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Norfolk Southern to pay homeowners near Ohio derailment

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

Norfolk Southern has recommitted to creating a fund for residents near the site of an Ohio train wreck that would cover any decline in home values since before the derailment earlier this year.In early February, 38 cars derailed in East Palestine, 11 carrying hazardous chemicals, with some spilling into nearby waterways. The U.S., the state of Ohio and residents near the crash have all filed lawsuits against Norfolk Southern over the derailment. Half of the 5,000 residents of East Palestine were evacuated as emergency personnel burned off some of the chemicals to avert an uncontrolled explosion.Norfolk Southern Corp. CEO Alan Shaw apologized for the impact the derailment has had on the community and the company has pledged to pay for the cleanup.Shaw said in a letter late Tuesday to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation that while the company has total accrued charges of almost $400 million for the derailment, that amount doesn’t include expected costs f...

Spain plans to ban outdoor work in extreme heat

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain says it plans to ban outdoor work during periods of extreme heat.Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz told reporters Wednesday that the government will modify legislation covering occupational risks to prohibit outdoor work when the state weather agency, AEMET, issues red or orange alerts. The agency frequently issues such alerts when temperature increases pose a risk for citizens outdoors or for the environment. Last year was Spain’s hottest since record-keeping started in 1961, and last month was the hottest and driest April on record. Much of the country is experiencing drought, and water reserves are below 50%. Díaz, who is also labor minister, said that the modifications would be announced by Spain’s Cabinet, but gave no further details.The government will hold a special Cabinet meeting on drought measures on Thursday.It wasn’t immediately clear how the measure announced by Díaz would apply to workers such as farmers, farmhands, police, firefighte...

Photos show flooding in Milliken

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Severe weather moved through parts of Colorado on Tuesday, bringing hail to some areas and flooding to others.More severe weather is possible on Wednesday. The Pinpoint Weather team has issued a Pinpoint Weather Alert Day due to the threat for severe weather across the Denver metro area and Eastern Plains. Worst floods in Colorado history Some of the flooding from Tuesday was reported in Milliken. Todd Gabriel shared these photos with FOX31:Flooding in Milliken (Credit: Todd A Gabriel)Flooding in Milliken (Credit: Todd A Gabriel)Flooding in Milliken (Credit: Todd A Gabriel)Flood watchThe National Weather Service has issued a flood watch from 6 a.m. Thursday to 9 a.m. Friday for portions of north central and northeast Colorado.According to the NWS, excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone areas in Boulder, Jackson, Larimer, Morgan and Weld counties.Where to see weather alertsIf a sev...

6 years ago, this storm cost $2.3B worth of damage

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado's most expensive insured catastrophe happened on May 8, 2017. It was a hailstorm that impacted parts of northwest metro Denver. It was estimated that this storm caused $2.3 billion worth of damage and was the second-costliest storm on record in the U.S. Is it legal to collect rainwater in Colorado? The hailstorm formed around strong thunderstorms that developed on the afternoon of May 8. The largest hail measured was up to the size of a baseball. The biggest impacts were on the northwest side of metro Denver through Lakewood, Arvada, and Wheat Ridge. There was so much hail in some places that roads shut down and storm drains were clogged.

Report: Fire departments lack funding, personnel

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The Colorado Fire Service released its annual 2022 Colorado Fire Service Needs Assessment report detailing its lack of funding for personnel and equipment.More than 70% of all fire departments statewide participated.The report included several takeaways including the fact that it needs to hire thousands of firefighters to its teams within the next two years. Specifically, the fire service needs 1,085 career and 1,327 volunteer firefighters. Hail storm hits the Front Range Next, it needs to replace 590 apparatus and buy 286 new ones. Apparatus are expensive vehicles like engines, ambulances, and hazmat trucks among others.Then, the department needs to meet equipment needs like Personal Protective Equipment. This requires spending $40,794,000. Most departments said they don’t have the funding to keep up with this demand for necessary improvements to their stations.A majority of fire departments are funded through property taxes. They reported an expected decrease in ...

