Friday, November 2, 2012

Anger grows over fuel shortage in storm-hit Northeast

Anger grows over fuel shortage in storm-hit Northeast

Anger grows over fuel shortage in storm-hit Northeast

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 06:15 PM PDT

A woman waits in a several-hour long line for gas at a station in the Staten Island borough of New YorkNEW YORK (Reuters) - Tempers frayed in long gas lines and millions were still without electricity across the Northeast on Friday as the death toll from superstorm Sandy hit 102 and crews searched for more victims in devastated communities in New York and New Jersey. New York City canceled its annual marathon in the face of mounting anger as utilities restored power to about a million East Coast homes and businesses but still had about 3.5 million customers in the dark four days after Sandy hit the U.S. coast. ...

U.S. taps reserves to calm New York, New Jersey fuel "panic" post Sandy

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 06:39 PM PDT

People stand in line with gas cans at a gas station on Staten Island in New York City after Hurricane SandyNEW YORK (Reuters) - A third day of gasoline "panic buying" among storm-stricken motorists in the New York area and New Jersey prompted authorities to tap emergency oil reserves and ordered the military to dispatch fuel on Friday, while limited deliveries from pipelines and oil barges offered a glimmer of relief. Four days before the U.S. presidential election, the Obama administration made an all-out effort to ease the crisis, authorizing the Defense Logistics Agency to buy and deliver up to 22 million gallons of fuel for the region, waiving a rule barring foreign-flagged vessels transiting ...

East Coast power recovery slows, 3.5 million still in dark

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 02:44 PM PDT

People wait to charge electrical supplies at a mobile charging unit in the Rockaways section of the Queens borough of New York(Reuters) - U.S. utilities restored power on Friday to about a million East Coast homes and businesses plunged into darkness by Hurricane Sandy, a slowdown from the past two days, as crews began to work on the hardest-hit areas that may take days to fix. About 3.5 million customers remained without power as of Friday afternoon, according to U.S. Department of Energy figures based on utility reports. The 1 million customers restored on Friday was down from the 2.1 million who had power restored on Wednesday and the 1.6 million on Thursday, the data showed. ...

Surveillance photo flushes out forgetful California lottery winner

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 06:19 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO, California (Reuters) - The belatedly crowned winner of a $23 million California lottery jackpot says she had stuffed the lucky ticket in her car and left it there forgotten for months, until a surveillance camera photo of the ticket's purchase surfaced on the Internet. Only when she recognized her daughter in the picture, which state lottery officials had publicly circulated in a desperate attempt to locate the missing winner, did Julie Cervera, 69, realize to her amazement that she was a multimillionaire. ...

New York cancels Sunday marathon in wake of deadly storm

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 05:37 PM PDT

Workers adjust the finish line of the 2012 ING Marathon after the race was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy, in New YorkNEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg abruptly reversed course and canceled Sunday's marathon, a beloved annual race that had become a lightning rod for people frustrated by the disastrous aftermath of megastorm Sandy. The decision on Friday came after a growing number of storm victims, some runners, and other politicians criticized Bloomberg's decision earlier in the week to go forward with the marathon, one of the world's most popular sporting events. ...

Hardest-hit areas left behind as power returns to Manhattan

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 06:18 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As electricity returns to Lower Manhattan in the wake of Sandy, residents in some of the neighborhoods of New York City hardest hit by the giant storm are complaining that their plight is being overlooked. In many outlying areas of the city, thousands of people are going to have to wait up to nine days, and in some cases even longer, for electricity to be restored to their homes. Some have lost their houses altogether to floods or fire and others are dealing with heavy water damage. ...

Chicago's Emanuel faces new clash with teachers on school closings

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 05:58 PM PDT

Chicago Mayor Emanuel addresses first session of the Democratic National Convention in CharlotteCHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is headed for another clash in coming months with unionized teachers over whether to close dozens of schools, after a bitter teachers strike temporarily shut down the nation's third largest public school district in September. Facing a December 1 deadline to issue a proposed list of schools to be closed, new Chicago Public Schools chief executive Barbara Byrd-Bennett on Friday asked the state legislature for a four-month delay until March 31. ...

