Sunday, December 16, 2007

Weekly Toll: Death In The American Workplace

I know i have said it before but i will say it again...These holiday months are especially had for ones who lost a loved on in a tragic event. So keep those in mind and the one who recently lost one below. I felt at this time it was fitting to put Tiffany's account at the forefront. God Bless you all and Love the ones your with!

Last Words Of YWAM Worker Salutes Her Faith

TX - Shot and dying, Tiffany Johnson, a 26-year-old (Philip Crouse, 23) Youth With A Mission worker in Arvada, Colo., was revived momentarily by co-worker Holly Morgan who knew CPR. "Tiffany asked Holly 'how bad is it,'" said YWAM Arvada Director Peter Warren on Friday. Ms. Morgan was in tears. "Holly said, 'It's really bad, Tiffany. It's really bad,'" Warren told the Tyler Paper. "Tiffany said twice, 'we do it for Jesus, right? We do it for Jesus,' and said no more. "Holly told me this right after the shooting happened and I wrote it down." The story of Ms. Johnson's last words were relayed at the memorial service for the two slain staff members, who were serving at a YWAM School of Worship at the Arvada base. The Rev. Duff Rowden, worship leader, had just finished teaching at the school and returned for the service. "This is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to being a Christian," said Rowden. "I spent a lot of time with Tiffany's parents after the memorial service. They met with the parents of (gunman) Matthew Murray and offered their forgiveness." That Ms. Johnson's relatives were able to do that impressed him, Rowden said. "It was like a 'no-brainer' to them," he said, "as if they were thinking 'of course, we forgive you. We're Christians.'" Ms, Johnson's mother was touched by the devotion to her daughter. "She had no idea how much Tiffany was loved and admired," said Rowden. "About 1,500 people showed up for the memorial service at Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada. Friday was graduation day for the School of Worship, said Warren. "We're graduating 40 students today," he said. "We have about 25 professional counselors who are working pro bono (without pay) to help us all get over this. It's still quite a shock. There is still staff living in the building where the shootings happened and the images keep coming back. We're just taking it one step at a time and working our way through it."


Huntsville officer dies from gunshot wound; suspect charged

A Huntsville police officer shot Friday night has died from his wound, Huntsville police said this afternoon. The announcement was made at police headquarters on Wheeler Avenue that officer William Eric Freeman, 36, of Hazel Green, died this morning. Police Chief Henry Reyes said Kenneth Shipp has been charged with capital murder. Reyes said Freeman and officer Kevin Lambert had been called to investigate a traffic accident with injuries on Bailey Cove Road just north of Weatherly Road at 8:43 p.m. When they arrived at 8:51 p.m., the chief said, they found Shipp sitting on the curb.


A construction worker at Big Sky died while on the job

MT - Authorities say that a construction worker at an exclusive community near Big Sky died while on the job. The Madison County Sheriff says that Everardo Federico Millan-Nunez, 24, died on Tuesday from carbon monoxide poisoning. He was working in a building that was wrapped in plastic and heated to keep the cement from freezing. The death was ruled accidental and is under investigation. The Yellowstone Club is an exclusive, gated community, which is located just south of Big Sky.
Railroad Worker Crushed

Raceland - A 52-year-old railroad worker was fatally crushed between two rail cars in eastern Kentucky yesterday morning. William Worsham was pinned between two cars during a routine switching movement at a CSX rail yard. A company spokesman says Worsham died at the scene. He was on the end of a moving locomotive when it hit a parked rail car. The cause of the accident is under investigation.


‘Blunt trauma to the head’ killed woman

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Investigators have determined that Barbara Fritchman's death was a homicide. Fritchman, 45, was found dead in a pool of blood early Friday afternoon at her home on East Boehms Road, south of Willow Street. An autopsy conducted Monday by county forensic pathologist Dr. Wayne K. Ross determined that Fritchman was killed by "blunt trauma to the head and deep lacerations to this area of the body," according to a police report on the autopsy. Ross ruled her death a homicide. Southern Regional Police Department Chief John Fiorill said this morning that investigators are "following leads and sifting through evidence."


Construction worker killed in hit-and-run in southeast Dallas

TX - An arrest was made in the death of of construction worker killed Tuesday afternoon during a hit-and-run accident on Loop 12 in southeast Dallas. Intersection of U.S. Highway 175 and State Highway Loop 12. Dallas police said a dark-colored sport utility vehicle struck the man about 2 p.m. in a construction zone at South Buckner Boulevard and U.S. Highway 175. The J.L. Steel employee was working on the center median when the driver entered the construction zone and ran him over, said Kelli Petras, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation. Dallas police identified the man as Eliazare Zamora and said he was 30 years old.



Louisiana man killed while working on Gulf South Pipeline

MS - An Oak Grove man was killed in rural Madison Parish while working with a firm contracted to lay part of the 240-mile natural gas pipeline that is under construction by Gulf South Pipeline LP. James Robert Chop, 20, no address available, was killed while operating machinery for Houston-based Associated Pipe Line Contractors at a work site about five miles south of Waverly, company spokesman Clyde Fowler said. Details of how the accident happened and what type of machinery was involved are under investigation, Fowler said, adding that officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Madison Parish Sheriff's Office were notified. Sheriff's officials said Chop was discovered by his father who works at the site, and a report on the incident was forthcoming.


Two dead after alleged attempted robbery at motel

ALBANY, GA — Two people are dead after an attempted robbery turned violent at an East Albany motel Thursday night, authorities said. Jeffery Brandon Todd, 27, of Carrollton was found shot to death on the floor of room 108 at the Motel 6 on Thornton Road. The suspected killer, Jimmy Teemer, 17, of Albany, was found lying dead in bushes just outside the room, police officials said. It is the 12th murder of the year. Police have arrested three other men, Lyndon Bernard Johnson, 18, Patrick Jackson, 17, and Benjimin Revill, 17, and charged each with felony murder and aggravated assault according to jail records. Police investigators believe the four men were staying at the motel for a party before the shooting occurred. Police reports show that a key card was found among Teemer’s personal items near his body. The report shows that Teemer and the others entered room 108 and exchanged gunfire with Todd. Teemer was shot three times, including shots to the chest and arm, while Todd was shot in the chest and in the head. A man staying in the room next to Todd’s said he was awakened by a few loud bangs against the door and then heard four or five gunshots, according to the report.


Worker in Nolensville killed when truck bed falls on him

TN - A construction worker was killed Tuesday in Nolensville's Ballenger Farm subdivision after the bed of a dump truck crushed him. Nolensville Police Chief Paul Rigsby said the accident happened around 12:15 p.m., as three workers tried to fix one of the dump trucks at a house construction site. "They had a dump truck that the bed would not raise up," Rigsby said. "So they took a track hoe excavator and hooked it onto the dump truck and raised the bed up with the excavator in order to gain access to the hydraulic tank." Rigsby said the three men got under the raised bed to pour oil into the hydraulic tank. "They got done and backed out, and the victim was sitting under the bed when it slipped out of the excavator and crushed him," Rigsby said.


Power line worker killed in NW Iowa accident

CHEROKEE, Iowa - A power line worker was killed when a pole he was working on snapped, pinning the worker against a truck near Cherokee, officials with the Cherokee County sheriff's office said. The sheriff's office said the worker was a member of a crew that was working on new electrical transmission lines when the pole snapped Friday afternoon. A guy wire pinned the worker against the basket of a boom truck. The worker was lowered from the truck and pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff's office said. The person's name wasn't immediately released because family hadn't been notified. The investigation is continuing.


Rickenbacker plane crash kills two

LOCKBOURNE, OH - A single-engine plane crashed Wednesday morning, killing its pilot and passenger about a mile south of Rickenbacker International Airport, authorities said. The Cessna 208 single engine aircraft was found about 40 minutes after it disappeared from control tower radar screens. Its fuselage was mostly in one piece and the wings broken off in a field east of the intersection of Rickenbacker Parkway and Ashville Pike. The plane took off at about 6:55 a.m. with a flight plan to Buffalo, N.Y., and went missing shortly thereafter, said Angie Tabor, spokesman for Columbus Regional Airport Authority. In response, the airport scrambled airport police officers to search for the plane. Also contacted to aid in the search were members of the Pickaway and Franklin county sheriff's offices and Ohio Highway Patrol accident reconstruction team. An airport employee found the plane in a snowy field of high brush. The plane's two occupants were pronounced dead at the scene by Pickaway County Coroner Michael Geron. The bodies were sent to the Montgomery County Morgue for autopsy. They are the pilot, James A. Babcock, 58, Wooster, and passenger, Michael Benton Bratek, 34, Blasdell, N.Y.


