21-year-old Michael Butzke of Allegan is charged with operating a boat while under the influence of liquor causing injury after he ran over one of the boat's passengers, Cameron Cichosz, 20, after he fell, amputating his leg in Gun Lake in Michigan

A Howell man's leg was amputated when he was run over by a boat Sunday, June 17, in Gun Lake.

Cameron Cichosz, 20, after he fell, amputating his leg in Gun Lake in Michigan

21-year-old Michael Butzke of Allegan is charged with operating a boat while under the influence of liquor causing injury after he ran over one of the boat's passengers, Cameron Cichosz, 20, after he fell, amputating his leg in Gun Lake in Michigan

Driver of boat in Gun Lake crash that amputated man's leg jailed
June 18, 2018

By Emily Monacelli

emonacel@mlive.com


BARRY COUNTY, MI -- The driver of a boat, 21-year-old Michael Butzke, who ran over one of the boat's passengers after he fell, amputating his leg, has been arrested.

The 21-year-old Allegan man was booked into the Barry County Jail on a charge of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, according to deputies. Court records show the man has not yet been arraigned.

The victim of the accident has been identified by authorities as Cameron Cichosz, 20, of Howell.

The accident happened around 5:15 p.m. Sunday, June 17, in Gun Lake.

Cichosz fell from the side of the boat and was hit by the boat's propeller, according to police. Two doctors who happened to be in the area applied a tourniquet to slow femoral bleeding, which likely saved the man's life, Barry County sheriff's deputies said. Police identified those doctors Monday as Dr. Lauren Azevedo of St. John Hospital of Detroit and her husband, Dr. Ryan Keating of Henry Ford Hospital of Detroit.

Both doctors were visiting family and were on a pontoon on Gun Lake when they heard the calls for help and swam to Cichosz's aid. Cichosz had been brought back onto the boat by the time the doctors reached him.


They look like drunk Pollacks, don't they? 
===========================


Boat driver jailed after man's leg amputated

June 19, 2018


ORANGEVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — 

The driver of a boat that hit a man on Gun Lake, severing part of the victim's leg, has been jailed and faces a felony charge.

Online Michigan State Police records show 21-year-old Michael Butzke of Allegan faces a count of operating a boat while under the influence of liquor causing injury.

MSP records also show that since 2016, Butzke has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of operating while intoxicated, as well as single misdemeanor counts of malicious destruction of property, failing to report a crash, having an open alcohol container in a vehicle, possession of marijuana or synthetic marijuana, violating license restrictions, being a minor in possession, and operating on a suspended, revoked or denied license.

The man whose leg was amputated was identified by the Barry County Sheriff's Office Monday as 20-year-old Cameron Cichosz of Howell. He was set to start boot camp for the U.S. Marine Corps in a few weeks, authorities said.

The accident happened around 5:15 p.m. Sunday on the southeast side of Gun Lake. Authorities say Cichosz fell into the water as Butzke turned the boat, at which point Cichosz's leg became caught up in the propeller.

Two Detroit doctors who happened to be on another boat on the lake, married couple Dr. Lauren Azevedo of St. John Hospital and Dr. Ryan Keating of Henry Ford Hospital, heard calls for help and swam to help Cichosz, who had been hauled back on to the boat. The doctors used a tourniquet to stem his bleeding.

Cichosz was taken to a Grand Rapids hospital, where he underwent surgery Sunday evening. His condition was not known Monday, but he was expected to survive.

Five boaters injured in Lake Wazeecha boat crash after a boat crashed into the shoreline

Five injured in Lake Wazeecha boat crash
Karen Madden, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune 

June 18, 2018


GRAND RAPIDS, MI - 

Two people were transported to Marshfield Medical Center by helicopter Saturday after a boat crash on Lake Wazeecha.

Three additional people were taken to Aspirus Riverview Hospital by ground ambulance, said Corey Trowbridge, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources warden supervisor.


