Fierce storm brings winds, blackouts
A fierce storm swept across the Midwest and into the Northeast on Friday, causing temperatures to plummet and generating winds up to 77 mph. Three people were killed by falling trees.
The storm sent temperatures in some parts of western New York plunging from 60 degrees to below freezing within a few hours. High winds knocked out power to more than 300,000 homes and offices.
A falling tree crushed a passing car in suburban Rochester, killing a 52-year-old woman, and another crashed onto a truck at Saratoga Spa State Park, killing a state worker. In Massachusetts, a tree fell onto a pickup truck in Billerica, killing the driver.
The winter blast moved east after pummeling the Midwest a day earlier. In Michigan, about 100,000 customers were still without power Friday after 60-mph winds blew through the Lower Peninsula.
St. Louis
Bridge worker falls into Mississippi
A temporary maintenance deck collapsed Friday while workers were painting the underside of a bridge, sending one plunging into the frigid Mississippi River and leaving three others hanging by their safety harnesses.
Rescuers were searching the murky water for the missing man; the air temperature was in the 20s.
Mehlville Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Steve Mossotti said the man had been trying to save his co-workers, who were pulled to safety by firefighters after about an hour of dangling about 40 feet below the deck of the Jefferson Barracks Bridge.
The worker who fell was identified as Jimmy Belfield, a former law enforcement officer in Washington County, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Newark, N.J.
Laser pointing earns probation
A man who pleaded guilty to shining a laser pointer at a landing airplane, temporarily hampering the pilots’ vision, was sentenced Friday to two years of probation.
The plane had six passengers and was about 3,000 feet above the ground when the laser beam hit the cockpit window on Dec. 29, 2004. The flight crew said a green beam struck the window three times, causing both pilots to briefly lose night vision. The plane landed safely.
David W. Banach, 39, of Parsippany, pleaded guilty in November to violating a section of the Patriot Act involving interfering with pilots of a passenger aircraft.
“At no time did we believe that Mr. Banach was involved in terrorism or that he should face a maximum penalty of 20 years in a federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie. “Nonetheless, his conduct posed an immediate threat to innocent lives.”