An employee was injured at the Martinez water treatment plant in CA, after a 100-gallon sodium hypochlorite container exploded

MARTINEZ, CA (CBS SF) — 

An employee was injured Thursday morning by an explosion at the Martinez water treatment plant, according to a city news release.

The explosion occurred around 7:45 a.m. and involved a 100-gallon sodium hypochlorite container that workers were moving.

After one employee noticed that the container was hot to the touch, it suddenly exploded, releasing the chemical. An employee was taken to the hospital for assessment of cuts and abrasions, the city said.


Firefighters and county hazardous materials workers responded to the plant at 3003 Pacheco Blvd. and, along with plant workers, contained the chemical. Sodium hypochlorite is used for water purification and disinfection.

“There is no indication that the explosion was in any way related to operations at the plant or actions by employees,” the city news release said.

The incident did not affect the water supply at the plant or plant operations. The explosion is under investigation.

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MARTINEZ, CA — 

An employee was injured Thursday morning in a chemical explosion at the Martinez Water Treatment Plant, officials said.

The 32-year-old man was taken to a hospital for evaluation of cuts and abrasions.

In a news release, Martinez officials said the explosion happened about 7:45 a.m. Thursday at the water treatment plant at 3003 Pacheco Blvd.

Employee said a 100-gallon Sodium Hypochlorite container exploded after an employee noticed the container was hot to the touch as it was being moved.

The blast released the chemical onto the ground and injured the employee.

The release said other employees acted immediately to containe the chemical and were later assisted by Contra Costa County Fire Protection District firefighter and county hazardous materials officials.

The release said the quantity released does not pose a threat to the community and that the water supply was “in no way impacted.” Plant operations were not impacted either, the release said.


Officials said there was no apparent structural damage at the facility.

Warnings issued about fires at medical marijuana facilities, after two fires at Arizona Development Services in Arizona and a chemical spill at another facility

a worker at a facility off Coolidge Avenue did not store a can of butane properly and it exploded inside of a fridge, starting a fire


Warnings issued after medical marijuana facility fires
Nick Ciletti

August 23, 2018
 



COOLIDGE, AZ - 

A new warning is being issued about fires at medical marijuana facilities, after two fires in our state were caused this summer and a chemical spill at another facility.

The most recent occurred on August 12 in Coolidge.


First responders say a worker at a facility off Coolidge Avenue did not store a can of butane properly and it exploded inside of a fridge, starting a fire.

Coolidge Fire Capt. Mark Dillon says the situation was especially dangerous for his crew because there were different types of gasses stored inside, something that's typical for marijuana processing, but not for dispensing the drug, which is the only thing this particular facility was zoned for.

"It most definitely could be deadly for first responders, whether it be law enforcement or fire," explained Chief Dillon.

Part of the reason is because of all the flammable materials inside - chemicals, lamps, electrical equipment, and even the plants themselves.

Chief Dillon says as medical marijuana grows in popularity, he believes we'll see more of these kinds of fires.

"I believe this is a trend we will probably see and this is something fire departments and law enforcement and city code officials will have to deal with because it's a crop and a business that's in Arizona to stay," said Dillon.

In June, there was another fire at a marijuana facility in Phoenix. And in Snowflake, there was an incident at another facility with chemicals being spilled.

The spill in Snowflake reportedly sent several people to the hospital at another marijuana facility. 

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Chemical-fueled explosion causes fire at Coolidge marijuana facility


  Associated Press
August 14, 2018
casa grande | southern arizona



COOLIDGE, AZ - 

Authorities are investigating a fire that happened at Arizona Development Services, a marijuana cultivation facility.

The Casa Grande Dispatch reports the Coolidge Fire Department responded to the facility around 6:51 p.m. on Sunday.

Fire Chief Mark Dillon says the call initially came in as a fire caused by a lightning strike, but crews later discovered that the fire was actually coming from an internal source.

Fire officials say the materials led to an explosion within the building.

No one was inside the building at the time of the incident.

Crews managed to put out the fire shortly after 7:30 p.m., but that was not before it managed to do significant damage to the structure.

Dillon says initial damage estimates will likely be in the range of $100,000. 

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Hash oil, produced with butane, cause of refrigerator explosion in South Hadley, officials say
Updated Oct 13, 2015; Posted Oct 12, 2015




By George Graham

ggraham@repub.com



SOUTH HADLEY, Mass.-- 

Hash oil, produced with butane, was the cause of a refrigerator explosion inside a home on Memorial Drive Saturday morning that buckled a wall and blew out windows, a spokeswoman for the state Fire Marshal's office said.

No injuries were reported in the explosion, however, a resident was arrested, spokeswoman Jennifer Mieth said Monday.

The explosion at 2081 Memorial Drive, reported about 8 a.m. woke up two residents, South Hadley Fire District 1 Capt. James Pula said on Saturday.

Mieth said somebody extracted the hash oil, also known as honey oil, from marijuana by using butane as a solvent.