At about 12:30 p.m. Saturday, a caller reported a boat crashed into the shoreline on the lake, Trowbridge said. The original call was that one person had a head injury and a female had her leg torn open, according to the Wood County sheriff's log.

The injuries of all five people are believed to be non-life-threatening, Trowbridge said.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the DNR, Grand Rapids Police Department and Wood County Sheriff's Department, Trowbridge said. Of course, many people drink and boat or speed and boat.  This may very well be one of those cases.

The Rhode Island Westerly Quarry blast that injured two Westerly town employees and damaged multiple buildings has been ruled accidental.

WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) — 

Rhode Island officials have ruled the quarry blast that injured two town employees and damaged multiple buildings accidental.

The Westerly Sun reported Tuesday the state fire marshal's office found the blast at the Westerly quarry did not violate state law or the state fire code.

The explosion in May sent pieces of granite flying into nearby buildings and into a town-owned pickup truck that workers had pulled over on the side of the road.

One worker was treated and released the same day, but the other worker was hospitalized with a head injury.

The fire marshal's office reinstated the quarry's blasting license after the owners promised to use an air horn to warn of upcoming explosions.

Blasting resumed at the quarry last week.


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

Two Westerly DPW employees struck by granite during scheduled blast

by DANIELLE KENNEDY, NBC 10 NEWS

Wednesday, May 23rd 2018

Two Westerly Department of Public Works employees are recovering after getting hit with a piece of granite during a scheduled blast at a quarry.

WESTERLY, R.I. (WJAR) — Two Westerly Department of Public Works employees are recovering after being hit with a piece of granite.

Town officials said it happened Wednesday morning during a scheduled blast at a nearby quarry on Old Hopkinton Road.

“Their safety system had a failure, to what degree and to what aspect is up to the Rhode Island bomb squad to determine,” said Westerly Interim Town Manager Mark Rooney.

Officials said the two men pulled over to make a phone call when their truck was hit with a piece of granite from the blast, roughly a quarter mile away. Both were sent to the hospital.

"I saw their back window was smashed out and they didn't look too healthy," said Ariel Ternes, who lives near the quarry. “It was almost like a bomb went off."

Rooney said a siren went off before the blast and netting was placed around the area to prevent debris from hitting anyone.

It’s not clear whether the employees were in the area before the road was blocked while the blast was conducted.

“For some reason, the owner of the facility did not see their truck,” Rooney said.

Roofs of nearby buildings were also damaged and struck with rocks.

A representative with Connecticut-based Rawson Materials said the company purchased the quarry earlier in 2018 from Pawcatuck-based Cherenzia Companies.

Rawson said they contracted a Massachusetts-based company to do the blast.

“The blast was precipitated by a sub-contractor hired by the Rawson Materials company called A1 blasting, with a stellar reputation and tremendous amount of experience I’m told,” said Town Council President Edward Morrone.

A1 did not return NBC 10’s requests for comment.

Rooney said all companies had valid permits to blast and will meet with Westerly Town Officials next Tuesday at 9 a.m.

“There will be a complete review of their procedures and processes before they go forward with any blasts,” Rooney said. “And they are doing that cooperatively.”

The U.S. Department of Labor told NBC 10 that OSHA is aware of the incident and is in touch with the company.The Rhode Island State Police bomb squad and the state fire marshal are investigating

Contractor Timothy Matthew Cox, who operated Nationwide Catastrophe Services Inc. and Restoration Response Services Inc. is facing charges in an alleged $140,000 assignment of benefits scam that targeted 19 homeowners.

Timothy Matthew Cox, 54, owner of Nationwide Catastrophe Services Inc. and Restoration Response Services Inc., was arrested for reportedly defrauding 19 homeowners in eight Florida counties and one Texas county out of nearly $140,000. 

Charges filed in alleged insurance fraud scheme involving AOB agreements

A contractor is facing charges in an alleged $140,000 assignment of benefits scam that targeted 19 homeowners.

