• How to help Oklahoma tornado victims

    The Oklahoman, NewsOk.com

    A teacher hugs a child at Briarwood Elementary school after a tornado destroyed the school in south Oklahoma City, Monday, May 20, 2013.

    By Suzanne Choney, Contributing Writer, NBC News

    The loss of life and stunning devastation in Oklahoma City suburbs after a monster tornado ripped through the area are heart-wrenching. "The streets are just gone. The signs are just gone," said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, after she toured the area by helicopter Tuesday. And many, many relief organizations are getting the message out on how to help.

    American Red Cross
    The Red Cross has set up shelters in various communities. You can donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund here, and the organization also suggests giving blood at your local hospital or blood bank. Fundraising efforts were buoyed Tuesday by a $1 million pledge from Kevin Durant, of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team, via his family foundation.

    If you're searching for a missing relative, check Red Cross Safe & Well's site. And please register if you're within the disaster region. The site is designed to make communication easier after a tragedy like this. 

    If you want to send a $10 donation to the Disaster Relief fund via text message, you can do so by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. As in the case with other donations via mobile, the donation will show up on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your balance if you have a prepaid phone. You need to be 18 or older, or have parental permission, to donate this way. (If you change your mind, text the word STOP to 90999.)

    The Red Cross also accepts frequent flier miles as donations. Delta, United Airlines and US Airways partner with the Red Cross throughout the year, which uses miles to help get volunteers and staff to key locations during disasters. (Note: The donation is not tax-deductible as the IRS considers it a gift.) For Delta, email: delta.bids@delta-air.com with your SkyMiles number, the number of miles you want to donate, and specify the Red Cross as the charity. You can donate miles online at United Airlines Donate Your Miles and US Airways Dividend Miles.

    Phone: 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767); for Spanish speakers, 1-800-257-7575; for TDD, 1-800-220-4095.

    OK Strong Disaster Relief Fund
    The state of Oklahoma, coordinating with the United Way of Central Oklahoma, on Tuesday established the OK Strong Disaster Relief Fund to help "with the long-term medical, emotional and educational needs of victims of the May 20 tornado in Moore and the May 19 tornado near Shawnee."

    Donations can be made online at UnitedWayOKC.org.

    Phone: 1-405-236-8441.

    Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
    The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, working with the Oklahoma Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, is seeking monetary donations. To donate, visit the regional food bank's website, or give $10 by texting the word FOOD to 32333.

    Phone: 1-405-972-1111

    Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief
    This organization says donations will "go straight to help those in need providing tree removal services, laundry services and meals to victims of disasters." 

    It is requesting monetary donations (It says clothing is NOT needed). For more information, and to donate, visit Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief's website.

    You can send checks to: BGCO, Attn: Disaster Relief, 3800 N. May Ave., Oklahoma City, OK., 73112.

    Salvation Army
    The Salvation Army is organizing disaster response units to serve hard-hit areas in central Oklahoma, including Moore, where it is sending mobile kitchens that can serve meals to 2,500 people a day, and to South Oklahoma City.

    In Little Axe, Okla., the organization said, the army's Central Oklahoma Area Command Disaster Service Unit was busy feeding breakfast, lunch and dinner to people, "even as one of our Salvation Army family member's home was destroyed."

    Supporters can donate online via the organization's website, SalvationArmyUSA.org. You can also text the word STORM to 80888 to make a $10 donation via cellphone.

    If you want to send a check, the Salvation Army asks that you put the words "Oklahoma Tornado Relief" on the check, and mail it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK., 73157.

    Phone:  1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).

    Related: Consumers warned about fake Oklahoma charities

    Central Oklahoma Humane Society
    The Central Oklahoma Humane Society is in need of towels, paper towels, bleach, gloves and crates to help with lost and injured animals. "Currently our greatest need is financial donations to help us treat and house lost and injured animals at our facilities," the society says on its site. Donations can be made online here and should be designated for the "OK Humane Disaster Relief Fund."

    Phone:  1-405-607-8991

    Feed the Children
    Feed the Children has set up five locations in Oklahoma City to accept donations to help victims of the Moore tornado. The organization is accepting items including diapers, canned goods, non-perishable food, snack items, water and sports drinks. The organization is also supporting mobile canteens in partnership with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross.

    You can donate online, or make a $10 donation by texting the word DISASTER to 80888.

    Phone:  1-800-627-4556

    United Way of Central Oklahoma
    A disaster relief fund is being activated as of May 21 so that individuals can specifically donate to tornado relief-and-recovery efforts, the organization says on its site.

    "Financial contributions are the best way to help unless otherwise requested." Donations can be made online at

    United Way of Central Oklahoma’s Disaster Relief Fund is open.  Donations may be made online here. Checks, with a notation of "May Tornado Relief" can also be sent to the United Way of Central Oklahoma, P.O. Box 837, Oklahoma City, OK , 73101.

    Feeding America
    Through its network of more than 200 food banks, Feeding America, whose mission is to "feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks," says it will deliver truckloads of food, water and supplies to communities in need, in Oklahoma, and will also "set up additional emergency food and supply distribution sites as they are needed." You can donate online here.

    Phone: 1-800-910-5524.

    Operation USA
    The international relief group, based in Los Angeles, says it is "readying essential material aid — emergency, shelter and cleaning supplies" to help Oklahoma's community health organizations and schools recover.

    You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word AID to 50555. Checks should be sent to: Operation USA, 7421 Beverly Blvd., PH, Los Angeles, CA 90036

    Phone: 1-800-678-7255.

    Convoy of Hope
    The Missouri-based nonprofit organization has done work in other disasters, including the Haiti earthquake, with a mission of getting food and water to those after disaster strikes. Now it's doing the same for Moore, Okla. You can donate online here. Convoy of Hope is also going the crowd-sourced route, using HopeMob, a site similar to Kickstarter but for raising money to help disaster victims and others in need, which charges no fees to the organizations that use it. Convoy of Hope's goal on the site is to raise $15,000 in seven days to help Moore.

