WACO, Texas (KWTX) -
The Waco Fire Department's hazmat team responded to a major natural gas leak after city workers struck a line around 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.
The leak was reported in the 1700 block of Austin Avenue.
The area was blocked off while crews worked the scene, and the downtown Waco Library was evacuated as a precaution.
Crews were monitoring the air while they waited on Atmos to shut the gas off.
The Waco Fire Department asked that people avoid the area.
Things were back to normal Wednesday morning and the library opened on schedule, the city said.
Roy Tuccillo Sr., 58
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Long Island Companies and Owners Charged With Falsely Labeling Squid as Octopus
A federal grand jury indicted two Long Island corporations and their owners for their scheme to falsely label seafood that was later sold across the country. The indictment accuses Roy Tuccillo Sr., 58, and his son, Roy Tuccillo Jr., 31, both of Jericho, and two of their Westbury food processing and distribution companies, Anchor Frozen Foods Inc., and Advanced Frozen Foods Inc., of importing giant squid from Peru and marketing and selling it to grocery stores as octopus. The four defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and violate the Lacey Act, as well as four substantive Lacey Act violations.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Director James Landon of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) announced the indictment today.
“NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is dedicated to enforcing federal marine resource laws, including the Lacey Act and its provisions on mislabeling,” said James Landon, OLE’s Director. “This investigation is a great example of how we collaboratively work with other federal partners, such as the Food and Drug Administration, to combat seafood fraud.”
Octopus and squid are distinct species of fish with great variance in their taxonomy, habitat, and physical characteristics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration permits that food companies selling squid market it by its name or as calamari, while octopus is the only acceptable name when selling octopus. In general, octopus has a greater retail price than squid. The indictment alleges that for over three years the defendants fraudulently imported, processed, marketed, sold, and distributed over 113,000 pounds of octopus that was actually squid.
The Lacey Act prohibits submitting false descriptions of fish that were transported and sold in interstate commerce. The defendants are charged with four counts of defrauding grocery stores in New Jersey and Massachusetts.
This case was investigated by the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement with assistance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Ryan Connors and Senior Trial Attorney David Kehoe of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Business Owners Sentenced For Stealing $120K From Workers
The men failed to adequately pay workers at their Long Island food-processing plant for five years.
By Paige McAtee, Patch Staff
May 23, 2018
Westbury meat-processing facility owners were sentenced on Tuesday for their involvement in to failing to properly pay workers and falsifying payroll records to conceal up to $120,555 in wage theft, according to the New York Attorney General's Office.
Roy S. Tuccillo Sr. who owned and operated Diversified Processors, Inc. and Processors Inc., located at 32 Urban Ave., alongside Roy Tuccillo Jr. failed to adequately pay workers overtime and minimum wages from 2012 to 2017.
Roy Tuccillo Sr., was sentenced to three years of felony probation, the restitution payment of $120,555 and an additional $500 fine.. Roy Tuccillo Jr., Diversified Processors, Inc., and Processors, Inc., were each sentenced to conditional discharges and a $500 fine.
An Attorney General's investigation revealed the men exploited workers in several ways:
Telling workers that they would be paid only for their first 40 hours of work per week, even though they often worked 60 or more hours.
Failing to maintain workers' compensation insurance despite the many work hazards and history of workers injuries at the facility. The Worker's Compensation Board issued a Stop-Work order in 2016 because the facility did not have worker's compensation insurance.
Failing to retain the time cards that workers used to punch in and out, and then deliberately falsifying those workers' hours by using several different payroll provider companies.
"Workers are entitled to a fair day's pay for a fair day's work," Acting Attorney General Barbara Underwood said in a press release.
Roy S. Tuccillo Sr., Diversified Processors, Inc., and Processors Inc., pleaded guilty on March 27 to fourth-degree grand larceny and failure to pay wages. Roy Tuccillo Jr. also pleaded guilty on March 27 to failure to pay wages for his involvement.
THERE SO MANY MENTALLY ILL SOLDIERS AND THEY ARE ARMED WITH LETHAL WEAPONS. There were more than 6,000 Veteran suicides each year from 2008 to 2016 . (Page 4 of the report). Thank god that these 6,000 mentally-ill vets kill themselves and not turn the gun towards the public. However, several hundred people are killed every year by former or current soldiers.
