A driver is being treated at a Saint Johns County hospital after his truck overturned, spilling Jell-O snack packs all over I-95.
Police say the driver's truck flipped over this morning after it slammed into another truck. Individual packs of Jell-O splattered all over the highway, which caused a major traffic jam.
The driver was trapped inside the mangled truck, but was quickly rescued by police.
He was airlifted to the hospital and is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Police say no one else was hurt in the crash.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Pittsburgh subway station tile mural worth $15 million
A mural in a subway station is worth $15 million, more than the cash-strapped transit agency expected, raising questions about how it should be cared for once it is removed before the station is demolished.
"We did not expect it to be that much," Port Authority of Allegheny County spokeswoman Judi McNeil said Thursday. "We don't have the wherewithal to be a caretaker of such a valuable piece."
It would cost the agency more than $100,000 a year to insure the 60-foot-by-13-foot tile mural by Romare Bearden, McNeil said. Bearden was paid $90,000 for the mural, titled "Pittsburgh Recollections." It was installed in 1984.
The subway station that is home to the mural is being demolished as part of a $435 million plan to extend the subway. The authority didn't know what it was going to do with the mural but wanted to know its value before taking it down, McNeil said.
The Port Authority is looking for an arts organization to bear the cost of removing, restoring, relocating and maintaining the mural, McNeil said. If that fails, the agency will either look for an arts group willing to exhibit the mural or will auction it off, she said.
The transit agency also owns a work by Sol LeWitt, an American master of conceptual art, at another subway station. LeWitt's "Thirteen Geometric Figures," 203 feet long and 9 feet tall, was paid for by philanthropist Vira I. Heinz.
The Port Authority has not decided whether to have the LeWitt piece appraised, McNeil said.
The county this year implemented a 10 percent alcoholic drink tax and $2-per-day car rental tax to help pay its $30 million subsidy for the Port Authority.
"We did not expect it to be that much," Port Authority of Allegheny County spokeswoman Judi McNeil said Thursday. "We don't have the wherewithal to be a caretaker of such a valuable piece."
It would cost the agency more than $100,000 a year to insure the 60-foot-by-13-foot tile mural by Romare Bearden, McNeil said. Bearden was paid $90,000 for the mural, titled "Pittsburgh Recollections." It was installed in 1984.
The subway station that is home to the mural is being demolished as part of a $435 million plan to extend the subway. The authority didn't know what it was going to do with the mural but wanted to know its value before taking it down, McNeil said.
The Port Authority is looking for an arts organization to bear the cost of removing, restoring, relocating and maintaining the mural, McNeil said. If that fails, the agency will either look for an arts group willing to exhibit the mural or will auction it off, she said.
The transit agency also owns a work by Sol LeWitt, an American master of conceptual art, at another subway station. LeWitt's "Thirteen Geometric Figures," 203 feet long and 9 feet tall, was paid for by philanthropist Vira I. Heinz.
The Port Authority has not decided whether to have the LeWitt piece appraised, McNeil said.
The county this year implemented a 10 percent alcoholic drink tax and $2-per-day car rental tax to help pay its $30 million subsidy for the Port Authority.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Farmer cuts property in two to give to ex-wife
A Serb farmer used a grinding machine to cut in half his farm tools and machines to comply with a court ruling that he must share all his property with his ex-wife, local media reported on Thursday.
Branko Zivkov, 76, told Belgrade daily Kurir he had been ready to give his wife Vukadinka her equal share of everything earned during their 45-year marriage, but was furious at being asked to give away half his farming equipment.
Instead, he bought a grinder and cut in two all his tools, including large items such as cattle scales, a harrow and a sowing machine.
"I still haven't decided how to split the cow," he told the newspaper. "She should just say what she wants -- the part with the horns or the part with the tail."
Branko Zivkov, 76, told Belgrade daily Kurir he had been ready to give his wife Vukadinka her equal share of everything earned during their 45-year marriage, but was furious at being asked to give away half his farming equipment.
Instead, he bought a grinder and cut in two all his tools, including large items such as cattle scales, a harrow and a sowing machine.
"I still haven't decided how to split the cow," he told the newspaper. "She should just say what she wants -- the part with the horns or the part with the tail."
Man used hedgehog as weapon
A New Zealand man has been accused of assault with prickly weapon — a hedgehog.
