Search resumes in rubble of collapsed parking garage thestarpress.com The Star Press
While Danielle was in the hospital having Logan, Jeff & I would go out to the parking garage by his truck to smoke. While I was standing out there thinking random thoughts I was wondering about the tons of cement it takes to make a parking garage and wondering what would happen if one collapsed. I pretty much had myself convinced that contractors all know what they are doing and that it wouldn't fall unless there was an earthquake or something, and then, I see this story on TV!
ATLANTA — Emergency workers were searching the rubble of a collapsed parking garage on Tuesday to see if anyone was trapped inside, but there were still no reports of injuries or missing people.
The search through the wreckage of Monday's collapse was stalled during the night when the building shifted. It took fire crews several hours to shore up the rest of the building to continue the search. At least 35 cars were caught in the collapse.
Rescuers from several Atlanta-area fire departments resumed working their way down through the four pancaked floors early Tuesday, using thermal cameras, listening devices and search dogs.
"Overnight, I would say we have made very good progress," said Atlanta Fire Battalion Chief Steven Woodworth said.
The deck collapsed from the fourth floor to the first level around lunchtime Monday in the busy commercial district of Midtown. More than 50 firefighters rushed to the scene and the bottom level was a "huge mess of vehicles and concrete," Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran said.
Shaun Dodson was eating lunch in his truck at the far side of the building when he felt the ground shake and heard a sound like a building "being demolished."
"I ran around, saw a hole and thought the building was collapsing," Dodson said. "I'm eating lunch from now on in my office."
What caused the 7-year-old structure to collapse was not immediately known. Atlanta-based Hardin Construction, the general contractor on the deck, was one of three companies that was working at the Atlanta Botanical Garden when a pedestrian bridge collapsed in December, killing one worker and injuring 18.
Hardin Construction spokeswoman Barkley Russell confirmed the company was the general contractor on the deck and surrounding office complex. She said the majority of the deck work was done by subcontractor Metromont Corp., based in Greenville, S.C.
There are 1,415 spaces and about 35 were affected, Russell said in a statement.
"We are just thankful at this point there are no reports of injuries," Russell said.
Russell directed questions about how the deck was designed to Metromont Corp., which did not immediately return a call for comment.
Earlier this month, Hardin was fined $6,300 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the Botanical Garden bridge collapse. The agency's report concluded Hardin and another company placed two support towers too far apart, which may have caused the collapse. The company is appealing.
The parking deck was last inspected at the time it was built and cleared for occupancy in 2002, said Catherine Woodling, spokeswoman for Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. It has not had any code violations since, Woodling said.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Latino Firefighter Ben Vargas Physically Assaulted But No Press Coverage?
Latino Firefighter Ben Vargas Physically Assaulted But No Press Coverage?
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/06/25/news/new_haven/a1_--_unity.txt
The city screwed up. They need to give these guys the promotions they earned and THEN argue over future tests. Ben is a really great guy and doesn't deserve to be pulled from both sides.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
ME's Zoo owners call it quits | thestarpress.com | The Star Press
This is really sad for me! I was looking forward to taking the new grandbaby to visit all of the animals, especially at Christmas! I thought Jerry would have fun taking his new nephew to the place we took him almost every Christmas. Wish I could win the lottery and buy the whole place!
ME's Zoo owners call it quits thestarpress.com The Star Press
June 24, 2009
ME's Zoo owners call it quits
Owners of popular attraction cite tough economy for closingBy JOHN CARLSONjcarlson@muncie.gannett.com
PARKER CITY -- It was 1988 when Max and Eileen Oren's longtime dream came true with the opening of ME's Zoo, their family-friendly attraction that eventually featured more than 200 animals on 55 acres of rolling country south of here.
Tuesday, in the harsh glare of economic reality, its owners awoke to that dream's end.
ME's Zoo will close its gates on Sept. 27.
"We've been looking at it the last five years," said an emotional Eileen, her voice breaking and a tissue clutched tightly in her right hand. "It's gone down.
Max died of leukemia in 1993, and Eileen married architect Bob Taylor in 2003.
"It was our decision to close it," said a downhearted Taylor, looking over the zoo as visitors gazed into bear cages and watched monkeys cavort. "Essentially, obligations and expenses exceeded revenue."
