No mechanical problems in crash

A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said no mechanical problems have been found on a Boston train that crashed into another Friday, injuring about 50 people.

The trolley driver told police he was texting his girlfriend before his train collided with a stopped train on the Green Line.

NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said Sunday that no problems were found with the brakes or other equipment on the train that caused the wreck. He said the train was going 25 mph when it crashed, and that the stopped train was first visible to the moving train from 480 feet away.

All the injured passengers are recovering, and the Green Line reopened Sunday.

The trolley driver faces firing and possible criminal charges.

FARGO, N.D.

6 million sandbags left after flooding

Millions of bags filled with sand were used to battle record flood crests in Fargo and neighboring Moorhead, Minn. But now that the flood risk is over, city leaders wonder: Where will the sand go?

Cleanup efforts in the two cities are facing about 6 million bags of sand used to prop up dikes, built in a week after the National Weather Service bumped up its Red River flooding forecast by several feet in March.

“We were in crisis mode when we were filling the bags, and that gave people a lot of energy,” said Bruce Grubb, a Fargo city official who managed sandbagging operations. “Now that the adrenaline is gone, it’s just work.”

Most of the sand can be recycled and reused if it’s not contaminated with sewage or petroleum products, said David Glatt, environmental chief for the North Dakota health department.

“Obviously, we don’t want to see it put in the child’s sandbox,” Glatt said.

Fargo, which has about 3.5 million sandbags, likely will use most of it as a barrier on top of its plastic liner at the landfill, Grubb said. The city has equipment to separate the sand from the bag and screen the material, he said.

Moorhead, which has about 2.5 million bags, planned to use the sand for icy roads and other projects, said city manager Michael Redlinger.

FINDLAY, Ohio

Prom-going teen expects suspension

An Ohio teenager said he expects to be suspended from a Christian school for attending a public school prom with his girlfriend.

Officials at Heritage Christian School in Findlay had warned 17-year-old Tyler Frost that he would be suspended and prohibited from attending graduation if he went to the Saturday dance. The fundamentalist Baptist school in northwest Ohio forbids dancing, rock music and hand-holding.

Frost said he went to the dance because he wanted to experience the prom and didn’t think it was wrong.

School officials say he could complete his final exams separately to receive a diploma.

Frost’s stepfather said the rules shouldn’t apply outside of school and he may take legal action if Frost is suspended.

From wire reports