The Florida Bureau of Insurance Fraud named Timothy Matthew Cox, who operated Nationwide Catastrophe Services Inc. and Restoration Response Services Inc.

“Criminals who prey on Florida families after a hurricane or tropical storm are some of the worst we see,” Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said in a written statement.

“This type of fraud has skyrocketed and impacts all Florida consumers. One of my first actions I took as your CFO was to create Florida’s Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team to go after this type of fraud,” Patronis said. “With more than 100 ongoing investigations statewide, we are coming for anyone who takes advantage of our residents during vulnerable times.”

The scam involved taking insurance money under AOB agreements for repairs Cox never began in Brevard, Clay, Escambia, Flagler, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia Counties, and also in Texas, following tropical storms and hurricanes, Patronis’ office said.

Instead, officials said, he deposited the money into bank accounts he controlled for his personal use.

Cox was booked into the Polk County Jail on June 5 on multiple counts of grand theft and racketeering; he could face up to 30 years behind bars. The Office of Statewide Prosecution is bringing the charges.

Patronis urged homeowners who have experienced or witnessed such fraud to call his Fraud Tip Hotline at 800-378-0445. They can remain anonymous if they choose.

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



Kissimmee Man Accused Of Stealing From Hurricane Victims
Contractors who take advantage of hurricane victims are going to have to answer to the state of Florida. 

By D'Ann Lawrence White, Patch Staff | 

June 14, 2018

LAKELAND, FL – Contractors who take advantage of hurricane victims are going to have to answer to the state of Florida.

That was the message Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis delivered this week with the arrest of a Kissimmee man who reportedly took money from hurricane victims for repairs he never made.

Timothy Matthew Cox, 54, owner of Nationwide Catastrophe Services Inc. and Restoration Response Services Inc., was arrested for reportedly defrauding 19 homeowners in eight Florida counties and one Texas county out of nearly $140,000.

Patronis reportedly took money from the homeowners, promising to make repairs that were never made.

"This type of fraud has skyrocketed and impacts all Florida consumers," Patronis said in a statement.

Patronis created Florida's Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team and said he has more than 100 ongoing investigations statewide.

An investigation by Patronis' Bureau of Insurance Fraud discovered that Cox targeted areas impacted by last year's tropical storms and hurricanes including Brevard, Clay, Escambia, Flagler, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties and Tarrant County, Texas.

Patronis said Cox pressured homeowners to sign an "Assignment of Benefits" contract to have damages repaired. When consumers sign this document, they are granting the contractor the right to negotiate the insurance claim directly with the homeowners' insurance carriers. This allows the contractor to receive the consumer's insurance benefits directly from the insurance carrier.

After receiving the insurance payments, Patronis said Cox never started any of the work he was contracted to perform. The payments were deposited into bank accounts controlled by Cox, who used the money for personal use, according to Patronis.

Cox is charged with multiple counts of grand theft and racketeering. He could face up to 30 years in jail.

Consumers who have experienced similar problems with contractors are urged to contact the Fraud Tip Hotline at 800-378-0445.

Shar’dayzeia Lonniece Johnson, 22, has been charged with insurance fraud aftershe filed a false insurance claim for damages to her vehicle from an accident in North Carolina

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

HERTFORD, NC — 

A Hertford, NC woman has been charged with insurance fraud after state officials say she filed a false insurance claim for damages to her vehicle from an accident.

Shar’dayzeia Lonniece Johnson, 22, of 306 Stokes Street, also was charged with attempting to obtain property by false pretense, a press release from the N.C. Department of Insurance states.

According to a warrant, Johnson filed a claim with National General Insurance Co., saying her vehicle was involved in a hit-and-run traffic accident. Special agents with the N.C. Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Division say Johnson’s claim sought $1,795.78. However, the investigators determined the damage to her vehicle “was not consistent with damage from such an accident,” the press release states.

