Four people were seriously injured when Roberto Jose Martinez Lemus driving north in the southbound lanes of U.S. 52 slammed head-on into another car Thursday night in Winston-Salem, NC

WINSTON-SALEM, NC — Four people were seriously injured when a car driving north in the southbound lanes of U.S. 52 slammed head-on into another car Thursday night in Winston-Salem, police said.


Police received reports of a vehicle traveling the wrong way on the highway, near Smith Reynolds Airport and Akron Drive around 10:40 p.m.


Roberto Jose Martinez Lemus, 28, of Stagecoach Road in Winston-Salem was driving a Nissan when he hit a Toyota that was carrying two passengers.


The driver of the Toyota, David Leonard Stafford, and one passenger, Jean Lawrence High, sustained life-threatening injuries, police said. A second passenger, Jeri High Stafford, was also seriously injured.


They were taken to unnamed local hospitals for treatment.


In addition, Martinez Lemus was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center with serious injuries, according to police. Investigators say he was driving while impaired.



Martinez Lemus has been charged with three counts of serious injury by vehicle, one count of driving while impaired, one count of serious injury by vehicle, one count of driving without a license, one count of careless and reckless driving and one count of traveling the wrong way on a highway.


The highway was closed for approximately six hours but opened before 5 a.m. Friday.


Anyone with information about the wreck is asked to contact the Winston-Salem Police Department at (336) 773-7832.

===========




WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Four people were seriously injured in a head-on collision on Highway 52 in Winston-Salem late Thursday night, according to a press release.

At about 10:40 p.m., Winston-Salem police received reports of a vehicle traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 52.

The vehicle, driven by 28-year-old Roberto Jose Martinez Lemus, then hit a Toyota carrying two passengers head-on.

The driver of the Toyota, David Leonard Stafford, and two passengers, Jeri High Stafford and Jean Lawrence High, all sustained life-threatening injuries. They were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

In addition, Martinez Lemus was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center with serious injuries, the release states. Police say he was driving drunk when the crash happened.

Martinez Lemus has been charged with three counts of serious injury by vehicle, one count of driving while impaired, one count of serious injury by vehicle, one count of no operator’s license, one count of careless and reckless driving and one count of traveling the wrong way on a highway.

Anyone with information about the wreck is asked to contact the Winston-Salem Police Department at (336) 773-7832.

A kayak guide with Oars, 23-year-old Timothy Conant from Salt Lake City, died while trying to save a client whose kayak had capsized on Wednesday in Yellowstone Lake at the Yellowstone National Park

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. (KMVT/KSVT) — One man dies, another is in critical condition from two water related accidents in Yellowstone National Park. Penny Preston reports very cold, and very hot waters in the world’s first national park are dangerous.


Image from Penny Preston. Warning sign posted near Fountain Flat Drive, a few miles north of Old Faithful, in Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone Lake is the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 feet in North America. It is fed by snowmelt from the mountains surrounding it.

It can suddenly turn from smooth, to turbulent. The National Park Service says a kayak guide, 23-year-old Timothy Conant from Salt Lake City, died while trying to save a client whose kayak had capsized on Wednesday.

It happened on the southern portion of the 20-mile long lake, near West Thumb. The client was rescued by other guides with the private California company called Oars. A park press release says Park rangers responded to the scene of the accident, and started CPR, but Conant was pronounced dead on his way to a life flight.

Meanwhile, the park’s hottest waters severely burned a Xanterra employee late Tuesday night.

“His name is Gervait Gatete. He unfortunately fell into a hot spring. He was with a party of 7,” said Morgan Warthin, with Yellowstone Public Affairs.

The park spokeswoman says it happened off Fountain Flat Drive, a few miles north of Old Faithful. There are several hot springs on the edge of the river here, but Warthin says investigators have not yet determined exactly where the accident happened.

The victim was flown to Salt Lake City.

“The spokesperson at the Salt Lake City burn center says he’s in critical but stable condition,” Warthin said.

Neither of the victims were park employees, rather employees of companies that operate in the park.

“Xanterra employees, when they arrive in the park they received an orientation,” she said. “And that orientation is in depth, and it’s all about how they can stay safe in the Park.”

This Xanterra employee from Poland says she was taught how to stay a safe distance from wildlife and the hot waters here.

“How hot is, and like it contains acid,” said Joanna Rusinowska, a Xanterra Employee. “And for example like there is area near that we can fall down.”

