Green Bay News

BALTIMORE (AP) – A woman was found pushing her dead 3-year-old son in a park swing Friday, and authorities say she may have been there for hours, or even since the day before.

There were no obvious signs of foul play, but it has not been ruled out, said Diane Richardson, a spokeswoman with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.

Richardson said authorities are trying to trace the 24-year-old woman’s movements over the past several days “to find out what was going on in her life, what led to this moment.”

Sheriff’s deputies went to the park in La Plata, Maryland, about 7 a.m. after being called to check on the welfare of the woman and child, Richardson said. The officers went to remove the boy from the swing and give him first aid, but “it was instantaneously clear the child was dead,” she said. There were no signs of trauma to his body.

Deputies cut the chain on the swing’s seat and removed the body, which was taken to the Officer of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. The woman was able to answer some of the deputies’ questions before being taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation, Richardson said.

The mother, whom police did not identify, listed several addresses, including one in Washington and another in Charles County, where La Plata is located, Richardson said. She said the woman also had stayed with a relative in the county.

La Plata is about 30 miles southeast of Washington, with a population of about 8,700, according to the town’s website.

“It’s a very sad and tragic situation for the mother, her family, the officers,” Richardson said. “All of us want answers. We’re working very hard on that.”

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker has appointed the son of a president of a foundation that supports conservative causes to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents.

Walker announced Friday that he has appointed Mike M. Grebe, son of Michael W. Grebe, president and chief executive of the Bradley Foundation, to the board. The foundation has backed a number of conservative public policy experiments, including welfare reform and, voucher schools. Michael W. Grebe also has served as chairman of Walker’s campaign.

Walker announced, too, that he has appointed Jim Troupis, an attorney who often works for the GOP, as a Dane County circuit judge.

The governor says Troupis will fill a seat previously held by Judge John C. Albert, who has retired. Troupis will serve until August 2016.

Erin Stoffel, the lone survivor of a tragic shooting on Menasha’s Trestle Trail, was released from the hospital Friday afternoon, Theda Clark Hospital confirms.

Stoffel was recovering in the hospital since the shooting on May 3. Her 33-year-old husband, Jon, and 11-year-old daughter Olivia were killed in the shooting. Another man, 31-year-old Adam Bentdahl of Appleton, was also killed.

The Stoffels have two other children, Ezra and Selah, who were uninjured in the shooting.

 

 

 

GREEN BAY – Many of us have seen them: baby raccoons, geese, and newborn fawns.

And if their mother isn’t around, we may think those animals are abandoned.

But experts say many times that’s not the case, and they have some advice about encounters with the wild.

The big brown eyes and the soft speckled spots can make the whitetail fawn hard to resist.

“Hundreds of thousands of fawns are being born right now. Memorial Day weekend tends to be about the peak,” said Jeff Pritzl, D.N.R. District Wildlife Supervisor.

“We’ve seen young deer,” said Pascale Manning, Oshkosh.

Manning and her husband Stewart Cole encountered the animals on hikes.

“We just stay away. We just kind of back away very carefully,” said Manning.

“Leave them alone. Let nature take its course,” said Pritzl.

Pritzl says whitetail does generally leave the fawns alone, checking on them only a couple times a day.

“So if someone finds a fawn, and even watches it even for hours, and mom doesn’t show up, that doesn’t mean the fawn is in trouble or abandoned. That’s a natural process,” he said.

But at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay, fawns arrive every year.

“It varies season to season. Sometimes it’s 15-20,” said Matt Rupnik, Senior Animal Keeper, Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.

Rupnik says it’s best to call the sanctuary before bringing in an animal.

“It may not be that it needs to come here. It may just need a little help getting back home back by mom. And we can always talk you through that as well,” said Rupnik.

From squirrels, to birds, to baby raccoons, Rupnik says about 5,000 orphaned, sick or injured animals come to the sanctuary each year.

