Latest news with #Giffin
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
Second of two pedestrians struck, killed by MARC train ID'd by MD Transit Administration
The Maryland Transit Administration has now confirmed the identity of both of the people who were struck and killed by a MARC train in southern Washington County on May 6. The MTA confirmed May 12 that Cian Cassidy, a 21-year-old man from New Market, Maryland, died in the incident, after previously confirming Summer Giffin, a 20-year-old woman from Knoxville, Maryland, was the other person who died. MTA spokesperson Veronica Battisti confirmed the identity of both of the deceased. An obituary for Cassidy said his "absence leaves a space that can never be filled, but his memory will remain a guiding light for all who were fortunate to know and love him." The Knoxville ZIP code where Giffin was from includes the Sandy Hook area and other communities in the southern tip of Washington County as well as parts of nearby Frederick County, according to Here's more from previous Herald-Mail reporting on the deadly train incident. ORIGINAL STORY ON TRAIN INCIDENT: Two pedestrians walking on tracks dead after being struck by MARC train in Western Md. FIRST PEDESTRAIN IN INCIDEN ID'D: Maryland Transit Administration IDs one of pedestrians struck and killed by MARC train The incident occurred around 6:15 p.m. May 6, on CSX tracks in the Sandy Hook area. Giffin and Cassidy were on the train tracks when a MARC train heading from Washington, D.C., to Martinsburg, struck them, Battisti has said. About 100 passengers on MARC Train 875 were transferred to another train to complete their trip after the incident, Battisti added. The affected route handles Amtrak and freight traffic as well as MARC commuter trains, CSX spokesperson Austin Staton said. Traffic on those tracks resumed around 9:15 p.m. May 6, Staton said in an email. Both CSX and transit officials stressed the dangers of walking on or alongside railroad tracks. CSX has tracks along Sandy Hook Road in southern Washington County that cross the Potomac to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The tracks in that area are not far from the river with the route following the curves in the Potomac. On June 11, 1999, two male pedestrians from North Potomac, Md., were killed by a MARC train in the Sandy Hook Road area. Eyewitnesses told The Herald-Mail at the time that the men had finished inner tubing in the nearby Potomac and were sitting on their inner tubes on the tracks. This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: MTA identifies second pedestrian struck and killed by MARC train
CBC
02-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Changes after review into man's death while waiting at Winnipeg ER include having aides check vitals
Social Sharing Having an around-the-clock health-care aide trained to check the vitals of patients waiting in the emergency room is one of the new measures introduced at Manitoba's largest hospital after a man died while waiting in for care earlier this year. A critical incident review was launched after Chad Christopher Giffin, 49, died following a nearly eight-hour wait for care at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre on Jan. 7. On Thursday, the province released 17 measures it says were put in place immediately after his death and steps taken to respond to recommendations coming out of the critical incident review, in order to prevent future incidents. "One of the fundamental pieces was improving capacity," Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma said at a Thursday news conference, held to announce a team of front-line workers who will work to cut wait times in hospital ERs. Fifteen health care aides have been trained to check patients' vitals at the ER, with one position dedicated to that task at all times, the province said in a statement sent to CBC. Policies for next-of-kin notifications for patients who die while under the care of Manitoba's Public Guardian and Trustee have also been updated to emphasize the importance of notifying their families — something Giffin's sister pushed for. Giffin, who was under the care of the public guardian due to mental illness and addictions, had said he had no next of kin, his sister Ronalee Reynolds previously told CBC News. While she and her mother are happy with changes made to the hospital's ER and internal processes, they're still "disappointed" that the public guardian and trustee didn't have their contact information updated, which may have prevented Giffin's death, she said Thursday. Reynolds said her brother had estranged himself from their family for close to a decade. She only learned after his death that her brother was well known by staff at the HSC's ER. On the night he died, he arrived at the hospital just after midnight and was declared dead in a resuscitation room just before 8 a.m., after staff noticed his condition had worsened. The emergency room was well over capacity on the night leading up to his death, but staffing was close to a baseline level. The Globe and Mail reported on Thursday that emails obtained through the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act show Manitoba deputy health minister Scott Sinclair had asked Shared Health why he and an associate deputy health minister were not notified about Giffin's death sooner. Sinclair also said that media outlets learned of Giffin's death several hours before he and