2 Killed, 49 Badly Hurt In San Francisco International Airport Plane Crash

Map of California (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SAN FRANCISCO — Two people were killed and 49 people were seriously injured Saturday when a Boeing 777 passenger jetliner arriving from Seoul crashed and caught fire while landing at San Francisco International Airport, officials said.

The plane, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 with 307 people onboard, slammed to earth at 11:27 a.m. and came to rest on the side of Runway 28L, one of four runways at SFO, said Lynn Lunsford, a spokeswoman with the Federal Aviation Administration.  The plane appeared to make impact short of the runway and then spin as it careened across the ground – losing its tail and leaving a trail of debris.

There were 291 passengers and 16 crew members aboard.  Two people were killed, 49 were seriously hurt, another 132 suffered lesser injuries and went to area hospitals, and one person was unaccounted for, SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said at an evening press conference at the airport.  The other 123 people onboard were not injured.

The injuries “are consistent with the types of injuries you would see in a plane crash or fire,” said Rachael Kagan, a spokeswoman at San Francisco General Hospital, where five people were in critical condition. “Many burns, fractures and internal injuries.”

Read more:  http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/2-killed-49-badly-hurt-in-SFO-plane-crash-4650259.php

Fees Nibble At Income Of Those Paid With Plastic

An HSBC Solo debit card issued in the UK in 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  It’s generally people with lower incomes that get paid this way 😦

On paper, it couldn’t be more convenient: Instead of a check every two weeks, your employer hands you a debit card, depositing your pay automatically and freeing you to spend it immediately.

But then there are the fees: $1.50 to withdraw cash, another $2.50 if you do it from a non-company ATM, the $2 monthly account fee.  For workers making low wages, those fees can eat up a sizable portion of their income, a fact that has sparked lawsuits in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

With one of the nation’s largest banks headquartered here and a slew of local public employers already signed up for similar programs, what role will Pittsburgh play in the payroll debate?

“It really is consistent with best business practices of going as paperless as possible,” said Brad Korinski, chief counsel at the Allegheny County controller’s office.  “On the consumer end of things, the debit cards provide immediate and guaranteed access to funds.  You’re not waiting for the post office to get it to you.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/fees-nibble-at-income-of-those-paid-with-plastic-694438/#ixzz2YHeekGb0

Hazleton Police Chief: 911 Response To Shooting Victim Calls Unacceptable

Downtown Hazleton, PA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another of the “bigger concerns” police have is with Luzerne County 911, DeAndrea said.

“Apparently it took over 25 minutes for 911 to answer the phone,” he said.  “There’s a high call volume because it (was) the Fourth of July.  However, there’s a man lying shot, bleeding, on the streets of the city of Hazleton and (911) can’t get the phone answered to dispatch a car.

“So here’s the Hazleton Police Department excited with a 3-minute response, thinking maybe we’re going to catch the shooter with a smoking gun, and it ends up we’re a half hour after the fact,” DeAndrea said.  “That just doesn’t make any sense.”

By talking with the family who lives in the home in front of which the shooting occurred, DeAndrea said, he was trying to pin down how many people called 911.  “The family was actually trying to flag vehicles down in the middle of Diamond Avenue to try and send someone for help,” DeAndrea said.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/654857/Chief:-911-response-to-shooting-victim-calls-unacceptable

UPDATE: Hazleton Police ID Suspect In Friday’s Shooting

Downtown Hazleton, PA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HAZLETON — City police have identified a suspect in the shooting of a 29-year-old man early Friday morning on West Diamond Avenue.

The Hazleton Police Detective Division has applied for an arrest warrant for Juan Carlos Paulino, 26, of 635 N. James St., Apartment 2, Hazleton, police said in a press release.

Police allege that Paulino shot a man, whose name they would not release, multiple times in the chest and abdomen in the 600 block of West Diamond Avenue at about 1:40 Friday morning.

Read more:

http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/654017/UPDATE:-Hazleton-police-ID-suspect-in-this-mornings-shooting

Troubled Bridge Project A Headache, Wilkes-Barre Resident Says

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

WILKES-BARRE — One resident of the city’s Miners Mills section thinks the city jumped the gun by knocking down a bridge and cutting off the regular flow of traffic in the largely residential neighborhood.

Joe Gibbons Jr., of Coon Street, said the Sydney Street Bridge replacement project has been unattended for about two weeks. The span crossed Mill Creek.

Contractors closed the Coon and Sidney streets three-way intersection and then tore down the bridge in preparation for the reconstruction — now stalled because of a funding mixup.

