CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION FINES PG&E $1.6 BILLION FOR SAN BRUNO, CALIFORNIA DEADLY EXPLOSION THAT KILLED 8 AND INJURED DOZENS

APRIL 9, 2015

A PG&E gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno on Sept. 9, 2010. The explosion killed eight people, injured dozens and destroyed or damaged about 100 homes.

The California Public Utilities Commission voted today to fine Pacific, Gas & Electric Co. $1.6 billion in penalties for its role in the September 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people, injured dozens and destroyed or damaged about 100 homes.

The new penalty is $200 million more than an earlier internal recommendation by the San Francisco-based agency's administrative law judges assigned to the case. Along with earlier penalties related to the San Bruno incident, the total fines imposed on PG&E now exceed $2.2 billion.

CPUC President Michael Picker, who took office in late December, replacing disgraced former President Michael Peevey, described the penalty as one of the largest ever levied on a utility company nationally.

PSE&G, watch out.

DEAD ICAROS IDENTIFIED IN EXPERIMENTAL QUICKSILVER MXL II AIRCRAFT CRASH NEAR PETALUMA MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, CALIFORNIA

APRIL 9, 2015

SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

A pilot who was killed when his ultralight plane crashed south of the Petaluma Municipal Airport on Friday, February 3, 2015, was identified Thursday as David Michael Wright, 51, of Petaluma, Sonoma County sheriff’s officials said. 

Wright was the sole occupant of an experimental Quicksilver MXL II aircraft that crashed at about 12:30 p.m. Friday. 

Witnessed described watching the two-seat aircraft spiral toward the ground. The plane crashed in a field between Frates Road and Browns Lane. 

The plane was registered to Donald Wayne Wright of Petaluma, who purchased it last April, according to a match of its tail number on an FAA database. It was manufactured in 1984 and required a pilot’s license to fly. 

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the circumstances of the crash.

1,195 CRASH DEATHS REACH RECORD LOW IN PENNSYLVANIA FOR 2014. THIS IS ABOUT 1 DEAD PER 10,000 RESIDENTS OR EQUAL TO THE NATIONAL AVERAGE

APRIL 9, 2015

Statewide, 2014 saw the fewest traffic deaths in Pennsylvania since record keeping began in 1928, the state Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

A total of 1,195 people died in 1,107 crashes throughout Pennsylvania in 2014 down from 1,562 in 1997.  This is about 1 person dead per 10,000 residents or just about the national average death rate.  There were 3,040 total major injuries, down from 5,393 in 1997.  This is about 2.4 persons injured per 10,000 residents.

In Lackawanna County, PennDOT recorded a total of 17 people died in 15 crashes in 2014, which is about average, according to five years’ worth of local PennDOT data.

The analysis comes as PennDOT released a crash information tool Wednesday that allows the public to sort through and analyze myriad police crash report details at dotcrashinfo.pa.gov.

“PennDOT continuously strives to drive down crash and fatality numbers, and we ultimately want to reach zero deaths on our roads,” acting PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards said in a statement.

PennDOT gives local police departments grants to aggressively enforce traffic violations — like speeding, tailgating, running red lights and stop signs.

“Those (actions) are more likely to result in traffic accidents,” Scranton Police Chief Carl Graziano said.

As many as two to eight city officers are assigned to target aggressive driving, Chief Graziano said.

“That’s done across the state and locally here, also,” Chief Graziano said.

Scranton had six traffic deaths in 2014, the most in the county. Dunmore ranked second with three.

Since 2010, Scranton has had the most fatal crashes in the county, except for 2011, when there were none, and 2012, when there was one.

Eight out of the county’s 15 fatal crashes in 2014 were due to aggressive driving, the PennDOT data show. Alcohol-related fatal crashes accounted for one-third of the county’s 2014 fatal crashes — including the crash that killed 12-year-old Leonard Zupon Jr. in Old Forge last August. The Carbondale man who killed him, David Turano, was sentenced Wednesday to five to 12 years in state prison.

45,000 CHICKENS KILLED AND BARNS DESTROYED IN TWO PENNSYLVANIA FARM FIRES

APRIL 8, 2015

FREDERICKSBURG, PA. (AP)

Authorities say more than 45,000 chickens have been killed in fires this week at two central Pennsylvania farms.
A fire Monday killed 32,000 chickens and caused an estimated $400,000 in damage to a chicken barn and fields at Neal Sensenig's farm in Heidelberg Township.
Officials say the blaze isn't considered suspicious.
A fire early Wednesday at a Bethel Township farm destroyed a barn and killed about 13,000 chickens.
No people were harmed. Fire marshals are investigating the cause and origin of the fires.
Heidelberg and Bethel townships are about 14 miles apart in Lebanon County.

MAN’S KILLING BY A NORFOLK SOUTHERN TRAIN IN PERRY TWP., OHIO HAS BEEN RULED AN ACCIDENT. ALCOHOL OR DRUGS MAY HAVE BEEN A FACTOR

APRIL 7, 2015

PERRY TWP., OHIO 

Police say the death of a man hit by a train Saturday has been ruled accidental.

Fifty-one-year-old Faron J. Carreon, of Salem, was killed shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday night when he was hit by a train near the South Ellsworth Avenue crossing.

Perry Township Police said the coroner's investigation ruled the death as an accident.

According to police Carreon was widely known to the community. Officers say Carreon did not own a car and was frequently seen walking through the city.

Authorities say they're investigating claims made by the family that Carreon had hearing disabilities and may not have heard the train.

Officers say a nearby camera caught the accident on video but it will be two weeks before police are able to view that video. Police will also wait the next two weeks for toxicology reports to see if alcohol or drugs may have been a factor.

Perry Township Police were assisted by the Perry Twp Fire Department, Salem police, Salem fire department, Norfolk Southern police, and the Highway Patrol.