The finished product, placed in the refrigerator, off-gased the extremely flammable butane inside that enclosed space. "And when the compressor kicked on it ignited those vapors," she said.

Such explosions are relatively rare in Massachusetts, Mieth said, adding she is aware of one that that occurred in Tewksbury several years ago.

Mieth had no information on the name of the person arrested or the charges that the person may face.

South Hadley police were not available to comment Monday afternoon.

The blast, along with damaging the home, destroyed the refrigerator, Pula said.

Former Passaic County Sheriff Officer Ronald A. Lucas Defrauded the New Jersey Police and Firemen Retirement Fund by Falsely Claiming on the job Injury

Lying Lucas is #41

 Former Passaic County Sheriff Officer Ronald A. Lucas Defrauded the New Jersey Police and Firemen Retirement Fund by Falsely Claiming on the job Injury

RONALD A. LUCAS, 60, OF POMPTON LAKES, A FORMER PASSAIC COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICER, LIED DURING HIS GRAND JURY TESTIMONY WHEN HE CLAIMED THAT HE INJURED HIS LEFT SHOULDER DURING A FALL AT A PROPERTY ON JUNE 28, 2011

As part of an investigation we have been performing, we discovered that Ronald A. Lucas, a former Passaic County sheriff officer with the Civil Division lied about his on-the-job shoulder injury.  Lucas claimed that he fell on the job on June 28, 2011 at 687 Indian Road, Wayne, NJ and that he injured his left shoulder requiring several pins.  He then filed a disability claim with the New Jersey Division of Pensions and Benefits (Police and Firemen Retirement System).  He was granted disability for one year with subsequent review.  After he retired with claimed disability, he obtained a job as part-time security guard at the Pequannock High School.

Bombshell evidence contradicting Lying Lucas’ injury claims: We have obtained a report by Lt. Nick Mango who stated that nobody was injured at the scene.  The report by Lucas also states that he stumbled and not fell.

We discovered that Mr. Lucas suffered shoulder injuries while playing football and lifting heavy weights over his lifetime.  He was a linebacker with the Pompton Lakes Cardinals (he played at position #41), using his shoulder to hit and tackle his opponents during practice and during football games.  He also lifted very heavy weights to do body building.  Lucas has fallen on his shoulder probably thousand times during his athletic and training career.

Everybody knows that linebackers hit and tackle their opponents using their shoulders.  These athletes also lift heavy weights and they end-up injuries their shoulders.   He (Lucas) even made the All County Team in 1980, showing how hard he was working out.  Based on our investigation, we found that weight lifting athletes do suffer shoulder injuries of the type claimed by Lucas.

He also trained his two sons (Dean Lucas and Ronnie Lucas) into playing TE and DE positions also with the Cardinals football team.  In fact, linebackers suffer at least 13.5 percent of all football injuries and at least 65 percent of the linebackers end up undergoing surgery.

Lt. Nick Mango wrote in his June 28, 2011 report that “nobody was hurt”.  Also, Lucas never wrote in his June 28, 2018 report that he was injured.  He specifically wrote:  “As I entered the woods I stumbled”.  He never wrote that he was injured.  However, during this grand jury testimony, he provided a diametrically different picture:

Lucas claimed that he fell on his elbow and shoulder, but was able to regain his balance, and he ran into a wooded area to seek cover behind a large boulder.   Lucas claimed that he tore his biceps and had surgery on his shoulder, and “ended up having a pretty severe injury” in his shoulder, requiring “five pins.”  Of course we now know that this guy was a football player and body builder and suffered these injuries over his many years of lifting heavy weights and hitting his opponents with his shoulder (he was a linebacker with the Pompton Lakes Cardinals at #41).  This guy then defrauded the Police and Firemen Retirement Fund by claiming disability and started the double dipping.

So, from flip-flopping regarding the color of the gun; to whether the door was closed or open; to whether he knocked the door or not; to whether he suffered a major injury or not, Lying Lucas has some serious credibility issues; and all his lies were allowed to poison the grand jury deliberations.

We have obtained photos showing Mr. Lucas lifting weights, after his alleged job-ending disability.  See for example the attached image that is dated December 2013.

It is obvious to a reasonable and objective person that Lucas (in his mid-50s) took this incident on June 28, 2011 to claim on-the job-injury to be able to repair his previously injured shoulder at taxpayers’ expense and to retire and then blame Basilis Stephanatos for his injuries.  After he retired, he started the double dipping.  The finest of New Jersey at "work".

