Total eclipse of the moon

There is a total eclipse of the moon tonight (Saturday night). On the west coast, unfortunately, we'll miss much of it as the moon will already be mostly eclipsed as it rises at 4:52pm. We can still watch it come out of eclipse starting around 5:30 until it fully emerges from the Umbra at 7:10, then the penumbra at 8:04.

Viewers on the East Coast will be able to see the whole thing shortly after moonrise there, and those in the UK (or most of Europe) can see it in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Also, for west coast viewers, if you're interested in artificial satellites, you should be able to see a nice transit of ICESAT just above the moon just as the eclipse begins to end, which might be pretty cool. (If you're watching from Eugene, ICESAT rises in the SE at 5:53 and sets almost due North at 6:04pm.) (And if you've got a really clear sky due north low near the horizon, you might be able to see two separate Iridium flares at about that same time in the same section of sky. Portland times will be similar)

All this, of course, assumes that it's not cloudy....

Stratford High School

Curiousity piqued at the recent raid (see entry in reynard52's blog), I did a bit of snooping around. Turns out the Goose Creek police department has their own web site.

Quoting from the site:
"To effectively serve our community, the leadership of the Police Department is first committed to serve the staff and their families through the promotion of positive character qualities."

I have to wonder what "positive character qualities" is a euphemism for here (something similar to "family values", I imagine), and how exactly they go about promoting them as the departments primary mission...