Bikers who rode out of this trail nearby, said people were swimming near the riverside hot spring a mile away.

The burn victim is from North Carolina. In June last year, an Oregon man died after falling into a hot spring in Norris Geyser Basin.

==========





Kayak guide dies while trying to rescue Yellowstone park visitor



This Sept. 3, 2015, photo provided by the National Park Service shows the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo.
Jim Peaco/National Park Service via AP


MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. -- A kayak guide in his first season on the job in Yellowstone National Park has died while trying to rescue a park visitor who capsized on Yellowstone Lake.

Timothy Hayden Ryan Conant, 23, of Salt Lake City died Wednesday in the West Thumb area of the lake, according to the National Park Service.

Conant was among three guides on a kayaking excursion with a group of nine tourists.


Park rangers found Conant in the water and worked to revive him, but he was pronounced dead before he could be transported by helicopter to a hospital.

Park officials say the client whom Conant attempted to save was rescued by other guides in the group and was treated for hypothermia at a park clinic.

The incident is under investigation.

Yellowstone spokeswoman Morgan Warthin said the incident occurred about 400 yards off the west shore of the lake.

There was no unusual weather at the time of the incident, which occurred in the late afternoon when the lake often can become rough because of wind, Warthin said.

Warthin said the average year-round temperature of the lake is 43 degrees. It's likely cooler now because Yellowstone has just come out of its winter season. Some areas of the park received snow earlier this week.

The National Park Service was not releasing the name of the tourist involved, she said.

Conant worked for O.A.R.S., a company based out of Angels Camp, California, that has offered non-motorized boat tours in Yellowstone under a permit since 1996.

The company issued a statement late Thursday saying that Conant will be remembered as a hero by trying to save a 62-year-old client. It said Conant's kayak overturned during the rescue and he "spent a considerable amount of time in the cold water."

Steve Markle, a spokesman for the company, said he understood that this was Conant's first season working as a kayak guide after working at Utah ski resorts over the previous few years. Conant was originally from Anchorage, Alaska, and had moved to Utah to attend college, he said.

Markle declined to comment about the incident because it was under investigation.

But he said the company was devastated by Conant's death and suspended its daily kayaking trips in Yellowstone through the weekend.

"Right now all of our efforts are really focused on making sure we assist Tim's family and friends in any way we can," Markle said.

Max Pelosi, director of the Jackson Hole Kayak School in Jackson, said any rescue 400 yards from shore in Yellowstone Lake would require a deep water rescue technique where the guide would dump water out of the capsized boat and help the client back in.

The guide typically does not get out of his or her boat during a deep water rescue, Pelosi, whose company conducts kayak tours in Yellowstone Lake, said.

"As a guide I'm trying almost to never be out of my boat unless I'm on land," he said.

Since 1894, there have been 41 deaths in Yellowstone Lake. The most recent was in 1997 when two people died while canoeing.

It was the second death in Yellowstone, the world's first national park, this month. An Illinois man was found dead June 9 from an apparent fall. 



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


MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. -

A kayak guide from Salt Lake City, Utah died while attempting to rescue a client who capsized on Yellowstone Lake on Wednesday.

Timothy Hayden Ryan Conant, 23, was one of three guides leading a kayaking group with nine clients, according to a press release.

Rangers responded to the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake in a patrol boat and found Conant in the water.

He was brought on board and CPR was started while in route to the dock.

CPR was continued as Conant was transported via ambulance about a half mile to the helipad at Grant Village.

A Life Flight had landed to assist, but Conant was pronounced dead before take off.

"Out hearts are with the Conant family after this terrible loss," said Superintendent Dan Wenk.

The client Conant was attempting to save was rescued by other guides and brought to shore before rangers arrived.

The client was transported to the park clinic and treated for hypothermia.

The incident is still under investigation.

Conant worked as a guide for Oars, based out of Angel Camp, Cali.

Oars has offered non-motorized boat tours in Yellowstone under permit since 1996.

This was Conant's first season working for Oars.

Since 1894, there have been 41 deaths in Yellowstone Lake.

The most recent was in 1997 when two people died while canoeing.

Survival time is estimated to be only 20 to 30 minutes due to the water's temperature.

CRUSHING DEATH OF WORKER: A Plainville, Mass. public works employee died Thursday when the lawn tractor he was driving overturned and landed on top of him

Plainville DPW worker killed in accident

By DAVID LINTON dlinton@thesunchronicle.com



PLAINVILLE, Mass. — A Plainville public works employee died Thursday when the lawn tractor he was driving overturned and landed on top of him, police said.