VA: Suicide rate for younger veterans increased by more than 10 percent
By: Leo Shane III 2 hours ago
New data released by the Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday showed an increase in the rate of suicide among younger vets, even as the overall rate among veterans decreased. (Airman 1st Class Kathryn R.C. Reaves/Air Force)
WASHINGTON, DC —
The suicide rate among all veterans decreased slightly but the rate among young veterans increased dramatically in the latest figures released by the Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday.
The research, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes a day before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee is scheduled to question department officials over progress with suicide prevention efforts and shows mixed results from those programs.
In 2016, the most recent data available, the suicide rate for veterans was 1.5 times greater than for Americans who never served in the military. About 20 veterans a day across the country take their own lives, and veterans accounted for 14 percent of all adult suicide deaths in the U.S. in 2016, even though only 8 percent of the country’s population has served in the military.
Still, VA officials touted “great strides in crisis intervention” with the release of the latest data, including an expansion of the department’s crisis hotline and expanded mental health support services.
The report showed thousands more troops taking their own lives than official military records had previously reported.
By: Leo Shane III
Veterans who have regular contact with VA health services are less likely to commit suicide than those with little or no interactions.
“To prevent veteran suicide, we must help reduce veterans’ risk for suicide before they reach a crisis point and support those who are in crisis,” the new report states. “This requires the expansion of treatment and prevention services and a continued focus on innovative crisis intervention services.
“It also requires effective networks of support, communication, and care across the communities where veterans live and work.”
According to the report, the suicide rate of veterans aged 18 to 34 steadily increased from 2006 to 2016, with a jump of more than 10 percent from 2015 to 2016. That translates into 45 deaths per 100,000 veterans, the highest of any age group.
But since the majority of veterans are older, the majority of suicides are also among older veterans. Nearly 60 percent of veterans suicide in 2016 were from individuals 55 or older.
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Nationally, the suicide rate among all adults rose from 2005 to 2016 by nearly 21 percent, indicating the challenges facing prevention efforts may also be affected by non-military and non-veteran factors. Among veterans alone, the rate was up 26 percent over that span.
VA Secretary Robert Wilkie has pledged to keep suicide prevention among his top priorities, mirroring promises from his predecessor, David Shulkin. Department officials began emphasizing mental health care and support services in the last decade, as research showed rising rates of suicide among active-duty troops.
A survey by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America last fall found that more than half of their members know a post-Sept. 11 service member who has committed suicide.
To contact the Veteran Crisis Line, callers can dial 1-800-273-8255 and select option 1 for a VA staffer. Veterans, troops or their families members can also text 838255 or visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for assistance.
Maersk Honam fire in the Arabian Sea.
Maersk Says New Dangerous Goods Guidelines to Improve Containership Safety After Maersk Honam Fire
September 26, 2018 by Mike Schuler
The world’s top shipping line Maersk has implemented new guidelines on the stowage of dangerous goods after a review of its safety procedures in the aftermath of the devastating Maersk Honam fire back in March.
The shipping company says the new guidelines will improve safety across its fleet of container vessels.
“Following the tragic fire aboard Maersk Honam in March this year, Maersk took measures and implemented additional preliminary guidelines for stowage of dangerous goods,” Maersk said in a press release announcing the guidelines. “The company evaluated over 3,000 United Nations (UN) numbers of hazardous materials in order to further understand and improve dangerous cargo stowage onboard container vessels and developed a new set of principles called Risk Based Dangerous Goods Stowage.”
Working with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Maersk held a workshop with other industry representatives to conduct a comprehensive Hazard Identification study that validated the new guidelines. Maersk has now now implemented the guidelines across Maersk Line’s fleet of more than 750 vessels.
In March of this year, five crew members of the Ultra Large Container Vessel (ULCV) Maersk Honam were killed when a major fire started in a forward cargo hold of the ship. Maersk said that although dangerous goods were present in the cargo hold where the fire originated, there was no evidence to suggest that dangerous goods had caused the fire, and as of today Maersk is still awaiting the investigation to establish the root cause of the fire.
