Six apartments damaged in Lansford blaze - tnonline.com

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Published May 30. 2020 07:12AM

More than a dozen people are homeless after fire swept through an apartment building in Lansford early Friday evening.

Shortly after 6:30 p.m. the fire broke out in the 200 block of East Bertsch Street.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, dense, dark smoke was billowing from the front door on the lower floor, the rear of the building and the side of the building.

Initially, the call reported someone was possibly trapped in the building. A woman confined to a wheelchair lives there, but was led to safety by her daughter.

Lansford Fire Chief Joseph Greco said everybody in the six apartments inside the three-story structure managed to evacuate safely.

Greco said upon seeing the intensity of the fire when he arrived, he immediately summoned mutual aid,

“The fire was in the back rear of the first floor,” he said, adding that he has not yet determined the cause. He said he hadn’t yet evaluated the damages, but it might have extended to the second and third floors via an exterior wall.

“I called for the second alarm right away, it being a Friday evening. About 90 firefighters from multiple companies responded. I called the second alarm because it is a six-unit apartment, they were calling with entrapment,” Greco said. Neighboring buildings close by were also a concern.

He said the firefighters “did an excellent job,” quickly knocking the flames down. “It was a good team effort by everybody involved,” he said.

Reportedly the fire started in an apartment occupied by Daniel Dickman and Margaret Novitsky. Dickman said Novitsky is confined to a wheelchair with multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy.

He said he doesn’t know where he and Novitsky will go.

Their daughter, Jamie Bauder, and grandson, Jeffrey Cope, 10, were visiting at the time.

Dickman said they had just ordered pizza and were watching television when they heard a noise in the kitchen. “Then my daughter said, ‘the kitchen is on fire,’?” he said.

Bauder said she heard a noise, went toward the kitchen and saw the smoke. “I said, ‘Oh, my god. My dad’s house is on fire.’?”

She said she managed to push Novitsky to safety, with the heavy smoke was becoming difficult to endure.

“I got her out just in time,” Bauder said. “It spread that quick.”

Lansford Police officers immediately responded and said the fire department was on the scene within minutes.

Responding besides the Lansford Fire Department were firefighters from Summit Hill, Coaldale, Tamaqua, Nesquehoning, Jim Thorpe and Tuscarora. Lehighton Ambulance Corps also responded.

Area fire police members handled traffic control.

No injuries were reported.

A two-alarm dwelling fire broke out on the 200 block of E. Bertsch St. in Lansford Friday. Responding to the scene were Nesquehoning Fire Company, Lansford Fire Company, Summit Hill Fire Company and Jim Thorpe Fire Company from Carbon County, and Coaldale Fire Company from Schuylkill County. COPYRIGHT LARRY NEFF/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS

RON GOWER/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS

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Six New Cases of Covid-19 in the Panhandle - KSNB Local 4

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SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb (KNEP) Unified Command confirms six new cases for COVID-19 in the Panhandle.

County

Demographics

Exposure Type

Garden County

Male in his 50s

Community Spread

Scotts Bluff County

Male in his teens

Close contact of a previously positive case

Scotts Bluff County

Male in his teens

Close contact of a previously positive case

Scotts Bluff County

Male in his 70s

Community Spread

Scotts Bluff County

Female in her teens

Close contact of a previously positive case

Scotts Bluff County

Female in her 40s

Close contact of a previously positive case

Exposure is defined as at least 15 minutes, less than six feet apart. Due to the six-foot distance between table requirement not being maintained, if you were at the SNS Restaurant, 205 Avenue A, Oshkosh on any of the listed dates and times, please contact our 24/7 number at 308-262-5764:

May 21, 5-6:30pm
May 23, 5-6pm
May 26, 12-12:30pm
The investigations are complete, all close contacts will be quarantined and actively monitored twice daily for fever and respiratory symptoms by public health officials.

Two cases have been deemed recovered, one in Morrill County and one in Scotts Bluff County, bringing the Panhandle total recoveries to 77.