The employee, whose name was not released pending notification of family, was cutting grass at the town pumping station on Walnut Street when the accident happened, according to local police.

A motorist passing by saw the overturned tractor and called for help around 1:20 p.m., according to a press statement released by Police Chief James Alfred.

Firefighters and police pulled the 900-pound tractor off the unconscious victim and firefighters performed CPR before taking him to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, where he was later pronounced dead, according to police.
 
The cause of the accident was undetermined and it remains under investigation by Plainville detectives, police said.

An autopsy will be performed by the state Medical Examiner’s office to determine the precise cause of death.

Julian Rigby, a Bacon County, Georgia farmer, and Jasper Allen and Benjamin Swain, his sons-in-law, have agreed to pay the federal government $675,000 to settle a suit accusing them of creating false crop insurance claims.

Crop fraud farmers in six-figure settlement
by Insurance Business 15 Jun 2017


Julian Rigby, a Bacon County farmer, and Jasper Allen and Benjamin Swain, his sons-in-law, have agreed to pay the federal government $675,000 to settle a suit accusing them of creating false crop insurance claims.

Rigby will pay the most at $350,000, while Allen and Swain will pay $300,000 and $25,000, respectively, to settle their involvement in concealing Rigby’s role in farms they claimed to operate, and in collecting crop insurance for him.

The case is the first recovery through the US Department of Agriculture’s crop insurance program in the southern district of Georgia under the federal False Claims Act, the US Attorney’s Office said in an article published on Jacksonville.com.

The federal government claimed that the trifecta of Bacon County farmers operated a scheme in which Allen and Swain provided losses claims under the federal crop insurance program. Under the regulations governing the program, only landlords, owner-operators or tenants are qualified for crop insurance coverage and, over two years, the two men are alleged to have fabricated claims in which they stated 100% of the losses.

The complaint states that the two men have no financial risks as Rigby paid them salaries, provided the land and equipment, paid all the workers, provided a barn to cure tobacco, financed all purchases and made all the decisions. In addition, farm expenses of more than $1 million were billed to Rigby or to Alma Bright Leaf in 2008, 2009, and 2010. In addition, it states that Rigby issued many claims and harvested more than $2.9 million in crop insurance payments for 13 years.

The scheme triggered the federal crop insurance program to issue checks ranging from $74,121 to $262,105 to Swain and Allen who allegedly passed the money along to Rigby. The trio were also accused of failing to return some overpayment from the insurance program.
=============






FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
South Georgia Farmers to Pay Up To $675,000 to Resolve False Claims Act Suit


SAVANNAH, GA: Bacon County (Georgia) farmers Julian Rigby, Jasper Allen and Benjamin Swain, as well as several entities owned by Rigby, agreed to pay up to $675,000 to resolve allegations that they violated and conspired to violate the False Claims Act. This settlement is the first False Claims Act recovery involving the United States Department of Agriculture’s crop insurance program in the history of the Southern District of Georgia.

This settlement resulted from an investigation initiated by the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). On July 1, 2016, the United States filed an action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia captioned United States of America v. Julian Rigby, et al., 5:16-CV-53. In its complaint, the United States contended that Rigby, Allen, and Swain misrepresented and conspired to misrepresent the individuals who had an insured interest in an attempt to obtain more favorable coverage. The United States also alleged that, after filing a claim for losses they supposedly suffered, Rigby, Allen, and Swain submitted and conspired to submit false and fraudulent documents to the USDA to ensure payment.

Acting United States Attorney James D. Durham said, “The federal crop insurance program serves an important role supporting farmers who suffer crop losses due to natural disasters. This United States Attorney’s Office will root out anyone who seeks to manipulate the crop insurance program for personal gain.”

“Today’s announcement shows how, working alongside our partners in the Department of Justice, we will ensure the integrity of the crop insurance program for American taxpayers and producers alike,” said Heather Manzano, Acting Administrator for USDA’s Risk Management Agency.

The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability. The case was investigated by USDA- Risk Management Agency Investigator Randy Upton, Special Agents Andrew Ridgeway and Robin Wilcox of USDA-Office of the Inspector General, and Law Clerk Alison Slagowitz of the United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Georgia. The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorney J. Thomas Clarkson. For questions, please call the United States Attorney’s Office at (912) 201-2522.