Chicago's Cook County OKs gun tax to defray costs of violence

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 06:06 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The county that includes Chicago approved a tax on firearms on Friday to help pay healthcare costs from gun violence, making it what is believed to be the first major U.S. metropolitan area to enact such a levy as a form of gun control. The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted 9-7 to impose a $25 tax on each firearm sold. The tax is expected to raise $600,000 in revenue in 2013. With the vote, the nation's third most populous county, with nearly 5.2 million residents, becomes the first large U.S. ...

Higher bond for former Penn State officials in sex abuse scandal

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 03:02 PM PDT

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - A judge on Friday ordered two former Penn State University officials embroiled in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal to post $50,000 in added bond money each after they were charged with additional crimes. Tim Curley, 58, the former Athletic Director, and Gary Schultz, 63, a former athletic department finance official, were charged on Thursday with additional crimes for what Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly called "a conspiracy of silence" in the Sandusky matter. ...

U.S. government tries to get fuel to storm-hit Northeast

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 05:30 PM PDT

People wait in line to buy gas at a station at Union City, New JerseyWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday sought to ease the fuel crunch that hit the Northeast after Hurricane Sandy, saying it would buy fuel, provide emergency responders with diesel from national reserves, and allow foreign tankers in the Gulf of Mexico to bring fuel to the region. The Department of Homeland Security waived the Jones Act, a law that normally prohibits foreign-flagged vessels from shipping gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products, from the Gulf of Mexico to Northeastern ports. ...

New York fuel "panic" grows even as ports open, reserves tapped

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 03:37 PM PDT

People stand in line with gas cans at a gas station on Staten Island in New York City after Hurricane SandyNEW YORK (Reuters) - A third day of gasoline "panic buying" among storm-stricken New York area motorists prompted authorities on Friday to tap strategic oil reserves and waive shipping regulations even as limited deliveries resumed in the battered region. The U.S. government said it will loan 2 million gallons of diesel from the Northeast emergency heating oil reserve to the military for recovery efforts, and waived rules barring foreign-flagged vessels from carrying fuel between U.S. ports in a bid to boost supplies. ...

Waiting for power? It could be a matter of poles

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 05:57 PM PDT

(Reuters) - When some Westchester County, New York, residents called utility Consolidated Edison on Friday to find out why it was taking so long to restore power, they were told that it wasn't for lack of manpower or equipment. It was poles ... utility poles. Despite the caravans of power trucks in neighborhoods across the New York City area, a shortage of the specially-treated wooden poles used to string overhead power transmission lines and hold up transformers may be slowing the recovery. ...

Coast Guard to investigate sinking of HMS Bounty replica

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 03:04 PM PDT

Handout of Captain Walbridge with his sister Jansen in front of the HMS BountyCHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard announced an investigation on Friday into the sinking of the replica of the sailing ship HMS Bounty with the loss of two crew members during Hurricane Sandy. Rear Admiral Steven Ratti, commander of the Coast Guard's 5th District, ordered the formal investigation on Thursday after the Coast Guard suspended its search for the Bounty's missing captain, 63-year-old Robin Walbridge. ...

U.S. jury awards troops $85 million over Iraq chemical exposure

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 05:50 PM PDT

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - An Oregon jury awarded 12 Army National Guardsmen $85 million in damages from defense contractor KBR Inc. on Friday after finding that the company failed to protect them from exposure to cancer-causing chemicals when they served in Iraq. Each Guard soldier was awarded $850,000 in non-economic damages and another $6.25 million in punitive damages for "reckless and outrageous indifference" to their health in the trial in U.S. District Court in Portland. ...