Worker killed in fall through roof of IDS Center's Crystal Court in downtown Minneapolis

MN - Man, 52, was clearing snow atop Crystal Court. Nicole Brown sat at a table in the atrium of the IDS Center's Crystal Court, calmly eating her sandwich. A few yards away, Minneapolis police were standing around the tarp-covered body of a worker who died when he fell through one of the glass skylights that make up the ceiling. "You're working, going about your day, and - BOOM! Tragedy," said Brown on Wednesday. She works at Cosi, an eatery in the Crystal Court, and since managers had closed the atrium after the accident and most businesses in it had done the same, she was taking her break. Fidel Danilo Sanchez-Flores, 52, of West St. Paul, was clearing snow and ice off the roof of the Crystal Court with another worker shortly before 2 p.m. when he fell through the ceiling, authorities said. "I don't know what to say. I just don't know what to say," said a woman at Sanchez-Flores' West St. Paul residence Wednesday night who identified herself as his wife before handing the phone to a relative. "He was a wonderful man who finally got his family together. His dream was to bring his family together (to West St. Paul), and he did it," said Adis Ruelas-Trejo, who said she was Sanchez-Flores' niece. "We were apart for a long time. He was a wonderful man with a big heart." Ruelas-Trejo said Sanchez-Flores recently had moved to the Twin Cities area, from New York, just a year ago. She declined to comment further.


Worker killed in construction accident

TX - A 38-year-old man was killed while working on a new home in West Lake Hills. Investigators say the man was digging a trench when he was crushed to death by several large boulders. Roger Wade with the Travis County Sheriff’s says "investigators are trying to figure out how the rocks fell on him, what support was being built, and how that all lays out." The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is being brought in to investigate the accident and the construction practices at the job site. "At this point, we really don’t know how those rocks shifted," said Wade. The man’s name has not yet been released. Wade says is was a 38-year-old Hispanic male from Austin.


Plane crash killed 19-year-old, company says

GA - A few seconds separated Harold Dillon from being another victim of a plane crash Wednesday night. Mr. Dillon, 23, was on his way to Spanish class at Augusta State University just before 7 p.m. when he turned from Martin Lane onto Walton Way. He was next to the parking lot of Congregation Children of Israel when he looked to the left out of his window and saw "a blur." That blur was a Piper Arrow single-engine plane being piloted by 19-year-old RoBaker of Cartersville, Ga., said Phoenix Air of Cartersville, the plane's owner and Mr. Baker's employer. The pilot was killed in the crash but no one on the ground was injured. Witnesses such as Mr. Dillon said there were no engine sounds prior to the plane slamming into the west side of the synagogue. The plane had just skidded across Martin Lane, where Mr. Dillon had been seconds before. "It was going so fast it was pretty much like a blur," said Mr. Dillon, who thought at first it could be a piece of someone's car. "Then there was a large crash." Mr. Dillon did a U-turn to go back but "the plane was already engulfed in flames," he said. Mr. Dillon called 911 to summon help and stayed to help authorities at the scene, which meant missing Spanish class.

Condo worker dies 5 months after fire

MN - A contract worker has died five months after he was severely burned in a South Side condominium fire where he and two colleagues were applying a flammable coating to a wood floor. Carlos Miranda, 30, of the 5100 block of South Mozart Street was pronounced dead Monday in Stroger Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy was scheduled for today. The fire broke out June 16 at a condominium in the 3900 block of South Indiana Avenue, fire officials said. One of the other workers, Francisco Zuniga, 44, of the 5100 block of South Mozart Street, died shortly afterward.


Two Workers Die While Trying to Clean Tank

LINDEN, N.J. — The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating how two workers died here Saturday while cleaning an industrial-sized tank at a commercial drycleaner. The victims — Victor M. Diaz Jr., 42, of Hillside, N.J., and Carlos Diaz, 41, of Paterson, N.J. — were found in the empty 20,000-gallon steel tank at North East Linen Co., formerly known as Morey La Rue Laundry & Dry Cleaning. Autopsies determined that toxic fumes had asphyxiated them. A supervisor checking on the workers around 2 p.m. Saturday found them unconscious. Fumes delayed rescue efforts, and paramedics pronounced the men dead three hours later. Victor Diaz was a driver, and Carlos Diaz was a laborer. Police said power washing the tank, which is used to dilute chemicals used in the cleaning process before disposal, was not a regular part of either man’s job


Road maintenance foreman dies after being hit by pickup truck on I-26

SC - A state Department of Transportation road maintenance foreman died after being hit by a pickup truck early Thursday on I-26 near the Platt Springs Road overpass. The Lexington County coroner’s office identified the victim as Standra Jones of Gaston. Jones died of multiple injuries at 6:21 a.m. at Lexington Medical Center, the office said. He is one of three agency workers to die in the past five years while engaged in road maintenance, officials said. Two more died in traffic accidents while on the job. Jones is the first agency worker to be killed in a Midlands work zone since August 2001, officials said. Jones was hit by a vehicle driven by Robert Cunningham of Gaston, state troopers said. Cunningham and another state worker were taken to the hospital with injuries, troopers said. A third worker was not injured. It happened at a time of day when work zone crashes occur least, officials said.


Man crushed to death by boulder

TX - A local worker was crushed to death at a the construction site of a new home outside of Westlake Hills. The man was working on a retaining wall in the hilly neighborhood on the 600 block of Logans Lane when a boulder trapped him between it and the wall. The man was pronounced dead on the scene by officials shortly after the call was sent out. Officials have not yet named the 28-year-old victim.


JBL Electric employee dies in fall from tower

NJ - An employee of Totowa-based JBL Electric plummeted from an electric tower to his death as he worked in Bridgewater on Wednesday afternoon. Arthur Crane, a 45-year-old Stanhope resident and electrical lineman, had been repairing the footings of a PSE&G-owned high tension tower on Milltown Road in Somerset County. As he climbed up the tower around noon on Wednesday, he slipped and fell about 75 feet to the ground, officials said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.Dave Fiore, a business agent with the electrical workers' union that Crane belonged to, said Thursday that workers are harnessed while working on outdoor towers, but must remove the safety precautions when moving from one level to another. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been contacted and an investigation is pending.


Missing worker found dead in charred refinery tank

Nicholas Gunter, 29,
of Hastings, was found dead about 1:40 p.m. in the 10,000-barrel tank, which had caught fire Saturday at the Marathon Petroleum Co. site in St. Paul Park, said company spokesman Robert Calmus. Gunter was probably on top of the tank checking gauges when it exploded and caught fire about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, he said. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family," Calmus said. A relative reached at Gunter's home said the family did not want to comment. Gunter, who started working for the refinery in January 2006, was an operator in the blending area, Calmus said. "It's an unfortunate situation," he added.


ABAC worker dies from injuries

TIFTON, GA — Jack Larry, 53, a Sodexho Services maintenance supervisor who worked on the Abraham Baldwin College campus for 26 years, died Wednesday from injuries he received Nov. 27 on the college’s campus. Larry was born in Moultrie, the son of the late Samuel Larry and Mattie Alexander Larry, and some of his relatives still live there. According to an e-mail circulated to ABAC faculty and staff members by the college’s public relations director, Mike Chason, Larry died at approximately 1 p.m. at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon...Larry was critically injured in the early morning of Nov. 27 when the maintenance club cart he was driving on Stallion Drive was reportedly struck by another vehicle driven by ABAC student Holly Ann Pruitt, 18, of Barnesville. Larry, who jumped from the cart when he anticipated the collision, suffered extensive head injuries and was transported to Tifton Regional Medical Center and then to the Macon hospital.


Driver in Survey Worker Death Has Poor Driving Record

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- There was a survey crew working along interstate 95. Lisa Ann Green was driving a car nearby. Police say Green lost control of her car and hit that crew, killing 48 year old Mike McAndrews. McAndrews leaves behind four children who are 13 to 19 years old. "It's very hard on them. Everything is still very raw," says Jim Daniel, an attorney speaking on behalf of the family. Daniel describes the McAndrews as a close knit family which has been torn apart by a woman who has a poor driving record. "I know from 1993 to 2000 there are six separate arrests," says Daniel. 6 p.m. Report


Dispatch records show calls to 911 about drilling fatality were answered

LAS CRUCES, NB - Three of four calls to 911 reporting Tuesday's fatal industrial accident were immediately answered. In a fourth call, the caller stayed on the line for 27 seconds before hanging up, according to the Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority. So, did the system work as it should? "It did," said MVRDA director Hugo Costa. "What the system is made for is for people to please hang on the line. Like I said, it should take less than a minute for a call to be answered and if they hang up, what ends up happening is their call goes to the end of the line." MVRDA handles 911 calls for all cities in the county as well as areas outside city limits. On Tuesday, callers reported an industrial accident that killed Michael Kingsley, 22. Kingsley was working in an area off of El Paseo Road where a drilling rig was being used to collect core samples. About 3 p.m., Kingsley somehow became caught in the rig's auger, according to police. He was taken to Thomason Hospital in El Paso, where he died Wednesday morning. According to a police report, one of Kingsley's co-workers attempted to contact 911 but his call was met by a recording and would not connect. The co-worker then called Kingsley's father, who called 911.


