fallbrook. Southeast of the Elsinore Mountains is the Santa Rosa Plateau, named for the Rancho Santa Rosa that once encompassed it. At the south end of the plateau there is a steep escarpment from the basalt capped mesas that line it, that descends from about 500 feet at Mesa de Burro to Sandia Creek on the east to about 1800 feet at Avenaloca Mesa to De Luz Creek in the west. From the foot of the escarpment, the mountains and canyons of De Luz, Sandia Creek and others below it, run to the south to the Santa Margarita River. The range ends roughly at the Santa Margarita River.</p><br>
<p>Much of the range is within the Trabuco Ranger District of the Cleveland National Forest, although some parts are still owned by two century-old ranches: the Irvine Ranch (originally known as the Yorba Family&#39;s Rancho Lomas de Santiago) and Rancho Mission Viejo (originally recorded as Rancho Misión Vieja).</p><br>
<h3>Waterways</h3><br>
<p>The Santa Anas include a number of high-mountain streams that flow for all or most of the year, although once out of the foothills these waterways are ephemeral. The major streams rising from the western side of the range drain into the Pacific Ocean; these include Peters Canyon Wash, Serrano Creek, San Diego Creek, Aliso Creek, Trabuco Creek, San Juan Creek, and San Mateo Creek. The northern side of the range is defined by the Santa Ana River, which heads about 50 mi further east, in the San Bernardino Mountains. Santiago Creek drains much of the northern part of the range and empties into the Santa Ana River near downtown Orange.</p><br>
<p>Water from the north-east side of the range empties into Temescal Creek which flows north to the Santa Ana River, or Lake Elsinore which intermittently overflows to Temescal Creek. The southeast end of the range is marked by the Santa Margarita River, which also originates east of the Santa Anas and flows southwest to the Pacific. Runoff from the southeast side of the range drains into Murrieta Creek, a tributary of the Santa Margarita River.</p><br>
<p>Irvine Lake, the largest body of fresh water in Orange County, is in the northwest part of the range near Villa Park. The lake is formed by the Santiago Dam, which impounds Santiago Creek.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>The climate is Mediterranean, with warm dry summers and cool wet winters. Annual precipitation totals range from 20 to 30 inches (500-760 mm) in the higher parts of the range above 3,000 feet (910m), as compared to the average of 14–16 inches (350–400 mm) in the coastal plain. Most of the precipitation falls between November and March. The western (coastal) slope is generally moister than the eastern slope. Snow only falls in winter on the highest peaks.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The mountains were named by members of Gaspar de Portolàs expedition, who camped below the mountains on July 26, 1769, the Feast Day of Saint Anne. At the time of Portolas visit, the Santa Anas were settled by three main groups of indigenous peoples, the Tongva in the north, the Acjachemen in the west and Payomkowishum in the east and south.</p><br>
<p>A handful of historic sites remain in the range today. Registered California Historical Landmarks include an Indian Village Site in Black Star Canyon, Flores Peak named for the outlaw Juan Flores, the mining boomtown sites of Carbondale and Silverado, and Helena Modjeska&#39;s home. The Moreno and Machado Adobes of the Rancho Santa Rosa are found on the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve. Beeks Place a small house foundation still owned by the family is also located here.</p><br>
<p>The mountains were the site of a famed Indian massacre in 1831 in Black Star Canyon.</p><br>
<h2>Natural resources</h2><br>
<p>Flora</p><br>
<p>As part of the California Floristic Province, the Santa Ana Mountains host a diverse array of plant species within distinctive natural (plant) communities, including coastal sage scrub, chaparral, riparian woodland, southern oak woodland, rocky outcrop, vernal pool, valley grassland, and closed-cone montane coniferous forest. One of the southernmost stands of madrones can be found in Trabuco Canyon. Groves of knobcone pine can be found around Pleasants Peak. Big-cone Douglas fir and Coulter pine can be found at the higher elevations. Rare flowers like the intermediate Mariposa lily, heart-leaved pitcher sage (associated with the Tecate cypress), and chocolate lily are difficult to find, but breathtaking to observe. Fragrant sages, broadleaf evergreen shrubs and trees, perennial bunchgrasses, strange succulents (Dudleya species), and fire-following flowers adorn the rugged terrain. Numerous ferns, including large sword ferns, are found under trees and near streams, especially at higher elevations.</p><br>
<p>Fauna</p><br>
<p>A surprising variety of wildlife species can be found, including mountain lion, mule deer, bobcat, coyote, gray fox, American badger, ring-tailed cat, spotted skunk, western gray squirrel, long-tailed weasel, woodrat, kangaroo rat, bats, spotted owl, western pond turtle, steelhead, coast horned lizard, least Bell&#39;s vireo, golden eagle, mountain quail, canyon wren, speckled rattlesnake, Pacific rattlesnake, common kingsnake, gopher snake, arroyo toad, western spadefoot toad, California tree frog, California sister butterfly, various Aphonopelma species of tarantula, and many more.</p><br>
<p>The last wild grizzly bear in the Santa Ana Mountains was shot and killed in the mountains in 1908. Gray wolf, pronghorn, and California condor were also once found in the range.</p><br>
<p>Minerals</p><br>
<p>A number of minerals have been mined in the range, though none were very profitable. Commercial resources collected since the 1870s have included metals lead, silver, tin, and zinc, and minerals clay, coal, gypsum, and limestone.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>The mountains form a natural barrier between the Inland Empire region to the east and the job centers of Orange County to the west. Only one freeway, the Riverside Freeway (State Route 91) and the two-lane Ortega Highway (State Route 74) connect the regions. Highway 91, which follows the Santa Ana River through a pass between the Santa Ana Mountains on the south and the Chino Hills on the north, is one of California&#39;s most congested routes. Because of this, several proposals have been floated to excavate a highway tunnel through the Santa Ana Mountains, although the multibillion-dollar idea has drawn criticism from environmentalists and others concerned about cost and safety in the earthquake-prone region. While Highway 91 is one of the most congested routes in California, Highway 74 holds a more ominous claim: it is one of the most dangerous highways in the state.</p><br>
<p>Mount Gerizim  is one of the two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the West Bank city of Nablus , and forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the northern side being formed by Mount Ebal. The mountain is one of the highest peaks in the West Bank and rises to 881 m above sea level, 70 m lower than Mount Ebal. In Samaritan tradition, Mount Gerizim is held to be the highest, oldest and most central mountain in the world. The mountain is particularly steep on the northern side, is sparsely covered at the top with shrubbery, and lower down there is a spring with a high yield of fresh water.</p><br>
<p>A Samaritan village, Kiryat Luza, and an Israeli settlement, Har Brakha, are situated on the mountain ridge.</p><br>
<p>The mountain is sacred to the Samaritans who regard it, rather than Jerusalem&#39;s Temple Mount, as having been the location chosen by Yahweh for a holy temple. The mountain continues to be the centre of Samaritan religion to this day, and over 90% of the worldwide population of Samaritans live in very close proximity to Gerizim, mostly in Kiryat Luza, the main village. Passover is celebrated by the Samaritans on Mount Gerizim, and it is additionally considered by them as the location of the Binding of Isaac (the Masoretic Text, Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scroll versions of the Book of Genesis state that this happened on Mount Moriah, which Jews traditionally identify as the Temple Mount). According to rabbinic literature, in order to convert to Judaism, a Samaritan must first and foremost renounce any belief in the sanctity of Mount Gerizim.</p><br>
<h2>Biblical account</h2><br>
<p>Moses instructed the Israelites, when first entering Canaan, to celebrate the event with ceremonies of blessings and cursings on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal respectively. The Pulpit Commentary suggests that these mountains were selected for blessings and curses "doubtless, because of their relative position, and probably also because they stand in the center of the land both from north to south, and from east to west". It has been suggested that "Ebal was appointed for the uttering of the curse, and Gerizim for the uttering of the blessing, because the former was barren and rugged, the latter fertile and smooth", but the Pulpit Commentary editors state that "this is not borne out by the actual appearance of the two hills, both being equally barren-looking, though neither is wholly destitute of culture and vegetation". However, the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges argues that "the face of Gerizim, the mount of blessing, is the more fertile; the opposite face of Ebal, the mount of curse, much the more bare."</p><br>
<p>The Masoretic Text of the Tanakh says the Israelites later built an altar on Mount Ebal, constructed from natural (rather than cut) stones, to place stones there and whiten them with lime, Recent Dead Sea Scrolls work supports the accuracy of the Samaritan Pentateuch&#39;s designation of Mount Gerizim rather than Mount Ebal as the sacred site.</p><br>
<p>An instruction immediately subsequent to this orders that, once this is done, the Israelites should split into two groups, one to stay on Mount Ebal and pronounce curses, while the other goes to Mount Gerizim and pronounces blessings. The tribes of Simeon, of Levi, of Judah, of Issachar, of Joseph, and of Benjamin were to be sent to Gerizim, while those of Reuben, of Gad, of Asher, of Zebulun, of Dan, and of Naphtali, were to remain on Ebal. No attempts to explain this division of tribes either by their Biblical ethnology or by their geographical distribution have been generally accepted in academic circles.</p><br>
<p>The text goes on to list twelve curses, which were to be pronounced by the Levite priesthood and answered by the people with Amen. These curses heavily resemble laws (e.g. "cursed be he who removes his neighbours landmark"), and they are not followed by a list of blessings described in a similarly liturgical framework; some scholars believe that these more likely represent what was written on the stones, and that the later list of six explicit blessings, six near-corresponding explicit curses, were originally in this position in the text. The present position of these explicit blessings and curses, within a larger narrative of promise, and a far larger narrative of threat (respectively), is considered by these scholars to have been an editorial decision for the post-Babylonian-exilic second version of Deuteronomy (Dtr2), to reflect the Deuteronomists worldview after the Babylonian captivity had occurred.</p><br>
<p>In the Book of Joshua, after the Battle of Ai, Joshua built an altar of unhewn stones there, the Israelites then made peace offerings on it, the law of Moses was written onto the stones, and the Israelites split into the two groups specified in Deuteronomy and pronounced blessings and curses as instructed there. There is some debate between textual scholars as to whether this incident in Joshua is one account or two different accounts spliced together, where one account refers to Joshua building an altar, and making sacrifices on it, while the other account refers to Joshua placing large stone slabs there that had been whitened with lime and then had the law inscribed on them. Either way there are some who believe that the sources of Joshua predate Deuteronomy, and hence that the order to build the altar and make the inscription is likely based on these actions in the sources of Joshua, rather than the other way round, possibly to provide an etiology for the site acceptable to the deuteronomist&#39;s theology.</p><br>
<p>Much later in the Book, when Joshua was old and dying, he gathered the people together at Shechem, and gave a farewell speech, and then wrote these words in the book of the law of Yahweh, and set up a stone as a witness, placing it next to the sanctuary of Yahweh, under the oak tree. Depending on the way in which the sources of Joshua were spliced together, this may just be another version of the earlier narrative Joshua placing the whitened stones slabs with the law inscribed on them, and some scholars believe that this narrative may have originally been in an earlier location within the Book of Joshua.</p><br>
<p>Scholars consider it plausible for the sanctuary to have been pre-Israelite. According to the narrative about Jotham in the Book of Judges, Shechem was a site where there was a sanctuary of El-Berith, also known as Baal-Berith, meaning God of the covenant and Lord of the covenant, respectively; scholars have suggested that the Joshua story about the site derives from a covenant made there in Canaanite times. In the narrative of Judges, the pillar that was in Shechem is seemingly significant enough to have given its name to a nearby plain, and this pillar is thought to be likely to have been a totem of El-Berith; the Joshua story, of a stone being set up as a witness, simply being an attempt to provide an aetiology in accordance with later Israelite theology.</p><br>
<p>In the Biblical narrative, the oak tree, seemingly next to the sanctuary, was evidently in existence as early as the time of the Patriarchs, as Jacob is described in the Book of Genesis as having buried the idols of strange gods (formerly worshipped by his household) beneath it. According to a Jewish midrash, one of these idols, in the shape of a dove, was later recovered by the Samaritans, and used in their worship on Mount Gerizim.</p><br>
<h2>Post-exile history</h2><br>
<p>After the end of the Babylonian Captivity, a large schism between the Samaritans and Judaism developed, with the Samaritans, but not the Jews, regarding Mount Gerizim as the holy place chosen by God. Subsequently, in the Persian Period, the Samaritans built a temple there probably in the middle of 5th century BCE., arguing that this was the real location of the Israelite temple which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar,</p><br>
<p>The religious tension between the Jews and the Samaritans led to the temple on Gerizim being destroyed by either John Hyrcanus in the 2nd century BCE (according to Josephus) or by Simeon the Just (according to the Talmud). The date of the Samaritan temple destruction, the 21st of Kislev, became a holiday for the Jews during which it is forbidden to eulogize the dead. However, the mountain evidently continued to be the holy place of the Samaritans, as it is mentioned as such by the Gospel of John and coins produced by a Roman mint situated in Nablus included within their design a depiction of the temple; surviving coins from this mint, dated to 138–161 CE, show a huge temple complex, statues, and a substantive staircase leading from Nablus to the temple itself.</p><br>
<p>In Jesus&#39; discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well he revealed his feeling about worship there:</p><br>
<p>Eventually, when Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire, Samaritans were barred from worshiping on Mount Gerizim. In 475 CE a Christian church was built on its summit. In 529, Justinian I made Samaritanism illegal, and arranged for a protective wall to be constructed around the church. As a result, the same year, Julianus ben Sabar led a pro-Samaritan revolt, and by 530 had captured most of Samaria, destroying churches and killing the priests and officials. However, in 531, after Justinian enlisted the help of Ghassanids, the revolt was completely quashed, and surviving Samaritans were mostly enslaved or exiled. In 533 Justinian had a castle constructed on Mount Gerizim to protect the church from raids by the few disgruntled Samaritans left in the area.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>As a result of the fortified church and previous Samaritan temple, extensive ruins still exist at the somewhat plateau-like top of Gerizim. The line of the wall around the church can easily be seen, as can portions of the former castle, and initial archaeological study of the site postulated that the castle built by Justinian had utilised stones from an earlier structure on the site (probably the Samaritan temple). In the centre of the plateau is a smooth surface, containing a hollow, which archaeologists consider to be reminiscent of dolmens found in southwestern Syria, and which Samaritans consider to be a portion of their former temple.</p><br>
<p>Underneath these remains were found a large stone structure built on top of the bedrock. This structure, now known as "Structure B", nearly half cubic (21m by 20m in width and length, and 8.5m high), consists almost entirely of unhewn limestone slabs, fitted together without any binding material, and has no internal rooms or dividing walls. The structure was surrounded by a courtyard similar to the platform above it (being 60m by 40m in size with 1.5m thick walls), and was dated to during or before the Hellenic era by ceramics found in a cistern cut into the bedrock at the northern side. The excavating archaeologist considered "Structure B" to be the altar built by the Samaritans in the 5th or 6th century BCE.</p><br>
<p>Sauvie Island, in the USA state of Oregon, originally Wapato Island or Wappatoo Island, is the largest island along the Columbia River, at 26,000 acres, and one of the largest river islands in the United States. It lies approximately ten miles northwest of downtown Portland, between the Columbia River to the east, the Multnomah Channel to the west, and the Willamette River to the south. A large portion of the island is designated as the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area. Sturgeon Lake, in the north central part of the island, is the most prominent water feature. The land area is 84.82 km&sup2, or 20,959 acres). Most of the island is in Multnomah County, but the northern third is in Columbia County. The Sauvie Island Bridge provides access across the Multnomah Channel from USA Route 30 and was completed in June 2008, replacing the first bridge to connect the island to the mainland which was opened on 30 December 1950.</p><br>
<p>The island received the name "Sauvés Island" after Laurent Sauvé, a French-Canadian who managed a dairy for the Hudson&#39;s Bay Company in the 1830s and 1840s. It is predominantly farmland and wildlife refuge and is a popular place for picking pumpkins, hunting geese and kayaking. There were 1,078 year-round residents at the 2000 census. There is an industrial zone and small grocery store in the southeast corner, near the bridge. Bicyclists flock to the island because its flat topography and lengthy low-volume roads make it ideal for cycling. Its nearest incorporated neighbors are the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area to its south and southeast; St. Helens across the Multnomah Channel from the extreme northern tip of the island; and Scappoose, across the Multnomah Channel to the west.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Prior to European arrival in the 19th century, Sauvie Island was the ancestral home to the Multnomah Indians band of the Chinook Tribe. There were approximately 15 villages on the island, hosting a total of 2,000 people who built and resided in cedar log houses 30 yards long by 12 yards wide.</p><br>
<p>1792 &ndash; British Lieutenant William Broughton in George Vancouver&#39;s expedition explores the island and names the northern tip "Warrior Point" after being greeted offshore by 23 canoes of armed Multnomah Indians.</p><br>
<p>October 29 &ndash; Mount Hood was named on October 29, 1792, as Lt. Broughton observed its peak from Belle Vue Point at the southern tip of Sauvie Island during his travels up the Columbia River, writing A very high, snowy mountain now appeared rising beautifully conspicuous in the midst of an extensive tract of low or moderately elevated land (location of today&#39;s Vancouver, Washington) lying S 67 E., and seemed to announce a termination to the river. Lt. Broughton named the mountain after British admiral Samuel Hood.</p><br>
<p>November 4, 1805 &ndash; The Lewis and Clark expedition lands, names it "Wapato Island" after the abundance of Broadleaf arrowhead plants, which are also known as "Indian potato" and were a major foodstuff for indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest.</p><br>
<p>During the next decades the natives weather outbreaks of smallpox, syphilis, measles and tuberculosis.</p><br>
<p>1829 - A horrifying epidemic of a fever known as "the ague" sweeps across the land.</p><br>
<p>1832 - So much of the native population has died in the epidemic, they are nearly extinct; Dr. McLoughlin of the Hudson&#39;s Bay Company removes survivors and burns settlements.</p><br>
<p>1834 &ndash; American Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth builds and occupies Fort William, a small trading post, to compete with the British; abandoned 1836.</p><br>
<p>c. 1836 &ndash; Hudson&#39;s Bay Company establishes dairies on the island, managed by French-Canadian employee Laurent Sauvé (after whom the island is now named).</p><br>
<p>1843 &ndash; The opening of the Oregon Trail makes it possible for American settlers to come to the island from the Midwest.</p><br>
<p>1851 &ndash; Mouth of Willamette post office is established; renamed Souvies Island the following year.</p><br>
<p>1858 &ndash; James Bybee builds Bybee–Howell House. The structure was added to the NRHP in 1974, and is part of Howell Territorial Park.</p><br>
<p>1889 &ndash; Warrior Rock Lighthouse established at Warrior Point.</p><br>
<p>1930s &ndash; The Army Corps of Engineers builds flood-control dikes.</p><br>
<p>1940s &ndash; Sauvie Island Wildlife Area acquired by the state of Oregon.</p><br>
<p>November 29, 1943 &ndash; Sauvie Island Conservation District is formed by unanimous vote.</p><br>
<p>December 30, 1950 &ndash; Sauvie Island Bridge opens; Sauvie Island Ferry, the last ferry in the Portland metropolitan area, closes.</p><br>
<p>2006 &ndash; Multnomah County begins construction of new Sauvie Island Bridge.</p><br>
<p>2008 &ndash; New Sauvie Island Bridge opens with a parade and a performance by the Oregon Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps.</p><br>
<h2>Recreational beaches</h2><br>
<p>Reeder Beach does not have public beach access. All public beaches on Sauvie Island are down the road from Reeder Beach approximately four miles. They are: Walton Beach, North Unit Beach, and the clothing-optional Collins Beach on the islands east coast along NW Reeder Roads last few miles past the end of the pavement. The beaches are open from dawn to 10:00 p.m., and are closed to overnight use and camping. Open fires are not allowed. Dogs are allowed if they are leashed. This section of the beach is often a party like environment on warm and sunny days.</p><br>
<p>Beach parking is subject to Sauvie Island Wildlife Area parking permits. They are available at all the stores on the island. Vehicles without a permit are subject to a ticket costing around $75.</p><br>
<h2>Farms</h2><br>
<p>Sauvie Island is home to dozens of private farms, from nurseries and gardens, to about a dozen fruit and vegetable farms open for public U-picking. Crops include strawberries, raspberries, marionberries, blackberries, blueberries, peaches, pears, sweet corn, cherries, broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, pumpkins, herbs, and others. Along with crops these farms also include activities such as hay rides, cow trains, and mazes.</p><br>
<p>Mundelein College was the last private, independent, Roman Catholic womens college in Illinois. Located on the edge of the Rogers Park and Edgewater neighborhoods on the far north side of Chicago, Illinois, Mundelein College was founded and administered by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1991, Mundelein College became an affiliated college of Loyola University Chicago. It has since become completely incorporated. Mundelein College was located just south of Loyolas Lake Shore Campus.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>On November 1, 1929, three days after the stock market crash, the official ground-breaking ceremony for Mundelein College was held. Even if the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) had been able to see the Great Depression coming, there was no stopping construction on the skyscraper building at 6363 North Sheridan Road; the first four floors of the building were already in place. Despite the financial hardships of the time Mundelein College opened its door for class registration only nineteen months after construction began on September 15, 1930. Due to the overwhelming number of students, the first day of classes had to be delayed until October 3, 1930. At the close of the colleges first academic year, on June 3, 1931, traffic was rerouted, the uniformed bands of St. Marys High School and Immaculata High School played on the front steps, and the Knights of St. Gregory escorted Cardinal George Mundelein to Mundelein College&#39;s official dedication ceremony.</p><br>
<p>Mundelein College grew out of the aspirations of both the BVM sisters and Cardinal Mundelein. Upon his placement to the position of archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Mundelein made the education of Catholics one of his primary goals. Meanwhile, the growth of the BVM order of sisters had outpaced the educational ability of Mount Saint Joseph, the BVM college in Dubuque, Iowa. The successful partnership between Cardinal Mundelein and the BVM superior general, Mother Mary Isabella Kane, BVM, led to a college which would exceed both their aspirations. Unable to be in both Iowa at the BVM motherhouse and Chicago, Mother Isabella Kane, BVM appointed Sr. Mary Justitia Coffey, BVM to oversee all matters related to the development of Mundelein College. A year later, Sr. Mary Justitia Coffey, BVM became the first superior and president of the college.</p><br>
<p>During the first few decades, Mundelein College resembled many other womens colleges in the United States. College courses offered covered both traditional liberal arts and practical life skills, ranging from Latin, philosophy, literature, physics, and chemistry to home economics and secretarial skills. In the 1940s the Mundelein College Skyscraper boasted one of the countrys highest observatories containing a telescope and the longest Foucault pendulum in existence at the time. Clubs were a major part of student life at Mundelein. In the first decade, twenty-two clubs were created, ranging from the Stylus (writing) Club and basketball team to the Chemistry Club and International Relations. The Verse Speaking Choir worked under contract with NBC Radio and its participants included Mercedes McCambridge (1937), Academy Award and Golden Globe winner.</p><br>
<p>Upon the United States entry into World War II the Mundelein College student body participated in a variety of war effort activities. In addition to planting a victory garden near the library, Mundelein students held a jeep drive which raised funds equivalent to the cost of two United States Army Jeeps, held several blood drives, and purchased a war bond with the proceeds from their annual benefit. Mundelein College students also started the first Midwest college unit of the American Red Cross.</p><br>
<p>In 1957 Sr. Mary Ann Ida Gannon, BVM became Mundelein Colleges sixth president and Mundelein College began a new phase of development. That year 48 young sisters began their education side by side with Mundelein Colleges lay student population as part of the scholasticate program. Also that year, Sr. Mary Ann Ida Gannon, BVM asked Sr. Mary Carol Frances Jegen, BVM to establish Mundelein College&#39;s first Theology Department.</p><br>
<p>Sr. Mary Ann Ida Gannon, BVM initiated a college wide self-study in 1962 to determine Mundelein College&#39;s continued relevance as an institution of higher academic education. The results of the self-study became the driving force for several experimental programs. Mundelein College updated its mission statement, redesigned its term system and core curriculum. In 1965, the college implemented a Degree Completion Program for women who had dropped out of college before receiving their degrees. Beginning with the academic year 1970-71, the college offered students a self-directed course of study, within a group known as "Mandala." By 1974, the Weekend College in Residence program expanded upon the idea of the Degree Completion Program by offering working women the opportunity to achieve a degree while attending college only on the weekends.</p><br>
<p>Although Mundelein College had amended their articles of incorporation in 1968 to admit men, the education and cultivation of women remained its primary focus. Mundelein College was not immune to the forces of feminism and in 1977 the seeds of an interdisciplinary womens studies program began to germinate. Over the next two years, Mundelein College held yearly conferences on women. However, it wasnt until 1983 that a Women&#39;s Studies minor was finally accepted by the college Curriculum Committee. The Peace Studies minor, inaugurated in 1989, also integrated feminist perspectives.</p><br>
<p>The decades between 1960 and 1990 also saw an increase of minority outreach at Mundelein College. In 1966, the college launched Upward Bound, a federally funded summer program to help minority high school students succeed to college. Responding to the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, black students at Mundelein College formed MuCUBA (Mundelein College United Black Association) to address the racial barriers which existed within the walls of the college. In 1982 Hispanic students created their own organization, Hispanics for the Advancement of Our Culture and Education (later reorganized into Latins United for Our Cultural Heritage).</p><br>
<p>Many Mundelein students embraced the spirit of activism in the 1960s and 1970s. Seven BVMs and "a busload" of students traveled to Alabama to participate in the Selma March for Civil Rights. Mundelein College&#39;s student body participated in the national wide strike protesting the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and the student deaths at Kent State University. Students and faculty marched from the Learning Resource Center to the Skyscraper in solidarity against the war. In November 1979, César Chávez spoke at Mundelein College during his tour around the country promoting a lettuce workers strike.</p><br>
<p>The opening of the 1980s saw Mundelein College celebrating its 50th anniversary with great fanfare. Among the dignitaries at the Golden Jubilee Dinner was Mayor Jane Byrne and highlighting the event was the appearance of Mother Teresa, recipient of the 1980 Magnificat Medal. New programs continued to enhance Mundelein&#39;s academic offerings, including courses in food management, interior architecture and design, communications, computer science, and peace studies.</p><br>
<h3>Presidents</h3><br>
<h2>Campus</h2><br>
<h3>The Skyscraper</h3><br>
<p>When new, the fourteen-story Art Deco building dominated the skyline of Chicago&#39;s far north side. The Skyscraper had few equals in size and style outside of Downtown Chicago (similarly designed buildings include the Palmolive Building, the Chicago Board of Trade Building, and the West Town Bank Building). Vertical lines of Indiana limestone created a visual illusion making the college appear to soar higher than its actual 198 feet.</p><br>
<p>Although the Skyscraper features abstracted foliate, sunbursts, and other geometric designs around its doors and windows, the most striking feature of the building&#39;s exterior is its guardian angels. The two towering statues at the entrance represent the angels Uriel ("Light of God") and Jophiel ("Beauty of God"). Uriel holds the book of wisdom and points to a cross in Bas-relief on the fourteenth floor. Jophiel holds the planet Earth and lifts the torch of knowledge.</p><br>
<p>Although Joseph W. McCarthy is listed as the supervising architect, the building was designed by Nairne W. Fisher. McCarthy had been Cardinal Mundeleins choice. However, after Mother Isabella Kane dismissed McCarthys Gothic Revival design, she turned to Fisher with whom she had worked before. Not only was Fishers design more modern, it was less expensive than McCarthys.</p><br>
<p>Fisher studied drafting at a Minneapolis technical school, served in a USA Army Intelligence unit which produced maps during World War I, studied briefly at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, worked as a draftsman at lumberyards in Minnesota and South Dakota, and registered as a Minnesota architect in 1922. The designer of the "Moderne" (later known as Art Deco) Mundelein College building never graduated from college.</p><br>
<p>Originally intended to be a self-contained educational facility, the interior contained classrooms, laboratories, art and music studios, a library, an auditorium, a chapel, a cafeteria, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, reception areas and meeting rooms, and seven floors of living quarters for the BVM staff. Beginning in 1934 with the two houses east of the Skyscraper, Mundelein College began expanding. By 1991, in addition to the original skyscraper, Mundelein College owned a dormitory (Coffey Hall), the white marble mansion (Piper Hall), the Learning Resource Center (now the Sullivan Center), the Yellow House (also known as the President&#39;s House), and a residence for the BVMs (Wright Hall).</p><br>
<p>The Mundelein College Skyscraper was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.</p><br>
<p>In December 2007 the City of Chicago designated the building as an official.</p><br>
<p>Starting in 2005, the Skycraper Building went through an almost 10 year renovation process modernizing the facility while retaining much of its original deco architectural beauty. In October 2012 the building was rededicated the Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts. It currently houses the specialized facilities of the Fine and Performing Arts Department of Loyola, and now features a new café, green roof and modern thrust stage, multimedia classrooms, offices, galleries, and event spaces in addition to being the largest academic classroom building on Loyola&#39;s Lakeshore Campus.</p><br>
<h3>Residence halls</h3><br>
<p>Although Mundelein College began offering some student housing within the upper floors of the Skyscraper shortly after the college opened, the first official student residence hall was purchased in 1934. Known as Philomena Hall, the twelve-room brick building was one of two mansions separating the Skyscraper from Lake Michigan. Philomena served as a residence hall until 1959 when it was converted into a speech clinic, Student Activities Council official headquarters, and a senior smoker study hall.</p><br>
<p>In 1961, Philomena Hall was razed to make room for Mundelein College&#39;s newest dormitory, Coffey Hall. Opened for occupation in 1962, the new residence hall accommodated 208 students. More recently, Coffey Hall briefly served as dormitory for Loyola University Chicago students, with its last year of residents in the 2008&ndash;2009 school year. Coffey Hall has since been renovated for use as department office space. In 1963, Mundelein College purchased Northland Apartments to the west of the Skyscraper. Northland Hall housed a further 250 students. Loyola University Chicago razed Northland Hall in 1992 in order to create a new campus entry.</p><br>
<h3>Libraries</h3><br>
<p>The original library was housed in room 401 of the Skyscraper building. Stocked mainly with donated books, the entire initial library collection was cataloged and shelved in only thirty days. The main book donation came from Rev. John Rothensteiner of St. Louis. The initial donation consisted of 2,000 volumes; however, he later bequeathed his entire 20,000 volume library to the college. This gift was the heart of Mundelein College&#39;s rare book collection.</p><br>
<p>Mundelein College moved its library in 1934 to the white marble mansion purchased from Albert Mussey Johnson. Reading rooms occupied the first two floors of the mansion while the former ballroom on the third floor housed the book stacks. The white marble mansion remained the colleges library until 1967. After the books were removed from the mansion, it took on multiple personalities including a student center, a coffee shop, a speech clinic (after Philomena was razed), and the Religious Studies Center. After a 2005 remodeling, the white marble mansion is currently Loyola University Chicagos Piper Hall (see below).</p><br>
<p>The crowning jewel in the fast-paced growth of the campus during the 1960s, the Learning Resource Center, built in 1967, became Mundelein College&#39;s new library. Officially dedicated in 1969, the Learning Resource Center provided Mundelein students with a science and lecture auditorium, 100-seat audiovisual room, faculty and student lounges, seminar rooms, and a rare book room. Today the Learning Resource Center serves the Loyola University Chicago community as the Sullivan Center for Student Services.</p><br>
<h2>Affiliation with Loyola University</h2><br>
<p>Enrollment in Mundelein College dropped dramatically in the 1980s. By the end of the decade, the college could no longer financially support itself. In 1991, Mundelein College became an incorporated college of neighboring Loyola University Chicago.</p><br>
<p>The ideals and values of the BVM sisters continue through the, established by Loyola University Chicago. The Gannon Center located in Piper Hall is home to the (a leadership training organization for twenty female Loyola students), the, and the.</p><br>
<h2>Notable students</h2><br>
<p>Tina De Rosa, author of Paper Fish (Sociology Major)</p><br>
<p>Mercedes McCambridge, award-winning actress</p><br>
<p>Jane Trahey, pioneering female advertising executive</p><br>
<p>Martha M. Vertreace-Doody Chicago poet</p><br>
<p>Mount Rundle is a mountain in Canada&#39;s Banff National Park overlooking the towns of Banff and Canmore, Alberta. The Cree name was Waskahigan Watchi or house mountain.—a written language developed for the Cree, as part of his missionary work. He only visited the Stoney-Nakoda of the area around what is now called Mount Rundle in 1844 and 1847.</p><br>