    "Why 7 days? In these first 7 days the town of Moore, OK will be consumed with clearing out destruction and accessing their needs," HopeMob says on its site. "Once those needs are known we want to be able to give them the funds to help them rebuild in the long term."

    Phone: 1-800-988-0664

    Direct Relief
    The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based, non-profit organization provides medical assistance and personal hygiene items to those hurt in disasters, as well as in other circumstances.

    "So far we have heard from health center partners responding in Oklahoma and are preparing an emergency shipment to help support the efforts there.  Direct Relief has been receiving requests for emergency supplies, personal care and protection items — including hygiene supplies, infection control products, gloves, soap, shampoo, deodorant, sanitary napkins, diapers, wipes and formula," said Kerri Murray, Direct Relief vice president, in an email.

    To donate, visit DirectRelief.org.

    Phone: 1-800-676-1638

    AmeriCares
    The Emergency Response team for AmeriCares is in Oklahoma, "coordinating deliveries of emergency aid and assessing the needs of survivors and health care organizations in the disaster area."

    Since 1982, the Connecticut-based nonprofit has delivered medicine, medical supplies and aid to those in need around the world and across the United States.

    You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word LIVE to 25383. Checks or money orders can be mailed to: AmeriCares, 88 Hamilton Ave., Stamford, CT 06902.

    Phone:  1-800-486-HELP (1-800-486-4357)

    Operation Blessing International
    Humanitarian organization Operation Blessing International, which last week coordinated more than 500 volunteers in Granbury, Texas, after that area was hit by a tornado, is working with The Home Depot and dispatching a construction unit, mobile command center, trucks with tools and supplies and a team of construction foremen to Moore.

    Late Monday, Operation Blessing International also "loaded and deployed two tractor-trailer truckloads of food and emergency relief supplies from its warehouse in Dallas, Texas, in partnership with the humanitarian organization, Mercury One," said a Operation Blessing spokeswoman.

    The Virginia Beach-based group's online link for donations is here.

    Phone:  1-800-730-2537

    Samaritan's Purse
    The international Christian relief organization focuses on cleaning and repairing damaged homes and sent two disaster relief units from North Wilkesboro, N.C. to Oklahoma Tuesday. "The tractor-trailers are stocked with heavy-duty plastic, chainsaws, generators, and other tools and equipment. The units also will serve as command centers for the response," Samaritan's Purse says on its website.

    You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word SP to 80888.

    Phone:  1-800-528-1980

    Save the Children
    Save the Children responds to disasters around the world, and has created an "Oklahoma Tornadoes Children in Emergency Fund" for online donations. The organization provides food and medical care to children whose families have been displaced from their homes. You can give a $10 donation by texting the word TWISTER to 20222.

    Phone:  1-800-728-3843

    United Methodist Committee on Relief
    The committee works with local United Methodist churches and trained disaster response workers to help with cleanup and rebuilding, pastoral counseling and support for children and youth who have been through trauma.
     
    You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word RESPONSE to 80888.

    Phone: 1-800-554-8583

    LifeChurch.tv
    Life Church.tv, which describes itself as "Oklahoma's largest evangelical church," says its Oklahoma City metro locations will accept donations of items over the next week, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and distribute them to tornado victims. Among the items needed: Toiletries, diapers, wipes, formula, baby bottles, new clothing, new shoes, and bags, backpacks or plastic tubs for carrying items.

    You can also donate money online by visiting LifeChurch.tv, or by texting the word RELIEF to 86613, and selecting an amount you would like to donate.

    Phone:  1-405-216-7054

    Jewish Federations of North America
    The Jewish Federations of North America is working with the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma, which is coordinating efforts with a local food bank, Habitat for Humanity and the Red Cross. The Jewish Federations of North America has established an Oklahoma City Tornado Relief fund. Donors can contribute online here.

    Checks can also be sent to the JFNA national mailbox at: The Jewish Federations of North America, Wall Street Station, P.O. Box 148, New York, NY, 10268. Please indicate "JFNA Oklahoma City Tornado Relief Fund" on all checks or in the designation box online.

    Oklahoma Tornado Relief 2013
    The Oklahoma Tornado Relief 2013 fundraising effort is being done through a crowd-sourced effort using Fundly, a website for fundraising, akin to HopeMob, mentioned above. On the site, you'll find various fundraising causes to help tornado victims, and can choose which you'd like to support.

    DonorsChoose.org
    DonorsChoose.org is creating a special online fund to collect donations for the teachers and schools of Moore, Okla., to help respond and rebuild. Donors Choose will work with the teachers of Moore to assess what they need for their classrooms and allow them to identify the real-time solutions and supplies their community and their students need: everything from clothing for their students to first-aid kits. 

    To donate, visit www.donorschoose.org

    And a note of caution ...

    Emotions are running high, understandably, in light of the awful news from Oklahoma. Many of us want to help in some way. But this vulnerable time is also rife with and ripe for scammers who want to prey on your emotions and wallet. They may seek you out via email, knock on your door, or even try to get you to give money via Facebook. 

    The Federal Trade Commission has guidelines about charity donations, including these tips:

    • Donate to charities you know and trust. Be alert for charities that seem to have sprung up overnight in connection with current events, like the tornadoes.
    • Ask if a caller is a paid fundraiser, who they work for, and what percentage of your donation goes to the charity and to the fundraiser. If you don’t get a clear answer — or if you don’t like the answer you get — consider donating to a different organization.
    • Don’t give out personal or financial information — including your credit card or bank account number — unless you know the charity is reputable.
    • Never send cash: you can’t be sure the organization will receive your donation, and you won’t have a record for tax purposes.
    • Check out the charity with the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, Charity Watch, or GuideStar.
    • Find out if the charity or fundraiser must be registered in your state by contacting the National Association of State Charity Officials.

    Ben Popken and Devin Coldewey also contributed to this report.

    This story was updated May 22.

