Sunday, March 23, 2008
9 thought dead as Minneapolis bridge collapses
The entire span of an interstate bridge broke into sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening bumper-to-bumper traffic Wednesday, sending vehicles, concrete and twisted metal crashing into the water.
Hometown newspaper The Star-Tribune reported that nine people had been confirmed dead, 60 had been taken to hospitals and at least 20 remained missing early Thursday. The Associated Press put the number dead at seven so far.
Authorities said the death toll was expected to climb.
Asked about the possibility of finding more survivors, Fire Chief Jim Clack said, “The likelihood is fairly slim.”
"This will be a very tragic night when this is over," Mayor R.T. Rybak said.
From rescue to recovery
By 1 a.m. CT Thursday, Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said all search efforts had been called off for the night. At about 10:25 p.m. CT, officials said recovery personnel had moved from rescuing individuals to recovering bodies.
About 20 families had gathered at an information center, looking for information on loved ones apparently missing.
Police Chief Tim Dolan said all survivors who were on the bridge are now off.
"We've accounted for all the construction workers except for one," he said.
Rybak said rescue workers had searched around 50 cars. “We have a feeling that there are more vehicles under the water,” Clack said.
"Obviously, this is a catastrophe of historic proportions," said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
The Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, was in the midst of being repaired when it collapsed at 6:05 p.m. CT. Repairs, which closed at least two of the eight lanes, involved guardrail replacement on the joints and concrete work, Pawlenty said.
At least 60 injured
"There were two lanes of traffic, bumper-to-bumper, at the point of the collapse. Those cars did go into the river," said Minneapolis Police Lt. Amelia Huffman. "At this point there is nothing to suggest that this was anything other than a structural collapse."
MSNBC
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Sixty people — at least 10 of them children — were injured, said medical officials. Six individuals being treated at Hennepin County Medical Center were in critical condition, Dr. Joseph Clinton said. He said at least one of the victims had drowned.
Clinton said his hospital treated 28 people. The injuries were blunt force trauma to the abdomen, head, trunk and extremities.
NBC News reported that every Minneapolis ambulance had been requested to the scene.
A freight train was passing under the bridge when it collapsed and was cut in two, witnesses on the scene reported to MSNBC.
No indication of terrorism
The Homeland Security Department said the collapse did not appear to be terrorism-related. The National Transportation Safety Board planned to send a team of investigators to Minneapolis, NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said.
Special Thanks to MSNBC
Hometown newspaper The Star-Tribune reported that nine people had been confirmed dead, 60 had been taken to hospitals and at least 20 remained missing early Thursday. The Associated Press put the number dead at seven so far.
Authorities said the death toll was expected to climb.
Asked about the possibility of finding more survivors, Fire Chief Jim Clack said, “The likelihood is fairly slim.”
"This will be a very tragic night when this is over," Mayor R.T. Rybak said.
From rescue to recovery
By 1 a.m. CT Thursday, Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said all search efforts had been called off for the night. At about 10:25 p.m. CT, officials said recovery personnel had moved from rescuing individuals to recovering bodies.
About 20 families had gathered at an information center, looking for information on loved ones apparently missing.
Police Chief Tim Dolan said all survivors who were on the bridge are now off.
"We've accounted for all the construction workers except for one," he said.
Rybak said rescue workers had searched around 50 cars. “We have a feeling that there are more vehicles under the water,” Clack said.
"Obviously, this is a catastrophe of historic proportions," said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
The Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, was in the midst of being repaired when it collapsed at 6:05 p.m. CT. Repairs, which closed at least two of the eight lanes, involved guardrail replacement on the joints and concrete work, Pawlenty said.
At least 60 injured
"There were two lanes of traffic, bumper-to-bumper, at the point of the collapse. Those cars did go into the river," said Minneapolis Police Lt. Amelia Huffman. "At this point there is nothing to suggest that this was anything other than a structural collapse."
