Worker Dies After Collision

A longtime employee at Kaiser Aluminum Corp. died Tuesday after a vehicle collision at the Trentwood flat-rolled products mill in the Valley.

Judy L. Newton, 48, a crane operator in the casting department and a 17-year employee at Trentwood, died early Tuesday of head injuries at Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Kaiser officials said Newton was hit by a truck carrying scrap metal as she pedaled an adult tricycle to work 7 p.m. Monday. Such tricycles commonly are used by employees to get around the huge factory.

Kaiser officials ruled Newton’s death an accident, but will conduct an investigation according to the company’s standard procedure.

Officials with United Steelworkers of America Local 338 were unavailable for comment.

Kaiser spokeswoman Susan Ashe said the last fatality at Trentwood, which employs 1,425 people, occurred in 1992. Newton’s death was the second at Trentwood in 25 years. , DataTimes