Saturday, October 13, 2007

At least two people have died and at least eight to ten were injured after two semi trucks collided in a truck tunnel on Interstate 5 (Newhall Pass) between Los Angeles and Santa Clarita California, United States, causing the tunnel to be completely shut down on both north and southbound lanes.

At approximately 11:00 p.m. (pacific time), two semi trucks collided and at least 13 other trucks smashed into the wreckage causing a massive fire. Firefighters are using foam to control the flames, which could take several hours to put out.

Officials say that the debris could take a day or more to remove and that a full inspection will have to be done on the tunnel before it can be used again because officials say that the structure of the tunnel has been compromised.

“It has impacted the structural stability of the tunnel,” said John Tripp the Fire Chief for Los Angeles County who also said that there may be more people trapped in the wreckage.

“We’re going to have to do a very methodical search. There could be unfortunately more people that were not able to escape,” added Tripp.

The tunnel is 200 feet long.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Photographs published by the Investigate magazine and the newspaper Sunday Star Times has shown the Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark’s husband, Peter Davis, being hugged and kissed by openly gay Auckland GP (General Practitioner) Dr. Ian Scott on election night 2005. The editor of Investigate, Ian Wishart, stated that at no time has Investigate ever suggested Davis is gay.

Wishart said that he has “Been targeting Mr Davis for months and has appealed for readers to send him details of his private life. [My] article makes no homosexual inferences and is merely an attempt to background Davis ahead of reports to follow.”

Investigate has been publishing a series of stories involving Davis about an alleged incident overseas. They were tipped off by New Zealand law enforcement. “The picture is all about trying to find out more about the alleged incident. [I am] working through overseas sources to investigate the allegations. Regardless of what his investigation uncovers, the results will be published.” Wishart also says there is more ‘dirt’ to come.

Clark has called it a “pack of lies” and labelled it as a smear campaign. “I’ve been aware of a smear campaign circulating for many months. Actively circulated by National Party people. And I’ve had countless friends phone me about it. It’s been assiduously spread through circles in business, the law, accountants – it’s just come from all quarters.”

Dr. Scott is a close friends of the couple and was, according to Clark, “reasonably boisterous and drunk,” when the situation occurred and Davis was “a bit disgusted,” when he was kissed. “We have a particularly small group of very close friends . . . and Ian is right in there. He is one of our oldest friends as a couple. There is not a shred of truth to what Wishart says,” said Clark.

“People just fall about themselves laughing when they see that was the great ‘gay’ allegation,” Clark said.

Clark has partly blamed the Exclusive Brethren for the smear campaign as they were allegedly the ones who campaigned to unseat Labour and also allegations that they hired a private detective to follow Davis, the church has denied having any involvement. Clark has said “the smear campaign against her husband had spread far too wide for it to be the work of the Brethren alone,” so she also blames Brash.

“I think the National Party has stooped to new levels with his leadership. I think we’re seeing the absolute desperation of, actually, the far Right in politics, which feels it has a right to rule, couldn’t cope with losing three elections in a row and there’s a desperation and nastiness about it and it will stoop to anything,” Clark said.

Brash said that he rejects and condemns the rumour-mongering and a spokesman said: “he [Brash] nor any of his MPs were involved in spreading them [rumours]. National believes the private lives of politicians and their families should be just that – private.”

A source for the National Party said that people had phoned in with the rumour and National told them to “go away.”

Gerry Brownlee, Deputy leader of National, denies any National Party involvement. He said: “Despite Don Brash coming under fire for admitting his marriage was in difficulties amid speculation he had an affair, National is not in a vengeful mode and rejects any such suggestion. The private lives of the families of MPs should be left out of the public eye.”

Media experts are passing off Investigate’s story as poor journalism. Including the head of New Zealand Broadcasting School, Paul Norris. Norris said: “The leader of a party has to expect their private life to impact on their leadership but in this case it seems Clark does not have a lot to answer to. The story has very little substance.”

Clark has denied that a meeting between Brash to discuss toning down personal attacks will take place. But does say a meeting between party representatives could be arranged.

Clark has told the New Zealand Police that she believes that they have been followed by private detectives. The police are yet to confirm that they are investigating the claim as of Monday morning. Clark said that she has been “told by a number of sources that private investigators have been hired to follow both herself and her husband, Professor Peter Davis.”

Monday, September 24, 2007

Marion Schaffer is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Oakville riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed her regarding her values, her experience, and her campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Community members held a public bake sale fundraiser on Sunday to help the family of a Texas woman slain earlier this month. Alicia Benefield, 19, of DeBerry was killed allegedly by her boyfriend, Rodris Webster. Sharon Jernigan of Panola was the key organizer of the fundraiser.

On Friday, Mrs. Jernigan told Wikinews, “This murder has devastated the entire community.” The fundraiser was held at a small grocery store in the neighboring town of Bethany, which borders the Louisiana–Texas state line. Sunday evening, Jernigan reported, “The bake sale was a big success.”

Webster, 25, was arrested early last week and charged with one count of murder and one count of felon in possession of a firearm. Benefield’s body was found in Marshall, Texas. Upon hearing of the discovery, a family member of the victim posted to his Facebook page, “Struggling to know how someone could do such a horrific thing.” Webster is presently being held on US$1 million bond in the Harrison County jail. Earlier, he was questioned by police on March 16, just two days after Benefield’s car was found at a church near her home, but was released after five hours of questioning.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Chris Christie, governor of the US state of New Jersey, complained on ABC’s Sunday morning talk show This Week that TV series Jersey Shore promotes a negative image of the state.

Prompted by a feature in The New York Times on Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, one of the stars of the MTV show, interviewer Jake Tapper asked the governor whether he thought the series was positive or negative for the state. Christie unequivocally answered that the show was “negative for New Jersey… It takes a bunch of New Yorkers, drops them on the Jersey Shore, and tries to make America feel like this is New Jersey”. He concluded, “I can tell people: they want to know what New Jersey really is? I welcome them to come to New Jersey any time.”

In a wide-ranging interview the governor also faced questions about local and national politics, including New Jersey’s US$11 billion budget deficit. Specifically, he was challenged over his plans to not pay $3 billion into public pension funds, payments described by the interviewer as a “legal obligation”. He said that he “wasn’t going to put $3 billion into a failing pension system” and that there would be further reforms of pensions and health benefits.

Christie was further questioned over his ongoing conflicts with teachers unions. He responded that “we can’t have one sector of our society sheltered from the ravages of the recession, at the cost to people who have been hurt by the recession the most”, citing the example of construction unions in New Jersey currently suffering unemployment between 35 and 50%.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Once you get a chance to talk to West Palm Beach, Florida native Whitney Cunningham, who placed seventh on the eighth cycle of the popular reality TV series America’s Next Top Model, you begin to understand what host Tyra Banks meant when she described her as the “full package.”

First of all, she is confident and headstrong, which is a must on these kinds of shows, almost as much as it is to take a beautiful modelesque picture. Second, she turns that confidence into drive. She has been receiving steady work as a model since leaving the show, and still believes that her goal of being the first woman to wear a size ten dress on the cover of Vogue is in reach. Third, and probably most important to television viewers, she obliterates the age-old model stereotype that to be pretty and photograph well, one must also be vapid and without a thought. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Cunningham also dreams of becoming a writer, and is working toward dual goals: a model who can express herself like no other model before her.

Cunningham recently sat down with Wikinews reporter Mike Halterman in an impassioned interview, taking hours to field questions from the reporter as well as from fans of America’s Next Top Model. Always in high spirits, Cunningham shows that she is a distinct personality who has carved her own niche in the Top Model history books. At the same time, she exhibits a joie de vivre that is oddly reminiscent of earlier Top Model fan favorite Toccara Jones, who showed America just how to be “big, black, beautiful and loving it.” However, Cunningham is quick to remind everyone that she isn’t big at all; she is simply a regular woman.

This is the first in a series of interviews with America’s Next Top Model contestants. Interviews will be published sporadically.

Sunday, May 9, 2021

Two students and a school employee have been injured following a shooting at Rigby Middle School in Idaho, United States, on Thursday, with a sixth grader in custody.

According to Jefferson County sheriff Steve Anderson, the sixth grader — who attends the middle school and lives in Idaho Falls — pulled out a handgun from her backpack, firing the gun both in and outside the school, with a teacher managing to disarm the student. Police were called to the school at about 9:15AM local time, and the suspect was taken in the custody of the local sheriff’s office.

The trauma medical director at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, Dr. Michael Lemon, has stated the three injured people had non-life threatening injuries to the extremities. The school employee has been treated and released from medical care. A warrant has been issued against an Idaho Falls residence in relation to the shooting.

School was cancelled in the district for Friday. The local school superintendent, Chad Martin, told “this is the worst nightmare a school district could ever face”, and “our hearts and our prayers go out to the victims and their families and all those involved”. A student at the school — 12-year-old Yandel Rodriguez — told the Associated Press “me and my classmate were just in class with our teacher — we were doing work — and then all of a sudden, here was a loud noise and then there were two more loud noises. Then there was screaming”.