Man shot and killed while working part time job

OH - For two years 30-year-old Daymon Mumford worked late into night for a marketing firm at Cleveland-area night spots. He was always careful, but never afraid. As he was finishing up early Sunday morning, he was struck in the chest by a bullet near the intersection of Spruce and Center streets on the west bank of the Flats. After he was shot, Mumford stumbled about a block away to an off-duty police officer who was in front of the nearby Metropolis Nightclub on Elm Street. Mumford told the officer he had been shot, police said. He died around 6:30 a.m. Sunday at MetroHealth Medical Center. Mumford was a member of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church. Friends and family described him as a good-natured man who loved to laugh.


Construction Worker Dies After Roof Fall, Man Falls After Plywood Catches Gust Of Wind

BOSTON, NY -- A Cape Cod construction worker who received serious head injuries after falling from the roof of a house on Thursday has died. Robert Tomkinson, 20, of Wareham, was flown to Brigham and Women's Hospital on Thursday after he fell 15 feet from the roof of a house at 37 South Road in Bourne's Pocasset neighborhood. The hospital announced Friday that the man had died. Co-workers told the Cape Cod Times that Tomkinson fell from the roof headfirst when the sheet of plywood he was holding caught a gust of wind.


Worker Crashes Through Atrium Roof, Dies

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — A man clearing snow off the glass roof of a skyscraper's atrium slipped, crashed through the roof and fell about five stories to his death on Wednesday, police said. The man's identity was not immediately released. "This is clearly an accident," Sgt. Jesse Garcia said. The man was clearing snow off the roof of the IDS Center's Crystal Court when he fell through the ceiling. The 51-story IDS Center overlooks the Crystal Court, which includes a canopy of glass skylights, a 105-foot ceiling-to-floor water fountain, a food court and retail shops. The building's Web site says the skylights are 121 feet above ground. A message left Wednesday with the building's manager was not immediately returned. The IDS tower was built in 1972, and scenes from the Crystal Court were featured in the opening segment of the original "Mary Tyler Moore" show.


Worker Injured In Plant Explosion Dies

ATLANTA, GA - A man who was injured in an explosion at a metals plant in west Georgia last month has died of his injuries. Kenneth Lamonte Walton -- one of seven injured in the November 29th explosion at G&S Metal Consultants in Manchester -- died Saturday at Grady Memorial Hospital's burn center in Atlanta. He was 26. Meriwether County Coroner Johnny Worley says Walton was burned over about 75 percent of his body and likely was opening the door to the furnace where the aluminum was being poured in to be melted down. After the explosion, Walton and two other men who were seriously injured, were airlifted to the burn center. His mother, Patricia Walton, says that for nine days, Walton remained in critical condition, fighting for his life. A plant official has said the explosion is believed to have happened when water was accidentally introduced into boiling aluminum in furnaces with temperatures that can reach 1,350 degrees.


Trench collapse kills worker in Greenville

IN - Authorities say a 36-year-old construction worker has died not long after he was rescued from a trench that collapsed as he worked to replace pipes in Greenville. Fire Chief Tommy McDowell says the worker was trapped under six feet of dirt Thursday afternoon. It took rescue crews about 50 minutes to free the man, who died at the hospital. Officials say the man was working on a project to replace city water pipes not far from downtown Greenville. The coroner's office is not releasing the man's name until his family is notified. An autopsy has been scheduled.


Construction Worker Killed in Fall at VMI

LEXINGTON, Va. - A worker fell to his death while working on the expansion of the barracks at Virginia Military Institute. University spokesman Lt. Col. Stewart MacInnis said Ray Roland Porter Jr., 39, of Evington died at the scene Thursday afternoon. MacInnis said Friday that Porter, a masonry worker, fell 56 feet. The accident happened at about 2 p.m. at the Third Barracks, the new section of barracks attached to the existing barracks. Macinnis said the Virginia Department of Labor's office of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating the fall. The general contractor is Nielsen Builders of Harrisonburg. Nielsen Builders president Tony Billers said in a statement that work stopped immediately at the site after the accident, and will not begin again until next week. Billers said Porter worked for a subcontractor, Bat Masonry, in Lynchburg. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim and his family at this time," the statement read.


Edgewater marina owner dies in fall

MD - The co-owner of an Edgewater marina was killed yesterday when he fell through a 35-foot-high skylight while fixing the motor of a garage door, county police said. Joe Mueller, 65, was working atop a building at Anchor Yacht Basin, 1048 Turkey Point Road, about 3 p.m. with another employee when he decided to go check on a boat. When he turned to leave, Mr. Mueller stepped on one of the skylights and fell through. Keith Sullivan, who was on the roof at the time, told police he turned around and saw Mr. Mueller hanging on the edge briefly before falling to the garage floor below. The man said he yelled to another worker to call an ambulance and then ran down to help Mr. Mueller. Paramedics arrived shortly after and took Mr. Mueller by ambulance to Anne Arundel Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, said Battalion Chief Matthew Tobia, a county Fire Department spokesman. He was pronounced dead due to "severe head trauma" about 40 minutes after the fall, police said.


Polk deputies release photos of vehicles at murder site

Lake Alfred, Florida -- The Polk County Sheriff's Office has released surveillance photos of four vehicles parked outside a BP gas station were two workers were murdered on Friday. Officials say the vehicles, pictured below, may have either been in the area just before or after the double-murder. Two employees from the BP Gas Station at the Highway 557 exit off I-4 were shot by a man following what appears to be a failed robbery attempt. Investigators with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office say the gunman, described only as a husky black man wearing dark clothing, first tried to enter the store around 9:00 Friday night, but couldn’t get inside.“The clerk told him ‘We are closed,’ he saw him pull a handgun out of his waistband. He hid under the counter and began to dial 911 and began to activate the store’s alarm, when he heard a gun shot,” says Polk Sheriff’s Spokeswoman Donna Wood. While store clerk Prakashkumar Patel called for help under the counter inside, two other store employees trying to change the prices on the gas station’s large sign near the street remained outside. Investigators say Pravinkumar Chimanbha Patel and Dashrath Patel were both shot to death as the gunman fled. Their bodies were discovered in a ditch when deputies arrived.


Pawn Shop Robbery Leaves Assistant Manager Dead

LONGVIEW- A handwritten sign on the front door of the Cash America building Monday, told customers they would not be open. Co-workers were mourning the loss of a longtime employee, and police were searching for his killer. Assistant manager Melvin Brad Mitchell, 56, was robbed and shot shortly before 9 a.m. under the store's awning while on his way to make a bank deposit, according to a report by the Longview Police Department. His assailant fled with the money. Mitchell was transported to Good Shepherd Medical Center for treatment but died an hour later from his injuries. Customers pulled into the South High Street shop's parking lot, quickly realizing something was wrong upon seeing the police investigators and media cameras scattered in front of the building.


New Jersey Motor Vehicle employee jumps to death

TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey State Police say a Motor Vehicle Commission employee is dead after jumping from the sixth floor of a parking deck in Trenton. Police said the victim is a 44-year-old man from Burlington. A police spokeswoman says preliminary information doesn't indicate any crime took place, but that an investigation is ongoing. The incident happened around 9:30 a.m. Monday morning. The parking deck is located next to the Motor Vehicle Commission building.




Dreams shattered by violence: San Anselmo salon owner mourns death of husband

CA - Eng Heng and Thanh Thach of Cambodia bought a San Anselmo nail salon this year and had embarked on the American dream, only to have it shattered last week when Thach was shot dead as he delivered pizza in Richmond. "The salon was my dream," said Heng, known to clients as Jenny. "He was a handsome man. He was hard working. And a very gentle man." At 9 p.m. Nov. 26, four days after Heng, Thach and family had celebrated Thanksgiving in their modest Richmond home, an unknown assailant shot Thach twice from behind while he delivered a pizza on South 45th Street. Thach, 38, who worked part-time as a manicurist at the Precision Salon & Beauty Supply on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard - and delivered pizzas at night for Pizza Hut in El Cerrito had wandered around the Park Plaza neighborhood before being shot. Richmond police say robbery does not appear to be the motive because his change purse, cell phone and the pizza he had attempted to deliver to a regular customer were found nearby, police said.