THE CORRUPT AND UNETHICAL NEW JERSEY JUDICIARY: Former corrupt judge Margaret McVeigh steals property valued at $475,000 for $20,000 in undue taxes in Wayne Township, New Jersey

Former corrupt judge Margaret McVeigh steals property valued at $475,000 for $20,000 in undue taxes in Wayne Township, New Jersey. She was forced to resign in 2016 after complaints regarding her criminal acts 

SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS:  ABUSE OF LAWS AND VIOLATION OF CITIZENS' CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

Former corrupt judge Margaret McVeigh steals property valued at $475,000 for $20,000 in undue taxes in Wayne Township, New Jersey.  She was forced to resign in 2016 after complaints regarding her criminal acts

Dear Legislators:

I have been reading about abuse of laws and violation of citizens' constitutional rights by municipal and superior court judges as a way of shaking them up.  In one case reported to the media, former Chancery judge Margaret McVeigh in Passaic County stole homestead property valued at $475,000 for $20,000 in undue taxes in Wayne Township, New Jersey.  Could you please comment on this story?

Sincerely,

Camila Jones

JUDICIAL CORRUPTION AND ABUSE OF LAWS IN NEW JERSEY


I have been reading your stories regarding local courts that must stop shaking N.J. residents down for cash.


I must inform you that these practices are not limited to the municipal courts. They are widespread in the superior courts, the Chancery (or general equity) divisions that handle tax sale foreclosures. They threaten people with forfeiting their homes and with eviction if they fail to pay taxes that may not even owe.


In my case, they stole my homestead property and place of business that was valued at $475,000 for a property tax of $20,000. The property was over-assessed by more than 40 percent in violation of N.J.S.A. 54:4-23 and the Uniformity Clause of the NJ Constitution (Article VIII, Section 1, paragraph 1(a)), and they knew it, but they confiscated my home, anyway. Tragic, tragic, situation.

The corrupt former Chancery judge Margaret McVeigh never issued an application of the law to the facts in violation of court Rule 1:7-4(a). Furthermore, court rule R. 4:64-6 states that in foreclosure of tax sale certificates, if the defendant's answer sets up the defense of the invalidity of the tax or other lien, or the invalidity of the proceedings to sell, or the invalidity of the sale, those questions shall be tried in the action. However, here there is neither fact finding nor a trial on any of the issues raised by Dr. Stephanatos. The corrupt former Chancery judge Margaret McVeigh failed to consider the equities that were in favor of Dr. Stephanatos or that a windfall will result. See M&D Assocs. v. Mandara, 366 N.J. Super. 341 (App. Div.) certif. denied, 180 N.J. 151 (2004) for its rationale that chancery courts "in such foreclosure cases should be alerted . . . that a significant windfall might result if adequate scrutiny . . . is not undertaken[,] In view of our decision, the operation of the tax sale law requires that the entire judgment must be vacated as void based upon equitable considerations.”

Dr. Stephanatos was also targeted by the government due to the filing of several lawsuits, both federal and state; he was penalized by the judges for that. What the government did was unlawful, unfair and unreasonable.

The Passaic County sheriff then filed criminal charges against me for refusing to leave my home and they claimed they were assaulted. The criminal case is pending for 7 years and 1 month now. It has not gone to trial because of the massive corruption in the judicial system and because the sheriff employees (Ronald A. Lucas and Vincent D'Agostino) committed perjury, i.e. they lied that they were assaulted. Although an assault case must be brought to trial within 1 to 2 years, it has been more than 7 years now. A defendant has a fundamental constitutional right to a speedy trial. U.S. Const., amend.VI; N.J. Const. Art. I, ¶ 10. But the state judiciary violated that right.

They also violated my constitutional rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment and Article I, par. 20 of the state constitution that prohibit private takings; no state court had jurisdiction or authority to take a $475,000 homestead property belonging in full to Dr. Stephanatos and deliver it to a third party (American Tax Funding, LLC). But these corrupt judges did it anyway.


What has really shocked our conscience is that ATF, LLC/Wayne Township knowingly charged unlawful and/excessive taxes in violation of the Uniformity Clause (Article VIII, Section 1, paragraph 1(a)). They also charged him 18 percent interest and 6 percent penalties on top of these excessive and illegal taxes. Thus, a tax dispute of less than $20K (the overassessment amount) became $60K. We found that Dr. Stephanatos offered to pay the $20K overassessment amount, but refused to pay the $60K amount. Then the antitrust conspirators (See the U.S. District Court in Newark Antitrust Litigation that found that ATF, LLC conspired to defraud homeowners of their properties and money) confiscated his residential real estate property, along with his business, Metropolitan Environmental Services.

PRIVATE TAKINGS ARE PROHIBITED BY BOTH FEDERAL AND STATE CONSTITUTIONS; AS A RESULT, THE CHANCERY COURT EXCEEDED ITS CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY AND ITS JUDGMENT WAS VOID AB INITIO

We provide the following two precedential New Jersey cases where the courts have ruled that an act of the legislature cannot confer any right upon an individual to deprive persons of the ordinary enjoyment of their property without just compensation. Here are the two seminal cases:

An act of the legislature cannot confer any right upon an individual to deprive persons of the ordinary enjoyment of their property without just compensation. Oechsle v. Ruhl, 140 N.J. Eq. 355, 54 A.2d 462 (Ch.1947). Constitutional Law.


