Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 103, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 13, 2014 Page: 3 of 36
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Denton Record-Chronicle
STATE/NATIONAL
Thursday, November 13, 2014
3A
Dangling workers rescued from World Trade Center
By Jake Pearson
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Two window
washers trapped on a dangling
scaffold nearly 70 stories up the
new 1 World Trade Center tower
were rescued Wednesday by
firefighters who sawed through
a window to reach them.
The washers were stuck for
nearly two hours before their dra-
matic rescue, as New Yorkers
looked on from the ground and
people around the country
watched on live TV. The scaffold
accident, which officials said was
caused by a malfunctioning cable,
happened little more than a week
after workers began moving into
the nation's tallest building.
It was unclear whether the
scaffold had been used on the
1,776-foot, 104-story skyscraper
before or whether anything about
the building's design complicates
working a scaffold there. Officials
stressed that firefighters had
trained for various emergencies at
the tower, the centerpiece of the
rebuilt World Trade Center.
The window washers’ ordeal
began on the lower Manhattan
building's south side at around
12:40 p.m. when one of the plat-
form's four cables abruptly de-
veloped slack, Fire Commission-
er Daniel Nigro said. The open-
topped platform tilted sharply
and swayed slightly in the wind
between the 68th and 69th
floors, he said.
“It suddenly went from hori-
zontal to nearly vertical,” he said.
Officials haven’t determined
what caused the cable problem.
The cables are controlled from
the scaffold vehicle, the fire com-
missioner said.
About 100 firefighters
rushed to the skyscraper, some
of them lowering ropes from
the roof so the workers could
secure themselves and a two-
way radio for them to commu-
nicate, Nigro said. The workers
also were harnessed to the plat-
form.
Firefighters first used dia-
mond cutters to saw through
part of a two-layered, more than
inch-thick glass window on the
68th floor. They shattered the
thick glass in place, then careful-
ly pulled the broken pieces into
the building.
Firefighters also began inch-
ing another scaffold down the
building as a backup rescue
plan, but they were able to bring
the workers to safety through
the roughly 4-by-8-foot window
hole by 2:30 p.m.
“It was a fairly straightfor-
ward operation,” said Battalion
Chief Joseph Jardin, who over-
sees the fire department's spe-
cial operations.
The workers had mild hypo-
thermia but seemed otherwise
OK, Nigro said. They were taken
to a hospital to be checked out.
Kathy Willens/AP
A firefighter looks out an opening cut into a glass window at 1 World Trade Center after rescu-
ing two workers from their collapsed scaffolding in New York on Wednesday. The two window
washers were trapped for more than an hour. The rescue occurred on the south side of the
1,776-foot, 104-story building.
Expert to testify in Ferguson case
Houston
Biden seeks to improve
infrastructure in U.S.
Vice President Joe Biden is
renewing his call for improve-
ments to the nation’s infrastruc-
ture.
Biden told several hundred
people attending the annual
convention of the American As-
sociation of Port Authorities on
Wednesday in Houston that the
United States ranks 28th in the
world in transportation infra-
structure.
He says that’s an unaccept-
able statistic for the world’s lead-
ing economy.
Biden says an expected 50
percent jump in freight cargo
through American ports by
2020 can’t be sustained if ports
aren’t upgraded.
And he says the economic
impact of improvements is job
creation, particularly for the
middle class.
Austin
Construction work on
Austin bike bridge delayed
Construction on Austin’s
planned bridge for cyclists span-
ning Barton Creek has been de-
layed a few months for a redesign.
The nearly $11 million, two-
phase project began early this
year with tree clearing near the
creek and construction of some
bike lanes, the Austin Ameri-
can-Statesman reported.
The first construction phase,
Charleston, S.C.
Judge strikes down
S.C. gay marriage ban
A federal judge on Wednes-
day struck down South Caroli-
na's same-sex marriage ban as
unconstitutional, opening the
door to such marriages but also
giving the state a week to appeal.