Father and 3-year old daughter killled, driver-wife injured after a Kliewer Packing farm truck from Reedley, CA T-bones a Nissan on Road 64 in Tulare County, CA

 

TULARE COUNTY (KFSN) -- According to California Highway Patrol, a 3-year-old girl and her father were killed after their car was hit by a farm truck in Tulare County.

According to the CHP, around 8:00 Thursday night a Nissan traveling north on Road 64 came to a stop sign at Highway 201 East of Kingsburg. The Nissan proceeded into the intersection where they were hit by a farm truck coming from Reedley.

Authorities said the car took out a utility pole and the truck and car came to rest in a nearby vineyard.

The driver of the Nissan, the girl's mother, was injured and taken to CRMC. The passenger, a 23-year-old male and the father of the girl, was pronounced dead at the scene. The three-year-old girl was in the backseat and was transported to Kaweah Delta where she was pronounced dead.

Authorities said the driver of the truck was not injured.

CHP said the truck did not have a stop sign.

KLIEWER PACKING is an active operating under USDOT Number 2683853.

Total Trucks	1
Tractors Owned	0
Trailer Owned	1
Total Drivers	1
USDOT	2683853
MCS-150 Mileage Year
MCS-150 Date
MCS-150 Mileage
Does KLIEWER PACKING transport Hazardous Material?	No
Carrier Operation	Intrastate Non-Hazmat
KLIEWER PACKING in business since	2015-06-12

LONDON FIRE DEAD VICTIMS INCREASED TO AT LEAST 30

LONDON, England -- Police said the number of deceased victims has increased in the west London high-rise fire.

A fast-moving overnight fire engulfed a 24-story apartment tower in London on Wednesday, killing at least 30 people and injuring 74 others, police said.

Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said Friday that 24 people are being treated in the hospital, including 12 in critical care. The number of victims is expected to grow.

Authorities say they've examined original location of fire and there is no indication it was started deliberately

Desperately trying to avoid the flames, residents threw one baby and other small children from high windows to people down on the sidewalk, witnesses said.

The inferno lit up the night sky and spewed black smoke from the windows of the Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, where more than 200 firefighters battled the blaze. The smoke stretched for miles across the sky after dawn, revealing the blackened, flame-licked wreckage of the building, which was still burning over 12 hours later.

PHOTOS: Massive fire at Grenfell Tower in London










People trapped by the advancing flames and thick smoke banged on windows and screamed for help, witnesses and survivors said. One resident said the fire alarm did not go off - bolstering the arguments of a community group, which only months ago had warned of a potential catastrophe at the subsidized housing block.

"The flames - I have never seen anything like it, it just reminded me of 9/11," said Muna Ali, 45. "The fire started on the upper floors ... oh my goodness, it spread so quickly. It had completely spread within half an hour."

"This is an unprecedented incident," Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton told reporters. "In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never, ever seen anything of this scale."

She said she feared more victims would be found still inside the tower, where up to 600 people lived in 120 apartments. The London Fire Brigade said it rescued 65 people.






Firefighters are battling a massive fire in an apartment high-rise in London.
Samira Lamrani, a witness, said one woman dropped a baby from a window on the ninth or 10th floor to people on the sidewalk.

"People were starting to appear at the windows, frantically banging and screaming" and one woman indicated she was going to drop the baby, Lamrani told Britain's Press Association news agency. "A gentleman ran forward and managed to grab the baby."

Joe Walsh, 58, said he saw someone throw two children out of a window from the fifth or sixth floor. Tiago Etienne, 17, said he spotted about three children between the ages of four and eight being dropped from an apartment around the 15th floor.

Witnesses described a white, polystyrene-type material falling like snow from the building as it burned. Some feared the charred tower block might collapse, but a structural engineer said the building was not in danger, according to the London Fire Brigade, which added "it is safe for our crews to be in there."

Ruks Mamudu, 69, escaped from her first floor apartment wearing only her purple pajamas and bathrobe. She and her grandson sat outside the building, helplessly watching those trapped on higher floors.

"I sat there watching my house burn down and watching people cry for help who couldn't come down," she said.

People at the scene spoke of being unable to reach friends or family inside the building or seeing people using flashlights and mobile phones to try to signal for help from the building's higher floors.

Nassima Boutrig, who lives opposite the building, said she was awakened by sirens and smoke so thick that it filled her home as well.

"We saw the people screaming," she said. "A lot of people said 'Help! Help! Help!' The fire brigade could only help downstairs. It was fire up, up, up. They couldn't stop the fire."

