Timelines August 6, 2015

Connecticut man faces drunk driving charge for Bear Mountain Bridge crash

A 34-year old Connecticut man will face DWI charges after a serious, three-car accident on the Bear Mountain Bridge injured two people on Sunday night.

According to police, Wuillian Moran of Stamford caused the accident when he crossed the double yellow line heading south on Route 202 at 9:20 p.m. His 2005 Chevrolet Equinox subsequently hit a southbound 2008 Suzuki head-on and a 2009 Toyota.

Magdalena Sanchez, the driver behind the wheel of the Toyota, was taken to Westchester Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. Moran was also hospitalized at Hudson Valley Hospital with non-life threatening injuries before he was charged with a misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated. He is due in court on August 14.

 

FBI investigating Hillary Clinton’s private email servers

The FBI has launched an investigation of Hillary Clinton, focusing on a private email server the former First Lady used when she served as Secretary of State.

Investigators involved in the probe, which the Bureau stressed was preliminary and did not involve accusations of wrongdoing, have already contacted Platte River Networks, a Denver-based tech firm, which helped manage the email system. The FBI has also reached out to Clinton’s lawyer David Kendall for information on the security of a thumb drive that contained copies of emails from Clinton’s cabinet days.

The target of the inquiry appears to be not the secrecy of the emails but the security of the sensitive information detailed therein. Since Summer 2014, Clinton has been under increasing pressure to reveal the content of the closely-guarded emails, pressure that led her to hand over 55,000 pages of correspondences.

Still, doubts about Clinton’s transparency remained when it was revealed she had made extensive use of private servers through which large amounts of classified information might have been transferred. Clinton has maintained the private email was used mostly out of convenience.

 

Skirmishes between Iraqi forces and ISIS militants kill 17

A series of clashes between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants in Iraq’s Western Anbar Province on Wednesday has left at least 17 troops dead, according to Iraqi military officials.

The security forces, backed by Shiite militias, Sunni tribal forces and regional police, have fought to retake the province after it was seized by ISIS militants in early 2014. Backed by U.S. airstrikes, they launched an offensive last month with mixed results, capturing sections of the nearby city of Ramadi but failing to definitively secure the area.

During the most recent fighting, six soldiers, four Sunni fighters, and two police officers were killed while another five were killed in an ISIS attack on the Habbaniyah military base where U.S. military advisors have been stationed. Nine troops were also wounded in the fighting.

 

Epic sinkhole opens in Brooklyn street

A large sinkhole swallowed up part of a Brooklyn intersection on Tuesday morning, causing a commotion but resulting in no injuries.

The hole at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 64th Street in Sunset Park opened 20 feet wide and 20 feet deep to claim the street, which residents had complained was in serious disrepair for years. Utility workers quickly cut off water and gas while morning traffic was diverted.

The damage, which occurred near a construction site, was likely the result of a water main break that leaked under the road and weakened its foundations, according to authorities. Local residents added that recent construction-related traffic, construction along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and recent rainfall might have further compromised the integrity of the road.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the causes of the collapse. It is not known when the hole will be repaired.

 

Truckers lawsuit over excessive Thruway tolls reinstated

A group of truckers who sued the New York State Thruway Authority, alleging excessive tolls on bridges used to fund the New York Canal System, saw their suit reinstated this week by a federal appeals court. A prior court had tossed the lawsuit because it failed to name New York State as a party. โ€œPlaintiffs allege that the Thruway Authority diverts excessive highway tolls to fund maintenance and improvements to the New York Canal System,โ€ the appeals court wrote in a decision. โ€œWe conclude that the ruling was an abuse of discretion, and therefore vacate the judgment.โ€

The truckers say the Thruway diverts up to $100 million in tolls each year toward canal projects. โ€œNow that the Canal System is operated by the Canal Corporation as a subsidiary of the Thruway Authority, the considerable cost of maintaining (and sometimes upgrading, developing, and expanding) the Canal System is funded almost entirely through the collection of highway tolls,โ€ court papers state. โ€œWhen the Canal System needs more funding, the Thruway Authority raises tolls.โ€

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