Thai rescuers find missing boys and coach alive in cave
MAE SAI, Thailand — Rescuers found all 12 boys and their soccer coach alive deep inside a partially flooded cave in northern Thailand late Monday, more than a week after they disappeared and touched off a desperate search that drew international help and captivated the nation.
Video released early Tuesday by the Thai navy showed the boys in their soccer uniforms sitting on a dry area inside the cave above the water as a spotlight, apparently from a rescuer, illuminated their faces.
Chiang Rai provincial Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn said the 13 were in the process of being rescued, but he cautioned that they were not out of danger yet.
“We found them safe. But the operation isn’t over,” he said in comments broadcast nationwide, referring to the complicated process of extricating them.
Family members of the missing hugged each other as they cheered the news.
Seattle bans plastic straws, utensils at restaurants, bars
SEATTLE — Looking for a plastic straw to sip your soda? It’s no longer allowed in Seattle bars and restaurants.
Neither are plastic utensils in the latest push to reduce waste and prevent marine plastic pollution. Businesses that sell food or drinks won’t be allowed to offer the plastic items under a rule that went into effect Sunday.
Seattle is believed to be the first major U.S. city to ban single-use plastic straws and utensils in food service, according to Seattle Public Utilities. The eco-conscious city has been an environmental leader in the U.S., working to aggressively curb the amount of trash that goes into landfills by requiring more options that can be recycled or composted.
The city’s 5,000 restaurants — including Seattle-based Starbucks outlets — will now have to use reusable or compostable utensils, straws and cocktail picks, though the city is encouraging businesses to consider not providing straws altogether or switch to paper rather than compostable plastic straws.
Overflow crowd gathers to honor slain journalist
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Days after newspaper editor Rob Hiaasen and four colleagues were shot to death by a gunman in the Capital Gazette’s newsroom, an overflow crowd gathered at a Maryland nature center on Monday evening to remember the man they loved in stories, poems, and songs.
Hannah Hiaasen, his youngest daughter, said the family called him “Big Rob” — a nickname that perfectly fit the journalist who stood 6-foot-5. But it wasn’t just his height that made the nickname ring true to those who knew him best.
“He was six five so it made sense, but also he had a really, really big heart,” she said, before reading a poem in her dad’s honor.
Kevin Cowherd, an author who worked with Hiaasen for years at The Baltimore Sun, described him as an open, fun-loving man who found humor in everything. As a writer, he was versatile and drawn to the quirky. As a colleague, he was kind and encouraging.
Cowherd and others said they would remember Hiaasen for how he lived, rather than the way he died senselessly at the hands of a gunman twisted by hate and festering rage.
By wire sources