    Related:

  • Delayed by war, Class of 1943 finally holds senior prom

    NBC News

    Grace Duffy dances with her stand-in date Dave Lenahan at the Hillhouse High School class of 1943 reunion and prom.


     

    Rehema Ellis and Andrew Rafferty, NBC News writes

    It took seven decades, but the Hillhouse High School Class of 1943 finally had its senior prom.

    Prom for the members of the Greatest Generation was cancelled 70 years ago when the young men in the Connecticut school — and across the country — were called on to go defend the United States during World War II. But as of last Sunday, the high school rite of passage was no longer something these former high schoolers had to live without.

    But when it's a senior prom for senior citizens, the rules are different. First of all, the event started at noon, everyone could drink alcohol, and the dress code was, well, comfortable.

    NBC News

    Honey Pegnataro, right, shares a toast with some of her classmates at the Hillhouse High School class of 1943 reunion and prom.

    Many were dropped off not by their parents, but by their children.

    And with attendees now in their late 80s, dancing was left to only the most adventurous souls.

    Members of the Class of '43 say they did not feel cheated when school administrators told them to stop planning their prom so many years ago. Rather, they felt it was they were fulfilling their responsibility as Americans.

    NBC News

    Marilyn Unger pins on her corsage at the Hillhouse High School class of 1943 reunion and prom.

    "Our country had been attacked, and we felt very strongly that whatever we did to support our country, we would do," said 87-year-old Marilyn White Unger. "So we didn't feel any sense of personal loss, because the boys were fighting."

    Unger helped plan the reunion/prom, along with Anthony Pegnataro, 87, then class president who served in Guam and Okinawa during the war. Some of their classmates never came back from the war, and even more have perished in the years since.

    "I open the paper every morning, I look at the obituary page and I see two or three more classmates that have gone up to their maker," said Pegnataro.

    The "senior" prom means a lot more to 88-year-old Tony Pegnataro than most.  Pegnataro and his classmates explain they did whatever necessary to support the war during the 1940s, which meant forgoing their high school prom. But better late than never – they finally formed a committee and organized a classmate reunion all these years later.

    He estimates that of the 1,250 members of their graduating class, prom organizers have only been able to get ahold of about 10 percent of them. The group has been getting together every five years since 1946.

    And like nearly everything else about this prom, he did it the old fashioned way -- no Facebook, just phone calls.

    Just as if the prom had been held during the 1940s, on Sunday the group danced to the likes of the Glen Miller band. Though the music may have been the same, but the moves were different -- with some prom goers in wheelchairs.

    "Time's running out on all of us. Ya know, how many more years do we have?" said Pegnataro. "And we want to enjoy every year we got."

    NBC News

    Honey and Tony Pegnataro

  • 'We saved the ship': WWII vets gather, likely for last time

    Terry Pickard / NBC News

    Surviving sailors from the USS Franklin hold a reunion at Patriots Point in Charleston on Friday.

    Terry Pickard and Carlo Dellaverson, NBC News writes

    MT. PLEASANT, S.C. -- Two dozen surviving veterans from the World War II aircraft carrier USS Franklin gathered on Friday, probably for the last time, to honor and remember one of the most remarkable naval episodes of the war.

    It was before dawn on a late winter morning in 1945 when a Japanese dive bomber dropped two 500 pound bombs on the Franklin. The year-old carrier nicknamed “Big Ben” was serving in the Pacific theater and, at that moment, had maneuvered closer to Japan than any other U.S.-flagged carrier during the war.

    More than 800 sailors died in the catastrophic 1945 attack on the USS Franklin, leaving the ship listing in the water. The survivors kept the ship afloat, and made it back to port. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    Sam ‘Dusty’ Rhodes was asleep in the ship’s bunk area when the bombs hit. Rhodes was a water tender 3rd class and was responsible for operating the ship’s massive boilers – and with debris from the massive explosions raining down on him, that is just what he did.

    Rhodes said he and other crew members ran to the one of the unaffected firerooms and attempted to raise enough steam to light the remaining boiler. When the flame caught from Rhodes’ Zippo lighter, “that’s when the ship’s heart started to beat again,” he recalled.

    Above on the flight deck, the scene was nothing short of catastrophic. The Franklin was dead in the water, listing to one side and cut off from communications as fires burned everywhere. More than 800 sailors died in the attack, with hundreds more wounded.

    Terry Pickard / NBC News

    Flags line the walkway to the USS Yorktown, where a '13' was painted to honor the number of the USS Franklin.

    But the Franklin didn’t sink, and that is the legacy crew members like Rhodes like to remember. The Franklin would become the most heavily damaged aircraft carrier of the war to make it back to port.

    “We saved the ship,” Rhodes said. “In the Navy, you save the ship. It’s your home.”

    William Schauer was a Naval electrician and fireman 1st class, just out of high school when he reported for duty on the deck of the Franklin, three months before the attack. Looking back on that day 68 years later, he said he was certain he was going to go down with the ship that morning, and “that was the end.”

    “But we were there for a purpose,” and despite suffering such heavy losses, Schauer says he still considers their mission – keeping the ship afloat – accomplished.

    At the reunion on Friday, Medal of Honor recipient and retired Gen. James Livingston saluted the assembled veterans. He said their “refusal to allow her to sink” allowed the Franklin to limp back to port instead of ending up buried forever on the ocean floor. “That’s a testimony to what you are as men,” he said.

    Terry Pickard / NBC News

    The tattered battle flag from the USS Franklin hangs on display at the USS Yorktown.

    In the belly of the USS Yorktown, another decommissioned carrier that saw battle in the Pacific and now survives as the centerpiece of the Patriots Point Naval Museum in this bucolic Charleston suburb, a tattered and smoke-tinged flag is mounted overhead. It was the original battle flag that flew on the mast of the Franklin’s flight deck the day of the attack -- the same flag that Rhodes remembers looking up and noticing through the haze of black smoke after the bombs hit. Seeing it meant they still had a chance, he remembered, “because we would strike the colors before abandoning ship.”   