He blamed the present crunch on the flagging economy, a late wet spring which kept visitors away, plus what he called a "sad" lack of interest among many East Central Indiana residents for matters involving animals and the environment.
"It's pretty distant from the minds of most," he said. "Inquisitiveness is desperately lacking. ... It's a sad set of circumstances."
Waning school funds for field trips to the little zoo, which featured up-close viewing of the animals, was also a factor. Lately, 600 to 700 students might visit in a week, figures which were low by comparison to better days.
"We had weeks when we were running 1,800," Taylor noted.
Eileen knew the importance of the bottom line. She talked about mounting veterinary bills, mowing bills and insurance bills, the last of which they lowered by cutting some coverage, a move that also required limiting use of volunteer workers.
Then there were feed bills, as detailed on a long list she removed from a wall rack. Feeding a pair of Capuchin monkeys, for example, totaled $1,440 a year.
Recently, she said, they had sold some of their "hoof stock" to bring down feed bills.
But money matters notwithstanding, it is now the animals that are Eileen's primary concern, "my animals" being two words that dominated her speech Tuesday.
"My animals aren't just animals," she said, with a stricken look. "They're like children. My animals have had a lot of attention and a lot of love. I couldn't live here without my animals."
Given that, Eileen's first preference is that she and Taylor find a buyer to purchase the entire operation, animals, grounds, buildings and all. Such a sale would include the grand old house that has become a dazzling Christmas attraction, decorated with more than 200,000 white lights.
Given the economic climate, however, that appears to be a long shot.
What she is absolutely committed to, is seeing that her animals wind up in good hands.
"I'll make sure my animals go somewhere where I can see where they're gonna go," she said, noting that unknown keepers need not apply to adopt them. "People don't have to worry about them. I'm not answering every call that comes in here. ... I know a lot of animal people, and I know good animal people."
Informing her employees of Tuesday's news was painful. Encountering one young man she'd hired as a mower, she told how he had learned to care for the creatures there, and know their preferences.
"He told me, 'Now this one likes melon, and this one likes strawberries,'" she said, as her voice broke again.
Her husband, she said, and her daughter, Kim Oren, were "devastated" by the closure. Her friend and gift shop manager, Patty Foster, couldn't even talk when asked to comment on it.
Outside, Chris Duncan, from Wisconsin, and her friend Michelle Dancer, of New Paris, Ohio, also expressed disappointment at the news, as they ushered small children around.
"I think it's sad," Duncan said. "Especially because you can get so close to the animals here."
Over at the goat enclosure, Neshell Wert, another Buckeye, said the same.
"I think it's awful," she said. "Such a nice place to come."
Meanwhile, Paul Cross, the right-hand man here for 21 years, stood inside a cage with a beautiful Siberian tiger, showing off the big cat to a group of Youth Opportunity Center visitors, as it rumbled deep in its chest, huge paws swiping at a chewed plastic container.
Trained long ago as a diesel mechanic, the father of two said he might find work at that, or on a farm, but he would miss the people at the zoo, especially the children.
Wearing a straw cowboy hat, he admitted the zoo's closure didn't really come as a surprise.
"I don't see the books and never have," he said, while his 15-year-old daughter, Alex, worked nearby. "But I see the parking lot."
The closure, he reflected, was just another sign of the times.
"You just really don't know if anything's safe or not," Cross added. "It's a sad thing, but times change for just about all of us."
Additional Facts
ME's Zoo
WHERE: County Road 500 South, Parker City
HOURS: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday; 12 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday; Closed Monday & Friday
ADMISSION: $5.50, Children 1-12; $6.50 13-Adult
CONTACT: 765 468-8559
http://www.meszoo.com/
ME's Zoo owners call it quits thestarpress.com The Star Press
June 24, 2009
ME's Zoo owners call it quits
Owners of popular attraction cite tough economy for closingBy JOHN CARLSONjcarlson@muncie.gannett.com
PARKER CITY -- It was 1988 when Max and Eileen Oren's longtime dream came true with the opening of ME's Zoo, their family-friendly attraction that eventually featured more than 200 animals on 55 acres of rolling country south of here.