Man dies at U.S. Steel Gary Works shop

GARY, Ind. -- Company officials say a 28-year-old man was killed when he was struck in the head by falling material at the U.S. Steel Gary Works steelmaking shop. U.S. Steel Corp. spokesman John Armstrong said Jeremy Simpson of Hobart was taken to Northlake Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead this morning. Simpson was spraying refractory material inside a large mixing vessel when some of the material fell about 2 a.m. Refractory is a heat-resistant, protective coating used in blast furnaces, vessels and steelmaking shops. Simpson was an employee of Bisco Refractory, Inc.


Beloved father, veteran killed in SW Phila.

SOUTHWEST PHILADELPHIA - December 11, 2007 -- Police are trying to track down the gunman who shot and killed a man in Southwest Philadelphia. It happened at 58th and Lindberg Boulevard, and this time the victim was a 60-year-old man; a man who survived war, but couldn't survive this. His family says Anthony D'Antonio would have given a stranger the shirt off his back. He dedicated the first part of his adult life to his country, serving in Vietnam. He then returned to dedicate his life to his family. Now his wife, three children, and three grandchildren must spend this Christmas and every Christmas from now on without him.



Vancouver contractor killed by Iraq bomb

A 32-year-old Vancouver man who was working as a civilian security specialist for the U.S. Army was killed Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded southeast of Baghdad, destroying his vehicle. Micah Shaw, husband of Elena Shaw and father of three small children, died while working for a military contractor, Special Operations Consulting-Security Management Group (SOC-SMG), of Minden, Nev. Two other contractors riding in the vehicle with Shaw also died, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement. They were Michael B. Doheny, 35, of Omaha, Neb., and Steven Evrard, 36, of Arlington, Texas.


MoDOT worker killed by machinery

MO - A worker at the Missouri Department of Transportation's (MoDOT) maintenance facility in Barnhart was killed on the job Friday. Jeffrey McBride, 37, of Arcadia, had been driving a dump truck when he returned to the maintenance yard at about 8 a.m. As he reached toward the power take-off shaft, which operates the salt spreader on the truck, his coat and clothing became entangled in the power shaft. Fellow employees rescued McBride from the machinery, and emergency responders transported him from the facility in the 6900 block of Metropolitan Boulevard to St. Anthony's Medical Center where he died early Friday afternoon from his injuries.Capt. Ralph Brown of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said McBride died from "traumatic asphyxiation," or strangulation. Brown said that as a formality, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating. "It is very sad," Brown said. "He was 37 years old and had a wife and a child. My heart goes out to the McBride family."


Funeral Services Set for Worker Killed in Garage Collapse

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Funeral services have been set for the lone construction worker killed in the collapse of a parking garage. 26-year-old Willie Edwards died when the parking garage at the Berkman Plaza II collapsed last Thursday morning. Crews found his body under the debris two days later. Edwards had two young children. His funeral is Saturday at 11 a.m. at Bethel Baptist Church, which is just off Main Street near FCCJ Downtown. The cause of the collapse is under investigation.


Clerk who was killed in Normal Heights robbery is identified

SAN DIEGO – The man shot dead at a Normal Heights 99-cents store has been identified as Preet Singh-Sodhi, a store employee, officials said Wednesday.
Singh-Sodhi, 24, was from India and lived on Montezuma Road in San Diego, an investigator with the Medical Examiner's Office said. His body was found in the back of the Grab-n-Save store on Adams Avenue near Wilson Avenue just before 11 a.m. Sunday.


Man killed at work a stickler for safety, family says

MI - Jesse A. Brown II could light up a room and fire up a union meeting. Blessed with a sunny personality, a sharp mind and an urge to help others, the former Orchard View honor student was a well-liked labor leader at the Sparta piston-ring shop where he had worked for 18 years. The natural leader also was a lover of nature -- an avid fisherman and hunter. Most of all, the 40-year-old Muskegon man loved to spend time with his family. Several of them worked where he did, at Federal Mogul's powertrain systems plant in northwest Kent County. His 22-year-old daughter, his stepfather, an aunt and an uncle all worked at the shop at 200 Maple St. Brown's many friends and family were stunned by his death there in an industrial accident late Friday afternoon. According to Sparta Township fire and police officials, Brown was caught in a machine that removes burrs from piston rings. It happened around 4:40 p.m. Brown had already worked his usual day shift and was into an additional four hours of overtime he had volunteered to work, according to his mother, Marcia Jones of Ravenna. Rescue personnel tried unsuccessfully to revive Brown. State workplace safety regulators are investigating.


Grim day at construction site, Trench collapses, killing pipe layer

FL - An Ogden construction worker installing a new water line at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Salt Lake City was killed when the trench he was in collapsed Tuesday morning. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating whether proper safeguards were taken before Ron Zwart jumped into the 15-foot-deep canal to work on a pipe. The 46-year-old pipe layer with Ogden-based EBW International was buried shortly after 9:30 a.m. in an area southwest of the hospital, near the 72-acre campus' cafeteria and retail store, said Deputy Chief Dan Andrus of the Salt Lake City Fire Department. Zwart's co-workers recognized the danger when he jumped in the trench and yelled at him to get out, Andrus said, adding the man was covered in seconds. Workers frantically tried to dig Zwart out and had reached his helmet by the time emergency workers arrived. By 10 a.m., rescuers had uncovered his head and chest and discovered he was dead. Recovery workers removed Zwart's body at 2:45 p.m., after using two vacuum trucks to remove dirt from the trench.



After a Window Washer’s 47-Floor Plunge, the Big Question Is: How Did He Survive?

NY - A 29-year-old man plunges 17 stories in the atrium of a hotel in Minneapolis, landing on an overhang. A 22-year-old amateur sky diver goes into free fall more than a mile above the earth when his main parachute and reserve chute fail to open. He lands in a three-foot-deep duck pond. Both men survived. The question of why was echoed when a window-washing platform gave way on Friday and two brothers preparing to clean the black-glass skin of an apartment building on the Upper East Side fell 47 floors. Why did one die and the other survive, though he is grievously injured? Five days later, the answer can still be only guessed at. Officials and window-washing colleagues of the two brothers speculated that they tried to ride their platform to the ground, as one window washer said he had been trained to do in such an accident. If so, they were relying on basic physics — the platform would have generated some small amount of wind resistance, slowing the fall — and luck. Fortune, if there is any to be found, was with the brother who survived, Alcides Moreno, 37. He was conscious and sitting up soon after firefighters arrived. “He was on top of what was left of the platform that they were working on,” said one official who was at the scene. The brother who was killed, Edgar Moreno, 30, may have been thrown off the platform as it hurtled toward the ground. The official, who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak about the investigation, said part of his body was under the platform.


Construction worker falls to his death in Cleveland

CLEVELAND, OH - Cleveland police say 45 year old Joseph Albanese died after slipping and falling from scaffolding. The worker was on site at West 7th, in between Jefferson and College Street, renovating the United Gospel Press Building when he fell approximately six stories. Investigators say it appears Albanese slipped on wet lumber as he was trying to clamp on a safety harness, falling in between the building and the scaffold.Albanese worked for B.F.C. Inc out of Cuyahoga Falls. Police say he has one son and lives on Hall Street in Akron. OSHA is now investigating whether there are any safety violations. OSHA says it will look into things like the worker's fall protection, the scaffolding, the work surfaces, protective equipment and what level of training workers receive. The United Gospel Press building dates back to the 1800's. It once housed Cleveland University and then turned into a gospel publishing building. The structure has been vacant for years and is now being rehabbed for new apartments. Albanese is 1st cousin to the husband of Akron City Councilwoman Terry Albanese.


Worker, 73, dies after company van crash

DE - A 73-year-old man is dead after a crash near a Wilmington car dealership’s body shop today. The man, an employee of Winner Saturn, was found in the body shop’s rear driveway behind the wheel of a company van, Wilmington Police spokesman Master Sgt. Steven Barnes said. When officials arrived at around 2:44 p.m. they found the van had crashed into a parked car behind the building. Paramedics rushed the man to Wilmington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Whether the crash killed the man or if other ailments were responsible for his death is unknown, Barnes said.The state’s medical examiners office is working to determine the cause of death. City police are working to determine the cause of the crash.


Appleton Worker Dies

ROARING SPRING, BLAIR COUNTY, PA - A man injured in an accident at the Appleton Paper Mill in October has died. Chuck Piper was one of two employees who suffered burns after a stock line carrying pulp slurry spilled on a tank on the mill floor. Piper sustained burns over 65-percent of his body and had been hospitalized since the accident. Another man who was burned on his legs was treated and released the same day. Federal and state agencies have been investigating the accident.


