THE VENERABLE WOOLWORTH’S NAME IS ABOUT TO melt away for good.  The original discount retail chain still that still operates 800+ stores in UK entered into bankruptcy today.

The troubled retailer is over $500 million in debt and its employee pension has a deficit of more than $110 million.

Since its parent company’s demise in the U. S. in 1997, many Americans were not aware that the British company, Woolworth Group, that had spun off independently in 1982, was still operating.

A British Woolworths store photographed
earlier this year.

Frank W. Woolworth started his chain in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when he opened his first store in 1879.  His rapid success led to the building of his famous headquarters in New York City.  When the Woolworth Building was completed in 1913 it was the tallest building in the world.  Woolworth paid for its construction in cash.  The British branch of the chain began in Liverpool in 1909.

The old dime store

In the 1960’s many of the Five and Dimes, as they were called by their customers, were converted into larger discount stores named Woolco.  But after buying out many specialty shoe and clothing chains, and a major change in shopping habits by Americans, the company closed its last department store in 1997 and converted its name to its primary earner, Foot Locker.

Reuters has a good story on today’s actions HERE.
BBC News has MORE.

THE PRISONER GUARDS AT EALING, WEST LONDON, ENGLAND, are a bit embarrassed after a one-legged prisoner outran them and made his escape this past Friday.

Michael Hill, 28, had appeared before the Magistrates Court for a domestic burglary charge and had been remanded to jail.  Hill is an amputee with an artificial leg, but he was obviously lame and constantly using crutches to get around.  Three guards were taking him outside the court to await a prison van to transport him and he was not handcuffed because he needed to crutches to move about.

Once they were outside, Hill dropped his crutches and took off running with the three guards huffing and puffing after him.  After outrunning them for 200 yards, he vaulted a 5-ft. garden wall and disappeared in a block of apartments as the guards watched helplessly from the other side.

As of today, Hill is still at large and the Prison Service is “investigating.”  The Sun is carrying the STORY.

JOHN ROBISON, 63, FORMER ALABAMA STATE FIRE MARSHAL collapsed at his home and died later at the Univ. of Alabama Birmingham Hospital.  He served in the state fire marshal office for 32 years, leading the department for 15 yrs.

John Robison

The Montgomery Advertiser reports:

He became a national figure 13 years ago when a series of fires destroyed small black churches in Dallas, Greene and Hale counties in Alabama’s Black Belt region.

The first church was destroyed Dec. 22, 1995. Within three months, several more churches were burned to the ground in the same area.

Robison spent countless hours investigating the cause of the fires and fielding questions from reporters across the country.

When civil rights leaders claimed the fires were caused by racists, Robison pointed out that more than half of the churches destroyed by arsonists over the period had white congregations.

Several arrests were made in connection with the fires, but Robison found no indication that any of them had been racially motivated.

Since his retirement 5 years ago he was a fire and safety consultant in private practice.

The Montgomery Advertiser has the full STORY.

THE BLACK FOREST FIRE/RESCUE DEPT. in Colorado was beginning a training session Saturday afternoon when a pair of eyeballs caught their attention.

The focus of the training session was stabilization of vehicle rollovers on accident scenes and for the drill they had an old pickup truck.  When they rolled the truck onto its top to begin the drill, someone noticed a pair of bright eyes shining out from inside a front wheel well.  They quickly found out that a bunny was now trapped in their drill and it gave the extrication training a new focus.

Black Forest Fire-Rescue / Kathy Russell photo

In a full accounting of the “incident” a FD spokeswoman tells Denver TV channel 7:

The little cottontail apparently had the hare-brained idea that this old truck would be a warm, safe place to spend the day. Then we came and turned his world upside down.

His wide-eyed expression said that one of us had made a terrible mistake.

“Is he alive?” We crowded around to look.

“Seems to be. He’s breathing. Nose is twitching.”

Having assessed the patient’s vital signs, we huddled to plan our rescue strategy.

We agreed that we had a clear duty to act. This victim, in mortal peril, was a legal resident of our fire district. More than that, he was our next-door neighbor. His family had probably burrowed here on the station’s property for fifteen generations.

It’s a charming tale of a successful rescue and you can read the full account HERE.

IT HAS BEEN A VERY BAD WEEKEND FOR THE FDNY

LODD in Staten Island
Lt. Robert J. Ryan, 46, perished this morning in a house fire in Staten Island.  Early reports say that a ceiling fell on him, knocking his helmet and mask off.  Lt. Ryan had just returned to duty after recovering from a serious burn injury suffered on the job in 2005.

Daily News photo

The New York Daily News has the details HERE.
FireFighter Close Calls is keeping up with the latest HERE.

12 FF’s Injured in firetruck collision
Squad 18 and Ladder 12 had a high-speed collision Saturday evening in Greenwich Village injuring all 12 firefighters on the two trucks.  Five of them are in serious condition.

Firegeezer has an initial report HERE.

Arson/murder in Staten Island
Also on Sunday morning the FDNY responded to a working apartment fire where they found the body of a woman who had apparently been stabbed to death with numerous knife wounds to her chest and neck.

The Staten Island Advance has this STORY.

Warehouse fire and rescue in Queens
A 4-alarm fire in the Astoria section of Queens broke out on Saturday just before noon. 

Gothamist

The fast-moving fire trapped several people in the 5-story warehouse building, but the FDNY was quick on the scene and was able to successfully rescue the beleagured workers.  Six employees and four firefighters suffered minor injuries in the fire.

ny1.com has the story and a video HERE.

Memorial Service

Friday, December 5, 2008 at 4:00 PM

Burke Presbyterian Church
5690 Oak Leather Dr.
Burke, Va. 22015

Reception

Friday, December 5, 2008 from 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Waterford at Fair Oaks
12025 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy
Fairfax, VA 22033

Fire/Rescue personnel are encouraged to wear dress uniform.

Call or email me if you have questions.

Thanks

Eric   elamar@iaff.org

Eric Lamar
International Association of Fire Fighters
1750 New York Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20006

If have pictures of Clark that you want to share at the reception, please contact Eric.

Rest in Peace: Chief Clark O. Martin Jr.

A NASA ASTRONAUT LOST A BAG OF TOOLS while working outside the International Space Station on Tuesday. 

The space shuttle Endeavour is docked at the station while the astronauts make repairs to one of the mechanisms that operate the solar panels, as well as expanding the living quarters.

In this image from NASA TV, the hand of astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper is seen at left, through her helmet camera, reaching for a tool kit bag that was lost from her grasp during a procedure during a space walk outside the International Space Station  (AP / NASA)

While on the spacewalk, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper lost her grip on the bag while cleaning up a mess from a leaking grease gun she was carrying to help mop up metal grit from inside a massive gear that turns the space station’s starboard solar wings.  Contrary to standard procedures, she did not have a tether attached to it and the entire bag full of tools drifted off into space, forever lost.

SPACE.com has the story along with a description of the expansion project being completed on this mission HERE.
The Associated Press has MORE.

This video from NASA shows the embarrassing moment:

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS READ THIS EXCERPT from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, tv station WTAE Channel 4:

One of the men ran inside a home and locked the door. The detective forced the door open and followed the suspect inside.

According to a news release from the police department, as the detective entered the kitchen, he saw what he thought was a male pointing a semi-automatic pistol at him from the living room area. The detective fired two shots, breaking a mirror. Police said they later determined it was the detective’s own reflection.

Then click HERE for the rest of the story.