Florida governor announces land purchase in Everglades to prevent drilling
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says that the state will buy 20,000 acres of land and spend as much as $18 million to prevent drilling in the Everglades. The land will be purchased from Kanter Real Estate LLC, which had obtained approval for exploratory oil wells in the Everglades, reports Gazette Extra.
“We will permanently save this land,” DeSantis said at a news conference. “It will be the largest wetlands acquisition in a decade.”
Read the full story here: https://www.gazettextra.com/news/nation_world/florida-governor-says-land-buy-will-stop-everglades-drilling/article_35cdf92e-7e3a-54d4-ad34-d0b3481ec4c1.html.
English adventurer Mollie Hughes becomes youngest woman to ski solo from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole
A 29-year-old adventurer and motivational speaker, Mollie Hughes, set a world record on January 10 when she arrived at the south pole after skiing 702 miles. Her accomplishment makes her the youngest woman in the world to ski solo from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole.
Hughes battled severe weather, including a whiteout for eight days in a row. She pulled a sled weighing over 230 pounds and skied alone between 10 and 12 hours per day.
“It’s a surreal feeling, I can’t quite believe I’ve done it,” Hughes said in a press release. “I knew it would be hard but this has been an exceptionally tough experience, especially in the first two weeks when I was struggling through the whiteout for over a week and incredibly strong winds. That really tested my resilience, especially as I was all alone, but I managed to get through it and carry on.”
Anglers of grass carp and blue catfish set W.Va state records
The West Virginia state records for grass carp and blue catfish were broken earlier in January by two anglers. Zachary Adkins of Cabins caught a 53.1-inch, 59-pound grass carp at Warden Lake on Jan. 3. Justin Conner of Culloden caught a 49.84-inch, 58.39-pound blue catfish on the Ohio River on Jan. 11.
Anglers who believe they may have caught a state record fish should first check state records online at www.wvdnr.gov. Record catches should be reported to the district fisheries biologist in the nearest DNR district.