<p>Mt. Rundle could actually be considered a small mountain range as the mountain extends for over 12 km, on the south side of the Trans-Canada Highway eastward from Banff to Canmore with seven distinct peaks along the way.—which rises above Whiteman&#39;s Gap just south of Canmore. The Rundle Peaks are part of the South Banff Ranges, along with its siblings—the Sundance Range, Sulphur Mountain and the Goat Range.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Mount Rundle consists of limestones, dolomitic limestones, dolostones and shales of Paleozoic (Late Devonian to Mississippian) age. In ascending order, they belong to the Palliser, Exshaw and Banff Formations, topped by the Rundle Group which was named after the mountain and defined in 1953 by award winning Canadian geologist R. J. W. Douglas FRSC (1920–1979).</p><br>
<p>Mount Rundle illustrates the classic limestone-shale-limestone "sandwich" of the front ranges. The basal "slice of bread" is the lower massive cliffs of tough grey Pallister Formation limestones and dolostones. The "sandwich filling" is the Banff Formation, a layer of softer, more easily eroded, dark brownish-gray to black calcareous shale with thin beds of argillaceous limestone. The top layer of the geologic sandwich is the grey limestones and dolostones of the Rundle Group that form the massive upper cliffs at the top of Mount Rundle. Between the Palliser and the Banff lie the thin, recessive shales of the Exshaw Formation (the "lettuce leaf" of the sandwich), covered with debris from above.</p><br>
<p>The Paleozoic “sandwich” is part of the Rundle thrust sheet that was moved up from the west along the Rundle thrust fault and emplaced on top of the younger rocks (the Early Cretaceous Mist Mountain Formation) that underlie Canmore and the forested slopes along the Bow River. The thrust faulting occurred during the Columbian Orogeny between late Jurassic and early Cretaceous time. At that time a collision of tectonic plates caused huge sheets of sedimentary rock in what is now British Columbia to become detached and slide eastward to northeastward over their neighbors, piling up to form the southern Canadian Rockies. This left the Paleozoic strata on Mount Rundle dipping steeply to the southwest, so that the southwest-facing side of the mountain forms an extensive dip slope. Geologists consider Mount Rundle to be a classic example of a mountain cut in dipping layered rocks, with the tilted strata giving the mountain its shape.</p><br>
<p>The most recent stage in the history of Mount Rundle began in the Pleistocene epoch about 2 million years ago with the sculpting and gouging of the Canadian Rockies by glaciers, and then by streams and rivers. Finally, after the glaciers retreated for the last time, a series of steep, tree-covered alluvial fans began to grow at the mouths of the deep gulches on the northeast-facing side of the mountain.</p><br>
<h2>Scrambles</h2><br>
<p>At the EEOR near Canmore there is a well-known scramble, the Goat Creek hiking trail, with its starting point at parking trailhead, which starts at the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail just south of the Canmore Reservoir above Grassi Lakes. This is also the beginning of the Mount Rundle Traverse, a demanding trek to mount all of Rundle&#39;s peaks from Goat Creek parking lot to the Banff Springs Hotel. Mount Rundle is one of the most popular scrambles in the area, and is relatively straightforward for experienced hikers.</p><br>
<p>In Banff, the Spray River trailhead for the first peak taking the Mount Rundle Trail, is near the Spray River bridge on the road to the Banff Springs Golf Course. The all-day hike (from 8–10 hours) from the trailhead to the peak is about 5 km one-way and has an elevation gain of about 993 m to the cliff bank on the first peak and 1,579 m to the summit. Although it is called non-technical, it is considered gruelling by some. About half way up there is a Central Gully, a huge watercourse with a well-worn path which is a dead end. Cliffs become higher and more vertical and there is no scrambling route. The real route crosses the watercourse and then immediately turns left (watch for markings). As one passes the treeline, the hiker ventures onto a feature called the "Dragon&#39;s back", where the route narrows between two steep gullies. The only real obstacle at this point is perseverance at the tread-mill like scree which slows progress to a two steps forward, one step back pattern.</p><br>
<p>The complete traverse from Banff to Canmore (staying always on the ridge) of the integral ridge was done "solo" in 1976 by the late Jean-Pierre Cadot. It required 1 bivouac, lots of scrambling, easy fifth class rock climbing and one section was very involved and required lay-backing the ridge with a high degree of exposure. A long rappel was necessary to overcome a very steep section and most likely that the rappel station is still in place.</p><br>
<h2>Scenic viewpoints</h2><br>
<p>In 2000 Dave Birrell described Mount Rundle as one of the most recognised Canadian mountains. Painter, print-maker and art teacher, Walter Phillips RCA (1884 –1963) described Mount Rundle as his, "bread and butter mountain. I never tire of painting it, for it is never the same. In deep shadow in the morning, it borrows a warm glow from the setting sun at the end of the day. Its colour runs the gamut from orange to cold blue-grey, with overtones of violet and intervals of green."</p><br>
<h3>From Vermilion Lakes</h3><br>
<p>The viewpoint from which most photographs are taken, 5 km from Mount Rundle, at the end of Vermilion Lakes road, with Vermillion Lakes in the foreground.</p><br>
<p>Mount Rundle and Sulphur Mountain can be seen from Mount Norquay on the north side of the Trans-Canada. The Banff Fairmont hotel patio and restaurants look out over Mount Rundle and Tunnel Mountain.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Mount Rundle is depicted on the cover of The Ghost Inside&#39;s album Get What You Give.</p><br>
<p>The Comoro Islands or Comoros  form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the south-east coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and north-west of Madagascar. The islet of Banc du Geyser and the Glorioso Islands are part of the archipelago.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Comoro Islands are located in the Mozambique Channel to the north-west of Madagascar and facing Mozambique. These volcanic islands, covering a total area of 2361 km, are as follows:</p><br>
<p>Grande Comore (also known as Ngazidja): the largest island of the Union of the Comoros, with its capital Moroni</p><br>
<p>Anjouan (also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani): part of the Union of the Comoros</p><br>
<p>Mohéli (also known as Mwali): part of the Union of the Comoros</p><br>
<p>Grande-Terre (also known as Maore or Mahori): part of the French overseas department of Mayotte, with its capital Mamoudzou</p><br>
<p>Petite-Terre (also known as Pamanzi): Mayotte&#39;s second-largest island with the Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport</p><br>
<p>The Glorioso Islands, comprising Grande Glorieuse, Île du Lys and eight small rock islets, were administratively attached to the archipelago before 1975, and, geologically speaking, form a part of the archipelago.</p><br>
<p>Notable reefs that are part of the archipelago are as follows:</p><br>
<p>Banc Vailheu, or Raya, a submerged volcano located 20 km west of Grand Comoro</p><br>
<p>Banc du Geyser, a reef measuring 8 by 5 km in area, situated 130 km North-East of Grande-Terre</p><br>
<p>Banc du Leven, a former island between Madagascar and Grande-Terre which is now submerged</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first traces of inhabitation date back to the 6th century. Numerous peoples have crossed over and mixed, including those of Bantu, Malagasy, Indonesian, Arab, Portuguese, French and Indian origin.</p><br>
<p>Islam arrived in the 10th Century. These islands formed with Zanzibar, Pemba, Lamu, and the towns along the Kenyan and Tanzanian coast a united and prosperous area with Swahili culture, living by trading, ivory and other African goods destined for markets in the Middle East and India. During this period, power was in the hands of a number of local rulers. During their explorations of all this region, the Portuguese landed on the Islands of the Moon (qamar in Arabic means "moon") in 1505.</p><br>
<p>Since the workforce on Réunion was becoming increasingly more expensive, the Comoro Islands, forgotten by the central administration, offered the colonists and colonial societies (like la Bambao) various perspectives and a workforce in plantations of aromatic plants and vanilla. In 1946, the islands were no longer administratively attached to Madagascar and formed a united and recognized administrative entity.</p><br>
<p>In 1974, France organized a referendum for self-determination in the archipelago in which the population except in Mayotte voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence. Following the unilateral declaration of independence in 1975, France maintained sovereignty over Mayotte. The three remaining islands formed the Etat Comorian, which later became the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoro Islands.</p><br>
<p>In 1997, demands for increased autonomy on the islands of Nzwani (Anjouan) and Mwali (Moheli) led to the breakup of the Federal Islamic Republic. In 2001, the government reformed as the Union of the Comoros under a new constitution which gave each of the three islands more autonomy than had been enjoyed previously. In 2008, President of Anjouan refused to hold free elections. He was forced to flee following military intervention by troops of the Comorian Union and the African Union. The island country continues its present form of confederal government albeit with minor changes approved in a 2009 referendum.</p><br>
<p>Mayotte, which had voted to retain French suzerainty in the 1975 referendum, expressed a wish to accede to the status of a département doutre-mer (DOM) (Overseas Department) following another referendum held on the island on the 29 March 2009. Mayotte officially became Frances 101st department on 31 March 2011.</p><br>
<p>On 30 June 2009, Yemenia Flight 626 crashed off the Comoro Islands. Out of 153 people, one twelve-year-old girl survived.</p><br>
<h3>Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961</h3><br>
<p>On Saturday, 23 November 1996, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 ditched into the Indian Ocean at the shore of the Comoros islands, after being hijacked by three 20-year-old men. After the Boeing 767-200 climbed to the cruising altitude of 39,000 ft, the hijackers entered the cockpit and requested the Captain Leul Abate to fly to Australia. Additionally, they claimed that they were eleven men. They forced the first officer Yonas Mecruria out of the cockpit. The hijackers refused to let the captain to land, although they knew that the fuel was about to run out.</p><br>
<p>After a four-hour struggle with hijackers, the captain crash-landed his the plane in the Indian Ocean. The plane shattered. Fifty people from the 175 passengers survived, while 125 people died. The majority of the fatalities resulted from passengers who blew up their life jacket inside of the aircraft and were pushed towards the fuselage when water entered the aircraft. They were unable to escape the aircraft and drowned.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Comoro Archipelago consists of volcanic islands. These volcanic islands, together with the high mountains in the north of Madagascar, were formed in the Tertiary and Quaternary periods. The island of Mayotte is the oldest one still above sea level and underwent three volcanic phases between 15 million and 500,000 years ago. The ages progressively decrease from east to west. Grande Comore is the youngest island and is still volcanically active. Karthala, a shield volcano occupying some two thirds of the island, rises to 2361 meters. The summit caldera is quite large, being approximately 3 x 4 km (1.9 x 2.5 miles) in size at the rim (2007).</p><br>
<p>Esson J., M.F.J., Flower, D.F. Strong, B.G.J. Upton, and W.J. Wadsworth, Geology of the Comores archipelago western Indian Ocean Geological Magazine 107 (6) 549-557 1970</p><br>
<p>Flower, M.F.J., Evidence for the role of phlogopite in the genesis of alkali basalts Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 32 (2) 126-137 1971</p><br>
<p>Flower, M.F.J., Rare earth element distribution in lavas and ultramafic xenoliths from the Comores archipelago, western Indian Ocean Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 31 (4) 335-346 1971</p><br>
<p>Flower, M.F.J., R N Thompson, One-atmosphere melting and crystallization relations of lavas from Anjouan Comores Archipelago western Indian Ocean Earth and Planetary Science Letters 12 (1) 97-107 1971</p><br>
<p>Flower, M.F.J., Petrology of volcanic rocks from Anjouan Comores archipelago, Bull, volcanol., 36 (1) 238-250 1973</p><br>
<p>Flower, M.F.J., Evolution of basaltic and differentiated lavas from Anjouan Comores Archipelago, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 38 (3) 237-260 1973</p><br>
<p>Flower, M.F.J., Trace-element distribution in lavas from Anjouan and Grande Comore western Indian Ocean Chem. Geol., 12 (2) 81-98 1973</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The Comoro Archipelago enjoys a tropical maritime climate, characterized by slight daytime temperature variations throughout the year of around 26 &deg;C at sea-level and by abundant precipitation: 2,679 mm a year. The average temperature of the sea water is 25 &deg;C.</p><br>
<p>There are two seasons in the Comoros: the hot and humid season flowing in from the north-west from November to April and the dry season from May to October. The climate on Mayotte is, nevertheless, noticeably warmer and drier. The climate is also characterized by important local variations in temperature and precipitation according to altitude, relief and the degree of exposure to the elements. Annual precipitation therefore varies in the region of 1000 to 6000 mm and the absolute minimum of 0 &deg;C is reached on the summit of Karthala.</p><br>
<p>The hot, dry season is caused by a vast low pressure area which extends over a large part of the Indian Ocean and Central Africa. This low pressure favours gusty winds and cyclones. The last cyclone was "Gafilo" which passed close to the Comoros on 5 March 2004 causing great material damage. During the hot and humid season it can rain as much as 200 mm in twenty-four hours.</p><br>
<p>The dry season is calmer. The low pressure moves towards the continent of Asia (this is the Monsoon, the wind blowing from the south-east) and an anticyclone forms below the Comoros. This still does not prevent the islands from having a few gusts of wind, but their intensity is a lot less than during the hot season.</p><br>
<p>The two winds that bring the two different seasons are called the Kashkasi (in November) and the Kusi.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>The maki of Mayotte, a type of lemur found on this island, is protected by French law, and by local tradition; it is believed to have been introduced from Madagascar. Several mammals are endemic to the islands. A species of bat discovered by David Livingstone in 1863, previously abundant, has now been reduced to a population of about 1200 specimens, restricted to Anjouan and Moheli. A British preservation group sent an expedition to the Comoros in 1992, with the object of transporting some specimens to Great Britain, in order to form a reproducing colony.</p><br>
<p>Twenty-two species of birds are endemic to the archipelago, and seventeen of them only live on territories controlled by the Union; especially notable examples of these are the Karthala scops-owl, the Anjouan scops-owl and Humblot&#39;s flycatcher.</p><br>
<p>Partly as a result of international pressure during the 1990s, the government of the Union has begun to take greater care of the environment. Measures have been taken not only to preserve the rare fauna, but also to check the destruction of the environment, especially on Anjouan, which is densely populated. More precisely, in order to minimize the felling of trees for fuel, kerosene has been subsidized, and efforts are underway to replace the lost forest cover caused by the distillation of Ylang-ylang for perfume. The Fund for the Support of Community Development, sponsored by the International Development Association (IDA, a subsidiary of the World Bank) and the Comorian government, is applying itself to improving the water supply on the islands.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>Like other islands in the region, these islands possess numerous endemic species; here are some of the most notable species:</p><br>
<p>Livingstone&#39;s fruit bat, a very large endemic daytime bat, which eats fruit.</p><br>
<p>The common brown lemur, a type of small lemur (Kima in Shikomori)</p><br>
<p>Scolopendra, venomous centipedes that can reach up to 25 centimetres long.</p><br>
<p>The coelacanth, a bony fish, known from fossils over 300 million years old.</p><br>
<p>The gecko, a small lizard that feeds off insects, and is often found spotted on the ceilings of houses.</p><br>
<p>The beaked dolphin; one pod is visible, most mornings, from the beach at Itsandra, close to Moroni, but there are also many others.</p><br>
<p>The green turtle, most abundantly on Mohéli and Mayotte where they still come to lay eggs.</p><br>
<p>The tailless tenrec, similar to a hedgehog but belonging to a different family of insectivores, the Tenrecidae, whose main stronghold is Madagascar.</p><br>
<p>No large African animals (elephants, giraffes, lions, crocodiles, zebras or antelopes) are found on the Comoros, despite the islands being relatively close to the mainland.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>On the Comoros there are numerous tropical ecosystems that are primarily dependent on the altitude. There you can find many kinds of tropical plants, large numbers of which are endemic. Like most islands, the diversity of the local flora suffers from two pressures, on the one hand the reduction of available space caused by the reduction of biotopes due to the invasion of humans in what used to be the wildest areas and on the other hand the invasion of exotic plant species such as guava trees. The flora has only been poorly studied, France has however been made attempts on Mayotte to fill in the gaps. Efforts to preserve species are still not enough to save the richest zones, and disturbances of biotopes are expected to take place for many years to come.</p><br>
<h2>Politics</h2><br>
<p>The Comoro Archipelago is divided between:</p><br>
<p>The Union of the Comoros, a sovereign nation formed by the three islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli.</p><br>
<p>Mayotte, an Overseas Department of the French Republic (département d&#39;outre-mer). This island is also claimed by the Union of the Comoros according to Article 1 of its Constitution).</p><br>
<p>The United Nations General Assembly continued to condemn the French presence in Mayotte until 1994. France, however, used its power of veto in the UN to prevent the Security Council from passing a resolution condemning France.</p><br>
<p>The African Union judged the French presence on Mayotte to be illegal.</p><br>
<p>Mayotte became a French Department on 31 March 2011.</p><br>
<p>The Comoros underwent a political crisis that started off in 1997 with the separatism on Anjouan.</p><br>
<p>The political authorities on the island had turned the population of the island against the central government, advocating at first reunification with France, and later a greater autonomy bordering on independence.</p><br>
<p>Since 2006, the Ex-President of the Union of the Comoros Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, who is originally from the island of Anjouan, has been in open conflict with the authorities of Anjouan, a conflict which ended in a military landing of the National Army of Development in order to re-establish the authority of the Union on the island.</p><br>
<p>Faneuil Hall , located near the waterfront and today&#39;s Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1743. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain. Now it is part of Boston National Historical Park and a well-known stop on the Freedom Trail. It is sometimes referred to as "the Cradle of Liberty".</p><br>
<p>In 2008, Faneuil Hall was rated number 4 in America&#39;s 25 Most Visited Tourist Sites by Forbes Traveler.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>18th century</h3><br>
<p>After the project of erecting a public market house in Boston had been discussed for some years, merchant Peter Faneuil offered, at a public meeting in 1740, to build a suitable edifice at his own cost as a gift to the town. There was a strong opposition to market houses, and although a vote of thanks was passed unanimously, his offer was accepted by a majority of only seven. Funded in part by profits from slave trading, the building was begun in Dock Square in September of the same year. It was built by artist John Smibert in 1740–1742 in the style of an English country market, with an open ground floor serving as the market house, and an assembly room above. According to Sean Hennessey, a National Park Service spokesman, some of Boston&#39;s early slave auctions took place near Faneuil Hall.</p><br>
<p>In 1761 the hall was destroyed by fire, nothing but the brick walls remaining. It was rebuilt by the town in 1762. In 1775, during the British occupation of Boston, it was used for a theatre.</p><br>
<h3>19th century</h3><br>
<p>In 1806, the hall was greatly expanded by Charles Bulfinch, doubling its height and width and adding a third floor. Four new bays were added, to make seven in all; the open arcades were enclosed, and the cupola was moved to the opposite end of the building. Bulfinch applied Doric brick pilasters to the lower two floors, with Ionic pilasters on the third floor. This renovation added galleries around the assembly hall and increased its height. Neighboring Quincy Market was constructed in 1824-26. Faneuil Hall was entirely rebuilt of noncombustible materials in 1898–1899.</p><br>
<h3>20th and 21st centuries</h3><br>
<p>On October 9, 1960 the building was designated a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places a number of years later. The ground floor and basement were altered in 1979. The Hall was restored again in 1992 and in 1994 designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission.</p><br>
<p>The headquarters of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is located on the fourth floor and includes an armory, library, offices, quartermaster department, commissary, and military museum with free admission.</p><br>
<h4>Faneuil Hall Marketplace</h4><br>
<p>Faneuil Hall is one of four historic buildings in a festival marketplace, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, which includes three historic granite buildings called North Market, Quincy Market, and South Market adjacent to the east of Faneuil Hall, and which operates as an indoor/outdoor mall and food eatery. It was designed by Benjamin Thompson and Associates and managed by Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. its success in the late 1970s led to the emergence of similar marketplaces in other USA cities.</p><br>
<p>According to Ashkenazy, the marketplace had 18 million visitors in 2016.</p><br>
<h2>Uses</h2><br>
<p>On Friday in early August 1890, one of the first black Republican legislators of Boston, Julius Caesar Chappelle, made a speech "At the Cradle of Liberty" in support of the Federal Elections bill that would help give blacks the right to vote. Chappelle was a Boston legislator from 1883-1886. The Faneuil Hall event was covered by the media in the United States, and the speech by Chappelle appeared in an August 9, 1890 article, "At the Cradle of Liberty, Enthusiastic Endorsement of the Elections Bill, Faneuil Hall again Filled with Liberty Loving Bostonians to Urge a Free Ballot and Fare Count..." on the front page of The New York Age newspaper on Saturday, August 9, 1890.</p><br>
<p>On November 7, 1979, Faneuil Hall was the site of Sen. Edward M. Kennedys speech declaring his candidacy for president. On November 3, 2004, Faneuil Hall was the site of Senator John Kerrys concession speech in the 2004 presidential election.</p><br>
<p>On April 11, 2006, Governor Mitt Romney signed Massachusetts&#39; historic healthcare bill into law with a fife and drum band in Faneuil Hall before 300 ticketed guests.</p><br>
<p>On October 30, 2013, President Barack Obama delivered a defense of the Affordable Care Act from the same spot where Governor Mitt Romney signed his state&#39;s expansion of healthcare in 2006.</p><br>
<p>On November 2, 2014, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino was laid in state at Faneuil Hall following his death on October 30, 2014.</p><br>
<p>The Headquarters of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts has been in Faneuil Hall since 1746, currently on the 4th floor.</p><br>
<p>It is also still used for political debates between Massachusetts candidates as well as political shows, such as The O&#39;Reilly Factor.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>Faneuil is a French name, and is anglicized as or. In Colonial times, it may have been pronounced as in funnel, because Peter Faneuil&#39;s gravestone is marked "P. Funel." However, the inscription was added long after his burial; the stone originally displayed only the Faneuil family crest, not his surname.</p><br>
<p>Boston area locals often use the term Faneuil to refer to the entire surrounding neighborhood, particularly as a landmark for its vibrant nightlife.</p><br>
<p>In August 2017, amid heightened media coverage of the removal of confederate monuments and memorials in the United States, the activist group New Democracy Coalition proposed that Faneuil Halls name be changed because of Peter Faneuils participation in the slave trade. In response to the proposal, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh stated: "We are not going the change the name of Faneuil Hall".</p><br>
<h2>Building elements</h2><br>
<h3>Bell</h3><br>
<p>The bell was repaired in 2007 by spraying the frozen clapper with WD-40 over the course of a week and attaching a rope. Prior to this repair, the last known ringing of the bell with its clapper was at the end of World War II, in 1945, though it had since been rung several times by striking with a mallet.</p><br>
<h3>Grasshopper weather vane</h3><br>
<p>The gilded grasshopper weather vane on top of the building was created by Deacon Shem Drowne in 1742. Gilded with a gold leaf, the copper weather vane weighs 80 lb and is 4 ft long. The weather vane is believed to be modeled after the grasshopper weather vane on the London Royal Exchange, based upon the family crest of Thomas Gresham.</p><br>
<h3>Public art and landscape artwork</h3><br>
<p>The area between the eastern end of Faneuil Hall and Congress Street is part of Boston National Historical Park. In this landscape is a 19th-century sculpture of Samuel Adams created by sculptor Anne Whitney. The granite plaza surface is marked for 850 ft with the approximate location of the early Colonial shoreline c. 1630. The street layout and building plot plan designations from an 1820 map are shown by etched dashed lines and changes from pink granite to grey granite paving slabs. The shoreline marking artwork entitled, A Once and Future Shoreline, is made with etched silhouettes of seaweed, sea grass, fish, shells and other materials found along a high tide line.</p><br>
<p>Art within Faneuil Hall includes many paintings and sculpture busts of Revolutionary War activists, pre Civil War abolitionists, and political leaders.</p><br>
<h2>Timeline of events</h2><br>
<p>1761 – Hall burned down</p><br>
<p>1762 – Hall rebuilt</p><br>
<p>1767 – October 28: Petition to boycott imported goods signed.</p><br>
<p>1768 – Faneuil Hall is briefly used to quarter the newly arrived 14th Regiment during the occupation of Boston.</p><br>
<p>1773 – December 3: Meeting about tea lately arrived on the ship Eleanor; Capt. James Bruce, Samuel Adams, Jonathan Williams, and others present</p><br>
<p>1806 – Building remodelled and expanded by Charles Bulfinch</p><br>
<p>August 2, 1826 – Daniel Webster eulogizes John Adams and Thomas Jefferson</p><br>
<p>July 11, 1831 – Timothy Fuller speaks "at the request of the Suffolk Anti-Masonic Committee"</p><br>
<p>September 6, 1834 – Edward Everett eulogizes Lafayette</p><br>
<p>1837</p><br>
<p>Wendell Phillips speaks</p><br>
<p>1st Exhibition and Fair of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association</p><br>
<p>1839 – Peleg Sprague stumps for candidate William Henry Harrison</p><br>
<p>July 4, 1843 – Charles Francis Adams, Sr. speaks</p><br>
<p>April 15, 1848 – Edward Everett eulogizes John Quincy Adams</p><br>
<p>May 26, 1854 – After arrest of Anthony Burns, public meeting "to secure justice for a man claimed as a slave by a Virginia kidnapper, and imprisoned in Boston Court House, in defiance of the laws of Massachusetts."</p><br>
<p>April 18, 1863 – Andrew Jackson Hamilton "of Texas" speaks "at the war meeting"</p><br>
<p>January 9, 1865 – Edward Everett speaks on "the relief of the suffering people of Savannah"</p><br>
<p>June 7, 1876 – Meeting "in favor of public parks;" Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and others speak</p><br>
<p>August 1, 1878 – "Indignation meeting... to protest against the injury done to the freedom of the press by the conviction and imprisonment of Ezra H. Heywood"</p><br>
<p>October 29, 1887 – Eben Norton Horsford speaks on occasion of the unveiling of Anne Whitney&#39;s Leif Ericson statue (installed on Commonwealth Ave.)</p><br>
<p>August 1890 – Julius Caesar Chappelle, Republican legislator of Boston, MA (1883–1886), one of the first black legislators in the United States, makes a speech (endorsing the Federal Elections bill that would help give blacks the right to vote) that was printed in The New York Age newspaper&#39;s front-page article, "At the Cradle of Liberty" on August 9, 1890.</p><br>
<p>1903</p><br>
<p>March 4 – Frederic J. Stimson debates James F. Carey</p><br>
<p>March 19 – Protest "against the suppression of truth about the Philippines"</p><br>
<p>May 1909 – 32nd Grand Division (Order of Railroad Conductors)ORC Convention</p><br>
<p>1974 – Weathervane stolen, then returned</p><br>
<p>1992 – Building restored</p><br>
<p>2012 – Lower Level and First Level completely renovated by Eastern General Contractors, Inc. of Springfield, MA.</p><br>
<p>August 2017 - Kevin Peterson suggest changing the name of Faneuil Hall due to connections to slavery and propose to rename after Crispus Attucks.</p><br>
<p>The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at 11,489 ft at San Gorgonio Mountain – the tallest peak in all of Southern California. The San Bernardinos form a significant region of wilderness and are popular for hiking and skiing.</p><br>
<p>The mountains were formed about eleven million years ago by tectonic activity along the San Andreas Fault, and are still actively rising. Many local rivers originate in the range, which receives significantly more precipitation than the surrounding desert. The range&#39;s unique and varying environment allows it to maintain some of the greatest biodiversity in the state. For over 10,000 years, the San Bernardinos and their surroundings have been inhabited by indigenous peoples, who used the mountains as a summer hunting ground.</p><br>
<p>Spanish explorers first encountered the San Bernardinos in the late 18th century, naming the eponymous San Bernardino Valley at its base. European settlement of the region progressed slowly until 1860, when the mountains became the focus of the largest gold rush ever to occur in Southern California. Waves of settlers brought in by the gold rush populated the lowlands around the San Bernardinos, and began to tap the mountains&#39; rich timber and water resources on a large scale by the late 19th century.</p><br>
<p>Recreational development of the range began in the early 20th century, when mountain resorts were built around new irrigation reservoirs. Since then, the mountains have been extensively engineered for transportation and water supply purposes. Four major state highways and the California Aqueduct traverse the mountains today; these developments have all had significant impacts on area wildlife and plant communities.</p><br>
<h2>Geography and climate</h2><br>
<p>The San Bernardinos run for approximately 60 mi from Cajon Pass in the northwest – which separates them from the San Gabriel Mountains – to San Gorgonio Pass, across which lie the San Jacinto Mountains, in the southeast. The Morongo Valley in the southeast divides the range from the Little San Bernardino Mountains. Encompassing roughly 2,100 square miles, the mountains lie mostly in San Bernardino County, with a small southern portion reaching into Riverside County. The range divides three major physiographic regions: the highly urbanized Inland Empire to the southwest, the Coachella Valley in the southeast, and the Mojave Desert to the north. Most of the range lies within the boundaries of the San Bernardino National Forest.</p><br>
<p>From its northwestern end, the crest of the mountains rises steadily until they are interrupted by the gorge of Bear Creek. The northern part of the San Bernardinos is a large upland plateau characterized by a series of extensive subalpine basins, including Big Bear Valley, and is home to several large water supply reservoirs. South of the Big Bear area the range is cut by the Santa Ana Canyon, the broad valley of the Santa Ana River, and rises dramatically to culminate at Mount San Gorgonio and eleven other peaks that exceed 10,000 ft in elevation. The mountains feature a steep drop into the Coachella Valley and San Gorgonio Pass – the latter of which is one of the deepest mountain passes in the United States, exceeding the Grand Canyon&#39;s depth by over 2,000 ft.</p><br>
<p>Many cities lie at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains. These include San Bernardino, Redlands and Yucaipa in the south; Yucca Valley to the east; and Hesperia to the northwest. In addition, there are several mid-sized to large towns in the mountains themselves, including Big Bear Lake, Big Bear City, Crestline, Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs. Cities within the San Bernardino Mountains total a population of about 44,000, with this number sometimes increasing tenfold during peak tourist season. Several regional streams and rivers also have their headwaters in the mountains. The principal drainage is provided by the Santa Ana River, which runs westwards into the Pacific Ocean in Orange County. Other streams flowing off the mountains include the Whitewater River, flowing southeast through the Coachella Valley into the Salton Sea, and the Mojave River, which drains northwards into the Mojave Desert.</p><br>
<p>The San Bernardino Mountains (along with the adjacent San Gabriel and San Jacinto Mountains) are a humid island in the mostly semi-arid southern California coastal plain. Parts of the San Bernardino Mountains have annual precipitation totals in excess of 40 inches (e.g. Lake Arrowhead and Barton Flats areas), and provide an important water resource for the coastal plain below. Most of the precipitation falls between November and March; summers are mostly dry except for infrequent thunderstorms during late summer. During the colder winter storms, snow can fall above 3,000 feet, but most usually falls above 5,000 feet. Ski resorts (mostly in the Big Bear area) capitalize on this snowfall, the most reliable south of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The San Bernardinos are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California, a mountain chain formed by tectonic forces between the North American and Pacific Plates along the San Andreas Fault. An early version of the range rose in the Miocene, between eleven and five million years ago, but has largely eroded. The range was shaped into its present form during the Pleistocene epoch beginning approximately two million years ago, with regional uplift continuing to the present. The rocks that make up the mountains are much more ancient than the mountains themselves – ranging from 18 million years to 1.7 billion years old. The San Andreas Fault was also responsible for the formation of both major mountain passes that mark the east and west ends of the range.</p><br>
<p>These mountains are shaped by several primary tectonic or fault blocks – the Big Bear block, which forms the large montane plateau that characterizes the northern portions of the range; and the more complex and fractured San Gorgonio, Wilson Creek and Yucaipa Ridge blocks, which form the rugged and heavily dissected southern parts of the mountains. Because of their large, steep rise above the surrounding terrain, the San Bernardinos have been subject to great amounts of erosion that have carved out numerous river gorges. Rocks and sediment from the mountains are deposited on the surrounding valley floors as massive alluvial fans. Regional alluvial deposits can reach depths of 1,000 ft or more, and their permeable soils constitute several major groundwater basins.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Indigenous peoples</h3><br>
<p>Archaeological discoveries in the San Bernardino Valley suggest that humans have populated the region for at least 10,000-12,000 years. Several Native American groups held the lands surrounding the San Bernardinos. These included the Gabrielinos, who occupied the Inland Empire area southwest of the mountains; the Cahuilla, who lived in the Coachella Valley and Salton Sea basin; and the Serrano and Chemehuevi peoples, whose territory comprised land north and northeast of the San Bernardinos, adjacent to the Mojave Desert. Most of these tribes did not have permanent settlements in the mountains, with the possible exception of a few groups of Serrano.</p><br>
<p>Indigenous peoples traveled into the mountains in the summer to hunt deer and rabbits, gather acorns, berries and nuts, and seek refuge from the desert heat. They established well-traveled trade routes, some of which were later used by Europeans to explore and settle the region. The precipitous Mojave Road (or Mojave Trail) crested the San Bernardinos east of Cajon Pass and permitted trade between people of the Inland Empire basin and the Mojave Desert. San Gorgonio Pass, which forms the largest natural break in the Transverse Ranges, also allowed interaction between coastal and desert tribes. River canyons, especially those of the Mojave and Santa Ana, provided the major means of entry to the mountains. Many archaeological sites have been discovered along Deep Creek, a tributary of the Mojave River, in particular.</p><br>
<h3>Explorers and early settlers</h3><br>
<p>During the 17th and 18th centuries, various Spanish explorers passed through coastal Southern California and claimed the area for Spain. In 1769, the Spanish government began an effort to bring what they called Alta California under their control and introduce Christianity to native peoples through the construction of missions. It was not until 1772 when the military governor of Alta California, Pedro Fages, became the first European known to reach the San Bernardino Mountains. Although the original purpose of his expedition was to pursue deserters from the Spanish army, he ended up venturing into not just the San Bernardinos but also the San Jacinto Mountains, the Mojave Desert, and eventually north into the Central Valley.</p><br>