An act of the legislature cannot confer upon individuals or private corporations, acting primarily for their own profit, although for public benefit as well, any right to deprive persons of the ordinary enjoyment of their property, except upon condition that just compensation be first made to the owners. Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Angel, 41 N.J. Eq. 316, 7 A. 432, 56 Am.Rep. 1 (1886).


See also the following federal law, prohibiting private takings:

The Public Use Clause provides that “one person's property may not be taken for the benefit of another private person without a justifying public purpose, even though compensation is paid.” Hawaii Hous. Auth. v. Midkiff, 467 U.S. 229, 241 (1984) (quoting Thompson v. Consol. Gas Corp., 300 U.S. 55, 80 (1937). Because a private taking cannot be constitutional even if compensated, “[a] plaintiff that proves that a government entity has taken its property for a private, not a public, use is entitled to an injunction against the unconstitutional taking, not simply compensation.” Carole Media LLC v. N.J. Transit Corp., 550 F.3d 302, 308 (3d Cir. 2008).


UNREASONABLE SEIZURES ARE PROHIBITED BY ARTICLE I, PAR. 7 OF THE NEW JERSEY CONSTITUTION

They also violated the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures (see also Article I, Paragraph 7 of the New Jersey Constitution). They seized and confiscated a residential property valued at $475,000 (plus his business as well) for a small amount of disputed taxes. These are truly criminal acts.

If you can listen and publish my story, you will be shocked of what these judges have been doing to shake people up for money. They essentially blackmailing them: you either pay, or you lose your home; you either pay or we put you to jail; you either pay or we take your license away, and so on.

Here is a link, if you want to learn more about this case. You will be really-really-really shocked regarding what they have done to me.


http://metroforensics.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-dishonesty-of-new-jersey-judges.html

See also the corruption tip regarding Ronald Lucas who defrauded the police and firemen fund by claiming on the job disability.

http://metroforensics.blogspot.com/2018/06/corruption-tip-passaic-county-sheriffs.html

We have evidence that Dr. Stephanatos was targeted by the government employees because he had filed lawsuits asking for equal protection regarding his excessive property taxes. That is why they violated the constitution and confiscated his property for taxes that he did not even owe. These are absolutely unethical and even criminal acts.


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Report: Local courts reap $400M in fines, fees in 2017




By By MIKE CATALINI

Associated Press
July 17, 2018


New Jersey's municipal courts made $400 million in fines and fees in 2017, sometimes imposing "never-ending" and "overwhelming" financial obligations on people, a Supreme Court report said Tuesday.


The Supreme Court Committee on Municipal Court Operations, Fines and Fees unveiled the report including a list of 49 recommendations for changes to the state's municipal courts, which frequently serve as the judiciary's face in communities across the state.


Among the changes recommended are mandated hearings to determine defendants' ability to pay, as well as monitoring the use of contempt of court fees that go directly into municipal coffers.

"The committee was deeply concerned about what can be a never-ending imposition of mandatory financial obligations that have little to do with the fair administration of justice," Judge Julio Mendez, who chaired the committee, said in a statement. "They can be financially overwhelming, can disproportionately impact the poor, and often become the starting point for an ongoing cycle of court involvement for individuals with limited resources."

The report also found that penalties can vary greatly from judge to judge and court to court.

The document, which follows a 2016 Asbury Park Press investigation into municipal court fees and fines, cautions against courts becoming pressured by towns' concerns for greater revenues. The newspaper found, among other things, that residents faced nearly $200 fines for failing to renew a dog license in time. The judiciary cited the newspaper report in its findings.

New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner commissioned the panel in 2017. He says these courts handle millions of cases a year and called on them to adhere to high standards of independence and fairness.

The report said that New Jersey's local courts compared favorably to other states' and pointed in particular to mandatory training that judges and staff are required to participate in.

But it also sketched a number of concerns, including "excessive use" of discretionary contempt assessments.


"The Committee identifies that these practices at times have more to do with generating revenue than the fair administration of justice," the report said.

New Jersey has 515 such courts. Judges are appointed for three-year terms and can be re-appointed. In most cases the appointment process is set by towns' governing bodies.

How unethical employers, workers and medical providers commit workers’ compensation insurance fraud

Workers’ compensation insurance is a safety net for employees who are injured on the job, as well as for their employers. It pays for lost wages, medical expenses and other expenses and benefits incurred by an injured worker. Sometimes, however, unethical employers, workers and medical providers attempt to bilk the system. The National Insurance Crime Bureau estimates that one in 10 of all property/casualty insurance claims are fraudulent.

There are three main types of workers’ compensation insurance fraud:

Policy-Related Fraud: Policy-related fraud occurs when a company intentionally manipulates or withholds information from its insurance company in an attempt to lower its premium payment. For example, it is fraudulent for a business to inaccurately report the size of its workforce, misclassify employees or re-emerge as a new company on paper in an attempt to obtain a lower experience modification factor rating—a factor that adjusts the premium based on claims history.