So whether it’s sandhill cranes, or a family of Canada Geese,

“Keeping it with mom, is the best place for them. Mom knows best,” said Rupnik.

And that’s something Stewart Cole has learned as well.

“You never know why a young animal would be alone like that. If you don’t know, unless you’re a naturalist, a professional naturalist, then I would say leave it alone,” said Stewart Cole, Oshkosh.

This is the second year of the Keep Wildlife Wild program.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A campaign worker for a New Hampshire House hopeful has been charged with a felony for sending out a fake news release saying the opponent had dropped out of the race.

Attorney General Joseph Foster says 28-year-old Carl Gibson of Concord was charged Friday with felony voter suppression and a misdemeanor count of distributing a false document.

Gibson is scheduled to be arraigned June 22 in Concord District Court. He told the Concord Monitor this week that he “probably had one too many beers” before sending out the false email.

Gibson had been working for Democrat Maureen Mann, who ended up losing the close race in the special election. Republican opponent Yvonne Dean-Bailey won the election to represent Candia, Deerfield, Northwood and Nottingham.

Mann called the election interference “absolutely reprehensible.”

 

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – TLC pulled the reality series “19 Kids and Counting” from its schedule on Friday, a move that follows reports of sexual misconduct allegations against one of the stars, Josh Duggar, stemming from when he was a juvenile.

In a statement, the channel said it was “deeply saddened and troubled by this heartbreaking situation, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family and victims at this difficult time.” The statement didn’t elaborate.

Also Friday, Arkansas police said they had destroyed a record outlining a nearly decade-old investigation into Duggar, a day after the 27-year-old resigned his role with a prominent conservative Christian group amid reports about the allegations.

The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which obtained the offense report before its destruction, reports Duggar was accused of fondling five girls in 2002 and 2003. Duggar issued an apology Thursday on Facebook for unspecified bad behavior as a youth and resigned his role as executive director for FRC Action, the tax-exempt legislative action arm of the Washington-based Family Research Council.

“I would do anything to go back to those teen years and take different actions,” Duggar wrote. “In my life today, I am so very thankful for God’s grace, mercy and redemption.”

Duggar appears on the TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” which stars his family. He is the oldest of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 19 children.

TLC didn’t address whether its popular show would return. The program had been set to air in reruns after wrapping its most recent season.

Springdale Police began investigating Duggar in 2006 when officers were alerted to a letter containing the allegations that was found in a book lent by a family friend to someone else.

The report, originally published by tabloid In Touch Weekly, states that a member of Harpo Studios, the producer of Oprah Winfrey’s then show, received an email containing the allegations before the family was set to appear in 2006. The tipster warned producers against allowing the Duggars on the show and studio staff members faxed a copy of the email to Arkansas State Police.

Springdale Police spokesman Scott Lewis said Judge Stacey Zimmerman ordered the 2006 offense report destroyed Thursday. Zimmerman didn’t return a request for comment on Friday.

“The judge ordered us yesterday to expunge that record,” Lewis said, adding that similar records are typically kept indefinitely. “As far as the Springdale Police Department is concerned this report doesn’t exist.”

Neither Duggar nor his father, a former state representative, returned calls seeking comment Friday.

Several Arkansas Republicans have rallied behind the Duggar family, which is still engaged in state politics. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar attended the kickoff event earlier this month for Republican presidential nominee Mike Huckabee, who supported the family in a Facebook post on Friday.

“Those who have enjoyed revealing this long ago sins in order to discredit the Duggar family have actually revealed their own insensitive bloodthirst, for there was no consideration of the fact that the victims wanted this to be left in the past and ultimately a judge had the information on file destroyed_not to protect Josh, but the innocent victims,” Huckabee wrote.

Arkansas Sen. Bart Hester said Josh Duggar, who he has known for about five years, has been open and honest about the incident with wife, family and friends. State Sen. Jon Woods, who has known the Duggar family since 2005, said the family had put the issue behind them.