<p>The San Bernardinos and their surrounds were sporadically explored throughout the next 50 years or so - first by Francisco Garcés, the first known European to use the Mojave Road, in 1776, followed by José Maria de Zalvidea, who surveyed the Mojave River area in 1806. In 1810, Francisco Dumetz led a small company to build a temporary chapel near what is now Redlands. On May 20, the Feast Day of Bernardino of Siena, Dumetz named the San Bernardino Valley. This name was applied to San Bernardino Peak by 1835, and was in wide use for the entire range by 1849.</p><br>
<p>In 1819, San Bernardino de Sena Estancia was created near present-day San Bernardino as an outpost of nearby Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. Although sometimes referred to as an asistencia, or "a mission on a small scale with all the requisites for a mission, and with Divine Service held regularly on days of obligation, except that it lacked a resident priest", San Bernardino was really just an estancia, or cattle ranch. In 1820, a 12 mi-long irrigation ditch or "zanja" was dug using Native American labor to furnish water from Mill Creek, a major stream flowing out of the San Bernardinos, to the estancia and surrounding croplands. For the next twenty years, the Spanish – then the Californios under newly independent Mexico – practiced agriculture and ranching at the foot of the mountains.</p><br>
<p>The high country of the San Bernardinos remained largely unexplored until 1845, when Benjamin D. Wilson led a party of 22 men from a rancho near present-day Riverside to catch several Mohave cattle rustlers who had fled into the mountains. Wilson was the first recorded European to see the Big Bear Valley, and named Bear Lake (todays Baldwin Lake) for the abundance of California grizzly in the area. The party captured and skinned more than twenty bears. Later, they found and arrested the rustlers, who were hiding along the Mojave River. Wilsons expedition opened the interior of the San Bernardinos to later exploration, and discouraged Native Americans such as the Mohave from staging similar raids over the mountains.</p><br>
<p>Beginning in 1851, Mormon colonists began emigrating to the San Bernardino Valley. The Mormons bought and subsequently split up Rancho San Bernardino, and greatly improved the area&#39;s agricultural production by bringing in thousands of head of livestock and overhauling the local irrigation network. In order to obtain lumber for their settlements, they also began the first large-scale logging operations in the San Bernardino Mountains, starting in the Mill Creek valley. Luis Vignes built the first sawmill in the range sometime between 1851 and 1853. By 1854, six lumber mills were in operation in the mountains, some as high as the crest of the range three-quarters of a mile above San Bernardino, accessed by a twisting road through Waterman Canyon. Some of these mills were driven by waterwheels, although most were steam powered.</p><br>
<p>Prospectors William F. Holcomb and Ben Choteaus 1860 discovery of gold on Holcomb Creek kicked off a flood of gold seekers to the San Bernardino Mountains. Mining boomtowns, including Belleville, Clapboard Town, Union Town, Bairdstown and Doble, were established almost overnight. Belleville even exceeded the population of San Bernardino itself for a short time and narrowly lost to the latter city for election as the county seat. Numerous mills and processing plants were constructed in the area, which became known as Holcomb Valley. In 1873, Eli "Lucky" Baldwin built Californias largest stamp mill in Holcomb Valley. Although another major gold strike was made in that same year, area deposits petered out by the 1880s, and the mountains were quickly depopulated, with most of the miners settling down in the San Bernardino Valley and the Mojave Desert near present-day Hesperia. Many structures built by miners, including chutes, sluices and a few cabins, can still be found in the area today.</p><br>
<h3>Reservoirs and recreation</h3><br>
<p>In 1880, Frank Elwood Brown designed the first dam in the Big Bear Valley, forming Big Bear Lake – the world&#39;s largest artificial reservoir at the time – to supply water to citrus farms around San Bernardino. By 1910, a new dam had been built, increasing the size of the lake threefold. An unintended effect of the lake was to dramatically increase tourism in the San Bernardino Mountains, and its shores were developed with lodges and visitor facilities by the 1920s. The old logging camp of Big Bear Lake was expanded to accommodate increasing numbers of tourists from all over Southern California.</p><br>
<p>Originally proposed in 1891 by the Arrowhead Reservoir and Power Company – and reportedly inspired by the success of the Big Bear Lake project – Lake Arrowhead was to be one of a series of three reservoirs that would divert water draining off the northwestern San Bernardino Mountains into the San Bernardino Valley, and furnish water to a 260 KW hydroelectric plant. Although the project was never completed to full extent, Arrowhead became one of the most popular fishing destinations in Southern California. In the early 20th century, John Baylis built the Pinecrest Resort on Lake Arrowhead. This was followed by several other tourist developments, including the Skyland Inn and Thousand Pines Camp. Most early tourists arrived by stagecoach, though in time the old Mormon logging road through Waterman Canyon was overhauled, allowing for the passage of automobiles.</p><br>
<p>Development of resorts also proliferated on rivers and high mountain valleys. The Seven Oaks Camp was established on the banks of the Santa Ana River in 1890, and resorts also grew up at Crestline and Running Springs in higher regions of the San Bernardino Mountains. Snow in the San Bernardinos was seen as an obstacle before the 1920s and practically shut down recreation in the winter. However, more and more Southern Californians braved the dangers of winter travel in the mountains, and Lake Arrowhead became a sought-after winter destination by the 1930s.</p><br>
<p>Skiing did not become a popular recreational activity in the mountains until a simple sling lift was built at Big Bear in 1938. By 1949, a 3,000 ft-long chair lift was built, hugely increasing the amount of skiers the area&#39;s resorts could accommodate. Known as the Lynn Lift, it operated until 1970, but was demolished in 1981 due to its limited capacity. Tommi Tyndall, who founded ski schools at Big Bear, Mill Creek, Snow Summit and Sugarloaf Mountain, is widely credited for introducing and later advocating the sport in the San Bernardino Mountains, as well as for bringing snowmaking technology, without which the present-day ski industry would be severely crippled during dry winters.</p><br>
<h2>Infrastructure</h2><br>
<h3>Transportation</h3><br>
<p>During the early 20th century, the roads that serviced the San Bernardino Mountains were steep and narrow, and conflicts occurred between those who believed that the automobile could provide fast and cheap transportation up the steep grades of the mountains, and those who worried that cars were dangerous and would cause accidents with the stagecoaches then in use. In 1908, W.C. Vaughan drove up the Waterman Canyon road to Lake Arrowhead in protest of county restrictions, with police in hot pursuit. In spite of a total ban on automobiles imposed by the county the following year, Jack Heyser took a car down the narrow stage roads around modern-day Crestline in 1910, proving that the mountains could be safely serviced by automobiles.</p><br>
<p>By 1911, cars had largely replaced horse-drawn carts as the primary mode of transport in the mountains, and new toll roads were constructed through the range to service them. Among the first were roads through Cajon Pass, City Creek Canyon (SR 330), and Mill Creek and Santa Ana Canyons (SR 38). The largest and most famous road through the San Bernardinos – California State Route 18, more popularly known as the Rim of the World Highway for 107 mi as it winds through the mountains – was dedicated on July 18, 1915. Traveling from Crestline through Big Bear City and north into the Mojave Desert, the Rim of the World Highway is one of the most spectacular roads in Southern California, affording motorists wide views of the San Bernardino Valley, Santa Ana Canyon, and Big Bear Lake.</p><br>
<h3>Water management</h3><br>
<p>In the late 1950s, work began on the California Aqueduct, a massive system of canals and pipelines designed to bring water from Northern California to growing cities in the parched south. The East Branch of the aqueduct passes over the San Bernardino Mountains through a complex arrangement of pumping stations, reservoirs and power stations. The aqueduct feeds Silverwood Lake, a large reservoir created by the construction of a dam on the northern flank of the San Bernardinos in 1973. From Silverwood, the water passes through the mountains via the San Bernardino Tunnel, and drops down to the Devil Canyon Power Plant in the San Bernardino Valley, using the enormous hydraulic head afforded by the mountains to generate up to 276 MW of power.</p><br>
<p>The streams of the San Bernardino Mountains are also prone to flash floods, a danger that has prompted the construction of numerous flood control dams throughout the range. The largest of these is Seven Oaks Dam – the sixth highest dam in the United States – on the Santa Ana River. In 1969, the USA Army Corps of Engineers deemed the Santa Ana the greatest flood threat in the United States west of the Mississippi River because of its course through heavily developed areas. Completed in 1999, the dam is designed to completely contain a 350-year flood. Many other dams, including Mojave Forks Dam on the Mojave River and various retention basins and check dams on smaller drainages, provide more localized flood and sediment control.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology and wildlife</h2><br>
<p>The San Bernardino Mountains, along with the nearby San Gabriel and San Jacinto ranges, is considered a sky island – a high mountain region whose plants and animals vary dramatically from those in the surrounding semi-arid lands. The San Bernardinos in particular comprise the largest forested region in Southern California, and support some 1,600 species of plants. Foothill regions are primarily composed of chaparral and evergreen oak woodland communities, with a transition to forests of deciduous oak, yellow pine, Jeffrey pine, incense cedar and several fir species at elevations above 5,000 ft. Deeper within the mountains, perennial streams fed by springs and lakes nourish stands of alders, willows and cottonwoods.</p><br>
<p>About 440 species of wildlife inhabit the mountains, including many endangered species such as the San Bernardino flying squirrel, California Spotted Owl, Mountain yellow-legged frog, Southern Rubber Boa, and Andrew&#39;s marbled butterfly. The mountains once had an abundant population of California grizzly, but hunting eliminated their populations by 1906. Black bears roam the highlands today, but they are not native to the region: they were imported from the Sierra Nevada by the California Department of Fish and Game in the 1930s, in part to attract tourists to the mountains.</p><br>
<p>Croydon Clocktower is an arts and museum complex located on Katharine Street in Croydon, London.</p><br>
<p>The venue contains the Museum of Croydon, the David Lean Cinema, which offers a regular programme of art house and independent films, a Youth Ambassadors group, aimed at bringing more young people to the Clocktower, and a café and bar. The venue also contains the Braithwaite Hall, which was used for concerts, theatre and children&#39;s shows, until 2011 when its funding was cut by the Council, and it lost its Arts Council RFO status.</p><br>
<p>The centre is owned and run by Croydon Council, and also houses Croydon&#39;s Central Library. The building links into the Town Hall and some areas of the building, most notably the Braithwaite Hall, are part of the original town hall and library complex, built in 1892–1896 to a design by Charles Henman.</p><br>
<p>The Clocktower is the tower of the Town Hall. New buildings were built alongside the Town Hall and were opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994. A notable early success was the Picasso exhibition in March to May 1995 named Picasso&#39;s Croydon Period.</p><br>
<h2>Central Library</h2><br>
<p>Croydon Central Library, located on three floors inside the Clocktower, is Croydon&#39;s main public library, part of the Croydon Libraries arm of the council.</p><br>
<p>Croydon Central Library offers a wide range of books, CDs, DVDs and videos for reference and loan.</p><br>
<p>Books are available in most of the local communities&#39; languages.</p><br>
<p>The Wordwise collection of books caters for children who suffer from dyslexia, and there is a large and extensive gay and lesbian collection, the largest range in London.</p><br>
<p>Level 0 contains customer service desks and a large children&#39;s library.</p><br>
<p>The newspaper archive on the top floor includes all the major newspapers dating back to the 1990s.</p><br>
<p>Other features include periodicals, community information, homework help clubs and reading groups, as well as a local studies library and extensive archives.</p><br>
<p>An Enquiry service is available.</p><br>
<p>The library also offers a number of free-to-access PCs with internet connection.</p><br>
<p>The Clocktower Café is situated just outside the library.</p><br>
<h2>Museum of Croydon</h2><br>
<h2>David Lean Cinema</h2><br>
<p>Mount Unzen is an active volcanic group of several overlapping stratovolcanoes, near the city of Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture, on the island of Kyūshū, Japan&#39;s southernmost main island.</p><br>
<p>In 1792, the collapse of one of its several lava domes triggered a megatsunami that killed 14,524 people in Japan&#39;s worst volcanic-related disaster. The volcano was most recently active from 1990 to 1995, and a large eruption in 1991 generated a pyroclastic flow that killed 43 people, including three volcanologists.</p><br>
<p>Its highest peaks are Fugen-dake at 1,359 m and Heisei-shinzan at 1,486 m. The latter emerged during the eruptions of the early, eponymous Heisei era (1989–).</p><br>
<h2>Eruptive history</h2><br>
<h3>Prehistoric to 1989</h3><br>
<p>Mount Unzen is part of Shimabara Peninsula, which has seen extensive volcanism over millions of years. The oldest volcanic deposits in the region date from over 6 million years ago, and extensive eruptions occurred over the whole peninsula between 2.5 and 0.5 million years ago.</p><br>
<p>The origins of the Unzen complex are traced to the formation of a graben through crustal faulting. This caused parts of the peninsula to subside by up to 1,000 m below sea level and may have caused eruptive activity to localize at one site inside the graben. Eruptions of dacitic lava began from a site slightly to the south of today&#39;s Mount Unzen and migrated north over time.</p><br>
<p>The volcano rapidly grew during its first 200,000 years, forming a large cone. Later eruptions over the following 150,000 years filled in much of the graben. Initially, activity was dominated by blocky andesitic lava and ash flows, changing to dacitic pumice flows and airfall deposits from 500,000 to 400,000 years ago. The period from 400,000 to 300,000 years ago saw the emplacement of large areas of pyroclastic flow and lahar deposits; these form the major part of the volcanic fan surrounding the volcano. Beginning 300,000 to 150,000 years ago, thick phreatomagmatic deposits were laid down, suggesting the subsidence of the volcano into its graben was rapid during this period.</p><br>
<p>Activity from 150,000 years ago to the present has occurred at a number of sites around the volcanic complex, building four main domes at different times: the No-dake (70–150,000 years old), Myōken-dake (25–40,000 years old), Fugen-dake (younger than 25,000 years old) and Mayu-yama (4,000 years old) volcanic peaks. Fugen-dake has been the site of most eruptions during the past 20,000 years and lies about 6 km from the center of Shimabara.</p><br>
<p>Unzen&#39;s deadliest eruption occurred in 1792, with a large dacitic lava flow coming from Fugen-dake. The east flank of the Mayu-yama dome collapsed unexpectedly following a post-eruption earthquake, creating a landslide into Ariake Bay. This caused a megatsunami that reached a height of 100 m, and killed an estimated 15,000 people. it is the worst volcanic related eruption in Japan.</p><br>
<h3>1990–1995</h3><br>
<p>After 1792, the volcano remained dormant until November 1989 when an earthquake swarm began about 20 km underneath and 10 km west of Fugendake. Over the following year, earthquakes continued, their hypocentres gradually migrating towards the summit. The first phreatic, or steam-blast, eruptions began in November 1990, and after inflation of the summit area, fresh lava began to emerge on May 20, 1991.</p><br>
<p>The threat of further disastrous events prompted authorities to evacuate 12,000 residents from their homes. On June 3, 1991, the volcano erupted violently, possibly as a result of depressurisation of the magma column after a landslide in the crater. A pyroclastic flow triggered by the collapse of a lava dome reached 4.5 km from the crater and claimed the lives of 43 scientists and journalists, including volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft and Harry Glicken.</p><br>
<p>Between 1991 and 1994 the volcano generated at least 10,000 small pyroclastic flows, destroying about 2,000 houses. From 1993 onward, the rate of lava effusion gradually decreased, and eruptions came to an end in 1995. Since then heavy rains have frequently remobilised pyroclastic material, generating lahars. Dikes have been constructed in several river valleys to channel lahar flows away from vulnerable areas, and warning systems and evacuation plans have been developed and deployed.</p><br>
<p>Mount Unzen was designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations, in 1991 as part of their International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, due to its history of violent activity and location in a densely populated area.</p><br>
<h2>Unzen Scientific Drilling Project (USDP)</h2><br>
<p>In 1999, an ambitious project began at Mount Unzen to drill deep inside the volcano and sample magma in the 1990–1995 eruption conduit. The project hoped to shed light on some fundamental questions in volcanology, such as why magma repeatedly travels in the same conduits despite the solidification of magma in them at the end of each eruption, and how it can lose enough gas on its ascent to erupt effusively rather than explosively.</p><br>
<p>Drilling began with test bores to assess the viability of a deep borehole. Two holes were drilled, 750 m and 1,500 m deep, and cores taken from these holes were used to better determine Unzen&#39;s eruptive history. One further 350 m deep borehole was drilled to test the methods to be used in the final drilling project.</p><br>
<p>The main drill began in 2003, starting from the northern flank of the volcano with a 440 mm hole at an angle of 25 degrees from vertical. At greater depths, the direction of boring was tilted towards the conduit, reaching an angle of 75 degrees from vertical at a depth of 800 m. Drilling reached 1,800 m, the original target depth, without reaching the conduit, but in July 2004 at a depth of 1,995 m, the conduit was finally reached. The vertical depth below the summit was 1,500 m.</p><br>
<p>The temperature at the conduit was about 155 &deg;C, much lower than pre-drill estimations of 500 &deg;C and over. This was attributed to hydrothermal circulation accelerating the cooling of the magma over the nine to ten years since the end of the eruption.</p><br>
<h2>Rivers</h2><br>
<p>Arie River starts at Mount Unzen and flows to the Ariake Sea.</p><br>
<p>Madeira is a Portuguese island, and is the largest and most populous of the Madeira Archipelago. It has an area of 740.7 km², including Ilhéu de Agostinho, Ilhéu de São Lourenço, Ilhéu Mole . As of 2011, Madeira had a total population of 262,456.</p><br>
<p>It is at the top of a massive shield volcano that rises about 6 km from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, on the Tore underwater mountain range. The volcano formed atop an east-west rift in the oceanic crust along the African Plate, beginning during the Miocene epoch over 5 million years ago, continuing into the Pleistocene until about 700,000 years ago. This was followed by extensive erosion, producing two large amphitheatres open to south in the central part of the island. Volcanic activity later resumed, producing scoria cones and lava flows atop the older eroded shield. The most recent volcanic eruptions were on the west-central part of the island only 6,500 years ago, creating more cinder cones and lava flows.</p><br>
<p>It is the largest island of the group with an area of 741 km&sup2, a length of 57 km (from Ponte de São Lourenço to Ponte do Pargo), while approximately 22 km at its widest point (from Ponte da Cruz to Ponte São Jorge), with a coastline of 150 km. It has a mountain ridge that extends along the centre of the island, reaching 1,862 m at its highest point (Pico Ruivo), while much lower (below 200 metres) along its eastern extent. The primitive volcanic foci responsible for the central mountainous area, consisted of the peaks: Ruivo (1,862 m), Torres (1,851 m), Arieiro (1,818 m), Cidrão (1,802 m), Cedro (1,759 m), Casado (1,725 m), Grande (1,657 m), Ferreiro (1,582 m). At the end of this eruptive phase, an island circled by reefs was formed, its marine vestiges are evident in a calcareous layer in the area of Lameiros, in São Vicente (which was later explored for calcium oxide production). Sea cliffs, such as Cabo Girão, valleys and ravines extend from this central spine, making the interior generally inaccessible. Daily life is concentrated in the many villages at the mouths of the ravines, through which the heavy rains of autumn and winter usually travel to the sea.</p><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley is a desert valley in Southern California which extends for approximately 45 mi in Riverside County southeast from the San Bernardino Mountains to the northern shore of the Salton Sea. It is the northernmost extent of the vast trough which includes the Salton Sea, the Imperial Valley and the Gulf of California. It is approximately 15 mi wide along most of its length, bounded on the west by the San Jacinto Mountains and the Santa Rosa Mountains and on the north and east by the Little San Bernardino Mountains. The San Andreas Fault crosses the valley from the Chocolate Mountains in the southeast corner and along the centerline of the Little San Bernardinos. The fault is easily visible along its northern length as a strip of greenery against an otherwise bare mountain.</p><br>
<p>The Chocolate Mountains are home to a United States Navy live gunnery range and are mostly off-limits to the public. In comparison to the "Inland Empire (IE)" (Riverside-San Bernardino area and the California desert), the Coachella Valley is referred to as the "Desert Empire" to differentiate it from the neighboring urbanized Inland Empire and the Imperial Valley. Geographers and geologists sometimes call the area, along with the Imperial Valley to the south, the "Cahuilla Basin" or the "Salton Trough".</p><br>
<p>The valley connects with the Greater Los Angeles area to the west via the San Gorgonio Pass, a major transportation corridor that includes Interstate 10 and the Union Pacific Railroad.</p><br>
<p>The valley is sometimes included as part of the 13th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, the Inland Empire metropolitan area. The famous desert resort cities of Palm Springs and Palm Desert lie in the Coachella Valley. There is a large population of seasonal residents in the winter months, known as snowbirds, which at peak times may surpass 100,000 with another 3.5 million annual conventioneers and tourists.</p><br>
<p>The local population rounds up to almost 500,000 in April, declines to 200,000 in July and rises to near 800,000 by January.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>There is some contention as to the origin of the name. Early maps show the area as "Conchilla," the Spanish word for "seashell." Since the area was once a part of a vast inland sea, tiny fossilized mollusk shells can be found in just about every remote area. Local lore explains the change in the name from Conchilla to Coachella as a mistake made by the map-makers contracted to transcribe the data supplied by the Southern Pacific Railroads survey party. Rather than redraw the expensive maps, the railroad chose to instead begin calling the area by the misspelled name "Coachella" rather than its traditional name "Conchilla." Some believe that the name Coachella was simply made up, but that theory is rather unlikely. Even though the area had been surveyed by Edward Fitzgerald Beale in 1857, whose survey party used camels to cross the desert, primarily along the path of the historic Bradshaw Trail, it wasnt until the coming of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the discovery of abundant artesian wells later in the 19th Century that the area began to expand. Cindarella Courtney was the first non-Indian child born in Indio in 1898. The first boy, David Elgin, was born in 1899.</p><br>
<p>The coming in 1926 of USA Route 99 northward through Coachella and Indio and westward toward Los Angeles more or less along the present route of Interstate 10 helped further open both agriculture, commerce and tourism to the rest of the country. So too did the coming of State Highway 111 in the early 1930s, which cut a diagonal swath through the valley and connected all of its major settlements. Dr. June McCarroll, then a nurse with the Southern Pacific whose office fronted USA 99 in Indio, is credited with being the first person to delineate a divided highway by painting a stripe down the middle of the roadbed in response to frequent head-on collisions. The standard was refined and adopted worldwide. Doctor McCarroll is memorialized by a stretch of I-10 through Indio named in her honor.</p><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley was popular among celebrities from Frank Sinatra to Dakota Fanning who came and continue to come to enjoy vacations and winter homes in the desert resort community. Also it became a major real estate destination in the 1980s and 1990s, no longer limited to senior citizens, winter residents and retirees. Families with young children and young adults became interested in Palm Springs and surrounding communities for lower cost housing and apartment rents. Palm Springs has become a world famous tourist attraction. As a tourist destination, the Coachella Valley can be considered a Southwest attraction like Las Vegas, Phoenix, or Santa Fe, or as a part of Southern California along with San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles. In a 2003 Condé Nast publication review, Palm Springs was ranked one of the top 10 global vacation destinations, and the smallest one in population.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The area is surrounded on the southwest by the Santa Rosa Mountains, by the San Jacinto Mountains to the west, the Little San Bernardino Mountains to the east and San Gorgonio Mountain to the north. These mountains peak at around 11,000 ft and tend to average between 5,000 and 7,000 feet (1,500 to 2,000 m). Elevations on the Valley floor range from 1600 ft above sea level at the north end of the Valley to 250 ft below sea level around Mecca. In the summer months daytime temperatures range from 104 &deg;F to 112 &deg;F and nighttime lows from 75 &deg;F to 86 &deg;F. During winter, the daytime temperatures range from 68 &deg;F to 88 &deg;F and corresponding nights range from 46 &deg;F to 65 &deg;F making it a popular winter resort destination. The surrounding mountains create Thermal Belts in the immediate foothills of the Coachella Valley, leading to higher night-time temperatures in the winter months, and lower daytime temps during the summer months. Due to its warm year-round climate the region&#39;s agricultural sector produces fruits such as mangoes, figs and dates.</p><br>
<p>The Valley is the northwestern extension of the Sonoran Desert to the southeast, and as such, is extremely arid. Most precipitation falls during the winter months from passing mid-latitude frontal systems from the north and west, nearly all of it as rain, but with snow atop the surrounding mountains. Rain also falls during the summer months as surges of moisture from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California are drawn into the area by the desert monsoon. Occasionally, the remnants of a Pacific tropical cyclone can also affect the valley. In 1976, Tropical Storm Kathleen brought torrential rain and catastrophic flooding to the Coachella Valley as it swept in from the Pacific, traversing the region from south to north.</p><br>
<p>The irrigation of over 100,000 acre of the Valley since the early 20th century has allowed widespread agriculture. In its 2006 annual report, the Coachella Valley Water District listed the year&#39;s total crop value at over $576 million or almost $12,000 per acre. The Coachella Canal, a concrete-lined aqueduct built between 1938 and 1948 as a branch of the All-American Canal, brings water from the Colorado River to the Valley. The Colorado River Aqueduct, which provides drinking water to Los Angeles and San Diego, crosses the northeast end of the Valley along the base of the Little San Bernardino Mountains (the Joshua Tree National Park).</p><br>
<p>The San Andreas Fault traverses the Valley&#39;s east side. Because of this fault, the Valley has many hot springs. The Santa Rosa Mountains to the West are part of the Elsinore Fault Zone. The results of a prehistoric sturzstrom can be seen in Martinez Canyon. The Painted Canyons of Mecca feature smaller faults as well as Precambrian, Tertiary and Quaternary rock formations, unconformities, badlands and desert landforms. Seismic activity is what triggers earthquakes, a natural, but occasionally destructive phenomena in the Coachella Valley. Fault lines cause hot water springs or geysers to rise from the ground. These natural water sources made habitation and development possible in the otherwise inhospitable desert environment of the Coachella Valley. Major earthquakes have affected the Coachella Valley. For instance, the 1992 Landers earthquake caused some damage in the valley. An earthquake of local origin which caused considerable damage was the 1986 North Palm Springs earthquake, which registered at a magnitude of 6.0, injuring 29 people and destroying 51 homes.</p><br>
<h3>Ecology</h3><br>
<p>This desert environment hosts a variety of flora and fauna, including the endangered California Fan Palm, Washingtonia filifera, Bighorn sheep inhabit the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountain ranges, and the fringe-toed lizard, an indigenous desert reptile whose numbers are increasing under the USA Endangered Species Act. Desert wildlife in the Coachella Valley includes localized subspecies of ants, bats, beetles, blackbirds, bobcats, coyotes, diamondbacks, fleas, foxes, gnats, gophers, hawks, horseflies, jackrabbits, kangaroo rats, mosquitoes, mountain lions, pigeons, quails, rattlesnakes, ravens, roaches, roadrunners, scorpions, spiders, termites, ticks, vipers, wasps, whip scorpions or "vinegaroons", and wildcats.</p><br>
<p>See also:</p><br>
<p>Geography of the Colorado Desert</p><br>
<p>Fauna of the Colorado Desert</p><br>
<p>Sonoran Desert wildflowers</p><br>
<p>Coachella Valley Jerusalem Cricket</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>A retirement haven throughout the areas history, senior citizens came to live in the Coachella Valley: a large percentage of residents are age 65 or older. Though the area is somewhat politically conservative, it is nevertheless renowned for being a community that is known for its inclusion of gays and lesbians as part of a diverse community. Current estimates are that up to 33% of Palm Springs residents identify as gay and lesbian. Cathedral City is also home to a number of gay resorts, bars, restaurants and clubs. Many establishments along a stretch of Arenas Road in downtown Palm Springs are gay-oriented and serve as the center of the annual White Party. According to an interview with former Palm Springs mayor Ron Oden, perhaps at the time the United States&#39; only openly gay African-American mayor, a large number of HIV/AIDS-infected individuals have moved to the Palm Springs area to take advantage of the extensive health-support systems that have been developed in recent years (such as the Desert AIDS Project.) For this reason, the area has one of the highest per capita rates of HIV/AIDS in the nation.</p><br>
<p>The area has a large percentage of Mexican American political figures, plus the state assembly representative Bonnie Garcia of La Quinta is of Puerto Rican parentage.</p><br>
<p>According to the Riverside County board of voter registration, the majority of moved-in (younger) registered voters are affiliated with the Democratic party, while large portions of the Coachella Valley (except Palm Springs) tend to affiliate with the Republican political party. In recent years, new suburban residents (mostly retired transplants) are usually Republican, while longtime residents (mostly Hispanic) tend to be Democrat.</p><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley was settled by a diverse array of races and ethnicities. Once viewed as predominantly Caucasian, the Coachella Valley has features of a diverse history. As of 2004, the Claritas study found that 373,100 people resided in the region. The racial makeup was 44.7% Non-Hispanic White, 49.9% Hispanic, 1.8% Black/African American, 2.1% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.4% American Indian and Inuit, 0.1% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races.</p><br>
<h3>Early history</h3><br>
<p>In the early 20th century, less than 1,000 full-time residents lived in the "village" of Palm Springs, surrounding farms and ranches, and on the Indian reservation. The 1930 USA census found less than half the Coachella Valleys population was "white", the rest were Mexicans especially in the eastern ends when traqueros arrived to maintain the areas railroads, and Native Americans of local tribes in what were then impoverished reservations.</p><br>
<p>Starting in the 1890s, there was a large Irish and Scottish presence in the region, after Palm Springs was an established agricultural colony called "Palm Valley" cofounded by Welwood Murray, a Scottish immigrant and John Guthrie McCallum, an American from the USA East coast. The two men widely advertised the colony to settlers with an interest in a warm climate and the ideal winter residence.</p><br>
<h3>Hispanic community</h3><br>
<p>Hispanic Americans are long established in Palm Springs&#39; central and eastern sections, and have constituted the majority of the populations of Indio and Coachella for many decades. In the 2000 USA census, about 35 percent of Coachella Valley residents were Latino. But according to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, an estimated half (50–60 percent) of the residents are Latino. A large portion of Latinos moving into the area are from the Los Angeles-Orange County and San Diego metro areas.</p><br>
<p>Most of the valley&#39;s Hispanics are Mexican from a multi-generational community (see Chicano), but Central American immigrants (especially in Indio and Cathedral City), Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, and South Americans are also prevalent (esp. in Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert). Since the late 1980s, the large wave of immigration from neighboring Mexico has culturally impacted the Coachella Valley in many more ways than the rest of California or the country, but the national trend slowed down due to the late 2000s recession.</p><br>
<p>Most Hispanic immigrants came to obtain work in the area&#39;s year-round agriculture, but today many find employment in construction and home remodeling, the resort hospitality industry, landscaping firms, and in the retail sector.</p><br>
<h3>Other racial/ethnic groups</h3><br>
<p>The prominence of Native Americans of the Cahuilla tribe is represented in local life; because of casino gambling and land ownership, the majority of local tribal members (Cahuilla pertaining to the Agua Caliente band and the Cabazon/Twentynine Palms bands) are in upper-income brackets. According to the Southern California National Congress of American Indians, less than 5 percent of the area&#39;s residents are Native Americans.</p><br>
<p>African Americans are concentrated in Palm Springs&#39; northern and eastern ends, as well as in small sections of Indio and Desert Hot Springs, but local African Americans live everywhere in middle-class and wealthy areas and comprise less than 5 percent of the local population. The area is home to 10,000 Indian Americans (mostly from Sri Lanka), descendants of agricultural workers in the 1930s and 1940s. Additionally, Palm Desert is the home of 1,000 Tahitians, a Pacific Islander people from French Polynesia.</p><br>
<p>Other ethnic groups in the area like Asian Americans (i.e. Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos), followed by a small wave of Armenians and Arabs (esp. Lebanese and Syrians) from the Middle East were involved in the area&#39;s agriculture in the early 1900s. In recent years, the area (especially Palm Desert and Palm Springs) became popular for Iranian, Israeli, East Indian, Yugoslav (Former) and Korean home buyers, with most purchasing increasingly high-valued properties for investment purposes.</p><br>
<h3>Local emphasis of tolerance</h3><br>
<p>In mid-2000, Palm Springs city officials and business leaders discussed making an unofficial declaration of Palm Springs as a "hate-free zone" as a sign of local pride to celebrate the citys tolerance (Palm Springs, especially in the Advocate magazine that caters to gay and lesbian readership, has voted it as one of the top five most popular world places for the gay/lesbian community) and multicultural diversity of the citys relaxed attitude regarding many races living close together. According to the Palm Springs Pride LGBT association poll and census data in 2010, an estimated 40–45 percent of Palm Springs&#39; residents are thought to be LGBT and nearby Cathedral City is about one-quarter, each having above averages of LGBT people for a USA city.</p><br>