March 2-May 29, 2020

Total Tests Completed: 2,831

Positive: 122

Deaths: 0

Recovered: 77

Active cases: 45

Box Butte County: 2 cases (1 active, 1 recovered)
Cheyenne County: 10 cases (1 active, 9 recovered)
Dawes County: 1 case (recovered)
Garden County: 1 case (active)
Kimball County: 10 cases (10 recovered)
Morrill County: 11 cases (2 active, 9 recovered)
Scotts Bluff County: 87 Cases (40 active, 47 recovered)

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F-35A Demo Team Makes History with First-Ever Live Facebook Flight Demo. - The Aviationist

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Several screenshots of the FB live demo. On the background a file photo of one of last year's F-35 Demo Team displays (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jensen Stidham)

Streaming Live Over Facebook, USAF Capt. Kristin “BEO” Wolfe and Team Make Aviation and Media History.

The USAF F-35A Lightning II Demo Team made aviation history today with the first-ever F-35A demonstration broadcast live around the world on social media. Capt. Kristin “BEO” Wolfe along with the rest of the F-35A Demo Team streamed the flight demonstration that including expert commentary and live interviews on their Facebook page at U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team.

The live internet program was hosted by F-35A Demo Team announcer Capt. Kip Sumner of the team and featured guests like Col. Joshua “Dog” Wood, commander of the 388th Operations Group and 388th Fighter Wing at Hill AFB, Utah, where the actual demonstration flight took place. Production of the broadcast was done by the 2nd Audio Visual Squadron at Hill AFB.

Screen shot of USAF Col. Joshua Wood interviewed during online live demo on Facebook . (Photo: Via F-35A Demo Team/Facebook)

The Facebook Live broadcast featured multiple cameras and angles to provide perspectives on the demo routine that would actually be impossible to get at a live airshow. To cap off the performance, there was a short interview with Capt. Wolfe immediately after finishing her demo flight.

If there was one thing conspicuously absent from the broadcast, it was live, in-cockpit video. The F-35A Demo Team has featured in-cockpit video before, but not during live broadcasts. Live video streamed from the cockpit could present multiple hurtles for the Air Force, especially with F-35A operations where operational security may be a concern in some views of the cockpit during the demo.

Screen shot of USAF F-35A Demo Team pilot Capt. Kristen “Beo” Wolfe as she recovers from her first ever online live demonstration flight on Facebook . (Photo: Via F-35A Demo Team/Facebook)

The F-35A Demo Team, along with all other military demo teams, have been forced to cancel early season airshow appearances due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But the pandemic has not slowed the tempo of operations for the 388th Fighter Wing, the Air Force’s first combat F-35A wing.
“For the last 10-11 weeks, the job hasn’t stopped”, said Col. Joshua “Dog” Wood, commander of the 388th Operations Group and 388th Fighter Wing during an interview with Capt. Kip Sumner during the program.

Screen shot of USAF F-35A Demo Team pilot Capt. Kip Sumner, host of the first ever live F-35A Demo Team performance on Facebook. (Photo: Via F-35A Demo Team/Facebook)

While most aviation fans would agree that an online broadcast of a flight demonstration lacks much of the appeal of a live airshow demo, by contrast, it also includes a level of insight and perspective just not available at a live airshow venue. This new broadcast pulled many unique, available online resources together to optimize the online viewing experience. The broadcast also signals a new age in social media flight demonstration that could continue even once live flight demos reopen after the COVID-19 quarantine ends.

The video program of the first-ever live F-35A Demo Team performance will be uploaded to the team’s official YouTube channel at F-35 Demo Team. The team just completed their “Utah Strong” flyovers in support of healthcare workers and first responders in the COVID-19 pandemic. The team has also published their practice schedules so people near Hill AFB can see demonstration practices live while maintaining social distancing guidelines.

Screen shot of USAF F-35A Demo Team pilot Capt. Kristen “Beo” Wolfe conducting interview during online live demonstration on Facebook . (Photo: Via F-35A Demo Team/Facebook)

There has been no announcement of when military demo teams may return to live airshow performances, but some major shows such the 2020 Thunder Over Michigan Airshow, where the F-35A Demo Team is scheduled to perform, remain on the calendar according to their websites.

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Answers to Six Big Questions About Trump's Social Media Order - The Information

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President Trump launched a new front in his long-running battle against the large tech platforms this week. On Thursday, he issued an executive order challenging a legal protection that has played a key role in the ability of companies such as Facebook and YouTube to grow into global digital platforms with billions of users. That protection, included in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, ensures that digital platforms can’t be sued over user-posted content.

