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ByEllenKnickmeyer The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO The last U.S. icebreaker capable of crushing through the thick- est ice of the Antarctic and Arctic was due to set sail from the San Francisco Bay on Tuesday after the latest repairs to postpone its al- ready past-due retirement. Climate change makes the 38-year-old Polar Star Icebreaker's science and se- curity missions ever more vital, according to scien- tists and other backers of rebuilding the country's dwindling ice fleet. Crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard's Polar Star icebreaker were drilling early Tuesday before leav- ing the former naval ship- yard at Mare Island, across the bay from San Francisco. Shipyard workers replaced worn, 18-foot-high propel- lers for refitting and carried out other work on the coun- try's sole remaining heavy icebreaker, now eight years beyond its scheduled de- commissioning date. By late January, the Po- lar Star will loom over the western Antarctic on its key annual mission — breaking through ice for the yearly resupply of researchers at the U.S.' McMurdo Re- search Station and another U.S. research center at the South Pole. With 75,000 horsepower and a hull strong enough to batter through six feet of ice at running speed, the Polar Star is the only operational U.S. vessel capable of get- ting the food, fuel and re- search material to the two Antarctic research stations. If they "didn't get that re- supply, it would shut down or severely curtail the amount of science" at the two U.S. Antarctic centers, Capt. Matt Walker, the Po- lar Star's commander, said Monday afternoon from the Polar Star, with the ice- breaker's gangway up for departure. "It puts a huge weight of responsibility that we cannot fail, we cannot suf- fer catastrophic casualty to our equipment, because the resupply of McMurdo wouldn't occur," Walker said. "We have no redun- dancy in the U.S. system." Engine troubles in 2010 took the only other heavy U.S. icebreaker, the Polar Sea, out of service. The U.S. Coast Guard has one other icebreaker, a medium-size one, which mainly works in the Arctic. The National Science Foun- dation has a still-lighter ice- breaker for research. The Russian government, by contrast, has 18 icebreak- ers, including four, nuclear- powered and operational heavy icebreakers. Russia on Monday announced the planned start of work on a new icebreaker to supply that country's growing mil- itary presence in the Arctic and tug Russian combat ships through Arctic ice. While the Obama admin- istration, Congress and the Coast Guard all say main- taining at least one heavy icebreaker is essential for maintaining U.S. security and science, no funding proposals have yet gained momentum to have a new heavy U.S. icebreaker built before age forces the Polar Star out of service, any time from five to 20 years from now. Without active heavy icebreakers, "the control of the Arctic is in the hands of Russia," California U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, the rank- ing Democrat on the House subcommittee that oversees the Coast Guard and mar- itime affairs, said Tuesday. The Arctic is estimated to hold more than 10 per- cent of the world's undis- covered oil reserves, nearly one third of undiscovered gas reserves, and remains a strategically critical area for the United States, con- gressional researchers said earlier this year. Melting ice means traffic has increased in the Bering Strait, between Russia and Alaska, 118 percent since 2008. More melting means more vessels will be coming within harm's way of ice. Meanwhile, research- ers say study of the 1.5 mil- lion-year-old ice of the Ant- arctic is critical to tracking the Earth's increasingly variable weather and the course of man-made cli- mate change. For American research- ers, too, growing differ- ences this year between the Russian and U.S. gov- ernments over Ukraine, Syria and other foreign-pol- icy matters are increasing doubts about the Russia- U.S. logistical cooperation in science that bloomed af- ter the Cold War seem more uncertain. "The idea of sharing space stations or icebreak- ers with them — you feel a little less secure relying on them, because of the ten- sions, and the fact we're sort of poking each other in the eye lately," said Ted Scambos, senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado and a veteran Antarctic researcher. For Walker, the Polar Star's captain, each yearly run to the Antarctic is a run at unlocking critical secrets held in its ice. "I think it's critical to hu- mankind to be able to con- duct the research work that they do in the Antarctic," he said. "It's fundamental to be able to predict