<h3>Religious life</h3><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley has a Jewish community, and according to the United Jewish Citizens of the Desert, the Coachella Valley has an estimated 20,000 American Jews, one of Californias largest Jewish communities, a result of being a major retirement destination and connections to the Hollywood film industry. Many faiths and denominations are represented in the area, the largest church being Roman Catholic belonging to the churchs regional diocese of San Bernardino. There is also a sizable Mormon community, settling here since the early 1900s, with three stakes formerly branches of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which experienced rapid growth and Mormons form a large population in the Inland Empire (California) and High Desert (California) regions. The Islamic Society of the Coachella Valley has a mosque in the city of Coachella which serves the local Muslim population.</p><br>
<h3>Communities and population</h3><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley contains nine cities and various unincorporated communities.</p><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley has a population of 346,000. State projections estimate that the valley&#39;s population will pass 500,000 by the year 2020 and 1 million by 2066. Demographers believe the total population already surpassed the 500,000 mark, plus 100,000 temporary seasonal residents known as "snowbirds" arriving to stay during the winter months (from the end of October to the end of April).</p><br>
<p>The community of Palm Springs sits at the northwest end of the valley. Unincorporated areas and towns include Cabazon in the San Gorgonio Pass, and Bermuda Dunes and Thousand Palms in the east end of the valley with Indio Hills, Sky Valley, North Palm Springs and Garnet along the northern rim along with Thermal, Vista Santa Rosa, Oasis and Mecca to the southeast. The native Cahuilla tribe represented in the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Indians, and the Santa Rosa Indian Reservation south of Palm Desert, each have reservations in the area.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<h3>Agriculture</h3><br>
<p>As of 2010 the valley produced agricultural products worth about $600 million.</p><br>
<p>The valley is the primary date-growing region in the United States, responsible for nearly 95 percent of the nations crop and is celebrated each year in Indio during the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival. The earliest attempt at growing dates came about in 1890 when the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) imported date palm shoots from Iraq and Egypt. Sixty-eight shoots were distributed across the Southwest USA in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Yuma, Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona, and several California cites: Indio, Pomona near Los Angeles, Tulare and National City near San Diego. The imports were almost all male seedlings and produced poor fruit. The Coachella Valley showed promise, so USDA horticulturist Bernard Johnson planted a number of shoots that he brought back from Algeria in September 1903. On his own initiative, Johnson imported more shoots from Algeria in 1908 and again in 1912. The areas entire date industry can be traced back to those original USDA experiments near present-day Mecca. Date palms were grown from present-day Cathedral City to the Salton Sea, but most date groves were overtaken by development by the 1990s. Today, nearly all of the date groves are in the "East Valley" area south of Indio, near Coachella and east of La Quinta.</p><br>
<p>Other agricultural products cultivated in the Coachella Valley include fruits and vegetables, especially table grapes, citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit; onions and leeks; and peppers. The valley floor served to grow bounties of alfalfa, artichokes, avocados, beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, corn, cotton, cucumbers, dandelions (salad greens), eggplant, figs, grains (i.e. barley, oats, rye and wheat; plus rice fields kept wet or moist in the Salton Sea area), hops, kohlrabi, lettuce, mangoes, nectarines and peaches, persimmons, plums and prunes, pomegranate, potatoes, radishes, spinach, strawberries, sugar cane, tomatoes, a variety of herbs and spices, and other vegetable crops. The Coachella grapefruit originated in the region. The city of Coachella is the primary shipping point for agricultural goods. Domesticated grasses, flowers and trees are widely grown for warm-weather or desert climates, and sold for use in golf courses and landscape.</p><br>
<p>Only 10 percent of the Coachella Valley residents were born/raised in the area, according to the 2000 census, a much lower percentage than found in most parts of the USA Agriculture is a founding block of the majority of the "oldtimer" residents, whose parents and grandparents came to the area as farmers and laborers transformed the eastern parts of the valley from a hot sandy desert into a green fertile place with a year-round growing season. The Coachella Valley&#39;s agricultural development is due to irrigation: water was drawn from an underground aquifer created when the valley was under a fresh water lake in the last ice age (over 10,000 years ago); and from the All-American Canal, completed in the late 1940s, which brought large supplies of water from the Colorado River. Recent growth of fish farming or "aquaculture" in Mecca near the Salton Sea brings new promise to the local economy, especially to efforts to restore the ailing ecology of the large saltwater lake.</p><br>
<h3>Wind farming</h3><br>
<p>The valleys northwest entrance from the San Bernardino-Riverside along Interstate 10 is known as the San Gorgonio Pass and is the second windiest place in the country. Cool coastal air is forced through the pass and mixes with the hot desert air, making the San Gorgonio Pass one of only three ideal places in California for steady, wind-generated electricity. At the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm, thousands of huge wind turbines spread across the desert and hills on either side of the highway greet visitors as they approach the crest of the pass and have become somewhat of a symbol of the area. The states other wind farms are in the Tehachapi Pass between Mojave and Bakersfield and in the Altamont Pass near Livermore.</p><br>
<h3>Businesses</h3><br>
<p>Siemens Water Technologies, Palm Desert – manufacturer of industrial water filtration systems.</p><br>
<p>Guthy-Renker, Palm Desert – producer of mail order infomercials.</p><br>
<p>Ernie Ball, manufacturer of electric guitar strings, opened a manufacturing facility in Coachella in 2005.</p><br>
<p>Shields Date Gardens, date producer – a local landmark and tourist attraction since 1924.</p><br>
<p>Coca-Cola bottling plant facility in Coachella – opened in 2009 and employs 1,000 people.</p><br>
<p>Eisenhower Medical Center, opened in 1971, is a 540-bed hospital with beautiful in-patient facilities, emergency department, and out-patient clinics and urgent care centers. Eisenhower employs approximately 2800 people.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation and annual activities</h2><br>
<p>With more than 350 days of sunshine per year and the warmest winters in the western US – though summer can be quite hot – recreational hiking and horseback riding are popular in the many canyons in the mountains that surround the valley. One of the most visited outdoor sports areas is Thousand Palms Canyon.</p><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley was once a safe haven for hay fever allergy sufferers before the surge of golf courses and year-round lawns, and people with bronchitis, emphysema and asthma chose to relocate for health reasons in the early half of the 20th century.</p><br>
<p>In the early 1900s, Palm Springs was an ideal farming town and had some space converted to a minor agricultural economy. After that failed, all the fields and groves were replaced by homes and golf courses. Agriculture succeeded in the lower Coachella Valley near the communities of Thermal, Mecca, Oasis and Vista Santa Rosa that had a large underground aquifer to sustain a year-round green environment.</p><br>
<p>Roughly 125 golf courses blanket the area, making it one of the worlds premier golf destinations and is the most popular golf vacation destination in California. The Merrill Lynch Skins Game was held in La Quinta each Thanksgiving and drew some of the biggest names in golf. The PGA has a major presence in La Quinta as well with the PGA WEST golf and residential complex. One of the host courses of the aforementioned Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, a PGA WEST fairway represents the area in Soarin Over California, an IMAX-based attraction at Disney California Adventure Park theme park.</p><br>
<p>The area is also dotted with casinos run by local Indian tribes as well as resort hotels and spas with natural mineral water wells, making it a vacation destination as well. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway takes visitors from the valley floor to the San Jacinto Peak mountain station 8516 feet (2595 m) above sea level.</p><br>
<p>Palm Springs is home to one of the country&#39;s largest collections of mid-century architecture. Thousands of homes, apartments, hotels, businesses and other buildings were designed in this fashion across the city. International mid-century enthusiasts come to Palm Springs to admire the design.</p><br>
<h3>Events, activities and attractions</h3><br>
<p>Changing exhibits of sculptures can be found along El Paseo Drive in Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Palm Springs became a miniature version of Hollywood and a rival to Sundance, Utah; with the annual Palm Springs International Film Festival every January and the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival (or ShortFest) held in August, at the historic Plaza Theatre.</p><br>
<p>For professional tennis fans, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, opened in 2000, hosts the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament annually in March.</p><br>
<p>Each February, Indio hosts the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival. Indio is also the site of the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a multi-genre music concert venue in the Empire Polo Ground, recognized as one of the nation&#39;s premiere music festivals for its high-profile acts and scenic beauty.</p><br>
<p>Visitors can see unspoiled desert nature in the National Parks like the Joshua Tree to the North, the Santa Rosa/San Jacinto Mountains to the south and the Snow-to-Sand National Monument to the west. The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley History Museum in Indio is devoted to the preservation and interpretation of the Coachella Valley&#39;s historical artifacts.</p><br>
<p>Other activities include:</p><br>
<p>An annual air show is held in November is held at the Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal. The Palm Springs Airport Annual Air Show held every January displays World War II-era vintage fighter aircraft.</p><br>
<p>The Desert Circuit Horse Show is one of the nation&#39;s largest horse competitions is also held at the Polo Grounds from January through March, as well as polo matches featuring such celebrities as Prince Charles of England.</p><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley attempted to draw in sports teams, both minor league and semi-pro but met with limited success. In the 1990s, Palm Desert city officials approved a sports arena, but the project never broke ground. In 2006, Indio city officials approved an USA Olympic team training facility to be constructed.</p><br>
<p>The Palm Springs Power collegiate summer league baseball team plays during the summer and the Palm Springs Chill is a team of the California Winter League plays in January and February both in Palm Springs Stadium with opponent teams the Canada A&#39;s, Coachella Valley Snowbirds and Palm Desert Coyotes. It is the former site of the California Angels major league spring training facility from 1961 to 1993. Collegiate sports are played at College of the Desert at its Palm Desert campus.</p><br>
<p>The expanded Palm Springs Convention Center is a major venue for shows, concerts, auctions, expos and exhibits. In the past, it played host to exhibition basketball, roller hockey games, ice skating events and indoor sports played there.</p><br>
<p>The Indian Wells Tennis Garden hosts the Annual NBA Outdoors Game hosted by the Phoenix Suns every first weekend of October.</p><br>
<p>Auto racing will make a comeback in Palm Springs in October 2008 when the revived Palm Springs Grand Prix takes place on a closed two-mile (3 km) track on selected city streets. Palm Springs hosted a vintage car race from 1988 to 2002, and twice it attempted to have a speedway constructed in the early 1990s. This was never approved by the city and county commissions.</p><br>
<p>The Walter Annenberg Estate Museum dedicated to the famous valley resident, billionaire, friend to celebrities and philanthropist.</p><br>
<p>Art of Food & Wine Palm Desert in the Gardens in El Paseo.</p><br>
<p>Indian Wells Arts and Food festival.</p><br>
<p>La Quinta Arts Festival.</p><br>
<p>Southwest Arts Festival.</p><br>
<p>Children&#39;s Discovery Museum.</p><br>
<h2>Education</h2><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley is served by three public school districts: the Coachella Valley Unified School District of Coachella; Desert Sands Unified School District serving La Quinta, Indio and Palm Desert; and Palm Springs Unified School District of Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, and Desert Hot Springs.</p><br>
<p>There are ten public high schools:</p><br>
<p>Coachella Valley High School, Coachella.</p><br>
<p>Indio High School, Indio – renovated.</p><br>
<p>La Quinta High School (La Quinta, California).</p><br>
<p>Palm Desert High School, Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Palm Springs High School, Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>Cathedral City High School, Cathedral City.</p><br>
<p>Desert Hot Springs High School, Desert Hot Springs.</p><br>
<p>Desert Mirage High School, Thermal.</p><br>
<p>Shadow Hills High School, Indio.</p><br>
<p>Rancho Mirage High School, Rancho Mirage.</p><br>
<p>West Shores High School, Salton City.</p><br>
<p>For athletics, the schools compete in either the Desert Valley League or the De Anza league, both part of the Southern Section of the California Interscholastic Federation.</p><br>
<p>Private education is provided by church-run and secular schools such as:</p><br>
<p>Catholic School (Our Lady of Perpeutal Help), Indio.</p><br>
<p>Christian Desert Calvary Bible School, Cathedral City.</p><br>
<p>Christian Scientist School, Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Community of Christ School, Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>Desert Adventist Academy, Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>Desert Chapel and high school, Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>Desert Christian Schools (Christian School of the Desert and DCAcademy), Bermuda Dunes.</p><br>
<p>Desert Torah Academy (was Jewish Community School), Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Grace Christian Academy, Indio (and Yucca Valley).</p><br>
<p>Hope Academy, Palm Desert (and Yucca Valley)</p><br>
<p>Indio (County) Community School, Indio</p><br>
<p>King&#39;s Schools (Distinctively Christian Education), Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>Learning Tree School, Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Marywood Academy, Rancho Mirage.</p><br>
<p>Mayfield School, Rancho Mirage.</p><br>
<p>Mission Springs School, Desert Hot Springs.</p><br>
<p>Morongo (Desert View) Military Academy, Desert Hot Springs.</p><br>
<p>Oasis Seventh-Day Adventist Academy, Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Nova Academy, Coachella.</p><br>
<p>Orange Crest Academy, Palm Springs (Riverside based).</p><br>
<p>Palm Desert Presbyterian Church School, Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Palm Springs Community School (Harry Oliver-Thousand Palms and Frances Stevens campuses-Palm Springs).</p><br>
<p>Palm Springs County School, North Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>Palm Valley School, Rancho Mirage.</p><br>
<p>Presbyterian Church School of the Desert, Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>River Springs Charter School, Indio</p><br>
<p>Sacred Heart Catholic School, Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Saint Teresa&#39;s Catholic School, Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>San Cayetano Community School, Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Southwest Community Church School, Indian Wells.</p><br>
<p>The Ranch Christian Academy, Thousand Palms.</p><br>
<p>Xavier Prep Catholic High School, Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Higher education is served by the College of the Desert (COD), a community college with its main campus in Palm Desert. COD constructed several satellite campuses including an annex on Oasis Street in Indio, an East Valley campus in Thermal and a West Valley annex in Palm Springs. COD has experienced sudden growth in the campus from the 1970s to the late 2000s.</p><br>
<p>The University of California Riverside (Coachella Valley) and California State University San Bernardino (Palm Desert) campus annexes are located in the Indian Wells (Higher) Education Center in Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>There is the Santa Barbara Business College and the San Bernardino Skidron Business School/College in Palm Desert. Another college is Brandman University, operated by Chapman University in Palm Desert.</p><br>
<h2>Media</h2><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley, under the title "Palm Springs", is a distinct Nielsen and Arbitron ratings market, with eight local television stations and twenty radio stations. The first television station in the Coachella Valley is KMIR channel 6 by John Conte and Bob Hope, the NBC affiliate premiered in 1968 remains on the air as the deserts longest running TV station. KPLM (which later became KESQ, the Coachella Valleys current ABC affiliate) went on the air later with a party that made national headlines; it was founded by Robert E. Leonard. The station later made national news and garnered late night jokes from Johnny Carson and Bob Newhart when the station manager accidentally ran on air a pornographic movie. Gun TV, the gun shopping channel, is headquartered in the Valley.</p><br>
<p>Cable subscribers under Time Warner can receive Los Angeles area television channels as part of basic cable service. Satellite television and satellite radio are available as well. The eastern Coachella Valley can receive Mexican television from Mexicali, 90 miles away.</p><br>
<p>In radio, the Morris Corporation-owned Desert Radio Group of Palm Springs owns three AM and three FM radio stations; RM Broadcasting of Palm Springs is the largest in terms of FM ownership with four stations: KPLM "K-Palm", KRHQ "KJ-Jazz", KJJZ "the Oasis" and KMRJ "The Heat&quot and R&R Broadcasting of Palm Springs, the only other independent group other than RR Broadcasting, owns three AM and two FM stations with negotiations solidified to close the purchase of their newest station, KWXY-FM. The group currently owns the FM station merged with the other station KDES 104.7 moved to 98.5 on the FM dial in 2011, CBS Radio "KEZN" 103.1 FM Palm Desert, Ca. 92260, and KCPC (AM) Public Radio based in Cathedral City.</p><br>
<p>In newsprint, the Gannett Company-owned The Desert Sun is the local daily paper; the Los Angeles Times and the Riverside Press-Enterprise is also sold there (Gannett also operates the Desert Post Weekly). The Desert Valley Star Weekly is an independent community weekly that covers the Coachella Valley, and the Desert Entertainer is a calendar-type entertainment weekly produced by Hi-Desert Publishing. The areas city magazine, Palm Springs Life caters to the valleys rich and famous elites, while The Sun Runner Magazine covers the California desert region, including the Coachella Valley. covers the Art community of the Desert. A number of periodicals cover the area&#39;s LGBT community, including In Magazine.</p><br>
<p>An alternative news and entertainment publication, the Coachella Valley Independent, was founded online in late 2012. It is currently in print as a monthly publication. The Coachella Valley also has an Coachella Valley Art Scene Blog for the younger community.</p><br>
<h3>Television</h3><br>
<p>Included are Low-Power stations and relay transmitters with limited frequency area</p><br>
<p>KYUM-LP Channels 2/15/51 (Spanish language religious) – Indio/Imperial Valley/Yuma, Arizona.</p><br>
<p>KCWQ-LP channels 2/13/26 (The CW) – Palm Springs/Palm Desert/Indio.</p><br>
<p>Channel 3 (KTVK – Independent) – Phoenix, Arizona.</p><br>
<p>KAKZ-LD Channel 4 (Azteca America) – Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>KEVC-CD Channel 5 (UniMas transmit of KDTF San Diego) – Indio.</p><br>
<p>XETV-TDT Channel 6 (The CW) – San Diego.</p><br>
<p>KVFA-LP Channels 6/14 (Independent) – Indio (Yuma AZ).</p><br>
<p>KPOM-LP Channel 6 (Evine Live) transmitter – Palm Springs (Ontario CA).</p><br>
<p>Channel 7 KAZT (Independent) – Prescott, Arizona.</p><br>
<p>KVYE Channel 7 (Univision) – Yuma, Arizona.</p><br>
<p>KVPS Channel 8 – (Spanish language Religious) – Indio.</p><br>
<p>Channel 8 (KAET-PBS) – Phoenix.</p><br>
<p>Channel 9 (KECY FOX) – El Centro, California.</p><br>
<p>K09XW Channel 9 (PBS) – transmitter of KVCR-DT Riverside/San Bernardino – Palm Springs/Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Channel 10 K10QV-D (K10OU)/ KLPS Channel 19 (Independent) – Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>Channel 11 (KYMA NBC) – Yuma AZ/El Centro.</p><br>
<p>Channel 11/34 (KESE 35 Telemundo) – El Centro.</p><br>
<p>KYAV-LP Channel 12 AccuWeather – Yucca Valley.</p><br>
<p>Channel 13 (KSWT CBS) – Yuma Az/El Centro.</p><br>
<p>Channel 14 (XHBM – Televisa) – Mexicali.</p><br>
<p>K14AB (KTTV 11 Fox Los Angeles) – Yucca Valley.</p><br>
<p>KUNA-LP Channel 15 (Telemundo) – Palm Desert/La Quinta.</p><br>
<p>K15FC – transmitter of KESQ Palm Springs – Joshua Tree.</p><br>
<p>K16AA – transmitter of KCBS Los Angeles – Morongo Valley.</p><br>
<p>KODG-LP Channel 17 KOCE 50-PBS Orange County – Indio/Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>KJHP-LP Channel 18 (PBS) – transmitter of KVCR-DT – Morongo Valley/Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>K19CX Channel 19 (PBS) Yuma AZ part of KAET 8- PBS Phoenix, Arizona.</p><br>
<p>K19DB (Spanish language religious) – Victorville.</p><br>
<p>K20HZ "KMXX" Channel 20 (HSN/ MexiCanal) – Indio/Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>K21DO "KNDO" (3ABN religious) – Indio/Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>KSHT-LP Channel 22 (Independent) – Indio/Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>KVMD Channels 23/31 (Independent, Asian language, ethnic and EWTN programming) – Twentynine Palms/ Victorville.</p><br>
<p>FNX Channel 24.2 – San Bernardino.</p><br>
<p>KPDC Channel 25 (America one) – Indio/Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>K27DS Channel 27 (ABC) – transmitter of KESQ – Yucca Valley.</p><br>
<p>XHAQ channel 28 (TV Azteca) – Mexicali.</p><br>
<p>K29GK – transmitter of KTLA Los Angeles – Yucca Valley.</p><br>
<p>K60GY 30 – transmitter of KPSE-LD 50 – Twentynine Palms.</p><br>
<p>KPXN-TV Channel 30 (ION) – San Bernardino.</p><br>
<p>KRET-CD Channels 31/45 (MeTV) – Palm Desert/ Yucca Valley.</p><br>
<p>KDFX-CD Channel 33 (FOX) – Indio/Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>"K35LA" – Channel 35 KCET Desert cities – Digital cable channel 218 – Los Angeles.</p><br>
<p>Channels 35/39 (Telemundo) via KVEA Corona/Los Angeles.</p><br>
<p>XHBC channels 3/34/35 (Televisa) – Mexicali.</p><br>
<p>KMIR Channel 36 (NBC) (cable 6/13) – Palm Desert (Palm Springs) – one of the first two local TV stations since 1968 (the other KESQ-TV). Subchannel 36.2 – Movies! – also available in Banning, California.</p><br>
<p>KVES-LD Channel 36 (Univision) – Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>KPSP-CD Channels 38/ 42.2 (CBS-Loop of local KESQ family news programs) – Thousand Palms.</p><br>
<p>Channel 39 (KNSD 40 NBC) – San Diego.</p><br>
<p>Channel 39 (RFDTV translator) – Coachella/Imperial.</p><br>
<p>KVER-CA Channels 40 (Univision), 40.2 (LATV) – Indio.</p><br>
<p>KVES-CA Channels 41.1 (GalaVision), 41.2 (UniMas) – Cathedral City.</p><br>
<p>KZSW Channels 41/27/34 transmits (Independent) – Hemet/Temecula/San Diego.</p><br>
<p>KESQ-TV Channel 42 (ABC HD and CBS SD, cable 3) – Palm Desert (Palm Springs)/Indio – available in Hemet/San Jacinto and Banning/Beaumont.</p><br>
<p>KDUO-LP Channels 43/ KHIR-LP 3 (Evine Live) – Palm Desert/Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>"4SD" ("KCOX") Channels 4/27/44 transmits – the San Diego area.</p><br>
<p>"KHIX" Channel 45 – transmitter of KVME (MeTV) Bishop.</p><br>
<p>KFTR-DT Channel 46 (UniMas) – Ontario/San Bernardino.</p><br>
<p>XHILA-TDT Channel 46 – Mexicali.</p><br>
<p>KIJR Channel 47 – (Christian religious) – San Bernardino.</p><br>
<p>BYU-TV transmitter of KBYU-TV 11 Provo, Utah.</p><br>
<p>K49HV Channel 49 – transmitter of KILM (SonLife Broadcasting religious) Victorville.</p><br>
<p>KPSE-LD Channel 50 (My Network) – Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>KUSI channel 51 (Independent) – Temecula/San Diego.</p><br>
<p>KAZA-TV channels 54/34 (Azteca America) – Los Angeles.</p><br>
<p>KDOC channel 56 (Independent) – Anaheim/Orange County.</p><br>
<p>Also available on some cable systems KTTV 11 and KCOP 13 Los Angeles; and KFMB-TV 8, KGTV 10 and KPBS 15 San Diego.</p><br>
<h2>Infrastructure</h2><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley has two electric utility power companies serving Coachella Valley.</p><br>
<p>The Coachella Valley is served by the following utilities:</p><br>
<p>Electricity</p><br>
<p>Southern California Edison (serves Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, and Cathedral City)</p><br>
<p>Imperial Irrigation District (serves La Quinta, Indio, Thousand Palms, Indian Wells, and Coachella)</p><br>
<p>Natural gas</p><br>
<p>Southern California Gas Company</p><br>
<p>Cable Television</p><br>
<p>Time Warner Cable</p><br>
<h3>Transportation</h3><br>
<p>Aviation in the area is served by the Palm Springs International Airport in Palm Springs, Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal and Bermuda Dunes Municipal Airport in Bermuda Dunes. Interstate 10 runs along the northeastern rim of the valley while State Route 111 runs for about 30 miles along the southwestern rim of the valley and serves as the main arterial highway between almost all Coachella Valley cities. A four-lane expressway, State Highway 86S opened in the early 1990s as a "special" bypass (hence the "S" designation) of two-lane Highway 86. Historic signs designating the original route of USA Route 99 through the area may be found along present-day Indio Boulevard through Indio and Harrison Street through Coachella.</p><br>
<p>Public transportation in the valley is provided by the SunLine Transit Agency based in Thousand Palms, which was among the country&#39;s first transit agencies to totally convert to alternate fuel vehicles, including full-sized buses powered by fuel cells.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>The area has been a magnet for Hollywood stars since the 1930s when Charles Farrell and Ralph Bellamy founded the Racquet Club of Palm Springs. Bing Crosby would later found the Blue Skies Trailer Park in Rancho Mirage, unique for its expensive trailer homes each with its own individual theme. In the mid-century celebrities known to stop by Palm Springs included Humphrey Bogart, John Barrymore, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Mary Pickford, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Jack Benny, who did numerous broadcasts of his radio show from Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>Farrell, after whom a street in Palm Springs is named, would later be elected mayor. Farrell Drive is built on the path of the Palmdale Railroad, a narrow-gauge horse-drawn railroad right-of-way originally built to serve the proposed town of Palmdale. The town was never built and the railroad was abandoned after a few years of operation. The ties were used to build one of the area&#39;s earliest residences and the Cornelia White House still stands today in downtown Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>Medal of Honor recipient Captain William McGonagle was a graduate of Coachella High School and made the valley his home after his retirement. Mitchell Paige was another Medal of Honor veteran who lived in Palm Desert and has a middle school in La Quinta named after him. Jacqueline Cochran, founder and director of the Women Airforce Service Pilots lived her last years in Indio. In 2005, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates reportedly bought and owns a home in The Vintage Club Country Club in Indian Wells.</p><br>
<p>Elvis Presley honeymooned in Palm Springs in 1967 and was a frequent visitor as well since he owned a home here from 1970 his death in 1977. Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Dinah Shore were residents of the valley and were instrumental in the creation of three major golf tournaments, the Frank Sinatra Celebrity Golf Tournament, Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (now hosted by comedian and golf aficionado George Lopez) and the Nabisco LPGA respectively. All three have streets named in their honor as does President Gerald Ford, a longtime Rancho Mirage resident and benefactor of the substance abuse center that bears his wife&#39;s name, the Betty Ford Center on the campus of the Eisenhower Medical Center, named for general, USA president and part-time resident Dwight Eisenhower. The medical center expanded in size by the new Walter Annenberg building named for the valley resident, billionaire, friend of celebrities and philanthropist. Sinatra and his friends, including Dean Martin, Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Rosemary Clooney and Connie Francis were frequent visitors in the close-knit celebrity community of the Coachella Valley in the 1950s and 1960s.</p><br>
<p>The main road into Palm Springs International Airport, named simply "Airport Road", was renamed Kirk Douglas Way on October 17, 2004. Douglas, a major area benefactor, lived in the valley for more than fifty years and currently resides in Montecito, California. He is credited with spearheading the drive to modernize the area over those ensuing five decades. His son Michael Douglas, also an actor, is said to own a residence in Palm Springs with his actress wife Catherine Zeta-Jones.</p><br>
<p>Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were instrumental in forming the exclusive Thunderbird Heights tract in Rancho Mirage, once the home of President Gerald Ford and his wife Betty. According to Palm Springs Life magazine, that same tract inspired the name in late 1954 for the Ford Thunderbird. The magazine incorrectly cites that a favorite vacation spot for General Motors executives, Palm Deserts Eldorado Country Club, inspired the name for Cadillacs top model the year before — though Cadillac had chosen the name five years before the clubs founding in an internal competition. Local automotive history inidcates that designer Raymond Loewy penned the Studebaker Avanti in his Palm Springs home. Especially since the 1950s, Palm Springs and nearby golf clubs are hailed as the "playground of celebrities". However it is said that celebrities travel or reside in the Palm Springs area inlesser numbers as compared to yesteryear, but the areas "star power" made a comeback in the 2000s.</p><br>
<p>Ball and Arnaz helped finance construction of the Indian Wells Country Club. Founded in 1956 with their winter residence on DesiLu Court, Indian Wells became a major factor in "down valley" growth in the 1970s and 1980s. A mostly gated community, Indian Wells has one of the highest per capita income of any small town in the United States, while nearby Coachella, a short distance southeast on State Route 111 is the third poorest city of the 10,000–50,000 population range in the nation, though that is rapidly changing as the area develops. A memorial to Eisenhower can be found on the front lawn of Indian Wells City Hall, also features the local veterans memorial plaque to represent the communitys 800 veterans, a high number of war veterans per ratio of its predominantly senior citizen population. Coachella has the Vietnam War veterans memorial to represent their communitys high representation of armed forces volunteers, a large percentage had Spanish surnames since the citys population are over 90 percent Latino.</p><br>
<p>Many other celebrities, past and present, have called the area home such as actor Paul Burke. Among those who grew up in the area:</p><br>
<p>Vanessa Marcil is a La Quinta native and attended Indio High School.</p><br>
<p>Suzanne Somers spent a part of her childhood in Cathedral City and attended Palm Springs High School.</p><br>
<p>Billy Steinberg grew up in Palm Springs and worked at the Dave Freedman Grape Farm in Thermal.</p><br>
<p>Alison Lohman is a native of Palm Springs and grew up in Palm Desert.</p><br>
<p>Tyler Hilton is also a native of Palm Springs and graduated from La Quinta High School. Hilton performed a concert in the school theatre in 2006.</p><br>
<p>Cameron Crowe grew up in a rural home near Indio.</p><br>
<p>Rich Newey grew up in Bermuda Dunes.</p><br>
<p>Alan O&#39;Day grew up in Coachella.</p><br>
<p>Aubrey O&#39;Day was a 2001 graduate of La Quinta High School.</p><br>
<p>Josh Homme attended Palm Desert High School.</p><br>
<p>Tony Reagins, General Manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, is an Indio native and attended Indio High school.</p><br>
<p>Edward White, football player of the San Diego Chargers and Minnesota Vikings is an Indio native and attended Indio High school.</p><br>
<p>Jenna Ortega</p><br>
<p>USA President John F. Kennedy was a frequent guest of Frank Sinatra, and a plaque in one of the pews of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Palm Desert marks the spot where Kennedy would usually sit during Mass.</p><br>
<p>That same area in Palm Desert once served as a training ground for General George Patton&#39;s Third Army troops and tank battalions; today, the site is home to the El Paseo shopping district. Patton also trained in a huge plot of desert stretching from Chiriaco Summit just off the eastern end of the valley northward almost to Amboy along USA Route 66 in the Mojave Desert. Tank tracks from those maneuvers are still visible today in the open desert and a museum dedicated to Patton is located in Chiriaco Summit. Patton was also a frequent guest at the Whittier Ranch House in Indio, a grand adobe structure which had faced the possibility of demolition as the ranch lands surrounding it were being developed. A grass roots organization had petitioned the city to preserve the structure for use as a VFW post; it has instead been restored and retained as the clubhouse for the new Whittier Ranch housing development. It is also now a California state historic site.</p><br>
<p>Sonny Bono ran a restaurant in downtown Palm Springs. Frustrated by the lack of cooperation he faced from the city council over a new sign for the restaurant, the entertainer took matters into his own hands and ran for mayor. He retained local conservative talk radio host Marshall Gilbert (heard regularly on KNWQ) as his campaign manager in a successful bid that not only put Bono back in the public eye, but fueled his later campaign for a seat on the United States Congress, a position he held until his death in a skiing accident in 1998. His widow, Mary (now Mary Bono Mack), filled the vacancy left by her husband and later campaigned successfully on her own. She was defeated by Democrat Raul Ruiz in the 2012 election, and moved to Florida. Both Sonny Bono and Frank Sinatra are buried at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City.</p><br>
<p>The La Quinta Resort and Club, a series of bungalows built in 1926 in what was then known as Marshall&#39;s Cove is the oldest resort in the valley. Frank Capra wrote the script for 1937 Lost Horizon poolside there, in the La Quinta Cove where the resort is located. Capra died in La Quinta and is buried in the nearby Coachella Valley Public Cemetery.</p><br>
<p>So fond was Walt Disney of his property at the Smoke Tree Ranch in Palm Springs that he often wore a tie tac which was in the shape of the Smoke Tree Ranch logo. Disney reluctantly sold the property to help finance the construction of Disneyland. Partners, bronze sculptures of Disney standing next to Mickey Mouse in each of the Disney theme parks clearly show the brand on Disney&#39;s tie tac.</p><br>
<p>Clint Eastwood formerly owned a restaurant called the Hog&#39;s Breath Inn in Old Town La Quinta. The restaurant is currently owned by the Kaiser Restaurant Group, but maintains the Clint Eastwood inspired motif.</p><br>
<p>TV producer and media mogul Merv Griffin owned a home and ranch which is now part of the PGA West community. It was known as the "Griffin Ranch", but the land was sold and became an equestrian ranch housing tract and was annexed by the city of La Quinta.</p><br>
<h2>Pop culture</h2><br>
<p>Noteworthy and memorable pop culture references include the animated Looney Tunes short, Bully for Bugs. In it, Bugs Bunny requests directions to the Coachella Valley "and the big carrot festival therein." An annual carrot festival is in fact held just outside the area in the Imperial County town of Holtville, approximately 70 miles to the southeast.</p><br>
<p>The generation defining novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture by Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland describes the angst of those born between roughly 1960 and 1965 (Generation X-ers usually those born from 1960 to 1982), and is set in the Palm Springs of the late 1980s.</p><br>
<p>A second classic 1980s novel Less Than Zero, a tale of disaffected, rich teenagers of Los Angeles, has its climactic scenes of excess and despair set in Palm Springs. The film Less Than Zero was made in 1987, directed by Marek Kanievska and starring Andrew McCarthy, Robert Downey Jr. and Jami Gertz.</p><br>
<p>Another famous movie filmed in the Coachella Valley is arguably It&#39;s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. This film even includes the former Desert Air airport, now the site of the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage. The airfield escape scene in A Night in Casablanca was filmed at present-day Palm Springs International Airport; Mount San Jacinto is clearly seen in the background.</p><br>
<p>Tex Avery made a brief reference to Palm Springs via a sight gag in his 1948 animated short for MGM, The Cat That Hated People. In the showroom of the "Moonbeam Rocket Company", a tiny rocket ship with a sign showing its intended destination of Palm Springs is shown among a series of large rockets also displaying signs indicating not terrestrial but rather their galactic destinations.</p><br>