Police allege that William Singalargh picked up the hedgehog and threw it several yards to hit a 15-year-old boy in the North Island east coast town of Whakatane on Feb. 9.
"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks," police Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins said Monday. The teen did not need medical treatment, he added.
The Herald on Sunday newspaper reported that it was not known whether the hedgehog was dead or alive at the time of the attack, but that it was dead when collected as evidence.
Jenkins said Singalargh, 27, was arrested shortly after the incident on a charge of assault with a weapon. He is expected to appear in court again on April 17.
His lawyer, Rebecca Plunket, said Singalargh intends to plead innocent. The maximum penalty for the charge is five years in prison.
While using a hedgehog as a weapon in an assault is uncommon, Jenkins said, "People often get charged with assault for throwing things at other people."
Police allege that William Singalargh picked up the hedgehog and threw it several yards to hit a 15-year-old boy in the North Island east coast town of Whakatane on Feb. 9.
"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks," police Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins said Monday. The teen did not need medical treatment, he added.
The Herald on Sunday newspaper reported that it was not known whether the hedgehog was dead or alive at the time of the attack, but that it was dead when collected as evidence.
Jenkins said Singalargh, 27, was arrested shortly after the incident on a charge of assault with a weapon. He is expected to appear in court again on April 17.
His lawyer, Rebecca Plunket, said Singalargh intends to plead innocent. The maximum penalty for the charge is five years in prison.
While using a hedgehog as a weapon in an assault is uncommon, Jenkins said, "People often get charged with assault for throwing things at other people."
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Live, on Good Mourning TV!
Pay-per-view funerals go live online in Britain on Tuesday, allowing mourners who cannot attend services in person to pay their last respects via the Internet.
Despite criticism of the scheme as macabre, the company who launched the service, Wesley Music, is planning to offer it to crematoria across the country who will charge a one-off payment of around 75 pounds ($150) for access to a funeral webcast.
Mourners use the password to access a live online broadcast of the funeral service captured by a small camera mounted in the chapel.
"Families are dispersed across the world these days and sometimes it's the case that someone cannot get home in time for a funeral," said Alan Jeffrey, director of Wesley Music.
"For those who need it, this is a very important service. It means that rather than being excluded, they can at least witness and be a part of a funeral as it happens. In a time of stress this is something that can ease the pain."
David Powell, of funeral directors Henry Powell and Son in Southampton, southern England said he had already tested the service during three funerals. He insisted they remained private, intimate affairs despite being broadcast on the web.
"It's a personal thing. It doesn't go out for all and sundry to gawk at," he told Reuters. "There is a password for the family to send to people who want to watch online."
He said mourners as far away as Australia and Canada had already used the system. "The families have been absolutely delighted to be able to share in the proceedings when it wasn't possible for them to get over here and attend."
Despite criticism of the scheme as macabre, the company who launched the service, Wesley Music, is planning to offer it to crematoria across the country who will charge a one-off payment of around 75 pounds ($150) for access to a funeral webcast.
Mourners use the password to access a live online broadcast of the funeral service captured by a small camera mounted in the chapel.
"Families are dispersed across the world these days and sometimes it's the case that someone cannot get home in time for a funeral," said Alan Jeffrey, director of Wesley Music.
"For those who need it, this is a very important service. It means that rather than being excluded, they can at least witness and be a part of a funeral as it happens. In a time of stress this is something that can ease the pain."
David Powell, of funeral directors Henry Powell and Son in Southampton, southern England said he had already tested the service during three funerals. He insisted they remained private, intimate affairs despite being broadcast on the web.
"It's a personal thing. It doesn't go out for all and sundry to gawk at," he told Reuters. "There is a password for the family to send to people who want to watch online."
He said mourners as far away as Australia and Canada had already used the system. "The families have been absolutely delighted to be able to share in the proceedings when it wasn't possible for them to get over here and attend."
Woman bites dog who attacked her dog
MINNEAPOLIS - Amy Rice feared for her dog's life when a pit bull jumped over a fence into her yard and attacked her pooch. So she took matters into her own mouth.
Rice says she bit the pit bull on the nose Friday after trying to pull the dog's jaws off her Labrador retriever, Ella. The dog had jumped a fence to get into Rice's northeast Minneapolis yard, and Rice says she feared the pit bull would kill Ella.
