Affinity Builders employee Richard G. Bruce, of Grand Forks, died from his injuries after falling through garage rafters 10 feet onto concrete at a construction site for a new home in East Grand Forks, MN

East Grand Forks, MN


Authorities have identified a man killed after a fall at a construction site Monday afternoon.


Richard G. Bruce, of Grand Forks, died from his injuries after falling through garage rafters 10 feet onto concrete at a construction site for a new home in East Grand Forks Monday afternoon. He was 58.

Bruce was pronounced dead at Altru Hospital Tuesday, according to the East Grand Forks Police Department.

He was working on a new home on the corner of St. Andrews Drive and Troon Circle Northwest at the time of his fall, Lt. Rodney Hajicek said. First responders were called to the scene at 5:03 p.m. Monday.

Bruce was working for Affinity Builders, a Grand Forks company, at the time of his death, Hajicek said. Calls to the company have not been returned.



About Us



Affinity Builders is a concrete company that was formed to accommodate the need for reputable concrete work,
both residential and commercial, foundations and flatwork.


Affintity Builders specializes in concrete foundations. We are the areas only certified installer of ARXX ICF.
(Insulating Concrete Forms) Quality concrete finishing.


We provide our clients with a large selection of designs, colors and options to accommodate the needs of today's demanding applications. If you need a whole new concrete foundation , building, driveway or patio make sure to have your next project done by professionals with the experience that exceeds your expectations.


Serving Grand Forks, N.D., East Grand Forks, M.N. and 100 mile radius in N.D., M.N..


Upon request we can take you to inspect some of our completed projects.

Affinity Builders

5537 E. Prairewood Drive
Grand Forks, ND 58201
e-mail: brian.mercil@yahoo.com

701-314-0061 or 218-791-8051

California DIR and Division of Workers’ Compensation Suspend Pasadena Psychiatrist Jason Hui-Tek Yang after he was convicted in Riverside County Superior Court for his involvement in an insurance fraud conspiracy that referred patients for unnecessary care to justify workers’ compensation billing.

California DIR and Division of Workers’ Compensation Suspend Pasadena Psychiatrist for Fraud

The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and its Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) have suspended Pasadena psychiatrist Jason Hui-Tek Yang from participating in California’s workers’ compensation system.

Dr. Yang was convicted in Riverside County Superior Court for his involvement in an insurance fraud conspiracy that referred patients for unnecessary care to justify workers’ compensation billing.

DWC issued a Notice of Suspension, which Yang appealed. The appeal was heard in April by Hearing Officer William E. Gunn, who issued a recommended determination and order on May 25. The recommended decision was adopted by DWC Acting Administrative Director George Parisotto and the suspension confirmed on June 1.

Dr. Yang has over 2,000 active workers’ compensation liens with an estimated total claim value of more than $13.7 million. 

AB 1244 (Gray and Daly) requires the DWC Administrative Director to suspend any medical provider, physician or practitioner from participating in the workers’ compensation system in cases in which one or more of the following is true:

• The provider has been convicted of a crime involving fraud or abuse of the Medi-Cal or Medicare programs or the workers’ compensation system, fraud or abuse of a patient, or related types of misconduct;
• The provider has been suspended due to fraud or abuse from the Medicare or Medicaid (including Medi-Cal) programs; or
• The provider’s license or certificate to provide health care has been surrendered or revoked.

DIR’s fraud prevention efforts are posted online, including frequently updated lists for physicians, practitioners and providers who have been issued notices of suspension, and those who have been suspended pursuant to Labor Code §139.21(a)(1).

DIR protects and improves the health, safety and economic well-being of over 18 million wage earners, and helps their employers comply with state labor laws. DIR’s Division of Workers’ Compensation monitors the administration of workers' compensation claims, and provides administrative and judicial services to assist in resolving disputes that arise in connection with claims for workers' compensation benefits.

Construction worker Roger Vail, 62, with 50 States Engineering was surveying the 16th floor of One Manhattan West, when a platform he was standing on broke and fell 10 stories to his death

HUDSON YARDS, MANHATTAN, NYC — 

A construction worker fell 10 stories to his death Monday after the scaffolding he was standing on broke, police said.

Roger Vail, 62, was surveying the 16th floor of One Manhattan West, at the corner of West 33rd Street and Ninth Avenue, around 6:40 p.m. when the piece of material he was standing on broke, the NYPD said.

The Montgomery, N.Y., resident plunged to the sixth floor and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The city’s Department of Buildings on Monday issued a stop-work order at the site, records show. The planned 67-story building is one of six being developed as part of Brookfield Property Partners’ Manhattan West complex.