Trump’s order came days after Twitter took the unprecedented step of attaching a fact-check label to two of his tweets about mail-in voting. The move by the White House is widely seen as an effort to retaliate against Twitter and other digital platforms, including Facebook and Google, that have been accused by Republicans of being biased against conservative viewpoints. Trump and some other prominent Republicans have long suggested that they may roll back or even rescind the Section 230 protections to combat what they claim is political bias.

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Demo team talks nuts and bolts of Dominion tower implosion - RichmondBizSense

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Dominion Energy’s One James River Plaza office is set for implosion at the end of May. (BizSense file photo)

Three thousand pounds of explosives and about 16 seconds.

That’s what it will take to topple Dominion Energy’s 21-story One James River Plaza office tower at 701 E. Cary St. when it’s imploded early tomorrow morning.

The crew in charge of the complex undertaking, D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. and
Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI), this week caught up with BizSense to discuss all that’s involved with the process.

D.H. Griffin and CDI were hired by Hourigan and Clayco, the construction and development firms handling the process for Dominion.

Both D.H. Griffin and CDI have plenty of experience tearing things down in Richmond. D.H. Griffin has had an office here since 2004. CDI has done five implosions in the city – the first of which was in 1962 and the most recent being the old Chesapeake & Ohio office building in 1985.

But before dynamite and implosions came into the picture, D.H. Griffin’s Ken Tysinger said the first step is determining whether a structure is a good candidate for implosion versus traditional piece-by-piece demolition.

The main factors in that decision, Tysinger said, are height of the building and its proximity to adjacent structures. In this case, OJR is 340-some feet high from basement to the top.

That’s stretching the limits of the typical equipment that would be used to do a traditional demolition, Tysinger said.

“You need some help to bring it down. That’s when we call gravity,” he said.

Add to that the proximity of the site to two newer, glassy buildings, Gateway Plaza and Dominion’s 600 Canal Place, which sit on either side of OJR.

Dust from demolition is also a consideration. Basically, one must decide whether it’s more disruptive to have all the dust in one big cloud all at once on a weekend morning or the constant presence of dust over months from a traditional demolition.

“There’s going to be dust generated,” said CDI’s Mark Loizeaux. “It’s the same type of dust that would have been generated by demolition over months and months.”

Once implosion was chosen as the preferred route, D.H. Griffin crews came in and began what they call “soft demolition,” tearing up parts of the base of the building and gutting the inside of any environmentally hazardous materials.

A close-up of the forthcoming demolition site. (BizSense file photo)

“Then we end up with basically a skeleton and that’s where CDI entered into the picture,” Tysinger said.

2,500 holes drilled

Loizeaux said CDI began analyzing the site in February and has since drilled 2,500 holes across 13 levels of the building. Those holes will be filled with 3,270 pounds of dynamite, all of which will be connected by 3.4 miles of initiation detonating charges.

Those charges will be detonated in sequences, first to tilt the structure slightly to the north and then to cause it to break up more and lean to fall into the center pit of the site, which the group calls “the bathtub.”

Hundreds of so-called micro delays are also built in to help control the noise to prevent damage to neighboring windows.

All of that will take 16.5 seconds. Dominion would not disclose the cost of the job.

Then comes the dust cloud and the cleanup.

“The dust is going to travel somewhat with whatever prevailing breeze there is – right now (expected to be) coming out of the west. So if people can simply stay back … ” Loizeaux said.

Dominion and the city have in place traffic and pedestrian restrictions to protect the public before and after the event.

Some of those restrictions already have begun. Seventh Street between Canal and Cary streets has been closed since May 18. Eighth Street between Cary and Canal Streets closed Monday.

Canal Street between Ninth and Seventh streets closed Thursday at 6 p.m., along with Cary Street between Fifth and Eighth streets.

A larger restricted zone encompassing 15 blocks around the site will be closed to pedestrian and vehicle traffic beginning around 5:45 Saturday morning. The zone encompasses the south side of East Main Street from 10th to Fifth Streets to the north side of East Byrd Street, also from Fifth to 10th Streets.

Keeping it safe

“We would like to see people stay home,” Loizeaux said. “If people have a need to come out, it’s important they follow the guidelines and the safety perimeter.”

Dominion said in a release last week, “no public gatherings are planned or encouraged,” but the company will be live streaming the implosion through Facebook.

