Mother’s Day Second-Line Shooting In New Orleans Injures At Least 17 People

English: The USS New Orleans (LPD-18) passes by downtown New Orleans on the Mississippi River (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Mother’s Day second-line shooting on Frenchmen Street in the 7th Ward, on Sunday about 2 p.m., left about 17 people injured, according to changing NOPD numbers.  Earlier Sunday afternoon NOPD Superintendent Ronald Serpas said that about 12 people had been injured, but NOPD spokeswoman Remi Braden said at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday that the toll had creeped up to 17 people as some victims initially hadn’t reported being injured.

The shooting, in which a girl allegedly was grazed on her side by a bullet, occurred in the 1400 block of Frenchmen Street at the intersection of North Villere Street.  The girl, who was 9 or 10 years old, appears to be in stable condition, Braden said.

“In fact, many of the victims were grazed (some by bullets that ricocheted),” Braden said in an email.  “At this point, there are no fatalities, and most of the wounds are not life-threatening.

“But all medical conditions are not known at this time as victims were rushed to nearby hospitals,” Braden continued.  “Detectives are conducting interviews, retrieving any surveillance video in the area and, of course, collecting all evidence.  This is an extremely unusual occurrence, and we’re confident that we will make swift arrests.”

Read more:  http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/05/mothers_day_second-line_shooti.html

Interstate 81 Should Reopen In Harrisburg By Tuesday Morning, PennDOT Officials Say

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Under ideal circumstances, transportation officials hope to reopen all lanes of Interstate 81 underneath the ramp damaged by last week’s tanker fire by early Tuesday morning.

“Our goal will be [to reopen I-81] for the Tuesday morning rush,” said Mike Keiser, the area district executive for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation during a news conference Sunday at the scene of the fire on I-81, near Exit 67.

“I-81 should be back to full lanes in all directions by Tuesday,” he said.

Keiser also announced the completion of crossover lanes splitting the two westbound lanes of Route 22 into a single eastbound and a single westbound lane.  Access to Harrisburg via the crossover should be available after 4 p.m. Sunday, Keiser said.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/05/interstate_81_should_be_open_i.html#incart_river_default

Fire Response Time Questioned In Wilkes-Barre

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE, PA — While children crawled through the city’s fire safety trailer at Kirby Park eight days ago, a homeowner on Almond Lane waiting for an engine to arrive from across town used a garden hose in an attempt to douse flames.

The fire, started by spontaneous combustion of grass clippings in a plastic recycling container climbed up to the second floor, causing damage inside and out before firefighters extinguished them.

“They got it,” said Greg Freitas, vice president of the city firefighters’ union.

But the damage could have been minimized with more firefighters and equipment available, a long-running sticking point with the International Association of Firefighters Local 104 which has seen the minimum staffing level reduced by more than one-third over a 10-year period.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news//503886/Fire-response-time-questioned-in-W-B

Happy Mother’s Day!

$2.3M Restoration Of Frick’s Lock Village Unveiled

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Chester County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

EAST COVENTRY TOWNSHIP, PA — In its heyday, Frick’s Lock Village was one of dozens of stops along the Schuylkill Navigation for coal making its way from the coal regions and the river’s headwaters to energy-starved industrial cities like Philadelphia.

But it lost its economic lustre when the railroads took over the job of carrying the coal and it slipped from public view entirely in 1969, when it was purchased by PECO as part of the construction of the Limerick nuclear plant.

But it never slipped entirely from memory, at least not for people like Bill Carl, who lived in the former locktender’s house in the late 1930s, when it had no electricity and no plumbing.

“We rented this from the Reading Railroad Co. for $5 a month,” he said.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130512/NEWS01/130519819/-2-3m-restoration-of-frick-s-lock-village-unveiled#full_story