Monthly Archives: <span>July 2018</span>

Stunned Iowa Town Residents Say They Will Rebuild After Tornado

With the scope of the devastation still sinking in, business owners and residents of the central Iowa city of Marshalltown on Friday began picking up bricks from collapsed buildings, dragging away downed trees and trying to return to the lives …

Nebraska Considers Iowa’s Stricter Texting While Driving Ban

A year after Iowa began cracking down on texting while driving, advocates and lawmakers in Nebraska hope to implement a similar policy. Nebraska and Iowa both banned texting while driving in 2010 but classified the infraction as a “secondary offense,” …

Duck Boat Company Warned of Design Flaws Last Year

A private inspector said Saturday that he warned the company operating duck boats on a Missouri lake about design flaws putting the watercraft at greater risk of sinking, less than a year before the accident that killed 17 people during …

Oregon State Researcher Studies Wildfire Embers

An Oregon State University professor is using federal funds to conduct research on how embers form and spread during devastating wildfires. Assistant professor David Blunck’s team is testing variables such as temperature, wind speed, timber species and branch diameter to …

Foul Odor Reported From FEMA Trailers Holding Post-Maria Dead

Residents and visitors to one San Juan neighborhood recently noticed an alarming new smell coming from a parking lot near Puerto Rico’s forensic sciences department, raising concerns that it could be the bodies of those who perished in the tumultuous …

NYC Readies Sandbags to Barricade Steam-Pipe Blast Site

New York City had sandbags at the ready Friday night to barricade the site of a Manhattan steam-pipe explosion against possible heavy rains that could complicate the cleanup of asbestos-laced debris. Hundreds of residents in Manhattan’s Flatiron District were shut …

Classic Car Importers Unite With Insurers Against U.S. Auto Tariffs

More than 2,300 comments flooded the U.S. Commerce Department when it solicited public input on its investigation into whether auto imports pose a threat to national security. Buried among the doom and gloom predicted by automakers and their parts suppliers …

Duck Boats Linked to More Than 40 Deaths Since 1999

Duck boats like the one that sank in Branson, Missouri, killing 17 people, have a long history of safety problems and have been linked to the deaths of more than 40 people since 1999. The deadly sinking in Missouri brought …

NIOSH Study Examines Machine Learning to Prevent Some Workplace Injuries

Workplace interventions can be helpful in reducing injuries while on the clock. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, low back strains, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other soft-tissue musculoskeletal injuries are the most frequent causes of missed workdays in the …

Gov’t Report Accuses NHTSA of Inadequate Recall Monitoring

An investigation has found that the U.S. government’s highway safety agency failed to act quickly on a consumer complaint, and that could have delayed recalls of dangerous Takata airbag inflators. A report by the Transportation Department’s Inspector General also found …