MEC&F Expert Engineers : 12/30/16

Friday, December 30, 2016

Ray Lockhart, line specialist with WIN Energy, was electrocuted to death in Sullivan County, Indiana









SULLIVAN COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) – WIN Energy released a statement Thursday morning after an employee was killed while on the job in Sullivan County on Wednesday evening.

“WIN Energy REMC has suffered a great loss with the passing of Ray Lockhart, line specialist in the Sullivan district,” the statement read.

Lockhart and a crew were working on a power line on County Road 1100 N in Farmersburg on Wednesday afternoon when the accident happened. Police on scene told our crew that the line they were working on should not have had any electricity running to it.

When Lockhart picked up the line, he was electrocuted.

The Sullivan County Coroner reported an autopsy was scheduled for Thursday.

“Ray came to WIN Energy REMC as an experienced Line Specialist and worked at the cooperative for three and a half years,” the release continued to say. “Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to his wife, children, family, and friends. He will be greatly missed by his cooperative family.”



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SULLIVAN COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) – Crews were on the scene of a fatal accident in Sullivan County.

The accident happened near West County Road 1100 North and North County Road 25 West.

According to police, a utility worker was working on a power line in the area.

The line wasn’t supposed to have any electricity running to it.

When the worker picked up the line, he was electrocuted.

The Sullivan County Coroner’s office has confirmed Ray Lockhart, 46, of Linton died in that accident. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday morning at 10.

The accident has resulted in a power outage in parts of the area.

Win Energy’s website was reporting 43 customers without power in the area.





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Published: 12/29/16 12:18 pm EST.

FARMERSBURG, Ind. (AP) - Officials say a utility worker died after being shocked while working on a downed power line in rural western Indiana.

The Sullivan County coroner's office says 46-year-old Ray Lockhart of Linton died Wednesday afternoon while working at the site along a county road near the town of Farmersburg. Utility crews were working to repair a power outage in the area about 15 miles south of Terre Haute when Lockhart was shocked.

Vincennes-based WIN Energy REMC says Lockhart was an experienced line specialist who had worked for the electric utility for three and a half years.

The Sullivan County Sheriff's Department says the utility and state safety regulators will investigate why the downed line still had power and whether proper safety procedures were followed.

Speeding female driver, Brianna Lee Vann, crashes at the back of North Carolina trooper's SUV on US-1 and reaches her final destination, early.




Woman killed in crash with North Carolina trooper's SUV


It happened on US-1

Updated 2 hrs 20 mins ago
NEW HILL, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A woman in a crash with a North Carolina Highway Patrol officer's SUV has died.

The chain-reaction crash on U.S. Highway 1 in southern Wake County happened Friday morning near New Hill Holleman Rd (Exit 89).





It appeared the officer was hit from behind.
It began when a tree-trimming truck headed towards Apex hit the barriers in the median and turned over.

Traffic headed in the other direction towards Sanford began slowing down because of the crash.







There were crashes on both sides of the highway.


Troopers said Brianna Lee Vann of Sanford failed to slow for the traffic and swerved at the last second to avoid hitting another car. Her 2003 Toyota went into the median and then back across both lanes of US 1 before slamming into the back of a Highway Patrol officer's SUV parked on the shoulder. The 23-year-old was killed. The trooper was not in the SUV when it was hit and is okay.

DRIVER ON DRUGS CRASHES IN LONG ISLAND: John Winn, 32, charged with driving while impaired by drugs, reckless endangerment and leaving the scene of an accident.

SHIRLEY, Long Island (WABC) -- The driver of a car that crashed into a home on Long Island jumped out, took off his clothes and fled the scene late Thursday.

Suffolk County police responded to a home in Shirley around 11:30 p.m. after the car had been driven through two lawns -- destroying their fences -- before striking a deck and careening into the home on Ridgewood Drive.

The deck collapsed into the pool, and water from the pool flooded the house.

The man exited the vehicle, got naked and ran, police said.

"There was a big boom, come running downstairs, look in the kitchen," homeowner Ron Sandolo said. "There's a car in my kitchen. I yell, 'Is anybody in there?' He says, 'Yeah, I'm alright though.'"

Suffolk police took him into custody a short time later, and he was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue.