<p>The early 1960s would see the movie Palm Springs Weekend filmed on location. A humorous situation involving four drunk LAPD policemen in a rented aircraft attempting to reclaim a Palm Springs golf course in the name of the local Indian tribes can be found in the 1975 novel, The Choirboys.</p><br>
<p>An episode of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show titled "The Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam" announces the upcoming second installment of the episode as "Rimsky & Korsakov Go to Palm Springs, or Song of Indio".</p><br>
<p>In the 1984 music video by Tears for Fears&#39; Everybody Wants to Rule the World was shot on location in the Coachella Valley. The rock video features scenes of a few local landmarks: the dinosaur structures near Cabazon, the windmill farms, scenery along Interstate 10 and state route 111, a scene of two dancers appear in a gas station on state route 86, and the shores of the Salton Sea.</p><br>
<p>In 1988, "The Race" by Swiss dance band Yello featured a fictitious sportscaster talking about the "thirty-first annual formula race" in Palm Springs. While Palm Springs did briefly host an annual Grand Prix, it ran for considerably fewer than thirty-one years.</p><br>
<p>In the 1990s two television series shows P.S. I Luv U and Phenom, the characters and plots were set in Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>In 2006, The CW television network had a teen drama series Hidden Palms is set in a gated desert community near Palm Springs, although there is a real Hidden Palms in Palm Desert. By irony, the real gated community is adjacent to Palm Desert High school.</p><br>
<p>In local Tyler Hiltons song "When It Comes", he references Palm Deserts strip of high-class fashion and dining singing, "When Im cruising El Paseo / In my off-white coup back 65."</p><br>
<p>A majority of the 2007 film Alpha Dog was shot in Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>The helicopter scene in Mission: Impossible III was filmed in the windfarm outside of Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>The city was mentioned on an episode of Comedy Central&#39;s Reno 911! by sergeant/lieutenant Jim (Doug) Dangle, an openly gay character of the show. He would hang out in Palm Springs, as well in San Francisco and West Hollywood, but he eventually chose Reno as his hometown.</p><br>
<p>In an episode of the animated comedy Family Guy On the Road to Rhode Island, baby Stewie and his friend, Brian (a talking dog) figured a way to return home from vacation in Lois&#39; parents home in Palm Springs.</p><br>
<p>On American Dad! Season 2, Episode 4 – Lincoln Lover, Stan Smith said to a speech in the Republican National Convention when representatives of the Gay Log Cabin Republicans were present: "Invite half of Palm Springs...oh, invite everyone in Palm Springs..." based on a belief based on a survey by a demographic think tank on about Half of the city&#39;s population are Gay or GLBT people.</p><br>
<p>In the game Grand Theft Auto V, the Coachella Valley area is represented as Sandy Shores in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and therefore some characteristics of Coachella Valley is mirrored in the Sandy Shores area in the game.</p><br>
<p>Crotched Mountain is a small mountain in western Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, in the United States. The 2,063 ft summit of the mountain is in the town of Francestown, while the western slopes of the mountain rise in the town of Bennington, and a long southern ridge of the mountain is in Greenfield. The mountain was named for its appearance. Early settlers thought its V-shaped peaks resembled the fork or "crotch" of a tree.</p><br>
<p>The Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride occupies the northern slopes of the mountain. It has 25 trails, 5 chairlifts, and 900 ft of vertical drop. The Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center occupies a portion of the mountain&#39;s southern ridge in Greenfield.</p><br>
<p>The mountain was the site of the world&#39;s first wind farm. In 1980, US Windpower installed 20 wind turbines rated at 30 kilowatts each, on the shoulder of Crotched Mountain. The company went out of business and the wind turbines were dismantled years ago.</p><br>
<p>Bjelašnica is a mountain in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is found directly to the southwest of Sarajevo, bordering Mt. Igman. Bjelašnica&#39;s tallest peak, by which the whole mountain group got its name, rises to an elevation of 2067 meters . Other notable peaks are Krvavac , Mali Vlahinja , and Hranisava . The Bjelašnica range is bordered by the Rakitnica in the south, the Neretva in the west, Mt Igman in the north-east and Mt Ivan in the north-west. Only at 20 minutes distance of Sarajevo, it is a popular tourist attraction for hiking and skiing.</p><br>
<p>Bjelašnica has been, in certain areas, the site of extensive combat during the 1992-&#39;95 Siege of Sarajevo and particular areas pose a high mine risk. There are numerous trails set up and maintained by local mountain clubs that lead to the bald peaks higher up. The mountain is also popular with mountain bikers and has become recently a frequent base for paragliders.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The mountain&#39;s name stems from the root bijel, which means "white".</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Geologically, Bjelašnica is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly Limestone and Dolomite.</p><br>
<h2>Climate and vegetation</h2><br>
<p>The white snow cupola of Bjelasnica is a familiar sight from the higher points in Sarajevo in the period from mid October until early June. Bjelašnicas base is largely forested - mixed forest, mostly beech - however there are no trees above the 1500 meter (4921) tree line.</p><br>
<h2>Weather station</h2><br>
<p>Bjelašnica summit is easily recognized from the distance by the structures that have been erected on top of it. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied Bosnia following the Congress of Berlin in 1878 the Austrians installed almost immediately the first meteorological station on the summit in 1878, creating the first meteorological station in the whole area of the Balkans. This structure was replaced in 1894 by an - at that time - very advanced meteorological observatory with an all-year around manning. The observatory is still there, has been repaired of the damage sustained during the last war, and still functions as an important chain-link in the meteorological survey of the Balkans. The communications Centre with its landmark tower that used to stand next to the observatory was destroyed in 1993. The sad remains of the broken tower were removed in 2006.</p><br>
<h2>1984 Winter Olympics</h2><br>
<p>During the 1984 Winter Olympics, Bjelašnica hosted the mens alpine skiing events, where brash Bill Johnson (USA) won the downhill after boldly predicting victory, overtaking Swiss ski legend Peter Müller who took silver. The American twins Phil and Steve Mahre took gold and silver in the slalom at Bjelašnica for the US as well. Switzerlands Max Julen surprisingly took the gold in the Giant Slalom, while the silver went to the Yugoslav favorite Jure Franko. Major investment was done by the Yugoslav authorities in order to accommodate the Winter Olympics. The Babin Dol area was developed for the necessary construction and a long main ski lift was built from Babin Dol up to the summit of the Bjelašnica summit. In preparation of the Games, a road was constructed across the Igman plateau connecting Sarajevo through Hadžići to the Malo Polje, Veliko Polje and Babin Dol venues. The Babin Dol area has several structures dating from that time, including the renowned Maršal (then: Famos) Hotel and most of the skiing facilities in the area. FIS World Cup events took place on 18 January 1983 and 21–22 March 1987. In 1983 it was only the downhill (winner: Gerhard Pfaffenbichler, before Steve Podborski and Franz Klammer) that was done. In 1987 contests were done in Mens Slalom (winner: Grega Benedik) and Giant Slalom, Mens (winner: Marc Girardelli) and Women&#39;s (tied victory: Maria Walliser and Vreni Schneider)</p><br>
<p>Other FIS events have taken place and are still taking place at Bjelašnica.</p><br>
<h2>Bosnian War (1992-95)</h2><br>
<p>The strategic value of Bjelašnica summit, overlooking the Igman plateau, had already been recognized by the JNA and Yugoslav leadership headed by Marshal Tito. A large radar site was constructed on a subsummit of the Vlahinja ridge, while a communications centre and tower was constructed next to the weather station on the nearby Bjelašnica summit.</p><br>
<p>But Bjelašnica became in the course of the Bosnian War an area of major strategic importance as part of the 1992-1995 Siege of Sarajevo. The territory covered by the Bjelasnica range and the Igman plateau between Konjic and the United Nations-controlled Sarajevo Airport was from the outset of the conflict controlled by the ARBiH. By mid-1993, the central plateau of Igman came under increased Serb military pressure when the suspicion became stronger that the area had become a major logistical artery of the besieged city as a result of the construction of the Sarajevo tunnel.</p><br>
<p>A major BSA offensive started July 1993 that led to the fall of Trnovo and on 4 August 1993 Serb forces captured the Bjelašnica summit and part of the Igman supply road. The BSA advance was stopped under threat of NATO airstrikes. After tense negotiations the BSA retreated from the Bjelašnica summit, but not without blowing up the communications tower first. French United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) units were stationed on Bjelašnica and the Igman area was declared a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) by the UN.</p><br>
<p>The situation around the frontlines in nearby Treskavica and around Babin Dol remained explosive with violent exchanges of hostilities between BSA and ARBiH units. The villages on the southern slopes of Bjelašnica, like Umoljani and Lukavac were not in the frontline, but sustained heavy damage from shelling. Discussion about real or alleged use by ARBiH forces of the Igman DMZ was an issue of constant contention between UNPROFOR Commander General Rose, ARBiH General Delić and BSA Commander Mladić.</p><br>
<p>By mid-1995 the military situation became very tense again, and in August 1995 the BSA launched another offensive, forcing UNPROFOR from the Bjelasnica ridge and advancing through Babin Dol towards Veliko Polje. However, after the second Markale shelling, on August, 30, NATO started Operation Deliberate Force, in which NATO aircraft engaged BSA Command & Control facilities and other targets. Also the BSA-held radar station on Vlahinja ridge was completely destroyed during these air strikes that lasted until 14 September 1995, when the air strikes were suspended to allow the implementation of the withdrawal of BSA heavy weapons from the Sarajevo exclusion zone, effectively ending the Siege of Sarajevo.</p><br>
<h2>Mine risks</h2><br>
<p>Extensive de-mining activities have taken place around recreational areas and especially around the existing ski runs, which can be considered safe by all means. The largest part of the Bjelašnica range remained largely spared from warfare and the mine risk is therefore minimal within the area west of the Bjelašnica summit and east of the Hranisava mountain.</p><br>
<h2>The Bjelašnica Olympic Mountain Ski Centre</h2><br>
<p>The Bjelašnica Olympic Mountain Ski Centre and its facilities are all located on the eastern slope of Bjelašnica main summit. There are 6 lifts, with one modern three-seat carrier lift departing from Babin Dol, three anchor lifts and two remaining single saucer lifts. Next to the original 3100 meter Olympic Downhill run and the Giant Slalom run there are four more pistes varying in length between 3200 and 550 meters and covering all difficulty levels between bleu-red-black. A lot of investment has been done to develop the Ski Centre and the Babin Dol area since the era directly following the Dayton Agreement, with another peak during the last couple of years. New hotels, apartment complexes and restaurants have turned this area into a modern ski resort.</p><br>
<h2>Hiking</h2><br>
<p>The Bjelašnica range consists of basically three ridges, the Vlahinja ridge, the Strug ridge and a more southern ridge parallel to the Rakitnica and separated from the other ridges by a wide valley called Dugo Polje. A number of popular hikes exist in these mountains. One trail approaches the Bjelašnica main summit (2067 m.) from the north and is called Josipova Staza after its most famous hiker: Josip Broz Tito. From the main summit a ridge walk leads north-east towards the summit of Mala Vlahinja (2055 m.). The last summit of this ridge in the west is called Hranisava (1964 m.) and can be better ascended to by a trail starting in the hamlet of Lokve, between Hadžići and Pazarić. This offers a beautiful hike towards a fantastic view from this most western summit of the Bjelašnica range. Another beautiful hike departs from Dugo Polje and leads via a difficultly retrieved trail through thick shrubs of Pinus Mugo the summit of Krvavac (2061 m.). One of the most popular hikes leads parallel to the Rakitnica Canyon, departing from Umoljani and ending at Lukomir, known to be the last all-year-through inhabited semi-nomadic settlement at this altitude in the Balkans. There is quite a number of well equipped mountain huts to be found within this mountain group. Stanari P.D. (1540 m.) is an excellent base for hikes in the central-western part of the mountain range. There are other mountain huts at Sitnik, Umoljani and Lukomir that might require prior reservation.</p><br>
<p>Igman is a mountain plateau in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geologically, Igman is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly Limestone. It is located southwest of Sarajevo, bordering the Bjelašnica range in the south and west, Hadžići and Ilidža in the north, and the river Željeznica in the east. Igman&#39;s highest point, Crni vrh, west of the Malo Polje road, at an altitude of 1,510 m, the homonym highest elevation on the east side of this road reaches an elevation of 1,502 m. Most of Igman is covered with mixed forest with local pastures . Igman was the location of the lowest recorded temperature in the region, -43 &deg;C. When the weather is right, from Igman mountaineers can see all the way to Montenegro and the Adriatic Sea. Igman has been the site of extensive combat during the 1992-95 Siege of Sarajevo and certain areas, in particular the surroundings of former front lines, feature a high mine risk.</p><br>
<h2>Sports</h2><br>
<p>During the 1984 Winter Olympics, Igman was, along with Jahorina and Bjelašnica, the location of the competition in the alpine and Nordic sports disciplines. Igman hosted primarily the Nordic disciplines; the Igman Olympic Jumps in the Malo Polje area were the site of the ski jumping events and also the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined events. Meanwhile, the Veliko Polje hosted the biathlon, cross-country skiing, and the cross-country skiing part of the Nordic combined event. In preparation of the Games a road was constructed across the Igman plateau connecting Sarajevo through Hadžići to the Malo Polje, Veliko Polje and Babin Dol venues. There were numerous structures constructed on Igman at this time, although many stand destroyed or bear the scars of the 1992-1995 conflict. One of the most eye catching structures remains the Ski Jumping platform at Malo Polje.</p><br>
<h2>Recent military history</h2><br>
<h3>World War II</h3><br>
<p>Although the Igman area may probably have been the scene of military controversy in the earlier History of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the most striking events took place in the course of the 20th century. The area became of substantial military significance during the struggle between Tito&#39;s Partisans and the German occupational forces during the Second World War. A renowned episode of this struggle took place on Igman during Operation Südost Kroatien associated with what is known as the Second Enemy Offensive in January 1942. The Partisan 1st Proletarian Brigade, pursued by the German 342. Infanterie-Division, crossed Igman in what is known as the "Igman March". With temperatures reaching -32 &deg;C, 172 Partisans suffered severe hypothermic injury, 6 of whom died. When they approached the German–Italian demarcation line south of Sarajevo, the Partisans were able to infiltrate through the weak Italian cordon. A monument in memory of the Partisan struggle in this area is to be found on Veliko Polje.</p><br>
<h3>1991-95 Conflict</h3><br>
<p>Mount Igman became in the course of the 1991-95 conflict suddenly an area of major strategic importance as part of the 1992-1995 Siege of Sarajevo. The predominantly Bosniak villages of Hrasnica and Butmir held out as an ARBiH stronghold between the BSA-held villages of Ilidža and Vojkovići, forming a corridor connecting the slopes of Mt Igman with the UN-controlled airport of Sarajevo. After the completion of the Sarajevo Tunnel under the airport in July 1993, the small unpaved forest road passing over Mt Igman became the sole important supply road into the besieged city. The ARBiH-controlled central plateau of Igman came under increased Serb military pressure when the suspicion became stronger that the area had become a major logistical artery of the besieged city. A major BSA offensive started July 1993 and on August 4, 1993 Serb forces captured part of the Igman supply road. The BSA advance was stopped under threat of NATO airstrikes. The area was declared a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) by the UN after the BSA retreated and UNPROFOR units were stationed on Igman and nearby Bjelašnica. The supply road into Sarajevo was agreed to be used for humanitarian goods only, but ARBiH logistical activity on the road and through the tunnel continued nevertheless. Discussion about real or alleged reluctance to withdraw ARBiH forces from the DMZ was a growing issue between UNPROFOR Commander General Rose and ARBiH Commander General Delić, with BSA Commander Mladić waiting for an opportunity to close the gap. Trucks on the Igman supply roads narrow last stretch descending the steep north-eastern slope became fully exposed to fire from BSA artillery positions in Ilidža and Vojkovici. Meanwhile, the ARBiH units remaining on the plateau were formally restricted to R&R activities, notably resulting in the building of the Igman Dzamija, a wooden mosque in the forest, still much frequented today. The Igman supply road remained the almost exclusive supply route into Sarajevo until the end of the war. It was also the only entry and exit road for the Bosnian political leadership. Bosnian president Alija Izetbegović and foreign secretary Muhamed Sacirbey traveled this road. Foreign negotiators tended to avoid the road as it was "often described as the most dangerous road in Europe". Forced by a Serb blockade of the Sarajevo Airport, on August 19, 1995, a US Peace Mission headed by Richard Holbrooke took this road in order to reach Sarajevo for a meeting with the Bosnian presidency. Holbrooke decided to sit with General Wesley Clark in a Humvee, while the other members of the delegation travelled in a French UNPROFOR Renault VAB Armored Personnel Carrier. At a particular exposed and narrow point -now marked by a French memorial plaque- the French APC went over the edge and rolled and tumbled down some 400 metres. US Diplomats Robert Frasure, Nelson Drew and Joe Kruzel as well as the French Corporal-driver perished in the incident. The battered APC is still to be seen where it ultimately came to a halt - next to a memorial site for the victims. By mid-1995 the military situation became very tense again, and in August 1995 the BSA launched another offensive forcing UNPROFOR from the Bjelašnica ridge and advancing again towards Veliko Polje. After the second Markale shelling, on August, 30 NATO started Operation Deliberate Force, in which NATO aircraft engaged BSA Command & Control facilities and other targets. In conjunction with these attacks a Rapid Reaction Force consisting of units of the British 19th Reg. Royal Artillery, the French 2nd Legion Etranger dInfanterie and the Dutch 1e Mortiercompagnie of the NL Marine Corps, was deployed on Igman with (RNLA) search radars and heavy artillery, engaging any actively firing BSA artillery installation around Sarajevo until 14 September 1995, when the NATO air strikes were suspended to allow the implementation of the withdrawal of BSA heavy weapons from the Sarajevo exclusion zone, effectively ending the Siege of Sarajevo. A number of memorials and war cemetery sites is found throughout the Igman plateau.</p><br>
<h2>Skiing and hiking</h2><br>
<p>Igman is nowadays a popular destination for mountain-biking, hiking and skiing. Skiers will find -apart from 2 baby lifts- a single major skilift at Malo Polje that will bring them to 1,490 m with a single descent piste of 1.6 km red/bleu with a black split-off of 0.2 km. Mountain bikers will find a vast network of forest roads on Igman. The steep north-eastern slope of Igman is especially popular with the mountain bikers, who use the former wartime supply road to climb from Hrasnica up to an altitude of 1,250 m, and then descend with some bravura via a hiking trail. This hiking trail connects the village with the main mountain hut in the area: Hrasnicki Stan. Another trail leads from Hrasnica to the Memorial for the deceased American diplomats and the memorial plaque for the French military fallen on this road and ends also at Hrasnicki Stan. From there other trails lead to the mountain hut at Malo Polje proceeding further east towards the Javornik mountain hut.</p><br>
<h2>Other</h2><br>
<p>At the very foot of the mountain, close to Ilidža, are the sources of the river Bosna: Vrelo Bosne. This beautiful area is one of the most popular recreational areas of Sarajevo, and one its most important drinking water sources. Nearby lies one of the famous residential villas of Marshal Tito: Stojcevac, now fully destroyed. The area further up above Vrelo Bosne is the location of the former frontline and inaccessible because of heavy contamination with land mines and UXO. Demining activities on former frontlines have taken place and are still taking place around recreational areas and the main roads.</p><br>
<h2>Igman Initiative</h2><br>
<p>The Igman mountain, with its wartime legacy, has lend its name to a non-governmental/political initiative that is aimed at bringing the former belligerents in the region together. The mission of the Igman Initiative is to encourage normalization of the overall relations among the countries of the Dayton Quadrangles. The initiative was named after Mt. Igman in remembrance of the intellectual activists, who traveled from all over former Yugoslavia via the Igman Mountain Road to Sarajevo in April 1995 in solidarity with the besieged population. In November 2000, in Zagreb, a conference, “Prospects of Relations between Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia and the FRY” was convened. The conference gathered more than a hundred NGOs from the nations ratifying the Dayton Agreement. The participating organizations agreed to formally join their efforts to stimulate the normalization of relations among the three countries. At the second session of the conference, held in Novi Sad, 2001, the Igman Initiative was established and a Council was appointed. The new institution would speed up the process of normalizing the relations. The Igman Initiative is now governed by four co-Presidents from Croatia, BiH, Serbia and Montenegro and its Council is currently composed of twenty members, five per country. The Igman Initiative efforts are essentially still aimed at establishing good neighbourly relations, building mutal trust and tolerance and overcoming all types of discrimination in the countries of the region.</p><br>
<p>Jahorina  is a mountain in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, located near Pale in the Dinaric Alps. It borders Mount Trebević, another Olympic mountain. Jahorinas highest peak, Ogorjelica, has a summit elevation of 1,916 m, making it the second-highest of Sarajevos mountains, after Bjelašnica at 2,067 m.</p><br>
<p>Mount Jahorina hosted the women&#39;s alpine skiing events of the 1984 Winter Olympics.</p><br>
<p>Jahorina is located 15 km from Pale and 30 km from Sarajevo. The international airport in Sarajevo is located 33 km from Jahorina, connected with the ski resort by a new motorway.</p><br>
<h2>Ski-resort</h2><br>
<p>Jahorina Olympic Ski Resort is the biggest and most popular ski resort in Bosnia and Herzegovina and offers a variety of outdoor sports and activities. It is primarily a destination for alpine skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and sledding, with over 40 km of ski slopes and modern facilities. The average snow depth on ski runs during February is 106 cm (ten-year average).</p><br>
<p>The Jahorina ski lift system was upgraded in 2012 and 2013 with new Leitner chairlifts. Together with a gondola lift (under construction), Jahorina has one of the most modern lift systems in the region. An 8-passenger gondola will connect the town of Pale and the ski resort, and open up 15 km of new ski runs.</p><br>
<h2>Winter Olympics</h2><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>Jahorina is well-connected with the main transport routes in Bosnia and the region.</p><br>
<p>Ski resort is 15 km away from the town of Pale and 30 km away from the capital Sarajevo an International airport Sarajevo.</p><br>
<p>Jahorina is reached by a 4 to 6 hour drive from all major cities in the region: Belgrade, Zagreb, Split, Podgorica, and Ljubljana.</p><br>
<h2>Mine risk</h2><br>
<p>Jahorina was an area of major strategic importance during the Bosnian war. Some parts areas of the mountain, including areas near the resort, still contain land mines. Extensive de-mining activities have taken place after the war. Skiing in borders of Jahorina ski resort is safe from mines and out-of-bounds areas are marked by skull-and-crossbones signs. Some off-course slopes were mined during the war and many remain risky. On October 30, 2011 a Slovenian paraglider was critically injured on Mount Jahorina when he landed in a minefield by mistake.</p><br>
<p>Trebević  is a mountain in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, located to the southeast of Sarajevo, in the territory of East Sarajevo city, bordering Jahorina mountain. Trebević is 1627 meters  tall, making it the second shortest of the Sarajevo mountains.</p><br>
<p>During the Middle Ages, Trebević was known as Zlatni Do. During the 1984 Winter Olympics Trebević, like the other Sarajevo mountains, was used for a number of Olympic events, such as bobsledding.</p><br>
<p>Trebević today is not as important of a tourist destination as Igman or Bjelašnica, largely due to the heavy fighting that took place in the early 1990s. Still, most of the land mines are now cleared. There are numerous hotels, mountaineering homes, and other such structures on Trebević and the immediate area.</p><br>
<p>Trebević has been the main excursion site of Sarajevo citizens due to the favorable geographical position, climate and the beauty of the nature. The biological diversity is among the highest and it is extraordinary to find such a phenomenon near the hearth of the big city. On 9 April 2014, Sarajevo Canton Assembly declared Trebević a protected area, in order to conserve and improve each element of the geographical and biological diversity.</p><br>
<h2>1984 Winter Olympics</h2><br>
<h2>Mineral and Crystal deposits</h2><br>
<p>The area is known to contain quartz, siderite, and calcite crystal deposits and one such item is on display in Sarajevo at the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.</p><br>
<h2>Orthodox cross controversy</h2><br>
<p>In March 2008, a Bosnian Serb organization Savez logoraša Republike Srpske (Association of Bosnian Serb War Prisoners), led by Branislav Dukić, announced its intention to erect a giant 26-meter (85 foot) high Orthodox Christian cross at the part of the mountain on Republika Srpska territory in order to commemorate the Serb victims in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. The idea followed a move by Bosnian Croats who erected a Catholic Christian cross on Hum Hill above Mostar, remembering Croats killed there during the Bosnian War. High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Miroslav Lajčák also asked Republika Srpska authorities not to allow the construction of the cross.</p><br>
<p>The Sarajevo Association of War Victims criticized the plan to build the cross, calling it shameful to build the memorial in a location from which the Serb artillery pounded the city, killing thousands of people. The association issued a statement calling the planned monument a "provocation for the citizens of Sarajevo."</p><br>
<p>Residents of Sarajevo, witnesses in the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) prosecutions, confirmed that during the war, city was shelled frequently from firing positions at Mount Trebević, harming many civilians. The ICTY has convicted two Bosnian Serb generals of war crimes for ordering the relentless shelling, sniping and indiscriminate terror in Sarajevo during the 44-month siege. The artillery position on Trebević was one of the deadliest. ICTY trial chamber also found that "the mortar shell causing second Markale massacres at around 11:00 AM on 28 August 1995. was fired from the (Bosnian-Serb) VRS held territory on the slopes of Mt. Trebević.</p><br>
<p>Citizens, NGO and city representatives of Sarajevo on 3 January every year commemorate the tragic death of six members of Tatarević - Dragnić family (among them two children, Asja, aged 10, and Nadan, 16 years old) who were killed in their apartment during the lunch by the shell that came from the Republica Srpska Army position at the Trebević.</p><br>
<p>As of October 2013, the construction was reportedly still in the preparation phase.</p><br>
<p>Treskavica is a mountain range in Bosnia and Herzegovina, situated in Trnovo municipality just south of city of Sarajevo.</p><br>
<p>Mala Ćaba (Đokin Toranj) peak at 2088 m (6950 feet), makes Treskavica the tallest of all the mountains circling Sarajevo, and only some 300 m shorter than the tallest mountain in the country. On clear days with good weather, climbers can see far into the distance, up to Montenegro and the Adriatic Sea.</p><br>
<h2>Topography</h2><br>
<p>Geologically, the Treskavica range is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly limestone and dolomite. A number of beautiful mountain lakes are scattered throughout the group, of which Veliko Jezero is the largest. A number of streams source from these mountains: the Bistrica, tributary of the Drina river; the Željenica, tributary of the Bosna river; Ljuta and Rakitnitca, tributaries of the Neretva. Notable peaks are Mala Ćaba (2088 m.), Pašina Planina (2070 m.), Mali Treskač (1950 m.) and Lupoč (1773 m.).</p><br>
<h2>Particulars</h2><br>
<p>The Treskavica mountains were part of the frontline during the 1990-1995 conflict and saw some very heavy combat. Numerous battles were fought in these mountains over the possession of the town of Trnovo, the access to the Goražde enclave and generally involving the Siege of Sarajevo. Nowadays, the borderline between the two entities of Bosnia Herzegovina runs parallel to the former lines diagonally through Treskavica, dividing the south-eastern part of the mountain range towards the territory of the Republica Srpska whereas the north-western part belongs to the Federacija BiH. Although contamination with land mines and unexploded ordnance still pose a serious threat throughout the area, hiking and tourism have picked up during the last couple of years, and some mountain huts have re-opened (Sustavac,Turnovi Stan). The main peak of Mala Ćaba is generally known as Đokin Toranj because of a view tower that used to stand on its summit, but has been destroyed and removed during the war. A marked itinerary, leading from Veliko Jezero to the top was re-established in 2010.</p><br>
<p>Mount Ossa is a mountain of the Pelion Range located in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia.</p><br>
<p>With an elevation of 1,617 m above sea level, Mount Ossa is the highest peak in Tasmania. The mount lies in the heart of Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.</p><br>
<p>The entire mountain is composed of Jurassic dolerite and the peak is named after Mount Ossa in Greece, which features in Greek mythology.</p><br>
<h2>Ascending</h2><br>
<p>The peak is fairly remote from the nearest road, with more than a day&#39;s walk for most parties from the Overland Track. The ascent involves not much rock climbing but at one point there is a need for rock climbing and there is a well-marked track to the summit. Conditions can be very severe in winter, with powerful winds and freezing temperatures. A short scramble is required to ascend the summit.</p><br>
<p>The lower slopes are bushy but towards the summit the rocks are mostly bare. The walk to the summit from Pelion Gap during summer usually features an array of beautiful wild flowers common in the area.</p><br>
<p>Mount Bartle Frere  is the highest mountain in Queensland at an elevation of 1,611 m. The mountain was named after Sir Henry Bartle Frere, a British colonial administrator and then president of the Royal Geographical Society by George Elphinstone Dalrymple in 1873. Bartle Frere was British Governor of Cape Colony at the outset of the Zulu Wars. The Aboriginal name for the mountain is Chooreechillum.</p><br>
<p>It is located 51 km south of Cairns in the Wooroonooran National Park southwest of the town of Babinda on the eastern edge of the Atherton Tablelands. Mount Bartle Frere is part of the Bellenden Ker Range and the watershed of Russell River.</p><br>
<p>The foothill to summit is entirely covered by rainforest, ranging from typical tropical rainforest in the lowlands to low cloud forest at the cooler summit, where temperatures are up to 10 °C (18 °F) lower than on the coast. Despite the treacherous climb, reaching the top offers an expansive view of the surrounding area.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first European to scale the mountain was Christie Palmerston in 1886. He blazed a tree at the summit "P October 26,&#39;86.". Its immediate neighbour Mount Bellenden Ker is the second highest mountain in Queensland at 1593 metres.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing</h2><br>
<p>The summit of Mount Bartle Frere, when it is not covered in cloud, offers the chance to view both the coastal lowlands and the Atherton Tablelands. The main reasons for this are the unpredictable weather, poor preparation and occasionally obscure track markers. Nonetheless, an experienced climber should have no problem summiting after an early start from the Josephine Falls car park.</p><br>
<p>The total distance from Josephine Falls is 15 km return and would normally take between 10–12 hours. The vertical elevation gained is around 1500 metres. This area of Queensland records several metres of rain every year, so it is not unusual for the peak to be covered in cloud. The best time to climb Bartle Frere is during winter when the weather is cooler and likelihood of rain is lower. There are orange markers every kilometre along the trail although several of these are difficult to spot.</p><br>
<p>An easier alternative is to approach from a small camp site at the western side. It is reachable by car via Topaz Road and Gourka Road. From this starting point (at an altitude of 700 m), it&#39;s relatively easy to complete the climb and descent in a day. It is a favourite with local bushwalking clubs and is best attempted in the dry winter months, from June to October. Walking during the wet season (December to April) brings with it the risks of torrential tropical downpours, poor visibility and leeches. Rock slips occur occasionally.</p><br>
<p>There is a shorter 10 km return trail to Broken Nose, a spur feature on the southern side from Josephine Falls. Although there is a large map at the Josephine Falls car park, there are no other maps or ranger station before the climb.</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Although no rain gauge exists on the mountain, data at nearby Mount Bellenden Ker suggest an annual average rainfall of around 8,000 mm, and an estimated potential maximum as high as 17,000 mm, both of which would make the mountain one of the wettest places in the world. Even in what constitutes the "dry" in most of tropical Australia, rainfall on the summit is very heavy at around 800 mm in May and 350 mm in August, whilst in the wettest month of March estimated averages are as high as 1,800 mm and maxima around 6,000 mm. Calculations based on available lowland data (from Innisfail, Cairns and Port Douglas) would suggest daily rainfalls could have been potentially as high as 2,000 mm during a cyclone in 1911 - which if accurate would be the highest daily rainfall in the world.</p><br>
<h3>Vegetation</h3><br>
<p>The high altitude and rainfall of the mountain create conditions for a number of vegetation types growing on the poor granitic soils. The lower slopes support lowland tropical rainforest (complex mesophyll vine forest) with a great diversity of large leaved trees, climbers, epiphytes, palms and ferns. With increasing elevation the rainforest changes to a less diverse smaller leaved notophyll type. At elevations above 1000 m Simple Microphyll Vine Fern Forest is found with species such as the purple Kauri Pine Agathis atropurpurea, Elaeocarpus ferruginiflora and Pimple Bark Balanops australiana. With further increases in altitude increasing exposure and cloud contact create conditions ideal for the formation of cloud forest (Simple Microphyll Vine Fern Thicket) many of the species are rare or endemic and most trees are shrouded in mosses and other bryophytes.</p><br>
<p>The stunted tree Eucryphia wilkei found in the cloud forest above 1500 m elevation on Mount Bartle Frere exists nowhere else on earth and has relatives in the Cool Temperate Rainforests of Tasmania and Chile. Other notable species include the Mountain Aspen Acronychia chooreechillum, Trochocarpa bellendenkerensis, Polyscias bellendenkerensis, the vine Parsonsia bartlensis and Australia&#39;s only native rhododendron, Rhododendron lochiae which grows on top of the large granite boulders or as an epiphyte in the cloud forest canopy. Eidothea zoexylocarya was initially discovered on the slopes of Mount Bartle Frere, which holds its main populations.</p><br>
