In this Aug. 25 photo, Delores Stewart displays bed bugs found in her home in Columbus, Ohio. A resurgence of bedbugs across the U.S. has homeowners and apartment dwellers taking desperate measures to eradicate the tenacious bloodsuckers, with some relying on dangerous outdoor pesticides and fly-by-night exterminators.

Ohio authorities want the Environmental Protection Agency to approve a previously banned pesticide to fight a widespread bed bug infestation in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, the Associated Press reported. The EPA banned the pesticide propoxur from in-home use in 2007. EPA officials are warning residents against using pesticides meant for outdoor use indoors; the practice has been blamed for recent house fires around the country.

Some Content Courtesy: www.annarbor.com /AP Press

Well, the Earth did it again! A 7.2 magnitude quake hit Baja, California this morning and was able to be felt in Los Angeles, San Diego, and even Phoenix, Arizona. While no deaths have been reported there is report of damage across the west coast.

From The New York Times:

LOS ANGELES – A powerful earthquake just southeast of Tijuana shook southern California Sunday afternoon, damaging buildings in border towns and rattling a seismically-sophisticated population as far north as Los Angeles and Phoenix.

Chandeliers swayed, homes shook and the earth seemed to slide under the feet of people emerging from Easter church services for well over a minute as the quake rocked states in Mexico and the United States.

The 7.2 quake struck just after at 3:30 p.m. local time, and was centered 16 miles south-southwest of Guadalupe Victoria in Baja California, Mexico, and about 108 miles east-southeast of Tijuana, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The earthquake occurred about 20.1 miles below the earth’s surface, the geological survey said. Experts have said that such a depth increases the chances that the earth might absorb a majority of the shock, reducing the chances of damage on the surface. A 6.9 earthquake can cause major damage in structures, crack the ground and shift foundations.

At least five possible aftershocks were reported, including a 4.5-magnitude quake 62 miles east of Tijuana, reported at 4:09 p.m., and a 5.1-magnitude quake near Imperial, Calif., at 4:15 p.m. A 3.8-magnitude quake was also reported 12 miles northwest of Jacumba Hot Springs, Calif. at 4:19 p.m. A 3.6-magnitude quake was reported 7 miles northeast of Julian, Calif., at 4:22 p.m.. A 4.3-magnitude quake was reported 15 miles west-southwest of Calixico, Calif., at 4:34 p.m., and a 4.7-magnitude quake was reported 14 miles south-southwest of Mexicali, Baja California in Mexico, at 4:37 p.m.

Our thoughts here at WES are with those affected by this quake, those that are continuing to deal with these past few weeks/months of quake damage still, and are hoping that the quakes end soon!

As residents in the North East part of the United States begin surveying the damage done by the massive amount of flooding they are being cautious. Why you ask? Well, it seems the flood waters may be tainted with oil, sewage, trash, and possibly even biohazard waste. This threat poses a delicate difficulty towards those who are pumping out basements and trying to salvage water logged vehicles.

Fears of some Rhode Islanders expand past the water caused by a round of epic rainfall that started the worst flooding the area has seen in 200 years to that of job loss caused by the closing of shopping malls, small businesses, and mills.

While some people pumped out water-logged basements, shoveled mud or scrambled to hire heavy equipment operators to fill in washed-out sidewalks, others were left to ponder something more permanent – losing their jobs, possibly forever.

For hard-luck state Rhode Island, with nearly 13 percent of its residents unemployed, the aftermath of the storm has added more woes.

While damage estimates can’t be made until the floodwaters receded, Gov. Don Carcieri of Rhode Island said Thursday they could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

As more and more news coverage comes to light over the many earthquakes that the Earth has had in the last few weeks – many are asking, is this a sign of something worse to come?

Scientists say, no way. They say that there are too many people who have built lives on major fault lines and that the news coverage is more prompt these days when these disasters occur. People are losing their homes and their lives becuase they live in these major areas where destruction is imminent.

There have been several major earthquakes that have rattled different parts of the world. Haiti, Chile, Turkey, Indonesia, and now Japan. All of these earthquakes measured 6.0 or better on the Richter scale.

It’s hard to believe that this is all normal and that nothing is going on. All I can definitely say is that if you feel like something is up, maybe you shouldn’t watch the movie 2012 or go to the USGS website.

Corey Haim passed away today, March 10th, at the age of 38.

Haim was best known for his films The Lost Boys, License to Drive, and Dream a Little Dream.

Haim made his first cinematic appearance in the 1984 feature film, Firstborn, which starred Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr. In 1985, Haim appeared in minor roles in Secret Admirer and Murphy’s Romance and starred in the leading role in a feature film version of Stephen King‘s novella Silver Bullet, playing a paraplegic boy alongside Gary Busey. Haim started to make a name for himself in the industry, notably by earning his first Young Artist Award as an Exceptional Young Actor Starring in a Television Special or Movie of the Week for the television movie A Time to Live.

