QUOTE OF THE DAY
“He had bullets strapped across his chest like Rambo.”
Liza Aiken, a clerk at a FedEx package sorting center outside Atlanta where an employee opened fire Tuesday, hurting six people before killing himself Article, this page
Plant blast, blaze injure 11 near LA
LA HABRA, Calif. - An explosion and fire possibly caused by a dust buildup at a Southern California metal-polishing shop injured 11 people Tuesday, including two men who were critically burned, fire officials said.
The blast occurred in an overhead duct system shortly before 10 a.m. in an industrial area of La Habra, a Los Angeles suburb. It took more than 50 firefighters about 40 minutes to douse the resulting fire.
TV news reports showed workers with blackened faces and hands outside the plant, which was identified on a company website as Gorilla’s Polishing Corp. It is part of Gorilla’s Chrome Inc., which plates and polishes metal, particularly car wheels.
The blast and fire injured 11 people, including two men who were burned and taken to hospitals in critical condition, said Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Scott Miller.
Cool on wage bill, says GOP’s Collins
WASHINGTON - A Senate Democratic effort to raise the federal minimum wage seemed to take a hit Tuesday when a moderate Republican lawmaker viewed as a potential supporter said she expects to oppose the measure.
The election-year bill, on which the Senate is expected to vote today, would gradually raise the $7.25 hourly minimum wage to $10.10 over 30 months. It will need GOP votes to overcome a procedural blockade by most Republican senators, who say the measure would be too costly for employers.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told a reporter Tuesday that about a dozen senators of both parties have expressed interest in finding a compromise with her but haven’t reached consensus on a plan. She also said she believes Democrats won’t let her try to amend their bill, which she said would mean she’d vote against it.
Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., will miss today’s vote because he is in his home state in the aftermath of powerful storms there, an aide said. Pryor, in a tough re-election race, had already expressed his opposition to the Democratic bill, saying $10.10 would be too high.
Christie nominates new port chairman
TRENTON, N.J. - N.J.
Gov. Chris Christie put forth a former state attorney general Tuesday to be the next chairman of the agency at the center of the traffic-jam scandal that has seemingly clouded the Republican governor’s political future.
At a news conference, Christie announced he nominated John Degnan, a registered Democrat who served as attorney general from 1978 to 1981, to replace David Samson, who resigned last month as chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The Port Authority has been the focus of heightened scrutiny in recent months as details have emerged about the closings of lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge as part of a political payback plot by Christie loyalists. The closings led to traffic jams for days in the town of Fort Lee.
The bridge scandal forced the resignations late last year of Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni, a Christie appointee, and director of interstate capital projects David Wildstein, a Christie acquaintance from high school.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 04/30/2014