Entries by Attorney Gordon Johnson

Suspect charged in deadly Australian fire

Date: 2/13/2009 By TANALEE SMITHAssociated Press Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Authorities charged a man Friday with lighting one of the wildfires that killed more than 180 people in Australia, and whisked him into protective custody to guard him from public fury. Police said the suspect was charged with one count of arson causing death […]

Study: 9/11 lung problems persist years later

Date: 2/5/2009 By AMY WESTFELDTAssociated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Researchers tracking Sept. 11 responders who became ill after working at the World Trade Center site found many had lung problems years later in a study the authors said proves persistent illness in people exposed to toxic dust caused by the twin towers’ collapse. […]

Carbon Monoxide and Pets

It is very sobering to realize how many people are affected by carbon monoxide every year. These incidents always go up during natural disasters or power outages, like the one affecting so many right now. As much as we hear about carbon monoxide in the news, we rarely hear how many pets die. Smaller and […]

Power’s return could take weeks in Ky., Ark.

Date: 1/29/2009 By KRISTIN M. HALLAssociated Press Writer PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — Storm-battered residents of several states hunkered down in frigid homes and shelters Thursday, expecting to spend at least a week without power and waiting in long lines to buy generators, firewood, groceries and bottled water. Utility companies in Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Arkansas and […]

Trial begins for man accused in deadly Calif. fire

Date: 1/23/2009 By GREG RISLINGAssociated Press Writer RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A prosecutor said Thursday that an auto mechanic was “a man bent on destruction” who ignited a wildfire that killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters in 2006. In opening statements for Raymond Lee Oyler’s murder trial, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Michael Hestrin told […]

Mass. woman charged in fatal ’99 fire faces trial

Date: 1/12/2009 By DENISE LAVOIEAssociated Press Writer BOSTON (AP) — For nearly a decade, Kathleen Hilton has been in jail, though she’s been convicted of nothing. Prosecutors say the grandmother set a fire that killed five people, including three young girls, because she was allegedly angry her son’s ex-girlfriend wouldn’t let him see his two […]

Wash. woman dies; carbon monoxide found

January 6, 2009 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DENVER — Investigators say a boiler vent damaged during a recent windstorm may have led to the high levels of carbon monoxide that left one college student dead. Denver’s Chief Deputy Coroner Michelle Weiss-Samaras says 23-year-old Lauren Johnson died Monday after being taken from a third-floor unit at Josephine […]

7 killed in Philadelphia fire

Date: 12/28/2008 7:52 AM By KATHY MATHESONAssociated Press Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dozens of Liberian immigrants mourned Saturday at a house where seven members of their community died in a fire that a survivor said started when a kerosene heater spilled fuel and exploded as it was being moved outdoors. Authorities have not released the […]

65 children sickened by carbon monoxide in China

Date: 12/25/2008 7:29 AM BEIJING (AP) — Sixty-five elementary school students in northern China were poisoned by carbon monoxide after smoke from a dormitory boiler seeped into their rooms, state media reported Thursday. Nineteen were still being treated in hospitals in Inner Mongolia, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Meng Lei, a regional health official, […]

Carbon monoxide sends 29 to Wash. state hospital

Date: 12/16/2008 11:00 PM BC-Carbon Monoxide,2nd Ld-Writethru/221 BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Nearly 30 people at a seafood business were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning, officials said Tuesday. Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Boyd said they were overcome by fumes at the Homeport Seafoods cold storage business. The fire department responded to a call Tuesday morning about […]