<p>In some areas near the summit the granitic soil is so leached of nutrients by the very high rainfall that rainforest plants are replaced by heath plants such as Acrothamnus spathaceus, Acrotriche baileyana, ferns, (Gleichenia species), carnivorous sundews (Drosera species) and the orchid, Dipodium ensifolium.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>The Bartle Frere skink is found on the slopes of Mount Bartle Frere and surrounding peaks above 1400 m. The mountain lies in the Wooroonooran Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports populations of a range of bird species endemic to Queensland’s Wet Tropics.</p><br>
<p>The Great Orme  is a prominent limestone headland on the north coast of Wales, next to the town of Llandudno. It is referred to as Cyngreawdr Fynydd in a poem by the 12th-century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr. Its English name derives from the Viking  word for sea serpent, which it is said to resemble. It is echoed by the Little Orme, a smaller but very similar limestone headland on the eastern side of Llandudno Bay in the parish of Llanrhos.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>Both the Great and Little Ormes have been etymologically linked to the Old Norse words urm or orm that mean sea serpent (the English word worm is transliterated from the same term). The Great Orme being the head, with its body being the land between the Great and Little Ormes. Although the Vikings left no written texts of their time in North Wales, they certainly raided the area though they appear to have not founded any permanent settlements, unlike on the Wirral Peninsula. Still some Norse names remain in use within the former Kingdom of Gwynedd (such as Point of Ayr near Talacre).</p><br>
<p>Despite there being a theory for the origin of the name "Orme", the word was not commonly used until after the creation of the Victorian resort of Llandudno in the mid-19th century. Prior to this, Welsh names were predominantly used locally and in cartography to name the headland&#39;s landward features and the surrounding area. The entire peninsula on which Llandudno was built was known as the Creuddyn (the medieval name of the cwmwd – a historical division of land in Wales); the headland itself was called Y Gogarth or Pen y Gogarth; its promontories were Pen trwyn, Liech and Trwyn y Gogarth.</p><br>
<p>Orme only appears to have been applied to the headland as seen from the sea. In 1748, Plan of the Bay & Harbour of Conway in Caernarvon Shire by Lewis Morris the map boldly shows names the body of the peninsula "CREUDDYN" but applies the name "Orme&#39;s Head" to the headland&#39;s north-westerly seaward point. The first series Ordnance Survey map (published in 1841 and before the establishment of Llandudno) follows this convention. The headland is called the "Great Orme&#39;s Head" but its landward features all have Welsh names. It is likely that Orme became established as its common name due to Llandudno&#39;s burgeoning tourist trade because a majority of visitors and holidaymakers regularly arrived by sea. The headland being the first thing to be sighted of their destination in the three-hour journey from Liverpool by paddle steamer.</p><br>
<h2>Natural history</h2><br>
<p>Parts of the Great Orme are managed as a nature reserve by the Conwy County Borough Countryside Service. The area, which is 2 mi long by 1 mi wide, has a number of protective designations including Special Area of Conservation, Heritage Coast, Country Park, and Site of Special Scientific Interest. The local authority provides a warden service on the Great Orme that reguarlly patrols the special scientific and conservation areas. There are numerous maintained paths for walking to the summit; a section of the long-distance North Wales Path also crosses the headland. About half the Great Orme is in use as farmland, mostly for sheep grazing. In 2015, the National Trust purchased the summit&#39;s 140-acre Parc Farm for £1million.</p><br>
<h3>Geology</h3><br>
<p>The Great Orme is a peninsula made mostly of limestone and dolomite, formed during the Early Carboniferous part of the Earth&#39;s geological history. Most of the Great Orme&#39;s rocks are between 339 and 326 million years old. The upper surface of the Great Orme is particularly noted for its limestone pavements covering several headland areas. There are also rich seams of dolomite-hosted copper ore. The Great Orme copper mine was estimated to have produced enough copper to make about 2,000 tons of bronze during the Bronze Age.</p><br>
<p>The slopes of the Great Orme are subject to occasional subsidence.</p><br>
<h3>Wells</h3><br>
<p>Natural wells were greatly prized in limestone districts and the Great Orme was no exception. Water was required for copper mining purposes as well as for domestic and agricultural use. The following Great Orme wells are known and most still supply running water:</p><br>
<p>*Ffynnon Llygaid. Possibly one of the wells supplying the needs of the once populous Gogarth community before much of it was lost to coastal erosion.</p><br>
<p>*Ffynnon Gogarth. The main water source for Gogarth and in the later 18th and early 19th centuries the power source to operate the famous Tom and Gerry engine that though a long series of Brammock rods powered the mine water pumps at the Higher shaft near the summit above Pyllau.</p><br>
<p>*Ffynnon Powel. One of the water supplies together with ffynnon Tudno and ffynnon Rufeining serving the medieval farming community of Cyngreawdr.</p><br>
<p>*Ffynnon Galchog. This well, near Mynydd Isaf, to the north of Pen Dinas, is a source of lime-rich water known for its petrifying qualities, it is one of two wells known to have been used in the washing of copper ores.</p><br>
<p>*Ffynnon Tudno. Situated beyond the road, near the north-east corner of St Tudno&#39;s Church, ffynnon Tudno was, together with ffynnon Rufeining, a principal source of water for the community settled round the church.</p><br>
<p>*Ffynnon Rufeining. Translated as "Roman Well", it takes its name from the tradition that Roman copper miners used its waters to wash the copper ores mined nearby.</p><br>
<p>*Ffynnon Llech. A spring of water in Ogof Llech, a cave on the headland which is very difficult to access. It is claimed to have been used as a hermitage by Saint Tudno, a 6th-century monk of Bangor-is-y-Coed who established the first church here.</p><br>
<p>*Ffynnon Gaseg. Literally "Mare&#39;s well", this spring was revealed at the side of the road, about half way round and near the highest point, during the construction of the Marine Drive in the 19th century. It was ideally situated to refresh the horses on the five-mile carriage drive round the base of the Great Orme.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>The Great Orme has a very rich flora, including most notably the only known site of the critically endangered wild cotoneaster (Cotoneaster cambricus), of which only six wild plants are known. Many of the flowers growing in shallow lime-rich earth on the headland have developed from the alpine sub-Arctic species that developed following the last ice-age. Spring and early summer flowers include bloody cranesbill, thrift and sea campion, clinging to the sheer rock face, while pyramidal orchid, common rockrose and wild thyme carpet the grassland. The old mines and quarries also provide suitable habitat for species of plants including spring squill growing on the old copper workings. The white horehound (Marrubium vulgare), which is found growing on the western-most slopes of the Orme is said to have been used, and perhaps cultivated, by 14th-century monks, no doubt to make herbal remedies including cough mixtures. The rare horehound plume moth (Wheeleria spilodactylus) lays her eggs amongst the silky leaves and its caterpillars rely for food solely upon this one plant.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>The headland is the habitat of several endangered species of butterflies and moths, including the silky wave, the silver-studded blue (Plebejus argus subsp. caernesis) and the grayling (Hipparchia semele thyone) These last two have adapted to the Great Orme by appearing earlier in the year to take advantage of the limestone flowers and grasses. Also they are smaller than in other parts of the country and are recognised as a definite subspecies. The Great Orme is reported as the northernmost known habitat within Britain for several ‘southern’ species of spider notably: Segestria bavarica, Episinus truncatus, Micrargus laudatus, Drassyllus praeficus, Liocranum rupicola and Ozyptila scabricula.</p><br>
<p>The headland is also home to about 200 Kashmir goats. The herd, which has roamed the Orme since the middle of the 19th century, is descended from a pair of goats that were presented by the Shah of Persia to Queen Victoria shortly after her coronation in 1837. Numbers are controlled by artificial contraception; the action was taken because competition for resources was forcing goats off the Orme into gardens and property. The Royal Welsh, a large regiment in the British Army, is permitted by the British Monarch to choose an animal from the herd to be a regimental goat (if it passes selection, it is given the honorary rank of lance corporal).</p><br>
<p>The caves and abandoned mine workings are home to large colonies of the rare horseshoe bat. This small flying mammal navigates the caves and tunnels by using echo location to obtain a mental picture of its surroundings. During the daytime, horseshoe bats are found suspended from the roof of tunnels and caves, with their wings tightly wrapped around their bodies. Only at dusk do the bats leave the caves and mine shafts, to feed on beetles and moths.</p><br>
<p>The cliffs are host to colonies of seabirds (such as guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills and even fulmars as well as gulls). The Great Orme is also home to many resident and migrant land birds including ravens, little owls and peregrine falcons.</p><br>
<p>Below the cliffs, the rock-pools around the headland are a rich and varied habitat for aquatic plants and animals including barnacles, red beadlet anemones and hermit crab</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Copper mining</h3><br>
<p>Large-scale human activity on the Great Orme began around 4000 years ago during the Bronze Age with the opening of several copper mines. Malachite ore was mined using stone tools and refined into copper. It is estimated that up to 1,760 tonnes of copper was mined during the period. The mines were abandoned around 600 BC. Excavations show evidence that the Romans reopened the workings. In 1692 mining resumed again on the Orme. Ore was extracted until the end of the 19th century. It is likely that copper from the mine was exported to Continental Europe in the Bronze Age and Roman era. In addition to the three main mining areas, there are many open-cast bell pit mines along the lines of the main geological faults.</p><br>
<p>In the 20th century the mines were once again reopened, and the Bronze Age mine workings are now a fee-paying attraction for the public to experience.</p><br>
<h3>Medieval period</h3><br>
<p>The medieval parish of Llandudno comprised three townships all established on the lower slopes of the Great Orme. The township of Y Gogarth at the south-western &#39;corner&#39; of the Great Orme was latterly the smallest but it contained the palace of the Bishop of Bangor. The Manor of Gogarth (which included all three townships) had been bestowed on Anian, Bishop of Bangor by King Edward I in 1284 in recognition of services rendered to the crown, notably the baptism of the first English Prince of Wales, newly born at Caernarfon. The palace was burnt down by Owain Glyndŵr in 1400 and the ruins have mostly been washed away together with much of the township by coastal erosion in the Conwy Estuary.</p><br>
<p>The significant agricultural yet north facing township of Cyngreawdr includes the original parish church and rectory of St Tudno, a 6th- or 7th-century foundation. Following the Glyndŵr uprising, the villagers of the Creuddyn peninsula were harshly taxed and by 1507 they had nearly all fled their homes. Henceforth the cultivated land lay fallow and is now grazed by sheep and goats. Llandudno&#39;s Victorian cemetery, which is still in regular use, was laid out in 1859 adjacent to the 12th-century church of http://www.llandudnochurches.org.uk/sainttudno.html Saint Tudno where open-air services are held every Sunday morning in summer. Nearby are several large ancient stones that have become shrouded in folklore and also an unexplained stone-lined avenue called Hwylfa&#39;r Ceirw leading towards Cilfin Ceirw (Precipice of Deer).</p><br>
<p>The third township was Yn Wyddfid clustered below the Iron Age hill fort of Pen y Dinas at the northeastern "corner" of the Great Orme. With the reopening of the copper mines from the 18th century onwards, this township grew considerably in size with the streets and cottages of the mining village laid out on the largely abandoned agricultural holdings.</p><br>
<h3>Victorian expansion</h3><br>
<p>In 1825 the Board of the Port of Liverpool obtained a Private Act of Parliament to help improve safety and communications for the merchant marine operating in the Irish Sea and Liverpool Bay. The Act allowed them to erect and maintain telegraph stations between Liverpool and the Isle of Anglesey. This would help ship-owners, merchants and port authorities in Liverpool know the location of all mercantile shipping along the North Wales coast.</p><br>
<p>In 1826 the summit of the Great Orme was chosen as the location for one of the 11 optical semaphore stations that would form an unbroken 80 mi chain from Liverpool to Holyhead. The original semaphore station on the Orme, which consisted of small building with living accommodation, used a 15 m ship&#39;s mast with three pairs of moveable arms to send messages to either Puffin Island 7 mi to the west or 8.5 mi to Llysfaen in the east. Skilled telegraphers could send semaphore messages between Liverpool and Holyhead in under a minute.</p><br>
<p>In March 1855 the Great Orme telegraph station was converted to electric telegraph. Landlines and submarine cables connected the Orme to Liverpool and Holyhead. At first the new equipment was installed in the original Semaphore Station on the summit until it was moved down to the Great Orme lighthouse in 1859. Two years later the Great Orme semaphore station closed with the completion of a direct electric telegraph connection from Liverpool to Holyhead.</p><br>
<p>By the late 1860s, Llandudno&#39;s blossoming tourist trade saw many Victorians visit the old semaphore station at the summit to enjoy the panorama. This led to the development of the summit complex. By the early 20th century, a nine-bed hotel was built on the site. It served as the clubhouse for the Great Orme Golf Club that was founded in the early 1900s. The course closed in 1939 and is now a sheep farm. During the Second World War, the RAF built a Chain Home Low radar station at the summit. In 1952 the site was taken into private ownership until it was acquired by Llandudno Urban Town Council in 1961. Conwy County Borough Council continues to manage the summit.</p><br>
<h3>Second World War</h3><br>
<p>The Royal Artillery coast artillery school was transferred from Shoeburyness to the Great Orme in 1940 (and additionally a Practice Camp was established on the Little Orme in 1941) during the Second World War. Target practice was undertaken from the headland to both towed and anchored boats. Experimental work and training was also provided for radio direction finding. The foundations of some of the buildings and installations remain and can be seen from the western end of the Marine Drive. The site of the school was scheduled as an Ancient Monument in 2011 by CADW, the Welsh Government&#39;s Historic Monuments body. This was done in recognition of the site&#39;s significance in a UK and Welsh context.</p><br>
<p>Also of note was the Aerial Defence Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) known as "X3" which was a 3-storey building erected in 1942. This seems to have been a secret radar experimental station above the artillery school. The road put in to serve it now serves a car park on the approximate site of the station, which was demolished in 1956.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>With the creation of Llandudno, the first route round the perimeter of the Great Orme was a footpath constructed in 1858 by Reginald Cust, a trustee of the Mostyn Estate. In 1872 the Great Ormes Head Marine Drive Co. Ltd. was formed to turn the path into a Victorian carriage road. But it went bankrupt before work was finished. A second company completed the road in 1878. The contractors for the scheme were Messrs Hughes, Morris, Davies, a consortium led by Richard Hughes of Madoc Street, Llandudno. The road was bought by Llandudno Urban District Council in 1897. The 4 mi one-way toll road starts at the foot of the Happy Valley. After about 1.5 mi a side road leads to St. Tudno&#39;s Church, the Bronze Age Copper Mines and to the Great Orme Summit complex with car park. The toll road ticket also pays for the parking at the Summit Complex. Marine Drive has been used as a stage on the Wales Rally GB in 1981, 2011, 2013 and 2015.</p><br>
<p>Due to its location, the Isle of Man and the Lake District can be seen from the Orme&#39;s summit on clear days. In 1902, the Great Orme Tramway was built to convey visitors to the top of the Great Orme. In 1969, the Llandudno Cable Car was also constructed to take visitors up to the summit attractions. These include a tourist shop, cafeteria, visitors&#39; centre, play areas, a licensed hotel, and the vintage tram/cable-car stations.</p><br>
<p>The Orme has one of only two artificial ski slopes in North Wales, complete with one of the longest toboggan runs in the United Kingdom.</p><br>
<p>Landscaped gardens in the Happy Valley and terraces in the Haulfre Garden cover the lower landward facing steeply sloping southern side. Walkways link the Haulfre Gardens with the western end of the Marine Drive.</p><br>
<p>On the northernmost point of the Orme is the former Llandudno lighthouse. It was constructed in 1862 by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. The navigation aid remained in continuous use until 22 March 1985 when it was decommissioned. The building has now been converted into a small bed & breakfast guest house. The lantern and its optics are now on permanent display at the Summit Complex visitors&#39; centre. The old established "Rest and be thankful" café is also nearby.</p><br>
<p>Tower City Center, originally known as Cleveland Union Terminal, is a large mixed-use facility located on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The facility is composed of a number of interconnected office buildings, including the landmark Terminal Tower, a shopping mall, a casino, two hotels, and the main hub of Cleveland&#39;s four rapid transit lines. On March 17, 1976, the tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Union Terminal Group.</p><br>
<h2>Construction and train station</h2><br>
<p>The Cleveland Union Terminal was built by the Van Sweringen brothers as a terminal for all trains coming into Cleveland via the various railroad lines in a concept similar to Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The facility also included a number of retail stores and restaurants. Original designs for the complex show that at first the brothers did not plan on building an office tower within the complex. However, they eventually decided to build the 52-story Terminal Tower on the northeast side of the complex facing Public Square. From its completion until 1964, the Terminal Tower was the tallest building in North America outside of New York City. Cleveland Union Terminal also served as the downtown station for the Van Sweringens&#39; new Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Line.</p><br>
<p>The complex was designed by the firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White. Site preparation began in 1922, and approximately 2,200 buildings were demolished. Construction began in 1926, and structural work was completed by 1927. At the time, it was the second-largest excavation project in the world after the Panama Canal. The Terminal Tower opened to its first tenants in 1928. Three other office buildings, the Medical Arts Building, Builders Exchange Building, and Midland Building, were built in addition to the Terminal Tower. The three Art Deco buildings are collectively known as the Landmark Office Towers Complex and were completed in 1929. In addition to the new buildings, the 1918 Hotel Cleveland was connected to the complex. Cleveland Union Terminal was dedicated and officially opened in 1930.</p><br>
<p>In 1931, the Higbee Company moved its main store to a new building connected to Cleveland Union Terminal. In 1934, the USA Postal Service moved its main Cleveland office to Union Terminal in a new connected building designed by the firm of Walker and Weeks. It is today known as M.K. Ferguson Plaza.</p><br>
<p>The Union Terminal served most rail lines: the Baltimore and Ohio, New York Central and Nickel Plate Road. Exceptions were the Pennsylvania Railroad and initially the Erie Railroad &ndash; from completion until 1973. It was never particularly popular with the railroads, however. It required deviating from the quicker route along Lake Erie. As the city would not allow trains to operate under steam power near the downtown area, trains were forced to switch from steam to electric power at a suburban rail yard when heading inbound and then reverse on the way out at another yard. As a result, some lines began to bypass the station entirely, heading along the lake route, and some trains stopped serving the city altogether. Several east-west routes by-passed the city to the south, passing through Akron or Youngstown. In addition, national passenger rail travel had already passed its peak and was starting its gradual decline in favor of the automobile and, later, the airplane. The Nickel Plate RR, owned by the Van Sweringens, could not afford the electric transfer and continued to use its own nearby station until 1948, when it replaced steam with diesel locomotives and was able to serve the Union Terminal under its own power.</p><br>
<p>In 1968, the Cleveland Transit System line finished its extension through Cleveland&#39;s west side to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Cleveland became the first North American city with direct rapid transit access from downtown to an airport.</p><br>
<h2>Becoming Tower City</h2><br>
<p>Amtraks short-lived Lake Shore served Union Terminal for seven months in 1971, but the railroad found the rents prohibitive. When the new Lake Shore Limited began in 1975, Amtrak chose to construct a new station, near Lake Erie and the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway. The former Erie Railroad commuter service inherited by Conrail was discontinued on Jan. 14, 1977, ending the facilitys use as a railroad station. However, the three rapid transit lines, which by 1975 were all controlled by the newly formed Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority remained in service.</p><br>
<p>Most of the platform area was demolished in the late 1980s renovation of the building. The station area itself was converted by Forest City Enterprises into a mall and food court known as The Avenue, which opened in 1990. As part of the renovation, RTA rebuilt and combined its rapid transit station beneath the center. The rest of the platform area was turned into a parking garage for the new complex. The complex was renamed Tower City Center in 1991. When it opened, the mall housed many high-end retailers, including Bally of Switzerland, Barneys New York, Fendi, Gucci, Versace, and even had a letter of intent from Neiman Marcus to build a 120,000-square foot anchor store in 1992. Over the following 25 years, many of those shops were replaced by more modest stores, some of them local retailers.</p><br>
<p>In 1991, two new 11-story office towers, the Skylight Office Tower and the Chase Financial Plaza, were added. The Chase Building houses Cleveland&#39;s Ritz-Carlton Hotel and The Skylight Office Tower housed the former Hard Rock Cafe. After the completion of the nearby Gateway project in 1994, RTA built an indoor walkway connecting Tower City to the complex. A second walkway was built in 2002 to connect Tower City with the Carl B. Stokes USA Courthouse.</p><br>
<p>Higbees (by then bought by Dillards) closed its department store in the complex in January 2002. Positively Cleveland (formerly the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland) and the Greater Cleveland Partnership (the local chamber of commerce) opened offices in the Higbee Building in 2007. Until late 2010, the Cleveland Plus Visitors Center occupied the first floor. Now, the first four floors are occupied by the Jack Cleveland Casino, which opened on May 14, 2012.</p><br>
<p>In 2001, Time Warner Cable Amphitheater opened as an outdoor stage along the Cuyahoga River near the Tower City Complex. A site on the Cuyahoga River side of the complex was proposed as a location for a new Cleveland convention center, but in January 2009 the Cuyahoga County Commissioners decided to redevelop the existing facility.</p><br>
<p>The Tavy is a river on Dartmoor, Devon, England. The name derives from the Brythonic root "Taff", the original meaning of which has now been lost. It has given its name to the town of Tavistock and the villages of Mary Tavy and Peter Tavy.</p><br>
<p>It is a tributary of the River Tamar and has as its own tributaries:</p><br>
<p>*Collybrooke</p><br>
<p>*River Burn</p><br>
<p>*River Wallabrooke</p><br>
<p>*River Lumburn</p><br>
<p>*River Walkham</p><br>
<p>At Tavistock it feeds a canal running to Morwellham Quay.</p><br>
<p>Its mouth it is crossed by the Tavy Bridge which carries the Tamar Valley railway line.</p><br>
<h2>Navigation</h2><br>
<p>The river is navigable inland as far as Lopwell, where a weir marks the normal tidal limit, about a 9 mi journey from North Corner Quay at Devonport. River transport was an important feature of the local farming, mining, tourism and forestry economies.</p><br>
<p>The Queen&#39;s Harbour Master for Plymouth is responsible for managing navigation on the River Tavy up to the normal tidal limit.</p><br>
<p>Lembert Dome is a granite dome rock formation in Yosemite National Park in the US state of California. The dome soars 800 ft above Tuolumne Meadows and the Tuolumne River and can be hiked starting at the Tioga Road in the heart of Tuolumne Meadows, 8 mi west of the Tioga Pass Entrance to Yosemite National Park. The landform is an example of a rôche moutonnée with clear lee and stoss slopes.</p><br>
<p>Lembert Dome was named for Jean Baptiste Lembert, sometimes mistakenly referred to as John Lambert, who took up a homestead in a section of Tuolumne Meadows in 1865. By 1879 the Wheeler Survey referred to it as Soda Springs Dome. John Muir called it Glacier Rock.</p><br>
<p>Rock climbers can scale the face from the parking lot just off the Tioga Road, but hikers can simply walk up the back side or take the challenging steeper trek up the face starting from just east of the parking lot. Many technical free climbing routes have been put up.</p><br>
<p>Metsovo  is a town in Epirus, in the mountains of Pindus in northern Greece, between Ioannina to the north and Meteora to the south.</p><br>
<p>The largest centre of Aromanian life in Greece, Metsovo is a large regional hub for several small villages and settlements in the Pindus region, and it features many shops, schools, offices, services, museums, and galleries. The economy of Metsovo is dominated by agriculture and tourism, the latter of which flourishes in winter.</p><br>
<p>Metsovo is served by Greek National Road 6 (Ioannina – Trikala) and by the Egnatia Odos motorway.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>From medieval times till well into the 19th century, Metsovo was known, in various sources, as Metzovo. From the end of the 18th century on, the literary form of Messovon makes its appearance. The town is known as Aminciu in Aromanian, or Vlach, and as Miçova in Ottoman Turkish.</p><br>
<h3>Ottoman census records</h3><br>
<p>In the Ottoman census records we see the word Mcwh, which is usually pronounced "Miçova". In the Vlach language Metsovo is called Aminʤu, a word combining the preposition "a"— meaning "to, into"—and the word "Minʤu".</p><br>
<h3>Various names</h3><br>
<p>From "Minʤu" derive terms signifying ethnic origin Miʤanu and Miʤanə—meaning, respectively, "man from Metsovo", "woman from Metsovo"—as well as the adjectives miʤənescu and miʤəneascə—meaning "Metsovite", "of Metsovo"—which are used today by the residents of Metsovo. The Vlach-speaking part of the population, that part which does not use the term Aminʤu, uses the name "Meʤova". Some firman refer to Metsovo as Derveni.</p><br>
<h3>Modern form</h3><br>
<p>The derivation of the name Metsovo—from the words Mitsous and Mesovounon or from the unattested Slav word *Mẹčovo, meaning bear-place—which has been proposed by academics and historians, is not confirmed by linguistic research. On the contrary, there appears to be an etymological relation between the Vlach Minʤu and the Greek Metsovo, the latter being a combination of the stem Mets and the Slavic-ending ovo.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In the 15th century Metsovo came under Ottoman rule and became part of the Sanjak of Ioannina. Throughout the late period of Ottoman rule (18th century-1913) the Greek and Aromanian population of the region (Northern Pindus) suffered from Albanian raiders. On one occasion, during the local Greek revolt of 1854, the town was plundered by both Ottoman troops and the men of Theodoros Grivas, a former general in the Greek military, during their struggle for control of the town. During the First Balkan War, Metsovo was burnt by raiding bands. In the last 10 days of October 1912, military volunteers from Crete, together with about 340 soldiers of the tactical Greek army under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mitsas, advanced through Thessaly to the then Greek-Turkish border along the mountains east of Metsovo. On October 31, 1912, the Greek troops assisted by rebel groups from Epirus and volunteers from Metsovo, having crossed the Katara-Zygos mountain ridge overnight, attacked the Turkish garrison of Metsovo, which then comprised 205 soldiers and two cannons. The battle lasted until 4 p.m. when the Ottoman soldiers inside the besieged Turkish garrison raised a white flag and surrendered.</p><br>
<h3>Social stratification</h3><br>
<p>Socially, the residents of Metsovo, up until the beginning of the 20th century, were divided into three classes: the "arhontzi" (arxondzɨ), the "vinitsi" (vinitsɨ) and the "algi" (alɟi) or, mockingly, "gizari" (ɟizari). This socioeconomic stratification developed during the Ottoman occupation.</p><br>
<h4>Arhontzi</h4><br>
<p>The arhontzi were the wealthiest part of society. Their revenues derived from wholesale and retail commercial activities. Although locally very powerful, they were not a closed group in terms of social mobility. Wealth gave anyone the right to climb up the social ladder to the next higher level, although such ascent often gave rise to serious conflicts.</p><br>
<h4>Vinitsi</h4><br>
<p>The vinitsi comprised the middle and lower classes of the settlement that were not occupied in livestock breeding. It mostly included farmers, small business owners, technicians, mule drivers, and small-scale merchants. Despite the economic and professional diversification among the vinitsi, they saw themselves as a unified social class, which was evident in their social relations. For example, they would marry among themselves but never with members of the algi.</p><br>
<h4>Algi</h4><br>
<p>The algi were the class of traveling sheepherders, whose occupation was large-scale sheepherding, livestock breeding, as well as woodcarving. They had set rules regarding the social roles of their members, and a strict patriarchal structure that governed their class.</p><br>
<h4>Distinctions between vinitsi and algi</h4><br>
<p>The social differences between the two lower classes were not based on income criteria but on the fact that their members came from very different exonomic structures. In the past, the distinction between sheepherders and non-sheepherders existed in all developed Vlach settlements of Pindos, and could possibly be concealing, in a latent form, the socioeconomic reality of past times. This was not a class distinction based on wealth, since in most cases the members of both groups belonged to the poorer segments of the population, but a differentiation related to the establishment of the settlements during the Ottoman period, which produced the co-existence of populations with the same linguistic base but with clearly different economic and social structures.</p><br>
<h3>Ottoman tax district</h3><br>
<p>Karye-iMiçova denoted the tax district of the Ottoman timar that constituted the area of Metsovo. Six settlements are recorded in it. Each settlement&#39;s name is preceded by the indication "karye" and usually followed by the phrase tâbi‘-iMiçova meaning "subject to Metsovo".</p><br>
<p>The word karye, as a term in the organizational structure of the Ottoman Empire, defined a settlement or a group of settlements constituting a unified tax district. In the Greek language it is usually translated by the word "chorion". However, it does not correspond to the term "settlement" as used in modern statistical terminology, but rather to "community". In other words, it does not signify a group of buildings, but a well-defined geographical area with a self-contained legal entity. A karye could include more than one settlements regardless how far apart they were from each other.</p><br>
<p>In the 1506 census, Karye-iMiçova is followed by the phrase "tâbi‘-i Τirhala" meaning "subject to Trikala". The names of eight settlements appear in it. Before the name of each settlement, the indication "karye" of the 1454–55 census has been replaced by "mahalle". The specific administrative structure of the area constituted the basis for its administrative organization in the centuries to come. In administrative documents of the 18th century, the present settlement of Metsovo is termed "chora" and the other villages as "mahalades".</p><br>
<h3>The privileges of Metsovo</h3><br>
<p>Starting in the mid-17th century, the residents in the region of Metsovo were relieved from the obligation to pay the regular and ad hoc taxes that were usually paid by Christian residents in other Ottoman regions, on the condition that they would pay a lump sum per year. The Ottoman administration often made such arrangements for groups of its subjects that offered a special service to the state.</p><br>
<h4>The case of Metsovo</h4><br>
<p>The special service provided by the Metsovo residents was the guarding of the local mountain passes and the servicing of travelers. The special tax regime did not mean self-government in theory. The notion of autonomy was unknown to the Ottoman understanding of polity. In practice, however, the granting of tax exemptions was equivalent to self-governance of the area.</p><br>
<p>Since the 18th century, the management of lasa, or bequests left to a community, constituted one of the most important municipal functions. The love for their birthplace and the social altruism of the Metsovites living abroad resulted in the amassing of significant benefactor funds in Metsovo. As early as the beginning of the 19th century, there was a special logbook where the wills and testaments of the benefactors were recorded. The logbook was destroyed in 1854; it was then redrafted by the patriarchal exarchate of Metsovo but destroyed again in 1941.</p><br>
<h4>Management of state property</h4><br>
<p>In theory, the sultan was the undisputed owner of all land in Metsovo and had the right to dispose of it as he wished. That is why firmans were only temporarily applicable and defined the area as the property of Ottoman officials, to whom the Sultan granted tenure rights.</p><br>
<h4>Reduced taxes</h4><br>
<p>The reduction of taxes meant keeping a larger share of the local surplus crop production. In consequence, regardless of the theoretical framework that governed the land ownership and political regime of the Ottoman Empire, the lands of Metsovo were gradually falling under the absolute possession, ownership, and management of its residents, which corresponded to political self-governance. This development had a cost. Every year, the corresponding taxes and other contributions had to be pre-paid to the Ottoman landlord of the area, otherwise the Chora or Mukataa of Metsovo could lose its status and be combined with neighboring Ottoman regions.</p><br>
<h4>The phenomenon of beneficence</h4><br>
<p>Beneficence by Metsovites is a powerful phenomenon, the dimensions of which were formed through the processes relating to the socioeconomic growth of Metsovo during the Ottoman period. It is mainly the expression of the cultural notions that governed the ruling class of Metsovo at the time. Despite the long absence of the men of the community from Metsovo, due to their business and commercial activities, their hometown remains in their hearts as their financial and family seat. Consequently, a large part of their revenue is channeled into the local economy by themselves or their families, as charity or investment capital to be used for the conservation of the social and political superiority of their class.</p><br>
<p>Beneficence as a notion is directly connected with the special political regime granted by the Ottoman state to the Chora Metsovou. The demonstration of altruism, signaling and confirming their social distinction and status, provides Metsovites with the option to have social and economic control of their homeland. At first, their social solidarity is expressed as a church-sponsoring funding activity according to the standards of a cultural notion that derives from the medieval past of the Orthodox church.</p><br>
<h3>The Exarchate of Metsovo</h3><br>
<p>After 1659, the area of Metsovo, thus far under the bishopric of Stagoi, was formed into its own exarchate under a patriarchal exarch. The "Catholic Exarch of Metsovo"—a person appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople—resided in Constantinople and was paid 15 kuruşlar annually for his role as supervisor of the region. In actuality, his duties were performed by a local clergyman, who was elected by the people of Metsovo, approved by the patriarchate, and was obliged to act in the name of the catholic exarch. From 1818, the election of the clergyman was by vote of the ephors of the schools of Metsovo, with his election then being ratified by the patriarchate. The spiritual jurisdiction of the exarch comprised the settlements of Metsovo, Anilio, Derventista (now Anthohori), Votonosi, Milia, Koutsioufleani (now Platanistos), and Malakasi. In 1924, the Exarchate of Metsovo was temporarily upgraded to a metropolis, in order to accommodate the placement of clergy from Asia Minor who had lost their seats. In 1929, the metropolis was abolished without reinstating the exarchate. The region came under the Metropolis of Grevena until 1932, when Metsovo, Anilio, Votonosi and Derventista were annexed to the Metropolis of Ioannina. The Exarchate of Metsovo, functioning as the local representative of the religious ideals of the Patriarchate, played a major part in the formation of the religious and national conscience of the higher social classes of Metsovo.</p><br>
