Dump Truck

At the drive-in window a teller heard a crash and looked up to see a terrifying sight - a runaway dump truck barreling right for the bank. She alerted a customer in the drive-in lane to get out of the way and then used the intercom to warn employees and customers of a First Union Bank branch in Newtown, Bucks County, to get out of harm's way, a bank spokeswoman said. No one in the bank was injured. The quick-thinking employee couldn't help two motorists whose cars were demolished by the truck before it slammed into the bank in the Village of Newtown Shopping Center.

A police cruiser purchased by people in a Canadian town was presented yesterday to Portage, where officers had been patrolling the streets in a dump truck. Money to buy the car was raised after radio station CHTZ in St. Catharine's, Ontario, broadcast a report last month that Portage police were using the truck because the town's only squad car had broken down. The car was presented to Mayor Howard Smith by CHTZ disc jockey Scruff Conners in a ceremony attended by 100 people.

The Norwood Borough Council has authorized the preparation of bids for the purchase of a new dump truck. At Monday's council meeting, Councilman John Hauger instructed Borough Engineer F. Clark Walton to prepare bid specifications for the truck, which Hauger estimated will cost between $30,000 and $35,000. Hauger added that the borough also needs to buy a new leaf pickup machine. He asked Councilman Rodger W. Frederick to inquire about the availability of state grants for that purpose.

It will take six months to replace a footbridge rammed by a dump truck last week at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster, officials say. The accident occurred about 3:30 p.m. Monday. Police said the truck, owned by Delaware Valley Concrete Co., was heading north on Jacksonville Road when Navy security noticed that its dump bin was upright. They tried unsuccessfully to stop the truck. Driver Lewis McKinney, 43, of the 200 block of Chelsea Avenue, North Hills, later told police he did not realize that the dump bin was elevated.

A purple dump truck, loaded with stone, caused a two-car accident on the Burlington-Bristol Bridge on Wednesday, and the driver of the truck fled the scene, officials said. The accident, shortly before 1:30 p.m., closed the two-lane span over the Delaware River in both directions for about four hours, said Liz Verna, spokeswoman for the Burlington County Bridge Commission. An object came off the truck, which was heading into New Jersey, and hit a vehicle traveling into Pennsylvania. That vehicle then lost control and crossed into oncoming traffic, striking a second New Jersey-bound vehicle, according to Verna.

Two women were killed yesterday when the driver of a dump truck loaded with gravel ran a red light and struck their car, Winslow police said. The two women were identified as Laura Robbins, 19, of Voorhees, and Bonnie Grace, 22, of Erial, in Gloucester Township. They were both pronounced dead at West Jersey Hospital-Berlin shortly after the accident at 8:03 a.m., according to Patrolman Thomas Linardo of the Winslow Police Department. Steven Masi, 21, of Hammonton, the driver of the truck, was charged with the traffic violation of failing to obey an automatic signal, and the Iron Mill Excavation Co. of Elm, which owns the dump truck, was cited for having a truck over the weight limit and with having brakes that were not adjusted properly.

Horsham needs a dump truck. According to township manager Michael J. McGee, the average age of the township's five dump trucks is 16 years. The oldest, a 1963 Mack, is a maintenance problem. "We need to upgrade the age of the fleet," he said. With that, the council voted to allow McGee to advertise for the bid on a new truck and for another expense, new police uniforms. Councilman James R. Doherty took the opportunity to thank members of the Police Department for their community service.

Crews worked for several hours yesterday afternoon to clear an overturned dump truck and a load of massive logs off the Blue Route north of the MacDade Boulevard exit in Ridley Township. The truck flipped over several times and spilled the load onto the highway about 1:45 p.m., state police said. The driver, Ronald Davis, 21, of Linwood, and his passenger, Michael Lundberg, 23, of Sharon Hill, were treated for cuts and bruises at Crozer- Chester Medical Center and released.

A dozen passengers and the driver of a SEPTA bus were injured Wednesday in the city's Logan section when the vehicle was rear-ended by a dump truck, authorities said. The 10:39 a.m. crash at Germantown and Windrim Avenues sent 12 passengers and the operator of the Route 23 bus to emergency rooms at Albert Einstein Medical Center and Temple University Hospital with neck and back injuries, said Andrew Busch, a SEPTA spokesman. The truck driver was also treated at a local hospital. "The bus was stopped at Windrim," Busch said.

