At least 11 injured in explosion at manufacturing plant in Louisville, Kentucky: Police
WHAS
(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — At least 11 people were reported injured in an explosion at a manufacturing facility in Louisville, Kentucky, police said.
A “hazardous materials incident” was reported Tuesday afternoon at the address of a Givaudan Sense Colour facility, according to the Louisville Metro Emergency Services.
The cause of the explosion, which occurred around 3 p.m. local time, is unknown at this time, officials said.
All those injured are employees of Givaudan Sense Colour, a natural food coloring plant, officials said.
One person who was trapped following the explosion was rescued, while several others were evacuated, officials said.
No fatalities have been reported in the incident.
Residents within two blocks of the facility, located at 1901 Payne St., have been evacuated, officials said.
A shelter-in-place order was also issued for those within a 1-mile radius of the facility but it has since been lifted, officials said.
Agents with Louisville’s division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are responding and assisting with the “critical incident,” the agency said.
Air monitoring is clear at this time, officials said.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear urged those in the area to follow guidance from local officials “while responders work to secure the area” and said he is “praying for the safety of all involved.”
Givaudan Sense Colour makes colors used in food, and other applications, according to its website.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A backyard in Orange County, New York, became the site of an incredible discovery of a complete mastodon jaw — the first find like it in New York in more than 11 years. (New York State Museum)
(NEW YORK) — A backyard in Orange County, New York, became the site of an incredible discovery of a complete mastodon jaw — the first find like it in New York in more than 11 years.
The jaw, along with a piece of a toe bone and a rib fragment, was uncovered near Scotchtown by researchers from the New York State Museum and SUNY Orange.
The discovery began when a homeowner spotted two teeth sticking out of the dirt under a plant. After digging a little deeper, they found two more teeth just below the surface. Realizing the find might be something special, the homeowner called in experts, and soon a full excavation was underway.
“When I found the teeth and held them in my hands, I knew they were something special,” said the homeowner. “I’m so excited that our yard had something so important for science.”
The team of researchers uncovered a well-preserved jaw belonging to an adult mastodon, an ancient relative of today’s elephants. The jaw will now be studied to figure out how old it is, what the mastodon ate and what its life was like during the Ice Age.
“This jaw is an amazing discovery,” said Dr. Robert Feranec, an expert from the New York State Museum. “Fossils like this help us learn about ancient ecosystems and give us clues about how the world has changed over time.”
Orange County has been a great place to find mastodon fossils. In fact, about one-third of the 150 mastodon fossils found in New York have come from this area.
Dr. Cory Harris from SUNY Orange said they hope to keep digging in the area to see if there are more bones waiting to be found.
“The jaw is the most exciting part, but the toe and rib fragments might also help us learn more about this animal,” Dr. Harris explained.
The jaw will eventually be displayed at the New York State Museum in 2025, after scientists finish their research, according to Michael Mastroianni, a leader at the museum.
(NEW YORK) — On a recent Sunday night in Virginia, Henrico County registrar Mark Coakley was waiting for the start of the Cowboys-Steelers NFL game that was delayed due to inclement weather.
Coakley was scanning X, formerly known as Twitter, when he came across a post by the platform’s billionaire owner, Elon Musk, who is a vocal Trump supporter. Musk had reposted a tweet from 2023 that falsely claimed that “election integrity leaders in Virginia” found fraudulent votes in Henrico County from the 2020 election.
“Is this accurate @CommunityNotes?” Musk posted in conjunction with the tweet, engaging X’s Community Notes feature that allows users themselves to fact check a tweet.
Coakley, the county’s top election official, scrambled to respond. On Monday morning, the Henrico County’s X account debunked the premise of Musk’s posts in a five-post thread.
“They were uninformed tweets,” Coakley recalled in an interview with ABC News. “Media was calling, friends were calling me.”
The challenge for Coakley: While Musk’s initial post has garnered 27.7 million views, Coakley’s response has received fewer than 100,000. It’s a contemporary spin on the old adage that a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.
As Musk has continued to promote false and misleading election information on X, election officials have increasingly confronted him on his own platform. But their reach typically pales in comparison to Musk’s 200 million followers.
“It’s just not a fair battle,” said Larry Norden, a voting expert at the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit think tank.
In Philadelphia, Musk reposted a tweet suggesting that 5,200 voters had registered with the same address. “This is crazy,” Musk commented.
Seth Bluestein, a Philadelphia County Commissioner, replied hours later, tweeting, “The post you shared is spreading disinformation.”
But while Musk’s initial tweet drew nearly 10 million views, Bluestein’s response garnered fewer than 10,000.
Even some Republican officials have confronted Musk on X. Stephen Richer, the GOP recorder in Maricopa County, Arizona, has regularly quarreled with Musk online over alleged election misinformation targeting the state — and has even offered to connect with Musk in person.
“On every previous post you’ve made about Arizona elections (all of which have been wrong, but you’ve never corrected any of them), I’ve offered my office as a resource to you (and anyone) who wants actual answers to these questions,” Richer told Musk in a post in September.
Sam Woolley, a disinformation researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, said Musk has treated X as his own “bully pulpit” to support Trump and denigrate the election system since taking control of the company in 2022.
“This is certainly a case of a very powerful individual using not only his ownership of the platform but also his ability to control massive swaths of engagement on the platform for his own benefit and for the benefit of his political allies,” Woolley said.
Not only are the misinformation narratives promoted by Musk “corrosive to democracy,” Norden said, but the time and energy required to rebut them might actually undermine election officials’ ability to execute their other election-related work.
“It’s distracting,” Norden said. “We are putting a huge load on election officials, and if, on top of that, they have to respond to a guy who boosts his own content on his own network to spread lies, it’s distracting from the essential work that they need to do. That is troubling.”
Musk did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Despite the enormous online reach of the world’s richest man, at least one election official has managed to match it: Jocelyn Benson, the secretary of state in Michigan.
After Musk suggested on X that there are more registered voters in the state than eligible voters, Benson shot back.
“Let’s be clear: @elonmusk is spreading dangerous disinformation,” Benson wrote. “Here are the facts: There aren’t more voters than citizens in Michigan. There are 7.2 million active registered voters and 7.9 citizens of voting age in our state.”
Musk’s initial retweet received some 32 million views.
But Benson’s response topped it, getting 33.5 million.
(LOS ANGELES) — All raw whole milk and cream products produced by Raw Farm LLC that are still on store shelves are being voluntarily recalled following multiple detections of bird flu virus in the company’s milk and dairy supply within the past week, according to California public health officials.
Officials have also placed the farm under quarantine and suspended any new distribution of its raw milk, cream, kefir, butter, and cheese products produced on or after Nov. 27.
“Californians are strongly encouraged not to consume any raw milk or cream products in their possession or still on store shelves,” the California Department of Public Health said in a statement on Tuesday. “Pasteurized milk remains safe to drink.”
No human bird flu cases associated with the product have been confirmed to date, officials said. Though, bird flu virus levels have been found at high levels in raw milk and health officials believe raw milk is infectious to humans.
“We are working towards resolving this political issue while being cooperative with our government regulatory agencies,” Raw Milk, which is based in Fresno, said in statement posted on its website.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has previously warned of the dangers of drinking raw milk, which does not undergo pasteurization — a process that kills viruses and bacteria.
“Raw milk is milk from cows, sheep, or goats that has not been pasteurized to kill harmful bacteria,” according to the FDA. “This raw, unpasteurized milk can carry dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, which are responsible for causing numerous foodborne illnesses.”