Tuesday, in the harsh glare of economic reality, its owners awoke to that dream's end.
ME's Zoo will close its gates on Sept. 27.
"We've been looking at it the last five years," said an emotional Eileen, her voice breaking and a tissue clutched tightly in her right hand. "It's gone down.
Max died of leukemia in 1993, and Eileen married architect Bob Taylor in 2003.
"It was our decision to close it," said a downhearted Taylor, looking over the zoo as visitors gazed into bear cages and watched monkeys cavort. "Essentially, obligations and expenses exceeded revenue."
He blamed the present crunch on the flagging economy, a late wet spring which kept visitors away, plus what he called a "sad" lack of interest among many East Central Indiana residents for matters involving animals and the environment.
"It's pretty distant from the minds of most," he said. "Inquisitiveness is desperately lacking. ... It's a sad set of circumstances."
Waning school funds for field trips to the little zoo, which featured up-close viewing of the animals, was also a factor. Lately, 600 to 700 students might visit in a week, figures which were low by comparison to better days.
"We had weeks when we were running 1,800," Taylor noted.
Eileen knew the importance of the bottom line. She talked about mounting veterinary bills, mowing bills and insurance bills, the last of which they lowered by cutting some coverage, a move that also required limiting use of volunteer workers.
Then there were feed bills, as detailed on a long list she removed from a wall rack. Feeding a pair of Capuchin monkeys, for example, totaled $1,440 a year.
Recently, she said, they had sold some of their "hoof stock" to bring down feed bills.
But money matters notwithstanding, it is now the animals that are Eileen's primary concern, "my animals" being two words that dominated her speech Tuesday.
"My animals aren't just animals," she said, with a stricken look. "They're like children. My animals have had a lot of attention and a lot of love. I couldn't live here without my animals."
Given that, Eileen's first preference is that she and Taylor find a buyer to purchase the entire operation, animals, grounds, buildings and all. Such a sale would include the grand old house that has become a dazzling Christmas attraction, decorated with more than 200,000 white lights.
Given the economic climate, however, that appears to be a long shot.
What she is absolutely committed to, is seeing that her animals wind up in good hands.
"I'll make sure my animals go somewhere where I can see where they're gonna go," she said, noting that unknown keepers need not apply to adopt them. "People don't have to worry about them. I'm not answering every call that comes in here. ... I know a lot of animal people, and I know good animal people."
Informing her employees of Tuesday's news was painful. Encountering one young man she'd hired as a mower, she told how he had learned to care for the creatures there, and know their preferences.
"He told me, 'Now this one likes melon, and this one likes strawberries,'" she said, as her voice broke again.
Her husband, she said, and her daughter, Kim Oren, were "devastated" by the closure. Her friend and gift shop manager, Patty Foster, couldn't even talk when asked to comment on it.
Outside, Chris Duncan, from Wisconsin, and her friend Michelle Dancer, of New Paris, Ohio, also expressed disappointment at the news, as they ushered small children around.
"I think it's sad," Duncan said. "Especially because you can get so close to the animals here."
Over at the goat enclosure, Neshell Wert, another Buckeye, said the same.
"I think it's awful," she said. "Such a nice place to come."
Meanwhile, Paul Cross, the right-hand man here for 21 years, stood inside a cage with a beautiful Siberian tiger, showing off the big cat to a group of Youth Opportunity Center visitors, as it rumbled deep in its chest, huge paws swiping at a chewed plastic container.
Trained long ago as a diesel mechanic, the father of two said he might find work at that, or on a farm, but he would miss the people at the zoo, especially the children.
Wearing a straw cowboy hat, he admitted the zoo's closure didn't really come as a surprise.
"I don't see the books and never have," he said, while his 15-year-old daughter, Alex, worked nearby. "But I see the parking lot."
The closure, he reflected, was just another sign of the times.
"You just really don't know if anything's safe or not," Cross added. "It's a sad thing, but times change for just about all of us."
Additional Facts
ME's Zoo
WHERE: County Road 500 South, Parker City
HOURS: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday; 12 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday; Closed Monday & Friday
ADMISSION: $5.50, Children 1-12; $6.50 13-Adult
CONTACT: 765 468-8559
http://www.meszoo.com/
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