The nation in brief

Sunday, December 2, 2012

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We just couldn’t wait any longer.”

Brenda Sue Fulton, a West Point graduate from New Jersey, who exchanged marriage vows recently with her partner, Penelope Gnesis, in the first same-sex ceremony hosted at the military academy's chapel in New York Article, 5A

Train crew got red signal before wreck

PAULSBORO, N.J. - Investigators said a signal may have been malfunctioning on a southern New Jersey bridge where a train derailed, causing a hazardous chemical to spew into the air and leading to health problems, evacuations, tricky cleanup decisions and broader questions about the condition of railway infrastructure.

The crewmen on the train told investigators that when they approached the bridge before 7 a.m. Friday, the signal light was red, telling them not to cross, National Transportation Safety Board chairman Deborah Hersman said Saturday.

They used a radio signal to try to change the signal to green, but it did not work, Hersman said. She said the conductor got off the train and inspected the aging bridge. When it appeared to be OK, she said, the engineer called for - and received - permission from a dispatcher to go through the red light and cross the bridge.

A handful of nearby homes were evacuated briefly Friday, but residents were allowed to return hours later.

Friday evening, however, residents in an area of about 12 blocks were ordered evacuated.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday night that the evacuation near the Mantua Creek site would remain in effect as a precaution.

Testimony says rally irked GI’s guards

FORT MEADE, Md. - Some workers at a Marine Corps brig housing a soldier charged with sending U.S.

secrets to WikiLeaks became annoyed at a demonstration on his behalf the day before a confrontation that led to tighter restrictions on him, a former guard testified Saturday.

The testimony by former Marine Corps Lance Cpl.

Jonathan Cline undercut government efforts to show that Pfc. Bradley Manning’s tight confinement conditions were justified to prevent him from killing or hurting himself.

The defense claims the nine months Manning spent in virtual isolation, sometimes without clothing, amounted to illegal pretrial punishment.

Cline was called as a prosecution witness to talk about a Jan. 18, 2011, incident in which Manning hid behind an exercise machine and wept after he was scolded by another guard for failing to respond properly to a command.

Later that day, the brig commander, Chief Warrant Officer 4 James Averhart, added “suicide risk” to Manning’s maximum-custody conditions.

Cline testified that some brig workers were annoyed that a pro-Manning protest a day earlier had closed Quantico’s main gate, forcing them to take alternate routes home. Defense attorney David Coombs has implied the guards took out their irritation on Manning by bullying him.

Clerical strike slows work at 2 ports

LOS ANGELES - A strike dramatically slowed activity at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach - the nation’s busiest cargo complex - despite renewed efforts to end the walkout.

Seven of eight terminals in Los Angeles and three of six in Long Beach were closed to cargo container traffic Friday, the fourth day of the walkout, as dockworkers refused to cross picket lines set up by union clerical workers who claim shippers are outsourcing their jobs.

Officials said labor talks were being held but there’s been no indication a deal is imminent.

There was no immediate word on how much the strike is costing the ports. November generally is a slower time for the ports because most holiday goods already have been handled.

3rd storm expected to slam California

SAN FRANCISCO - Another major storm moving into Northern California was expected to deliver more hard rain, flooding and additional problems to an area already soaked after two big storms, forecasters said Saturday.

Residents of Northern California enjoyed just a bit of a respite, but the next storm - the third to hit the region since Wednesday - was expected to force several rivers over their banks after it arrived Saturday evening, National Weather Service forecasters said.

Flood warnings were issued for the Napa and Russian rivers north of San Francisco; for the Truckee River near Lake Tahoe; the Susan River in Lassen County; and the Eel, Navarro and Van Duzen rivers in Northern California.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 12/02/2012