Claim-Related Fraud: Claim-related fraud typically occurs when an employee falsely claims a work-related injury or illness in an attempt to gain a workers’ compensation insurance benefit. This type of fraud can be committed if an employee is injured outside of the workplace, but claims the injury occurred at work. It can also happen if an employee exaggerates the severity of an injury in order to receive a greater benefit.

Medical Provider Fraud: Medical provider fraud is committed when a medical provider deliberately attempts to profit off the workers’ compensation system by unnecessarily performing services on a claimant solely to collect an insurance payment. Fraudulent billing and kickback schemes with pharmacies or medical specialists are other examples.

Any kind of workers’ compensation insurance fraud can adversely affect policyholders, legitimately injured employees and insurance carriers. There are important steps claims professionals can take to mitigate the occurrence of fraud.

Telltale Signs of Workers’ Compensation Fraud

One of the best ways claims professionals can help detect and address policy-related fraud is to be aware of and monitor for some common warning signs, such as whether employees’ reported injuries are inconsistent with their job titles or duties, or whether the business has frequently changed insurance carriers. While the presence of any one of these warning signs is not a guarantee that fraud is being committed, multiple warning signs should trigger a deeper investigation.

There are also 10 common red flags for claim-related fraud. Oftentimes, fraudulent claims are filed early in the week for an injury that supposedly happened late on a Friday afternoon. Other warning signs include a claimant who refuses a diagnostic procedure to confirm the nature or extent of an injury, or a claimant who is difficult to reach at home. While there is no silver bullet in identifying claim-related fraud, history shows that if two or more red flags are present, the situation probably warrants further review.

To stop medical provider fraud in its tracks, carriers should monitor patterns in the billing codes that medical providers use for workers’ compensation insurance claims. Potentially problematic medical providers can also be identified by reviewing records from past years and combining the data sets. Trends or patterns should be investigated further.


Any suspicion of fraud should be reported immediately to the appropriate law enforcement authorities.

All fraud, whether policy-related, claim-related or medical provider related in nature, is unethical, illegal and costly. By being able to recognize some of the telltale signs of fraud, claims professionals can help reduce the likelihood of it happening.

Windel Lester, 67, his ex-wife Georgetta Lester Kenney, 42, and Windel Lester’s sons, James “Punkin” Lester, 48 and Greg Lester, 41, found guilty of various charges related to an arson and insurance fraud scheme. They burned down two homes in Mercer and Cabell counties and pocketed more than $550,000 in insurance claims

WE ARE GOING TO SEE LESS OF THE LESTERS

Family of four all found guilty in insurance fraud, arson scheme

By EMILY RICE Bluefield Daily Telegraph




BLUEFIELD, WV — 

Four family members from southern W.Va. were found guilty Wednesday on charges related to arson and an insurance fraud scheme.

According to a press release from United States Attorney for the southern district of W.Va., Michael Stuart, a federal jury in Charleston returned guilty verdicts following a five day trial before Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber.

“The jury found Windel Lester, 67, his ex-wife Georgetta Lester Kenney, 42, and Windel Lester’s sons, James “Punkin” Lester, 48 and Greg Lester, 41, guilty of various charges related to an arson and insurance fraud scheme,” Stuart said in a press release.

The West Virginia Insurance Commission, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the West Virginia State Police conducted the investigation.

Between April 2012 and January 2016, Stuart said the defendants participated three separate but interlocking schemes involving arson, mail and wire fraud and money laundering and were found guilty of intentionally setting fire to overly-insured houses they owned in Mercer County, Cabell County and Wyoming County, according to Stuart.

Stuart said Windel Lester was found guilty of 17 felony charges and faces 340 years imprisonment. James “Punkin” Lester was found guilty of 23 felony charges and faces 475 years imprisonment. Georgetta Lester Kenney was found guilty of seven felony charges and faces 140 years imprisonment. Greg Lester was found guilty of four felony charges and faces 80 years imprisonment.

Sentencing hearings for the defendants are scheduled for December 20.

However, the four family members were not the only ones involved. According to the press release, Dudley Bledsoe, Ricky Gleason and James Browning all pled guilty and cooperated in the prosecution of the Lester family.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the verdict,” Stuart said. “Insurance fraud and arson are serious matters that cause insurance premiums to be inflated, the destruction of property, and the very real risk that good folks could die as a result. I applaud the excellent work of the investigators in this case, as well as Assistant United States Attorneys Phil Wright and Greg McVey, and the rest of my team. We appreciate the attention of the jury in this matter.”

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Criminal activity is allegedly a family affair for four Mercer County residents indicted on federal charges this week.

A grand jury indicted a man, his two sons and his ex-wife on Nov. 14 after federal prosecutors alleged they burned down two homes in Mercer and Cabell counties and pocketed more than $550,000 in insurance claims.


Windel Lester, his ex-wife, Georgetta Lester, and his sons Gregory A. Lester and James Edward Lester, were named in a 28-count indictment that included charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy and use of arson to commit mail and wire fraud.