or as- certain information about the climate change. The only place you can get that kind of information is Ant- arctica." POLAR STAR Nation'slastbigicebreaker endures despite advanced age U.S.COASTGUARD—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A dry dock containing the icebreaker USS Polar Star is flooded with water on Mare Island in Vallejo. PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thank you! The Associated Press BODEGA BAY A 4-year-old boy suffered broken bones but survived falling more than 200 feet from a sea- side cliff and landing on a rocky beach in Northern California, authorities and his family said. The boy was throw- ing rocks Monday evening during a family outing on a trail in Bodega Bay north of San Francisco when he suddenly couldn't be found, the Press Democrat of Santa Rosa reported (http://bit. ly/1uipJ70 ). His mother called for help. Bodega Bay Fire De- partment rescuers initially thought he had fallen into the water below but then spotted him on the beach at the bottom of the 230-foot cliff at Bodega Head, Capt. Justin Fox said. As daylight faded, res- cuers rappelled down with a basket to the boy, get- ting help from illumina- tion flares fired into the air from a Coast Guard motor lifeboat. The boy was pulled back up in the basket as his family watched from the top of the cliff. The boy's father, Da- ryl Johnson, told KTVU- TV that his son suffered a broken arm and leg and scratches to his face. "It's just sad to see him like that," he said. "His eyes are swollen from the impact. I'm just worried for him." It was low tide, but if it had been high tide, the boy would have been harder to find, Fox said. The cliff poses problems because of its height and the rock's ten- dency to crumble, he said. "It's a very challenging section of cliff as far as res- cues go," Fox said. The rescue was the sec- ond in the area recently, the Press Democrat reported. A 23-year-old woman climb- ing in Bodega Head slipped and fell about 20 feet Sat- urday. BROKEN BONES Boy survives 230-foot fall from cliff COUNTY OF HAWAII — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Lava from the Kilauea Volcano burns a home Monday in Pahoa, Hawaii. Residents of the town have been watching the slow-moving flow approach for months. By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher The Associated Press HONOLULU The family who lost their rented home to a lava flow in Hawaii is looking forward to build- ing a new one on land that was covered by lava years ago. John and Margaret Byrd lived in the home with their family for eight years. They raised rabbits and other animals on the expansive property in the rural Big Island town of Pahoa. "Yesterday, as the house was burning, we were pouring the foundation for our new house," the couple's daughter, Dianna Wilcox, said Tuesday. "It was really a strange coin- cidence." The family decided to move in September, when it seemed likely that lava from Kilauea volcano would consume the house. They are building a new home 10 miles away in Ka- lapana, on land previously covered by lava. Moving was a three- week process involving relocating 80 rabbits, chickens, goats, cows and sheep, Wilcox said. She also lived in the house with her sister, daughter and niece. The family understands moving to another part of the volcano could mean losing another home to lava. "If you're going to live on a volcano, it's about her, not us," she said refer- ring to Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess. "If she wants her land back, then get out of the way. I like to call it 'paradise tax.' " Lava has been slowly snaking its way toward rural and isolated com- munities in the Big Is- land's Puna district for months, but it took an ooz- ing stream of molten rock just 45 minutes to burn down the 1,100-square- foot house. The leading edge of the lava flow had bypassed the home, but it was a lobe of lava that broke out upslope and widened that reached the house. The leading edge remained stalled Tuesday, about 480 feet away from Pahoa Village Road, which goes through downtown, officials said. When the family got word the house would burn down, Wilcox said she tried to make it back in time to watch. By the time she arrived, the house had collapsed. "A lot of memories just went up in flames," she said. Hawaii family loses rented home to lava BIG ISLAND www.lassenmedial.com RedBluff 2450 Sister Mary Columba Drive (530) 527-0414 Red Bluff & Cottonwood Locations LAST CLINIC November 15th 9am-1pm LASSEN MEDICAL FLU SHOT CLINICS Lassenmedical.com Cottonwood 20833 Long Branch Drive (530) 347-3418 LicensedCNA Wanted RedBluff ExcellentpayandBenefits Join our friendly team. 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