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Comment by Bullheaded Texan on May 4, 2018 at 5:35am: 2)
In its update, the NTSB also said that investigators have found pieces of the broken engine fan blade suspected of triggering the accident when it snapped off due to metal fatigue, or microscopic cracking. The NTSB said the other blades in the engine on the Boeing 737 were nicked during the accident but showed no signs of cracking.

Modal Trigger

Investigators looked at Southwest maintenance records, which indicated that the fan blades in the failed engine had made more than 32,000 flights and more than 10,000 since being overhauled in November 2012. At that time they were inspected by sight and with fluorescent dye used to find surface defects.

Since the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration has announced stepped-up inspections of fan blades in Boeing 737 engines, which are made by CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and France’s Safran SA. CFM first recommended more inspections using ultrasound and electrical currents after an engine broke apart on another Southwest plane in 2016. No one was injured in that incident.

Southwest executives say crews have inspected more than 25,000 blades in the airline’s fleet and found only one other that showed signs of cracking.

Passengers on another Southwest plane were startled this week when one layer of a three-layer window cracked in flight. The pilots landed the plane safely in Cleveland.

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on May 4, 2018 at 5:32am: The US Coast Guard offloaded more than 12 tons of cocaine and 1 ton of marijuana in Florida on Tuesday – a gigantic mound of drugs seized in international waters.
The drugs carried a street value of nearly $400 million and were off-loaded in Port Everglades by the crew of the 270-foot Coast Guard Cutter Legare – were the fruits of major busts off the Pacific coast of Mexico, as well as Central and South America.
The massive pile of dope was the result of 17 separate drug-smuggling vessel seizures, including five hauls by the Legare that totaled more than 4,500 pounds of cocaine.
The Coast Guard Cutter Reliance, meanwhile, was responsible for seizing roughly 2,600 pounds of marijuana in one bust alone
Canadian Naval vessels also assisted in some of the interdictions, officials said.
Coast Guard officials cut netting away from a large bale of cocaine after a seizure on April 5.

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on May 4, 2018 at 5:02am: 2)

“What these numbers represent is an increased commitment by the US and international partners to combat transnational criminal networks and promote stability in the Central American region, along the US southern border, and in the southern maritime approaches to the US,” Cmdr. Jonathan Carter, commanding officer of the Legare, said in a statement. “Today’s offload sends them a message that our network of partners and allies remains resolute in our commitment to stem the flow of illicit trafficking that breeds instability.”

US Coast Guard Petty Officer Third Class Brandon Murray told The Post that the confiscated drugs are usually sent to federal labs for testing, with portions kept as evidence for subsequent trials.

The remainder is sent to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which destroys the drugs in a “controlled lab facility,” he said.

Video released Tuesday by Coast Guard officials showed dozens of wooden pallets packed with drugs worth more than $390 million.

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on May 4, 2018 at 4:41am: Mexico-Mexifornia drug tunnel operator gets 10 years in prison.

April 30, 2018 |By Associated Press 11:46pm

Manuel Gallegos-Jimenez, a 48-year-old Mexican national, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to conspiracy in San Diego.

KNBC-TV reports that $1 million worth of marijuana and $22 million worth of cocaine was seized when authorities discovered the tunnel under a house in the San Diego County town of Calexico in 2016.

The station says the tunnel had ventilation, electricity and an elevator that could fit up to 10 people.

Officials say it was the first time drug traffickers had built a house for the purpose of concealing a drug tunnel.

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on May 4, 2018 at 4:23am: Cash spilled by armored truck causes chaos along highway.

By Aaron Feis May 2, 2018

The blacktop turned green on an Indiana interstate Wednesday morning when the backdoor of a Brinks truck swung open, spilling hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash onto the roadway.

Opportunistic motorists hopped out of their cars and nearby residents vaulted over fences as they jostled to scoop up handfuls of bills along Interstate 70 near Indianapolis around 9 a.m., according to local Fox affiliate WXIN.

“Bags of money were falling out of the back onto the interstate,” Indiana State Police Cpl. Brock McCooe told the station. “Sort of something out of a movie scene, where you have bills, loose bills flying all over the interstate, vehicles stopping, people getting out of their cars.”

Video from the scene showed hundreds of greenbacks strewn along the side of the highway, which had to be shut down until the all the bills were picked up.

Troopers at the scene initially said that as much as $600,000 may have been scattered across the interstate, but later said that they couldn’t be sure of the exact amount.

It remains unclear what caused the backdoor to open, which the driver only became aware of when a passing motorist flagged him down, according to WXIN.

Troopers made clear that anyone who thought they found a payday along the roadway was committing a crime. “Anyone who picked up money can be charged with theft,” wrote ISP Sgt. John Perrine on Twitter. “If you have money from the incident to return, contact the Indiana State Police.”

Police said they’re scanning video footage for license plates of sticky-fingered motorists spotted helping themselves to the cash — including a school bus driver.

“If you’re willing to, in good conscience, turn it back in, there’s amnesty,” McCooe told WXIN. “There’s no real questions asked if you’re willing to give it back.”

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on May 4, 2018 at 4:19am: Cash spilled by armored truck causes chaos along highway.

By Aaron Feis May 2, 2018

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on May 4, 2018 at 4:11am: More than 11,000 forced to flee homes in Mexico due to gang violence.

May/3/18 By Associated Press

Migrants in Mexico pack their belongings as they flee gang violence.

A Mexican rights group says 11,232 people were forced to flee their homes due to drug gang violence in 2017.

The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights says residents in six states fled because of “organized armed groups,” including cartels, local gangs and vigilantes.

The commission said Wednesday that a total of 329,917 people were forced to flee between 2006 and 2017, though it was unclear how many have since returned.

In April, soldiers escorted a convoy of 92 people terrorized by drug cartels out of their mountain hamlet in Guerrero state.

The group said another 8,928 people had to flee in 2017 because of local land, political or religious conflicts.

Most of those displacements occurred in indigenous communities in the southern state of Chiapas.

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Comment by Bullheaded Texan on May 4, 2018 at 3:52am: US service member killed in Afghanistan just weeks before deployment was to end, officials say.

By Paulina Dedaj | Fox News

Spc. Gabriel D. Conde, 22, of Loveland, Colorado, was killed while ...

The 22-year-old U.S. service member killed Monday during a combat operation in eastern Afghanistan died just weeks before his deployment was scheduled to end, military officials said Tuesday.

Spc. Gabriel D. Conde, 22, of Loveland, Colorado, was killed while supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel and died as a result of “enemy small arms fire” in the Tagab District of Afghanistan on Monday, Department of Defense said in a statement Tuesday.

Conde was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Alaska, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

Army Alaska Public Affairs spokesman Lt. Col. Martyn Crighton told the Loveland Reporter-Herald that Conde, who was deployed in September 2017, nearly had completed his nine-month deployment, and was set to redeploy to Alaska within the coming weeks.

Another spokesperson, John Pennell, told the Anchorage Daily News that Conde was hit by rifle fire, but did not elaborate further.

His death still is under investigation, according to the DOD statement.

Conde joined the army in 2015, and his death marks the second U.S. combat death in Afghanistan this year, The Washington Post reported.

He graduated from Berthoud High School, where he was a member of his school’s track team, The Herald reported.

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on May 4, 2018 at 3:36am: Senate Discouraging Qualified Trump Picks.

5/3/18 Fox News by: Adam Shaw

The increasingly nasty and protracted confirmation process in Washington is creating new headaches for the Trump administration as it tries to fill vacancies for critical government jobs.
The most recent flare-up surrounded Dr. Ronny Jackson, the White House doctor who had received glowing praise from the obuma administration,

After being nominated for VA secretary, saw his reputation and career damaged as allegations emerged that he drank on the job and over-prescribed drugs. He denied the claims, but withdrew from consideration last week.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, meanwhile, narrowly got through the process after Democrats who once backed him lined up to oppose him.

White House officials have indicated that they are gearing up next for a tough fight to confirm his replacement at the CIA, current Deputy Director Gina Haspel.
On top of Democrats baying for blood in an election year, add to that the specter of the wide-ranging Russia probe and a mercurial president known for hiring and firing -- and it creates an atmosphere some say is hurting recruitment.

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on May 4, 2018 at 3:26am: Teen gets 23 years in prison for Ohio high school shooting.

By Associated Press

May/2/18

Ely Serna -- URBANA, Ohio — Logan Cole remembers in graphic detail being shot at his Ohio high school, in the bathroom where he had popped in to check his hair before a mock trial competition.

He remembers the impact to his chest, the splatter of his own blood on the wall, his front teeth cracking on the floor as he fell.