For decades, Scott Phillips-Gartner served as a member of Norfolk Fire-Rescue, first as a 911 operator and later as an assistant fire marshal and bomb squad technician. But then in October 2014 he married his longtime boyfriend, leading his bosses to find out he was gay. Phillips-Gartner, 55, says the department ultimately stripped him of his rank and directed him to start working out of a temporary facility miles away from his usual office “with little to no job duties.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Norfolk Virginian-Pilot/HamptonRoads.com

Mayor Sylvester Turner will ask Houston city council Wednesday to hire a law firm to advise the city on possible litigation related to the firefighter pay parity measure, setting in motion a potential court challenge to the item approved by voters earlier this month. While the firefighters union has urged the city to return to the negotiating table, Turner has questioned whether the city could preempt the ballot measure approved by voters, suggesting a judge should settle the question first.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

A Logansport fire that killed six people, including four children, is being investigated as a possible criminal case, according to the Cass County sheriff. The call for the fire came out around 1:50 a.m. in the 4300 block of Pottawatomie Road on the east side of the city. Cass County Fire Lt. Steve Crispen says the sheriff’s department arrived on the scene first.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIN-TV Fox 59 Indianapolis

A technological upgrade will help dispatchers at the Seattle Police 911 Center determine a mobile caller’s precise location. Previously, dispatchers could only tell the precise location of those who called from landlines. Cellphones accounted for 70 percent of all incoming 911 calls in 2017, according to FCC data.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIRO 7 Seattle

All lanes of southbound Interstate 5 are blocked near Tumwater after a semi truck crashed and overturned, spilling its load of powdered milk. State troopers and medics responded to the scene, near 93rd Ave SW, at around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday after receiving reports of a serious collision, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000