According to the press release, Johnson was arrested on May 22 and released on a $1,000 unsecured bond. The offenses for which she’s charged occurred between March 21 and May 21, the insurance department said.

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




For Immediate Release: June 19, 2018

Contact: Barry Smith at 919-807-6014
Special agents charge Hertford woman with insurance fraud

RALEIGH, NC -- North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey today announced the arrest of Shar’dayzeia Lonniece Johnson, 22, of 306 Stokes St., Hertford, NC. Johnson was charged with insurance fraud and attempting to obtain property by false pretense.

According to the warrant, Johnson filed a claim with National General Insurance Co., saying that her vehicle was involved in a hit-and-run traffic accident when the damage to the vehicle was not consistent with damage from such an accident.

Special agents with the N.C. Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Division say she attempted to obtain $1,795.78 with the false claim.

The offenses occurred between March 21 and May 21. Johnson was arrested on May 22 in Perquimans County and released on $1,000 unsecured bond.

Insurance fraud costs American consumers approximately $80 billion dollars a year. According to Commissioner Causey, fraud costs North Carolinians between 15 and 20 cents of every dollar paid on insurance premiums -- and it’s getting worse.

“I am determined to stem the tide of insurance fraud in this state in order to save residents money,” said Commissioner Causey. “That’s why I am dedicated to the mission of our NCDOI law enforcement officers who investigate and prosecute claims of insurance and bail bonding fraud.”

To report suspected fraud, contact the N.C. Department of Insurance Criminal Investigation Division at 919-807-6840. Callers may remain anonymous. Information is also available at www.ncdoi.com.

What is causing a recycling worker’s respiratory distress?

Workplace Medical Mystery: What is causing a recycling worker’s respiratory distress?

Posted on June 19, 2018 by R. Reid Harvey, DVM, MPH; Michelle R. Martin, MS; and Julie Tisdale-Pardi, MA




 

Joe worked at a metal recycling facility in Nevada. His typical job duties included operating a material handler to load scrap metal into a shear for crushing. During his shift at the recycling facility, Joe looked up to see a plume of thick yellow smoke swirl around a pile of scrap metal and was suddenly overcome with shortness of breath, coughing, chest pressure, and eye irritation. He thought about grabbing a fire extinguisher but then ran away from the smoke until the air cleared. Joe’s supervisor saw that he was in distress and called 9-1-1. When medical help arrived, Joe’s blood oxygen saturation was 87% and increased to 94% with supplemental oxygen (normal saturations are within the range of 95% to 100% while breathing room air).

Emergency response personnel transported him to a local hospital. Although alert, he had an elevated heart rate and difficulty breathing and quickly developed respiratory failure with inadequate blood oxygen levels. He was intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation roughly 20 min after arriving at the hospital. He was also administered inhaled nitric oxide to improve oxygenation. X-rays of his chest showed fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema), and bloodwork revealed an acid-base disorder (respiratory and metabolic acidosis). Additional tests led to the diagnosis of acute respiratory distress syndrome or ARDS. Joe’s supervisor remembered that the system for scanning incoming metal for radioactive material had been malfunctioning. He relayed this information to the paramedics.

Prior to this sudden onset of respiratory failure, Joe’s only chronic medical problems were high blood pressure and a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation. He was a nonsmoker and had no past history of lung disease. His hobby was woodworking. His wife reported that he had stripped and restored an antique dining table the previous weekend.

What was causing Joe’s illness?

Check back on Friday for the next installment of Workplace Medical Mysteries to see what is making Joe sick. Think you know? Tell us what you think it is in the comment section below.

This is heavy metal exposure from torch cutting or fires.

The smoke comes from cutting metal with torches or from fire when vehicle gas tanks aren't drained properly. Explosions can occur when propane tanks are fed into the maw of the crushers.

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




Danger in air near metal recyclers
Metal recyclers emit carcinogenic pollutant

By Ingrid Lobet December 29, 2012 Updated: January 9, 2013 2:54pm





Photo: Nick De La Torre, Staff




Derichebourg Recycling USA in Houston has invested millions of dollars to address problems with smoke, fire and explosions.