All four of the Lesters were booked at the Western Regional Jail Wednesday, and Georgetta Lester had posted bond and was released from the jail Thursday afternoon.

No bond was set for James Lester, who goes by ‘Punkin’, or Windel Lester, who is the owner of Lester’s Home Center and Lester Mobile Home Sales, Inc., in Ikes Fork in Wyoming County, according to the indictment.

Windel Lester also is on the board of directors of a bank in McDowell County, which isn’t named in the indictment.

Two other men, Dudley Bledsoe and Ricky Gleason, were named in the indictment as helping in the scheme, but they were not facing federal charges as of the time the indictment was filed.

According to the indictment filed by U.S. Attorney Eumi L. Choi, the Lesters received $556,135.68 in the scheme.

The Lesters and the men purchased vacant properties, established insurance policies for them, burned down the properties using candle oil from Lester’s Home Center, and submitted false insurance claims before sharing in the profits, the indictment states.

The insurance claims were supported by receipts forged from Lester’s Home Center, according to the indictment.

After receiving the insurance money, they laundered the money through at least two banks in southern West Virginia, one of which was the bank that included Windel Lester on its board, according to the indictment.

Choi said in the indictment that the fires were started with unscented candle oil from Lester’s Home Center because the defendants believed it would be undetectable.

The Lesters and Bledsoe fraudulently received $290,000 for burning down a property at 101 Smokeless Road, Matoaka, in Mercer County in December 2012, the indictment states.

In June 2013, a fire was set to a property at 3542 Norwood Road, Huntington, and the Lesters and Ricky Gleason claimed $260,000 from fraudulent insurance claims, according to the indictment.

Each person was charged in the indictment as follows:

Windell Lester, 66: Four counts of wire fraud; 14 counts of mail fraud; four counts of unlawful monetary transactions; two counts of arson conspiracy; and one count each of use of fire to commit mail fraud; use of fire to commit mail fraud; and conspiracy to launder monetary transactions.

James Edward Lester, 47: Four counts of wire fraud; 14 counts of mail fraud; two counts of arson conspiracy; and one count each of use of fire to commit mail and wire fraud; use of fire to commit mail fraud; conspiracy to launder monetary transactions; and unlawful monetary transactions.

Gregory A. Lester, 40: Five counts of mail fraud; two counts of unlawful monetary transactions; and one count each of arson conspiracy and use of fire to commit mail fraud.

Georgetta Lester, 41: Four counts of wire fraud; 14 counts of mail fraud; and one count each of conspiracy to launder monetary transactions and unlawful monetary transactions.

CAL/OSHA has opened an investigation into Tesla after a report came out detailing a pattern of workplace hazards at the company’s factory in Fremont

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has opened an investigation into Tesla after a report came out detailing a pattern of workplace hazards at the company’s factory in Fremont, Bloomberg reported.


According to Bloomberg, an OSHA spokesperson said the agency “takes seriously reports of workplace hazards and allegations of employers’ underreporting recordable work-related injuries and illnesses” and “currently has an open inspection at Tesla.”


Reveal.org published a report this week in which it carried out its own investigations as well as talked to Tesla’s former safety experts about the electric automobile company’s failure to report some of its more serious injuries.

Another thing the Reveal investigation found – missing from the company’s factory workspace is the color yellow – traditionally use as a mark of caution in hazardous situations. The reason: Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not a fan of the hue.


As Tesla races to produce the Model 3 to keep up with production promises, some are questioning whether it is prioritizing speed over caution.

The report also called out Tesla for not accurately tracking injuries or undercounting injuries to make their record look better than it actually is.


Tesla dismissed Reveal’s report by calling it an “extremist organization” that was running a “disinformation campaign” against the company.

“In our view, what they portray as investigative journalism is in fact an ideologically motivated attack by an extremist organization working directly with union supporters to create a calculated disinformation campaign against Tesla,” Tesla said in a blog post.


"Our goal is to be the safest factory on Earth. Last year, despite going through extreme challenges building an entirely new Model 3 production system, we nonetheless reduced our injury rate by 25%. Through a lot of hard work, our injury rate – which we diligently track, record, and update – is half what it was in the final years GM and Toyota owned and ran the same Fremont factory before it closed and Tesla took it over.

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Tesla Probed by California Regulator on Workplace Conditions 

By Dana Hull and Josh Eidelson 

  April 18, 2018


State doesn’t disclose details, including what triggered probe

Company denied report this week that it underreported injuries


Tesla Investigation

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has opened an investigation into Tesla Inc. following a report about worker protections at the company’s lone auto plant in Fremont, California.

The state agency “takes seriously reports of workplace hazards and allegations of employers’ underreporting recordable work-related injuries and illnesses” and “currently has an open inspection at Tesla,” said Erika Monterroza, a spokeswoman for the state’s industrial relations department.

