2nd body found at Amazon site
BALTIMORE -- Firefighters recovered the body of a second man Saturday from an Amazon distribution warehouse, which partially collapsed the night before.
Chief Roman Clark said a 50-foot wall collapsed at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in southeast Baltimore as a storm swept through the area. He said one man was found under debris Friday night and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Clark said a second man who was found about 7:30 a.m. Saturday. Clark said firefighters used heavy equipment to remove debris to find the second man.
An Amazon official said the two people killed weren't employees of the online retail giant, but worked for an outside company.
The victims' names were withheld pending notification of family. No other injuries were reported.
Two survey teams are expected to evaluate the area near the Amazon center, as well as Mount Airy, which also experienced severe storm damage, to determine whether a tornado touched down, said Cody Ledbetter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Sterling, Va.
If a tornado is confirmed, the deaths would be the first tornado-related deaths in Maryland since 2002. Three people were killed when a tornado hit La Plata.
Inquiry on justice's
accuser is urged
WASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman wants a criminal investigation of a woman who said she wrote an anonymous letter alleging sexual misconduct by now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, but later recanted authorship and admitted she didn't know him.
Sen. Charles Grassley told the Justice Department that Judy Munro-Leighton contacted his committee in October and claimed she wrote the letter, which was sent to the office of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., during Kavanaugh's confirmation process. Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said that under questioning from the committee, she said she never met Kavanaugh and didn't write the letter.
Kavanaugh has denied all the allegations against him.
President Donald Trump responded to the news in a tweet Saturday morning: "A vicious accuser of Justice Kavanaugh has just admitted that she was lying, her story was totally made up, or FAKE! Can you imagine if he didn't become a Justice of the Supreme Court because of her disgusting False Statements. What about the others? Where are the Dems on this?"
Grassley last month requested a criminal investigation into another Kavanaugh accuser, Julie Swetnick, and her attorney, Michael Avenatti.
Chicago blast kills
worker on railroad
CHICAGO -- Authorities say one railroad worker has died and another is seriously hurt after what appears to be an accidental explosion near a Chicago train station.
The Cook County medical examiner's office said one of the men was pronounced dead early Saturday afternoon. Both were taken to a hospital shortly after the blast on the city's northwest side near the Grayland Station.
The man who survived was listed in stable condition. The workers' names haven't been released.
Officials said the workers were using torches to weld joints as part of a major track project. Metra spokesman Meg Reile said an acetylene tank on a truck exploded but it's not clear why.
Reile added that there's no indication of foul play.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 11/04/2018