Briefs

LOCAL & VCU

Falling debris forces closure of pedestrian bridge to Belle Isle

The suspended pedestrian bridge to Belle Isle from the north bank of the James River in Richmond was closed Saturday after a large piece of concrete fell from the Robert E. Lee Bridge above.

No one was injured. City officials say the footbridge may not reopen until Tuesday.

The concrete chunk fell and shattered onto the pedestrian bridge around 5 p.m., said Christy Everson, spokeswoman for the city’s parks and recreation department.

Plans are to build a 50-foot-long safety tunnel made of scaffolding and wood on Monday, she said.

Ralph White, manager of the James River Park System, estimated that the chunk was about 3 feet long. He said it fell closer to the Belle Isle side of the 1,040-foot bridge.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Couple abduct, rob victim

Richmond police are looking for a couple suspected of forcing a man into a van outside the Richmond Coliseum and robbing him Friday night.

Police said that around 7:45 p.m. a male suspect approached the victim and asked for assistance with putting something in a van, where a female suspect was waiting. The two assaulted the victim, threw him into the van and drove off, police said. The victim was robbed of an undisclosed amount of
money, but managed to escape without injury, police said.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Carver residents oppose housing-development plan

Residents are fighting a proposal to build 46 homes on North Lombardy Street out of concern that they’ll end up being rented to students at VCU or nearby Virginia Union University.

Charleen Baylor, president of the Carver Area Civic Improvement League, said community and city leaders have worked for more than a decade to revitalize Carver as a neighborhood of homeowners. Historic Carver is part of the city’s Neighborhoods in Bloom program, which encourages owner-occupancy and provides incentives for home renovations.

Baylor said the influx of students in VCU and privately-owned rental units has challenged the improvement efforts and could undermine them further unless the Sylvia Place developers can guarantee owner-occupancy.

“We want people in our neighborhood who are going to care about the neighborhood,” said Baylor, who moved to Carver six years ago.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Billionaire’s bank customers denied deposits

Panicky depositors were turned away from Stanford International Bank and some of its Latin American affiliates Wednesday, unable to withdraw their money after U.S. regulators accused Texas financier R. Allen Stanford of perpetrating an $8 billion fraud against his companies’ investors.

Some customers arrived in Antigua by private jet and were driven up the lushly landscaped driveway of the bank’s headquarters, only to be told that all assets have been frozen pending an investigation by Antiguan banking regulators.

Banking regulators and politicians around the region are scrambling to contain the damage after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges against the billionaire on Tuesday. Regional Director Rose Romero of the SEC’s Fort Worth office called it a “fraud of shocking magnitude that has spread its tentacles throughout the world.”

Brief by The Associated Press

Pa. boy, 11, accused of killing dad’s girlfriend

Jordan Brown, 11, was charged Saturday as an adult in the death of 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk, who was eight months pregnant, Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo said. Houk’s fetus died within minutes due to a lack of oxygen, Lawrence County Coroner Russell Noga said.

Pennsylvania State Police found Houk’s body in the rented farmhouse after her 4-year-old daughter told tree cutters on the property she thought her mother was dead, Bongivengo said.

Brief by The Associated Press

Gas blast kills 74 in Northern China coal mine

Rescuers wearing headlamps and oxygen backpacks carried dozens of miners to safety Sunday after a gas explosion at a coal mine in Northern China killed at least 74.

The blast at the mine, which had for years boasted an exemplary safety record, highlighted the perilous conditions that make China’s mining industry the deadliest in the world.

Survivors described how they tried to flee along tunnels to escape the choking carbon monoxide, but were overcome by the fumes.

At least 74 miners died and 114 others were hospitalized, including six in critical condition, Xinhua said, making it China’s deadliest mine disaster in more than a year.

Brief by The Associated Press

Iran to begin operation of 1st nuclear power plant ?

Iran’s first nuclear plant will begin long-delayed pilot operations on Wednesday, the state atomic energy agency said.

A nuclear official in Russia, which is helping build the plant, however, said no major milestone is expected on that day.

The long-awaited 1,000-megawatt light-water reactor, which was built in the Southern Iranian port of Bushehr with the help of Russia under a $1 billion contract, was previously scheduled to become operational in fall 2008. Some 700 Iranian engineers were trained in Russia to operate the power plant.

Brief by The Associated Press