<h4>The scholars and clergy of Metsovo</h4><br>
<p>The economic and social growth of Metsovo during the 18th century is reflected in the efforts of the residents to upgrade their level of education. Indicative of these efforts is the establishment of a school as early as the beginning of the 18th century, the continuous care to maintain its operation, and studying abroad in European universities to receive higher education. The result of this process is the appearance of a class of scholars, teachers, and clergymen who participate actively in the intellectual life in the territories of modern Greece. Among these scholars we find Parthenios Katzoulis, Anastasios Metsovitis, Konstantinos of Metsovo, Tryfon of Metsovo, Demetrios Vardakas, Adam Tsapekos, Anastasios of Metsovo, Dositheos Driinoupoleos, Konstantinos Peltekis, Konstantinos Tzikas, Triantafyllos Hatzis Stergiou, Christoforos Varlamitis, the Kyriakos brothers, Konstantinos and Theofilos Tzarzoulis, as well as their father Nikolaos Tzartzoulis who is considered one of the "Teachers of the Nation" by Greek historians.</p><br>
<h3>The merchants of Metsovo</h3><br>
<p>The merchants in Metsovo were peddlers that became very active in commercial trade, in both the Ottoman Empire and in Europe.</p><br>
<h4>Socioeconomic growth of Metsovo</h4><br>
<p>The impressive socioeconomic growth of Metsovo during the Ottoman occupation is mainly due to the involvement of a large part of its population in the commercial activities of both the Ottoman Empire and of Europe. Taking into account the fact that the residents of Metsovo had been migrating for a long time, it is difficult to determine the beginning of its commercial growth.</p><br>
<h4>Testimonies – sources</h4><br>
<p>Substantial information about the commercial development of Metsovo are found from the mid-17th century onward, when we see testimonies of the presence of peddlers from Metsovo in Constantinople and Venice, which indicates an early phase of their involvement in commercial trade in the eastern Mediterranean. During the 18th century we see testimonies of the presence of Metsovite merchants in Constantinople, Bucharest, and Vienna. By the end of the 18th century there is an established community of merchants in Metsovo, which, through a collaborative or overlapping trade network, spread its operations over a rather extensive geographic area.</p><br>
<h4>19th century</h4><br>
<p>The first decade of the 19th century signaled the beginning of the most dynamic phase of commercial activity by the Metsovites. Now the geographic and economic reach of their activity exceeds its initial range. Their activity extends as far as Moscow, Cairo, Malta, Livorno, and Trieste.</p><br>
<h4>Cities of activity</h4><br>
<p>Records show that Metsovite merchants had a permanent presence in the following cities and towns: Corfu, Serres, Filippoupoli, Odessa, Brody, Moscow, Petersburg, Sevastopol, Nizna, Thessaloniki, in the Romanian cities of Orsova, Chisinau, Iasi, Ismail (Bessarabia), Craiova, Focsani, Galatsi, and Odessa, and a presence in the trade fairs and open-air markets of Perlepe, Sistov, Uzungiova, Rostov, Smyrna, Cyprus, and Damascus. Naturally, the old trade strongholds of Constantinople, Bucharest, and Vienna continued to present the largest concentrations of Metsovite merchants.</p><br>
<h4>Alexandria</h4><br>
<p>Another significant overseas hub of commercial activity for Metsovites is the port of Alexandria, in Egypt. The latest records show that the nature of their trading has changed dramatically from the times of their traditional land transport and trade fairs in the Balkans. Although the traditional method of commerce still occupies the merchants that are based in Metsovo or Ioannina, a large number of Metsovite merchants has established trading companies and agencies in distant places where they are occupied with all types of import and export trade.</p><br>
<h2>Province</h2><br>
<p>The province of Metsovo (Επαρχία Μετσόβου) was one of the provinces of the Ioannina Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipality of Metsovo, except for most of the municipal unit of Egnatia. It was abolished in 2006.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The present municipality of Metsovo was created by the 2011 local government reform, by the merger of the following 3 former municipalities that became municipal units:</p><br>
<p>Metsovo</p><br>
<p>Egnatia</p><br>
<p>Milea</p><br>
<p>The municipality of Metsovo has an area of 363.656 km&sup2, the municipal unit of Metsovo has an area of 177.676 km&sup2, and the community of Metsovo has an area of 101.908 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>In the 1980s, a nearby tunnel was constructed that was the longest in Greece, alleviating traffic that would otherwise clog Metsovo&#39;s twisting roads. In 2006, the junction between the Egnatia Odos motorway and a section of Greek National Road (Ioannina – Trikala) made for a superhighway with two exits at Metsovo.</p><br>
<h2>Attractions</h2><br>
<p>The town is famous for its local cheeses (Metsovone and Metsovela) and for its winemaking industries, including the Katogi vineyard of the Averoff family. A museum named Averoff Gallery is dedicated to Georgios Averoff. Metsovo is a popular winter vacation destination and ski resort town. The Metsovo Ski Centre is situated not far from the centre of Metsovo.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Metsovo is the home of the benefactors Nikolaos Stournaras, Eleni Tositsa, Michael Tositsas, and Georgios Averoff, in whose honour the National Technical University of Athens is called Metsovion in Greek. Another notable individual from Metsovo is the former minister and former leader of the New Democracy party Evangelos Averoff.</p><br>
<p>Georgios Averoff (1815–1899), businessman and philanthropist</p><br>
<p>Evangelos Averoff (1910–1990), politician</p><br>
<p>Nikolaos Stournaras, national benefactor</p><br>
<p>Michael Tositsas, national benefactor</p><br>
<p>Adam Tsapekos, scholar</p><br>
<p>Nikolaos Zerzoulis (1710–1773), scholar and director of several Greek schools</p><br>
<p>Dimitrios Zamanis (Δημήτριος Ζαμάνης) businessman, donor and supporter of Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends</p><br>
<p>The Peconic Bay is the parent name for two bays between the North Fork and South Fork of Long Island in the USA state of New York. It is separated from Gardiners Bay by Shelter Island.</p><br>
<p>Peconic Bay is divided by Robins Island into the Great Peconic Bay on the west and Little Peconic Bay on the east. Great Peconic is a shallow bay, less than 30 feet (9 m), while Little Peconic can have depths over 80 feet (25 m). The west end of Great Peconic Bay is also called Flanders Bay. The Shinnecock Canal provides access from the Great Peconic Bay to Shinnecock Bay. The two Peconic Bays are often collectively referred to as "the Peconics".</p><br>
<p>The Peconics are a tidal estuary system fed at the western end by the Peconic River. Other notable tidal estuary creeks which provide brackish water to the system are Meeting House Creek, Brushes Creek, James Creek, and Deep Hole Creek on the North Fork. These and others bring lesser salinity to the water compared to the Atlantic Ocean. For that reason, the clams, oysters and bay scallops were numerous for generations since they require brackish water and the bountiful phyto and zooplankton which give the system its first tier of life. Reseeding of shellfish in 2005 and 2006 and leasing of the bottom to commercial farmers for clams and oysters have given rise to hope for the ecosystem.</p><br>
<p>The winter flounder fishing usually caught in the spring has all but collapsed, but fluke (summer flounder), bluefish, porgy (scup) and some northern weakfish are to be found, using clams, squid and spearing for bait. Snappers (young spawned bluefish of the year) give youngsters a real thrill in late summer. August is a time of blue claw crabbing and recent catches 2006 and 2007 in the inlets and creeks have been bountiful.</p><br>
<p>A boaters paradise for its calm waters in summer and fresh souwesters in late afternoon for sailing has become a popular vacation spot for New Yorkers and East coasters.</p><br>
<p>Peconic Bay gives its name to the proposed Peconic County, New York, which would comprise the eastern portion of existing Suffolk County that surrounds Peconic Bay. While this movement to split Suffolk County along economic lines (the Western portion is more suburban in character, while the Eastern portion is more rural) has a long history, it has not been active since 1998.</p><br>
<p>Pelion or Pelium  is a mountain at the southeastern part of Thessaly in central Greece, forming a hook-like peninsula between the Pagasetic Gulf and the Aegean Sea. Its highest summit, Pourianos Stavros, is 1,624 m amsl. The Greek National Road 38  runs through the southern portion of the peninsula and GR-38A runs through the middle.</p><br>
<h2>Geography and economy</h2><br>
<p>The mountain is thickly forested, with both deciduous and perennial forests, mainly of beech, oak, maple and chestnut trees, with plane tree groves surrounding places with water. Pelion is considered one of the most beautiful mountains in Greece and is a popular tourist attraction throughout the year: hiking trails and stone paths give access to springs, coves and numerous beaches, sandy or pebbly, set among lusciously green slopes. Pelion is an amply watered mountain with an abundance of springs, gorges, streams and rivulets; many streams are routed in carved-stone artificial beds to bring water to the villages and their thriving orchards. The higher elevations of the mountain receive enough snowfall so as to host skiing facilities that operate from Christmas to Easter.</p><br>
<p>Pelian cuisine specializes in charcuterie, its most famed dish being spentzofáï, a hearty stew made of sliced pork sausage that is first cooked on its own, then stewed with green and red peppers, mild or hot as the case may be, and shallots or small onions; aubergine or tomatoes are added when seasonally available. Pelion is also renowned for its orchard fruit, with pride of place going to the firíki, an originally Egyptian apple varietal of very small, oval-shaped, intensely fragrant, crisp and slightly tart apples that withstand long storage without refrigeration. There is also wide cultivation of plums, especially mirabelles and greengages.</p><br>
<h2>Mythology</h2><br>
<p>In Greek mythology, Mount Pelion (which took its name from the mythical king Peleus, father of Achilles) was the homeland of Chiron the Centaur, tutor of many ancient Greek heroes, such as Jason, Achilles, Theseus and Heracles. It was in Mount Pelion, near Chiron&#39;s cave, that the marriage of Thetis and Peleus took place. The uninvited goddess Eris, to take revenge for having been kept outside the party, brought a golden apple with the inscription "To the Fairest". The dispute that then arose between the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite and Athena resulted in events leading to the Trojan War. When the twins Otus and Ephialtes attempted to storm Olympus, they piled Mount Pelion upon Mount Ossa (this is the origin of the idiom, to "pile Pelion on Ossa").</p><br>
<h2>Recent history</h2><br>
<p>The Pelion railway, dating back to 1892–1903, was the first serious public investment in the area.</p><br>
<p>Electricity, radio and automobiles were first introduced in the 1950s except for Volos, which had those utilities from earlier times. Television arrived in the 1970s and the 1980s and computers and Internet in the late 1990s. The northern part of the Pelion mountains was struck by a forest fire (see Summer 2007 Wildfires in Greece) on Tuesday, June 26, 2007, which started in Siki and damaged its forests, mostly at the middle part of the mountain. The fire lasted for several days and stopped on July 1. Several villages were damaged. As of late August, however, a natural rebirth of the forest was already being noticed, with several trees gradually turning green again, as well as bushes appearing on the ground.</p><br>
<h2>Communications</h2><br>
<p>The mountain has a telecommunications tower that broadcasts radio and television including ANT1, Mega, ERT, Star Channel, Alter, TRT and more and radio including ERA, ANT1 FM and many more.</p><br>
<h2>Panorama</h2><br>
<p>A panorama from Pelion offers a views of the valley, the mountains of western Magnesia, Mount Olympus, the plain of Thessaly and its nearby mountains, Mavrovouni, Euboea, Central Greece and the northern Sporades islands.</p><br>
<h2>Places</h2><br>
<p>Modern Pelion&#39;s twenty-four villages retain traditional Pelian architecture and construction, with stone buildings made out of expertly carved local grey, blue, or green slate and red clay. They are built on terraces on the slopes and offer stunning vistas of the surrounding slopes and the sea. Houses are usually multi-storied and feature the characteristic Pelian oriel construction, with tall windows and abundant painted ornamentation. Pelian tradition calls for three-level houses, with the ground floor used for work (tools, kitchen, storage, washing, weaving), the middle floor used for socializing (common rooms), and the top floor for private rooms (bedrooms). Heat is provided by fireplaces, the chimneys of which run through the walls to provide heat to the upper levels, whereas the top level, being well ventilated, provides for summertime cooling. Interior construction is usually of chestnut timber, stained dark brown and often elaborately carved. Many of the larger Pelian mansions (the arkhontiká or "lordly mansions") have been converted into boutique hotels and hostels. The largest of all the stone buildings, which serve as points of reference for the locals, are the Pelion Towers. These are huge 300-year-old buildings with exquisite visual characteristics that combine building elements of Mountain Pelion of the 17th, 18th and 19th century. Today, Mt. Pelion is part of the Magnesia regional unit (capital city: Volos) and embraces twenty-four villages including:</p><br>
<p>Most significant:</p><br>
<p>Agios Georgios Nileias</p><br>
<p>Agios Lavrentios</p><br>
<p>Argalasti</p><br>
<p>Makrinitsa</p><br>
<p>Milies</p><br>
<p>Mouresi</p><br>
<p>Portaria</p><br>
<p>Tsangarada</p><br>
<p>Vyzitsa</p><br>
<p>Zagora</p><br>
<p>Others:</p><br>
<p>Agios Dimitrios</p><br>
<p>Anilio</p><br>
<p>Artemida</p><br>
<p>Drakeia</p><br>
<p>Kanalia</p><br>
<p>Kissos</p><br>
<p>Neochori</p><br>
<p>Pinakates</p><br>
<p>Vlasios</p><br>
<p>Xinovrysi</p><br>
<p>Gunnbjørn Fjeld  is Greenland&#39;s highest mountain and also the highest mountain north of the Arctic circle.</p><br>
<p>This mountain&#39;s name refers to the mythical Norse Hvitserk, literally meaning "whiteshirt", of the Icelandic Sagas. It is a nunatak, a rocky peak protruding through glacial ice.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Gunnbjørn Fjeld is located in the Watkins Range, an area of nunataks on the east coast, which contains several other summits above 3,500 metres. Its height is often given as 3,700 m, although figures vary slightly.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Gunnbjørn Fjeld was first climbed on 16 August 1935 by Augustine Courtauld, Jack Longland, Ebbe Munck, Harold G. Wager, and Lawrence Wager. It is named after Gunnbjorn Ulfsson, the first European to have sighted Greenland.</p><br>
<p>The peak rises in an uninhabited part of the eastern coast of Greenland. The mountain is not so often climbed owing to its remote location. Access is often done with helicopter or ski-equipped plane (normally from Iceland).</p><br>
<p>Mount Gibbs is located in the Sierra Nevada of the USA state of California, 2.6 mi south of Mount Dana. The mountain was named in honor of Oliver Gibbs, a professor at Harvard University and friend of Josiah Whitney. The summit marks the boundary between Yosemite National Park and the Ansel Adams Wilderness.</p><br>
<p>The peak is accessible either from the west, starting at Tioga Pass Road, or from the east, via Bloody Canyon from the trailhead at Walker Lake. Overnight camping is not permitted on the western side of the mountain, which is part of the protected watershed of Dana Meadows and Tioga Pass. In the summer the mountain has only patchy snow, on the northern slope. The easiest ascent is via the ridge extending west from the peak; there is a steep section of loose, unstable rock, leading to the gentle ridge that forms the top of the mountain. Although the top is above the tree line, there is some sparse plant life, including wildflowers. The view of Mono Lake from the summit is partially obstructed by an outcropping to the northeast.</p><br>
<p>Bartley Reservoir is a reservoir for drinking water in Birmingham, England. It covers 460,000 square metres.</p><br>
<p>The reservoir is about 0.65 miles long, over 450m wide, and about 60 ft deep at the dam. Its surface area is 110 acre.</p><br>
<p>It is known as the place where Bill Oddie did much of his early birdwatching, and features in his books (notably Bill Oddies Gone Birding) and television programmes. His first ever published article, for the West Midland Bird Clubs annual report, was about the birds of the reservoir. The reservoir is also home to Bartley Sailing Club.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Most of the land occupied by Bartley Reservoir was in the parish of Northfield, originally in Worcestershire. It was transferred to Warwickshire when Northfield became part of Birmingham in November 1911, and thus became part of the West Midlands county on the latter&#39;s creation in 1974.</p><br>
<p>However, the south-west end of the reservoir overlapped into the parish of Frankley, in Worcestershire (Hereford and Worcester, from 1974). In April 1995 part of Frankley (including the south-west part of Bartley Reservoir) was transferred to Birmingham and thus joined the rest of the reservoir in the West Midlands county.</p><br>
<p>Shortly after the completion of the Elan Valley Reservoirs in the early 1920s, it became apparent that more storage capacity would be required to maintain the daily supplies needed by Birmingham. The reservoir is close to the terminus of the Elan aqueduct and adjacent to Frankley Reservoir.</p><br>
<p>The contract for the construction of the reservoir was let by Birmingham Corporation Water Department in February 1925 to Edmund Nuttall, Sons and Co. Ltd., of Manchester, and the Francois Cementation Company undertook all cementation. It was completed in 1930.</p><br>
<p>The reservoir featured in a television programme in 1985, when Bill Oddie was interviewed there by Julian Pettifer for a 50-minute Nature Watch Special: Bill Oddie - Bird Watcher.</p><br>
<p>Fort Matanzas National Monument was designated a United States National Monument on October 15, 1924. The monument consists of a 1740 Spanish fort called Fort Matanzas, and about 100 acres  of salt marsh and barrier islands along the Matanzas River on the northern Atlantic coast of Florida. It is operated by the National Park Service in conjunction with the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in the city of St. Augustine.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Fort Matanzas was built by the Spanish in 1742 to guard Matanzas Inlet, the southern mouth of the Matanzas River, which could be used as a rear entrance to the city of St. Augustine. Such an approach avoided St. Augustines primary defense system, centered at Castillo de San Marcos. In 1740, Gov. James Oglethorpe of Georgia used the inlet to blockade St. Augustine and launch a thirty-nine-day siege. St. Augustine endured the siege, but the episode convinced the Spanish that protecting the inlet was necessary to the security of the town. Under Gov. Manuel de Montianos orders, construction of the fort began that year and was completed in 1742. Engineer Pedro Ruiz de Olano, who had worked on additions to the Castillo de San Marcos, designed the fortified observation tower. Convicts, slaves, and troops from Cuba were used as labor to erect the structure, which was sited on present-day Rattlesnake Island and had a commanding position over Matanzas Inlet.</p><br>
<p>The fort, known to the Spanish as Torre de Matanzas (Matanzas Tower), is a masonry structure made of coquina, a common shellstone building material in the area. The marshy terrain was stabilized by a foundation of pine pilings to accommodate a building 50 ft long on each side with a 30 ft high tower. The standard garrison of the fort was one officer in charge, four infantrymen, and two gunners, though more troops could be stationed if necessary. All soldiers at Fort Matanzas served on rotation from their regular duty in St. Augustine. Five cannon were placed at the fort—four six-pounders and one eighteen-pounder. All guns could reach the inlet, which at the time was less than half a mile away.</p><br>
<p>In 1742, as the fort was nearing completion, the British under Oglethorpe approached the inlet with twelve ships. Cannon fire drove off the scouting boats, and the warships left without engaging the fort. This brief encounter was the only time Fort Matanzas fired on an enemy. Spain lost control of Florida with the 1763 Treaty of Paris, and regained control with the 1783 Treaty of Paris. With the Spanish Empire falling apart, Spain spent little effort maintaining the fort after this time. When the United States took control of Florida in 1821, the fort had deteriorated to the point where soldiers could not live inside. The United States never used the fort and it became a ruin.</p><br>
<p>Fort Matanzas was named for the inlet, which acquired its name after the executions, or matanzas (Spanish: slaughters), on its north shore, of Jean Ribault and his band of Huguenot Frenchmen, the last of the Fort Caroline colonists, by the Spanish in 1565.</p><br>
<h2>Restoration and modern use</h2><br>
<p>In 1916, the U.S Department of War began a major restoration of the badly deteriorated fort. By 1924, three vertical fissures in the wall were repaired and the structure was stabilized; in the same year, National Monument status was proclaimed. Fort Matanzas was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933. As a historic area under the Park Service, the National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.</p><br>
<p>The Fort Matanzas National Monument Headquarters and Visitor Center were added separately to the National Register on December 31, 2008, as significant works of National Park Service architectural design.</p><br>
<h2>Pictures</h2><br>
<p>The Inyo Mountains are a short mountain range east of the Sierra Nevada mountains in eastern California in the United States. The range separates the Owens Valley to the west from Saline Valley to the east, extending for approximately 70 mi  SSE from the southern end of the White Mountains, from which they are separated by Westgard Pass, to east of Owens Lake.</p><br>
<p>Geologically, the mountains are a fault block range in the Basin and Range Province, at the western end of the Great Basin. They are considered to be among the most important and best-known Late Proterozoic to Cambrian sections in the United States.</p><br>
<h2>Wilderness</h2><br>
<p>Approximately 205,000 acres of the range are designated as the Inyo Mountain Wilderness managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Much of the northern part of the range is within Inyo National Forest.</p><br>
<p>Wildlife in the area includes the endangered Inyo Mountains Salamander and the Desert Bighorn Sheep. Plant communities include creosote and sagebrush at lower altitudes, and bristlecone pine forests at higher. A number of rare and endemic plants are adapted to the unique limestone soils of the mountains, including the cliffdweller, bristlecone cryptantha, and Inyo rock daisy.</p><br>
<p>Mōkōlea Rock is an islet in Kailua Bay along the windward coast of Oahu in Hawaii and located east of Marine Corps Base Hawaii . Like most of the small islets off the coastline of a major island in the Hawaiian Islands, Mōkōlea is a State Bird Sanctuary containing many types of birds. Access to the islet requires a permit, and is only allowed to people involved in protecting the islet&#39;s fauna. The islet is more commonly known to local residents as "Birdshit Island", "Birdshit", or simply "Bird" because its black lava rock surface is heavily coated with bird droppings.</p><br>
<p>There is no vegetation on the islet, which is actually three connected outcroppings, the highest of which is no more than 25&#39; above mean sea level. All three consist of barren, jagged lava. Mokolea is part of the windward rim of the Kawainui volcanic caldera. About 300 feet from this outcropping on the side facing Kailua beach a shelf juts up from deep water to a depth of 25-30&#39;. The shelf is a moderately interesting spot for scuba diving, although much of the time the area is rough, and anchoring a boat is difficult.</p><br>
<p>Mokolea has been described as a shore dive by some, but it should not be attempted from the shore due to strong currents and the distance between the dive spot and Kailua beach.</p><br>
<p>Crowley Lake is a reservoir on the upper Owens River in southern Mono County, California, in the United States. Crowley Lake is 15 miles south of Mammoth Lakes.</p><br>
<p>The lake was created in 1941 by the building of the Long Valley Dam by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP), as storage for the Los Angeles Aqueduct and for flood control. The dam is 126 feet high and impounds 183,465 acre-feet. For more on the history of the lake, see Owens Lake.</p><br>
<p>It is known for its trout fishing: Between 6,000 and 10,000 anglers hit the lake on opening day. The largest brown trout taken from the lake weighed 26 pounds. Many people from all over California head here for late summer and fall fly fishing since the lake contains some of the largest trout around. Crowley Lake Fish Camp, run in cooperation with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, is the only way to access the lake, and visitors can rent boats, book camping sites, and buy supplies at the Fish Camp.</p><br>
<p>The lake is named after Father John J. Crowley, “the desert Padre”, who was a key figure in Owens Valley history and a local hero. When it became obvious that the city of Los Angeles’s appropriation of the water supply had made agriculture impossible in the Owens Valley, many of the residents of the Valley lost all hope. Father Crowley traveled up and down the Valley, convincing many of them that it could become a tourist destination. Thus, it is fitting that while it exists to serve the Los Angeles aqueduct, Crowley Lake is also a prime destination for anglers. Father Crowley was killed in 1940 in an automobile accident.</p><br>
<p>Upon completion of the reservoir in 1941, strange columnar formations, some of which reached heights of as much as 20 feet, were spotted along the reservoirs eastern shore. Some described them as stone cylinders connected by fortified stone arches that had been completely covered and obscured for millions of years but which had been gradually unmasked by the incessant pummeling of the lakes powerful waves, whose constant pounding had eroded the more malleable rock at the base of the cliffs encasing these pillars. The pillars were simply regarded as oddities until 2015, when geologists realized that they were the result of frigid water from melting snow seeping down into volcanic ash (the result of a catastrophic explosion more than 700,000 years prior), creating tiny holes in the hot ash, the byproduct being boiling water and steam, which then rose up and out of these same holes. Samples of the resulting "evenly spaced convection cells similar to heat pipes" (a quote from a study at UC Berkeley) were analyzed using X-rays and electronic microscopes; and researchers found that minute crevices in these "convection pipes" were literally bonded into place by minerals that were able to resist the corrosive force of the lake&#39;s waves. Researchers have now counted nearly 5,000 of these pillars, which appear in groups and vary widely in shape, size and color over an area of 4000 acres, with some of the columns standing as erect as towering pylons and sporting ringed apertures approximately a foot apart; others which are warped or leaning at various angles; and still others that are half-submerged and, some say, resemble the petrified remains of dinosaur vertebrae.</p><br>
<p>Tehachapi Pass is a mountain pass crossing the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, California in the United States. Traditionally, the pass marks the northeast end of the Tehachapis and the south end of the Sierra Nevada range.</p><br>
<p>The route is a principal connector between the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert. The Native American Kitanemuk people used the pass as a trade route before the American settlement of the region in the 19th century. The main line of the former Southern Pacific Railroad (now owned by the Union Pacific Railroad and shared with BNSF Railway) was constructed through the pass in the 1870s. This was eventually followed by USA Route 466, which is now State Route 58.</p><br>
<p>The Tehachapi Mountains are also crossed by Tejon Pass at the southwest end of the range.</p><br>
<h2>Nomenclature</h2><br>
<p>The precise meaning of the name Tehachapi Pass is often a source of confusion. Technically (i.e., as noted on USGS topographic maps), the name refers to the narrowest part of the canyon on the eastern approach to the summit (as at San Gorgonio Pass), where the elevation is about 3,771 ft. The actual high point is just east of the town of Tehachapi, at an elevation (on the railroad) of 4,031 ft. The highway sign refers to this location as Tehachapi Summit. However, the term Tehachapi Pass is routinely used to refer to both this location and the approaches on either side.</p><br>
<h2>Features</h2><br>
<p>The area east and south of the pass is home to the Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm, one of California&#39;s larger wind farms. The pass is also a proposed route for the California High-Speed Rail line between Palmdale and Bakersfield.</p><br>
<p>The railroad landmark known as the Tehachapi Loop is about 18 mi west of the summit.</p><br>
<p>The Tuamotus, also referred to in English as the Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands  are a French Polynesian chain of almost 80 islands and atolls forming the largest chain of atolls in the world. This archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean stretches from the northwest to the southeast over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. The total area of land within this chain is 850 km&sup2, with its major islands being Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo.</p><br>
<p>The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and from them modern Tuamotuans share a common culture and the Tuamotuan language.</p><br>
<p>The Tuamotus are a French overseas collectivity. The people of Tahiti originally referred to the islands with the exonym of the Paumotus, which means the "Subservient Islands", until a delegation from the island convinced the French authorities to change it to Tuamotus, which means the "Distant Islands".</p><br>
<h2>Administrative divisions</h2><br>
<p>French Polynesia is a semi-autonomous island group designated as an overseas country of France. The Tuamotus combine with the Gambier Islands to form the Îles Tuamotu-Gambier which is one of the five administrative divisions of French Polynesia.</p><br>
<p>The Tuamotus are grouped into sixteen communes: Anaa; Arutua; Fakarava; Fangatau; Hao; Hikueru; Makemo; Manihi; Napuka; Nukutavake; Puka Puka; Rangiroa; Reao; Takaroa; Tatakoto; and Tureia.</p><br>
<h3>Electoral divisions</h3><br>
<p>The communes on Tuamotu are part of two different electoral districts (circonscriptions électorales) represented in the Assembly of French Polynesia. The Îles Gambier et Tuamotu Est electoral district comprises the commune of Gambier and eleven communes in eastern Tuamotu: Anaa; Fangatau; Hao; Hikueru; Makemo; Napuka; Nukutavake; Pukapuka; Reao; Tatakoto; and Tureia. The other five communes in western Tuamotu – Arutua; Fakarava; Manihi; Rangiroa; and Takaroa – form the Îles Tuamotu Ouest electoral district.</p><br>
<h2>Demography</h2><br>
<p>At the 2007 census, the Tuamotus (including the Gambier Islands) had a population of 18,317 inhabitants (15,862 in 2002, 8,100 in 1983). Of these, 769 inhabitants live in a 215 nmi radius around Mururoa and Fangataufa, the sites of former French nuclear tests.</p><br>
<p>The common language spoken in the Tuamotus is Tuamotuan, except in Puka-Puka which uses the Marquesan language. The Gambier Islands use Mangarevan.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>The islands&#39; economy is predominantly composed of subsistence agriculture. The most important sources of additional income are the cultivation of black pearls and the preparation of copra. Tourism-related income remains meager, especially by comparison to the tourism industry of the neighboring Society Islands. A modest tourism infrastructure is found on the atolls of Rangiroa and Manihi which have recreational scuba diving and snorkeling destinations.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Despite the vast spread of the archipelago, it covers a total land area of only about 885 km (345 sq mi). The climate is warm tropical, without pronounced seasons. The annual average temperature is a relatively continuous 26 °C (79 °F). Water sources such as lakes or rivers are absent, leaving catchments of rain as the only source of fresh water. The annual average rainfall is 1400 mm (about 55 in). Rainfall is not markedly different throughout the year, although it is lowest during the months of September and November.</p><br>
<p>Geological stability of the archipelago is high, as it was created by the weakly active Easter Fracture Zone. No volcanic eruptions have been recorded historically.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>The sparse soil of the coral islands does not permit a diverse vegetation. The coconut palm, which forms the basis for copra production, is of special economic importance. On a few islands, vanilla is also cultivated. Agriculture is generally otherwise limited to simple subsistence. Fruit and vegetable staples include yams, taro, and breadfruit, as well as a wide range of other tropical fruits. Pandanus leaves are traditionally woven together as roof thatch (although nowadays there are a great number of corrugated sheet-metal roofs instead), as well as for other items, such as mats and hats.</p><br>
<p>The species-rich reefs are home to a diverse range of underwater fauna. Surface creatures are primarily seabirds, insects, and lizards. The Tuamotus have only 57 species of birds, but ten of these are endemic, including the Tuamotu kingfisher, the Tuamotu reed warbler, and the Tuamotu sandpiper. Thirteen species are globally threatened and one is extinct.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>All of the islands of the Tuamotus are coral "low islands": essentially high sand bars built upon coral reefs. Makatea, southwest of the Palliser Islands, is one of three great phosphate rocks in the Pacific Ocean. The others are Banaba in Kiribati, and the island nation of Nauru. Although geographically part of the Tuamotus, the Gambier Islands, at the southeastern extreme of the archipelago, are geologically and culturally distinct.</p><br>
<p>In the northwest of the archipelago, the ring-shaped atoll Taiaro provides a rare example of a coral reef with a fully enclosed lagoon. The atoll was officially designated as a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1977.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally shrouded in mystery. Archaeological findings lead to the conclusion that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands by c. 700. On the islands of Rangiroa, Manihi and Mataiva, there are flat ceremonial platforms (called marae) made of coral blocks, although their exact age is unknown.</p><br>
<p>European encounters with the Tuamotus began with that of Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan, during his circumglobal voyage in 1521 sailing in the service of the Spanish Crown. His visit was followed by:</p><br>
<p>Portuguese sailor Pedro Fernandes de Queirós in 1606, sailing in the service of the Spanish Crown</p><br>
<p>Dutch mariners Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire in 1616</p><br>
<p>Jacob Roggeveen (who also first sighted Easter Island) in 1722</p><br>
<p>John Byron in 1765</p><br>
<p>Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1768</p><br>
<p>James Cook during his first voyage in 1769</p><br>
<p>Spanish navigator Domingo de Bonechea in 1774 and</p><br>
<p>Russian expedition of Otto von Kotzebue in 1815.</p><br>
<p>None of these visits were of political consequence, as the islands were in the sphere of influence of the Pōmare Dynasty of Tahiti.</p><br>
<p>It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that the first Christian missionaries arrived. Traders took the islands&#39; pearls to the European markets by the late 19th century, making them coveted possessions. France forced the abdication of King Pōmare V of Tahiti and claimed the islands without ever having formally annexed them.</p><br>
<p>Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Stevenson travelled among the Paumotus on the Yacht Casco in 1888; an account of their journey was published as In the South Seas. Jack London wrote a story, "The Seed of McCoy", based on an incident in 1900 when a burning ship, the Pyrenees, was safely beached on Mangareva. In the story, London has the ship sail past Mangareva and all through the Tuamotus before beaching on Fakarava.</p><br>
<p>The Tuamotus made headlines around the world in 1947, when Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl, sailing from South America with a crew of five others, reached Raroia on his raft Kon-Tiki. More recently the islands have been the subject of headlines as the site of French nuclear weapons testing on the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa.</p><br>
<h2>Island groups</h2><br>
<p>The Tuamotu archipelago consists of eight groups of small islands and atolls:</p><br>
<h3>Disappointment Islands</h3><br>
<p>Napuka</p><br>
<p>Puka-Puka</p><br>
<p>Tepoto (North) (Tepoto Nord)</p><br>
<h3>Duke of Gloucester Islands</h3><br>
<p>Anuanuraro</p><br>
<p>Anuanurunga</p><br>
<p>Hereheretue</p><br>
<p>Nukutepipi</p><br>
<h3>Far East Tuamotu Group</h3><br>
<p>Akiaki</p><br>
<p>Fakahina</p><br>
<p>Fangatau</p><br>
<p>Fangataufa</p><br>
<p>Moruroa</p><br>
<p>Nukutavake</p><br>
<p>Pinaki</p><br>
<p>Pukarua</p><br>
<p>Reao</p><br>
<p>Tatakoto</p><br>
<p>Tematangi</p><br>
<p>Tureia</p><br>
<p>Vahitahi</p><br>
<p>Vairaatea</p><br>
<p>Vanavana</p><br>
<h3>Hao Group</h3><br>
<p>Ahunui</p><br>
<p>Amanu</p><br>
<p>Manuhangi</p><br>
<p>Nengonengo</p><br>