The attorney general said he
would do so immediately.
U.S. District Judge Richard
Gergel, ruling in the case of a
same-sex couple from Charles-
ton who sued to be married,
found South Carolina's state
constitutional ban “invalid as a
matter of law.”
He also blocked any state of-
ficial from interfering with the
plaintiffs' rights to be married.
But Gergel wrote that order
would not take effect until noon
Nov. 20, allowing Attorney Gen-
eral Alan Wilson a chance to ap-
peal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in Richmond, Virgin-
ia.
“Today's ruling comes as no
surprise and does not change
the constitutional obligation of
this office to defend South Caro-
lina law, including, but not nec-
essarily limited to, appeal to the
4th Circuit,” Wilson said in a
statement.
He noted the 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals in Cincinnati
recently upheld gay marriage
bans in four other states, and the
issue could end up before the
U.S. Supreme Court.
But the 4th Circuit already
has struck down Virginia's gay
marriage ban, a ruling that ap-
plied to other states in the cir-
cuit.
The U.S. Supreme Court re-
BRIEFLY
ACROSS THE STATE
over the creek, has been post-
poned because engineers want to
redesign underground structures
that would support the planned
14-foot-wide, 1,045-foot-long
bridge.
Austin officials and engi-
neers with the state’s transporta-
tion department say the prob-
lem is that limestone bedrock
turned out to be farther under-
ground than thought. Tests done
beforehand had indicated the
rock was just a couple of feet be-
low the surface.
Meanwhile, the Texas De-
partment of Transportation
has accepted a contractor’s bid
to handle the project’s second
phase, which includes two
bridges intended for cyclists
and pedestrians over State
Loop 360.
Austin
Activists: Texas books
need climate change edits
University professors and ac-
tivists are urging two major pub-
lishers of social studies text-
books being considered for
adoption in Texas classrooms to
bolster climate change lessons to
reflect the influence of human
activity.
The advocates say there’s vir-
tually no debate among scien-
tists that human activity is con-
tributing to climate change. But
they say proposed books by
Pearson Education and
McGraw-Hill are too skeptical
on the subject.
BRIEFLY
ACROSS THE NATION
fused to hear an appeal of that
case last month and South Caro-
lina is the only state in the circuit
that has refused to allow such
marriages.
Washington
Ebola workers ask
Congress for help
The Obama administration
told Congress Wednesday that
a $6.2 billion emergency aid
request to fight Ebola is crucial
to tackling the epidemic in
West Africa and preventing it
at home, to continue the train-
ing of250,000 U.S. nurses and
other health workers in how to
safely handle any infected pa-
tients who arrive in this coun-
try.
“These resources are essen-
tial to stop the outbreak in Afri-
ca, and protect us,” said Dr. Tom
Frieden, director of the Centers
for Disease Control and Preven-
tion.
The Senate Appropriations
Committee on Wednesday be-
gan evaluating the request,
which includes $4.64 billion in
immediate spending to fight the
outbreak abroad, shore up U.S.
preparedness, and speed the de-
velopment and testing of Ebola
vaccines and treatments.
New York
Gas to average under $3
in 2015, government says
The average price of gaso-
line will be below $3 a gallon in
2015, the Energy Department
predicted Wednesday. If the
sharply lower estimate holds
true, U.S. consumers will save
$61 billion on gas compared
During a conference call
Wednesday, professors and ac-
tivists said it’s a science topic but
carries over into other classes,
including history.
Texas’ Board of Education
votes next week on new social
studies and history books for
use statewide beginning in
2015.
Austin
Affirmative action could
go back to Supreme Court
The issue of affirmative ac-
tion could be headed back to the
U.S. Supreme Court after a fed-
eral appeals court refused to re-
consider a ruling allowing use of
race as a factor in University of
Texas undergraduate admis-
sions.
