Connect with us

Northeast

Maryland governor to discuss rebuilding collapsed Baltimore bridge with Congress

Published

on

Maryland governor to discuss rebuilding collapsed Baltimore bridge with Congress

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Monday he plans to meet with members of Congress to discuss support for rebuilding the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which has blocked the main shipping channel at Baltimore’s port for nearly two weeks.

“I’m going to be spending part of this week with our delegation going down and meeting with leaders and ranking members in the Congress and letting them know that this issue is not partisan. This is a patriotic responsibility to be able to support one of this country’s great economic engines,” Moore said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an opportunity to support a port that is directly responsible for the hiring of tens of thousands of people.”

As Maryland lawmakers reached the end of their legislative session Monday, a measure authorizing use of the state’s rainy day fund to help port employees was approved and sent to Moore’s desk. The governor planned to sign the emergency legislation Tuesday, putting it into effect right away.

MARYLAND’S RISING STAR DEM GOVERNOR FACES FIRST NATIONAL TEST AFTER BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE

The bridge collapsed March 26 after being struck by the cargo ship Dali, which lost power shortly after leaving Baltimore, bound for Sri Lanka. The ship issued a mayday alert with just enough time for police to stop traffic, but not enough to save a roadwork crew filling potholes on the bridge.

Advertisement

Authorities believe six workers — immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — plunged to their deaths in the Patapsco River. Two others survived. The bodies of three workers have been recovered, but the search for the other victims continues.

Moore said the state remains focused on supporting the families of the six workers and bringing them closure.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks about ongoing work at the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site, as well as the last day of the state’s legislative session, during an interview in his office on April 8, 2024, in Annapolis, Maryland. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

“We are still very much focused on bringing closure and comfort to these families, and the operations to be able to bring that closure to these families,” Moore said. “It has not stopped. It continues to be a 24/7 operation.”

Temporary, alternate channels have been cleared, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said last week that it expects to open a limited-access channel for barge container ships and some vessels moving cars and farm equipment by the end of April. Officials are aiming to restore normal capacity to Baltimore’s port by the end of May.

Advertisement

Moore was upbeat about progress in reopening channels.

He said that if he had been told the morning of the collapse that there would be two channels open in two weeks, “I would have said that sounds really ambitious, considering what we saw, but that’s where we are.”

The governor also spoke of progress in removing debris, saying that crews were able to pull 350 tons of steel from the Patapsco River on Sunday.

More than 50 salvage divers and 12 cranes are on site to help cut out sections of the bridge and remove them from the key waterway. Crews began removing containers from the deck over the weekend, and they’re making progress toward removing sections of the bridge that lie across the ship’s bow so it can eventually move, according to the Key Bridge Response Unified Command.

Advertisement

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Connecticut

Pedestrian killed after being struck by Amtrak train

Published

on

Pedestrian killed after being struck by Amtrak train


An investigation is ongoing in Stonington after a person was fatally struck by an Amtrak train Saturday morning, according to Stonington police.

Police were notified around 11:25 a.m. by Amtrak police that a pedestrian was struck by a train between the Route 1 overpass and the Prospect Street and Palmer Street railroad crossing.

When crews arrived, they pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

The train involved is stopped while Amtrak police conduct their investigation and ask the public to avoid the area at this time.

Advertisement

Authorities say there is no threat to the public.

No further details were released.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Maine

Northern Maine Med Center RNs reaffirm care for community

Published

on

Northern Maine Med Center RNs reaffirm care for community


Despite retaliation from their employer, nurses affirm their commitment to their patients and their union

Over two years since Northern Maine Medical Center (NMMC) first formed their union and began bargaining in good faith for a first contract, nurses remain committed to the patients they serve, and to making their hospital the best place it can be for everyone. Union nurses at NMMC signed the letter they released today, which says in part:

“Over the past two years, you have no doubt heard about the conflict that has grown between the hospital and us.

We want you to know that we never asked for this fight. The initiative to organize our union was to protect ourselves and our patients, not to punish any individuals or the hospital as a whole.”

The nurses’ letter goes on to say that their immediate goals as a union include: winning safe staffing for nurses and patients, promoting transparency and accountability at NMMC, retaining our local providers and staff, and making their hospital sustainable for the long term.

Advertisement

Terry Caron, RN and member of the nurses’ bargaining team said: “Two years ago, we decided to have a voice for ourselves and our patients by forming our union. The NMMC administration could have met us halfway, but it did not. It has only fought us and tried to punish us for speaking up. But we are as committed to our goals as ever. We will never stop fighting for our patients.”

NMMC nurses were joined today by Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry, gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, and U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner. They echoed the nurses’ call for NMMC CEO Jeff Zewe to stop his retaliation against the nurses and to finalize the union contract for which the nurses have been bargaining for most of the past two years. 


Maine State Nurses Association is part of National Nurses Organizing Committee, representing 4,000 nurses and other caregivers from Portland to Fort Kent. NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing labor union of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Massachusetts

20k customers without power in Revere, Winthrop areas

Published

on

20k customers without power in Revere, Winthrop areas


National Grid is reporting that roughly 20,000 customers are without power due to outages in the Winthrop and Revere areas.

The utility company’s live outages map shows that 10,753 customers are without power in the Revere area and 9,261 customers are without power in the Winthrop area as of 2:25 p.m. Saturday.

The Herald has reached out to National Grid for comment. The Herald has also reached out to Eversource for information regarding any outages in their service regions, where a Herald photographer has seen some outages. Eversource’s outage map did not display any major outages at 2:25 p.m.

This is a developing story.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending