DRIVER KILLED IN LOG TRUCK CRASH WHEN HE VEERED OFF THE ROAD AND CRUSHED INTO TREES

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON

A 60-year-old Scappoose man was killed Thursday morning, February 19, when the log truck he was driving ran off the road on Apiary Road. 

According to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, Martin Koch died at the scene after he lost control of his truck loaded with logs near Camp Wilkerson at 6:48 a.m. The cause of the crash was investigated by the sheriff's office and Oregon State Police. Koch was the only one involved in the crash. 

Columbia County Sheriff Jeff Dickerson said investigators aren't sure why Koch went off the road. They don't believe he was speeding. 

“He went off the road and hit some trees,” Dickerson noted. “There was no obvious reason for why he would have gone off the road.” 

The incident left part of the highway closed as fire and sheriff's crews cleared the scene. Emergency responders finally got the road cleared at 2:43 p.m. 

Thursday, according to the sheriff's office.

1 TEEN KILLED IN ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PA HEAD-ON COLLISION OF HIS CAR WITH A COAL TRUCK. HE WAS NOT WEARING A SEAT BELT.

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PA 

A teenager is dead after a coal truck accident along Route 28/66 in Armstrong County Monday.

The Armstrong County Coroners’ Office said Nicholas F. Gavazzi, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy showed that he died from blunt force trauma to the head, chest and abdomen.

According to police, Gavazzi was driving north on State Route 28/66 when his Honda Civic crossed the center line and hit a 2003 Peterbilt Tri-Axle, driven by William Gathers Jr., of Sligo. 

The coroner said Gavazzi was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash.

The crash shut down the roadway in both directions in Rayburn Township between Anderson Creek Road and Upper Hayes Road for several hours.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Gavazzi graduated from Charleroi High School in 2014 and was currently a freshman at Clarion University. He was also a member of the Clarion University Wrestling Team.

"Nick was the kind of kid you wanted your son to become," said Wrestling Head Coach Keith Ferraro in a written statement. "He was not only a great wrestler, but a great leader in the classroom. He was a joy to be around and well-liked by his teammates. We are all better off for having spent time with him. The Clarion wrestling family offers its condolences to Nick's family and friends."

Clarion University officials said grief counselors have been made available on campus.  

PROPANE TANK EXPLODES IN LONG ISLAND WHEN A PROPANE LINE FEEDING A STOVE WAS RUPTURED; 1 WOMAN SUFFERS BURNS AND SHE WAS HOSPITALIZED

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

BRENTWOOD, LONG ISLAND

A residential home explosion that leveled a residence in Brentwood Sunday evening left a woman hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit at Stony Brook University Hospital, Suffolk County police said Tuesday. 

Police identified the victim as Ryan Flanagan, 24, and said she was in stable condition with "burns to 30 percent of her lower extremities."

Jeff Rueb, who identified himself as co-owner of the house on Third Avenue, said Flanagan lived in a rented detached cottage on the property. Police Arson Squad detectives said the explosion was caused by a ruptured propane line feeding a stove.  Rueb said the woman told him she had been painting and had moved the stove, which was fed by an external propane tank.

Police confirmed the scenario, saying the explosion occurred when the stove was being moved back into place.

Rueb said he and his wife had just returned from skiing in Pennsylvania and that he had talked to Flanagan when he was shoveling snow moments before the explosion.

"I had just gone in to take a shower," Rueb said, "and I heard a horrific noise. We have plenty of big pine trees and I just assumed one had fallen."

Then, Rueb said, he heard his wife screaming and went outside -- to find the converted garage cottage in flames.

"She came crawling out, on fire," Rueb said of the tenant, adding: "My wife screamed for her to roll in the snow."

Police received a 911 call at 7:36 p.m., reporting the explosion. Volunteers from the Brentwood Fire Department responded and put out the fire.

Photos from the scene showed half of the structure gone, the rest of it charred.

"It's gone," Rueb said. "It's leveled, it's burned. It's gone. I've never seen anything like it in my life . . . I'm just thankful to God no one's dead.

Construction Week: Court Upholds Ruling Over Dispute Concerning Sick Hospital

In mid-January, the Ohio Second Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling against NBBJ regarding a dispute between the architect and Miami Valley Hospital and its corporate arm devoted to the health-care sector, Premier Health Partners. 

At issue was financial responsibility for a 2011 outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at the then-new 12-story Heart Patient Tower. 

One of the 11 patients infected died. 

In her decision, Judge Mary C. Donovan wrote that NBBJ was in breach of contract because the firm failed to procure commercial general liability insurance that protected NBBJ and the hospital from responsibility for “bodily injury caused by a biological agent or bacteria.” 

NBBJ declined to comment.

Legionnaire’s disease outbreak at MVH draws lawsuits

Four lawsuits have now been filed against Miami Valley Hospital and other defendants over a February 2011 outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at the hospital.

A lawsuit filed Wednesday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court claims O’Dell Norman of Huber Heights became seriously ill after he allegedly contracted Legionnaires’ disease while staying at the hospital.

In a lawsuit filed last week, the family of a 94-year-old Kettering man, Charles O. Preston, alleged the hospital was responsible for his death from Legionnaires’ disease.

Preston’s death certificate states he died March 23 from Legionella pneumonia.
The families of deceased patients Robert Austin of Springfield and Doris Day of Kettering also are represented in the Preston complaint. Though their death certificates don’t mention Legionella, medical records and an oral admission by a hospital attorney confirm they had the infection, too, according to the complaint.

The Dayton Daily News erroneously reported last week that the Preston lawsuit was the first to be filed in the outbreak’s wake. In fact, two other lawsuits had been filed previously against the hospital and other defendants in county Common Pleas Court. They include:

• A Jan. 9 complaint alleging that Shirley Stewart of Xenia and George B. Williams of Huber Heights contracted the disease during their hospital stays.
• A Jan. 23 complaint alleging that Virginia Shaw of Troy contracted the disease during her hospital stay.

“Out of respect for the confidentiality of the patients, we can’t discuss their care or case, and we don’t comment on pending litigation,” hospital spokeswoman Nancy Thickel said in a prepared release Monday.

Hospital officials in July told the Dayton Daily News that insufficient heating of the hot-water system in its new 12-story addition was the primary reason for the outbreak, the largest in Ohio since 2004.

They had hoped the lower temperatures would prevent scalding.