“It’s between the family members and was addressed a long time ago but it’s new to the public,” Woods said. “The family had time to heal and now the public needs time to heal.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Egg prices reached record levels on Friday after a bird flu outbreak decimated the flock, leading to the death of more than 20 million egg-laying hens over the last month in the top producing state of Iowa.

The virus spread appears to have slowed but not stopped. Federal officials are planning an aggressive educational campaign to improve biosecurity around infected barns after tests have shown the disease is spreading from farm to farm.

Officials studying the worst bird flu outbreak in the U.S. say they’re learning about the virus that has led to 40 million dead birds – mostly turkeys and egg-laying chickens – either from the disease or euthanized to prevent its spread. Following are some answers to questions about the current status of the outbreak.

WILL EGG PRICES KEEP GOING UP?

Yes, in the short term at least. With egg supplies dwindling, the price of eggs used in food products and shell eggs we eat for breakfast will climb higher. Carton egg prices reached a record Friday of $2.32 a dozen for Midwest large eggs, said Rick Brown, a senior vice president for Urner Barry, a commodity market analysis firm. That’s a 95 percent increase in a month. The previous record was $2.27 set last Dec 4. Breaker eggs, those used to make ice cream, mayonnaise and other processed foods also set a record Friday. They reached the record $2.13 a dozen, up 238 percent from 63 cents they were selling for on April 22 when the virus hit Iowa’s egg-laying hen population.

HOW IS THE INDUSTRY COPING?

Efforts are underway to begin importing eggs and egg products from Europe, a measure the industry turned to during a bird flu outbreak in Pennsylvania and Virginia in 1983 when 17 million chickens and turkeys died. The U.S. typically produces an ample supply with 87 billion table eggs produced last year. The nation exported 352 million dozen but with a shortage of supply due to bird flu, the U.S. is expected to begin importing in the next few months, Brown said. Producers in France and the Netherlands are likely among those who may be tapped to help the U.S. in a pinch.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS?

This is the first time the H5N2 strain of the virus has been found in enough wild birds to spread it over wide areas in the United States. The environment around poultry houses has been tested and the virus has been found even around farms not infected so it is quite pervasive in the countryside where wild waterfowl crossed over while migrating north. The virus is surviving well in the cool wet conditions this spring in the upper Midwest. Initially it was believed infections came only from the ducks and other waterfowl carriers flying overhead dropping the virus in their feces. Genetic testing has shown that the virus has spread from farm to farm and has been dragged from one barn to another, said Dr. Jack Shere, a veterinarian and associate deputy administrator at the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the agency overseeing the bird flu outbreak.

WHAT DOES THAT SPREAD OF THE VIRUS MEAN?

Biosecurity efforts, no matter how much they’ve been improved, are not yet good enough. We know the virus is spread mechanically by humans and can be spread on clothing, shoes and vehicles entering and exiting farms. It also now appears that in some barns it was carried by air on cold, wet, windy days.

“We have to consider the outside environment as contaminated and to protect the poultry we have to put all kinds of hurdles in place to keep that virus from getting into the poultry houses,” Shere said.

CAN IT BE CONTAINED AND STOPPED?

It’s going to take more work. Biosecurity is expensive. It requires disinfecting vehicles as they come and go and equipping workers with clothing changes and shoe disinfectant. But when a farm is infected all the birds are killed to prevent it spreading, which costs more. The key issue is education, Shere said. “Some of the folks that take care of these barns are the lowest paid and the least educated. We need to be sure that they know that not only are they putting their jobs at risk if they spread this disease but the birds are going to die,” he said.

SO IS THE VIRUS HERE TO STAY?

There’s no way of knowing that for sure but various strains have been in Asia since at least 2008 and perhaps before that, and there have been recurrent outbreaks. One encouraging fact is that the virus does change. It mutates and officials are hoping it mutates into something that won’t infect the birds and kill them. It is also possible that the virus could mutate into something worse.

WILL WARMER SUMMER WEATHER HELP?

