Maryland leaders to remember Key Bridge collapse victims, first responders
Maryland leaders will pay tribute to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse victims and the emergency responders on Wednesday, marking one year since the tragedy that killed six construction workers.
Shortly before 1:30 a.m. on March 26, 2024, the container ship DALI, a 948-foot vessel from Singapore, crashed into a main span of the bridge, which crumbled into the Patapsco River.
The construction workers who died were identified as 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 24-year-old Carlos Hernandez, Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, and Jose Mynor Lopez, 35.
On this day, Governor Moore and the State of Maryland will hold a Francis Scott Key Bridge Commemoration Ceremony to remember those we lost, honor those who courageously responded, and commemorate the resilience of Baltimore and the entire state.
On Wednesday, overlooking the site where the bridge collapsed, which not only killed six but also halted ship traffic to the Port of Baltimore, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, Senator Chris Van Hollen, and Congressmen Kweisi Mfume and Johnny Olszewski, will participate in a Francis Scott Key Bridge Commemoration Ceremony.
"(The ceremony is) to remember those we lost, honor those who courageously responded, and commemorate the resilience of Baltimore and the entire state," Maryland leaders said.
The
Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in 1977
and stood for 47 years before it collapsed.
On March 26, 2024, investigators
said the DALI
lost power before crashing into the Key Bridge.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the
ship lost power four times in 12 hours
before the collision.
The NTSB recently
blamed Maryland officials for failing to conduct
a recommended assessment that would have shown the bridge
was vulnerable to a strike
. The state helped develop the assessment protocols in 1991.
"Frankly, we've been sounding the alarm on this since the tragedy occurred," NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
Federal investigators found the chances of a vessel striking the Key Bridge were 30 times the recommended threshold.
"We asked had you done this vulnerability assessment on the Key Bridge. The answer was no. We then asked, 'Are you doing this vulnerability assessment on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge?' The answer is no," Homendy said.
Governor Wes Moore pushed back in an interview with WJZ.
"There is not a bridge in this country that could have taken that kind of impact," Moore said. "We are going to make sure we are cooperating with the NTSB to get all the assessments done, but also, I'm going to make sure that those reckless operators are held to account for the tragedy that happened to our state."
The NTSB said the critical assessment would have allowed them to identify
structural risks with the bridge
.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business Insider
DOGE caucus leader says Elon Musk made a 'massive exaggeration' about spending cuts
Shortly after the feud between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk hit its apex on Thursday, a key DOGE-minded lawmaker in Congress had some pointed words about the world's richest man. "Most everybody knew Elon was exaggerating to what he could do," Republican Rep. Blake Moore of Utah told reporters outside the Capitol. "He was claiming finding $4 billion a day in cuts he was going to get. One time, he said $2 trillion, he was going to find." "It's a massive exaggeration, and I think people are recognizing that now," Moore said. The Utah Republican is one of the three co-leaders of the House DOGE caucus, a bipartisan group of lawmakers who had hoped to support Musk's cost-cutting efforts. The caucus met a handful of times at the beginning of the year, and leaders previously told BI that they intended to compile a report of potential cost-saving measures for DOGE at the end of the first quarter of this year. That didn't end up happening, in part because the White House DOGE Office ultimately had little interaction with the caucus. One Democratic member declared the group to be "dead" last month. "We've always been a little frustrated that there was such limited interaction," Moore said on Thursday. "We couldn't really identify where we were to lean in, and we had a ton of folks ready to support it, but there just wasn't that interaction." Musk did not respond to a request for comment. Moore said that he wanted to pursue cuts to federal spending through the bipartisan government funding process, saying that there are "plenty of Democrats that recognize there's waste in our government." GOP leaders have said they'll pursue DOGE cuts both through that process and through "rescission" packages, the first of which is set to be voted on in the House next week. The first package, which includes cuts to public broadcasting and foreign aid, is $9.4 billion, just a fraction of the cost savings that Musk once predicted. "It's definitely kind of over-promising, under-delivering," Moore said. Musk's public feud with Trump began last week, when the tech titan began criticizing the "Big Beautiful Bill" that Republicans are trying to muscle through Congress. The bill is projected to increase the deficit by trillions of dollars, though Republicans have argued that those forecasts do not account for the economic growth that might be spurred by the bill. That feud boiled over on Tuesday, with the two men engaging in a war of words on their respective social media platforms. "When I saw Musk start posting, just parroting false claims about the tax reconciliation bill, it was clear something's amiss," Moore said. "And so it escalated, yeah. It escalated very quickly."
