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The week had been difficult enough for the Weinberger family after a rare derecho storm knocked out power to their Bethesda home for four nights and an enormous oak tree had been toppled by the wind into their roof. And that was before a heavy duty crane tipped over in their yard. “We had a lovely driveway, a beautiful lawn you could host Wimbledon on,” said Lauren Weinberger with a laugh, as she chatted by phone on Sunday.

U.S. offers unmanned chopper to help remove Fukushima spent fuel TOKYO, April 17, Kyodo The U.S. government has told Japan that it can use a U.S. unmanned cargo transport helicopter to set up cranes to remove spent fuel rods from storage pools at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japanese and U.S. sources close to the matter said Saturday. The K-MAX helicopter, developed jointly by Lockheed Martin Corp. and KAMAN Aerospace Group of the United States, is being considered to set up the huge cranes. The proposal has been communicated to the unified command headquarters set up by the Japanese...

The U.S. Marshals Service has "arrested" a Chinese ship after a crane aboard the vessel damaged a towering new container crane at APM Terminals in Portsmouth. The arrest came after the Virginia Port Authority and its operating affiliate sued the Chinese company that made and delivered two new cranes. The suit in Norfolk's federal court seeks $14.65 million in damages. The court then issued an arrest warrant for the ship. While still berthed at APM Terminals, it's now in federal custody. "From the time that it's under arrest, it belongs to the United States Marshals Service - until the courts...

The actor Tweeted last month about the possibility of catching up with a new generation of the the Crane family, the New York Post reports. "Maybe it is time for a Frasier reunion," Grammer wrote. "(It's) very interesting to say the least... maybe a Frasier reunion on like a new show seriously thinking about that !!!." Grammer solicited opinions from his Twitter followers about the possibility of a spinoff. "I'm now really thinking maybe a spin-off of Frasier?" he wrote. "How would u feel about that with like my son and (Frasier's fictional brother) Niles' sibling? Cameos by old cast?"

As the early-morning fog cleared at the Dunnellon airport in Marion County, Fla., and the temperatures slowly rose, 8-year-old Edon Palchar waited with his family to see whooping cranes for the very first time. The cranes, guided by an ultralight aircraft, were on their way to their winter homes at a wildlife refuge in Florida this week. Experts say there are only 350 of these rare birds left in the world. Their arrival is becoming an annual spectacle that draws thousands of bird lovers. Watching Live And On The Web For Edon Palchar, the coolest thing about the cranes is...

A sandhill crane that was captured in central Wisconsin with an arrow through her body is due to be released after what a veteran bird rehabilitator calls a truly amazing recovery. Bird watcher Don Darnell from Eden Prairie, Minn., spotted the crane standing by the road near Wisconsin Rapids as he and his wife were driving through last Labor Day weekend.

MSNBC News Services updated 34 minutes ago HOUSTON - The largest mobile crane in the nation collapsed at a Houston oil refinery Friday, killing four workers and injuring six others, a company vice president said. The crane, capable of lifting 800,000 pounds, fell over at a LyondellBasell refinery in southeast Houston about 2 p.m. The large crane fell on or knocked a smaller, nearby crane. Witnesses said an alarm sounded, and employees ran to a lunch tent that was designated as an emergency evacuation area. However, the crane toppled on top of the tent, killing some inside, KRPC-TV, an NBC...

NEW YORK (AP) — A veteran New York City crane inspector has been arrested on charges of taking thousands in dollars of bribes and falsifying reports. James Delayo, an assistant chief inspector with the city's cranes and derricks division, is charged with collecting thousands of dollars in bribes from a crane company. The city's Department of Investigation said Friday that Delayo tampered with licensing exams by providing the answers for crane operator exams to a crane company. The city says Delayo's alleged conduct has nothing to do with the two crane collapses that killed nine people since March.

MyFoxNY.com -- One person was killed in a crane collapse at a construction site at 354 91st Street near 1st. Avenue in Manhattan. The Associated Press reports that people have been pulled from the debris. Fox 5 Assignment Editor Jonathan Cohen was a block away and heard a large rumbling sound.

Updated, 5:55 p.m. | A Buildings Department inspector, Edward J. Marquette, has been arrested and charged with lying to New York City authorities about inspecting the crane that collapsed on Saturday afternoon, killing seven people, injuring dozens of others and causing widespread property damage. Officials issued a stern warning that corrupt workers will be punished, but said the failure to inspect the crane on March 4 was almost certainly not a factor in the deadly collapse, which officials think may have been caused by the failure of a nylon strap, which led to a large steel collar coming loose. Rose...

A crane towering over a high-rise construction site on the East Side of Manhattan collapsed in a roar of rending steel Saturday afternoon, raining death and destruction across a city block as it slashed down on an apartment building, broke into sections, crushed a town house and cut away a tenement facade. At least four people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured, and damage was expected to run into the millions of dollars in what the authorities called one of the city’s worst accidents — a calamity that turned a neighborhood near the United Nations into...

