Chief: No toxic fumes at Baltimore train derailment
ROSEDALE, Md. – A CSX freight train crashed into a trash truck and derailed Tuesday in a Baltimore suburb and the explosion that followed rattled homes at least a half-mile away, sending a plume of smoke into the air that could be seen for miles, officials and witnesses said.
In the third serious derailment this month, the dozen or so cars went off the tracks about 2 p.m. in Rosedale, a Baltimore eastern suburb. Hazmat teams were on the scene, but Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said at a news conference that no toxic inhalants were burning. Officials did not order an evacuation.
The truck driver was taken to the hospital in serious condition and two CSX workers aboard weren’t hurt, fire officials said.
Judge in Trayvon Martin case limits opening remarks
SANFORD, Fla. – Attorneys won’t be able to mention Trayvon Martin’s drug use, suspension from school and past fighting during opening statements at the trial of a former neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot the teen, a judge ruled Tuesday.
However, Circuit Judge Debra Nelson left open the possibility that the defense could try again later during the trial if it could show relevance.
George Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the 17-year-old’s killing and has pleaded not guilty, saying he acted in self-defense. He did not attend Tuesday’s hearing.
In another key motion, Nelson refused to allow jurors to travel to the shooting scene during trial, and rejected a defense request to delay the trial set to begin June 10.
Seven charged in $6B online money-laundering operation
NEW YORK – Calling it perhaps the biggest money-laundering scheme in U.S. history, federal prosecutors charged seven people Tuesday with running what amounted to an online, underworld bank that handled $6 billion for drug dealers, child pornographers, identity thieves and other criminals around the globe.
The case was aimed at Liberty Reserve, a currency-transfer and payment-processing company based in Costa Rica that authorities say allowed customers to move money anonymously from one account to another via the Internet with no questions asked.
U.S. officials said the enterprise was staggering in scope: Over seven years, Liberty Reserve processed 55 million illicit transactions worldwide for 1 million users, including 200,000 in the U.S.
Oklahoma residents ponder mile-high pile of debris
MOORE, Okla. – Before residents of Moore can rebuild, they’ll have to deal with the debris from the deadly tornado that devastated the Oklahoma City suburb: crushed wood, mangled siding and battered belongings that could make a pile reaching more than a mile into the sky.
The splintered remains’ first stop is a landfill where items will be sorted, then recycled or burned. Bricks, for instance, will go to charity projects such as Habitat for Humanity; wood, paper and clothing will be incinerated.
“I could be sad about it, but it’s not going to make anything come back. It’s just a house. It’s just stuff. We have each other,” Jessie Childs said as bulldozer and backhoe operators reduced her house to a 10-foot pile of rubble.
The school was destroyed in the top-of-the scale EF5 tornado that carved a 17-mile path of destruction on May 20. In all, 24 people were killed, including seven children in the school.
With each load of debris, Moore moves another step closer to recovering from the storm that damaged or destroyed 4,000 homes and businesses. Against a cacophony of snapping lumber, crunching metal and the beep-beep of bulldozers in reverse, Clayton Powell sorted through the listing remains of his Moore home.
Associated Press