Authorities identified a truck driver who was critically injured Monday morning when his trailer flipped over on I-295 in Cherry Hill as 42-year-old Dwain Gable of Lehighton, Pa. Firefighters had to extricate Gable from the cab of the northbound tractor-trailer dump truck, which toppled into the southbound lanes around 9:30 as snow fell, New Jersey state police said. Gable was taken to Cooper University Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. State Police Sgt. Adam Grossman said the rig was near the exit for Route 70 when it fell over.

Authorities identified a truck driver who was critically injured earlier today when his trailer flipped over on I-295 in Cherry Hill as 42-year-old Dwain Gable of Lehighton, Pa. Firefighters had to extricate Gable from the cab of the northbound tractor-trailer dump truck which fell into the southbound lanes around 9:30 a.m. as snow fell, New Jersey State Police said. Gable was taken to Cooper University Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. State Police Sgt. Adam Grossman said earlier that the rig was near the exit for Route 70 when it toppled.

One dead in sailboat crash LOS ANGELES - A sailor died and five others had to be rescued after sending a Mayday call during a race but then declining help from the Coast Guard and other boaters as their boat drifted in rough seas toward a rocky island shore, authorities said Saturday. The crew of Uncontrollable Urge radioed the Mayday call Friday night after the 32-foot sailboat lost its steering capability and the craft began drifting toward San Clemente Island, where it then broke apart, Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Gawrelli said.

Her blouse open to reveal a skimpy bra, Megan Fox strikes a dangerously hot pose on the cover of Esquire. Yet inside the talk is of God. And glossolalia. "It feels like a lot of energy coming through the top of your head," Fox, 26, says of her experiences speaking in tongues. It began when she was 8. "Your whole body is filled with this electric current," she says. "Words are coming out of your mouth, and you can't control it. The idea is that it's a language that only God understands.

The roadway gridlock around Philadelphia Friday evening was on the mind of Twitter user Savannah Witkus. "Philly traffic tonight makes me want to stab my eyes with a spork," she wrote at 6 p.m. from her @savannahwitkus account. Police said the highways were crowded with high seasonal volume - people leaving work and going holiday shopping. There were residual delays from the departure of President Obama from Philadelphia during the afternoon; police temporarily shut roads his motorcade traveled.

Hello there Stacy and her friends were tailgating at a May 2007 NASCAR race in Virginia when the rain hit. Not a big deal-they had a tent. But the nice group of people they'd been chatting with a couple of trucks away were getting soaked. "We invited them under our tent," remembers Stacy, who then lived in Galloway Township, N.J., and was a casino host in the marketing department at the Borgata. Jared lived in Manheim, Lancaster County, and was then a machinery operator for a construction company.

  A 12-year maintenance employee of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was killed Monday in an accident that shut down eastbound lanes of the toll road between Norristown and Valley Forge for most of the day. Killed was Michael San Felice, 66, of West Norriton, a Vietnam War veteran and a director with the Jefferson Fire Company since 1985. The accident, which hospitalized two of San Felice's coworkers, occurred about 8:30 a.m. in the eastbound lanes, when a box truck struck a turnpike maintenance vehicle and then flipped onto its side.

A 12-year maintenance employee of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was killed Monday in an accident that shut down eastbound lanes of the toll road between Norristown and Valley Forge for most of the day. Killed was Michael San Felice, 66, of West Norriton, a Vietnam War veteran and a director with the Jefferson Fire Company since 1985. The accident, which hospitalized two of San Felice's coworkers, occurred about 8:30 a.m. in the eastbound lanes, when a box truck struck a turnpike maintenance vehicle and then flipped onto its side.

An Abington Township man was struck and killed by a piece of township-owned heavy equipment, police said. Thomas Smerke, 72, died at Abington Memorial Hospital last Friday, a day after being hit by a backhoe that was part of a road-resurfacing project. The machine's operator, John H. Manzinger, 58, of Glenside, told police he had just dumped a bucket of material into a dump truck and was maneuvering backward into the intersection of Parkview and Lycoming Avenues. Manzinger told police he looked both ways, but didn't see Smerke in the crosswalk.