Indonesian Volcano Erupts

An Indonesian volcano that has been dormant for hundreds of years erupted for a second straight day on Monday, forcing thousands of people out of their homes.

Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra has long been considered inactive because it last erupted more than 400 years ago.

It erupted for the first time over the weekend and erupted again early Monday, spewing clouds of soot and ash into the air, the Indonesian meteorology agency said.

As many as 30,000 people who live near the mountain have fled their homes, freelance journalist Michel Maas reported.

Maas said villagers living along the slopes have packed their belongings and headed to emergency shelters, mosques and churches.

Health officials have been distributing thousands of face masks to help people protect themselves from the ash and smoke billowing into the air.

While two people have died — a 64-year-old woman from respiratory problems and a 52-year-old man from a heart attack — it was too early to say if the volcano was to blame, said Priyadi Kardono of the National Disaster Management Agency.

Sinabung last erupted in 1600, so observers don't know its eruption pattern and admitted over the weekend that they had not been monitoring it closely before it started rumbling days ago in the lead-up to Sunday's first, less-powerful blast.

Hurricane Earl Gaining Strength

Hurricane Earl continues to pick up more power in the Atlantic Ocean, with winds whipping at about 105 mph and forcing even stronger gusts.

As of Monday morning, the Category 2 hurricane was centered east of Puerto Rico, about 50 miles east-northeast of St. Martin, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. It was headed west-northwest at about 15 mph.

Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Leeward Islands could get up to eight inches of rain and as much as 12 inches in isolated areas with higher elevations, the hurricane center said. "These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the center said.

Earl is expected to gain more force and "become a major hurricane," by late Monday or early Tuesday, the weather agency said.

Storm surging is expected to raise water levels by up to four feet above ground level in the hurricane warning area, the weather agency said. The surge "will be accompanied by large and dangerous battering waves," according to the hurricane center.

A hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning are in effect for Puerto Rico.

Earl could impact the entire East Coast over the Labor Day weekend.

Hurricane Danielle Could Bring Dangerous Rip Currents to US

Hurricane Danielle remained far out over the Atlantic on Saturday, but the Category 2 storm is still expected to bring dangerous rip currents to the U.S. East Coast.

Danielle's maximum sustained winds were near 110 mph. It is about 320 miles southeast of Bermuda and is forecast to pass east of the island Saturday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm is expected to remain about the same strength for the next day but gradually begin weakening Sunday. It said large waves and dangerous surf conditions are expected in Bermuda, where a tropical storm watch has been issued.

Farther out in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Earl has maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. It could strengthen into a hurricane by Saturday night. A tropical storm watch was in effect for several islands in the eastern Caribbean, including St. Maarten, Antigua and Montserrat.

Rip currents form as waves travel from deep to shallow water, they eventually break near the shoreline. As waves break, they generate currents that flow in both the offshore (away from the coast) and the alongshore directions. The currents flowing away from the coast are called rip currents.

More Drug Problems for Paris Hilton

The question is, can she get out of this one?

Police say Paris Hilton has been arrested for possession of cocaine after officers stopped the car she was in on a Las Vegas street late Friday night.

Hilton was booked into the Clark County Detention Center early Saturday morning on a charge of possession of cocaine.

He says she was in a car driven by a friend that was stopped when officers noticed what they suspected to be marijuana smoke coming from it.

Martin says that during the stop officers found what appeared to be a controlled substance on Hilton and tests showed that it was cocaine.

Recently Hilton had drug related issuses at the World Cup in South Africa, and at the airport in Corsica.

*Updates to come.

Update on Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 9:19PM by Rick C.Limpert

Here's Paris' mug shot from her early morning arrest.

Word is, she is claiming it wasn't her purse.  Yea right.

Has Tourism Come Back to New Orleans?

New Orleans was one of my favorite places to visit.  I haven't been since Hurricane Katrina hit.  Thankfully many other are returning to this great city and area.

On the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, tourism in New Orleans is growing at one of the fastest paces in the U.S., but it remains a fraction of its pre-hurricane levels.

In 2004, New Orleans saw a record 10.1 million visitors; in 2006, post-Katrina, the number had dropped to 3.7 million. But 7.9 million tourists visited New Orleans in 2009, and of the 25 top U.S. destinations, New Orleans had the second-highest growth of revenue per available room in the first half of 2010, according to a report from hotel-industry research and consulting firm Smith Travel Research Inc.

Last week, the Hyatt Regency New Orleans broke ground on a $275 million project to restore the hotel, which was heavily damaged by the storm and has been closed since 2005. The hotel, owned by Hyatt Hotels Corp., is expected to reopen in 2011.

Kelly Schulz, a spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, a nonprofit that promotes tourism in the region, says next to rebuilding infrastructure, the biggest challenge the tourism industry faced post-Katrina was "convincing people that it was safe to come back."

In the hurricane's aftermath, some of the first visitors to return to New Orleans came to help with the cleanup. Ms. Schulz says that so-called "voluntourism" has become popular with corporations and other organizations. Their employees or members help to rebuild homes and playgrounds when they hold conferences in New Orleans.