The calls to the city of Houston's 311 help line came in the early morning and the middle of the night - complaints of red smoke, yellow smoke, explosions, fire, a child having trouble breathing.


Reports like these - 189 of them over the last five years - led Houston air authorities to discover a previously unrecognized and dangerous source of air pollution: metal recyclers and car crushers, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle.


The smoke comes from cutting metal with torches and from fire when vehicle gas tanks aren't drained properly. Explosions can occur when propane tanks are fed into the maw of the crushers.

Descriptions of shattering noise, cracked walls and smoke were significant enough that the city had to "dedicate a good amount of effort responding to these complaints," said Arturo Blanco, chief of the city's Bureau of Pollution Control and Prevention.


Subsequent testing outside five Houston metal recycling operations found dangerous levels of hexavalent chromium. Chrome VI, as it's also called, is a high priority for air experts.

"People were complaining about smoke, and it turns out there were carcinogenic metals," said Loren Raun, an environmental statistician at Rice University. "And we found them only around these facilities, not in other areas we tested, not even in other industrial areas of the city."

New pollution source

When inhaled, hexa­valent chromium is deposited in the lungs, can penetrate cells and cause free radicals, which damage DNA, ultimately causing lung cancer. When California gained the authority to regulate air pollution hazards in the 1980s, hexavalent chromium shared top priority, along with benzene. The state considers Chrome VI one of the most potent carcinogens known.


Forty years after the passage of the Clean Air Act, it's rare to find a new source of air pollution. But new sources can appear as the economy changes. The materials economy is evolving. What once was a sideline industry - recycling - is becoming central to manufacturing.

Many of the minerals that make the screens, toys and cars used every day are finite in the Earth's crust. Others are simply expensive. For every material - aluminum, lead, steel, sulfur, mercury - there is a point where it's cheaper or safer to recover it from our garbage than to mine or forge it fresh.

As international prices for materials rise, more batteries are being recycled. More TVs are being recycled. More cars are being recycled.

Sometimes, that comes with a price.

"When you weld or cut, you are vaporizing metal," said Don Richner, an industrial hygienist and analytical chemist also with the Bureau of Pollution Control and Prevention. "All the missing metal is vapor in the air."

Houston appears to be the first to examine metal emissions from the industry, and in so doing may have flagged a national problem. The Environmental Protection Agency does not regulate the facilities, though there are now 6,000 of them in the United States, according to Joe Pickard, chief economist with the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc.

Assessing the risk

For Houston, the complaints began in older neighborhoods like Magnolia Park and Manchester, though researchers would later find surprising results even in the Washington Avenue area, where few people complained.

The city team initially measured particles. Some scrap yards had no appreciable emissions. But enough did that researchers felt they had to do more. With little in guidance available from other jurisdictions, they decided to create a scoring tool to help compare risk among processors.


Richner and colleagues scored each metal recycler based on several questions: how close it was to dense neighborhoods, how many complaints it had received, how many violations, and whether the operator used torches to cut metal.

The company with the highest priority score on the matrix was Holmes Road Recycling near Houston's Sunnyside neighborhood. Since then, company vice president Sheldon Tuffyas said, it has reduced torch-cutting at the plant by 85 percent and taken a number of steps to reduce airborne particles. The city says the company's efforts are significant.

After this initial scoring, the city took a deeper look at the smoke and particles emanating from some of the recycling yards. Raun, who also is a senior environmental analyst with the city, chose five midsize metal recyclers in different neighborhoods. They also tested air at 10 locations with no metal processors, so as not to blame the industry for contaminants that might be widespread in Houston's air.

The researchers visited each shredder multiple times (between six and 13), and examined its emissions for chrome, cobalt, nickel, cadmium and other metals. They took into account Houston's changeable breezes, subtracting for the time the wind would be blowing pollution away. They determined that people living near these facilities would still have an increased risk of developing cancer.

