Jet bridge collapses, injures 7 people
Seven people were injured on Saturday evening at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport when a jet bridge collapsed, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday.
Investigators said Sunday that a defective metal bracket was to blame.
The incident occurred after staff aboard a Southwest Airlines flight reported a "medical emergency" involving a sick passenger shortly before landing, the official, Gregory Martin, said in an email.
Four medics, two Southwest employees, and the sick passenger were injured when the jet bridge collapsed, causing them to fall from the ramp, while the passenger was being removed from the plane.
A jet bridge is the enclosed ramp that funnels passengers from the terminal to the aircraft.
The seven people were taken with injuries that were not life-threatening to local hospitals, and the rest of the passengers deplaned via the stairs.
"The next thing you know, there was a crash," the Baltimore Sun quoted one passenger, Kelsey Traub, 20, as saying. Afterward, the people on the flight remained "pretty calm," she added.
The airport and Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
GOP senator praises, defends Fed chief
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said Sunday that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is "doing a good job" and rejected the notion that President Donald Trump could fire him out of frustration over the stock market, in the strongest statement yet from a Republican against any moves by the president to oust the central bank chief.
Trump most likely does not have the authority to remove Powell, experts say. Yet amid the markets' recent volatility, the president has repeatedly sought to blame Powell and asked advisers whether he has the power to fire him, two people familiar with the exchanges told The Washington Post.
In an interview on CBS News' Face the Nation, Shelby described the Fed as "the bedrock of our financial system" and said it is "set up to be independent."
"I don't believe blaming the Federal Reserve for this or that -- whoever the president or a congressman or senator is -- helps matters," Shelby said. "The president cannot fire the chairman of the Federal Reserve, except for cause. I think Chairman Powell, myself, is doing a good job."
Shelby chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and previously led the Senate Banking Committee, which is responsible for holding confirmation hearings for Fed nominees.
Trump nominated Powell last year but has been regularly criticizing the central bank chairman lately, claiming that he is raising interest rates too quickly.
Earlier this month, Shelby said Trump needs to be "very careful" in how he approaches the central bank.
Lion kills N.C. worker after escaping
BURLINGTON, N.C. -- A lion killed a worker at a wildlife conservatory Sunday after it got loose from a locked space, the center said.
The lion was shot and killed after it attacked the worker in an enclosure that was being cleaned at the Conservators Center in Caswell County, the center said in a statement.
A "husbandry team" led by a professionally trained animal keeper was carrying out the routine cleaning when the lion somehow got loose, the center said.
It wasn't clear how the lion left the area that was supposed to be locked, said the center, which will be closed until further notice.
"The Conservators Center is devastated by the loss of a human life today," the statement said.
The center said the lion was shot and killed to allow county personnel to retrieve the injured worker.
"This is an ongoing investigation, we have no further details at this time, and the family has not yet been notified. We will offer more information as we know more," the statement said.
Judge leaves care law in effect for now
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge in Texas who recently declared the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act unconstitutional has stayed his ruling to allow for appeals.
That means the law remains in effect while litigation continues.
In a ruling issued Sunday, Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth wrote that he stands by his earlier conclusion that the entire law is invalidated by congressional repeal of its fines on people who remain uninsured, like a house of cards collapsing.
However, because "many everyday Americans would ... face great uncertainty" if that ruling were immediately put into effect, O'Connor issued a stay to allow for appeals.
In a lawsuit this year, a group of Republican governors and state attorneys general, led by Texas, challenged the Affordable Care Act, arguing that the requirement that people have health insurance was unconstitutional.
A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general, led by California's Xavier Becerra, intends to appeal. Congressional Democrats also plan to appeal.
In a statement Sunday, Becerra said he would "march forward" in his fight to keep health care affordable and accessible. "We're going to protect the health care of Americans and make clear that the ACA is the law of the land," he said.
-- COMPILED BY DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS
A Section on 12/31/2018