Courtesy of KDWP

Halloween critters, hayrack ride, and “monster” myth-busters play featured
JUNCTION CITY — “Monster Myths by Moonlight” is the title of an Oct. 11 event at Milford State Park. The event will run from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and include a hayrack ride and exploration of the nature trails by moonlight.

Biologists will man the nature trail, where participants stop at stations and meet Halloween “monsters” and learn the truth about them. Stations include a witch with a vulture, spiders, bats, a snake charmer with a snake, a wizard with owls, a troll on the bridge, and Little Red Riding Hood, who will talk about predators. Mother Nature will serve cookies and cider. Participants are invited to wear Halloween costumes.

Monster Myths is free, but an annual park entrance permit or $3.70 daily vehicle permit is required of all vehicles entering the park. For more information, phone 785-238-3014.

By Francisco Vara-Orta, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 13, 2008

Surveillance video showed two men in a dark red Ford Expedition slowly driving past Rhode’s truck just before the shotgun was stolen. Moments later, the video showed two men reappearing and walking toward the shopping center.

Rhode told KTLA television that the thieves did not take anything else from her truck.

“They just went straight for the gun,” she said.

This morning, Rhode headed to Colorado Springs for a selection match for next year’s international competitions with a hastily put-together replacement gun. She said she is worried that she will not do well without her prize-winning, custom-made shotgun.

The shotgun “is part of me. I’ve traveled all over the world with it,” Rhode told KTLA this morning before boarding a flight at Los Angeles International Airport. “Hopefully it won’t affect my chances for the 2012 Olympics.”

Born in Whittier, Rhode began sport hunting while traveling on African safaris at the age of 12. At age 17, she won a gold medal in women’s double trap shooting at the 1996 games in Atlanta, making her the youngest female gold medalist in the history of Olympic shooting. She won gold in the event again in the 2004 games in Athens. In the Beijing last month, she earned silver in skeet shooting.

Rhode is offering a $5,000 reward for the return of her shotgun, which has stickers up and down the barrel marking each of her wins. Anyone with information on the stolen gun is asked to call the Riverside County Sheriff Department’s Lake Elsinore Station at (951) 245-3300.

Courtesy of USA Shooting Team

BEIJING, China (August 14, 2008)

Kim Rhode (El Monte, Calif.) added to her Olympic medal tally today when she captured the silver medal in the Women’s Skeet event at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Rhode, who won the gold in Women’s Double Trap in 1996 and 2004 as well as the bronze in 2000, also shot in the skeet event at the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games, but switched to skeet shooting full-time after the Women’s Double Trap event was taken out of Olympic competition in 2004.

“After double trap was eliminated in 2004, it was a bittersweet win for me,” said Rhode. “On one hand I won the gold, but on the other hand I knew the challenge I faced in completely switching to skeet. I couldn’t be happier with winning a medal today. Gold, silver or bronze, I don’t think it matters. I am just so glad to be back at the Olympics and representing my country.”

Rhode claimed her silver medal after an exciting shoot-off. She went into the final tied for third place at 70 out of 75 targets with three other shooters. After hitting 23 out of 25 targets in the final, Rhode came out tied for first place at 93 targets with Italy’s Chiara Cainero and Christine Brinker of Germany. In the sudden death shoot-off, Rhode and Brinker each missed a target on their first pair, while Cainero hit both her targets, giving her the gold medal. Battling for the silver in a second shoot-off, Brinker missed one of her targets and Rhode hit both to claim the silver.

Jamie Beyerle (Lebanon, Pa.) barely missed out on earning a spot on the medal podium today in the Women’s 3 Position Rifle event. Beyerle entered the final with a score of 586, just three points out of first place, which was held by China’s Du Li. Despite shooting an excellent final score of 100.9 and standing in second place overall going into the final shot, Beyerle fired a score of 8.7, which wasn’t enough to land her on the podium and she finished in fifth place with an overall score of 686.9.

“It was a great match. I am disappointed, but to finish in fifth place isn’t bad and it’s really been a great experience overall shooting at the Olympics,” Beyerle said.

Sandra Fong (New York, N.Y.), the other U.S. shooter competing in women’s 3 position and the youngest member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Shooting team, finished in 21st place with a score of 577.

Du Li hung on to win the gold medal with 690.3, while Katy Emmons of the Czech Republic, wife of U.S. shooter Matt Emmons, won her second medal of the Games, taking home the silver with a final score of 687.7. Cuba’s Yaima Eglis Cruz took the bronze, finishing right behind Emmons in third place with 687.6.

Friday’s competition at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall/CTF will feature the Men’s 50m Prone Rifle, Men’s Skeet and Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol events. Both the qualification and final round will be held in prone, while 75 targets will be shot in the skeet competition and stage 1 of the rapid fire event will be contested.

Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, N.J.), the 2004 gold medalist in Men’s Prone, will be competing in his first event of the 2008 Olympic Games tomorrow, vying for another spot on the podium in the prone event. Emmons had an extremely successful 2007, winning a total of eight medals on the ISSF World Cup circuit. He captured a gold medal in the Men’s 50m 3 Position Rifle event, as well as a silver in the Men’s Prone Rifle event at the 2007 World Cup Final. Most recently, Emmons claimed a bronze medal in prone at the 2008 World Cup in Milan. Michael Anti (Winterville, N.C.), a Major in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in Men’s 3 Position Rifle and will be competing in the prone event this time around in Beijing.

Already at the young age of 19, USAMU member Vincent Hancock (Eatonton, Ga.) is a World Champion, Pan American Games Champion and the 2007 World Cup Italy Champion and world record holder in Men’s Skeet. Hancock will be representing the U.S. on his first Olympic team here in Beijing. Joining him will be 22-year-old Sean McLelland (Mission, Texas), who finished in second place behind Hancock at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Shotgun and will be competing in his first ever Olympic Games.

Keith Sanderson (San Antonio, Texas), a Staff Sgt. in the U.S. Army, who won the bronze medal at the 2007 World Cup in Munich and secured an Olympic participation slot, has been very successful in Men’s Rapid Fire since coming on the scene in late 2004 and will be competing on his first U.S. Olympic team.

Eller Takes Double Trap Gold,
Sets Olympic Record

Coutesy of Bullet Points

Courtesy USA Shooting: Glenn Eller on the medal stand Tuesday after winning gold in double trap.

DOMINANT DISPLAY GIVES U.S. SECOND MEDAL . . . The United States’ Glenn Eller won the gold medal in double trap Tuesday, setting two Olympic records and claiming the second medal so far for the U.S. shooting team at the Beijing Olympics. Eller began his day strong, setting a new Olympic record in qualifying for the final with a 145, and continuing his dominance through the final with a total score of 190, also a new Olympic record. Eller, 26, of Katy, Texas, is a three-time Olympian. This is his first Olympic medal. A member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, he finished 12th at the Sydney Games and 17th in Athens. The previous Olympic record of 144 was set by Ahmed Almaktoum of the United Arab Emirates at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Almaktoum and Russell Mark of Australia (Atlanta 1996) were the previous final score record holders with 189.

For complete coverage of the shooting events in Beijing, visit USAShooting.com and NBCOlympics.com.