Haim passed away due to an accidental overdose. He suffered long term drug and substance abuse issues. Another life gone way before their time. Corey Haim, Earth will miss you!

Many questions are arising after a massive 8.8 earthquake shook Chile yesterday in the early hours of the morning. What do these earthquakes mean for the future of the world and does it mean it’s a sign of ‘the end’?

Chile Earthquake Details

Even now (as of 3 hours ago local time) aftershocks are being felt in the range of 6.1 to 6.9.

With 214 people confirmed dead and the death toll expected to rise, Chilean rescue workers rushed to save people trapped by Saturday’s massive earthquake — including dozens feared inside a collapsed apartment block in the city of Concepcion.

The 8.8 magnitude earthquake was one of the most intense ever measured. More than half a million homes were destroyed in an event scientists said was 500 times stronger than the earthquake in Haiti.

In the hours after Chile’s quake, coastal cities from Japan to Australia were placed on alert for a tsunami. Most areas were spared widespread destruction from the waves, though some deaths were reported on a Chilean island.

What’s for certain is this: everday around the world there are quakes that are reported to the USGS. Is our Earth changing, probably. Is there more ‘impending doom’ in the wake of another crisis, maybe. We should all just relax and enjoy everything though, because even IF the world is ending don’t you just want to remember the things that didn’t suck?

A source close to Former President Bill Clinton said he was “in good spirits” today after undergoing a procedure to insert two stents (stents are tiny tubes that are inserted into narrow or blocked blood vessels to help move blood through better) into one of his coronary arteries.

Clinton who will be 64 this year was hospitalized at the Columbia campus of New York-Presbyterian Hospital after experiencing discomfort in his chest. He is currently being kept for observation.

President Clinton’s work in Haiti is especially needed right now (He was named United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti in 2009).

We here at WES wish the President a quick and speedy recovery.

World leaders, including President Obama, are condemning Uganda for proposing a bill that would make being gay not only illegal but would call for the death penalty or life imprisonment for HIV-positive homosexuals who have sex with minors.

U.S. President Barack Obama criticized the Ugandan measure while speaking at a prayer breakfast Thursday in Washington.  “We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are — whether it’s here in the United States or, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed, most recently in Uganda,” he said.

The bill’s author, Ugandan politician David Bahati, has this response to nations threatening to withhold aid if his measure passes.  “We would rather stay with our values and you stay with your money,” he said.  

Gay rights activists in Uganda say the measure has intensified anti-gay prejudice. Pepe Julia Onzeima says she has been harassed frequently. “I have been picked up off the street, detained for sometime, ridiculed, intimidated, some money taken away from my wallet, and then I am.. .you know, they release me, they tell me ‘go,’ ” she said. 

Anti-gay measures have emerged in some east African countries in recent months. Kenya and Tanzania already have anti-gay laws that gay rights activists fear could be expanded. (Voice of America, 2010)

Karen Schmeer was a beautiful soul who edited award winning Sundance film Sergio, The Fog of War, and Sketches of Frank Gehry with Sydney Pollack.

Karen passed away on Friday afternoon after a getaway car (2 men were trying to steal over the counter medications from a local CVS) struck her on New York City’s Broadway and West 90th intersection.

“She was just extremely loved by many, many friends,” Schmeer’s mother told The AP.

Documentarian Morris mourned the editor’s death through Twitter.

“An extraordinary editor makes possible something that would not have been possible without them. Karen Schmeer was an extraordinary editor,”he tweeted.

And later, “The only thing more appalling than life is death.”

Schmeer’s colleagues paid their respects at the Sundance Film Festival Awards on Saturday evening.

The driver of the car was arrested on a murder charge shortly after the accident, but police are still looking for two other suspects, police told The AP.

As I’m sure everyone has heard by now, Mr. O’Brien has exited NBC with a 45 million dollar deal. His last show will be today (Friday, January 22).

Reportedly 12 million of the 45 million dollar deal will go to his staffers, most of whom moved from New York City (just like Conan did..) to Los Angeles to continue working on his show. Unfortunately the breakdown of severance for each employee doesn’t amount to that much when you tally up how many people will be out of a job. It has also been reported that only Conan’s top paid employees (likely the Max Weinberg band, Andy Richter, producers, and writers) will continue on when and if the show moves to another network. However, due to the exit contract’s stipulations it looks like the show won’t be able to start up somewhere else until September.. for many that’s a long time to go without a monthly salary.

NBC is putting Jay Leno back into the Tonight Show time slot, a move they feel will help boost NBC ratings. Personally, I think that it’s not just me that is disgusted with everything that went down. Sure, Mr. O’Brien got to walk away with a huge chunk of cash but at the same time he has lost his dream. A dream that he only got to hold onto for 7 months. People say that Jay Leno didn’t want to take the Tonight Show back and it was offered to him via NBC. If this were the case shouldn’t he have just said no thanks?

I really hope NBC realizes what they lost with getting rid of Conan and I hope even more that Conan and his staff are able to find a new home on a better network.