The company also warned downtown residents to stay indoors, keep doors and windows closed an hour before and after the implosion, and to be mindful of lingering dust from the demolition.

The bulk of the zone will reopen Saturday afternoon, with the exception of the individual street closures mentioned above. Those closures all will end at some point next week.

Site cleanup will run through the summer, Tysinger said. The crews expect to recycle 94 to 96 percent of all the material that comes down in the implosion. Some of that will go to local crushers to likely be used in other area construction projects.

In the end, Tysinger said the crews are tasked with leaving Dominion an “empty bath tub so to speak,” pending Dominion’s decision to move forward on future developments.

Those future developments are still up in the air, according to Dominion. The company previously announced and filed plans with the city to build a tower on the site. It was dubbed 700 Canal Place, with a design that would mirror 600 Canal, albeit slightly shorter. It would rise 17 stories and hold more than 900,000 square feet. The two towers would be connected via a sky bridge over South Seventh Street.

Dominion, however, has remained noncommittal, at least publicly, as to whether it intends to build the tower.

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Rihanna's Demo of Selena Gomez's 'Same Old Love' Has Leaked and It's Amazing - Entertainment Tonight

How to watch SpaceX's historic Demo-2 astronaut launch live Saturday - CNET

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NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were strapped into Crew Dragon and ready to go prior to the launch scrub on May 27.

SpaceX

In July 2011, NASA launched the space shuttle Atlantis from Florida to the International Space Station, marking the last time humans lifted off from US soil to travel into orbit. The long drought ends soon when Elon Musk's SpaceX sends two NASA astronauts to the ISS inside a Crew Dragon capsule built for the mission. The first attempt at the historic mission was scrubbed on Wednesday due to weather. The next try is scheduled for Saturday, May 30.

The mission, called Demo-2, has had its share of setbacks. With safety checks on the capsule complete, however, NASA and SpaceX are finally ready to fly. We've rounded up everything you need to know about the launch and when and where you can tune in.

What is the Demo-2 mission? 

Demo-2 is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which involves two commercial spaceflight companies, SpaceX and Boeing, building and launching crew capsules designed to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS. 

SpaceX has a history of cargo and payload launches, but this will be the company's first time sending humans off this rock. 

Now playing: Watch this: SpaceX set to to take its first astronauts into space

4:28

When: The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, at 1:33 p.m. PT/4:33 p.m. ET, but the weather didn't cooperate. SpaceX will now aim for its first backup launch time of 12:22 p.m. PT/3:22 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 30. The next opportunity after that will be on Sunday, May 31 at 12:00 p.m. PT/3:00 p.m. ET.

Where: The Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule will blast off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The historic launch pad has previously hosted Apollo and space shuttle missions.

Why: NASA's Commercial Crew Program is aimed at ending the US reliance on Russian spacecraft for ferrying astronauts to the ISS. NASA has been buying seats on Soyuz capsules since the end of the shuttle program. 

This is also part of a broader NASA push for commercial partnerships. "By encouraging industry to provide human transportation services to and from low-Earth orbit, NASA can expand its focus on building spacecraft and rockets for deep space missions," the space agency said. 

The Crew Dragon capsule arrived at the launch site in February 2020 for final preparations.

NASA

The spacecraft: The SpaceX Crew Dragon is the human transportation version of the Dragon 2 capsule that has been used to carry cargo to the ISS. While only two astronauts will be on board at the end of May, the capsule can be configured to carry up to seven passengers.

The rocket: SpaceX's proven Falcon 9 rocket will escort Crew Dragon through the launch. NASA's iconic throwback "worm" logo is emblazoned on the side of the rocket. Falcon 9s have successfully launched dozens of SpaceX missions.

The Falcon 9 booster is reusable and will attempt to land on a SpaceX droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The crew: NASA assigned astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to Crew Dragon back in 2018. Both have been to space on different shuttle missions, with Hurley flying on the final flight of the space shuttle Atlantis in 2011. They will be wearing spacesuits designed in-house by SpaceX.

The goal: If SpaceX passes muster during Demo-2, then NASA will certify Crew Dragon for regular flights back and forth to the ISS. The space agency is already looking ahead to this outcome and has assigned astronauts to the first Crew Dragon operational mission, which could launch before the end of the year if all goes well.