Four people are dead, more than a dozen were injured and at least one person remains trapped in the rubble of a crane collapse in Midtown Saturday in what the mayor called "one of the worst [construction accidents] the city has had." Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said firefighters will continue the rescue effort through the night in a "painstaking, hand operation, as they try to remove the rubble. Four construction workers were killed when the 15-story crane apparatus collapsed onto a four-story brick townhouse at 305 East 50th Street between First and Second Avenues at about 2:22 p.m. Saturday. Juan...

NEW YORK -- A massive crane has collapsed onto several neighboring buildings on the east side of Manhattan, killing at least four people, firefighters said. Fatal Crane Collapse At least nine others were injured, three critically. A full rescue operation is under way in the rubble-strewn area near 51st Street and Second Avenue. Chopper 4 images show that at least three buildings seem to be directly affected by the collapse, while at least another three buildings sustained collateral damage. One small, brick apartment building appeared to have been completely crushed by the falling wreckage. The crane, about 19 stories tall,...

(snip) During the stalemate in March 1952, elements of the 40th Infantry Division were occupying positions on the central front. Among the men assigned was Episcopal Chaplain Robert M. Crane. The 40th Division was a National Guard unit that had relieved the 24th Infantry Division little more than a month before. Although Crane, like many of the men he served, had had previous Army experience, his second tour had begun only 12 months earlier. He spent most of that time in Japan where the two National Guard divisions, the 40th and the 45th, trained and provided security while high-level commanders...

Endangered Crane Survives Florida Storms Monday February 5, 2007 2:01 AM By CARRIE ANTLFINGER Associated Press Writer MILWAUKEE (AP) - A whooping crane was spotted alive on Sunday after it was believed killed with 17 others in severe Florida storms, according to an organizer of a migratory project. Organizers received a signal from a transmitter on the young male crane on Saturday night and again on Sunday near where the endangered birds were kept in Citrus County, Fla. Later Sunday, they saw the survivor with two sandhill cranes, said Rachel Levin, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service....

One killed when construction crane collapses in Bellevue 10:31 PM PST on Thursday, November 16, 2006 KING5.com KING A construction crane collapse in downtown Bellevue Thursday evening. BELLEVUE, Wash. - One person was killed when a construction crane collapsed Thursday night at about 7:45 p.m. in downtown Bellevue on 180th Avenue NE near NE 4th Street. The west side of Pinnacle Bell Centre Apartments was torn away when the crane came down. The dead person was found in the top floor of the apartment building, Bellevue Fire Department Lt. Bruce Kroon said. The top floor of the Pinnacle Bell Centre...

Foley, Pirro, Allen - Political Set-Ups? Written by Doc Farmer Tuesday, October 03, 2006 File this article under "Things That Make You Go Hmmm...." First of all, let me make my meaning plain -- Former House Representative Mark Foley is a bastard. He's a scumbag. He's a sleazy pervert. He's a disgrace. I don't care if he laid a finger on any congressional pages or not. His Instant Messages were disgusting, and he had no business using his position of power to "flirt" with underage boys (or girls, if he were so inclined). I do, however, have to ask this...

A television documentary team has pieced together details surrounding the case of a 16-year-old girl, executed two years ago in Iran. Atefah Sahaaleh: wrongly described as being 22 years old On 15 August, 2004, Atefah Sahaaleh was hanged in a public square in the Iranian city of Neka. Her death sentence was imposed for "crimes against chastity". The state-run newspaper accused her of adultery and described her as 22 years old. But she was not married - and she was just 16. Sharia Law In terms of the number of people executed by the state in 2004, Iran is estimated...

Republicans took a step toward political revival Tuesday in Illinois, where they nominated viable moderates (relatively speaking) in two key races. Performances this fall by Judy Baar Topinka and David McSweeney, while isolated to specific races, could say a lot about how Republicans fare in midterms elections. Not just in the Land of Lincoln, but in suburbs across the country. Putting a higher priority on victory than ideology, GOP primary voters chose Topinka, a polka-dancing, cigarette-smoking, foul-mouthed moderate with ties to disgraced former Gov. George Ryan (R), over two buttoned-down conservatives vying to challenge Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), in what...

Police: Man Swung From Crane Into Side Of BuildingBOULDER, Colo. -- A 22-year-old man was killed early Tuesday morning when he swung from a large crane and hit a building. According to University of Colorado police, the accident happened about 3:13 a.m. in the area of 18th Street and Colorado Avenue. Police said the victim and another man climbed a construction crane at the CU-Boulder ATLAS Building site and attached climbing ropes to it. The man who was killed swung across 18th Street and hit the side of the CU power plant building. Police said a wind gust might have...