September 24 marks a dark day for Sacramento. It was 50 years ago that 22 people died — 12 of them children — when a jet taking off from Sacramento Executive Airport overran the runway and slammed into Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour. Witness accounts indicate about 100 people were inside the popular eatery when the inexperienced pilot who had participated in the Golden West Sport Aviation Show changed their lives forever.
- PUB DATE: 9/21/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: UC Davis Health

An Oak Harbor resident has created a smartphone app that provides informational resources for homeowners in the case of a large natural disaster or other emergency. Andrew Leith is the founder of Dwell Secure, an app that stores information on how to manage things like gas, power and electrical issues in a home.
- PUB DATE: 9/21/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Whidbey News Times

This weekend, a surprising amount of arrests were made for arson and intentionally set fires - including one where investigators say a man tried to set a house on fire with his family and deputies inside. Public Information Officer Casey Schilperoort says he can't even count on one hand how many arson fires there has been since he's been with the Sheriff's Department.
- PUB DATE: 9/21/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIMA-TV CBS/CW+ 29 Yakima

The Painesville Township Fire Department this year ordered of a new fire engine, renovated the fire station, helped residents with fire preparedness and addressed responders’ mental health, all while continuing to handle emergency calls, News-Herald.com reported.

Those were some of the highlights of a presentation a fire official gave to Painesville City Council earlier this month, reviewing the department’s 2022 activity. The official also looked ahead to the department’s plans for 2023, including potential purchases and grant opportunities, according to the report.

The official noted that the department purchased a new Sutphen Fire Engine this year, the report said. The order was completed in January with the engine itself expected to arrive by the end of September. He added that this will be 10 months for a process that usually takes 39 months. Because the department bought an engine that was used for demonstrations, it was also purchased at a savings, the report said.

The fire department also welcomed four new full-time firefighters March 1 at station No. 3.

The Mesquite City Council voted last week to continue forward in its current course to build a new fire station on Mesquite Boulevard, despite a significant increase to the construction cost projections for the project, MVProgress.com reported.

In the September 13 meeting, the council voted to use American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds to make up a $5 million difference in what was originally allocated for the project, the report said.

In March, the council approved a city-owned parcel at 105 Mesquite Boulevard, just south of the public library branch, as the site for the new station. At that time, the cost projections for construction were between $6.6 and $7 million, according to the report.

The council decided then to fund the station using Redevelopment Authority (RDA) money. This would allow the city to employ a Construction Manager At Risk (CMAR) technique thought to be the most economic and quality-driven method. At that time, it was thought that the use of federal ARPA would not allow CMAR projects, the report said.

But in a presentation before the council at last week’s meeting, a city official said that many things had changed since last March, according to the report.

A city official explained that the city had entered into pre-construction services with CORE Construction as the designated CMAR. CORE had run preliminary cost estimates and come back with a total of $12 million for the project, nearly double the original allotment, the report said.

For more on this story, please go to MVProgress.com.