In brief: Sea World sees turtle baby boom
LOS ANGELES – The population of endangered green sea turtles at SeaWorld in San Diego grew by 82 last month when eggs hatched on Shipwreck Beach without human help.
There hasn’t been such happy turtle news at SeaWorld since 2003, when 21 sea turtles got an assist from park staff, said Tim Downing, assistant curator of fishes.
This time, the park let nature take its course and didn’t incubate the eggs. The babies started poking through their ping pong ball-size eggs on Oct. 5. Since then, they have been getting a diet of squid, krill, shrimp and special pellets.
The birth of the turtles was announced Monday. Downing said they are in excellent health and should go on display before the end of the year.
Bay Bridge open, but may close
SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco- Oakland Bay Bridge reopened Monday, but transportation engineers said their work may not be finished.
The heavily used span was closed Oct. 27 after two rods and a metal crossbar came crashing down on the roadway during evening rush hour.
Engineers worked through the weekend to finish repairs and now plan daily safety inspections. They warned the bridge may have to be closed again to complete a more permanent fix.
“We’ve taken care of what we believe are the big issues that led to this failure,” said Rick Land, chief engineer for the state department of transportation.
One person suffered minor injuries and three cars were damaged when 5,000 pounds of metal crashed onto the roadway last week.
Activists’ items pulled from eBay
WICHITA, Kan. – Online auction house eBay has removed items that were posted for sale by anti-abortion activists trying to raise money for defense of a man accused of killing a Kansas abortion provider, the company said Monday.
Supporters of Scott Roeder – one in Kansas City, Mo., and the other in Des Moines, Iowa – posted various items late Sunday in separate eBay auctions including an Army of God manual, an underground publication for anti-abortion militants that describes ways to shut down clinics.
After about five hours, eBay removed 10 items, activists said. The final two items were removed by late Monday afternoon.
San Jose, Calif.-based eBay said the anti-abortion memorabilia violated its listing polices.
Roeder is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the May 31 shooting of Dr. George Tiller at his Wichita church. He has pleaded not guilty.