California requires employers to maintain what are called Log 300 records of injuries and illnesses. Monterroza said that while the state doesn’t disclose details of open inspections, they typically include a review of employers’ Log 300 records and checks to ensure that serious injuries are reported within eight hours as required by law.


A story this week by the Center for Investigative Reporting’s Reveal alleged that Tesla failed to report serious injuries on legally mandated reports, making its numbers appear better than they actually were. The website cited former members of Tesla’s environment, health and safety team saying Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s personal preferences were often invoked as reason not to address potential hazards.

Tesla’s Pushback

Tesla pushed back against the story in a lengthy blog post on Monday, calling it “an ideologically motivated attack by an extremist organization working directly with union supporters to create a calculated disinformation campaign against Tesla.” The United Auto Workers union has been trying to organize Fremont workers for more than a year.

In responding to news of California’s investigation, Tesla said in an emailed statement Wednesday that the injury rate at Fremont was lower than when Toyota Motor Corp. and then-General Motors Corp. operated the factory with UAW-represented workers.

“We care deeply about the safety and well-being of our people and strive to do better every day,” the company said.

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as CAL/OSHA, opened its inspection late Tuesday. Investigations can be triggered by a number of reasons, including internal complaints from employees. The agency declined to say what triggered its latest probe, which could take as long as six months to complete.

Full Cooperation

“Cal-OSHA is required to investigate any claims that are made, regardless of whether they have merit or are baseless (as we believe these are), and we always provide our full cooperation,” Tesla said in its statement. The agency investigated the company’s injury reporting and record-keeping last year and closed it without finding any violations or taking further action, according to the carmaker.

Cal/OSHA’s regulations define a serious injury or illness as one that requires employee hospitalization for more than 24 hours for a matter other than medical observation, or one in which part of the body is lost or permanent disfigurement occurs.

“We have never in the entire history of our company received a violation for inaccurate or incomplete injury record-keeping,” the company said.

Worker Stories

The Reveal investigation followed a February story by Buzzfeed in which former Tesla workers alleged that production pressure and failures to sufficiently rotate employees’ tasks spurred serious injuries. In May 2017, the Guardian reported that Tesla managers pressed employees to work through pain and belittled safety complaints.

Musk told the Guardian in a phone interview that he had placed his own desk in “the most painful place” in the Fremont factory and noted that Tesla was losing money. “This is not some situation where, for example, we are just greedy capitalists who decided to skimp on safety in order to have more profits and dividends and that kind of thing. It’s just a question of how much money we lose. And how do we survive? How do we not die and have everyone lose their jobs?”

Tesla is at a critical juncture in terms of both production and financial pressures. In an internal email, Musk announced this week that Fremont would move to a 24/7 schedule in an effort to produce 6,000 Model 3 sedans a week by the end of June. He tweeted last week that the company had over-relied on automation and is now on a hiring spree, seeking to add hundreds of workers to a factory that already employs roughly 10,000 people.

Bloomberg News has spoken with several people who’ve worked at Fremont who say that Tesla’s push to work long hours and its unresponsiveness to worker concerns have contributed to an unsafe environment.

“They’re still 100 percent just about production,” said Dennis Duran, a pro-union employee who works in the Fremont paint shop. He said he’s complained to management that “if the line goes down, I see 20 maintenance guys trying to get it up and running. I don’t see that priority with health and safety.”

Three women seriously injured after a natural gas explosion destroys Georgia coffee shop in Homerville, Georgia. A construction crew installing fiber optic cable in the tiny city of Homerville punctured an underground natural gas line.

Three women flown to hospital after natural gas explosion destroys Georgia coffee shop 

 August 22, 2018

National Desk Staff

The Associated Press

HOMERVILLE, Ga. —

Three women have been hospitalized after a natural gas explosion in Georgia left a coffee shop in shambles, according to WALB-TV.

They were seriously injured and flown to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, after the Friday explosion in Homerville, Georgia, the news station reported.  All three were in the coffee shop.

Authorities said natural gas leaking into a sewer line caused an explosion that destroyed the shop.

Glenn Allen, a spokesman for Georgia Insurance, and Safety Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, said late Friday that investigators determined a construction crew installing fiber optic cable in the tiny city of Homerville punctured an underground natural gas line.

Allen said that gas leaked into a sewer line connected to the coffee shop, where the gas built up and was ignited by a spark shortly after noon Friday.

A fiery and ferrocious crash caused by a wrong-way driver killed three people on Interstate 805 in the Miramar area of San Diego, California

Three killed in fiery crash on northbound I-805, partial reopening of freeway 

SAN DIEGO, CA --



Three people were killed Thursday in a fiery multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 805.

Flames were seen leaping from at least one vehicle after the collision, which was reported around 4:35 p.m. near La Jolla Village Drive and Miramar Road in the Sorrento Valley area.

Three people were killed and one person was seriously injured, officials confirmed. The injured person was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said.

Caltrans closed all northbound lanes on the freeway.  