U.S. to loan diesel to help Northeast recover from Sandy

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 02:28 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Department of Energy said on Friday it will loan diesel from the Northeast emergency heating oil reserve to help speed recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy. The DOE said the fuel will be distributed to emergency responders in New York and New Jersey starting as early as tomorrow. "This includes fuel for emergency equipment and buildings, including electrical generators, water pumps, GSA buildings, trucks and other vehicles," the DOE said. ...

In New Jersey: if you can't sell the car, use its gas

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 03:14 PM PDT

NEPTUNE CITY, New Jersey (Reuters) - Michael Graubart owns a used car dealership on the Jersey shore, but he had no customers. What he did have was gasoline - in the tanks of the two dozen used cars sitting idle on his lot. Talk about liquid gold. New Jersey, New York City and Long Island have been facing acute gas shortages in the days since superstorm Sandy hit, because of a combination of power outages and constricted supplies. Drivers have been roaming miles in search of fuel and then getting in long lines at gas stations that are open. ...

Chicago's Cook County is first metro area to levy gun tax

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 02:19 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The county that includes Chicago on Friday approved a tax on firearms to help pay the healthcare costs from gun violence, the first major U.S. metropolitan area to impose such a tax as a form of gun control. Under the plan, Cook County, Illinois, will impose a $25 tax on each firearm sold. The tax is expected to raise $600,000 in revenue in 2013. With Friday's vote, the nation's third most populous county with nearly 5.2 million residents becomes the first major U.S. ...

U.S. government tries to get fuel to storm-hit Northeast

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 03:59 PM PDT

People wait in line to buy gas at a station at Union City, New JerseyWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday sought to ease the fuel crunch that hit the Northeast after Hurricane Sandy, saying it would provide emergency responders with diesel from national reserves, and also allowing foreign tankers in the Gulf of Mexico to bring fuel to the region. The Department of Homeland Security waived the Jones Act, a law that normally prohibits foreign-flagged vessels from shipping gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products, from the Gulf of Mexico to Northeastern ports. ...

U.S. waives Jones Act to help get fuel to Northeast

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 02:16 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government issued a rare waiver on Friday allowing foreign tankers in the Gulf of Mexico to supply the Northeast with fuel after Hurricane Sandy, but the extent of relief was uncertain since some ports in the region still lacked power. The Department of Homeland Security's waiver of the Jones Act allows foreign-flagged vessels to begin shipping petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel, from the Gulf of Mexico to Northeastern ports effective immediately. The shipments must leave the Gulf region by November 13 and arrive in the Northeast by a week after. ...

Storm Sandy to cost New York state economy up to $18 billion: government

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 12:37 PM PDT

A largely powerless downtown Manhattan stands under a night sky due to a power blackout caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York(Reuters) - Temporary losses to New York state's economy from super storm Sandy could reach $18 billion, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said on Friday. Disruptions to daily business -- from Wall Street in New York City to Main Street shops on Long Island and upstate -- could cause between $15 billion and $18 billion in lost economic activity, according to DiNapoli's preliminary estimates. ...

New York Harbor oil network slowly recovering after Sandy

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 01:05 PM PDT

Lower Manhattan is seen from New York Harbor(Reuters) - The New York area's energy network slowly resumed operations on Friday, five days after Hurricane Sandy shut down the pipelines, fuel terminals and refineries that serve the country's densest consuming region. Phillips 66's 238,000 barrel-per-day Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey, could be weeks away from restarting due to heavy damage caused by salt water flooding, a source familiar with refinery operations said on Friday. Power outages have kept Hess Corp's nearby 70,000 bpd plant in Port Reading, New Jersey, shut down. ...