MSNBC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sixty people — at least 10 of them children — were injured, said medical officials. Six individuals being treated at Hennepin County Medical Center were in critical condition, Dr. Joseph Clinton said. He said at least one of the victims had drowned.
Clinton said his hospital treated 28 people. The injuries were blunt force trauma to the abdomen, head, trunk and extremities.
NBC News reported that every Minneapolis ambulance had been requested to the scene.
A freight train was passing under the bridge when it collapsed and was cut in two, witnesses on the scene reported to MSNBC.
No indication of terrorism
The Homeland Security Department said the collapse did not appear to be terrorism-related. The National Transportation Safety Board planned to send a team of investigators to Minneapolis, NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said.
Special Thanks to MSNBC
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Electrocute a Pickle
Materials Needed:
• Power cord
• Wire strippers
• Soldering iron
• Two forks
• Two alligator clips
• Plate (non-conductive)
Step 1:
Clip off the end of the power cord--the end that plugs into something, and not into the wall. Peel back the outer insulation. You will see three cords: two 'hot' (often black and white), and one 'ground (for example, green). Snip back the ground cord.
Step 2:
Strip the ends of the two remaining cords.
Step 3:
Solder alligator clips to the ends of the stripped cables.
Step 4:
Attach each alligator clip to a fork. Place these forks on a non-conductive plate--something that it not metal, tin or aluminum. Make sure that the forks do not touch anything conductive.
Step 5:
Jam the forks into the two ends of a pickle. Make sure that the two cords are not at all touching.
Step 6:
Carefully, plug in your power cord. You may want to plug this cord into a power strip, and then flip the switch on. This method provides more control, and is safer.
Step 7:
Turn on the electricity, and watch your pickle glow orange and yellow with electricity. When you are done, turn off your power strip, and unplug the cord. Only handle your equipment when you are 100 percent certain that it isn't connected to a power source.
• Power cord
• Wire strippers
• Soldering iron
• Two forks
• Two alligator clips
• Plate (non-conductive)
Step 1:
Clip off the end of the power cord--the end that plugs into something, and not into the wall. Peel back the outer insulation. You will see three cords: two 'hot' (often black and white), and one 'ground (for example, green). Snip back the ground cord.
Step 2:
Strip the ends of the two remaining cords.
Step 3:
Solder alligator clips to the ends of the stripped cables.
Step 4:
Attach each alligator clip to a fork. Place these forks on a non-conductive plate--something that it not metal, tin or aluminum. Make sure that the forks do not touch anything conductive.
Step 5:
Jam the forks into the two ends of a pickle. Make sure that the two cords are not at all touching.
Step 6:
Carefully, plug in your power cord. You may want to plug this cord into a power strip, and then flip the switch on. This method provides more control, and is safer.
Step 7:
Turn on the electricity, and watch your pickle glow orange and yellow with electricity. When you are done, turn off your power strip, and unplug the cord. Only handle your equipment when you are 100 percent certain that it isn't connected to a power source.
A Few Tricks of the Trade
College/University women/men here are a few of the tricks my mother told me about for college.
1. At the end if each year if you leave holes in the walls and you want your security deposit back, you don't need spackling. Depending on the colour of your walls you can use toothpaste or worse comes to worst children's coloured clay that you can get from the dollar store.
2. If you think a specific guy/girl drugged your beer swap yours with his/hers.
3. Choose your friends carefully. Don't pick any homicidal or suicidal.
4. Read the footnotes (professors love to make exam questions out of these)
5. Don't party too much.
6. And my last piece of advice is to just go with the flow.
1. At the end if each year if you leave holes in the walls and you want your security deposit back, you don't need spackling. Depending on the colour of your walls you can use toothpaste or worse comes to worst children's coloured clay that you can get from the dollar store.
2. If you think a specific guy/girl drugged your beer swap yours with his/hers.
3. Choose your friends carefully. Don't pick any homicidal or suicidal.
4. Read the footnotes (professors love to make exam questions out of these)
5. Don't party too much.
6. And my last piece of advice is to just go with the flow.
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