Witnesses reported a wrong-way driver speeding along a stretch of highway near the site of the crash shortly before the accident, California Highway Patrol told FOX 5.

CHP investigators were at Ashley Falls Elementary School in Carmel Valley, where, shortly after 4 p.m., witnesses say a black McLaren smashed through a fence and sped out of the campus parking lot. Investigators are looking into several other incidents involving the luxury sports car, but officials did not say whether the incidents are connected to the deadly freeway crash.

By late Thursday, the two far right lanes of northbound I-805 along with the westbound Miramar Road and eastbound La Jolla Village Drive on-ramps to northbound I-805 had reopened to traffic.


================================
August 24, 2018


SAN DIEGO, CA (NEWS 8) - 

A fiery crash caused by a wrong-way driver killed three people on Interstate 805 in the Miramar area late Thursday afternoon and tangled rush-hour traffic for miles around.

The series of collisions involving as many as five vehicles -- two of which wound up ablaze -- occurred on the northbound side of the freeway near Miramar Road shortly after 4:30 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

Witnesses described seeing a sports car headed south in a northbound carpool lane at about 100 mph just prior to the deadly accident.

The fatally injured people died amid the wreckage of the crumpled vehicles. One person was taken to a hospital for treatment of serious but non- life-threatening trauma, CHP public affairs Officer Jake Sanchez said.

The accident forced a closure of the northbound side of the freeway between Miramar Road and Sorrento Valley into the early evening.

By late Thursday night, Cal Trans reported that the far right lane on northbound I-805 at La Jolla Village Drive and Miramar Road was open to traffic. Also, Eastbound La Jolla Village Drive on-ramp to northbound I-805 had been reopened to traffic.

The cause of the living room fire that killed Tanya Lynn Conklin, 46, remains undetermined after four months in Saugerties, NY

The burned-out building is shown on April 22, 2018. Tania Barricklo — Daily Freeman file

By Diane Pineiro-Zucker, Daily Freeman

August 23, 2018 


SAUGERTIES, N.Y. >> 

The cause of an April 21 apartment house fire on Russell Street in the village that killed one person and critically injured three others remains undetermined, a state official said Wednesday.

Kristin Devoe, of the New York Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, which investigates all fatal fires in the state, said the probe by her office concluded the fire started in the living room but, “due to the damage” resulting from the fire, the cause remains undetermined. She said the investigation could be reopened if additional information is received.

The state finding concurred with an earlier determination by Saugerties officials that the fire started in the living room of Apartment 1 at 18-20 Russell St. about 2:20 a.m. April 21.

Tanya Conklin, 46, who lived in Apartment 2 in the three-unit building, died in the fire. Three other people, including a child and teenager, were critically injured.

Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra said Wednesday that the fire is not considered suspicious.

Devoe said it appears there was no smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector in the apartment where the fire originated. She said investigators were unable to definitively determine whether there were detectors in Conklin’s apartment.

“Investigators couldn’t get in safely to examine every inch, and from the debris, we did not find a smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector [in Conklin’s apartment],” she said. “... But we cannot definitively say there wasn’t one.”

Police have said Conklin was found dead in the rear bedroom of Apartment 2, where she lived with Brittany Conklin, 21, Malikye Stokes, 21, Samantha Widener, 17, and Desiree Widener, 9.

In April, village Building Inspector Eyal Saad emailed the Freeman a copy of a March 19, 2015, certificate of occupancy for the Russell Street building and said village policy requires an inspection of buildings without common areas that receive such certificates “once every five years or so.”

On Thursday, Saad said he had not seen the state fire inspection report. “All I can tell you is that when I did an inspection in the past, there were smoke detectors [and carbon monoxide detectors] in the apartments,” he said.

The Saugerties building code requires inspection “of all multiple dwellings ... at least once every 36 months.”

Asked about the code, Saad said certificates of occupancy do not expire, but he did not respond to an email asking if inspections are subsequently performed every three years.

Devoe said working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors can provide early fire detection and save lives.

Saad said a meeting with the village’s insurance attorney is planned Friday to discuss how to proceed.

The building, which remains standing but is not occupied, is owned by Giuseppe Sireci of Brooklyn and managed by his son, Joseph, who lives in Saugerties.

======================

Tanya Lynn Conklin 

SAUGERTIES, NY- 

Tanya Lynn Conklin, 46, died tragically on Saturday, April 21, 2018, at her residence. She was born in Kingston on Jan. 28, 1972; to Joseph Finger and the late Ida Bush Finger. She attended Saugerties High School and then devoted her life to her six girls that were her world: Heather, Danielle, Brittany, Nicole, Samantha, and Desiree. 

She loved dolphins and watching for them on trips to the Carolinas. She is also survived by her husband, Randy Widener; paternal grandmother, Shirley Finger; five siblings, John, Danny, Angela, Melissa, and Shirley; five grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, and uncles. She loved taking walks and spending time with friends and family, she was the sweetest person, and always had a smile on her face. She would do anything for anyone.