NASA announced on May 22 that Demo-2 had passed its flight readiness review and was cleared to go.   

We are go for launch! The Flight Readiness Review has concluded and @NASA's SpaceX Crew Dragon mission is cleared to proceed toward liftoff. pic.twitter.com/G1XdJVAxmv

— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) May 22, 2020

How to watch the Demo-2 mission live

NASA will stream the prelaunch activities and launch through NASA TV starting at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET on Saturday. The launch timing will depend on good weather conditions both at the launch site and out in the ocean where the crew capsule would splash down in case of an emergency during launch. SpaceX will also provide a launch webcast. 

NASA TV will also cover the spacecraft docking procedure. Crew Dragon will take a roughly 19-hour flight before reaching the ISS. 

Join CNET's team for live commentary and coverage of the launch on Saturday, May 30 at noon PT/3:00 p.m. ET.

Musk tweeted on May 22 that he would be watching the event from mission control in Florida. Musk described the mission as the "culmination of a truly incredible amount of work by SpaceX and NASA engineering, along with support of all International Space Station countries."

Making history

NASA is viewing the SpaceX Demo-2 mission as the dawn of "a new era of human spaceflight."  

NASA awarded the original Commercial Crew Program contracts to SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 with an eye to launching astronauts in 2017. Delays are common during spacecraft development and both SpaceX and Boeing ran into their share of hiccups. Boeing is still working through a series of technical issues that cropped up during a test flight of its Starliner vehicle in late 2019.

SpaceX, however, successfully completed the Demo-1 uncrewed round trip to the ISS in early 2019 and a critical in-flight abort test at the beginning of the year, setting the stage for Demo-2. It's called Demo-2 because it's still, technically, a "demonstration" rather than a full-fledged space mission. It marks the final test for SpaceX and its Crew Dragon capsule and will allow Elon Musk's spaceflight company to achieve human-rated certification of its spacecraft. 

All systems go for SpaceX and NASA in historic astronaut launch

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Demo-2 will also be the first time a two-person NASA crew launched from the United States since the space shuttle Columbia departed for space, on the fourth mission of the program in 1982.

 "This is a unique moment where all of America can take a moment and look at our country do something stunning again," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a Tuesday Demo-2 press briefing.  

Meet the NASA astronauts  

Behnken and Hurley entered preflight quarantine on May 13. Prelaunch quarantines were already standard procedure prior to the coronavirus pandemic, but NASA will add some extra steps to the process. "Hurley and Behnken, as well as those in direct, close contact with the crew will be tested twice for the virus as a precaution," NASA said in a statement in May.   

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be SpaceX's first human passengers when they launch on the Demo- mission.

NASA

Bob Behnken: NASA selected Behnken, an experienced Air Force pilot, as an astronaut in 2000. He last visited space on a shuttle mission in 2010. He has spent 708 hours in space, with 37 of those taken up by spacewalks. 

Behnken tweeted on May 12 that he had to get approval from his young son before launch.

My son and I took in a recent Falcon 9/Dragon launch together. This is what it took to get his approval for me to be onboard later this month! pic.twitter.com/NUjRZ5EDy6

— Bob Behnken (@AstroBehnken) May 12, 2020

Doug Hurley: Hurley, a retired Marine, was also selected as an astronaut in 2000. A veteran of two space missions, he was last in orbit in 2011 on NASA's final shuttle mission. That adds some poetry to Hurley's assignment to Demo-2. He was one of the last astronauts to launch from US soil and will be one of the first to do it again. 

Hurley shared his own son's drawing of Crew Dragon in late April.

NASA has not yet decided exactly how long Behnken and Hurley will remain on the ISS. "They will perform tests on Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew," said NASA. The astronauts will return on Crew Dragon and splash down in the Atlantic where they will be greeted by a SpaceX recovery vessel. 

May 30 is set to mark a major milestone in space history. It's not just about the patriotic overtones of launching American astronauts from American soil using an American rocket. 

SpaceX and NASA are set to pick up a dropped thread in human spaceflight, filling the void left by the retirement of the space shuttles. We are pretty good at sending robotic explorers to far-flung places in the solar system, but the stakes are always higher when human lives are involved. The world will be watching.

Space cheese and other weird items we've sent into orbit

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