Richmond schools worker dies at Blackwell Elementary

VA - A Richmond Public Schools employee died (Ray Frasher, 65) this morning after being dispatched to Blackwell Elementary School to fix a heat pump in a classroom at the South Richmond school. The victim was discovered unresponsive at 8:30 a.m. by Principal Conrad J. Davis III inside a classroom, according to schools spokeswoman Felicia Cosby. Davis began CPR and called 911. The victim was identified as an employee of the school system's plant services department. School officials declined to release his name until relatives could be notified. He had worked for the city's public schools for about 10 years and was in his 50s or 60s, Cosby said. At one point, the worker had been on a ladder while trying to fix a motor in the heat pump, which is in the classroom ceiling. He was on the floor when the principal found him. The cause of his death is under investigation, Cosby said. She said a preliminary investigation showed no sign of foul play.


Worker dies cleaning chocolate machine, OSHA investigates South Bend accident

SOUTH BEND, IN – Authorities say the death of a worker at the South Bend Chocolate Co. factory appears to have been an accident. South Bend police say 49-year-old Gerald Barr was working alone when he died early Saturday morning. Company president Mark Tarner says Barr was cleaning a machine inside the chocolate factory when he died but that it was hard to tell exactly what happened. St. Joseph County Deputy Coroner Charles Hurley said the machine was running when Barr died and that his death appears to be an accident. The preliminary cause of death is listed as head trauma. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating. Tarner says Barr’s daughter also works for the company.


Fellow worker charged in Merrillville eatery slaying

IL - The assistant manager of a Merrillville Kentucky Fried Chicken planned to rob the restaurant when he knew his boss, a 61-year-old grandmother, would be there alone, police said Wednesday. When Ronnie Jamel Rice confronted Maxine Urbanczyk early Monday morning, he suddenly became enraged and beat her to death with a chair before taking the money, he allegedly told police. The 26-year-old Merrillville man was charged Wednesday with one count each of murder and murder in the perpetration of robbery and is being held without bail at Lake County Jail in Crown Point.


Woman Dies After A Freak Dry Cleaning Accident

TX -An employee at an Austin dry cleaners died Wednesday when she got caught up in some of the store's machinery. Police say May Wong, 54, got her hair or head caught in a machine and suffered significant trauma that led to her death. Police aren't saying which machine Wong was using when she died, but the store owner says he had warned her about taking garments out of the washing and drying machine while they were still running. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident


Martin County employee found dead in truck

STUART — A 28-year-old Martin County employee was found dead in his parked truck Thursday morning, but law enforcement has not classified the death as suspicious. According to Martin County Sheriff's Office reports, Matthew A. Lafferty's wife reported him missing Wednesday evening after he failed to come home from work. A road patrol deputy came across his utility truck near the intersection of U.S. 1 and Miami Street just after midnight Thursday. Lafferty, a utilities mechanic according to Martin County's Web site, was found slumped over the driver's seat in the unlocked vehicle, according to the report. Lafferty had a history of unspecified medical ailments, according to the report.



LAIE,Construction Worker Killed in Cesspool

HI - A construction worker is killed when he falls into a cesspool. It happened Wednesday morning during work to decommission several cesspools in the Laie area. The city is in the process of hooking up several homes to it's new sewer lines in the area. During the ongoing construction, a worker at one off those homes on Naupaka Street, was standing on a concrete "cap" covering one of the large holes, when the earth around the cesspool caved in. Family and friends grieve as they learn a rescue mission, becomes a recovery effort. Firefighters responding to the call say the cesspool was dry, because it was no longer being used. They also say it's about 30 feet deep. To make matters worse, the large concrete cap that covered the hole, fell on top of the man. "It's about a 4-inch thick cap that's about the diameter of the hole which is about 12 feet so it's a lot of concrete that's on top of the workers that's at the bottom," said Captain Terry Seelig of the Honolulu Fire Department. Co-workers identified the man as Pa'u'u Po'o'i of La'ie.


Caltrans Worker Killed on I-5

CA - Matthew White, a Caltrans worker doing maintenance work died Friday after being hit by a pickup along Interstate 5 in Elk Grove. White, a 35 year old father, was hit while he was fixing potholes in the southbound side of the freeway at the Elk Grove Boulevard exit. White was in the area between the exit ramp and the freeway when he was hit by a Ford F-150 at about 45 miles an hour, according to California Highway Patrol officers. Investigators believe the driver, 25-year-old Russell Ellstrom from Elk Grove, did not see the cones that were in place on the freeway and that the driver swerved to exit the freeway, hitting White. White had been with the department for the past five years. He leaves behind a wife and three children. This is the third time this year a Caltrans worker has died on the job.


Cab Driver Killed in Clayton County

RIVERDALE, GA - Clayton County police are investigating the shooting death of a 27-year-old taxi driver found dead in his cab in Riverdale. Clayton County Police Captain Gregory Dickens says the body of Juan Rubio-Castro was found just after 3 a.m. Sunday at Lake Ridge Apartments. Dickens says the cab driver had been shot in the back of the head. He says a resident called 911 and reported hearing something that sounded like gunshots.


Alabama Corrections Officer Dies After Fall

WETUMPKA, Ala. - A veteran state corrections officer recently died from injuries she suffered in a fall from a prison guard tower. According to Brian Corbett, a department spokesman, 54-year-old Elizabeth Franklin, an employee at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, died Friday. He said Franklin fell approximately 15 feet from the structure on December 1st. Corbett said foul play is not suspected and an investigation determined that it was an accident. Franklin was a 24 year veteran of the department. The Julia Tutwiler facility is a maximum-security prison in Wetumpka.


Worker electrocuted at Near Northwest Side building

IL - A worker was electrocuted while working on a building in Chicago's West Town neighborhood, authorities said. The worker, identified as Zbigniew Ogonowski, 48, of Morton Grove was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 10:20 a.m. Thursday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Paramedics responding to a call found Ogonowski unresponsive at 1747 W. Grand Ave. around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight said. He was transported to Stroger Hospital, where he died of his injuries, said Knight. Police are investigating what caused the electrocution, though no criminal cause is suspected, said Police Officer Laura Kubiak.


City Worker Hit By Car Dies

HOUSTON, TX -- One city worker was killed and another was injured when a car hit them while they worked in southeast Houston on Friday, KPRC Local 2 reported. Houston police said a woman driving a Toyota Camry hit the workers while they unloaded pallets in the median of Sabo Road near Kirkhill Drive at about 12:30 p.m. "A car in the left lane came up from behind them and struck both of the workers that were on the ground as well as the back corner of the truck," Sgt. G.T. Hall said. "Then the vehicle veered to the right and ended up there on the sidewalk in the grass. The impact killed Harold Norwood, 44. Worker Larry Williams, 44, was rushed to a nearby hospital. He suffered multiple injuries and is expected to recover. Four other city workers were not injured. The driver was upset and taken to a nearby hospital to be checked out.


Construction worker dies first day on job

PELHAM, NY - A father of four died from injuries incurred from a fall on his first day of work at a Pelham Parkway construction site, police and family said. George A. Leak, 48, of 134-12 221st St., Jamaica, New York, fell more than 25 feet onto the concrete floor of a Home Depot under construction at Secor Lane and Pelham Parkway yesterday, police said. He was pronounced dead at 10 a.m. at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx without regaining consciousness, police said. It was his first day at that site, his sister, Leatric Leak, 41, said. "He died doing what he loved," she said. Her older brother had been in the construction business 24 years. He leaves behind four children, 23 years to 17 months old.


Slain missionary’s funeral slated for Saturday in Chisholm

MN - A funeral is scheduled Saturdayy for Tiffany Johnson, the northern Minnesota native who was killed Sunday at a missionary training center in suburban Denver when a gunman entered and opened fire. Johnson, 26, formerly of Chisholm, Minn., was a 1999 graduate of Hibbing High School and a graduate of Normandale Community College in Bloomington.


Shooting in Ada Leaves One Woman Dead

In Ada, a weekend shooting leaves one woman dead. Ada police made an arrest and are investigating the case along with the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation. KTEN's Hailee Holliday reports. Police say the suspect, 25-year-old Allen Gastineau, reported the incident and told police the location of the shooting. When police arrived at the scene, Gastineau was standing in the doorway. They then found 26-year-old Krystal Cavanaugh, who had been shot to death. Police also spotted a semi-automatic pistol lying just a few feet from Cavanaugh's body. Police say at this time the suspect and victim's relationship is not known and reasons behind the shooting are still under investigation. Ada Public Information Officer Mark Bratcher says, "Right now it's not clear. We do know that the suspect was an employee at the Chickasaw Nation Travel Stop on the western side of town, which is not far from the residence which this occurred."