The disaster occurred 10 days after a terror attack at London's Borough Market. Some residents initially feared the fire was also terror-related, although authorities discounted that possibility.

Edward Daffarn, a 55-year-old who lived on the building's 16th floor, said the fire alarm didn't ring. Daffarn said residents had complained for years to Kensington and Chelsea Council about the building's safety, to no avail.

"I'm lucky to be alive. A neighbor's smoke alarm went off and another neighbor phoned and told me to get out," he said. "I consider this mass murder."

The Grenfell Action Group, a community organization formed to oppose a nearby redevelopment project, has been warning about the risk of fire at Grenfell Tower since 2013. The group has raised concerns about testing and maintenance of firefighting equipment and blocked emergency access to the site.

In a blog on Nov. 20, the activist group predicted that only "a catastrophic event" leading to "serious loss of life" would bring the outside scrutiny needed to make conditions safe for residents.

"All our warnings fell on deaf ears and we predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable," the group said after the fire broke out.

The Kensington and Chelsea Council, which oversees the area where the fire occurred and is Grenfell's landlord, said in a statement its immediate focus was helping victims and their families. It said the cause of the blaze would be "fully investigated."

A July 2014 newsletter for residents said the tower building was designed "according to rigorous fire safety standards" and recommended that residents stay inside their apartments in the case of a fire.

The British company that carried out the tower's 2016 refurbishment, Rydon, said in a statement that its work "met all required building control, fire regulation and health and safety standards."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said many questions now need to be answered about safety for the scores of tower blocks around the British capital.

"There will be a great many questions over the coming days as to the cause of this tragedy, and I want to reassure Londoners that we will get all the answers," Khan said.

Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing Street office said she was "deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life" in the fire.

Wind-driven flames destroyed two homes and damaged two others, with propane tank explosions fueling the flames in Fire Island Pines, LI

FIRE ISLAND PINES, LI -

Four homes were destroyed by flames in Fire Island Pines overnight.

Firefighters rushed over on boats around 1 a.m., and are still on the scene spraying water on hot embers.

Fire officials say the fire started at a home located at 154 Ocean Walk. They say winds quickly blew flames to surrounding homes, damaging at least two others.

Officials credit the quick response from firefighters from keeping the blaze from spreading further, and potentially destroying 15-20 more homes.

Two firefighters were treated at the scene for minor injuries. One firefighter was taken to the hospital for an elevated heart rate, but is listed in stable condition.

No other injuries were reported.



===================
FIRE ISLAND PINES, Long Island (WABC) --

Four homes burned in a fire on Fire Island overnight Thursday.

The fire broke out in one home on Ocean Walk in Fire Island Pines just after 1:30 a.m.

Flames destroyed two homes and damaged two others, with propane tank explosions fueling the flames.

Firefighters put out the flames in several hours.

One firefighter was taken to the hospital for elevated blood pressure.

No injuries were reported.



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



An overnight blaze on Fire Island damaged several homes, officials said Friday, June 16, 2017. News 12 Long Island reported that four homes in the Fire Island Pines section were destroyed and two others were damaged. (Credit: News 12 Long Island)

Four homes were destroyed overnight when flames roared through a section of Fire Island Pines, officials said.

Two firefighters were treated at the scene for minor injuries, and another firefighter was taken to a hospital after reporting elevated blood pressure, officials. No civilian injuries were reported.The fire was reported at 12:57 in a home of Ocean Walk

3-alarm fire in Roslindale in Boston, Mass. displaced 21 people and caused $500K in damages

BOSTON, Mass. —

A large fire left three homes damaged in Boston on Wednesday evening.

Fire officials said the three-alarm fire broke out at 3940 Washington St. in Roslindale, which spread to the neighboring home at 3944 Washington St.

Heavy black smoke could be seen pouring into the sky from the area.

"It started off slow, but then you could see it increasing and getting more vicious," Josh Lopes said. "Then you start seeing stuff flying out of the house."


"I saw the flames in the backyard about six feet high started banging on doors and windows getting people out," Jacob Tucke said.


Firefighters were able to put out the heavy fire in each floor as well as the exterior of the building.

The rear porches of the first building were completely charred from fire. The siding of 3944 Washington St was also damaged.

21 people, 16 adults and 5 kids were displaced as a result of the fire.

Investigators said no serious injuries have been reported, and they are working to determine the cause of the fire.

The fire caused $500,000 in damage.