“All cargo aboard Maersk Honam was accepted as per the requirements of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code and stowed onboard the vessel accordingly. Despite this, as the fire originated in a cargo hold in front of the accommodation which held several containers with dangerous goods, it had an unbearably tragic outcome,” says Ole Graa Jakobsen, Head of Fleet Technology at Maersk.
“This clearly showed us that the international regulations and practices with regards to dangerous goods stowage needs to be reviewed in order to optimally protect crew, cargo, environment and vessels.”
Maersk said the new guidelines, which it calls theRisk Based Dangerous Goods Stowage principles, have been developed with the aim of minimising risk to crew, cargo, environment and vessel in case a fire develops. “The different container vessel designs were reviewed from a risk mitigation perspective and ultimately six different risk zones defined,” Maersk explains. “Cargo covered under the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code will no longer be stowed next to accommodation and main propulsion plant which is defined as the zone with the lowest risk tolerance. Similarly, risk tolerance will be low below deck and in the middle of the vessel, whereas the risk tolerance will be higher on deck fore and aft. Utilising statistics on container fires in the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS), Maersk defined which UN numbers can be stored in each risk zone,” said Maersk.
Maersk will continue to review its rules and policies for accepting dangerous goods and assess how to further improve them. Together with other members of the CINS, Maersk said it seeking to channel these experiences into developing new industry best practices.
Denmark-based Maersk has also presented Risk Based Dangerous Goods Stowage to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as well as the Danish Maritime Authorities.
“Container ship fires are a problem for our entire industry and we intend to share and discuss our learnings from this thorough review within relevant industry forums. We very much believe that discussions, views and insights among container carriers can further improve fire safety in our industry,” says Ole Graa Jakobsen. “We aim for long term improvements by reviewing our systems and then designing an end-to-end process that is safe for our seafarers and smooth for our customers.”
In the coming months, a review aimed at creating best management practices for dangerous goods stowage will be undertaken with help from ABS, Lloyds Register, the International Group of PandI Clubs, National Cargo Bureau, the TT Club and Exis Technologies. Once the project is completed the best management practices will be published and presented to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Crew members from the U.S. Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team, from Mobile,
Alabama, and Coast Guard Station Georgetown rescued 10 people and four
pets Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018 after floodwaters spilled into an apartment
complex near Socastee, South Carolina, Sept. 19, 2018. Due to Hurricane
Florence, rivers flooding from the north continue to pose a threat to
communities throughout South Carolina. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)
CHARLESTON, S.C. —
The U.S. Coast Guard and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources have determined that potential hazards associated with and resulting from high waters are present and have established safety zones effective Monday, Sept. 24 through Oct. 19 to protect personnel, vessels and the marine environment.
The Coast Guard Captain of the Port has set a temporary safety zones that prohibit vessel transit on all waters in the following areas:
- Intracoastal Waterway from Winyah Bay to the Little River Swing Bridge
- Waccamaw River between U. S. Business Highway 501 and U. S. Highway 501 in Conway
- Sampit River
- Great Pee Dee River from Winyah Bay northward to the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge
- Black River from its junction with the Great Pee Dee northward to U.S. Highway 701 Bridge
“The U.S. Coast Guard, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and our extensive network of federal, state and local partners have been constantly evaluating the situation and potential public safety threats caused by record-breaking flooding throughout the Pee Dee region of South Carolina,” said Lt. J.B. Zorn, Coast Guard public information officer, South Carolina. “To best protect the public from potential hazards, safety and exclusionary zones have been established. We remind the public to seek permission on a case-by-case basis to enter a safety zone through a designated representative, preferably on-scene. Please avoid rumors during this extremely dangerous situation.”
To seek permission to enter the safety zone; recreational vessels may contact SCDNR at 843-915-5990, commercial vessels may contact USCG at 843-323-7761, or through a designated on-scene representative. A designated representative means federal, state, or a local law enforcement officer assisting the USCG or SCDNR in the enforcement of the safety zones. Those in the safety zone must comply with all lawful orders or directions given to them by the USCG or SCDNR designated representatives.
Marine Safety Information Bulletins 39-18 and 40-18 can be viewed here.