    “Big Ben” made it all the way back to New York for repairs, where it sat on V-J Day when the war finally ended. It never saw action again, and was sold for scrap in the 1960s. The flag, along with the bell and a gun turret also on display at the Yorktown, are all that remain of one of the most momentous spectacles of heroism and fortitude of World War II. And with what could be the final gathering of the men who saved the ship, it is up to a new generation to remember the Franklin.

  • Fighting to save Africa's rhinos

    Wildlife Rangers are on the frontline of the battle to save elephants and rhinos from poaching gangs. The illegal trade in rhino horn, highlighted by Prince William earlier this year, is threatening the very existence of the creatures. NBC's  Rohit Kachroo reports on the work of the round-the-clock patrols at Lewa National Park.

    By Rohit Kachroo, Correspondent, NBC News

    First came the sound of gunshots late at night.

    Then, a few hours later, a carcass was found -- his bloodied face and mutilated body shielded by the long grass. 

    Before long, the stench of death was rising from what was now a crime scene.

    The rangers at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy seemed almost unmoved. But they have seen it, heard it and smelled it too many times before.

    Once again, this 60,000-acre park -- home to one in eight of Kenya’s rhinos -- has been struck by an armed gang.

    Despite the helicopters, the dog handlers, the electric fencing and the hiring of a former British Army captain as chief executive, Lewa has struggled with the poachers, losing six rhinos over a four-week period earlier this year.

    It is a problem for parks across Africa, where some populations of rhino and elephant face extinction within decades. Gruesome killings, like the slaughter of a family of 12 elephants in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park last January, have caused shock but brought no solutions.

    At least Lewa has a powerful supporter. This is where Prince William spent much of his gap year.  It is where he proposed to Kate Middleton in 2010. And it is here that he found another love: the precious species that are under threat from the trade in ivory and rhino horn.

    On Tuesday, William will challenge African "producer" countries and Asian "consumer" countries to end the slaughter. But what is the chance of a real solution?

    The words of a prince will mean little to the paupers who stalk the parks of Africa in search of a rhino horn which may be worth 30,000 pounds – more than its weight in gold. 

    Perhaps stiffer sentences in African countries will make a difference -- but campaigners say that some are resisting pressure to punish those involved in the trade.

    Then there's the question of how the meeting dignitaries can succeed in choking demand in the Far East, where others have failed before -- and where horns and tusks are said to have medicinal value.

    Campaigners welcome the fact that the issue is being talked about at all -- and they accept that solutions will take time.

    But for the majestic creatures that roam Lewa, there may be little of that.  

  • Sisters, separated for 17 years, find each other at high school track meet

    Robin Jeter and Jordan Dickerson both grew up in Washington, D.C., in separate families that lived miles apart. They knew they had other family members, but never met one another – until ending up at the same track competition. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

    By Ron Mott, Correspondent, NBC News

    WASHINGTON – Their similarities are striking, but teenagers Robin Jeter, 18, and Jordan Dickerson, 17, grew up quite differently in the nation’s capital.

    They’re smart, pretty and fashion-forward. Both teens are also athletically inclined and have double jointed thumbs they can contort onto the palms of their hands.

    But Robin, a senior at Friendship Collegiate Academy in northeast Washington, D.C., grew up in foster care, moving from one home to another until stability finally came her way.

    “I only grew up with my one brother, that's all I’d known,” she said.

    A few miles away, Jordan, a junior at Woodrow Wilson High School in the Northwest section of the city, was raised as an adopted only child, something her mom never hid.

    “Her telling me I was adopted really wasn't that big of a deal,” Jordan said. “I just wanted to know more about it, I was really curious ... She told me that there was a possibility that I did have a sister, but you know, the information wasn't crystal clear.”

    What’s clear is that these two young women met under remarkable circumstances in perhaps the most unlikely of places.

    'She looked just like you!'

    In January, at an indoor high school track meet, one of Jordan’s teammates was watching a girls’ race, cheering enthusiastically.

    “I said, ‘Go Jordan, Go Jordan!’" William Carson recalled.

    That is, until he realized he was rooting for an opponent. When she crossed the finish line, William realized it wasn’t Jordan after all.

    “Jordan was up like 10 feet away from me [in the bleachers]. She was looking at me, like, ‘Who is he talking to?’ And I was like, ‘She looked just like you!’”

    The momentary confusion was soon cleared up by another student, Laniyyah Elam, who’d attended elementary school with Robin but was now a schoolmate of Jordan’s at Woodrow Wilson High School.

    “I know that girl!” she said. “Her name is Robin Jeter.”

    Jordan started to cry. She knew her birth name was also Jeter.

    “I escorted her off to the bathroom,” Laniyyah said. “I asked her what was going on, and she told me that that was her sister, because she knew the last name. And I was, like, ‘Oh, wow. Do you want me to introduce you to her?’ Later on, after the meet was over, I told Robin to come up and they met each other.”

    Separated by a few miles and 17 long years, the sisters awkwardly began what quickly developed into a comfortable, familiar, strong relationship -- with nary a trace of a sibling rivalry forming.

    “I couldn't even say anything,” Robin said of the initial face-to-face conversation at the track meet.

    “The only thing I could say was, ‘You know, we look a lot alike,’” Jordan countered.

    After several months of getting to know one another—spending many weekends together and, soon, prom night—the sisters look as though they were never apart. They often finish one another’s sentences. Robin lovingly shoos away a fly from her sister’s hair. And in those moments, when they’re in each other’s company, physical contact seems irresistible, as if to suggest they fear ever losing grip on their suddenly discovered treasure.

  • No cellphone, no Wi-Fi: Living in America's quietest place

    The area surrounding the Green Bank Radio Telescope may be the quietest place in America, banning cell phones, Wi-Fi, and other transmitters. NBC's Kevin Tibbles reports.