2 hours ago
New executive chairman of US-backed aid for Gaza hits back at criticism
Talking with ABC News for his first-ever interview, the new executive chairman of the controversial United States -backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) discussed dozens of people being killed near the aid distribution centers and one of the sites being shut down within 10 days of opening. Reverend Dr. Johnnie Moore -- who has twice been appointed by President Donald Trump as a commissioner on the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom -- said the organization "can't control what happens outside" the distribution points and added that there have been incidents, "as one would expect, in a war, outside of our distribution sites." Israel Defense Forces said that its troops opened fire on both Sunday and Tuesday of this week in areas near GHF aid distribution sites in Gaza, stating it has fired shots "towards" people but not at them. The IDF said "suspects" had deviated from specific routes towards the aid hub. According to Moore, "some" deaths in one of the incidents did "come from the IDF" although he also blamed "some" of the deaths on Hamas. At least 57 people were killed and nearly 300 injured, health officials said, between Sunday and Tuesday's shootings, leading GHF to pause its distribution for 24 hours. When asked if GHF's aid plan was part of the problem, given that desperate, hungry people had been killed on their way to pick up food, Moore answered, "No, I think that's a quite cynical point of view." "I fundamentally disagree with the premise that our operation is somehow disproportionately imperiling people," he said. According to Moore, GHF -- since it was set up 10 days ago -- had distributed "10 million meals to Gazans, to thousands and thousands and thousands of people." The population of Gaza is around 2.2 million. Addressing the two incidents, Moore said, "Somehow people veered off the secure corridor," and referred to the deaths as "a tragedy." In the wake of such deadly incidents, GHF has since closed its distribution centers. Moore said his organization was "working with others" to make such incidents "less likely to happen" in the future. "I'm not doing this for anybody to die," GHF's executive chairman said. Moore pushed back on the implication that the new aid plan, which was set up at the behest of Israel to counter the alleged looting of aid by Hamas, had been mismanaged. Moore confirmed that Gazans arriving at the aid distribution points didn't need to show any form of ID to get access to aid. When asked by ABC News how he could be sure that Hamas would not profit from aid distributed under his plan, he said there was "no evidence" any of their aid had been seized. The GHF executive said his organization was "very much solving the problem" and, over time, GHF would "put more energy on verification." International aid agencies have refused to participate in GHF's aid distribution operation, stating that it breaches fundamental humanitarian principles, such as the notion that aid should always be distributed at the point of need. The GHF operation has been accused by multiple U.N. organizations of forcing people to have to travel long distances through a perilous war zone to reach the distribution points, which are located in tightly restricted areas. The most vulnerable people in Gaza would appear to be the least likely to be able to access the aid. Moore rejected that premise and said, "over time" he believed they would be able to get aid to the most vulnerable people. International aid agencies have also accused GHF's aid distribution operation of being part of Israel's military strategy, which Moore said was "simply not true." "Palestinians have been presented the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement on Tuesday. "This militarized system endangers lives and violates international standards on aid distribution, as the United Nations has repeatedly warned," Turk's statement continued. Moore said GHF was communicating with the IDF to "manage" the "secure corridors," but he described GHF as an "American organization" with "American contractors." When asked if Israel was funding the organization, at least to some extent, he refused to comment. "There's certain things that we're not gonna talk about or focus on now," Moore told ABC News. GHF has been mired in controversy from the beginning, and it lost Executive Director Jake Wood, a U.S. military veteran, who resigned just before the aid plan launched nearly two weeks ago. Wood cited concerns over the group's impartiality. In an interview days before his resignation, Wood had suggested on CNN that GHF would only be able to scale up its operation to the necessary level to cater for Gaza's population if major aid agencies were to join the operation, something they have all refused to do. As a new executive, Moore said he believed they could scale up the operation to the necessary degree, but said it was not their goal to do it without the cooperation of major aid agencies. "I mean, they're the ones who have said that they won't work with us," he added. "My message to them [international aid agencies] is like, stop criticizing us, just join us, and we can learn from them if people have better idea." As of Thursday, the aid sites were shut down and then briefly re-opened and then closed again at two sites in Rafah, Gaza, GHF said.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Maryland must tackle interconnected land use, housing, transportation, economic challenges
