Switchback Timber Inc., a West Virginia logger, faces $43k fine for safety citations

Switchback Timber Inc., a West Virginia logger, faces $43k fine for safety citations


DOROTHY, W.Va. (AP) — Federal workplace safety officials are proposing a $42,600 fine for a West Virginia logging company.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the 18 violations against Switchback Timber Inc. in a news release Monday. The issues were found at the Bradley-based company's operations in Dorothy.


The administration says Switchback failed to train employees in first-aid and CPR, an issue it was cited for in 2013.

It says the company failed to provide leg and face protection; ensure workers wore hardhats; ensure bulldozer drivers buckled up; fully enclose bulldozers to prevent driver injuries, and keep workers from having multiple passengers on machines meant for just one person.


Prentice Cline, OSHA's area director in Charleston, said the CPR and first aid requirements are particularly important because of the company's remote worksite.

Dennis Frank, an Atwater, CA police officer, arrested for felony assault

Monday, August 01, 2016 04:04PM
FRESNO, Calif. -- Merced Police are investigating an Atwater police officer after he was arrested Monday for a felony assault last week.

Officer Dennis Frank was arrested at the Atwater Police Department for an incident that happened on July 24 where Merced Police said they saw broken glass at a home on Antler Court and Paulson Road.

Police said the victim was transported to the hospital and investigators were notified he suffered a concussion.

He is currently on paid administrative leave.

Police are interviewing witnesses about what happened.

Frank is currently at the Merced County Sheriff's Jail.

The Atwater Police Department said Frank has been with the department for 17 years.

A worker aboard the research vessel Strait Explorer sustained a minor hip injury when he fell Sunday morning.

The Strait Explorer is a research vessel supporting the Atlantic Explorer. (shipspotting.com/Allan Cameron)




Vessel worker sustains minor hip injury after falling from stairs

CBC News Posted: Aug 01, 2016 4:24 PM NT Last Updated: Aug 01, 2016 4:24 PM NT 
 
A worker aboard the research vessel Strait Explorer sustained a minor hip injury when he fell Sunday morning.

The employee was entering the ship's engine room when he fell from the bottom rung of a set of stairs around 7:30 a.m.

The Strait Explorer is working in support of the seismic vessel, Atlantic Explorer. When the worker was injured, the Atlantic Explorer was contacted and its medic sent over to the other ship to assess the patient.

The injured person was transported to St. John's via the Strait Explorer for treatment.

The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board was notified of the injury by the Norwegian company Multi Klient Invest AS.

National Transportation Safety Board: the fatal hot-air balloon had hit high-tension power lines, not the tower, before crashing into a pasture.

Hot-air balloon struck power line before fiery crash, NTSB says

By Lauren Caruba, Collin Eaton, and Andrea Zelinski
Updated 9:08 am, Monday, August 1, 2016



Photo: Jessalyn Tamez, AP



MAXWELL — At least three Houston-area residents were among the 16 people killed in the deadliest hot-air balloon crash in U.S. history, family and friends confirmed Sunday, as federal officials released new details about the Central Texas disaster.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which has launched an investigation into the accident, confirmed Sunday evening that the hot-air balloon had hit high-tension power lines before crashing into a pasture.


"There is evidence that some component of the balloon hit the wires — not the tower," said NTSB member Robert Sumwalt.

Authorities had not released the names of the victims as of Sunday evening. Caldwell County Justice of the Peace Matt Kiely told reporters near the site of the fiery crash that dental records will have to be used to identify the passengers killed when the red-white-and-blue balloon with a yellow smiley face plummeted to the ground near Lockhart, about 30 miles south of Austin.

Friends and family members of some of the victims, including a married couple and their friend who lived in the Houston area, have already begun grieving over the tragedy on social media sites such as Facebook. So far, at least seven crash victims, including the pilot, have been identified by name in this manner.

Joe Owens, 43, and his wife, Tresa, who were married for 17 years and lived on a quiet cul-de-sac in Brookshire, near Katy, were among those killed in the crash, said his sister, Angie Nadolny, of Mattoon, Ill.

