A 51- year-old man was killed in an auto accident in St. Clair County Tuesday night.
The single-car wreck happened around 6:40 p.m. about a quarter mile east of Springville on Mountain View Road. The victim was identified as Timothy McCullough of Odenville, Alabama.
The federal government recalled 2 million drop-side baby cribs on Thursday because of a potential death hazard. The removable sides were intended to give parents easier access to crying babies without straining their backs. However, the baby cribs repeatedly malfunctioned, creating a gap where their heads get trapped and cause them suffocate to death. The drop-side cribs have caused the death of at least 32 children, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) believes another 14 babies' deaths may have been linked to the recalled cribs.
The CPSC recalled an additional 50 K cribs under the brand name of Child Craft, due to the potential hazard for strangulation and entrapment. According to reports, the recall to repair the cribs was made after the CPSC received four injury reports of children trapped between the front of the crib and the dowel. The recalled baby cribs were sold under the name "Crib N Double Bed" at Babies "R" Us from 1998 through 2009. The original manufacturer of the crib, Child Craft Industries Inc., is no longer in operation and sold the Child Craft name to Foundation Worldwide Inc. in July.
More than 250 consumers reported malfunctions in the drop-side crib. The United States, Italy, and Canada were among the ten countries cited for recalls. Six manufactures have issued redesign kits intended to immobilize the moving sides while others have offered $25 and $50 rebates towards the purchase of a new crib.
Continue reading "Federal Recall of Drop-Cribs-Child Death Hazard" »
Gadsden, Alabama becomes the fourth city in Alabama to outlaw texting while driving. In a meeting Tuesday night, the Gadsden City Council unanimously approved the city wide ordinance banning not only texting, but also emailing and instant messaging while driving.
The ordinance will officially become law in about two to three weeks, after its official publication in a local newspaper. The first texting offense carries a fine of $25 and then jumps $25 for each subsequent violation in a 12-month period.
According to The Gadsden Times, the purpose of the ordinance is intended to improve road safety for all vehicles, passengers and pedestrians; prevent auto accidents and texting related crashes; and reduce the amount of injuries, death, property damages, healthcare costs, etc. sustained from traffic related accidents.
There are a few exceptions for law enforcement, fire service and emergency medical service providers performing official duties; individuals reporting criminal activity or emergency to law enforcement; receiving safety messages, weather updates or using their device for navigation purposes.
An Alabama man died early this morning in an automobile accident in Marshall County. The driver of the vehicle, Austin Bowen, 38 years-old of Horton, Alabama was driving on High Point Road, about six miles west of Albertville. Alabama State Troopers say he lost control on his Dodge Caravan, hit a culvert and flipped his van. According to authorities, Bowen was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. The single car accident occurred around 1:00 a.m.
Similarly, a 7-year-old boy was killed yesterday in an Alabama auto accident in Walker County. According to Cpl. Steve Smith of the Alabama State Troopers, the car wreck occurred just before 4:30 p.m. on Alabama Interstate 22, just west of Jasper. The driver of the car, 26-year- old, Randa Morgan was taken to the hospital along with an 18-month-old little girl.
Continue reading "Seperate Alabama Auto Accidents Kill Two" »
BP CEO Tony Howard and BP America CEO Lamar McKay meet with President Obama today in a highly anticipated meeting following Obama's Oval Office declaration that BP would be required to pay for the damages their oil spill has caused.
Along with President Obama, and BP CEO's Howard and McKay, the meeting also included BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, Vice President Joe Biden, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, presidential economic adviser Larry Summers, White House counsel Bob Bauer, BP Managing Director Bob Dudley, and domestic policy advisers Melody Barnes and Carol Browner.
According to a senior administration official, the meeting was scheduled last around 2 hours. Obama planned to inform BP officials that they would need to set aside a multi-billion dollar escrow account to compensate those affected by the oil spill and pay damage claims in the region. The escrow fund would be controlled by an independent third party and not through BP.