Murdered golf course worker was 'loveable jokester'

TX - An elderly groundskeeper was found dead Tuesday night at a golf course in Champion Forest. Andres Nava's family called police when the 72-year-old did not return home from work. Just before midnight, a co-worker found Nava behind an open gate at the Gleannloch Golf course. He'd been stabbed to death. Deputies said the man's personal items were taken from him. His vehicle, a white 1993 Ford pickup, was taken as well. The license plate number is 4HN-Y27. Nava had run carts at the course for seven years. Tuesdays were the only nights that he was at the golf course alone. "It's the one night of the week he actually closes it on his own. It's usually him and another person," said Jonathan Montes, a co-worker. Video


Highway 35 crash kills city employee

A 25-year city of Red Wing employee was one of two people killed Friday in a three-vehicle crash on Highway 35 near Diamond Bluff. Allen Bauer Sr., 57, worked with the city’s Public Works Department. He was pronounced dead at the scene along with 29-year-old Tracie Slotto of Hammond, Wis. The crash sent two others — including Bauer’s son — to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester with serious injuries. Bauer’s son, 25-year-old


Willmar hospital worker dies after injury

WILLMAR, Minn. - A worker at a Willmar hospital has died after being injured on the job. Rice Memorial Hospital CEO Lorry Massa says the employee died at a Twin Cities hospital after being injured Friday. The victim's name wasn't immediately released. The accident is under investigation by the state Occupational Safety and Health Agency.


Man killed while working on dump truck

TX - The Travis County Sheriff's Office reports a 46-year-old man was killed when the dump truck he was working on crushed him. Fredy Mosquera Diaz was working in a garage on Saturday evening in Southeast Austin when the truck rolled and trapped him underneath. Sheriff's spokesman Roger Wade said it appears to be a workplace accident. The sheriff's office and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration are investigating.


Fire at Bosch Corp. kills worker

MI - A fire that killed a 38-year-old Belleville man over the holiday weekend at a Farmington Hills auto supplier remains under investigation. The victim, whose name was not released pending notification of family members, was killed at Robert Bosch LLC, said Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Bersche. The fire broke out Friday during scheduled maintenance on the electrical system. The victim died of smoke and soot inhalation and thermal burns, according to the Oakland County medical Examiner’s office.


Man dies after semi strikes car, Aguilar one of two to die in the wake of Friday accidents

IL - A Morris resident is dead after a broadside collision Friday with a semi-trailer truck at a private drive on East DuPont Road. Savino Aguilar, 47, N. Illinois 47, was pronounced dead by Grundy County Coroner John Callahan at 5:50 p.m. An employee of Trotter Landscaping of Morris, Aguilar had just picked up his paycheck at the Trotter Farm, 665 E. DuPont Road, and was backing out of the driveway when the collision occurred. Callahan said today Aguilar had been chatting with others at the farm before leaving. As he pulled out of the driveway, looking west, he may have been blinded by the sun, said Callahan. “This is speculation,” he said. “This particular part we won't know.”


Worker dies in fall from FM 521 bridge

TX - A man working as a welder’s helper for his brother fell 25 feet to his death from a portion of a bridge under construction that will span the Colorado River at FM 521. Jaime Borunda, 38, of Baytown, was pronounced dead at the scene by Judge Jerry Purvis, Pct. 3 justice of the peace, said Matagorda County Sheriff James Mitchell. Borunda fell to the ground when he apparently lost his footing as he was retrieving a piece of plate steel for his brother, who was welding, Mitchell said. “He went for a piece of steel and fell on his way back,” Mitchell said. Borunda was working on the west portion of the new bridge, Mitchell said.


Warehouse worker dies following fall

PA - Pa. resident's death believed to be accidental. Federal investigation could take six months. An immigrant warehouse worker in Hunterdon County died Monday after he struck his head twice in a fall near a loading dock, according to authorities. There were no witnesses when the 36-year-old worker at Savoury Systems on Tannery Road fell sometime in the morning, according to police and investigators from the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office. Authorities declined to identify the worker, a Pennsylvania resident originally from El Salvador, as efforts were made to inform his family about what happened. The cause of the fall remained under investigation, said Readington Police Lt. Sebastian Donaruma. Preliminary findings, however, indicated the fall was accidental, according to the prosecutor's office. "It certainly does not appear to be suspicious," said Dan Hurley, deputy chief of investigations in the office. Authorities who were called to the warehouse between 10 and 10:30 a.m. said they found the worker dead on the floor near a loading dock, where he was last working. Police and detectives spent hours at the small warehouse and were joined by officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which investigates industrial accidents. So far, according to Detective Robin Morante of the prosecutor's office, there were indications that a gusty wind was coming through the loading dock and the worker may have lost his balance while trying to set up a ramp to unload a cargo truck. "It appears that he had fallen backwards and hit his head on the ramp and on the floor," she said.


Oakland port worker crushed by truck

OAKLAND,CA - A worker at the Port of Oakland was crushed to death by a truck Monday night, authorities said today.Edward Hall, 47, of San Francisco, was killed about 8 p.m. by a semi-tractor trailer maneuvering into position to have a container placed on it, Oakland police Officer Roland Holmgren said. The driver apparently didn't see Hall.


AFA worker killed in hit-and-run

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, COLO. — A civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force Academy has died of her injuries after a hit-and-run collision near the academy's community center. The collision happened about 9 a.m. Monday, forcing officials to close both the north and the south entrance gates while authorities searched for the motorist. Academy spokesman John Van Winkle says medical aid, including an air ambulance, was called to the scene, but the woman was already dead by the time paramedics arrived. The Colorado State Patrol says the vehicle suspected of hitting the woman has been located, but the driver has not yet been found.


WNY bus driver killed in accident at school district garage

EVANS, N.Y. - The school bus driver killed in western New York this morning has been identified as 58-year-old Brenda Chiappetta of the town of Evans. She was struck shortly after 6 a.m. by another bus as she walked to her bus in the Lake Shore Central School District lot. She was a longtime employee of the district, about 15 miles south of Buffalo. The superintendent says all schools in the district were closed today because of the incident and its impact on the school's transportation employees.


Power Line Worker Dies In Accident

CHEROKEE, Iowa - A power line worker was killed when a pole he was working on snapped, pinning the worker against a truck near Cherokee in northwest Iowa. The worker was a member of a crew working on new power transmission lines when the accident happened Friday afternoon. Officials with the Cherokee County sheriff's office said the pole snapped and a guy wire pinned the worker to the boom of the truck he was working on The worker was pronounced dead at the scene. The person's name hasn't been released. The investigation is continuing.


Fatal Accident Leaves Port Of Oakland Worker Dead

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The second deadly accident at the Port of Oakland this year has taken the life of a dock worker Monday evening after a truck inadvertently backed over a man, according to authorities. Officials say a dock worker was on the pier alongside a container ship when the incident took place just before 8 p.m. Monday night at Bearth 55. Police say a tractor-trailer was on its way to pick up a container from the ship docked there when the truck backed over the dock worker. Officials say they do know the victim's name, but are not releasing it until next of kin are notified. "As one of the tractor trailers was maneuvering to unload one of the ships, one of the workers nearby didn't see [the vehicle]. The worker [was] run over by the tractor trailer," explained Oakland Police Lt. Kenny Whitman. Police say the truck driver is devastated. At this time they do not anticipate criminal charges. Cal-OSHA is on its way to investigate the incident. Currently operations at the Port of Oakland's Berth 55 are shut down. Back in late September, there was a one-day shutdown of all services at the Port of Oakland after 39-year-old longshoreman Reginald Ross was crushed to death by a shipping container.


Worker found dead in burned shed

BRADENTON, FL — A man was killed early Sunday in a fire at a storage shed behind a home, a Cedar Hammock Fire & Rescue battalion chief said. The fire was reported about 6:50 a.m. in the 4700 block of Mineola Street. The shed was completely engulfed in flames by the time the first fire crew arrived. The blaze was quickly extinguished.Sheriff’s and fire officials did not immediately release the victim’s name, age or address. A person at the house said the man had been hired recently to do painting work. Authorities said the shed was poorly ventilated and used to store paint and paint thinner. The man, whose body was found in the shed, was a smoker, Detective Bobby Lewis of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said. Detectives were interviewing several people who were at the home Sunday. One man told the Herald-Tribune he saw a “ball of orange.” Two investigators with the State Fire Marshal’s Office are also investigating the man’s death. Lewis, the detective, said there is no early sign that the death is anything but accidental.


