Decks collapse at party; 28 injured
HARTFORD, Conn. — A pair of crowded decks collapsed during a party at an off-campus house near Trinity College in Connecticut, injuring about 30 people, Hartford police said Sunday.
College spokesman Kathy Andrews said 28 students were taken to hospitals after the Saturday collapse and that most of them were treated and released by Sunday morning.
“While this event is upsetting, we are grateful that none of the injuries are life-threatening,” she said, adding that college health, counseling and chaplain services are available to students.
Deputy Chief Brian Foley of the Hartford police said authorities received numerous calls shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday of multiple people hurt at an off-campus house. He said a third-floor deck of a house collapsed onto a second-floor deck, which subsequently fell onto a first-floor deck. He said each deck was crowded with partiers.
The injured were sent to five area hospitals, Foley said, with the most serious reported injuries being a broken arm and a head injury. He described those hurt as “walking wounded” and said most were students.
Trial set for man who helped 2 flee
MONTPELIER, Vt. — A Virginia businessman with ties to conservative Christian groups that condemn homosexuality is set to go on trial in New York on charges he helped a woman and her daughter flee the country rather than share custody of the girl with the woman’s former partner.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Sept. 20 in Buffalo in the trial of Philip Zodhiates, who is charged with international parental kidnapping and other counts stemming from allegations he drove Lisa Miller and her then 7-year-old daughter Isabella from Virginia to the Rainbow Bridge in New York, where they crossed into Canada on Sept. 22, 2009, on their way to Nicaragua.
“This case is about religious intolerance of same-sex relationships,” said the prosecution’s trial memorandum that was filed in federal court in Buffalo.
Zodhiates has pleaded innocent to the charges. His attorney did not return a phone call or email seeking comment on the trial.
Prosecutors allege that Zodhiates, whose direct mail company worked closely with conservative Christian organizations aware of Miller’s case, arranged the flight of Miller and Isabella with the assistance of a number of Mennonites in the United States and Nicaragua who were also opposed to samesex relationships, and help set her up after they arrived in the Central American nation.
Spill cleanup collects oily water, birds
NEW ORLEANS — More than 6,000 gallons of oily water have been recovered at the site of a spill near Louisiana’s Bay Long that has covered dozens of birds in crude, the Coast Guard said Sunday.
Workers were repairing the damaged section of a pipeline that discharged an estimated 5,300 gallons of crude oil Sept. 4, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
Crews also were trying to safely capture and treat roughly 200 oiled birds around the Cheniere Ronquille Barrier Island and East Grand Terre Island. At least 11 birds and one sea turtle had been collected as of Sunday, the Coast Guard said.
The spill was caused by a contractor working on an environmental restoration project funded after BP’s 2010 oil spill.
NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reported that an excavating marsh buggy operated by a subcontractor for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. accidentally cut through a pipeline owned by Harvest Pipeline Company.
Driver dies, students hurt in bus wreck
DENVER — A school bus driver was killed Sunday afternoon and several other people were seriously injured after the bus veered off a roadway at Denver International Airport and crashed into a concrete pillar, police said.
The female driver died at the scene, police spokesman John White said. The driver’s name and age have not been released.
The driver of the Adams 12 Five Star Schools district bus circled back to the airport and crashed into the pillar after she picked up members of the Legacy High School football team of Broomfield, Colo., police said. The team was returning from playing Chino High School in California, about 1,000 miles away.
The driver had picked up 28 students and four adults, airport spokesman Stacy Stegman said.
White said police do not know why she circled back to the airport Sunday afternoon.
An estimated 17 to 20 passengers were taken to nearby hospitals, authorities said. Officials at Denver Health told KUSA-TV that they had five patients Sunday. Two were in critical condition, two were in serious condition and one was in fair condition.
A Section on 09/12/2016