Abigail Fisher’s attorneys
had asked the full 5th U.S. Cir-
cuit Court of Appeals to over-
turn a recent ruling that found
barring the university from con-
sidering race would mean less
student diversity — in defiance
of legal precedent promoting di-
versity is an important part of
education.
The appeals court declined
the request Wednesday.
Fisher, who is white, sued in
2008 after she was denied ad-
mission. The case went to the
U.S. Supreme Court, but justices
told the appeals court to re-ex-
amine Fisher’s arguments.
Fisher’s attorneys say they’ll
go back to the high court.
— The Associated Press
with this year.
Economists say lower gaso-
line prices act like a tax cut, leav-
ing more money for consumers
to spend on other things. Con-
sumer spending is 70 percent of
the U.S. economy.
The department’s Energy In-
formation Administration pre-
dicted in its most recent short-
term energy outlook that drivers
will pay $2.94 per gallon on
average in 2015, 45 cents lower
than this year.
Based on expected gasoline
consumption, that’s a savings of
$60.9 billion.
Milwaukee
Tractor-trailer stuck in
park, driver blames GPS
A man who drove his tractor-
trailer onto a walkway at a Mil-
waukee park, getting it stuck on
a foot bridge, says his GPS de-
vice is to blame.
The 50-year-old driver has
been cited for reckless driving
and failing to obey road signs,
which carry nearly $580 in
fines.
Milwaukee County sheriff’s
officials say the Indiana man
drove the truck, which had a
53-foot trailer, onto a walkway
Tuesday afternoon at Lake
Park.
The truck got hung up on a
peninsula behind the North
Point Lighthouse along Milwau-
kee’s lakeshore. The mishap
damaged several trees and con-
crete railings on two pedestrian
bridges.
Crews were still attempting
to remove the truck Wednes-
day.
— The Associated Press
Jim Salter
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — A private fo-
rensic pathologist who per-
formed an autopsy on Michael
Brown will testify before the
grand jury deciding whether to
charge the Ferguson police offi-
cer who shot him, the attorney
for Brown's parents said
Wednesday.
Attorney Benjamin Crump
confirmed that former New York
City Chief Medical Examiner Dr.
Michael Baden is scheduled to
testify Thursday. A spokesman for
St Louis County prosecutor Bob
McCulloch declined comment
Messages seeking comment were
left with Baden.
Crump said Brown's parents
are pleased Baden will testify,
but skeptical about the process.
"Their reaction was that they
want the jury to hear from an in-
dependent witness not associat-
ed or controlled by the police de-
partment," Crump said. "They
feel that all the local authorities
are going to work together to try
to exonerate the killer of their
child."
Brown's parents were in Ge-
neva, where the U.N. Committee
Against Torture is hearing testi-
mony this week about U.S. pol-
icies.
"It's very important for the
family, making a powerful step
toward justice," Michael Brown
Sr. said at a press conference
there. 'We need your help.
That's why we're here."
The younger Brown was shot
in the St. Louis suburb of Fergu-
son on Aug. 9 after Officer Darren
Wilson, who is white, ordered
Brown, who was black, and a
friend to stop walking in the
street
The shooting of the unarmed
18-year-old led to sometimes-vi-
olent protests and the St. Louis
region is bracing for renewed
unrest once the grand jury deci-
sion is announced. Activists
want Wilson charged with mur-
der, but the grand jury could
choose manslaughter or no
charges at all.
At a press conference
Wednesday, St. Louis County
Executive Charlie Dooley ac-
knowledged significant anxiety
in the region as the announce-
ment approaches and urged
people to remain calm.
"Take a deep breath, stand
back and calm down," he said.
Tension has been fueled by
leaks suggesting the grand jury,
which has been meeting since
Aug. 20, has already made a de-
cision. McCulloch on Monday
called the leaks "rank specula-
tion" and said the grand jury was
still hearing evidence. A decision
is expected this month.
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 103, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 13, 2014, newspaper, November 13, 2014; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124967/m1/3/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .