Boston Herald - Boston Herald

Quick, long-term fixes in works for Wash. bridge

Associated Press — Sat, 25 May 2013 14:58:26 -0400

SEATTLE — It's going to take time to find both short- and long-term fixes for the bridge that collapsed on Interstate 5, Washington state officials said Saturday as federal inspectors scoured for clues that may impact bridge safety across the nation.

First, the National Transportation and Safety Board must finish its inspection. Then debris will be removed from the river. Next, a temporary solution will be put in place to return traffic to Washington state's most important north-south roadway.

LA stoplights synchronized but road war endures

Associated Press — Sat, 25 May 2013 10:23:52 -0400

LOS ANGELES — It seems that the impossible has occurred: The nation's most congested city has become a model for traffic control.

Yes, gridlock still prevails and drivers' blood pressure still spikes as LA's traffic arteries seize up during every morning and afternoon rush hour.

Yet, with the flip of a switch earlier this year, Los Angeles became a worldwide leader by synchronizing all of its nearly 4,400 stoplights, making it the world's first major city to do so.

Trucker bumps I-5 bridge, sees horror behind him

Associated Press — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:48:42 -0400

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — The trucker was hauling drilling equipment when his load bumped against the steel framework over an Interstate 5 bridge. He looked in his rearview mirror and watched in horror as the span collapsed into the water behind him. Two vehicles fell into the icy Skagit River.

Amazingly, nobody was killed. The three people who fell into the water escaped with only minor injuries.

Some damage reported from 5.7 quake in N. Calif.

Associated Press — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:39:32 -0400

GREENVILLE, Calif. — A moderate earthquake centered in rural northeastern California but felt in two other states damaged some homes and ruptured a tank that supplies residential drinking water in the densely forested region, officials said Friday.

The magnitude-5.7 quake centered near Greenville sent items tumbling from grocery store shelves and downed chimneys when it hit at 8:47 p.m. Thursday. Despite the damage, no injuries have been reported.

Older brother held in deaths of 2 younger siblings

Associated Press — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:03:04 -0400

WEST POINT, Utah — A 15-year-old boy is in custody after authorities investigating the stabbing deaths of his younger adopted brothers found him miles away with traces of blood on him, officials said.

He was arrested Thursday in the deaths of the boys, ages 4 and 10, at the family home in a Utah subdivision of new houses and tidy lawns, police said.

"He spoke bluntly with our investigators," said Davis County Sheriff Todd Richardson.

I-5 bridge collapses into Wash. river, injuring 3

Associated Press — Fri, 24 May 2013 03:33:30 -0400

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — An Interstate 5 bridge over a river collapsed north of Seattle Thursday evening, dumping two vehicles into the water and sparking a rescue effort by boats and divers as three injured people were pulled from the chilly waterway.

Authorities said it appeared nobody was killed in the bridge failure that raised the question about the safety of aging spans and cut off the main route between Seattle and Canada.

5.7-magnitude earthquake shakes Northern Calif

Associated Press — Fri, 24 May 2013 02:56:14 -0400

GREENVILLE, Calif. — An earthquake has struck Northern California's Plumas County with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7.

Rafael Abreau, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Center, says the temblor struck at 8:47 p.m. and was centered six miles west northwest of Greenville, and 26 miles southwest of Susanville.

Abreu says there have been no reports of damage in early field reports.

KCRA-TV in Sacramento reports that the quake was felt in downtown Sacramento, about 145 miles south of the epicenter.

Little known about suspect in Wash. ricin case

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:38:26 -0400

SPOKANE, Wash. — A 37-year-old who has been charged with threatening to kill a federal judge in a case that involves letters containing the poison ricin (RY'-sin) is a registered sex offender who lives in a rundown apartment building near downtown Spokane.

Matthew Ryan Buquet is originally from Bogota, Colombia.

He remains in jail after appearing in federal court Wednesday and pleading not guilty to a charge of mailing a threatening communication.

Deputies arrest man they say posed as a Disney

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:03:04 -0400

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — Authorities say a man has been arrested after claiming to be a member of the Walt Disney family and giving away invalid Disneyland passes.

Los Angeles County sheriff's officials say the man called himself "Stephen Disney" and had a fake driver's license and tax forms that falsely claimed income from the Walt Disney Corp.

The statement says he gave Disneyland passes to a woman for a raffle. When the winner took the passes to Disneyland, she learned they hadn't been activated.

Jury in Arias trial adjourns for day after impasse

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:08:21 -0400

PHOENIX — Jurors in the Jodi Arias murder trial said Wednesday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep trying.

The panel reported its impasse after only about two and a half hours of deliberations. Judge Sherry Stephens told jurors to try to identify areas of agreement and disagreement as they work toward a decision.

Union power at issue as Garcetti elected LA mayor

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:02:05 -0400

LOS ANGELES — The incoming mayor of Los Angeles was able to defeat a fellow Democrat by depicting her as a pawn of utility union bosses in a city long friendly to labor, an outcome expected to echo beyond California as unions nationwide face threats to their clout.

With all precincts reporting Wednesday, Councilman Eric Garcetti defeated city Controller Wendy Greuel, 54 percent to 46 percent, in the matchup of two occasional allies at City Hall.

Susan Powell's dad gets private eye to review file

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 08:28:33 -0400

SEATTLE — Police say they've taken their best shot at finding missing Utah mother Susan Powell. Now, her dad is hoping a review of the newly released case file — containing tens of thousands of pages of detective reports, maps, interview transcripts and more — might turn up something the investigators missed.

Chuck Cox told reporters Tuesday at a news conference in Seattle that a private eye has offered to help comb through the records, perhaps yielding new or overlooked clues about the sensational case.

Portland, Ore., rejecting water fluoridation

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:57:43 -0400

PORTLAND, Ore. — The mayor of Portland, Ore., has conceded defeat in an effort to add fluoride to the city's drinking water.

With more than 80 percent of the expected ballots counted late Tuesday night, the Multnomah County election website showed the fluoride proposal failing, 60 percent to 40 percent.

Mayor Charlie Hales supported fluoridation and said "the measure lost despite my own 'yes' vote.

"That's sure disappointing, but I accept the will of the voters," he said in a statement.

Fluoridation foes were delighted.

Garcetti holds slim lead as LA picks new mayor

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:39:25 -0400

LOS ANGELES — Councilman Eric Garcetti held a slender edge Tuesday in early returns over city Controller Wendy Greuel to become the next Los Angeles mayor, while slow-coming returns suggested it could take a day or more until a winner emerges.

The preliminary numbers pegged Garcetti at 52 percent and Greuel at 48 percent, with about 6,100 votes separating them out of about 176,000 counted so far. The tally included about 25 percent of precincts, along with mail ballots.

Lawyer: Feds investigating Susan Powell case

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:21:34 -0400

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — The lawyer for the family of missing Utah woman Susan Powell said Tuesday that even as local police close the active part of their investigation into her disappearance, federal authorities continue to review the case — a claim that was denied by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City.

Anne Bremner made the announcement at a Seattle news conference a day after local officials in Utah said they had closed their active investigation into the Susan Powell case.

"This is not over," Bremner said.

Montana man dies in Yosemite climbing accident

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:48:37 -0400

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — A Montana man died in a rock climbing accident as he tried to climb to the top of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, authorities said.

Mason Robison, 38, of Columbia Falls, Mont., was killed after a rock dislodged and severed his rope as he and a partner were about 2,300 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor, Yosemite spokeswoman Kari Cobb said Monday.

Customs seizes elephant meat, dead primate in LA

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:44:57 -0400

LOS ANGELES — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Los Angeles have made some unusual seizures, including elephant meat, a dead primate and hundreds of handbags made from the skin of snakes, lizards and crocodiles.

The agency says in a press release Monday that the illegal items were seized between May 6 and May 10 at an international mail facility and at Los Angeles International Airport.

The tiny dead macaque primate from Indonesia had been declared as a gift and was addressed to North Port, Fla.

Report: NPS hantavirus response followed policy

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:10:45 -0400

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Federal investigators probing the hantavirus outbreak blamed for three deaths at Yosemite National Park recommended on Monday that design changes to tent cabins and other privately run lodging first be reviewed by National Park Service officials.

The report released by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General found that park officials responded to last summer's outbreak appropriately and within department policy.

Idaho couple and Sun Valley land in Twitter tussle

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:08:38 -0400

BOISE, Idaho — An Internet entrepreneur and former Wall Street derivatives analyst contends central Idaho's Sun Valley resort and the Twitter Inc. social media site heisted his handle.

Leonard Barshack, who in the 1990s founded the Internet email listing service Bigfoot, is suing Twitter and the Sun Valley Co., demanding they return the handle "SunValley."

Barshack filed the lawsuit in Idaho's 5th District Court with his lawyer and wife, Erin Smith, this month, arguing he began using the Twitter handle in April 2010.

Calif. gov cites safety in possible bridge delay

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:41:25 -0400

BERKELEY, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday that he does not know if the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will open over Labor Day weekend because of safety concerns.

It's the first time the governor acknowledged serious worries about the structural integrity of the $6.4 billion infrastructure project to build a new eastern span of the bridge. Brown had dismissed concerns about broken bolts earlier this month.