White House mulling response to fuel shortage post Sandy

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 12:38 PM PDT

A vehicle that ran out of fuel parks at a gas station in Staten Island due to shortages following Hurricane Sandy, in New YorkON BOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - The White House will continue to look at possibilities to help respond to problems from superstorm Sandy but had no announcement to make on whether tapping oil reserves was being considered as part of the effort, a spokesman said on Friday. "I don't have any new measures to announce," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters when asked whether the United States would consider tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to offset fuel shortages from the storm. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Jackie Frank)

More New Jersey gas stations open after outages; New York also improves: AAA

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 02:20 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly half of all service stations in New Jersey are now open for business, up from 35 to 40 percent earlier in the day, while a smaller number of New York City and Long Island stations have also reopened, AAA said on Friday, four days after super storm Sandy. Updating figures it provided earlier in the day, the motoring group said 45 to 50 percent of all the stations it monitors in New Jersey were now open for business. It said 35 to 40 percent were working on Long Island and 40 to 45 percent in New York City, both up 5 percentage points from earlier. ...

Alan Murray to leave Wall Street Journal for Pew Research Center

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 01:35 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Alan Murray is leaving the Wall Street Journal to assume the role of president of the Pew Research Center, effective in January, the center announced on Friday. Murray, 57, is currently the Journal's deputy managing editor and online executive editor. In his new role he will oversee the Pew Research Center's seven projects covering topics ranging from journalism to religion to social trends. "I have watched in the last 30 years as trusted facts have become an endangered species," Murray told Reuters in an interview. ...

In Kentucky, evacuation enters third day after derailment, fire

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 12:35 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Hundreds of residents outside Louisville, Kentucky, were kept from their homes for a third day on Friday as authorities allowed a chemical fire triggered by a train derailment to burn itself out, local emergency officials said. The freight train, which was carrying butadiene and styrene, jumped the tracks on Wednesday about 30 miles south of Louisville near the small Kentucky town of West Point and the Fort Knox military post. ...

New York's MTA has no plan for extra borrowing

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 09:39 AM PDT

Commuters wait for express buses to Manhattan from the Brooklyn Borough of New York(Reuters) - New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday quelled some market concerns that its already strapped finances could be further strained by cleanup costs after the massive storm Sandy flooded streets and subways. The chief financial officer of the largest U.S. mass transit system said that he does not expect to borrow extra money and the finance director added that debt issuance will proceed as planned. "At this stage, I am not anticipating the need for external borrowing," CFO Robert Foran said in a conference call with reporters. ...

U.S. waives Jones Act to help get fuel to Northeast

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 12:40 PM PDT

People wait for gas at a Hess fuelling station in Brooklyn,, New York HarborWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government issued a rare waiver on Friday allowing foreign tankers from the Gulf of Mexico to supply the Northeast with fuel after Hurricane Sandy, but the extent of relief was uncertain since some ports in the region still lack power. The Department of Homeland Security's waiver of the Jones Act allows foreign vessels to begin shipping petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel, from the Gulf of Mexico to Northeastern ports effective immediately and running through November 13. ...

Insight: Scant evidence of voter suppression, fraud in states with ID laws

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 08:04 AM PDT

Lockett and her second cousin Smith who helped her get a voter ID are shown in Munster, IndianaATLANTA (Reuters) - Democratic claims that a large number of Americans could be prevented from voting because of photo identification laws are probably overstated based on evidence from Georgia and Indiana, the two states where the laws have been in place for multiple elections, Reuters found. Data and numerous interviews by Reuters reporters also suggest there is little evidence to bolster Republican assertions that ID laws are needed to combat rampant voter fraud. ...

Storm Sandy blamed for at least 102 deaths in US, Canada

Posted: 02 Nov 2012 06:05 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Deaths in the United States and Canada blamed on Sandy, the mega-storm that tore across the U.S. East Coast this week, rose to at least 102 on Friday. In New York City, 40 people have been found dead, half of them on Staten Island, the borough that lies across New York Harbor from lower Manhattan. In New Jersey, authorities said the death toll there had reached 13 and 14 deaths were reported by emergency management officials in Pennsylvania. The storm also killed at least 69 people in the Caribbean, including at least 54 in Haiti and 11 in Cuba, before hitting the U.S. ...
Posted by Harshad at 7:32 PM

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