Vail had been working for a surveying firm called 50 States Engineering at the time of his death, a spokesman for the project's general contractor, Tishman Construction, confirmed Wednesday.

"We are deeply saddened by this terrible tragedy, and we are actively working with all relevant agencies to investigate the matter,” the spokesman said in a statement. “There are no further details at this time."

The construction worker was a longtime drummer who played in a number of bands over the past several decades, the Times Herald-Record reported.

Brookfield Property Partners didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

===========


Roger Vail, a drummer and Middletown native whose career with local bands spanned decades, fell 10 stories to his death Monday in a construction accident in Manhattan, the NYPD said Tuesday.

Vail died after a platform on which he was working on the 16th floor of a building on Manhattan’s West Side collapsed, said Sgt. Jessica McRorie, a spokeswoman with the NYPD’s Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Public Information. Vail landed on the sixth floor of the building at 401 Ninth Ave., McRorie said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident occurred about 6:40 p.m.


Fellow musicians who played with Vail over the years said he was 62, and besides drumming in Orange County bands, he also worked as a surveyor.

Drumming was Vail’s passion, fellow musicians said, and he played with a number of 1950s and ’60s cover bands, including Route 66 and Take 5. Vail also played in Twist and Shout, a Beatles tribune band that played around Orange County in the 1990s.

“He was the best ’60s drummer I ever worked with,” said guitarist and keyboardist Ralph Bauer, who played with Vail for 30 years. The two met when they were in seventh grade at Middletown’s Anthony Veraldi Junior High School. He said Vail recently moved to Montgomery.

“Drumming was Roger’s life,” said rhythm guitarist Tim Selear, who co-founded Route 66 with Vail back in the early 1980s. “He was more dedicated to practicing than any of us.”

Middletown Mayor Joe Stefano said Vail grew up on Jackson Avenue in the city’s 4th Ward. Route 66 entertained at DeStefano’s Olde Erie when the restaurant opened at its West Main Street location in 1998, the mayor said. “They really rocked the place,” DeStefano recalled. “They loved music. They loved being together.”

“He’s going to be missed by so many people,” said Kathie Selear, Tim Selear’s wife. “He was such a true friend. There won’t be a parking lot big enough to hold all the cars that will be there when people come to pay their respects.”

Information on funeral arrangements was unavailable as of late Tuesday.

===========






A construction worker plummeted more than 10 stories to his death after a wooden platform gave way underneath him by the Hudson Yards Monday night.

Roger Vail, 62, of Montgomery, N.Y., was working at 400 W. 33rd St. — which is part of the massive Manhattan West development project by Brookfield Properties — doing a survey on the 16th floor at about 6:40 p.m., when he fell through a platform, police sources said.

He dropped to a 6th floor landing, and medics pronounced him dead at the scene, cops said.

The victim, a surveyor hired by 50 States Engineering — a firm hired by the general contractor, Tishman Construction, officials told the Daily News. He was working to raise a “cocooning system” designed to cover areas of active high-rise construction and prevent falls, officials said.

The city Buildings Department issued a full stop-work order at the building Monday, and issued a violation to the contractor for failing to safeguard the site.

“We are deeply saddened by this terrible tragedy, and we are actively working with all relevant agencies to investigate the matter,” Tishman spokesman John Gallagher said.

Vail’s friends described him to The Times Herald as a Middletown, N.Y. native who played drums in Orange County bands for decades.

“To all a sad, sad day. Roger Vail, good friend and great local musician passed,” said fellow musician Brent Hambly in a public Facebook post.

“Jammed w/him 6 weeks ago. Beautiful studio he built in a rustic 1890's house,” Hambly wrote in a follow-up post.

WEAR YOUR HELMETS AND DO NOT SPEED WHEN YOU RIDE ATV: Noel William Schmieg, 34 of Mentor and Crystal Scott, 34 of Crookston were killed riding a speeding ATV when it hit an approach near Mentor, MN; they were not wearing helmets

MENTOR, Minn. (Valley News Live) 

Two people are dead after an ATV accident in rural Minnesota.
 
Somewhere south of Mentor, Minnesota, where Noel Schmieg and his girlfriend Crystal Scott lost their lives in an ATV accident. Now their communities are grappling with the loss.

Marcella Lentcsh is watching after her neighbor dog, because her neighbor isn't around anymore.

"We don't know what the lord's got in store of us," Lentcsh said Noel's mother on the phone. "Of course we know it's tough. It couldn't be any tougher."