Depending on the yard, they estimated there would be between 7 and 600 extra cancers per million people, the latter a risk 600 times higher than what is acceptable to federal health scientists. Among these five plants, a small sample of all those in the city, the highest cancer risk was estimated outside the Cronimet metal processor in Harrisburg/Magnolia Park and Allied Alloys in South Park.


David Porco, vice president of quality and administration at Cronimet Corp., based in Aliquippa, Pa., said Houston air officials shared their findings with him, and the company already has instructed managers at its Houston yard to reduce burning while it looks into options for capturing the metals, such as a bag house.

"We're taking a pro­active approach. We want to make sure we limit emissions that come from the facility," Porco said.

Allied Alloys said in a statement that it "is proud of our history of commitment to the environment and the safety of our workers and the communities in which we operate. We believe that our positive net impact is defined by the re-purposing of thousands of tons of metal that does not further deplete our natural resources."

Chrome was in the air outside all five of the plants where the Bureau of Pollution Control and Prevention sampled: Cronimet, Allied Alloys, Holmes Road, Spectrum Metal Recycling, and Rose Metal Processing off Washington Avenue.

TCEQ aware

Agency records show the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also has become aware of potential problems associated with shredding and torch-cutting metals. Neighbors of metals plants across Texas have called in complaints 300 times in the last five years, a Chronicle analysis shows.

A single Houston recycler, Texas Port Recycling in the Manchester neighborhood, had 41 fires and explosions over the four-month period from Oct. 12, 2007, to Feb. 6, 2008, according to state records.

Since the time of those fires, Texas Port Recycling also has taken steps to reduce emissions and explosions, and Richner said the city has not detected levels of concern outside the plant. Residents, however, say they believe frequent smoke in the neighborhood and explosions are coming from Texas Port Recycling. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

Rose Metal Processing also did not respond. Spectrum Metal Recycling declined to comment.

"We want the recyclers here. We don't want them to move out. But maybe they've been flying under the radar," said Blanco, director of the Bureau of Pollution Control and Prevention.

Richner, the industrial hygienist, said he's concerned not only for residents near the recycling operations but also for the people who work cutting metal inside.

"Metals typically have coatings. Sometimes those coatings are lead paint. Who is telling these people: 'This could be lead paint, this could be cadmium, this could be chromium'?" he asked.

Inside the plants, he said, "some people are not wearing personal protective equipment and they are cutting metal. My concern is: Are they getting the health and safety training they deserve? I don't know."

In the neighborhoods alongside the plants, there are indications the calls to the city's 311 line may be only the tip of the iceberg.

In Manchester, several neighbors who said they've never complained to the city noted that smoke and loud noises are still an almost daily occurrence.

Neighbors fearful

And in one of the oldest historically Hispanic neighborhoods in the city, Magnolia Park, on the edge of another metal yard, pieces of carburetor thunder into a listing barge on Brays Bayou. A few feet away, Amanda Martinez and her husband clean metallic dust off their patio. "I have pulmonary hypertension. I worry what I'm breathing," she said.

Ginny Norton said there is frequent smoke around the quiet home her parents bought long ago. And there are explosions. "I'm afraid this little house is going to shatter and fall on my head," she said.

Just across Navigation Boulevard, the metals processor Derichebourg Recycling USA flattens and shreds scrap metal and cars. It set up its large operation a few years ago on Wharf Road, residents said, when a wave of ruined vehicles was coming in from Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

In 2009, the Deriche­bourg plant signed a compliance agreement with the city, which found it had a problem with smoke, fire and explosions.

Manager Philippe Leonard points out that the company has purchased a slow shredder that can prevent gas tank fires when vendors fail to remove the tanks. It put in watering systems and paving to eliminate dust and spent $4 million on a 40-foot wall with sound insulation. "We have done everything we can for our neighbors," he said.