<p>Paraoa</p><br>
<p>Rekareka (Tehuata)</p><br>
<p>Tauere</p><br>
<h3>Hikueru Group</h3><br>
<p>Hikueru</p><br>
<p>Marokau</p><br>
<p>Ravahere</p><br>
<p>Reitoru</p><br>
<p>Tekokota</p><br>
<h3>King George Islands</h3><br>
<p>Manihi</p><br>
<p>Takaroa</p><br>
<p>Takapoto</p><br>
<p>Tikei</p><br>
<h3>Palliser Islands</h3><br>
<p>Arutua</p><br>
<p>Apataki</p><br>
<p>Avatika</p><br>
<p>Fakarava</p><br>
<p>Kaukura</p><br>
<p>Makatea</p><br>
<p>Mataiva</p><br>
<p>Niau</p><br>
<p>Rangiroa</p><br>
<p>Toau</p><br>
<p>Tikehau</p><br>
<h3>Raeffsky Islands</h3><br>
<p>Anaa</p><br>
<p>Aratika</p><br>
<p>Faaite</p><br>
<p>Haraiki</p><br>
<p>Hiti</p><br>
<p>Katiu</p><br>
<p>Kauehi</p><br>
<p>Makemo</p><br>
<p>Marutea Nord</p><br>
<p>Motutunga</p><br>
<p>Nihiru</p><br>
<p>Raraka</p><br>
<p>Raroia</p><br>
<p>Taenga</p><br>
<p>Tahanea</p><br>
<p>Taiaro</p><br>
<p>Takume</p><br>
<p>Tepoto (South) (Tepoto Sud)</p><br>
<p>Tuanake</p><br>
<p>Related island groups include:</p><br>
<p>The Gambier Group: Akamaru; Angakauitai; Aukena; Kamaka; Kouaku; Makapu; Makaroa; Mangareva; Manui; Mekiro; Papuri; Puaumu; Taravai; Tokorua; and Totengengie.</p><br>
<p>The Outer Gambier Group: Marutea Sud; Maria Est; Morane; and Temoe.</p><br>
<p>The Acteon Group: Matureivavao; Tenararo; Tenarunga; and Vahanga.</p><br>
<p>The Tijuana River  is an intermittent river, 120 mi  long, near the Pacific coast of northern Baja California state in northwestern Mexico and Southern California in the western United States.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>The Tijuana River drains an arid area along the USA—Mexico border, flowing through Mexico for most its course then crossing the border into Southern California for its lower 5 mi (8 km) to empty into the ocean in an estuary on the southern edge of San Diego.</p><br>
<p>The Tijuana River has two main tributaries. One, the Arroyo de Alamar or Rio Alamar, runs in its upper reaches in the United States as Cottonwood Creek. It runs from its source in the Laguna Mountains southwestward where it is impounded by two dams, Barrett and Morena, to supply water to the city of San Diego. Cottonwood Creek is joined by the Tecate Creek before it enters Mexico where it is known as the Arroyo de Alamar from the point where it enters Mexico to its confluence with the larger tributary, the Arroyo de las Palmas, that forms the headwaters of the Tijuana River within the city.</p><br>
<p>The Arroyo de las Palmas, the main tributary of the Tijuana River, flows out of the mountains to the east into the reservoir behind the Abelardo L. Rodríguez Dam. Downstream from the Rodríguez Dam, water flows through Tijuana in a concrete channel to the international border; there it continues west through the Tijuana River Valley for a distance of about nine miles to the estuary and then to the Pacific Ocean.</p><br>
<p>Its lower reaches provide the last undeveloped coast wetlands in San Diego County amidst a highly urbanized environment at the southern city limits of Imperial Beach. The river has been the subject of great controversy in recent decades regarding pollution, flood control, and USA border protection.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The Tijuana River rises in the Sierra de Juárez of northern Baja California, approximately 45 mi (70 km) ENE of Ensenada. It flows WNW through Tijuana, crossing the border approximately 5 mi (8 km) from the Pacific. It flows west, just skirting the international border south of the San Ysidro section of San Diego. The lower 2 mi (3 km) of the river form the broad mud flat estuary, and the Tijuana River Estuary is a rich habitat for wildlife, including over 370 species of birds. It is Southern California&#39;s largest coastal wetland. It is naturally prone to flooding during heavy rains. The Tijuana River enters the Pacific 10 mi (15 km) south of downtown San Diego at the southern city limits of Imperial Beach.</p><br>
<p>The river is impounded in Mexico southeast of Tijuana by the Abelardo L. Rodríguez Dam for drinking water and irrigation. Former Baja California Governor Milton Castellanos Everardo constructed concrete barriers along the riverbank to prevent flooding during his tenure. The United States was supposed to build a complementary system of barriers to ensure flooding waters didn&#39;t flow back into Mexico, but instead adopted a dissipator flood control plan under the direction of the San Diego City Council, supported by ecologists, which preserved the estuary, which was then designated a wildlife sanctuary.</p><br>
<p>The majority of its watershed is within Mexico, between Mesa de Otay to the east, and hills to the west.</p><br>
<h2>Conservation</h2><br>
<h3>Flooding</h3><br>
<p>Flooding in the Tijuana River had been a concern for both the United States and Mexico because it would lead to sewage runoff and would ultimately caused property damage to the surrounding area. In 1944, the United States-Mexico Water Treaty was signed, this dealt with "utilization of waters in the Colorado and Tijuana rivers and of the Rio Grande." This treaty appointed the International Boundary and Water Commission to handle several issues such as border sanitation. The IBWC went on to create the Tijuana River Flood Control Project in 1966 in order to create a flood control channels along the river. Mexico had completely complied by 1976 while the U.S implementation stalled due to opposition at the local level. Despite preventive measures, flooding in 1980 caused 11 deaths and property damage in bordering cities. Flooding due to high rainfall and sewage blockage continues to be a concern that endangers surrounding areas because of the wastewater pollution found in the river.</p><br>
<h3>Nature reserves</h3><br>
<p>The Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve protects 2,293 acre and studies the Tijuana River Estuary. It was established as part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve system in the United States. The reserve is managed in part as a Biological Field Station by the San Diego State University (SDSU) College of Sciences, which also protects part of the estuary near the ocean within the United States.</p><br>
<p>The Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge is part of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and is also within the Estuarine Research Reserve. The Tijuana Slough Refuge protects one of southern California&#39;s largest remaining salt marshes without a road or railroad trestle running through it. Designated as a Globally Important Bird Area by the American Bird Conservancy, over 370 species of birds have been sighted on the refuge.</p><br>
<h3>Wastewater treatment</h3><br>
<p>The river has been used as a wastewater conduit since at least the early 20th century. In fact, they are the main source of pollution. In addition to sewage, trash is carried downstream causing damage to vegetation and contributing to flooding.</p><br>
<p>The first attempt to deal with sewage flowing into the Tijuana River was the creation of the International Outfall, a marine outfall, which was completed in 1939, but was proven to be inadequate as early as the late 1940s. During the 1970s, up to ten million gallons of sewage entered the river each day from Tijuana.</p><br>
<p>Partial progress was made in the 1980s with a Clean Water Grant from the USA Environmental Protection Agency to improve wastewater treatment, by creating the San Diego-Tijuana Wastewater Treatment Plant to protect estuary waters. The plant was completed in 1997. Water from the plant is discharged more than three miles offshore, but does not meet levels required by the Clean Water Act due to the lack of secondary treatment. Finished in January 2011, the plant received a $93 million upgrade. Other sewage that would have flowed into the Tijuana river is treated at the Punta Bandara treatment plant; it handles 30 million gallons of sewage a day. However, its discharge doesn&#39;t meet Mexican water standards, sometimes causing closure of beaches as far north as Coronado.</p><br>
<p>According to a 1993 report by the city of San Diego, the city had collected an average of 13 million gallons (50 million liters) per day of raw sewage, that then was treated by the Point Loma wastewater treatment plant; this is down from 20 million gallons per day in 1997 being treated by the city of San Diego, which it had received from Tijuana. In January 2017, the Punta Bandaras treatment plant, officially known as San Antonio de los Buenos plant, treated 15 million gallons of sewage a day to standards below USA secondary-level standards, pumping the water out into the Pacific Ocean at La Playa. Due to the sewage in the river, it has been called "one of the most polluted waterways in the country". This has led to a multitude of beach closures in Imperial Beach. Each year the beach at Border Field State Park is closed for 233 days.</p><br>
<p>In February 2017, over 143 million gallons of sewage entered the river, larger than the usual few million gallons of sewage that is routine. The spill is the largest to occur in over ten years. The sewage spill was not initially reported by Mexican officials, but was noticed by residents on the South Bay coast. The impact of the spill affected waters as far north as Coronado, and was described by Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina as "a tsunami of sewage", The sewage was first noticed in the middle of the month. Repairs of the sewer pipe were completed in late February 2017, but the exact dates when the sewage began and stopped entering the river were unknown as of March 2017, leading to calls for an investigation. By mid-March 2017, the California Department of Environmental Health found the water quality had returned to within health standards, opening beaches up to Coronado.</p><br>
<h2>Recent Water Improvements</h2><br>
<p>Over 30 federal, local, state, private and other interested groups want to develop bi-national long terms goals to address wastewater treatment and debris-related improvements. One major initiative introduced in the United States on March 16, 2015, was Resolution R902015-0035, a Five-Year Action Plan that aimed to implement restorative projects over the span of five-years. The resolution was initially introduced by the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team (TRVRT) whose ultimate goal is to progress and implement strategies originally introduced in January 2012, under the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Strategy regulatory measures.Under this treaty each country is under agreement to conserve, protect, and improve border regions for the overall well-being of the coinciding countries.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<h3>Parks</h3><br>
<p>The Tijuana River Valley Regional Park is located in the Tijuana River Valley district of San Diego. It protects over 1,800 acre, including dense riparian forests along the Tijuana River. It has an extensive system of trails for walking and equestrian access.</p><br>
<h3>Surfing</h3><br>
<p>The mouth of the Tijuana River is the location of the Tijuana Sloughs big-wave surfing break, which is a mile off shore. Winter waves can be as high as 12 feet or greater; 20 foot high waves are not unknown to occur. Surfing has been occurring at the slough since at least 1937. It has been described as the "gold standard" in Southern California; with surfers using it as a training ground for surf found in Hawaii.</p><br>
<p>Surfing at the sloughs has impacted the evolution of surfing culture, as well as regional culture. Lifeguards have watched over the area since 1939. Sewage from the river impacts water quality, which can lead to surfers becoming ill; one source describes that area as "virtually unsurfable due to pollution."</p><br>
<p>The Siskiyou Mountains are a coastal subrange of the Klamath Mountains, and located in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the United States. They extend in an arc for approximately 100 mi from east of Crescent City, California, northeast along the north side of the Klamath River into Josephine and Jackson counties in Oregon. The mountain range forms a barrier between the watersheds of the Klamath River to the south and the Rogue River to the north.</p><br>
<p>These mountains are not the highest of the Klamath Mountains, but due to the relief so close to the Pacific Ocean, the peaks receive more precipitation than the surrounding land. This leads to forests that grow with heavy vegetation. Diversity abounds because western canyons can receive over 100 in of rain in some winters while eastern areas are slightly more arid. Since the Siskiyous trend both north to south and then east to west, they hold species that range from coastal, like Coast Redwood, to Cascadian, like Alaska Yellow-Cedar and Pacific Silver Fir.</p><br>
<p>Much of the range is within the Rogue River – Siskiyou and Klamath national forests. The Pacific Crest Trail follows a portion of the ridge of the range. The Klamath-Siskiyou forests are noted for their high biodiversity.</p><br>
<h2>Name origins</h2><br>
<p>The origin of the word siskiyou is not known. One version is that it is the Chinook Jargon word for "bob-tailed horse". According to historian Richard Mackie, "siskiyou" was a Cree word for a bob-tailed horse, one of which perished in 1829 during Alexander McLeods journey over a pass later named for the "siskiyou" (todays Siskiyou Pass). The Cree were in the area as part of McLeods Hudsons Bay Company expedition, and had been recruited far away in their homeland in eastern Canada. Another version, given in an argument before the State Senate in 1852, is that the French name Six Cailloux, meaning "six-stones", was given to a ford on the Umpqua River by Michel Laframboise and a party of Hudsons Bay Company trappers in 1832, because six large stones or rocks lay in the river where they crossed. According to some, the Six Cailloux name was appropriated to this region by Stephen Meek, another Hudsons Bay Company trapper who was known for his "discovery" of Scott Valley, in regard to a crossing on the Klamath River near Hornbrook. Still others attribute the name to a local tribe of Native Americans.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Natives speaking the Athapaskan Language lived along the Rogue River prior to 1850. These settlements were primarily winter residences, and the people likely spent much of the summer in the mountains.</p><br>
<h3>Early exploration</h3><br>
<p>Most early exploration of the area came from the coast, beginning in 1775, when the Spanish lieutenant Bruno de Heceta came to the Northwest. He would be followed in 1791 and 1792 by other explorers like captain George Vancouver, James Baker, and Robert Gray. The early western overland expeditions all avoided the area around the Oregon-California border, so that the first land based expeditions came when the North West Company came to the area in 1820, followed by the Hudson&#39;s Bay Company in 1821.</p><br>
<p>The Siskiyou Trail stretched from Californias Central Valley through the Siskiyous to Oregons Willamette Valley. Originally based on existing Native American foot trails winding their way through river valleys, the Siskiyou Trail provided the shortest practical travel path between early settlements in California and Oregon in the 1820s.</p><br>
<h3>New settlement and early industry</h3><br>
<p>As settlement increased with a variety of new incentives, tensions over relations with the natives increased. In the 1850s, following the Donation Land Claim Act, settlers came to the area to prospect for gold. The new settlements grew enough for Jackson County to be founded, with its seat in Jacksonville, deteriorating the relationship with the natives in the area. Mines opened up as various claims were made. This led to the 1855 Rogue River Wars, which ended in 1856.</p><br>
<p>The new population needed to be supported by an improved infrastructure. By 1859, the trail had been replaced by a toll road. A telegraph line was built over the summit in 1864. Commercial orchards began to be planted in 1885. The Southern Pacific Railroad was completed over Siskiyou Summit in 1887. The new railroads were focused around Medford.</p><br>
<h3>Industry develops</h3><br>
<p>The Klamath Lake Railroad Company built a railroad into Pokegama from 1900 to 1903. It became a vital part of the lumber industry and was acquired by Weyerhaeuser in 1905. By 1910, pears had begun to replace apples as the major fruit grown in the region. In 1927, the Jackson County seat moved to Medford, which had become much larger than Jacksonville.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The highest peaks in the range include Mount Ashland at an elevation of 7,533 ft, Dutchman Peak at 7,410 ft, Siskiyou Peak at 7,147 ft, and Wagner Butte at 7,140 ft, all of which are in Oregon. The highest peak in the California portion of the range is Preston Peak at 7,309 ft. There are also several lower mountains, including Negro Ben Mountain, which reaches 4,398 ft. The main drainage basins in the mountains are those of the Rogue and Klamath Rivers.</p><br>
<h3>Siskiyou Summit</h3><br>
<p>Interstate 5 passes through the Siskiyou Mountains at Siskiyou Summit, located just north of the Oregon-California border, and just south of Ashland, Oregon. Siskiyou Summit is the highest pass on Interstate 5, at 4,310 ft. This pass is one of the most treacherous in the Interstate highway system. The California side has a more gradual slope than the Oregon side, where the freeway climbs or descends 2,300 ft in elevation over 7 mi. In addition, the pass includes several hazardous curves, and is frequently hit with snow, ice, and fog during winter storms. In winter, it is common for the highway to be closed one to four times by transportation authorities due to hazardous conditions. The speed limit is 55 mph, but lower limits are set for larger vehicles.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The climate of the mountains is distinctive in how it varies from the coast to the inland slopes. Generally, the mountains have milder temperatures and more precipitation near the coast.</p><br>
<p>The coast tends to receive about 60 in of precipitation each year, rising to 100 in at the peaks. The arid eastern areas receive around 30 in annually. Precipitation is greatest in the winter and least in the summer. Fogs provide an additional source of water at low elevations, especially during the summer. Most precipitation in the lower elevations comes as rain; at higher elevations, snow becomes a major source of water.</p><br>
<p>Temperature trends tend to lie parallel to the coast because of the ocean&#39;s major influence. The mean annual temperature is around 11 to 11.5 C in the low elevations. Higher in the mountains and further east, the temperatures range from minimums just above freezing to highs around 21 to 23 C.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>There is considerable biodiversity within the Siskiyou Mountains, including extensive forests. Forests vary by elevation and relative locations, being primarily divided into mixed evergreen forests, montane forests, and subalpine forests.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>The occurrences of tree species are divided by these forest types. Exceptions to this exist. Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii subsp. menziesii) occurs in both mixed evergreen and montane forests. Lawson&#39;s cypress (also known as Port Orford cedar, Chamaecypraris lawsoniana) occurs throughout the range west of the summit. California white fir (Abies concolor subsp. lowina) occurs in montane and subalpine forests above 4,000 ft. In the montane forest, occurring in the snowzone, sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) also occurs. The subalpine forests above 5,000 ft include mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) and Shasta red fir (A. magnifica subsp. shastensis) in addition to Douglas-fir. Rare Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) grow at low elevations or at higher elevations near sources of water. Other conifers include weeping spruce (Picea breweriana), an endemic species, and coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens).</p><br>
<p>Various deciduous broadleaf trees grow in addition to the conifers. The largest extant California black oak is found in the Siskiyou Mountains. The blue oak, Quercus douglasii, is beyond its contiguous range; however, there are disjunctive populations of blue oak within the Siskiyou Mountains.</p><br>
<p>Invasive species have become a concern in some areas. Some of these include yellow starthistle and scotch broom. Starthistle has become a problem in the Siskiyous only in the last 20 years. It has little value to habitat and is able to outcompete many native plants. Purple loosestrife is a plant that is invasive to waterways.</p><br>
<h3>Animals</h3><br>
<p>The diversity of fauna in the region is exhibited by the number of amphibian, reptile, and avian species in the region. Many of the amphibian and reptiles are endemic species. The eponymous endangered Siskiyou Mountains salamander is found within this mountain range; there is also the Scott Bar salamander. The variety of habitats in the mountains contributes to the number of bird species in the area, because the birds have more variety of habitat available to them. These birds include the endangered spotted owl, which lives in forests up to 5,800 ft. Endangered salmon live in the Rogue and Klamath watersheds.</p><br>
<p>Mammals in the area include small rodents, deer and elk, and bear and coyote. Medium-sized mammals also live in the region, including red fox, gray fox, and weasel. Another rare animal is the fisher, a predatory medium-sized mammal that lives in old-growth forest.</p><br>
<h2>Protected areas</h2><br>
<p>The Siskiyou range has federal protection in several forms. Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve protects 4,558 acre in the northern part of the range south of Grants Pass, Oregon. The Cascade–Siskiyou National Monument protects 52,940 acre at the junction of the Siskiyou and Cascade ranges. There are three designated wilderness areas in the range in Oregon and California&mdash;the Red Buttes Wilderness, which protects 19,940 acre, the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, which protects 179,755 acre, and the Siskiyou Wilderness, which protects 153,432 acre.</p><br>
<p>Mount Anderson is a 7,330 ft peak in the Olympic Mountains of Washington state. Rising in the center of Olympic National Park, it is the second highest peak on the Anderson Massif. Anderson Glacier used to be located in a cirque on the mountain&#39;s southern flank while Eel Glacier is in another cirque, northwest of the summit. Hanging Glacier is on the east side of a ridge which extends north from the peak.</p><br>
<p>Anderson is at the center of three major watersheds in the Olympic Range. Most of the water which falls on the massif flows into the Dosewallips River which drains, by way of the Hood Canal, into Puget Sound. The drainage from the west side flows down the Quinault River and into the Pacific, while some of the water on the mountain&#39;s northwest side flows into the Hayes River which finds its way north, to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.</p><br>
<p>Mount Anderson was named by army Lieutenant Joseph O&#39;Neil for his commanding officer, Thomas M. Anderson. It was first climbed in 1920 by Fairman B. Lee and a party of 13.</p><br>
<p>Mount Constance is a peak in the Olympic Mountains of Washington and the third highest in the range. It is the most visually prominent peak on Seattle&#39;s western skyline. Despite being almost as tall as the ice-clad Mount Olympus to the west, Mount Constance has little in the way of glaciers and permanent snow because the eastern, and particularly the northeastern, portion of the Olympics receives far less precipitation. In addition, the treeline here is higher than points to the west, also hinting at the drier conditions here.</p><br>
<p>By virtue of its position at the eastern edge of the Olympics, Mount Constance also enjoys spectacular vertical relief. For example, it rises over 6,900 ft above the Dosewallips River to the south in only 3 horizontal miles (5 km). It is also only 12 mi from the tidewater of Hood Canal. The summit of Mount Constance lies on the boundary between Olympic National Park and Buckhorn Wilderness. The Constance massif includes Mount Constance, Inner Constance and the twin peaks of Warrior and Warrior&#39;s Arm.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1853, surveyor George Davidson named three mountains in the Olympics. He named Mount Ellinor for Ellinor Fauntleroy, who later became his wife, Mount Constance for Ellinor&#39;s older sister and The Brothers for her two brothers.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing</h2><br>
<p>Routes on the mountain are from Class 3 to mid-Class 5, with ratings from Grade 2 to Grade 4.</p><br>
<p>Mount Constance was first climbed in 1922 by R. Schellin and A.E. Smith from the southeast.</p><br>
<h3>Access</h3><br>
<p>Boulder Ridge (including the Gargoyles, Charlia Lakes, Cloudy Peak, Alphabet Ridge, and Warrior) and Home Lake / Constance Pass are readily accessed via the Buckhorn Wilderness Area (USA Forest Service) side of the Upper Dungeness River Trail and Marmot Pass. An alternative approach to the Mount Constance massif—including Inner Constance and the twin peaks of Warrior—is via the Dosewallips River Trailhead off of US 101 and Hood Canal. A third alternative is to access the Constance massif via Quilcene logging roads (FS 2700 aka "Penny Creek Road" off USA 101) leading to a brief 6 to 7 mi ascent to Tunnel Creek Ridge and the high alpine shores of Harrison Lake. In fact, the most stunning views of the east side of Mount Constance and Warrior are readily available from these roads (the lower portions of which are paved) which actually connect to FS 2800 and the Dungeness / Sequim area via the 5000-foot Bon Jon Pass.</p><br>
<p>Huahine is an island located among the Society Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Leeward Islands group . The island has a population of about 6,300.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Huahine measures 16 km in length, with a maximum width of 13 km. It is made up of two main islands surrounded by a fringing coral reef with several islets, or motu. Huahine Nui (Big Huahine) lies to the north and Huahine Iti (Little Huahine) to the south. The two islands are separated by a few hundred yards of water and joined by a sandspit at low tide. A small bridge was built to connect Huahine Nui and Huahine Iti.</p><br>
<p>In the northwest of Huahine Nui lies a 375 hectare brackish lake known as Lac Fauna Nui (Lac Maeva). This lake is all that remains of the ancient atoll lagoon. Air transportation is available via Huahine airport, located on the northern shore of Huahine Nui.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Captain Cook arrived fare Harbour on 16 July 1769, with Tupaia navigating the HMS Endeavour. They met with leading chief Ori (Mato). Cook returned on 3 Sept. 1773 and met with Oris son Teriitaria, the new ari&#39;i rahi of the island.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>Administratively Huahine is a commune (municipality) part of the administrative subdivision of the Leeward Islands. Huahine consists of the following associated communes:</p><br>
<p>Faie</p><br>
<p>Fare</p><br>
<p>Fitii</p><br>
<p>Haapu</p><br>
<p>Maeva</p><br>
<p>Maroe</p><br>
<p>Parea</p><br>
<p>Tefarerii</p><br>
<p>The administrative centre of the commune is the settlement of Fare, on Huahine Nui.</p><br>
<h2>Tourist attraction</h2><br>
<p>One of the famous attractions on Huahine is a bridge that crosses over a stream with 0.9 m - 1.8 m long freshwater eels. These eels are deemed sacred by the locals, by local mythology. While viewing these slithering creatures, tourists can buy a can of mackerel and feed the eels. The Fa&#39;ahia archaeological site in the north of the island has revealed subfossil remains of several species of extinct birds exterminated by the earliest Polynesian colonists of the island.</p><br>
<p>Tioga Pass  is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. State Route 120 runs through it, and serves as the eastern entry point for Yosemite National Park, at the Tioga Pass Entrance Station. It is the highest highway pass in California and in the Sierra Nevada. Mount Dana is to the east of the pass. There are several trailheads into the Yosemite backcountry which begin at Tioga Pass, including the trail to the Gaylor Lakes to the west/northwest, and the rough trail to the summit of Mount Dana. Dana Meadows is immediately south of the pass alongside the highway, as the pass itself is roughly angled north/south as opposed to east/west. Dana Meadows contains several small lakes.</p><br>
<p>This pass, like many other passes in the Sierra Nevada, has a gradual approach from the west and drops off to the east dramatically, losing more than 3,000 ft (914 m) by the time the road reaches USA Route 395.</p><br>
<p>Tioga Pass is named after Tioga Mine, whose name originated in New York: "Tioga" is named for an Iroquois and Mohawk term meaning "where it forks".</p><br>
<p>The pass is subject to winter closure, due to high snowfall, normally from around the end of October until the end of May the following year, though these dates are subject to considerable variation. In heavy snow years, the road has closed in early October, and has remained closed as late as early July. In light snow years, the road may remain open until December and open as early as April.</p><br>
<p>Tioga Pass is the most direct route from Bishop or Mammoth Lakes, California to Fresno, Merced, and Stockton. There are four highway passes to the north, between Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, but none to the south for about 200 miles (300 km), until Sherman Pass in southern Tulare County.</p><br>
<p>Kotlin  is a Russian island, located near the head of the Gulf of Finland, 32 km west of Saint Petersburg in the Baltic Sea. Kotlin separates the Neva Bay from the rest of the gulf. The fortified town of Kronstadt is located on the island. The island serves as a gateway to Saint Petersburg and as such has been the site of several military engagements.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The town of Kronstadt was founded by Peter the Great, who took the island of Kotlin from the Swedes in 1703. Kotlin was the site of the Kronstadt rebellion in March 1921 which resulted in over 11,000 casualties.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>In general outline, the island forms an elongated triangle, 12.1 km in length by about 1.6 km in breadth, with its base towards St Petersburg. The eastern or broad end is occupied by the town of Kronstadt, and shoals extend for 2.4 km from the western point of the island to the rock on which the Tolbaaken lighthouse is built.</p><br>
<p>The island thus divides the seaward approach to St Petersburg into two channels; that on the northern side is obstructed by shoals which extend across it from Kotlin to Lisiy Nos; the southern channel, the highway to the former capital, is narrowed by a spit which projects from opposite Lomonosov on the Russian mainland, and, lying close to Kronstadt, has been historically strongly guarded by batteries.</p><br>
<p>The naval approach to Saint Petersburg was greatly facilitated by the construction in 1875–85 of a canal, 7 m deep, through the shallows, whereas cars can travel overland to the island by using the Saint Petersburg Dam from the north and south shores of the Gulf of Finland. Started in 1980, but delayed by political upheaval in the 1990s, the dam project was completed in 2010 and officially commissioned in 2011.</p><br>
<h2>Pollution</h2><br>
<p>On 15 November 2000 a collision between two ships, a 67 m refrigerator trawler named Nortlandia and a 130 m Panamanian-registered cargo vessel named E.W. McKinley, spilled three tons of diesel fuel into the water off Kotlin Island. The smaller ship also sank as a result of the collision after sustaining hull damage, and two crew members required treatment for hypothermia. The fuel slick covered 11 km&sup2; of Kronstadt harbor. By that afternoon, divers had plugged the hole to prevent further leakage, and remediation efforts to contain and remove the spill were underway.</p><br>
<p>The Brecon Beacons National Park  is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain  in the west, Fforest Fawr  and the Brecon Beacons in the centre and the Black Mountains  in the east.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The Brecon Beacons National Park was established in 1957, the third of the three Welsh parks after Snowdonia in 1951 and the Pembrokeshire Coast in 1952. It stretches from Llandeilo in the west to Hay-on-Wye in the northeast and Pontypool in the southeast, covering 519 square miles and encompassing four main regions – the Black Mountain in the west, reaching 802 metres (2631 feet) at Fan Brycheiniog, Fforest Fawr and the Brecon Beacons in the centre, including the highest summit in the park and in South Wales at Pen y Fan 886 metres (2,907 feet) and the confusingly named Black Mountains in the east, where the highest point is Waun Fach 811 metres (2,661 feet). The western half gained European and Global status in 2005 as Fforest Fawr Geopark. This includes the Black Mountain, the historic extent of Fforest Fawr, and much of the Brecon Beacons and surrounding lowlands.</p><br>
<p>The entire National Park achieved the status of being an International Dark Sky Reserve in February 2013.</p><br>
<p>Most of the National Park is bare, grassy moorland grazed by Welsh mountain ponies and Welsh mountain sheep, with scattered forestry plantations, and pasture in the valleys. It is known for its remote reservoirs, waterfalls including the 90 ft Henrhyd Waterfall and the falls at Ystradfellte, and its caves, such as Ogof Ffynnon Ddu. The Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre was opened in 1966 to help visitors understand and enjoy the area.</p><br>
<p>Due to the relative remoteness and harsh weather of some of its uplands, the Park is used for military training. UK Special Forces, including the SAS and SBS hold demanding selection training exercises here, such as an exercise called the Fan dance. The infantry regiments of the British Army train at Sennybridge, where NCO selection also takes place.</p><br>
<p>In 2006 and 2007, controversy surrounded the government decision to build the South Wales Gas Pipeline through the Park, the National Park Authority calling the decision a “huge blow”.</p><br>
<h2>Local government</h2><br>
<p>The Brecon Beacons National Park Authority is a special purpose local authority which exercises planning functions across the designated area of the park. The park extends across the southern part of Powys, the northwestern part of Monmouthshire and parts of eastern Carmarthenshire. It also includes the northernmost portions of several of the unitary authority areas which are centred on the coalfield communities to the south and including the county boroughs of Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent together with very small parts of Caerphilly and Torfaen.</p><br>
<p>Numerous town and community councils operate within these areas and include those for Brecon and Hay on Wye (town councils) and Cefn Coed; Llanfihangel Cwmdu with Bwlch and Cathedine; Llangattock; Llangors; Llanthony; Llywel; Pontsticill, Pontsarn and Vaynor; Talybont-on-Usk; Trallong; Trecastle and Ystradfellte (all community councils).</p><br>
<h2>Activities</h2><br>
<p>Outdoor activities in the park include walking, cycling, mountain biking, horse riding, as well as sailing, windsurfing, canoeing and fishing, rock climbing, hang-gliding, caravanning, camping and caving. A long-distance cycling route, the Taff Trail, passes over the Beacons on its way from Brecon to Cardiff, and in 2005 the first walk to span the entire length of the Brecon Beacons National Park was opened. The 100 mi route, called the Beacons Way, runs from Abergavenny via Ysgyryd Fawr in the east and ends in the village of Llangadog in Carmarthenshire in the west.</p><br>
<h2>Brecon Mountain Railway</h2><br>
<p>A railway with narrow gauge trains run by the Brecon Mountain Railway.</p><br>
<p>The Piave  is a river in northern Italy. It begins in the Alps and flows southeast for 220 km into the Adriatic Sea near the city of Venice. One of its tributaries is the Boite.</p><br>
<p>In 1809 it was the scene of a battle during the Napoleonic Wars, in which Franco-Italian and Austrian forces clashed.</p><br>
<p>In 1918, during World War I, it was the scene of Battle of the Piave River, the last major Austro-Hungarian attack on the Italian Front, which failed. The Battle of the Piave was the decisive battle of World War I on the Italian Front. The river is thus called in Italy Fiume Sacro alla Patria (Sacred River of the Homeland) and is mentioned in the patriotic song "La leggenda del Piave".</p><br>
<h2>Viticulture</h2><br>
<p>North of the city of Venice along the Piave river valley is the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) zone that makes up the Veneto wine region known as the Piave DOC. Here both red and white wine is produced, mostly as varietal wines, with Merlot being the dominant grape of the region. Among the other grapes grown in the region are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc (which can be made separately or together as a wine labelled Cabernet), Pinot blanc, Pinot grigio, Pinot nero, Raboso, Friulano, Verduzzo Trevigiano and Verduzzo Friulano (which can be made separately or together as a wine labelled Verduzzo).</p><br>
<p>For wines to qualify for DOC labeling the stated variety must make up at least 95% of the blend from grapes that are harvested within a maximum yield restriction—11 tonnes/hectare for the Cabernets, Verduzzos and Friulano varieties, 12 tonnes/ha for the Pinots, 13 tonnes/ha for Merlot and 14 tonnes/ha for Raboso. The finished wines also must meet a minimum alcohol level—11.5% for all varieties except Merlot and Friulano which only need to reach 11% alcohol by volume. A separate riserva bottling for the red wine varieties are permitted provided the wine is aged at least two years prior to release and attain a minimum alcohol level of at least 12.5%.</p><br>
<p>Youngs River Falls is a 54 ft tall waterfall on the Youngs River in central Clatsop County, northwestern Oregon, United States. They are located about 10 mi south of Astoria.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first Americans to report on the falls were members of a hunting party from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, in March 1806.</p><br>
<h2>In the media</h2><br>
<p>The falls have appeared in movies such as Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Benji the Hunted and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.</p><br>
<p>In July 2014, Tod Gary Wagoner, of Williamsburg, Colorado, died after jumping from the falls, the "first fatality at the falls in a while." In April 2016, Joseph T. Nestor, a 34-year-old Astoria man, fell and died from injuries at the falls.</p><br>
