Missouri
Highway buckles after rail cars hit overpass
CHAFFEE, Mo. – A highway overpass in southeast Missouri collapsed early Saturday when rail cars slammed into one of the bridge’s pillars after a cargo train collision, authorities said. Seven people were injured, though none seriously.
The bridge collapsed after a Union Pacific train hit the side of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train at a rail intersection. Derailed rail cars then hit columns supporting the Highway M overpass, causing it to buckle and partially collapse.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the cause of the cargo train collision, which happened about 2:30 a.m. near Chaffee, a town of about 3,000 southwest of Cape Girardeau.
New Jersey
Newark Archdiocese leader resigns amid sex scandal
NEWARK, N.J. – The second-highest official in the Archdiocese of Newark is stepping down in the wake of a sex scandal involving a former priest accused of violating an agreement with law enforcement barring him from working with children.
Church officials say Monsignor John Doran resigned Friday as vicar general and no longer will hold a leadership position with the archdiocese. Doran signed the agreement the former priest had reached with prosecutors in 2007.
The move is among several changes the archdiocese says it’s implementing to protect children. The changes are noted in a letter from Archbishop John Myers, which will be read in parishes across the archdiocese this weekend.
New York
Rescuers look for pilot in deadly Angel Flight
EPHRATAH, N.Y. – Divers searched a large pond while investigators combed nearby woods Saturday for any sign of the pilot of a volunteer Angel Flight that crashed in upstate New York, killing two passengers.
The plane’s passengers were found dead Friday night near where the small plane crashed in Ephratah, about an hour west of Albany, Fulton County Sheriff Thomas Lorey said. The bulk of the plane was found submerged in a pond, he said.
Angel Flight is a nonprofit group that arranges free air transportation for sick patients from volunteer pilots. Larry Camerlin, president and founder of Angel Flight Northeast, said the organization was “tremendously saddened” by news of the crash.
Associated Press