Yes. The current belief is that the H5N2 virus infecting birds in the Midwest begins to die at around 65 degrees and is completely dead at 85. Higher temperatures tend to dry out the virus and render it incapable of infecting birds. Temperatures consistently in the 70s should stop it. Iowa is expected to remain in 70s to low 80s for the next several days.

WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?

USDA and industry will be working together during the summer to get everyone as prepared possible in hopes of minimizing commercial barn infections if the virus returns in the fall. Discussions between USDA officials and Congress will be held about what is needed to deal with the virus and how that will be funded. The current outbreak is estimated to cost U.S. taxpayers about $400 million, Shere said.

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) – The operator of a popular adult dating website said Friday it’s investigating a potential security breach, following reports that hackers stole names, email addresses and information about the sexual preferences of up to 4 million members.

Britain’s Channel 4 news outlet reported that hackers posted some of the information on an obscure website after stealing account data from the operator of AdultFriendFinder.com, which claims 64 million members worldwide use its service to “hook up, find sex or meet someone hot now.”

FriendFinder Networks, the Silicon Valley company that operates the service, said in a statement that it hired a prominent cyber-security firm to investigate and is telling members to update their user names and passwords. It said it is also temporarily blocking attempts to search for user profiles by “any users we believe were affected by the security issue.”

Tech blogger Bev Robb reported earlier that it was possible to identify some users and glean potentially embarrassing information based on apparently stolen data that was posted on a website frequented by other hackers.

Without confirming any details about the apparent breach, FriendFinder Networks said it had no information that any users’ financial information was leaked. But the statement, posted on its corporate website, added that, “until the investigation is completed, it will be difficult to confirm the full scope of the incident.”

FriendFinder Networks operates a number of online sites and dating services aimed at different audiences, including Amigos.com, BigChurch.com and SeniorFriendFinder.com, although there has been no indication that information has leaked from its other sites. The company also says it licenses the Penthouse brand and publishes magazines.

“The security of our members’ information remains our top priority,” the company said. It has hired the Mandiant response division of cyber-security company FireEye, which has previously investigated a number of high-profile breaches in recent months. A FireEye spokesman confirmed the company investigating but declined further comment.

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Associated Press Technology Writer in New York Bree Fowler contributed to this report.

Click here for more information on the Gills Rock Museum.

Students from the John Dewey Academy of Learning cooked up a meal for the New Community Shelter using garlic mustard plants from the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, May 22, 2015.

MADISON (AP) – Even with a new chief justice, the disputes continue behind the scenes inside the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Backers of a constitutional amendment allowing the justices to decide who will be their leader argued it would lead to more harmony on the Supreme Court. But emails released Friday show the tenure of new Chief Justice Patience Roggensack is off to a rocky start.

Four conservative justices voted to make Roggensack chief justice last month, removing liberal Justice Shirley Abrahamson from the post she held for 15 years. Abrahamson has a pending federal lawsuit arguing that she can’t be removed until her term ends in four years.

Justice Patrick Crooks, viewed as a swing vote on the seven-member court, did not vote for Roggensack as chief justice. And emails provided Friday to The Associated Press show Crooks objected to moves Roggensack made earlier this week.

Crooks sent Roggensack an email Sunday in response to a message she sent May 16 notifying all the justices of a closed conference the following day to vote on cases that had been argued in April.

She gave Crooks, Abrahamson and fellow liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley a deadline of 12:30 p.m. Monday to submit their votes if they did not plan to attend. If no vote was received, Roggensack said the opinions will show they withdrew from the case.

Crooks objected, saying that calling a closed conference was a violation of court rules because it was not on the calendar and all seven justices had not agreed to do it.

Crooks said if he didn’t cast his vote by the deadline Roggensack set, “you have unilaterally decided, without any authority, to exclude me from participation in those cases.”

“Such action by you is without precedent,” Crooks wrote. “Obviously I object. If you take such action, I intend to notify the attorneys for the parties in each case of your unauthorized action, and that I did not withdraw from participation.”

Roggensack followed up with another email urging all the justices to attend the closed conference, and extended the deadline by another day for any justice unable to attend.

Roggensack issued a statement Friday after the release of the emails saying all seven justices cast votes for the cases in question and they have all been assigned for writing.

“In order for Supreme Court justices to write and the court to mandate opinions on which oral argument has been held, justices needed to cast their votes and cases needed to be assigned for writing,” Roggensack said in the statement.

The emails were provided by Abrahamson at AP’s request.

The behind the scenes email spat came in the days leading up to a Monday swearing-in ceremony in the court for recent graduates from Marquette University Law School. It marked the first public appearance with Roggensack as chief justice. Crooks, Abrahamson and Bradley all were absent.

They have not given a reason for their absence and the emails provided by Abrahamson do not show why they were not there.

Voters approved the amendment giving justices the power to select who serves as chief justice on April 7. Supporters in the Legislature had argued such a move would empower the court to move beyond ideological and personal disputes in recent years.

LAKE MILLS – The Wisconsin National Guard is sharing an inside look at what it takes to decontaminate a farm after a bird flu outbreak.

Sgt. Parminder Singh and Spc. Lacy Taylor, both Soldiers with the Hartford-based 457th Chemical Company, decontaminate a vehicle leaving a poultry farm in Lake Mills, April 29, 2015. The soldiers were part of a 14-soldier Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, High-explosive Enhanced Response Force Package team from the Wisconsin National Guard that was called to state active duty to assist the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in its response to avian flu outbreaks at several sites across the state. (Wisconsin National Guard photo by Capt. Joe Trovato)

Tests confirmed the illness in a flock of about 200,000 chickens on a Jefferson County farm in April. Since then, the virus has been discovered at eight more Wisconsin farms, affecting a total of more than 1.7 million chickens and turkeys, according to the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Officials said there was no risk to public health or to the food supply.

The National Guard was called to help keep the virus from spreading to other birds. The Guard says soldiers worked on decontaminating vehicles and equipment at the Jefferson County farm. Soldiers needed to decontaminate every vehicle that moved into and out of the farm’s designated “hot zone” every day. The team used military-grade pressure washers with water heated to 175 degrees. Soldiers also used a disinfecting agent, Virkon, to kill the virus.

Sgt. Parminder Singh assists Spc. Lacy Taylor, both with the Hartford.-based 457th Chemical Company, remove a protective suit after decontaminating vehicles at a poultry farm in Lake Mills, April 29, 2015. The soldiers were part of a 14-soldier Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, High-explosive Enhanced Response Force Package team from the Wisconsin National Guard that was called to state active duty to assist the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in its response to avian flu outbreaks at several sites across the state. (Wisconsin National Guard photo by Capt. Joe Trovato)

Before entering the “hot zone,” the Guard says drivers had to check in, turn off fans and air circulating units and tape and seal windows and doors.

The soldiers were on scene until May 15.

Watch the Guard’s video above to see more of the operation.

LAS VEGAS (AP) – A magnitude-5.4 earthquake that struck a rural area of southern Nevada has been felt about 100 miles away in Las Vegas and has damaged a highway.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the temblor hit at 11:47 a.m. PDT about 24 miles southwest of the small town of Caliente, Nevada. People took to social media to report feeling the quake.

The Nevada Highway Patrol reported damage to one of the state’s busiest highway transition ramps. The ramp where southbound U.S. 95 meets southbound Interstate 15 was shut down around 12:30 p.m. and would stay closed indefinitely.

The Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada Reno says several aftershocks, from magnitude-1.0 to 3.8, followed the larger temblor.

The USGS website recorded hundreds of reports of people feeling the shaking.

GREEN BAY – A grass fire on Green Bay’s east side appears to be out.

Crews were fighting the fire around 2:30 p.m. Friday.

It was near the Riverside Ballroom.

Check this story for further information as it becomes available.

TWO RIVERS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to study waves in Two Rivers Harbor in order to try to solve a problem with surging water.

The Corps of Engineers says its scientists first plan to put gauges in and around the federally owned harbor. Those gauges will measure the height and direction of waves over a six-month period. Measurements will be taken at both the mouth of the harbor and the inner harbor.

The second phase of the study will analyze the data and create a computer model of the waves. The model will help engineers evaluate possible solutions, such as breakwater modifications.

“The city recognizes the importance of this study in our efforts to mitigate the surge problem in our Lake Michigan harbor, and to reduce shoaling between the piers of the outer harbor,” Two Rivers city manager Greg Buckley said in a news release. “Both issues present challenges in our efforts to make greater use of the harbor for both recreational and commercial uses.”

“Moreover, having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every five to seven years to dredge the outer harbor is not a sustainable practice,” he added.

Plans call for a final report to be delivered to Two Rivers city leaders in December 2016.

The study is expected to cost $127,000.

NEENAH – Walking a 5K on a bright sunny morning seems like a pretty easy assignment, but the sixth graders at Horace Mann accomplished a lot more than some exercise Friday morning.

“It’s definitely more fun to help the community and walk for them than to sit in class,” said Emily Denzin, a sixth grade student.

Leading up to the walk, the students raised $7.700 for the families impacted by the tragedy on the Trestle Trail Bridge earlier this month.

“It was pretty easy because the community was affected by it too, they wanted to help the families that lost loved ones,” said Isabella Gruber, a sixth grader.

“A lot of people really wanted to help them,” said Denzin.

Not only did the students walk in memory of the victims, they also made a stop along the way at Shattuck Middle School. It’s where they’ll attend school in the fall.

“It was fun just seeing what the school is going to look like for 7th grade and 8th grade,” said Gruber.

“It’ll be easier to know our way around Shattuck and so we won’t get lost as much,” said Denzin.

The school holds the walk each year. However, the reason for walking always changes. In the past, students walked for causes like Wounded Warriors and the Make a Wish Foundation.

“Students talk to their families and neighbors and just personal donations,” said Michael Tauscher, the principal at Horace Mann. “People really have come through to step up for a great cause.”

It’s an effort the students say they enjoy, especially knowing they are making a difference.

Horace Mann only serves sixth graders. It has 492 students this year.

Anyone wishing to donate to this year’s cause can call Horace Mann at 920-751-6940.

GREEN BAY – Some students at Green Bay’s project-based charter school served lunch to more than 100 community members Friday.

The John Dewey Academy of Learning students have been making a difference throughout the week for both the environment and people. On Monday, 64 students picked about 70,000 garlic mustard plants at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary – about 3,500 pounds of the invasive species.

The students then created recipes out of the edible plant and created a meal at the New Community Shelter in Green Bay.

It was the third year the students pulled the invasive species and the second year they prepared a meal.

FOX 11’s Andrew LaCombe will have a complete story on FOX 11 News at Five.

Learn what to do if you find a young animal in the wild that you believe may be orphaned.

LOS ANGELES (AP) The company responsible for a pipeline that spilled thousands of gallons of oil along the California coast was ordered to take a series of steps before it can restart the line, federal regulators said Friday.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration required Plains All American Pipeline to remove the damaged section of pipe, test it and empty the remainder of the line.

The agency said it did not yet know the cause of the leak, which spilled up to 105,000 gallons of crude into a coastal ditch Tuesday. About a fifth of that amount is estimated to have flowed into the sea northwest of Santa Barbara.

Investigators for the agency are looking into the cause of the failure and whether there was something Plains should have known about conditions in the underground pipeline and factors that could have contributed to the accident.

The corrective action order said the 10.6-mile line had recently been inspected, but the results weren’t known. Tests of the 24-inch pipe in 2012 found 41 anomalies mostly due to external corrosion, frequently near welds, the agency said.

The company has said there were no previous problems with the pipe.

A corrective action order is issued to protect people, property and the environment. If violations are found, the agency said it would issue a strong enforcement action order.

Plains said it could take weeks or even months before investigators find what caused the disaster.

Bad weather slowed cleanup efforts early Friday at the spill site in Santa Barbara County, where gusty winds whipped up waves as high as 4 feet.

Several days of calm seas had helped crews, but oil skimming vessels had to be brought to shore late Thursday, Santa Barbara news station KEYT-TV reported.

The thick, powerful-smelling crude covered rocks and sand, and six oil-coated pelicans and one juvenile sea lion had been rescued.

Crews have yet to excavate the broken piece of pipeline, which under the law must be done in the presence of federal regulators and a third party, officials with Plains All American Pipeline LP said at a Thursday news conference.

“We have not even uncovered the pipe yet,” said Patrick Hodgins, the company’s senior director of safety.

The company would not yet say whether part of the cause was two malfunctions that occurred shortly before the spill was discovered.

“We were having some pump problems on the pipeline,” said Rick McMichael, another Plains All American representative. “Whether it led to the leak or not is part of our investigation.”

Plains All American and its subsidiaries operate 17,800 miles of crude oil and natural gas pipelines across the country, according to the federal agency.

Since 2006, four subsidiaries of Plains All American have reported at least 223 accidents along their lines and been subject to 25 enforcement actions by federal regulators.

The accidents resulted in a combined 864,300 gallons of hazardous liquids spilled and damages topping $32 million. Corrosion was determined to be the cause in roughly 90 of those accidents. Failures in materials, welds and other equipment were cited more than 80 times.

Hodgins, of Plains All American, said the company has spent more than $1.3 billion since 2007 on maintenance, repair and enhancement of its equipment.

He defended the company’s safety record, saying accidental releases have decreased as the number of miles of pipelines has increased.

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Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles and Matt Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report.

 

PARIS (AP) — The Eiffel Tower closed to the public for most of the day Friday as workers protested a rise in aggressive pickpockets around the Paris landmark that attracts thousands of visitors daily.

The walkout came a day after Paris authorities announced that crime against tourists in the French capital had dropped this year thanks to reinforced police presence and video surveillance.

The tower didn’t open Friday morning because the staff was concerned about petty crime around the site. Clusters of tourists streamed beneath the tower, unable to reach its viewing platforms.

It remained closed while staff and management held meetings about security measures, then reopened in the late afternoon, according to the company that manages the site. The tower is normally open every day of the year, but sometimes closes briefly for bomb threats or strikes.

Tower employee Denis Vavassori of the CGT union said the workers want a permanent police presence.

“It is a growing problem. There were always pickpockets at the Eiffel Tower but now we are really facing an organized group,” he told The Associated Press.

Police officers patrolled the area Friday on bikes, on foot and in cars.

“Unfortunately there are here people who assault and try to steal. So we do feel less free, and lose the opportunity to visit this beautiful monument,” said tourist Francisco Madeira of Sao Paulo, Brazil, who visited the site before the tower reopened. “There should be more organization and police.”

Workers at the Louvre Museum staged a similar walkout in 2012.

Paris authorities said Thursday violent theft was down 25 percent and pickpocketing was down 23 percent in the first four months of 2015, compared with the same period last year. City authorities have also broken up several major theft networks, according to Prosecutor Francois Molins, who visited the Champs-Elysees tourist district Thursday to show how seriously police are taking crime against visitors.

Paris has also heightened security since January terror attacks in Paris left 20 dead, including three attackers.

The French capital is still attracting big crowds, however.

Dave Kleps from Old Forge, New York, said his Paris experience hasn’t been overshadowed by crime.

“We’ve been here two days and I haven’t felt unsafe,” he said, speaking beneath the Eiffel Tower. “We are a little bit disappointed that it’s closed.”

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Angela Charlton contributed to this report.