Nadolny had not received official notification of the couple's death from authorities. But shortly before the crash, her brother posted a photo on Facebook about going up in the balloon.

Joe, who worked as a butcher at H-E-B, and Tresa, a caregiver at Tiger Land Child Care in Katy, had recently celebrated their anniversary.

"He was a very warm, caring person," Nadolny said of her brother. "He helped anybody he could. He's just a good-hearted, fun-loving man."

Holly Smith Huckabee of Katy also apparently was killed, according to numerous online tributes by friends and family members. Huckabee appeared to have been friends with the Owenses, according to social media profiles.




Such a tragedy. Thoughts and prayers with Matt and Sunday's families and those affected by yesterday's crash. https://t.co/IdJBWWCKMO— Ty C. Hodges, CFP® (@tycolby) July 31, 2016



Many wrote of Huckabee's faith, love for her family and positive personality. One man, a singer, knew Huckabee and the Owenses.

"They were such wonderful people," Reuben Rivera wrote on Facebook. "Holly, Joe and Tresa will be sorely missed. My heart and prayers goes out to both families as they go through this."

The harrowing episode began around 7 a.m. on Saturday when a hot-air balloon carried pilot Alfred G. "Skip" Nichols and 15 passengers 8 miles away from Fentress Texas Airpark and apparently hit a power line before it plummeted into a pasture.

The site of the crash is near a row of high-capacity transmission lines owned by the Lower Colorado River Authority Transmission Services Corp., according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Gathering evidence

No one survived. The balloon was found nearly a mile away from the basket that had carried the passengers. NTSB investigators from Washington hit the ground in Central Texas on Sunday morning to examine the wreckage and gather evidence.

"Our mission — we're here to find out what happened so we keep it from happening again," Sumwalt said.

The Federal Aviation Administration's Lynn Lunsford said through email that the organization is participating in the NTSB-led investigation.

The FAA previously had rejected NTSB calls for further regulation of hot-air balloons, citing the low amount of balloon activity.

Over the past five years, hot-air balloons have crashed 60 times across the nation, with five resulting in seven deaths, according to the NTSB.

Sumwalt said a high-tension power line was tripped at 7:42 a.m. Saturday and that a call to 911 followed a minute later, according to the Associated Press.

Investigators have collected 14 electronic devices, including smartphones and cameras, from the scene. They also have said they'll look into the weather as well as the balloon's maintenance records, the pilot and the company that operated the hot-air balloon, Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, which operates in Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The balloon itself was manufactured in the Czech Republic.

The operation does not appear to be registered with the state of Texas. The Better Business Bureau gave the company a D+ rating and said five of six complaints it had received involved "problems with product/service," online records show.

Nichols previously had operated a hot-air balloon company in St. Louis County, Mo., and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in 2008 that the Better Business Bureau there had warned customers about doing business with Nichols, the AP reported Sunday. The news service also quoted a Missouri police officer who asked not to be identified as saying Nichols had been arrested in 2000 on a felony driving-while-intoxicated charge and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DWI in 2002.

In a statement on the company's voice mail, Heart of Texas said it had canceled all of its flights "for the foreseeable future" after the death of its owner and chief pilot, Nichols. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who passed away with Skip," the company said.

'A great pilot'

Nichols' roommate, Alan Lirette, who also works for the company, told AP that he helped launch the balloon on Saturday. Federal officials said Nichols had communicated with a ground crew with a cellphone as he navigated using his iPad.

"That's the only thing I want to talk about, is that he's a great pilot," Lirette said. "There's going to be all kinds of reports out in the press, and I want a positive image there, too."

Federal officials planned another briefing Saturday but hadn't said when they'll release the victims' names.

Two others who apparently died were Lorilee Brabson and her adult daughter, a close friend wrote on Facebook.

"Lorilee was always an excellent example of loving and kindness to all," Britney Reeves Hedin wrote. "She was sincere and so welcoming."

