TMCnet News

BRIEFLY [Topeka Capital Journal (KS)]
[February 25, 2014]

BRIEFLY [Topeka Capital Journal (KS)]


(Topeka Capital Journal (KS) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NEW ORLEANS -- A 65-mile stretch of the Mississippi River, including the Port of New Orleans, was closed to all water traffic Sunday as crews cleaned up oil that spilled from a barge after it ran into a towboat between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, the Coast Guard said.



Officials don't know how much oil spilled, but only a sheen was reported on the river following the collision, which happened Saturday afternoon near Vacherie, 47 miles west of New Orleans by land, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough.

No one was hurt and all barges were secured, Colclough said.


By late Sunday afternoon, 16 vessels were waiting to go downriver and 10 vessels were waiting in an upriver queue, he said. He couldn't estimate when the river would reopen. The cause of the collision was under investigation.

NATION NETFLIX REACHES DEAL WITH COMCAST: Netflix has reached a deal with Comcast to ensure that its TV shows and movies are streamed smoothly to households, the first deal the online video streaming service has reached with an Internet service provider.

The two companies said in a joint statement Sunday they are establishing a more direct connection to provide a better service to customers that also will allow for future growth in Netflix traffic. The companies say the arrangement already is giving customers a better experience.

Netflix had 33 million U.S. streaming subscribers at the start of the year and accounts for about one-third of all traffic at peak times on the Internet, according to research firm Sandvine. As the video steaming company has grown, Internet service providers like Comcast have pushed the company for more structured deals to enable its content to be transmitted smoothly and reduce the strain on their networks.

ONE DEAD, DOZENS HOSPITALIZED FROM CARBON MONOXIDE LEAK: A faulty water heater flue pipe caused the carbon monoxide leak that killed a New York restaurant manager and sent more than two dozen people to hospitals, a fire official said Sunday.

Huntington Chief Fire Marshal Terence McNally said the fumes were circulated in the basement by the ventilation systems at the Legal Sea Foods restaurant at the Walt Whitman Shops on Long Island.

Restaurant manager Steven Nelson was found unresponsive in the basement on Saturday night and pronounced dead at a hospital.

SURVIVING CHILDREN FROM INDIANAPOLIS HOUSE FIRE SUCCUMB TO INJURIES: Two young children died Sunday from injuries they sustained in a house fire that killed two of their siblings and their parents, an Indianapolis Fire Department spokeswoman said.

Miranda Guerra, 14, and her 6-year-old brother, Fuentes, were pronounced dead Sunday afternoon at Riley Hospital for Children, Capt. Rita Reith said.

The extended family was working with the hospital for possible organ procurement, Reith said.

CNN ENDING 'PIERS MORGAN LIVE': CNN says the prime-time talk show "Piers Morgan Live" is coming to an end.

Morgan succeeded Larry King in the 8 p.m. time slot three years ago, but his show has had lackluster ratings.

CNN said Sunday the show's final airdate has yet to be determined.

WORLD G-20 LEADERS AGREE TO BOOST WORLD ECONOMY BY $2 TRILLION: Finance chiefs from the 20 largest economies agreed Sunday to implement policies that will boost world GDP by more than $2 trillion over the coming five years.

Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey, who hosted the Group of 20 meeting in Sydney, said the commitment from the G-20 finance ministers and central bankers was "unprecedented." THREE KILLED IN BANGKOK ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS: Two young siblings and a woman were killed Sunday in an apparent grenade attack against anti-government protesters occupying an upscale shopping area of Thailand's capital, the latest violence in a months-long political crisis that is growing bloodier by the day.

The attack near the Ratchaprasong intersection in the heart of Bangkok, home to major shopping malls and luxury hotels, followed another assault on anti-government protesters Saturday night in eastern Thailand that killed a young girl and wounded dozens of other people.

FROM WIRE REPORTS (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.

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