Rice says she drew blood when she bit the dog, and her doctor will have to determine whether she should get shots for rabies.
The pit bull was quarantined. Ella is recovering with staples and stitches to her head and a crushed ear canal.
Rice says she bit the pit bull on the nose Friday after trying to pull the dog's jaws off her Labrador retriever, Ella. The dog had jumped a fence to get into Rice's northeast Minneapolis yard, and Rice says she feared the pit bull would kill Ella.
Rice says she drew blood when she bit the dog, and her doctor will have to determine whether she should get shots for rabies.
The pit bull was quarantined. Ella is recovering with staples and stitches to her head and a crushed ear canal.
Hawk swoops, attacks girl at Fenway Park
A student touring Fenway Park was attacked by a resident red-tailed hawk that drew blood from a girl's scalp Thursday.
The girl was taken by ambulance to a hospital, but wasn't seriously injured.
The hawk was perched on a railing in the upper deck behind home plate while the group from Memorial Boulevard Middle School in Bristol, Conn., toured the stadium. The hawk flew at the girl and swooper with its talons extended, scratching her scalp.
A single egg lay in the hawk's nearby nest in an overhang near the stadium's press booth.
The nest and egg were removed at the direction of state wildlife officials.
The girl was taken by ambulance to a hospital, but wasn't seriously injured.
The hawk was perched on a railing in the upper deck behind home plate while the group from Memorial Boulevard Middle School in Bristol, Conn., toured the stadium. The hawk flew at the girl and swooper with its talons extended, scratching her scalp.
A single egg lay in the hawk's nearby nest in an overhang near the stadium's press booth.
The nest and egg were removed at the direction of state wildlife officials.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Man escapes from jail, nobody notices
Law enforcement officials are trying to understand how a convicted felon managed to escape from a privately owned jail across the street from the police headquarters without anyone noticing his absence for a full day.
Esequiel Pena, 35, escaped from a private San Antonio jail sometime between Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon. He remained at large Tuesday but was thought to be in the San Antonio area, said U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Thomas J. Smith.
Pena apparently escaped by pulling back chain-link fencing around a rooftop recreation yard and climbing down an eight-story fire escape, Smith said.
Pena was being held at the privately operated Central Texas Detention Facility for violating terms of his supervised release. He was previously convicted of an unspecified weapons charge and later re-arrested for a different offense, Smith said.
The facility, which has nearly 700 inmates, is operated by The GEO Group. Spokesman Pablo Paez said Tuesday the company is assisting the U.S. marshals' investigation, but he would not say why it took so long to discover Pena was gone.
Esequiel Pena, 35, escaped from a private San Antonio jail sometime between Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon. He remained at large Tuesday but was thought to be in the San Antonio area, said U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Thomas J. Smith.
Pena apparently escaped by pulling back chain-link fencing around a rooftop recreation yard and climbing down an eight-story fire escape, Smith said.
Pena was being held at the privately operated Central Texas Detention Facility for violating terms of his supervised release. He was previously convicted of an unspecified weapons charge and later re-arrested for a different offense, Smith said.
The facility, which has nearly 700 inmates, is operated by The GEO Group. Spokesman Pablo Paez said Tuesday the company is assisting the U.S. marshals' investigation, but he would not say why it took so long to discover Pena was gone.
Cops clock man on motorcycle at 156 mph
Mount Carmel police say a Kingsport man clocked driving a motorcycle 156 miles per hour may have been testing the town's new speed enforcement cameras. Authorities said 23-year-old Loda Eugene Ward Jr. has been charged with reckless driving.
Police say the cameras were not activated last week, but an officer on patrol clocked him at the high speed. Police did not pursue but an arrest warrant was issued and they detained Ward on Sunday.
Mount Carmel police said Monday they suspect Ward was testing the cameras because he had removed his license plate to avoid detection.
Police say the camera's maker has assured the department they will capture the image of a vehicle speeding up to 200 mph.
Police say the cameras were not activated last week, but an officer on patrol clocked him at the high speed. Police did not pursue but an arrest warrant was issued and they detained Ward on Sunday.
Mount Carmel police said Monday they suspect Ward was testing the cameras because he had removed his license plate to avoid detection.
Police say the camera's maker has assured the department they will capture the image of a vehicle speeding up to 200 mph.
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