    By Kevin Monahan, Producer, NBC News

    GREEN BANK, W.Va. – Every week, Chuck Niday patrols Green Bank, W.Va., in a vehicle that looks a bit like something out of the movie “Mad Max,” aiming to protect the largest steerable radio telescope in the world.

    He searches for sources of interference, which can come from something as simple as a spark plug or an electric fence. And when Niday runs across illegal wireless signals or other electronics, he asks residents to desist.

    “We just go in and ask them to turn it off, and leave it off,” he said. “People are usually pretty cooperative.”

    If they don’t, he can send a report to the Federal Communications Commission. In 1958, the FCC created a 13,000-square-mile quiet zone to shield radio telescopes in Green Bank and Sugar Grove, W.Va., from harmful man-made interference, allowing scientists to study sounds emanating from galaxies all around the universe. 

    Cellphones, Wi-Fi, radio, even certain electronics are all regulated. And there’s not a single cellphone tower to be found for miles. The entire U.S. National Radio Quiet Zone straddles the border between Virginia and West Virginia.

    Bob Sheets has spent his entire life living in the shadow of the giant telescope -- literally. It’s visible from nearly every window of his home, and looms over his field of cows.

    Green Bank, W.Va., is in the National Radio Quiet Zone, an area that covers 13,000 square miles. Bob Sheets, a life-long resident, says most people that visit are happy to turn off their cell phones, but others have a harder time adjusting.

    A retired English teacher from the area, Sheets is quite aware that people might consider him “road kill on the technology highway,” as he puts it, but says the National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a great neighbor. He doesn’t think outsiders mind much either.

    “Most people that come to visit are happy to turn their cellphone off and get away from it all for a while. It seems to reduce their anxiety,” he said.

    The remote town of Green Bank sits smack in the middle of the Allegheny Mountain Range, situated in a valley in the mountains that is naturally protected from many of the radio signals flying around. 

    It’s the closest community to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which runs the Green Bank Telescope. One-and-a-half times taller than the Statue of Liberty, the radio telescope listens into space. 

    Telescope director Karen O’Neil explained: “We listen to galaxies, not just our own, and by doing so, try to understand how these galaxies were formed.”

    Michael Holstine, operations manager, says it takes on some of the biggest questions of our time -- and the quiet zone is the perfect place to do it.

    “We‘ve been able to peer back to just after the Big Bang, 13.9 billion to 14 billion years ago,” he said. “We need quiet to gather all the signals that are being supplied to us by the universe. Green Bank is just about the quietest place in the country.”

    Michael J. Holstine, business manager at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia tells NBC's Kevin Tibbles that the steerable radio telescope, which is the largest in the world, can "peer back to just after the big bang."

    But what about the seemingly draconian restrictions it puts on the local residents here?

    At Green Bank Elementary Middle School, which is in direct line-of-sight of the telescope, students actually talk to each other instead of texting.

    It doesn’t mean however, that some teenagers wouldn’t prefer to have a cellphone to help beef up their social lives.

    “If you have a cellphone with you all the time, everybody can get a hold of you,” said Kourtney Cohenour, 14, who recently moved to Green Bank with her family. “You don’t need to worry about people trying to find you.”

    They still have payphones here in Green Bank -- and people seem to use them. Some of the residents even get a kick out of those who still rely on cellphones.

    “I saw a lady one time at a local gas station here,” Sheets said with a smile. “She was holding it high above her head to try and get a signal and then she took it over and she waved it around the pay phone.”

    At the main general store in town, owner Bob Earvine and his son, Donnie, don’t seem to mind the restrictions.

    Donnie Earvine claims to miss using his cellphone when he leaves town and comes back. As for his father, not so much.

    “I don’t miss a cellphone one bit,” said Bob Earvine. “If the observatory wasn’t here, I’m not sure we would be. You can see how little other employment there is around here. It’s a small price to pay.”

    Brian Farkas / AP file

    The Robert C. Byrd Telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory rises above the rural Pocahontas County, W.Va., countryside on Oct. 26, 2008. The telescope is the world's largest steerable radio telescope.

     

     

    This story was originally published on Wed May 15, 2013 6:20 PM EDT

  • White House releases additional documents related to Benghazi response

    One hundred pages of emails were passed out by the White House Wednesday as the Obama administration tried to put an end to the long simmering dispute over what took place when the American compound in Benghazi was attacked. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

    Michael O'Brien writes

     

    Under increasing scrutiny from congressional Republicans, the White House on Wednesday released copies of emails and other additional supporting documents related to its response to last fall’s attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya.

    The White House released the materials in the wake of Republicans’ clamor for more information about how the Obama administration crafted its explanation for the incident, which came at the height of last year’s campaign season, and resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

    The emails convey different parts of the administration -- the White House, the State Department, and the CIA -- trading drafts of talking points for use not just by representatives of the administration, but also by members of Congress.

    Read part one of the White House emails (.pdf)

    From the very first draft, the talking points included references to "Islamic extremists" who might have participated in the attack.

    The most significant changes involved removing references to Ansar al-Sharia to not hinder the investigation into the attack, and changing reference to the Benghazi location to a "mission" or "diplomatic post," rather than a consulate.

    Those talking points, though, were subjected to scrutiny and a series of tweaks from different agencies to ensure the talking points did not get out in front of investigators, who did not yet appear to have a full grasp of the underpinnings of the attack at that point.

    The documents released by the White House indicated that then-CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell voiced similar concerns to those from State Department officials and that the same intelligence analysts who drafted the original talking points were comfortable with the language included in the edits, NBC's Peter Alexander reported.

    On page 95 of the documents released Wednesday, an email appears to show that then-CIA Director David Petraeus wasn't completely sold on releasing the talking points, writing: "No mention of the cable to Cairo, either? Frankly, I'd just as soon not use this, then ... NSS's call, to be sure; however, this is certainly not what Vice Chairman Ruppersberger was hoping to get for unclas use. Regardless, thx for the great work."