John Winn, 32, is now charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, reckless endangerment and leaving the scene of an accident.

4 injured after the driver of a box truck lost control while hauling food and rear-ended a Greyhound bus on I-5 near Kettleman City


4 injured after semi-truck and Greyhound Bus crash near Kettleman City

Investigators say the driver of a box truck lost control while hauling food and rear-ended a Greyhound bus. It was forced up an embankment and the truck tipped over on its side. (KFSN)

Benjamin Kirk
Thursday, December 29, 2016 01:27PM
FRESNO, California (KFSN) -- Investigators say the driver of a box truck lost control while hauling food and rear-ended a Greyhound bus. It was forced up an embankment and the truck tipped over on its side.

Three people were hurt and taken to the hospital, including the truck driver and a 6-year-old girl. All injuries were minor.

According to investigators, there were nearly 50 people on the bus, many were stranded in the cold, but have since been picked up and were taken to San Francisco.

Traffic was backed up for miles and drivers are being advised to find a different route.

"Investigating officer already talked with, and evaluated the driver. It sounds like an unfortunate accident. Fortunately not a lot of people were hurt in it -- at this point, it's minor," said Jay Adams, California Highway Patrol.

Investigators say the driver of the truck doesn't remember what happened. They say he may have fallen asleep behind the wheel, but was not driving under the influence.





4 injured, N/B I-5 closed in Kettleman City, due to Greyhound bus and big rig crash

1 female driver dead, 1 critical after head-on crash in Palos Park, Illinois


1 female driver dead, 1 critical after head-on crash in Palos Park, Illinois

Updated 1 hr 48 mins ago
PALOS PARK, Ill. -- A woman was killed and a man critically injured in a head-on crash Thursday night in southwest suburban Palos Park, police said.

Emergency crews responded at 9:04 p.m. to the two-vehicle collision on 123rd Street between Wolf and Will Cook roads, according to Palos Park police.

Firefighters had to extricate both drivers, including a 55-year-old Orland Park woman who was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The Cook County medical examiner's office did not immediately have information on the death.

The other driver, a 32-year-old Hickory Hills man, was taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Roads around the crash scene were shut down for about five hours as authorities investigated. The cause is under investigation.

Another head-on collision about three hours earlier and four miles away in the same suburb left a man in serious condition. One driver in that crash was charged with a DUI.


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A man was charged with DUI after a head-on crash Thursday evening in southwest suburban Palos Park.

At 5:47 p.m., officers arrived and found one vehicle with extensive damage and another vehicle stopped near the trees along the road in the 12300 block of Route 7, according to Palos Park police.

A 51-year-old man from Indiana was taken to Palos Hospital in serious condition, police said. The driver of the other vehicle, 35-year-old Brian Fox, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. His condition was not immediately known.

Fox, of Orland Park, was charged with DUI, improper lane usage and failure to wear a seatbelt. Additional chargers were pending, police said.

Route 7 was closed for four hours while authorities reconstructed the accident scene. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

A mother died and her two young daughters were injured after falling 20-feet from a chairlift at Ski Granby Ranch in Colorado







Mother dies, 2 daughters injured in Colorado chairlift fall


Thursday, December 29, 2016 08:04PM
GRANBY, Colorado -- A mother died and her two young daughters were injured after falling from a chairlift at a small Colorado ski area Thursday.

The 40-year-old Texas mother and the girls, ages 9 and 12, fell 20 feet from a four-person lift onto snow at Ski Granby Ranch, a 400-acre family-oriented resort about 90 miles west of Denver.

One of the children was hospitalized in stable condition and the other was flown to a children's hospital in suburban Denver for treatment. Investigators have not released any names and have not said what caused the family to fall.

Police spokeswoman Schelly Olson said state regulators who oversee chairlifts are helping with the investigation.

Deaths from malfunctions or falls are rare in the United States, The Denver Post reported. According to the National Ski Areas Association, deaths from malfunctions have totaled just 12 from 1973 through October, and there were three deaths from falls between 2004 and October.

According to an October report by the NSAA, the last death on a chairlift attributed to a malfunction was in 1993. As of the 2015-2016 ski season, the annual fatality rate per 100 million miles traveled on ski lifts was 0.14.

The latest death comes during one of the busiest weeks of the season for ski resorts in Colorado.