Missing Refinery Worker Found Dead

MN - An employee missing after a fire in a St. Paul Park refinery has been found dead. 29-year-old Nick Gunter, of Hastings, was found Sunday afternoon. His cause of death is under investigation, as is the cause of the fire, which happened Saturday morning at Marathon Petroleum Company. Gunter had been with the company since January of 2006, and was currently a refinery operator in the blending operation. Marathon is offering counselors to employees following the tradgedy


Worker found dead at Pontiac hospital

PONTIAC -- Authorities are investigating the death of a nurse whose body was found Thursday in a locked restroom at OSF Saint James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center. No foul play is suspected. Darla J. Simmons, 35, of Flanagan was found about 10:40 a.m. after other workers told police that she was not responding to pages. Pontiac Police Administrative Commander Jim Woolford said police are investigating to determine the cause of death. Livingston County Coroner Michael Burke said an autopsy has been ordered. Pam Meiner, director of marketing for the hospital, confirmed there was a death on the campus Thursday but said she could not comment any further due to privacy laws and the ongoing investigation. Simmons was an acute care unit nurse at the hospital, according to obituary information supplied by Calvert and Froelich Memorial Home, Flanagan.


Worker killed by falling pipes this morning in Macon

A 21-year-old Dry Branch man died shortly after 8 a.m. when 600 pounds of pipe fell on top of him. Joshua Scarbary was tightening the strap around a load of PVC pipe on a tractor trailer when the strap apparently broke sending the long PVC pipe crashing down, said Bibb County coroner Leon Jones. Scarbary was trying to secure the load at Pond Piping Systems at 393 Eighth St. in the industrial sector near downtown Macon when the accident happened, Jones said. When Jones arrived, Scarbary's body was lying on the pavement next to the truck, several pipes and the bar used to tighten the strap.


Small Plane Headed to WNY Crashes Killing Two

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Federal investigators plan to look at weather as a possible factor in this morning's deadly crash of a Buffalo-bound small plane crash near the Columbus Rickenbacker airport in Ohio. Columbus-based AirNet Systems says it had chartered the single-engine Cessna, which had an AirNet employee on board with the pilot. Both were killed. Officials say the aircraft had taken off for Buffalo with a cargo of canceled checks when it went down about a mile off Rickenbacker's main runway. That was shortly after takeoff, a few minutes before 7 a.m. It was snowing heavily at the time, and the National Transportation Safety Board says that's something investigators will look at. A Columbus airports spokeswoman says the aircraft was found relatively intact, on its top in a field.


Worker killed in industrial accident in Brownville

NY - The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department has released the name of the man killed in this morning's accident. He is identified as 26-year-old Scott M. Ellsworth of East main Street in Brownville. An industrial accident killed a paper mill worker in Brownville early Wednesday morning. Just after 5:30 a.m. Brownville Specialty Papers reported that a worker had been pinned beneath a roll of paper that had come off a machine, and that the worker was unconscious. Sheriff John Burns says the worker was dead when emergency crews arrived. Burns said it was not known how the accident happened, although a couple of other workers saw it occur."He did have two other people assisting him. They attempted to assist him and they called 9-1-1 immediately," Burns said. The roll of paper that pinned the worker weighs 5,000 pounds, the Sheriff said. At 7:30 a.m. Sheriff Burns said the body had not been removed and that officials of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were en route to the scene.


Police: 9 Dead; Apparent Shooter Dead

OMAHA, Neb. - Omaha police said nine people were dead, including the alleged shooter, after shots were fired inside the Von Maur store at Westroads Mall on Wednesday afternoon. Sgt. Teresa Negron said there are nine fatalities. She said officers found the suspected shooter dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Negron could not describe the shooter, but said he was a male. Negron said most of the victims were inside Von Maur. Creighton University Medical Center said it had three victims and two were fatalities. The dead were a man and a woman, and no further details were released. The Nebraska Medical Center said it has three gunshot victims, all wounded but alive. Paul Vaultus, at NMC, said a 61-year-old man was shot in the chest and was in surgery before 3:45 p.m. A 34-year-old man had a wound and was in fair condition. A 55-year-old man had cuts to the face. Omaha police have not yet confirmed victims' conditions, but a news conference is expected soon from Sgt. Teresa Negron.



Safety Record Raises Concerns, 3 Workers At Firm Contracted By CL & P Have Died In 16 Months

IL - In the wake of Peter Sokolovsky's electrocution in East Haddam in October, questions are mounting about the safety record of the CL&P contractor that employed him as a groundsman on a tree-trimming crew. The death of Sokolovsky, a 30-year-old father of two, was the third fatality in 16 months for the company, ABC Professional Tree Services of Houston. •A 21-year-old worker fell to his death in June 2006 after a bucket truck tipped over in Union Township, Ohio. That accident led to fines for safety violations from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. •In April, ABC supervisor Thomas Rudd was killed in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, when a pulley and rope attached to a truck snapped while logs were being dragged up an embankment. The pulley assembly spun wildly and struck Rudd in the head. On Oct. 31, nine days after Sokolovsky was killed, ABC was fined $8,000 by federal regulators for two serious safety violations arising from Rudd's death, records show.


School cafeteria worker shot to death in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - An elementary school cafeteria worker was shot and killed this morning in an upscale Charlotte neighborhood. The shooting death of Beatrice Fells led to a lockdown at Myers Park Traditional Elementary School and at nearby Queens University. Weeks before she died, Fells took out a restraining order against her husband, identified as Larry Fells. On Nov. 5, a judge ordered Larry Fells to stay away from his estranged wife, her daughter and the place where Beatrice Fells worked. After the shooting, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police sent bulletins to other law enforcement agencies and officers searched for Larry Fells for hours. The state Highway Patrol says Larry Fells surrendered to a trooper at about 1 p.m. The patrol says the trooper had been inspecting a truck in Union County when Fells approached and said he was wanted for a murder in Charlotte.


Worker Killed At Port Of Oakland

CA - Operations at the Port of Oakland are running as usual Tuesday morning following a Monday night accident that claimed the life of a San Francisco man. The Alameda County coroner has identified Edward Hall, 47, as the man crushed to death by a tractor-trailer at Bertha 55, a port terminal owned by Hanjin. Oakland police reportedly responded around 7:45 p.m. to 2505 Middle Harbor Road on reports of a vehicle versus pedestrian accident. Port spokesman Robert Bernardo said today that a truck was in position to unload a vessel at the Hanjin terminal when the driver backed into Hall. This accident is the second port worker fatality in a little over two months. On Sept. 24, 39-year-old longshoreman Reginald Ross was crushed by a container, which promoted prompted ILWU Longshore Local 10 members to take the following day off of work, causing a one-day port shutdown.


Drilling rig worker killed in Boone County

WHARTON, W.Va. - An employee of a gas drilling contractor has been killed on the job. Boone County Sheriff Rodney Miller says a 19-year-old Braxton County man died after he was struck on the head while working on a drilling rig. The accident occurred about 11 a.m. Tuesday in Wharton, but Miller says he has no other details. Miller did not have the victim's name. A representative of Cox's Well Service Oil and Gas said the company is not releasing the victim's name until relatives are notified. John Wilson says the company's thoughts and prayers are with the man's family. He had no additional details. A spokeswoman for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration says the agency is investigating.


Willmar Hospital Worker Dies After Injury

WILLMAR, Minn. -- A medical records worker at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar died after an automatics filing machine fell on her. Her death was ruled an accident. Susan Leukam, 51, of Belgrade, was found unresponsive by coworkers Monday in the hospital’s basement. Leukam was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where she died. HCMS chief executive Lorry Massa said OSHA is investigating the death. Massa said the hospital will work with police and other agencies to find out what happened. Her death was ruled an accident. Don Leukam said his wife wasn't scheduled to work Friday, but volunteered to cover shifts while some coworkers went shopping after Thanksgiving. "She's going to be missed," he said. "I don't really know what happened, but I want to know just for closure."


Road construction worker killed in Macomb Township

MI - A Holly man was struck and killed this afternoon while working on a road construction crew in Macomb Township, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office said. Dennis Michael White, 56, was moving a traffic cone on Card Road, south of 21 Mile Road, when a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 struck and killed White about 12:30 p.m. Friday. White was pronounced dead at Mt. Clemens Regional Hospital. The driver of the truck, a 49-year-old man from Macomb Township, was not injured. The sheriff's office said alcohol does not appear to have been a factor. The driver of the truck has not been charged, but the sheriff's office is continuing to investigate. White was working for Edward R. White Contractor.