Traffic on the Capital Beltway near the American Legion Bridge. Surveys show Marylanders want housing near jobs, but state policy doesn't always make that easy. (Photo by Dave Dildine/WTOP) Maryland is well-known for innovative state policies and reforms, including smart growth, but the state missed key opportunities this year to build on that legacy. While approving a half-billion-dollar package to close a major transportation funding gap, the legislature (primarily the Senate) failed to adopt bills that would ensure the funds shift the state in a new direction toward abundant and affordable housing and transportation choices. Maryland's land use, high housing costs, transportation challenges and economic doldrums are interconnected. They require new approaches, not just patching budget holes to fix. Homes are expensive in part because Maryland communities allow too little housing near transit, services and jobs. This contributes to sprawling, car-dependent development, further fueled by too much public spending on oversized roads and highways. The result is long commutes, more driving to reach stores and services, and higher transportation costs for families. The average new car in the U.S. costs almost $50,000, and last year 17% of American drivers said they had to take on a second job to help pay for their car. Instead of funding more of this status quo, Maryland needs to help families stay here, with affordable access to opportunity. Fostering walkable, vibrant activity centers with good transit and a range of housing types and prices near jobs will help current residents and also attract the next generation of skilled workers and industries. Maryland Matters welcomes guest commentary submissions at editor@ We suggest a 750-word limit and reserve the right to edit or reject submissions. We do not accept columns that are endorsements of candidates, and no longer accept submissions from elected officials or political candidates. Opinion pieces must be signed by at least one individual using their real name. We do not accept columns signed by an organization. Commentary writers must include a short bio and a photo for their bylines. Views of writers are their own. The House of Delegates passed several valuable smart growth bills: Transit-oriented development (House Bill 80) to remove obstacles to building housing and mixed-use development near rail stations; Transportation and Climate Alignment Act (House Bill 84), ensuring the state's transportation investments support its climate change goals while giving residents more travel options; Metro Funding Modification Act (House Bill 467), fixing dedicated state capital funding for the D.C.-area Metro system to account for inflation; and Gov. Wes Moore's Housing for Jobs Act (House Bill 503), which would have required the state's job centers to address housing needs, although it was watered down into largely a study bill. Unfortunately, the Maryland Senate did not advance any of these bills to a vote. The Senate, to its credit, did pass: Split-rate property tax enabling legislation (Senate Bill 472) that would allow local governments to create tax structures that capture the value of land near assets like rail stations while incentivizing new development, though the House did not pass it; and Accessory dwelling unit bill (House Bill 1466) that will require local governments to allow construction of a smaller independent home on a lot with a single-family detached house. The House concurred with the final bill and the governor signed it. We know that legislators had a lot on their plates, with a sizable budget gap and chaotic federal backdrop. However, most of the smart-growth bills that didn't pass would have cost little or nothing to government coffers – and would actually save the state money over time through reduced infrastructure and service costs. Realizing this vision provides interconnected benefits. For example: Smart growth has been key to attracting and retaining Fortune 500 firms like Marriott and Choice Hotels in transit-oriented locations. Maryland families on average would save over $3,000 per year in transportation costs if the state provided more opportunities for transit, walking, biking and accessible living. State-owned transit-oriented development sites could support 5,000 new housing units in the Baltimore region and 2,600 new housing units along the MARC Penn Line. These Penn Line sites could generate $800 million in new state and local revenue. Marylanders want these opportunities; 76% support more homes in job-rich areas. Before the next General Assembly session, the Moore administration can make progress: The Maryland Department of Transportation can adopt changes to its Chapter 30 project prioritization process to better maintain existing infrastructure, recognize good land use planning as a transportation solution, and ensure affordable and sustainable travel choices for residents. The Department of Housing and Community Development can provide further analysis on the state's housing shortage and the benefits of new homes in accessible locations. It could also work with local governments to improve land use review to reduce time and complexity, allowing more new homes to be built faster in transit-accessible locations. During the 2026 session, the General Assembly will have the opportunity to pass legacy-making legislation ahead of the elections. Gov. Moore, with the support of state senators and delegates, can help Marylanders address the everyday needs of housing and transportation in lasting ways, which also help the state's finances, climate resilience, and economic opportunity.
