Morning report: Cold lemurs in Japan; weather-related flight delays at LAX and in the Northwest; tourists rescued from Singapore’s giant Ferris wheel

[Here's how ring-tailed lemurs at the Japan Monkey Center in Inuyama, Japan, stay warm: an electric heater! Yoshikazu Tsuno / AFP  Getty Images]

Weather and travel: Frustrated travelers Monday at LAX and other airports in the West may find some relief today (Dec. 23) as flights to the storm-hit Northwest begin to return to normal schedules, the Associated Press reports.

Many were stuck trying to get to destinations like Seattle and Portland, Oregon, where flights were either canceled or delayed due to a big snowstorm that started over the weekend. People tried to rebook or find alternate means of travel, but with Greyhound terminals in Portland and Seattle shut down, there was little they could do but wait.

[Rescue workers evacuate a passenger from a capsule of the Singapore Flyer on Tuesday. Wong Maye-E / Associated Press]

Stranded passengers at Seattle’s airport were given water and blankets as about 100 passengers spent the night, airport spokesman Perry Cooper told the AP. Alaska and Horizon airlines, which run about half the flights in and out of Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport, say they will resume normal operations today.

How bad was that snowstorm in the northwest? Portland got 14.5 inches on Sunday, breaking a record set in 1933.

Singapore: The Singapore Flyer — a Ferris Wheel that’s 492 feet tall with capsules that hold 28 people — stopped working today after a short circuit cut its power supply, the AP reports.

A total of 173 people, mostly tourists, had to be rescued from the attraction that opened in February and was meant to boost tourism. The wheel was shut for about six hours before resuming operation.

– Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times staff writer

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 at 10:36 am by Mary Forgione and is filed under Airline travel, California, Japan, News, Tips & Advice, Pacific Northwest, Washington, Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.