Mississippi bridge collapses in deadly accident at demolition site: Officials
(SIMPSON COUNTY, Miss.) — A Mississippi bridge set to be demolished collapsed in a deadly accident on Wednesday, officials said.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation confirmed there were fatalities, though it did not specify how many people died.
“[We] extend our deepest condolences to the families who have lost loved ones,” the Mississippi Department of Transportation said in a statement.
An inspector with the Mississippi Department of Transportation who was at the worksite when the bridge collapsed was unharmed, the department said.
The bridge, which spanned the Strong River in Simpson County on State Route 149, collapsed Wednesday afternoon, according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
The bridge had been closed to traffic since Sept. 18 and was in the process of being demolished as part of a bridge replacement project, the department said.
The replacement project had been given an estimate of 12 to 18 months to complete, according to previous statements from the department.
(NEW YORK) — A search is underway in New York City for two suspects, including one dressed all in pink, who allegedly crashed an empty subway train after brazenly walking into a station and stealing it, authorities said.
The theft of the train in the nation’s largest subway system unfolded amid the deployment of additional police officers to the subway system to combat a surge in crime. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul even deployed National Guard troops as part of a five-point plan to protect subway riders.
According to a New York Police Department incident report, the thieves, a man and a woman, stole the empty train just after midnight on Thursday at the Briarwood subway station in the borough of Queens, according to police.
“These two individuals entered an unoccupied train and operated it, causing a collision and damage to the train,” according to the NYPD incident report.
No injuries were reported and the suspects fled the area on foot, according to police.
No arrests have been announced as of Wednesday morning, police said.
The duo was caught on surveillance cameras walking through the empty train at Briarwood station before taking it on a short joy ride, police said.
One of the alleged thieves was described as a woman with a medium build and medium complexion, according to police.
“She was last seen wearing a pink shower cap, a pink sleeveless shirt, pink shorts, and carrying a pink handbag,” according to the incident report.
Her accomplice was described by police as a man with a slim build and light complexion, He was dressed in a blue tank top, red shorts and carrying a black backpack.
It was at least the second theft of a New York City subway train in less than eight months.
On Dec. 30, 2023, a group stole empty trains parked in a restricted area near the Forest Hills-71st Avenue subway station in Queens. Authorities said the group entered the operators’ compartments of two lead train cars before driving them northbound.
Amidst a 45% year-over-year spike in New York City transit crime in January, mostly due to grand larcenies, Hochul deployed 1,000 state workers, including 250 state police troopers and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police members, to assist the NYPD in enhanced baggage checks at heavily trafficked areas of the subway system.
Hochul also directed the New York National Guard to make 750 members, who are currently part of the Joint Task Force Empire Shield, available to help check subway riders’ bags for weapons.
According to the most recent NYPD crime statistics, transit crime as of Sunday is now down 5.4% from this time in 2023.
(TAMPA, Fla.) — Tampa General Hospital put its flood barrier to the test during Hurricane Helene late last month, helping protect the facility from record storm surge.
As Hurricane Milton is expected to bring record-breaking storm surge yet again to the region, the hospital — located on the bay near downtown Tampa — is surrounded by the water-impermeable barrier once more.
Milton is expected to make landfall Wednesday night near Sarasota, south of Tampa, as a Category 3 hurricane. The National Weather Service in Tampa Bay warned on Monday that Milton could be the “worst storm to impact the Tampa area in over 100 years.”
While several health care facilities are suspending service due to Milton, Tampa General Hospital, the region’s only Level I Trauma Center, is preparing to continue normal operations.
The hospital said it has several mitigation measures in place for the storm, including its barrier, made by the company AquaFence. The fence is built to withstand storm surge up to 15 feet above sea level, the hospital said.
Peak storm surge in the Tampa Bay area topped six feet during Helene, which set a new record. The flood barrier “worked effectively to prevent the storm surge from flooding” the main campus, the hospital said in the wake of Helene.
Milton could bring a record-breaking storm surge to the Tampa Bay area. Six to nine feet of storm surge is forecast for the Tampa Bay area.
The hospital said Tuesday it had completed assembly of its flood barrier ahead of Milton “to protect vulnerable areas of the campus against storm surge and flooding.”
“While AquaFence has proven effective in the past, it is just the first line of defense and one of many mitigation efforts we’ve implemented this week to safely continue care for our patients,” Jennifer Crabtree, chief of staff at Tampa General, said in a statement to ABC Orlando affiliate WFTV.
Other measures to help sustain hospital operations during the storm include an on-site water source, in the event that water service is disrupted, and an on-site energy plant located 33 feet above sea level that is built to withstand the impact and flooding of a Category 5 hurricane, the hospital said. The hospital said it has also stocked up on more than five days of supplies, including food and linens, and more than 5,000 gallons of water.
Tampa Bay, and many areas across the surrounding peninsula, are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes since these regions have not been hit with a major hurricane in decades.
Hospital systems in the region have invested in flood mitigation, hardening their facilities and moving electrical equipment to levels to protect against flooding, according to Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association.
“Flooding is such a huge concern,” Mayhew told ABC News. “And now, on the heels of Helene, where we have debris that is, strewn up and down the Gulf Coast, drains are plugged, they’re filled with sand.”
(PHOENIX) — Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has requested the Arizona “fake elector” case against him be moved from Maricopa County into federal court, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
The request comes weeks after Meadows asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in his similar effort to move the Fulton County, Georgia, election case against him into federal court.
In Wednesday’s filing, Meadows’ attorneys said their client’s request is “based on recent new Supreme Court authority clarifying the scope of immunity,” citing the court’s recent presidential immunity ruling.
Meadows’ attorneys argued that the case should also be moved from state court because the indictment “squarely relates to Mr. Meadows’s conduct as Chief of Staff to the President.”
The argument is similar to the one Meadows has made for months in his Fulton County case, citing a law that calls for the removal of criminal proceedings when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official.
“It is unmistakably clear that the indictment charges Mr. Meadows with alleged state crimes based on acts he took as Chief of Staff to the President of the United States and in the course of his duties in the position,” Meadows’ attorneys said in the filing.
In response to the request, a judge has scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Sept. 5.
Meadows was charged in Arizona, along with 17 others, for fraud, forgery and conspiracy over alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state. He has pleaded not guilty.
Last week, charges were dropped against former President Donald Trump’s former campaign attorney Jenna Ellis in exchange for her cooperation in the case.