Injured 'Texas' dancer's condition improves

The “Texas” company member who was injured in an accident north of Dumas last week that killed five people has improved, Northwest Texas Hospital Caytie Martin spokeswoman said.

Timothy Johnson, 30, of Portland, Ore., now is in satisfactory condition at the hospital, said Caytie Martin of Northwest.

About 11:30 p.m. Aug. 12, after leaving a “Texas” end-of-summer party, a Ford Taurus carrying six cast and crew members in the production ran a stop sign at the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 119 and U.S. Highway 287 and was struck by a tractor-trailer.

Authorities said the rig’s load toppled onto the driver’s side of the car.

Clint Diaz, 20, of Amarillo; Andrew Duncan, 20, of Wichita Falls; Amanda Starz, 20, of Timonium, Md.; Julian Arredondo IV, 24, of Haltom City; and Eric Harrison, 21, of Fort Worth died in the crash.

Johnson and the driver of the tractor-trailer — Theron Arthur McSay, 70, of Fort Collins, Colo. — were injured in the accident and transported to Northwest.

McSay was released from the hospital this week.

Department of Public Safety officials said officers found alcoholic beverage containers in the Taurus, and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission authorities are investigating the party attended by the “Texas” company members, which was held at Coldwater Ranch, owned by former Texas Panhandle Heritage Foundation board member Joe Batson.

“We’ve held the party there for the last 22 years,” said Kris Miller, executive director of the foundation and a “Texas” cast member.

Miller, who said he attended the party, said no alcohol was being served to minors, but attendees 21 and older were allowed to bring their own beverages.

Two of the final week’s performances of “Texas” were canceled, but the final three shows of the musical’s 48th season went on as scheduled.

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Source: Amarillo (Bryant, 8/23)

Unsafe welding led to fatal Gulf accident

A consultant's report for a Texas-based company says a deadly 2012 explosion on its Gulf of Mexico oil platform off the Louisiana coast happened when workers for a subcontractor used unsafe welding practices.

The report was released Wednesday, the same day two injured workers and their spouses filed a $180 million federal lawsuit in connection with the accident. ABSG Consulting did the study and report for Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations, which released the report and also made it available on its website.

Three Filipino workers died in the Nov. 16 accident, which occurred at a time when production was shut down and a construction project was underway on the platform, according to the report.

ABSG says Grand Isle Shipyard Inc. was under contract for construction work when the blast happened. ABSG says Grand Isle had committed not to use subcontractors on Black Elk projects. However, the report says, workers doing the welding were employees of a subcontractor: DNR Offshore and Crewing Services.

A series of explosions occurred when workers were welding a pipe leading to a tank, known as a "wet oil tank," according to the report.

"The WOT contained hydrocarbons, and the piping leading to it had not been isolated and made safe for welding," the ABSG report said.

The report said Grand Isle and another contractor overseeing work on the platform, identified as Wood Group PSN, did not properly carry out welding processes, sometimes referred to as "hot work." It said Grand Isle and DNR failed to stop work when "unexpected conditions" _ including the smell of gas _ arose.

Grand Isle's use of a subcontractor was a factor in the accident because it prevented Black Elk from "effectively auditing the employers of all personnel on their facilities," the report said.

The consultant also recommended that Black Elk provide additional oversight for construction activities on platforms and discourage the use of "hot work" on platforms.

Black Elk, Wood Group and others are named as defendants in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans by two workers injured in the accident, Antonio Tamayo and Wilberto Ilagan, and their spouses.

Alleging physical and mental injuries, numerous medical expenses and loss of future wages, among other things, the four ask for $20 million each in actual damages, plus a total of $100 million in punitive damages "if any of the defendants are found to have been grossly or intentionally negligent."

Black Elk did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment on the lawsuit. Grand Isle officials did not immediately return a call for comment. A Louisiana attorney who has done work for DNR did not return a call for comment.

A Wood Group spokeswoman declined immediate comment, pending review of the report.

The federal agency that oversees offshore oil and gas safety, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, is still investigating the accident, a spokeswoman, Eileen Angelico, said in response to an email query. The bureau received the consultant's report and was reviewing it, Angelico said.

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Source: Brownsville Herald (AP, 8/21)

Penalties for Hit and Run Rise in Texas

With new laws increasing the penalties for drivers involved in hit-and-run fatalities or those who fail to stop and render aid, advocates are hoping that Texas drivers have a greater incentive to stay at the scene of accidents and help the injured.

Starting Sept. 1, the penalty for hit-and-run fatalities will be equal to that for intoxicated manslaughter. Currently, it is a third-degree felony, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The new law raises the offense to a second-degree felony, with a maximum penalty of 20 years. Another new law makes failure to stop and render aid after an accident that may have caused injury punishable by up to 10 years.

"There was a perverse incentive to leave the scene of a wreck if you were intoxicated" because the penalties for intoxication were higher, said Bill Lewis, a spokesman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The legislation, he said, "gives people a reason to hang around."