    A congressional hearing last week, where whistleblowers took issue with the administration’s initial explanation that the attacks were the spontaneous outgrowth of an unrelated protest (and not a terrorist attack) gave rise to new demands for more information from the administration.

    Read part two of the White House emails (.pdf)

    Republicans took the emails as a validation of their criticism of the White House for making more changes to its talking points than the administration had originally let on.

    “The seemingly political nature of the State Department’s concerns raises questions about the motivations behind these changes and who at the State Department was seeking them. This release is long overdue and there are relevant documents the Administration has still refused to produce,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. “We hope, however, that this limited release of documents is a sign of more cooperation to come.”

    President Barack Obama has dismissed Republicans’ interest in the administration’s evolving explanation for the attack as a “sideshow,” as recently as this Monday.

    “The whole issue of talking points, frankly, throughout this process has been a sideshow,” he said. “What we have been very clear about throughout was that immediately after this event happened, we were not clear who exactly had carried it out, how it had occurred, what the motivations were.”

    Underlying Republicans’ interest in the Benghazi matter – at which they’ve kept now for six months – is a suspicion that the administration clouded the reality of the attack so as to not damage Obama’s prospects for re-election.

    “The president ran out the clock and he won the election,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, S.C., a chief Republican critic of Obama’s on Benghazi, said Tuesday on Fox News. “He was able to get Benghazi behind him in terms of electoral politics, but it won't go away.”

    Meanwhile, U.S. government officials said investigators have identified a person who played a central role in the attack in Benghazi, and that federal criminal charges against that person will soon be made public. The person to be named in the charges is not yet in U.S. custody, one official said.

    Word of that progress in the investigation followed a statement by Attorney General Eric Holder, who told the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the Justice Department has taken "definitive, concrete action" to bring people to justice who were responsible for the attack.

    "We have been aggressive and we are in a good position. Definitive action has been taken," Holder said, though he declined to be more specific. 

    "We will be prepared shortly to reveal what we have done," he said.

    NBC News' Pete Williams and Jonathan Dienst contributed to this report.

     

    This story was originally published on Wed May 15, 2013 5:01 PM EDT

  • Holder faces questions on Capitol Hill

    Carrie Dann writes

    As the White House faces a trio of burgeoning controversies that have put the administration and agencies throughout Washington on the defensive, Attorney General General Eric Holder reiterated before a House panel Wednesday that he was not involved in the Justice Department's decision to seize two months of phone records from Associated Press journalists as a part of a leak probe.

    LIVESTREAM: House Judiciary Committee hearing

    The Justice Department has also opened an investigation into revelations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status for additional scrutiny. In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Holder said that prosecutors are looking at several different statutes in the investigation of those actions. 

    He said those potential violations could include an IRS statute that requires employees to do their jobs without favoritism, civil rights laws, the Hatch Act that restricts a federal employee's political activities, or the law against making false statements to investigators.

    “The facts will take us wherever they take us,” he added, promising a nationwide investigation. 

    Asked about the leak probe, Holder confirmed that Deputy Attorney General James Cole authorized the subpoenas on AP reporters' phone records after Holder recused himself from the matter.

    Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images

    Attorney General Eric Holder is sworn in during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill May 15, 2013 in Washington, DC.

    Holder first announced Tuesday that he had recused himself from the AP leak probe because he had previously been questioned by the FBI about the intelligence breach.

    He added Wednesday that he also turned over his own phone records as a part of that questioning. 

    He told the committee that he recused himself because he was one of the “relatively limited number of people” who had first-hand knowledge of the leaked information – and also because he had more regular communication with reporters than Cole.

    “I was a possessor of the information that was ultimately leaked,” he added. “And the question then is, who of those people who possessed that information – which was a relatively limited number of people  within the Justice Department – who of those people actually spoke in an inappropriate way to the Associated Press,” he added.

    In response to questions, he said that he did not know the date of his recusal for certain and that there was not a written record of it.  He also said that the White House would not have been informed of the recusal. 

    Holder has been widely criticized by Republicans for DOJ's handling of the matter, scrutiny Holder noted at the beginning of his remarks.

    "The head of the [Republican National Committee] called for my resignation in spite of the fact that I was not the person who was involved in that decision," he said.

    The routine Justice Department oversight hearing became a hot ticket after two scandals – the DOJ probe and the revelations about the IRS – erupted since the end of last week. The Obama administration also continues to be dogged by lingering questions over its administration’s response to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on a diplomatic outpost in Benghazi.

    In opening remarks he was set to deliver before the House Judiciary Committee, Holder says the Justice Department “has taken critical steps to prevent and combat violent crime, to confront national security threats, to ensure the civil rights of everyone in this country, and to safeguard the most vulnerable members of our society.”

    NBC's Pete Williams contributed to this report. 

    This story was originally published on Wed May 15, 2013 1:07 PM EDT

  • 'Spirit of the Cold War': Russia says US diplomat was trying to recruit for CIA

    Ryan Fogle, a 29-year-old U.S. Embassy employee, was reportedly caught trying to recruit a Russian intelligence official to work for the CIA.  NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    Anna Nemtsova, Robert Windrem, Alastair Jamieson and Erin McClam, NBC News writes

    Evoking the spy games of the Cold War, Russia said Tuesday that it had detained an American diplomat who was carrying cash, two wigs and technical equipment and was trying to recruit a Russian intelligence official to work for the CIA.

    Russia ordered the expulsion of the American diplomat, whom it identified as Ryan Christopher Fogle, third secretary of the political division of the U.S. Embassy. The State Department said only that an officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow had been detained and released.

    American officials said they did not expect a rift in U.S.-Russian relations. U.S. officials are trying to improve those relations, and to persuade Russia to help resolve a civil war in Syria.

    FSB via AP

    Wigs and spy gadgets that the Russian Federal Security Service says were carried by American diplomat Ryan Fogle.

    Russia used stronger language, calling the matter provocative and in the spirit of the Cold War.

    A statement by the Russian Federal Security Service, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, said that Fogle was taken to the service’s headquarters and then to the U.S. embassy after his arrest Monday night.