BP announced yesterday they had already approved 337 checks for $16 million dollars to businesses that have filed large claims in excess of $5,000. (Speedy claims was said to be a high priority on today's agenda.)
Almost two months after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon Rig, the oil is still spewing at a rate of almost 60,000 barrels a day. The president also predicted that "in the coming days and weeks," efforts made to contain the spill "should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well."
President Obama said "We will fight this spill with everything we've got for as long as it takes," and vowed on Tuesday to use whatever resources necessary to fight the catastrophic oil spill.
Continue reading "BP Oil Executives Met With President Obama to Outline an Action Plan" »
Van der Sloot, who was a long-time suspect in the disappearance of Alabama's Natalee Holloway, the teenage who vanished during her senior trip to Aruba back in 2005, has confessed to murdering Stephany Flores. According to police, van der Sloot admitted under questioning that he murdered the 21-year-old Peruvian last week in his Lima hotel room.
Van der Sloot claimed he killed Flores because he got angry with her for looking up his past on the internet and discovering that he was linked to the disappearance of the Alabama teen. According to a local paper, van der Sloot was quoted saying, "I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life." He was also quoted saying, "that his anger exploded and he broke Stephany Flores' neck, after she grabbed his laptop without his permission, and found out that he was involved in the disappearance of an American woman."
Joran van der Sloot remains the prime suspect in the case involving Natalee Holloway, and was arrested twice, but released for lack of evidence.
Van der Sloot is being held at the Peruvian police headquarters until arrangements are made to place him in a permanent prison while awaiting trial. During his questioning, he was represented by a court-appointed lawyer, but evidently is seeking his own legal counsel. On the day of van der Sloot's arrest, he was charged in the United States with trying to extort $250,000 from Holloway's family in exchange for information on her death and the location of her body.
Police plan to take van der Sloot back to the Lima hotel today to participate in a reconstruction of the events leading up to Flores murder.
BP announced today that the cost of their company's response to the oil spill has reached $1.25 billion. In a news release this morning, British Petroleum stated that this figure does not include the $360 million allotted to build sand berms to stop the spread of oil seeping into Louisiana's wetland. That rate of spending is expected to increase for some time.
Millions of gallons of crude oil have already spilled into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon Rig exploded back in April, killing 11 workers. The news broadcast aired just after the government point man warned that the battle to contain the oil would likely continue into the fall.
According to reports, most of the money is going to clean up and containment efforts; however, a small portion has been applied to what is believed to be the early stages of legal costs. Already some 130 lawsuits have been filed. According to BP, 37,000 claims have been submitted so far and more than 18,000 payments totaling $48 million have been paid to those affected by the oil spill. BP has reportedly also paid $170 million to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi to help with their responses. These numbers do not included the several billion dollars that could be paid out in settlements to the families of the 11 killed and 17 injured on the Deepwater Horizon Rig.
Analysts predict the long term cost to BP could be in the tens of billions of dollars, and the economic disaster could potentially take years to clean up. Aside from financial obligations that BP is facing, they also face though civil and criminal investigations by the U.S. government.
After the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the U.S. government enacted The Oil and Pollution Act of 1990, imposing strict liability and monetary penalties on each barrel of oil spilled. Similarly, the Clear Water Act carries criminal and civil charges for polluting waterways.
Continue reading "BP's Oil Spill Already Costing $1 Billion" »
Around 12:30 Thursday afternoon, a fatal automobile accident occurred in Maytown, Alabama. According to local authorities, a truck and van collided killing the driver of the van instantly. There is no word at this time as to the condition of the driver of the truck.
Maytown, Alabama is a small town located northwest of Birmingham and in Jefferson County. The 2009 population of Maytown was 431.
Continue reading "Fatal Maytown, Alabama Auto Accident Kills One" »
Exactly 5 years ago, Birmingham, Alabama teenager, Natalee Holloway disappeared on her senior trip to Aruba. The disappearance of the Birmingham, AL teenager made national news and pointed the finger at one suspect, Joran van der Sloot; who is now the main suspect in the murder of Peruvian native, Stephany Flores.