Legislation on the new punishment passed easily with bipartisan support, which is uncommon, said state Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, who was a sponsor of the legislation on stopping and rendering aid. Some legislators "don't like to mess with enhancing penalties," he said, but many were swayed by the trial of Gabrielle Nestande, a former legislative staff member who was accused of the 2011 hit-and-run death of Courtney Griffin, 30, in Austin. Nestande was arrested the morning after the accident and told the police that she did not know she had hit Griffin.

Nestande was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide but acquitted on charges of intoxication manslaughter, manslaughter, and failure to stop and render aid.

Commander Donald Daker of the Austin Police Department described the Nestande case as a "perfect illustration" of the challenges facing prosecutors in such cases. "If you look at it from an investigative perspective, it's very difficult to prove intoxicated manslaughter when you’ve got to go back hours or days later when they finally do identify who the suspected driver was," Daker said.

The laws will aid prosecution of similar trials, Naishtat said, by encouraging drivers to stay at the scene where blood alcohol levels can be measured.

Requiring drivers to stop and render aid could mean the difference between life and death, Lewis said. A telephone call made within minutes rather than hours of an accident could mean "the person who was hurt would have a better chance to recover," he said.

The legislation corrects outdated laws, said mother Laurie Griffin, who advocated the bill's passage.

"You can't just say, 'I thought it was a kid throwing rocks at my car' and change your story to 'I thought I hit a deer,'" Laurie Griffin said, a reference to reasons that Nestande gave in the courtroom for leaving the scene. "People need to know what's going to happen if they don't stop, and that's from a mother that lost her daughter to complete nonsense."

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Source: KEYE TV (AP, 8/09)

Fiery 18-Wheeler Crash Shuts Down North Texas Highway

FORNEY – It’s a Friday evening, rush hour traffic nightmare for drivers trying to get through Forney.

The eastbound side of the US 80 Bridge, just west of FM 460, had to be closed after an 18-wheeler crashed, overturned and caught fire.

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) spokesman Tony Hartzel said the traffic situation is even worse because the area is so rural. “And there are no frontage roads in that area, so there are no options for travelers to go around in that immediate area,” he said. “So what we’re asking people to do is consider taking I-20 or I-30 as alternate routes.”

The cab of the truck appeared to be on fire as Chopper 11 flew overhead. Officials with the Forney Police Department, from several surrounding cities, and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Deputies all responded to the crash and subsequent traffic tie-up.

Hartzel said bridge inspectors have been called to the scene. “The truck overturned and caught fire just before FM 460 and it is on a bridge over one of the Trinity River relief routes, some of the water crossings for the Trinity.”

Shortly after the crash a CareFlite medical helicopter transported a man to Parkland Medical Center. It isn’t known if that man was the truck driver.

Officials gave no estimate on how long the highway would be closed.

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Source: CBS-DFW (AP, 8/02)

Police find driver, but no charges to be filed in Fort Worth hit-and-run death

FORT WORTH -- It's a busy intersection at Sycamore School and Crowley Roads in Fort Worth, but it's hard to miss the flowers and crosses on one corner.

The neighborhood hasn't forgotten Deston Bibbs.

"It hit home in my heart seriously," said a friend, Sherika Jones.

Deston, 14, was run over April 25 while he was riding his bike. The incident happened around 9:20 p.m. The teen died from his injuries the day after.

The driver who allegedly hit him was a mystery, until now.

Documents obtained by News 8 show police found the driver five weeks after the deadly accident.

While surveillance video from a gas station and a dry cleaning business at the intersection offered no clues, the city's red light camera on Sycamore School Road did. It records eastbound traffic.

The video footage does not show the crash, but 40 seconds before Deston's body was found, the camera caught an 18-wheeler making a turn to head south on Crowley road.

Investigators suspected it was a truck possibly transporting water to or from from a gas well site nearby.

According to the documents, 3-Star Daylighting, a trucking company in Cresson, was servicing the well that night.

Police went to the company and located the truck, No. 110 on May 21. The documents show that the tire tread matched the marks left on Deston's clothes.

The unnamed driver met the case investigator on June 3 and was interviewed.

"They stated they were unaware that they had hit anything that night, and provided a written statement staying as much," the officer wrote.

For Jones, who lived next to Deston and his family, the news broke her heart.

"A person taking somebody else's life, regardless if you feel you didn't know you actually hit something or somebody, you are still going to stop and check," she said. "Anything, you never know. It hurts. It could have been one of my kids."

"I do not believe, nor can I prove that the driver knew they were involved in an accident and thus did not intentionally or knowingly leave the scene," the investigator stated in the documents.

News 8 called the trucking company for comment, but officials told us they could not provide any information.

We also contacted Deston's family, but did not receive a response.

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Source: Khou (Diaz, 8/2)