    The security service, known as the FSB, released to Russian media photographs of the American’s arrest and what it said were items he had with him, including the wigs, a torch, a compass and a wad of 500-euro notes, each worth $650.

    Russian television also displayed a letter it said was found on Fogle, printed in Russian and addressed “Dear friend.” The letter offered a $100,000 payment as “an advance from someone who has been highly impressed by your professionalism, and who would highly value your cooperation in the future.”

    The statement from the security service said that the U.S. had “repeatedly attempted to recruit employees of Russian law enforcement bodies and special departments” recently.

    The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, was participating in a question-and-answer session on Twitter when the detention was announced. He was summoned to Russia’s foreign ministry, The Associated Press reported.

    Experts expressed surprise at the old-school nature of the alleged espionage, but they noted that intelligence-gathering had not stopped just because the Cold War ended more than two decades ago.

    FSB via AP

    In this photo provided by Russian Federal Security Service, a man claimed by the service to be Ryan Fogle is seen at the service's offices in Moscow.

    “If anything, it has increased,” said James Nixey, head of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the British think tank Chatham House. “The methods have changed — or so we thought — because it’s more about industrial espionage and corruption these days.”

    Besides the diplomacy over Syria, there have been questions about whether Russia gave the United States enough information about Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the suspects in the attack on the Boston Marathon.

    Russian officials asked the U.S. for more information about Tsarnaev, who was born in what is now Russia and traveled to Russia early last year. Russia suspected that Tsarnaev was becoming radicalized, American officials have said.

    The FBI interviewed him in 2011 and turned up nothing, and when the FBI asked Russia twice for more information about its concern, Russia failed to respond, the American officials said. Tsarnaev was killed April 19 in a shootout with police.

    President Barack Obama later said Russia had cooperated since the attack but noted: “Old habits die hard. There are still suspicions sometimes between our intelligence and law enforcement agencies that date back 10, 20, 30 years, back to the Cold War.”

    The incident would not be the only intelligence blunder in Russia. Britain admitted bugging a Moscow park in 2006 by disguising a recording device as a big rock. The FSB saw a British diplomat picking it up and walking away with it.

    Related: 

    Full Russia coverage from NBC News

    Editor’s note: This story includes a correction.

    This story was originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 7:59 PM EDT

  • DNA tests confirm Cleveland kidnap suspect is father of girl freed from house

    Local law enforcement officials in Cleveland tell WKYC that accused kidnapper Ariel Castro is the father of Amanda Berry's 6-year-old daughter.

    Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News writes

    DNA tests have confirmed that Ariel Castro, the suspect in the kidnapping and decade-long imprisonment of three women in Cleveland, is the father of a 6-year-old girl born to one of the women in captivity, the Ohio attorney general said Friday.

    Attorney General Mike DeWine also said that Castro’s DNA did not match other unsolved Ohio cases. He said that the FBI is still checking Castro’s DNA against unsolved cases elsewhere in the country.

    Castro, 52, is charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape in the abductions of the three women and is being held on $8 million bond. They were freed Monday night when one of them, Amanda Berry, broke through a door and screamed for help.

    Berry is the mother of the 6-year-old, who was also rescued from the house, authorities have said.

    The baby was delivered in a kiddie pool by another captive, Michelle Knight, according to a Cleveland police report. Knight told investigators that Castro threatened to kill her if the baby died, the report said.

    Knight also told investigators that Castro impregnated her at least five times, and starved her and pummeled her in the stomach to force her to miscarry, the police report said.

    A DNA match to Castro would confirm what Berry told police, according to the police account. It also said that Castro would take the child out with him, and made sure the girl did not know Knight’s or DeJesus’ real name in case she said them in public.

    An Ohio prosecutor pledged Thursday to pursue charges of aggravated murder against Castro for any pregnancies that he terminated.

    Knight remains in a Cleveland hospital. The hospital said Friday that she is in good spirits, is grateful for an outpouring of flowers and gifts and is asking for privacy.

    Berry and another captive, Gina DeJesus, returned home to their families earlier this week.

    This story was originally published on Fri May 10, 2013 10:57 AM EDT

  • Two best friends, ages 6 and 7, raise $200,000 to fight rare disease

    Best friends Jonah and Dylan have a special bond, especially now that they've raised more money for Jonah's medical condition than any institution has been able to do. NBC's Chelsea Clinton reports.

    By Mary Murray, Senior Producer, NBC News

    LOS ANGELES -- There are only about 100 people in the U.S. like 7-year-old Jonah Pournazarian.

    He suffers from a rare genetic and incurable disease called Glycogen Storage Disease Type 1B. Up until the 80s, most kids with his condition didn't survive past the age of two.

    But his best buddy, Dylan Siegel, wanted his friend to get better, so he wrote a book hoping to raise one million dollars to find a cure.

    It took him an hour to write and illustrate the pages of "Chocolate Bar," an expression the boys use to describe something great, fantastic, or awesome.

    He then nagged his parents to find a publisher. David and Debra Siegel, who live in Los Angeles, Calif., turned to a local printer for help.

    "We had 200 copies to sell at a school fair," said Debra Siegel. "We were hoping that we could sell all the books we had printed.  We didn't want to get stuck with these books."

    In a couple of hours, the boys sold every copy and had collected $6,000.

    "Lo and behold, we had to do a second printing," said David Siegel, who then set up a Facebook page, and eventually a website. "People started to hear about this beautiful little book and wanted to help, be a part of Dylan's Magic."

    Click here to visit the Chocolate Bar website and here to visit their Facebook page. 

    In six months, sales of "Chocolate Bar," as well as real chocolate bars donated by a local Whole Foods supermarket, have raised $200,000 along with awareness of a disease most know little about.

    Cornstarch becomes Jonah's lifeline


    GSD is a metabolic disorder     that affects the liver.