These are the best school districts in Colorado for teachers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — If you're a teacher in Colorado, you're best off in the Cherry Creek School District.May 8-12 is National Teacher Appreciation Week as well as National Nurses Week. Though it is one of the most expensive places in the U.S. to call home, Colorado also has a relatively poor pay scale for teachers. The average pay for Colorado teachers is in line with the rest of the country but starting pay for teachers is some of the nation's lowest as of 2021 data.FOX31's Data Desk analyzed the Colorado Department of Education's data to find which school districts offer the best working environment for teachers. This analysis consists of the average rankings for two items - average teacher salary and teacher turnover among nearly 200 districts. The analysis did not include Boards of Cooperative Educational Services districts. Teacher appreciation? More governors say try better pay Cherry Creek schools ranked first on the list with the state's second-highest average salary and the 2...

South Florida detective accused of falsifying sex crimes cases

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A detective who has been with a South Florida sheriff’s agency for nearly 21 years is accused of falsifying information in multiple cases and of threatening one victim with deportation.Detective Demetrious Campbell, 48, was arrested Tuesday on nine counts of official misconduct and one count of extortion, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. He was suspended without pay and remained in the Broward County Jail on Wednesday morning.“Sex offenses are such heinous crimes to recover from because of the emotional and sometimes physical scars endured by victims that last for many years,” Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a statement. “Failure to fully investigate such serious crimes is reprehensible and downright disgraceful.”The investigation began when a victim called the agency’s sex crimes unit to ask about her case, the new release said, and Campbell told his supervisor the victim was uncooperative.The sergeant reopened that ca...

New Hampshire woman recovering after being bit by elephant at Mason Elephant Park and Lodge

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

BETHLEHEM, N.H. (WSVN) — A dream trip turned into a nightmare for Beth Bogar, a globetrotter from New Hampshire after an elephant bit her in the arm during an up-close photo op at the Mason Elephant Park and Lodge in Thailand. “I couldn’t get my arm out. I could just hear cracking from and I just started to panic,” said Bogar. “It was like a suction — and pushed into his mouth.”The photos were taken by the elephant’s trainer who, she said, was instructing her on how to pose with the massive animal.“I just feel as though he was guiding me and he let my arm get too close to his mouth and I didn’t know how close too close was,” said Bogar.Bogar was rushed to a hospital over an hour away where she had emergency surgery, costing her thousands in medical bills. “The doctor was able to go in,” she said. “There are plates, there are screws and everything is put back together. But it’s going to be a lon...

Execution set for South Florida man convicted of rapes and murders

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of killing and sexually assaulting a teenage girl and another woman in separate South Florida attacks in 1984 is set to be executed next month under a death warrant signed Tuesday by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.Duane Owen’s execution is set for June 15 at 6 p.m. It’s the fourth execution scheduled in Florida this year after a break dating back to 2019. Donald Dillbeck was executed in February, and Louis Bernard Gaskin was executed in April. Darryl B. Barwick was executed earlier this month.The execution would be only the sixth under DeSantis, a far slower pace than recent Florida governors — and ahead of his widely expected presidential campaign.According to court records, Owen broke into a Delray Beach home in March 1984 and attacked 14-year-old Karen Slattery, who was babysitting two young children. Owen repeatedly stabbed the girl and then sexually assaulted her, investigators said. The young children weren’t injured.Abo...

Record number of Turks vote in Germany in ‘fateful election’ for Erdoğan

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

BERLIN — Turkish citizens turned out in record numbers in Germany, home of the Anatolian country’s largest diaspora, in a make-or-break election for long-time President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.Overseas ballots were flown to Turkey on Wednesday to be counted after voting closed Tuesday for Turks living abroad ahead of the domestic ballot on May 14, in which the leader of 20 years faces a neck-and-neck race against a strong opposition alliance helmed by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of the center-left Republican People’s Party (CHP).With nearly 1.5 million eligible voters, Germany was a major focal point for campaigning by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and CHP as overseas voting began on April 27. Parties papered cities with posters and sent buses to rally support.“We certainly have a voter turnout of over 50 percent,” Ambassador Başar Şen told broadcaster BR24 on Tuesday — an increase over the prior record of 46 percent in the last election of 2018.Local Berlin c...