Cement transportation company puts the brakes on plans to increase pollution

The company that bought New Mexico-based American Cement has decided to pull the plug on a permit request that would have tripled pollution levels in a North Valley neighborhood. The permit would have allowed the facility to transfer more cement through its doors. The station is a couple blocks from La Luz Elementary at 225 Griegos.

Jessica Cassyle Carr

Get to know the people who swim with the sharks

Gravel is working its way under a screen lining the floor of the tank that houses huge stingrays, four species of sharks and a variety of other fish. Joanna Gruger and Sage Butts are repairing the problem, wielding a pipe that sucks up the gravel and spitss it to another side of the tank. They're submerged, communicating with hand signals as they clear the area. Curious turtles hang out with the divers as they work. Were they not on display at an aquarium in the desert, the animals in this tank would inhabit the Gulf of Mexico.

Is Racism in Vogue ?

NBA star LeBron James became the first African-American male to grace the cover of Vogue this month, but instead of prompting praise, the move embroiled the publication in controversy.

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Burque Makes a Name for Herself

It's time again to personify our hometown with respect to the national lists she's made. And, as always, she's none too easy to define: a woman who imbibes a little too often and never eats her greens, but who loves sports and adventure enough to stay svelte. She loves dogs, but her shelters are shabby and overworked. She lives in a crime-ridden region but loves to get out and attend events. She has a good job but can't cough up cash for charity.

Eric J. Garcia

Dateline: India--An airline pilot took his passengers on a 1,200-mile detour after refusing to land at an airport in India because he had never heard of it. The KLM flight was en route from Amsterdam to Hyderabad’s new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport when it was diverted to New Delhi with 233 passengers on board. The pilot was denied permission to land in New Delhi, and the plane eventually touched down, two hours later, in Mumbai. The pilot reportedly claimed he knew nothing about Hyderabad’s new airport. Airport officials insisted all airlines had been notified of its opening on March 14. A report in the Times of India revealed a number of pilots had complained their flight computers did not recognize the new landing spot and issued terrain warnings.

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