Flores was found face down in a Lima hotel room Wednesday morning stabbed and wrapped in a blanket. She had abrasions to her face and body and showed signs of trauma. Authorities say blood was splattered all over the room indicating some kind of struggle. The hotel room was registered under van der Sloot's name.
Van der Sloot was reportedly in the country for a casino tournament, and appears with Flores on a hotel video early Sunday morning. According to reports, an eye witness saw the pair enter the hotel casino at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, and another witness saw him leave the hotel alone four hours later. Flores's father indicated that she was murdered around 8:00 a.m. on Sunday.
Van der Sloot, who was arrested twice before in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway on May 30, 2005, reportedly fled the country to neighboring Chile.
According to Immigration, van der Sloot left Peru on Monday and Interpol has now issued an international arrest warrant for the Peru killing. Chilean Police are now searching door-to-door for van der Sloot. Douglas Rodriguez, a Chilean Police Inspector, said "there [is] no record of van der Sloot leaving Chile and authorities [are] searching the country's dry sparsely populated northern province for him."
Two years ago, van der Sloot was caught on video tape alleging that he was with Birmingham, Alabama native Natalee Holloway on the night of her disappearance. Van der Sloot claims she was drunk and fell down on the beach, he believed her to be dead so he asked a friend to dump her body in the ocean. Judges refused to arrest van der Sloot on the basis of the tape that was captured on hidden footage.
Lawyers from the Aruba prosecutor's office, state that at this moment they do not have anything to do with the case of the slain Peruvian girl, but are following the events quite closely.
A Butler County accident took the lives of four victims late Monday evening. The three vehicle crash killed four and left five victims injured.
Around 7:00 p.m. Monday evening, a Georgia family was traveling north on Alabama Interstate 65 when the driver lost control of their 2010 Mazda 3 vehicle. According to early reports, the 53-year-old driver, Jennifer Richardson, crossed the median and hit a south-bound Chevrolet truck driven by Karon West, 37, of Slidell, Louisiana. The impact forced West's truck into the far south bound lane causing her to strike 21-year-old, Anna McGuire, of Berkley Lake, Florida.
The Butler County Coroner, Wayne Garlock, pronounced the Georgia Family dead at the scene. The family included Jennifer Richardson; her sister, Lorraine Fleming; Fleming's husband, Ira Fleming and Fleming's grandson, Kelvin Pickering. Listed among those injured in the crash were Karon West of Louisiana and passenger, Cynthia Jordan. Both were transported to V. Stabler Hospital in Greenville, Alabama for non-life threatening injuries. Along with West and Jordan were three minor children who were airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida. The children are listed in stable condition.
McGuire and her passenger, Kalin Lasseter, were released after being treated on the scene.
According to local authorities, the accident remains under investigation.
Continue reading "Alabama Car Accident Kills Four Over Memorial Day Weekend" »
Jun 30, 10 10:47 AM St. Clair County Auto Accident Kills One A 51- year-old man was killed in an auto accident in St. Clair County Tuesday...
Jun 25, 10 03:42 PM Federal Recall of Drop-Cribs-Child Death Hazard The federal government recalled 2 million drop-side baby cribs on Thursday because of a potential...
Jun 23, 10 11:08 AM Gadsden, Alabama Bans Texting Gadsden, Alabama becomes the fourth city in Alabama to outlaw texting while driving. In a...
Jun 22, 10 02:17 PM Seperate Alabama Auto Accidents Kill Two An Alabama man died early this morning in an automobile accident in Marshall County. The...
Jun 16, 10 11:24 AM BP Oil Executives Met With President Obama to Outline an Action Plan BP CEO Tony Howard and BP America CEO Lamar McKay meet with President Obama today...
Jun 8, 10 11:40 AM Joran van der Sloot, the Dutchman suspected of killing Birmingham, Alabama teen, Natalee Holloway, confesses to killing Peru native, Stephany Flores. Van der Sloot, who was a long-time suspect in the disappearance of Alabama's Natalee...