Noel was found unconscious with his girlfriend Crystal Scott at the scene of an ATV accident on Saturday. They were both pronounced dead shortly after.

Lentcsh saw them both that day.

"He'd come knock on my door, 'can I sit and visit with you?' Sure that's fine," Lentcsh said.

Marcella says she never had kids of her own, her neighbor in apartment three, she called her step-son.

"Constantly helping with anybody that needed help," she said of Noel.

She says he even grilled a mother's day meal for a few of the ladies in his adopted apartment family.

"Just a lovable boy, is the way I had him," Lentcsh said.

Marcella says his girlfriend Crystal leaves behind three children.

Law enforcement says the two weren't wearing helmets. The approach shows signs of excessive speed: the dirt was removed as the ATV hit the approach, providing evidence of the speed of the ATV.  Eyewitnesses also said that they saw the ATV riding the embankment at a very high rate of speed.  Basically these two people were looking for trouble.  Sad.




=========================
MENTOR, Minn. (Valley News Live) 

Police have now released the names of two people killed when they were thrown from an ATV Friday.

The Polk County Sheriff's office tells Valley News Live that 34-year-old Noel William Schmieg of Mentor and 34-year-old Crystal Scott of Crookston were riding the ATV when it hit an approach near Mentor.

Emergency crews say Schmieg and Scott were unconscious when they arrived, and pronounced dead a short time later.

Officials say they are still trying to figure out the cause of the crash.

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


MENTOR, Minn. (AP) - Two people are dead after an all-terrain vehicle crash in northwestern Minnesota.

Polk County sheriff's authorities were called to the crash on a county road south of Mentor on Saturday. A 34-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman were thrown from the ATV after hitting an approach.

Authorities say both were unconscious when first responders arrived and were pronounced dead at the scene.

The names of the victims were not immediately released. The crash remains under investigation.

Drunk boater Julian Uptegrove of De Pere, 35, critically injured, 3 passengers injured, after he crashed his boat in the Cat Island rock wall in an area of the Green Bay, boats aren't even supposed to be, outside the shipping channel.

The boat that crashed into the Cat Island rock wall on June 3, 2017, shows extensive damage to the bow (WBAY photo) 

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - A De Pere man remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a boat crash on Green Bay over the weekend. Investigators believe the De Pere man was operating the boat, drunk, and speeding.

Here is what his wife Corrine wrote on his facebook page:

Update. Julian has been moved out of icu but has stated no visitors at this time. They had him up walking twice today. One day at a time. Again thank for all the support and prayers. Love you all

His three passengers -- a woman and two men, all 26 years old -- were also hurt.

Investigators are trying to piece together what happened in a crash they say likely could have been prevented.

"It very possibly could have been prevented if safe boating practices would have been followed," DNR conservation warden Darren Kuhn said.

The damage to the underside of the powerboat's bow is extensive. Brown County investigators believe it's the result of mixing alcohol with speed.

"We do know there was a lot of open, there was a lot of empty and there was still full containers of alcohol inside the boat," Capt. Dan Sandberg, Brown County Sheriff's Office, said. "All we know is that they were going fast."

Investigators don't know the exact speed yet, but they say the boat hit the Cat Island rock wall hard in an area of the bay the DNR says boats aren't even supposed to be, outside the shipping channel.


Brown County authorities think 35-year-old Julian Uptegrove of De Pere was trying to beat an approaching thunderstorm.

Investigators believe a big dent right above the steering wheel is likely from someone being thrown around by the impact.

"Anywhere from a collection of broken bones, lacerations with 20 stitches, concussions, all kinds of injuries," Sandberg said.

Authorities are still waiting for results of blood tests to find out the boat operator's alcohol level, but he was arrested for boating under the influence. Investigators say he'll likely face several criminal charges as well.

"The biggest thing is, boats don't have seat belts, and with boats, when they strike something, the things inside it are going to move around, and that's extremely dangerous," Sandberg added.

The lack of seat belts, air bags and brakes on boats are all things the Department of Natural Resources pointed out a few weeks ago in our Target 2 investigation about boating under the influence and Wisconsin's laws, "Are drunk boating laws watered down?"

After this weekend, wardens are worried.

"Certainly concerned what's coming up for the future boating season if this is how we're starting," Kuhn said.


In this case, the location of the crash also serves as a warning to other boaters. Authorities say water levels around Cat Island are higher now and boats are able to access those rock walls, so boaters need to pay extra attention to where they are and stay in the shipping channels.