Brabson's daughter had a young daughter of her own, Hedin wrote, adding that her heart is "completely broken" for the family. A GoFundMe page said the daughter, Paige, was a restaurant worker and was raising an 11-month-old child when she was killed in the crash.

Matt and Sunday Rowan, both 34 and of San Antonio, were also victims of the crash, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The couple were married in February. Matt Rowan had recently been promoted to chief of clinical trials for burns and trauma at Brooke Army Medical Center's Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio, the newspaper reported.

Sunday Rowan, whose maiden name was Stewart, worked at a Crazy 8 clothing store and had a young son.

Near the crash scene, grieving families gathered at a community center outside Ebenezer Lutheran Church on Sunday.

Scott Stephens, the congregation's leader, opened up the morning's service saying that answers to Saturday's tragedy will be difficult to find. Said Stephens, "It's not one of those things you look up in the book."

San Antonio Express-News reporter Rye Druzin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Construction worker killed in trench collapse at a pond construction site near Rocky Mount, NC

 

It happened at a pond construction site.

Updated 1 hr 41 mins ago
ROCKY MOUNT, NC (WTVD) -- A person was killed Monday in a collapse at a pond construction site on Red Barn Lane near Rocky Mount in Edgecombe County.

Pictures from Chopper 11 showed excavation equipment around an area that

appeared to be digging for the pond spillway system.

It appeared the trench collapsed on at least one worker.


The man was working on an excavator when the collapse happened.

It took crews five hours to locate the man’s body.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office didn't release the victim's name pending notification of next of kin.

The Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office said it was notified of the collapse, which occurred along Red Barn Lane, at about 11:45 a.m.

Deputies responded to the scene, as did the West Edgecombe Fire Department, the Edgecombe County Rescue Squad, Edgecombe County Emergency Services, Nash County Emergency Services, the Nashville Fire Department and Coopers Fire Department.

CARNAGE ON I-80 NEAR OTTAWA, ILLINOIS AFTER MULTIPLE SEMI-TRUCKS COLLIDE; AT LEAST ONE DEAD, SEVERAL INJURED

3 dead in fiery crash on I-80 near Ottawa, Ill.; Lanes closed



Monday, August 01, 2016 10:25PM Three people were killed in a fiery five-vehicle crash Monday afternoon on I-80 near Ottawa, Ill., in LaSalle County, according to Illinois State Police.

At about 10:30 p.m., all westbound lanes were closed near mile marker 93, state police said. Traffic was re-routed off the interstate.

The crash occurred at about 1 p.m. and involved three truck tractor/semi-trailers, a straight truck, a tire hauling truck, and a passenger vehicle, two of which caught fire. One of the vehicles involved faced a federal investigation in March that found three separate violations, the I-Team has learned.

There are two fatalities from within the passenger car and one fatality from one of the semi-trucks, police said.

Three of the four trucks involved in the crash were from Illinois, the I-Team has learned.

State police suggest drivers use suggested detour: Westbound I-80 to exit 97, south on County Road 15 to US 6. West on US 6 to north IL 71 and back to I-80 westbound.

Ottawa is about 70 miles southwest of Chicago.

Illinois is among a handful of states that account for more than half of all truck fatalities in the nation. There were nearly 600 fatalities involving large truck accidents in Illinois in the past five years alone.

LaSalle County has among the highest number of truck fatalities in the state. 


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


 Portions of I-80 in Ottawa, Ill., closed due to major crash

Updated 11 mins ago 
A major multi-vehicle crash on I-80 near Ottawa, Ill., closed the westbound lanes and one eastbound lane of the expressway.

The crash also involved multiple semis. Lanes are blocked at mile marker 93, according to Illinois State Police.

At least one person is dead as the LaSalle County Coroner's Office has been called to the scene.   Several people have been injured.





Update: Both WB I-80 lanes are blocked & one lane of EB I-80 is blocked at MM 93 due to a crash. #ILtraffic— IDOT (@IDOT_Illinois) August 1, 2016
More details to come.