Coon runs parallel with North Washington Street and connects Beatty and Sidney streets.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/645753/Troubled-bridge-project-a-headache-W-B-resident-says

Pennsylvania Transportation Chief: Bridges To Get Weight Limits

In the weeks leading up to the state budget deadline, Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch threatened to put weight limits on 1,120 bridges if Gov. Tom Corbett’s plans to raise new revenue for road and bridge repair were not approved.

But on Sunday, the Legislature did what Schoch feared.  It approved a 2013-14 budget that left Corbett’s proposal in the dust.

As a result, the transportation chief plans to make good on his threat, according to PennDOT officials.

Twenty-six of the identified spans are in Lehigh or Northampton counties, including the Route 22 bridge over the Lehigh River in Whitehall Township.

Weight limits can preclude heavy trucks, fire engines and even school buses from using bridges, depending on bridge size and capacity.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-bridge-weight-restrictons-20130705,0,7683963.story#ixzz2YHLsv9iS
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Nicaragua, Venezuela Offer Asylum To Snowden

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – The presidents of Nicaragua and Venezuela offered Friday to grant asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden, one day after leftist South American leaders gathered to denounce the rerouting of Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane over Europe amid reports that the American was aboard.

Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua made their offers during separate speeches in their home countries Friday afternoon.  Snowden, who is being sought by the United States, has asked for asylum in numerous countries, including Nicaragua and Venezuela.

“As head of state, the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young American Edward Snowden so that he can live in the homeland” of independence leader Simon Bolivar and the late President Hugo Chavez without “persecution from the empire,” Maduro said, referring to the United States.

Chavez often engaged in similar defiance, criticizing U.S.-style capitalism and policies.  In a 2006 speech to the U.N. General Assembly of world leaders, Chavez called President George W. Bush the devil, saying the podium reeked of sulfur after the U.S. president’s address.  He also accused Washington of plotting against him, expelled several diplomats and drug-enforcement agents and threatened to stop sending oil to the U.S.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20130705_ap_831caa61fd4e4c55b15bf02ba3bcf66f.html#xj66c6TTZo1Gcso0.99

Feds: NY Man Tried To Extort $250K From Paula Deen

ATLANTA (AP) – Authorities on Friday arrested a New York man charged with trying to extort money from embattled celebrity cook Paula Deen in exchange for not going to the news media with “true and damning statements” he said she made.

FBI agents and local sheriff’s deputies arrested Thomas George Paculis, 62, of Newfield, N.Y., Friday morning. A criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Savannah, Ga., charges him with extortion.

The complaint says Paculis was threatening to go to the media with statements made by Deen unless the former Food Network star gave him $250,000.  The complaint does not specify what was in the statements Paculis claimed were made by Deen.

Paculis did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.  A call to a phone number for Paculis found in the criminal complaint rang unanswered.  He had his initial court appearance Friday in New York and was released on bond, said FBI Special Agent Stephen Emmett in Atlanta.  He has been ordered to appear in federal court in Savannah on July 16.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20130705_ap_3c4f0b80c0464555ac4403b9885126e5.html#pjWmdoGwSTv5x8qd.99

Norristown Homicide Victim Identified As King Of Prussia Teen

Location of Norristown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NORRISTOWN — Police have identified the victim of a fatal Independence Day shooting as Tyreek Fairel, 19, of King of Prussia. Fairel was declared dead at 11:18 a.m. Friday morning from a gunshot wound to the head he suffered Thursday evening in the area of Marshall and Violet streets.

A 19-year-old Ambler man, whose name is being withheld by The Times Herald, was shot in the arm during the incident and is, according to police, going to be “OK.”

“This is the most peculiar case we’ve ever seen,” said Norristown Police Chief Willie Richet. “We don’t even have a crime scene.”

Richet said the surviving victim was supposed to make a statement Friday at the Norristown police station, but never arrived.

Read more:   http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130705/NEWS01/130709823/norristown-homicide-victim-identified-as-king-of-prussia-teen

Hot Weekend Predicted For TriCounty Region

National Weather Service Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — It’s going to be a hot weekend in parts of eastern Pennsylvania.

The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning Friday for Philadelphia and some suburbs including Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties.  The agency also put out heat advisories for the Lehigh Valley.

The warnings are in effect from 11 a.m. Saturday to 8 p.m. Sunday.  Forecasters say Philadelphia will hit highs in the mid-90s on Saturday, with humidity making it feel like it’s more than 100 degrees.

The city will likely see scattered showers and thunderstorms on Sunday.  Highs are predicted to be in the lower 90s, with humidity making it feel closer to 100.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130705/NEWS01/130709623/hot-weekend-predicted-for-tricounty-region#full_story