Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14045
The appropriately named stingrays at Seal Beach have caused many swimmers a pain in the ankle. Lifeguard Chief Joe Bailey stated to KTLA that over 90 people along the Seal Beach coast were stung from June to mid- July. According to Cal State Long Beach marine biologists, Seal Beach's summer shores have up to 40,000 stingrays. Lifeguards are prepared for attacks and have the antidote—hot water—available to those in need. They suggest when entering the water to shuffle your feet in place to scare the animals away. What attracts the marine creatures to the area is the warmth from the San Gabriel River head, combined with the elevated temperature from the nearby power plant. National Cardio Labs LLC, an independent Heart Diagnosis and Monitoring company, formerly in Santa Ana, Aliso Viejo and Irvine, was ordered to pay $3.6 million to the government for public insurance billing fraud. They billed Medicare, TRICARE, and federal health insurance carriers for procedures that did not take place, for services that had been paid for, and for medical services they did not offer patients. Before the FBI and other public law agencies took over the case, whistleblowers working for National Cardio Labs, James Cast and Stanton Crowley, filed a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act on behalf of the federal government. They received a settlement of $1,115,614. The Orange County Great Park held its fifth anniversary celebration, "Growing the Park", on July 10. The event was organized into five themed areas honoring the park's prior history as a Marine Corp Air Station, its artistic endeavors, new and old agricultural projects, technological advances, and the sports and recreation facilities. Pilots flew vintage airplanes in a demonstration before landing them for viewing. Arts Orange County and The Discovery Science Center provided children with crafts and experiments, and the Orange County Performing Arts Center showcased a vocal percussion group, Vybration. Prizes were awarded to kids participating in the sports challenges. In the Runway section, celebrants witnessed the park's first laser light show. A Toyota Camry was swallowed by the earth in Tampa, Florida on July 11. A sinkhole opened a gap in the ground so large that it grew to be over 20-feet wide and 12-feet deep. The burgeoning hole appeared in the parking lot of a condominium complex and all the residents of the 12-unit building had to be evacuated. Most stayed at relatives' home, but some took shelter with the American Red Cross Tampa Bay Chapter. The sinkhole appeared near the University of South Florida where street closures were ordered by city officials. The building's utilities were cut off for precaution while a sinkhole stabilizing specialist came to inspect it and the hole. An eighteenth century boat was discovered by archaeologists at ground zero. On the morning of July 13, wood from a buried vessel was uncovered by workers at the World Trade Center excavation site, AP sources reported. Two archaeologists, Molly McDonald and Michael Pappalardo dug much of the boat's hull structure out by hand because of its age and sensitivity to the air. A four feet wide anchor was also discovered near the area where the boat was found. It is believed that the ship, whose hull is 32-feet long, was used by construction teams in the 1700s to fill and extend lower Manhattan up to the Hudson River. The United States deported 10 Russian spies in early July as part of a prisoner exchange between the two countries. The secret agents, five men and five women, had been accused by court prosecutors in New York of infiltrating official legislative meetings and collecting information on orders from the Russian External Intelligence Service. The 10 had been living under false pretences as ordinary citizens and all but three assumed bogus names. Four individuals convicted of espionage in Moscow on behalf of the CIA in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, Igor Sutyagin, Sergei Skripal, Alexander Zaporozhsky and Gennadiy Vasilenko, were simultaneously pardoned and released by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. LOCAL NATIONAL Stingray Beach Heartbreaking Fraud Great Park at 5 Festivities I Know an Old Sinkhole Who Swallowed a Car Ground Zero 18th Century Boat Discovery Russian Spy Expulsion THE MONTH IN REVIEW Writer: Tova Morrison 6 LIVEMAGS.NET AUGUST>>10