The changes made at Derichebourg may come to be regarded as industry standards.

In the meantime, said Blanco, whose pollution agency is part of the department of Health and Human Services, there are unaddressed health issues. "We are promoting wellness. We're promoting excellent health, but we're not making the connection."

Road worker Robert Alan Wilson Jr., 41, of Mims was critically injured and female driver Susan Bagaas, 62, of St. Cloud killed after she struck with her car Wilson's man lift in the center median of the Florida Turnpike

Her passenger, Jennifer Fletcher, 62, of St. Cloud, was taken to Osceola County Regional Medical Center in serious condition.

Female driver Susan Bagaas, 62, of St. Cloud killed after she struck with her car Wilson's man lift in the center median of the Florida Turnpike

Orange County, Florida

A crash on Florida's Turnpike in Orange County left a Mims construction worker in critical condition and killed a St. Cloud resident Monday night, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Robert Alan Wilson Jr., 41, of Mims was operating a man lift — a piece of construction equipment — in a construction area in the center median of the Turnpike about 9:45 p.m. Monday.

While traveling southbound on the Turnpike near mile marker 250, Susan Bagaas, 62, of St. Cloud, drove her 2013 ford Edge into the path of the man lift, according to FHP.

Bagaas' vehicle struck the right side of the man lift, ejecting Wilson into the roadway.


Meanwhile, the Ford rotated clockwise and struck the end of a concrete barrier on its left side, FHP reported.

Bagaas was pronounced dead by the medical examiner. The passenger in her vehicle, Jennifer Annlorain Fletcher, 62, of St. Cloud, was taken to Osceola County Regional Medical Center with serious injuries.

Wilson was also transported to the hospital in critical condition.

The crash remains under investigation.



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


Woman killed, worker critically injured in crash on Florida Turnpike
Turnpike closed for hours in Orange County due to fatal wreck
By Dawn Jorgenson 

June 19, 2018


ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - 

A 62-year-old St. Cloud woman was killed and a construction worker was critically injured Monday night in a crash that closed the Florida Turnpike in Orange County for hours, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Troopers said Susan Bagaas died in the crash, which was reported at 9:45 p.m. in the southbound lanes of the Florida Turnpike near Osceola Parkway.
 
According to the FHP, Bagaas was driving a 2013 Ford Edge when she struck Robert Alan Wilson Jr., 41, of Mims, who was on a man lift in a construction zone.

Wilson was ejected from the equipment and suffered critical injuries, the FHP said. He was taken to Osceola Regional Hospital.

Bagaas' car struck a concrete barrier after hitting the man lift, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, the FHP said.

A passenger in Bagaas' car suffered serious injuries, the FHP said. 

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






St. Cloud female driver killed in crash on the Florida Turnpike

Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2018 at 10:00 am


A St. Cloud woman was killed on Florida’s Turnpike on Monday after her vehicle hit a man lift that drove into her path, authorities said.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Susan Bagass, 62, of St. Cloud, was driving a 2013 Ford Edge southbound on the turnpike at about 9:45 p.m. in the inside lane.

A man lift being operated by Robert Wilson Jr. from a hydraulic lift bucket was in a construction area and drove directly into the path of the Ford, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The Ford struck the right side of the man lift, knocking Wilson out of the bucket.

The Ford then rotated clockwise and struck a barrier wall on the left side. Bagass was pronounced dead on scene. Her passenger, Jennifer Fletcher, 62, of St. Cloud, was taken to Osceola County Regional Medical Center in serious condition.

Wilson was taken to the same hospital in critical condition.

The crash remains under investigation.

Worker Kyle Drake, 38, of Petaluma sufferred terrible death after he became caught in a mechanical part and pulled into a mixing machine at Rogue Research, Inc. in California

The worker killed last week while working on a mixing machine at a Petaluma business was Kyle Drake, 38, of Petaluma, according to the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office.

