Winter storm cancels hundreds of flights
CHICAGO — A winter storm that moved across the Upper Midwest over the weekend ended Sunday after delivering a ninth consecutive day of snowfall in Chicago, and snow and freezing rain in Michigan and Indiana.
After 10 inches of snow fell in northern Illinois on Friday, another wave of snow moved across the area late Saturday, leaving an additional 3 inches by the time the storm ended Sunday afternoon.
The Chicago Department of Aviation said about 215 flights were canceled at O’Hare International Airport by Sunday afternoon. There were 245 flights canceled at Midway International Airport. That is significantly less than the approximately 1,300 cancellations at the two airports on Friday.
The National Weather Service said Sunday was the ninth consecutive day of “measurable” snowfall in Chicago.
Grand Canyon copter crash kills 3 people
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — Four survivors of a deadly tour helicopter crash onto the jagged rocks of the Grand Canyon were being treated at a Nevada hospital Sunday while crews tackled difficult terrain in a very remote area to try to recover the bodies of three other people.
Six passengers and a pilot were on board the Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters chopper when it crashed under unknown circumstances Saturday evening on the Hualapai Nation’s land near Quartermaster Canyon, by the Grand Canyon’s West Rim. A witness said he saw flames and black smoke spewing from the crash site, heard explosions and saw victims who were bleeding and badly burned.
Windy conditions, darkness, the remoteness of the area and the rugged terrain made it difficult to reach the helicopter’s wreckage, Hualapai Nation police Chief Francis Bradley said. Rescue crews had to be flown in, walk to the crash site and use night vision goggles, he said.
The survivors were airlifted to a Las Vegas hospital about 2 a.m. Sunday, Bradley said.
Fire knocks out electricity in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — An explosion and fire at an electric substation threw much of northern Puerto Rico into darkness late Sunday in a setback for the U.S. territory’s efforts to fully restore power more than five months after Hurricane Maria started the longest blackout in U.S. history.
The island’s Electric Power Authority said several municipalities were without power, including parts of the capital, San Juan, but they were optimistic it could be restored within a day as they worked to repair a substation that controls voltage.
It was not immediately known what caused Sunday’s fire, which was quickly extinguished. Officials said the explosion knocked two other substations offline and caused a total loss of 400 megawatts’ worth of generation.
“We are trying to restore that as quickly as possible,” the company said.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Cruz tweeted that no injuries had been reported and that power had been restored in some areas of the city.
The blackout comes as more than 400,000 power customers remain in the dark more than five months after Hurricane Maria. The storm destroyed two-thirds of the island’s power distribution system and caused up to an estimated $94 billion in damage.
Space station pushed as private venture
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration wants to turn the International Space Station into a kind of orbiting real estate venture run not by the government, but by private industry.
The White House plans to stop funding for the station after 2024, ending direct federal support of the orbiting laboratory. But it does not intend to abandon the orbiting laboratory altogether, and is working on a transition plan that could turn the station over to the private sector, according to an internal NASA document obtained by The Washington Post.
In its budget request to be released today, the administration would request $150 million in fiscal year 2019, with more in additional years.
A Section on 02/12/2018