    "The only thing keeping my son alive is cornstarch," explained his mother, Lora Pournazarian, as she mixed a precise dose of cornstarch and water. She administers this mixture through a feeding tube around the clock to keep Jonah's blood sugar levels even. 

    Jonah is permitted to eat other foods, but sweets, fruits and dairy can only be had in strict moderation. 

    "He can have a bite of an apple.  Nothing will happen to him.  He can have a slice of pizza if he wants to, and it's okay," said Lora. "You know, his main food is bread.  If he eats, bread with butter.  And plain pasta."

    Despite the work involved in being constant caregivers, Jonah's father Rabin Pournazarian said he's grown to appreciate life more since Jonah was born.

    "I understand how fragile life is. I understand how difficult it is, at the end of the day, to have a child with special needs.  I understand what a blessing it is to have a child with special needs," he said. "Unfortunately, I've become a little bit more impatient, and -- just life is more stressful now than it was before.  But that's okay, it's just -- it's different.  But different isn't bad."

    The Pournazarians have two other children, Rachel, 9, and Eli, Jonah's twin brother, who both say they're proud of Dylan for everything he's done to help their brother Jonah.

    "It's really amazing to me that a boy his age can make this happen," Rachel said.  

    Dylan and Jonah's siblings Eli, Rachel and Jack share their excitement and appreciation for the "Chocolate Bar" book. 

    An "astounding" book

    Professor Dr. David Weinstein, director of the Glycogen Storage Disease Program at the University of Florida, is working on finding a cure through gene therapy. Because it is so rare, he said, "We're just in the infancy of really trying to treat this."

    Funding research for what Weinstein describes as an "orphan disease," something rare that affects a small population, has been challenging.

    "It's too small for the NIH [National Institutes of Health] to care about, too small to have a foundation," Weinstein said.

    Until "Chocolate Bar," he added, "we had no place to turn.”

    Like other adults, Weinstein was skeptical that Dylan's book would help his efforts.

    "I thought it was wonderful that Dylan wanted to help Jonah," said Weinstein, but at the time he doubted the book would make any real difference.

    Now, he calls Chocolate Bar "astounding."

    "To think that a 7-year-old boy could write a book that could raise more money than all the medical foundations combined! This book is going to allow us to build research teams so that we can really work toward improving the lives of these children," he said.

    And why not? To Dylan and Jonah, friendship is that simple.

    "Dylan wrote the book to help me," said Jonah.

    "I want Jonah to feel better," said Dylan.

    The boys say they've been best buddies for "years." The two first started playing together in nursery school, when they were three. These days, they are inseparable.

    "We're not really good friends," said Jonah. "We're really, really good friends."

    Correcting him, Dylan replied, "No, we're not really, really good friends. We're really, really, really, really, really good friends."

    Clearly, the best of friends.

  • Time-lapse map chronicles decades of global change as seen from space

    Google and Time magazine have stitched together satellite images collected by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, showcasing developments in our planet's landscape via time-lapse. NBC's Rehema Ellis reports.

    Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News writes


    Satellite imagery can serve as a time machine, revealing dramatic change in just a few seconds — but can you imagine documenting almost three decades' worth of all that change, across most of our planet's land mass? A team of imaging experts, computer scientists and journalists did. Now they've unveiled the result: a global database of zoomable, animated satellite views known as Timelapse.

    "We believe this is the most comprehensive picture of our changing planet ever made available to the public," Rebecca Moore, engineering manager for Google Earth Engine and Earth outreach, said Thursday in Google's blog announcement of the Timelapse project.

    Moore said the project began in 2009, when Google started working with the U.S. Geological Society to make its archive of Landsat imagery available online. The team sifted through more than 2 million satellite images, adding up to 909 terabytes of data, and selected cloudless, high-quality views for every year since 1984.

    Carnegie Mellon University's CREATE Lab smoothed the views into seamless animations, and Time magazine built it all into a presentation that supplements the time-lapse animations with commentaries on climate change, urban growth and the other trends that are transforming the planet.

    "I've been chiseling away at this project over the last 11 months, and am in awe of the folks who helped this come together in ways I could never have conceived on my own. Some very bright minds figured out how to make the biggest video frames ever constructed, equivalent to 900,000 HD TVs next to one another," Jonathan Woods, the Time project's executive producer (and a former colleague at msnbc.com), said in an email.

    Google Earth is also hosting the Timelapse zoomable map. "Much like the iconic image of Earth from the Apollo 17 mission — which had a profound effect on many of us — this time-lapse map is not only fascinating to explore, but we also hope it can inform the global community's thinking about how we live on our planet and the policies that will guide us in the future," Moore said.

    When it comes to telling the story of our changing planet, one time-lapse animation is worth a thousand words. But there's more to tell. Find out more about the trends illustrated in the seven animated images you see here:

    Columbia Glacier: Alaska's retreating ice reveals how climate change is changing Earth's surface.

    Dubai coastal expansion: New islands are sprouting along Dubai's coastline as part of a $14 billion land reclamation effort, arguably the largest project of its kind.

    Irrigation in Saudi Arabia: Agriculture amid the deserts of Arabia? It's a growing concern, thanks to huge irrigation projects that take advantage of underground rivers and lakes. The water won't last, though: Hydrologists estimate that it'll be economical to pump water for only about 50 years. 

    Lake Urmia drying up: Iran's great salt lake is not as great as it was, and the reason for that is in dispute. The Iranian government blames climate change and drought, while critics blame the dams that have been built around the lake.

    Brazilian Amazon deforestation: Satellite imagery documents the loss of Amazonian forest land in Brazil due to road-building, logging and agricultural clearing.

    Las Vegas urban growth: What sprawls in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. Landsat pictures reveal how urban development has spread out around Nevada's biggest city over the decades.

    Wyoming coal mining: The Black Thunder mine in Wyoming's Powder River Basin ranks as the largest single coal mining complex in the world, according to Arch Coal, its operator. Satellite imagery shows how the mine has spread out over the decades.

    More time-lapse videos:

    Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

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