Drake died June 11 after getting pulled into the machine at Rogue Research, where he worked. He’d apparently been mixing powders for supplements when he became caught in a mechanical part.

Rogue Research, on Copeland Street, makes soap and supplements.

Petaluma police and the state employee safety department, Cal-OSHA, are investigating.

Drake lived most of his life in Petaluma and was known for his creativity and his ability to design and build a variety of intriguing things, including a life-sized carnival game and a 3D printer, according to his obituary. He also was remembered for his passion for beef jerky and tri-tip.

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

Kyle DRAKE (1979 - 2018)


"You will be missed Kyle, by all who loved..."
- Maryl Meyer-Maehler
 

DRAKE, Kyle 

Kyle Nicholas Drake, loving brother, son and friend, died suddenly June 11, 2018 while at work. 

Ever creative, Kyle relished looking for ways to make things better for those around him, helping without complaint when a need arose, and finding new, innovative ways to support his friends and coworkers. Kyle loved video games, board games, cooking, lifehacks, and new technologies. It was not uncommon to see him either building something new, like a 3D printer, or taking apart something old, like a Nintendo. 

His passion for beef jerky and Tri-Tip was legendary. Kyle proudly served as official Ringmaster for Phoenix Pro Wrestling in Petaluma, where he worked to make each show special for families and fans attending. 

He could be counted on to make any good idea into a great idea, be it building a giant wrestling cage, constructing a life-sized carnival game, setting up an underground archery range, designing and assembling a homemade T-shirt cannon, or coordinating an elaborate fake fishing expedition for the internet. He especially enjoyed meeting his many online friends in real life, once helping solve an anime-themed escape room with them for a Twitch stream and eating a stunning spread of fancy cheese. Kyle was born December 27, 1979. 

Aside from his early years in Oklahoma as well as a short stint in Chico, where he kept fond memories, Kyle lived most of his life in Petaluma, a city better off for it. He leaves behind his brother Josh, his mother Millie and his father Keith, all of Petaluma, as well as numerous friends and PPW family. 

Private services will be planned. Kyle was one of the good ones. He will be sorely missed.

Water infiltration and lack of maintenance caused a brick facade to come tumbling down from a three-story building in Greenpoint in Brooklyn, NYC

Tuesday, June 19, 2018 07:55PM
GREENPOINT, Brooklyn (WABC) --

A building in Brooklyn had to be evacuated Tuesday following a partial facade collapse.

It happened on Java Street between Franklin Street and Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint.

A brick facade came tumbling down from a three-story building, leaving the front porch completely covered in bricks.

Some residents on either side of the building also had to be evacuated.

A car in the driveway was crushed, but there are no reports of any injuries.

The FDNY and the Department of Buildings are on the scene. The DOB said its preliminary investigation determined that the collapse occurred due to water infiltration in the masonry. Of course the lack of repairs and maintenance are major contributing factors.

There is no immediate danger of further collapse, officials said.



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


Building Facade Tumbles Down in Greenpoint
By Gus Rosendale
Published at 6:50 PM EDT on Jun 19, 2018 | Updated at 12:18 AM EDT on Jun 20, 2018

Authorities are investigating what caused the facade of a three-story home in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn to suddenly collapse, sending bricks and debris raining onto the sidewalk below.

A Department of Buildings spokesman says it appears water infiltration in the masonry caused the partial facade collapse at 113 Java St., between Franklin and Manhattan avenues, early Tuesday evening.

A fire official on scene said the FDNY is also investigating the cause, and it's possible that vibrations from so much construction in the area was a factor.
Of course the lack of repairs and maintenance are major contributing factors.
 
No injuries were reported; there's no immediate danger of further collapse, the DOB says.


Chopper 4 over the scene show broken and bent windows, with bricks strewn all over the ground.

Neighbor Lori Jones, who lives next door, said she had returned home moments earlier and just missed the bricks falling on top of her.

"I was just getting in... Glad I got home before," she said. "It could have been a lot worse."