Regulators shut down unsafe bus companies
LOS ANGELES – Federal bus safety regulators have shut down 52 companies in what they describe as a major nationwide crackdown on unsafe outfits, including lines whose drivers had suspended licenses or worked routes of more than 800 miles without rest.
The companies aren’t just low-cost, fly-by-night carriers – some have transported school bands, Boy Scouts or senior citizens, according to Anne S. Ferro, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Overall, the motor coach industry carries about 700 million passengers a year in the U.S., roughly the same as domestic airlines.
In April, the agency began scrutinizing 250 motor coach companies with poor safety records out of the approximately 4,000 interstate bus lines it regulates. “Operation Quick Strike” came partly in response to major crashes of carriers that, despite dismal safety records, the agency had let continue operating.
Newtown residents join anti-gun vigil in D.C.
WASHINGTON – Members of the Newtown, Conn., community, including the parent of a teacher killed in a school massacre last year, joined a vigil at the National Cathedral to remember those killed by gun violence.
Religious leaders and families gathered Thursday afternoon for a gun violence vigil. Singer Carole King will perform during the service.
Gilles Rousseau of Southbury, Conn., is scheduled to speak about his daughter Lauren Rousseau. She had just become a full-time teacher last year at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She read to her students as a gunman invaded the school, trying to calm them.
The Very Rev. Gary Hall, the cathedral’s dean, has said the “gun lobby is no match for the cross lobby.”
Associated Press