Worker Dies After Accident at The Cosmopolitan Project

NV - A construction worker fell about 50 feet, suffering a massive head trauma while working on a high-rise casino project on the Las Vegas Strip. David M. Rabun, age 30, was taken to UMC but died a few hours later. Clark County fire spokesman Scott Allison says the department was called to the site of the Cosmopolitan condominium-casino project at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Rabun was welding a beam onto the top of the building. He harnessed himself to the steel beam, perhaps thinking it was already steady in place. But somehow the beam gave way and fell 50 feet to the ground, taking Rabun down along with it. Construction was ceased there after the accident so that OSHA could investigate the scene. Rabun's co-worker John Browning says he and his colleagues visited him at the hospital. They will now prepare a banner for the top of the building in his honor.


Dolgeville man killed in Port of Albany accident

ALBANY, NY — A 21-year-old Dolgeville man and St. Johnsville native was killed Tuesday afternoon in an industrial accident at the Port of Albany involving a crane he had been working that fell and crushed him. Raymond David Hart had been working at Riverside Travel Plaza at a truck repair facility on Church Street, Albany, when the accident happened.According to Public Information Officer and Albany Police Detective James Miller, Hart was working on a flatbed with a crane attachment that was propped up. “It looked like the hydraulics blew and the crane collapsed on top of him,” he said. Hart was able to scream immediately after the accident occurred, according to police. He died from blunt trauma to the upper chest area. “He basically died from the impact of the crush,” Miller said. “He was not in full cardiac arrest at the time he was freed from the machinery, but he was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Albany Medical Center.”


Driver Charged In Crash That Killed Utility Worker

CINCINNATI, OH -- Authorities charged a woman Friday in the death of a utility worker who was run over. Keisha Jordan, 28, was arrested and charged with one count of vehicular manslaughter in the Nov. 28 death of Jeffrey Johnson. According to court records, Jordan failed to maintain reasonable control of her vehicle on Shawnee Run Road in Madeira. She drove off the right side of the road and struck the Duke Energy employee, who was part of a crew digging a ditch, and the 49-year-old father of two died the following day. Jordan told police she might have fallen asleep while she was driving and did not realize she had struck a person until after the crash.


Electrocuted tree trimmer identified

POQUOSON - A tree trimmer electrocuted Thursday afternoon in Poquoson has been identified as 49-year-old Edward Dix. Dix is orginially from the Eastern Shore of Virginia, but his last known address was in Chesapeake, Poquoson Police Detective Dwain Marlowe said.His family lives out-of-state and was notified of his death Friday morning. Witnesses told police that Dix was taking down a tree at 193 Cedar Road Thursday afternoon when one of the branches became entangled in a power line. When he tried to free the branch, Dix apparently came into contact with the power line and was electrocuted.


Fake Online Teen Romance Ends Up In Murder, Sentencing

NY - Authorities describe the case as a fit of jealousy over a middle-aged woman in an online relationship who pretended to be 18. A man from upstate New York has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing (shot) a co-worker in a fit of jealousy over a middle-aged woman in an online relationship who pretended to be 18. Thomas Montgomery, 48, was sentenced earlier this week after he pleaded guilt to killing 22-year-old co-worker, Brian Barrett outside a Dynabrade tool factory where the two men worked. The motive was an online relationship Montgomery established with a West Virginia woman, identified in court and by prosecutors as Mary Sheiler. Montgomery and Sheiler, who were miles apart and had never met, both came up with the same idea: to get online and pretend they were about 30 years younger than they actually are. They found each other on the Web and fell in love with each other's fake personas -- which were closer to their children's ages than their own. Sheiler reportedly used pictures of her daughter to pretend she was 18 and flirted with Montgomery, who pretended he was a young U.S. Marine bound for Iraq. She mailed photos and lingerie to his home outside of Buffalo, and exchanged steamy messages online.


Sheriff offers details on deadly chase; suspect appears in court

WEST PALM BEACH, FL — Sheriff Ric Bradshaw stood behind his deputies this morning about procedures followed in a crash that resulted in two deaths early Wednesday in Pahokee. Playing a dispatch recording of the pursuit of a stolen car yesterday in Pahokee, which resulted in the deaths of two deputies, he methodically showed that his officers planned every move. Deputies let the K9 car pass the others, and got approval for using stop sticks. But their last decision went woefully wrong. As their K9 deputy Gregorio Fernandez approached, deputies Donta Manuel and Jonathan Wallace decided to pull the stop sticks away by hand - instead of using a lanyard. They died instantly on the dark stretch of Highway 715. "They made a decision, and it turned out to be a fatal decision," Bradshaw said. Fernandez accidentally ran over Manuel and Wallace. One car theft suspect, 19-year-old Ernie Daley Jr. made his first court appearance Thursday. A second suspect has not been caught. A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to that person's arrest because investigators say local residents have been reluctant to come forward and help the investigation. As for Daley, he saw two deputies die in his rear-view mirror and kept driving away in a stolen car, according to the arrest report released today.


Gas Station Employee Dies After Being Beaten Up In July

LA - A Lafayette gas station employee beat up in July has died. James Richard, 75, of Lafayette was working at a service station at the corner of Johnston St. and Camelia Blvd. When he was found beaten inside the store. Richard died over the weekend. Lafayette Police are now ruling the crime as a murder. If you can help Police solve the murder, call 232-TIPS. A man is killed and this is all that he gets a few lines...sad. TQ KATC


Veteran Caltrans road worker killed on Interstate 215 in San Bernardino

SAN BERNARDINO, CA -
A longtime Caltrans worker was struck by a car and killed as he removed a dead dog from a freeway Tuesday, underscoring what one official called "the most dangerous job in the state. John Knabenbauer, a 42-year-old Fontana resident commended by President Bush for his work during the 2003 Old Fire, was trying to retrieve the animal from the right northbound lane of Interstate 215 at the Fifth Street offramp at about 8:30 a.m He waited for a break in traffic but was hit by a white Lincoln Mark VIII driven by a 61-year-old Riverside woman, said California Highway Patrol Officer Joe Ramos. Karen Spaulding, traveling between 35 and 50 mph, first swerved her sedan to the left, and then to the right, Ramos said. Both times, Knabenbauer went the same direction as he tried to get out of the way, Ramos said.


Disney worker dies after falling from ride platform

CA - A Disney employee who fell from a ride platform over the weekend died Thursday evening, according to Disney officials. The woman was identified by Orange County Sheriff's Office as Karen Price, 63. An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow. "Our sympathies are with the family tonight," said Jacquee Polak, Disney spokeswoman. "We offer them our support during this difficult time." Price was a ride attendant on the Primeval Whirl, a roller coaster type ride at Disney's Animal kingdom . She stepped into a restricted area on a platform and was hit by a moving car. She fell and hit her head, Polak said. Earlier in the day, several local news outlets reported that the woman had died, though that information was erroneous. The Occupational Safety and Heath Administration was at Disney today to investigate the incident, Polak said. The sheriff's office is also investigating, but did not respond to the initial incident because it was not a criminal act, spokesman Jim Solomons said. The sheriff's office was involved once Price's condition became "grave" on Wednesday, Solomons said. The last Disney employee to die while working was in February 2004 when Javier Cruzz, 28, was run over while playing Pluto during a parade.


Man Dies Saving His Co-Worker's Life

MN - Norman Looper, working on a trash collection run early Wednesday, was killed when he was hit by a car that crushed him against the truck, authorities said. "He was a hero," Linda Holbrook, a Greenville County coroner, said of Looper. "He pushed the other guy out of the way." Holbrook said witnesses said Looper deflected a co-worker as they loaded trash on West Washington Street just outside Greenville about 7 a.m. Looper, 60, of 123 Watson Drive, Greenville, died of multiple trauma, Holbrook said. Looper was struck by a 1986 Chevrolet driven by Michael Davenport, 21, of Simpsonville, said Lance Cpl. Kathy Hiles, a Highway Patrol spokeswoman. Davenport was taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, she said. Tony Duckett, Looper's stepson, said in an interview with The Greenville News that he wasn't the least bit surprised to learn of Looper's actions to aid another. "He was that kind of guy," he said. "He was the type of guy who was always doing something for somebody.

Willmar hospital worker dies after injury

Willmar, Minn. — A medical records worker at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar has died of injuries suffered when a machine fell on her. The husband of Susan Leukam, 51, of Belgrade, said an automatic filing machine fell on her at work on Friday. Don Leukam said co-workers found his wife unresponsive in the hospital basement. He said she was revived and airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where she died on Monday. The hospital's chief executive, Lorry Massa, said occupational safety officials are investigating. Massa said the hospital will work with police and other agencies to find out what happened. Don Leukam said his wife wasn't scheduled to work Friday, but volunteered to go in to cover other shifts while people went shopping after Thanksgiving.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It seems the person responsible for killing the two men in the Lake Wales BP station has been identified. After he tried killing two workers at an insurance office. He did cause a pregnant woman to lose her child though.

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