the associate deputy minister learned about it, according to the Globe. "There were concerns about the timing of that, which I think is important to reflect on, which is again why work is actively being done at Shared Health to address that," Asagwara said Thursday. Giffin's death forced the province to look at the shortcomings of its health-care system, they said. "That particular situation, that tragedy, provided opportunities for us as a system to improve and to learn, and that work continues to be done," Asagwara said. "We want to make sure that we respect the family that was affected, and that we take the necessary steps collectively to prevent incidents like that from happening again." Asagwara also cited the province's homelessness strategy and its work to establish a sobering centre, as well as a supervised consumption site, as potential ways to decrease the number of homeless people visiting the ER for warmth in the winter months. Protocols under scrutiny The province says an internal waiting room surge protocol was also developed at HSC, in response to the critical incident report around Giffin's death. Protocols are being reinforced with staff in daily "huddles," and 10 patient records are reviewed every week to ensure protocols are being followed. Community support worker logs are also reviewed to ensure patients are checked on each hour, the province said. Work schedules were reviewed to make sure emergency departments can meet minimum staffing requirements, and staff members who were working when Giffin died were also trained to use automated external defibrillators, according to the province said. Staffing in the waiting room and contingency planning during times of high patient volumes are also being reviewed, along with environmental reviews of the waiting room to improve sightlines from triage. Triage process guidelines were also updated with a focus on the benefits of direct assessments, the province said. The province said it's also working toward reducing overcrowding in ERs, and may expand support services that are typically part of capacity and flow protocols.
CBC
18-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Families of men who died outside Halifax bars blast government for 'lack of accountability'
Two women told MLAs Monday that a government bill would wipe out mandatory training laws for bouncers The families of two young men who died outside Halifax bars have harsh criticisms for Nova Scotia legislators who they say sat on potentially lifesaving rules for more than 10 years and now are poised to pass legislation that would wipe it out altogether. Theresa Giffin and Lee Sawyer appeared before the legislature's standing committee on public bills Monday night and warned MLAs that a government bill described as a "housekeeping measure" risks repealing legislation that was created in hopes of preventing future tragedy. Giffin's brother Stephen died after being beaten by bouncers outside a downtown bar in 1999. Her family lobbied successive governments until the passage of the Security and Investigative Services Act (SISA) in 2010. The bill would require all bouncers and security officials working at bars and lounges in the province to have criminal background checks, training and be licenced. But the bill has never been proclaimed and as such hasn't taken effect. Now, the Progressive Conservative government has proposed Bill 21, the Justice Administration Amendment Act. It would automatically repeal any legislation that has been passed but not proclaimed after a decade. Right now that can only happen through open debate in the legislature. "Clearly, this government has no intention of ever proclaiming SISA into force and if the legislature enacts Bill 21, clause 10 will repeal SISA once and for all," Giffin told MLAs on the legislature's standing committee on public bills. Giffin's late father, Cyril, led the charge to create and implement SISA. The family presumed that the bill had been proclaimed, until they learned of the death of Ryan Sawyer in December of 2022. Sawyer died following an altercation with bouncers outside a bar in similar circumstances. Ryan's mother, Lee, told MLAs that she cannot understand why the government has not proclaimed the act or come up with some kind of replacement legislation. "I cannot help but wonder, if it had been the child, the nephew or grandson of a member of the government, how urgent the call to action would be and legislation proclaimed?" Recent changes fall short The two women noted regulatory changes the government announced following Ryan's death, but they said they do not go far enough because they are not enshrined in law and only apply to the handful of bars in the province with cabaret licences. "An individual who applies at a cabaret and is denied because of a criminal background, can in fact work at any one of the other bars or lounges in the province because it is not a requirement for employment and there is no legislation in place to mandate it," Sawyer told MLAs. "I'm not sure how the public is supposed to have the confidence of safety with this knowledge, nor should the government expect them to." Other provinces, such as B.C., Alberta, Quebec and Ontario all have legislation regarding bouncers and security staff and it's been in place for years, she said. In Nova Scotia, meanwhile, the bill remains unproclaimed 15 years after it was passed and it risks being repealed if Bill 21 passes and is proclaimed. "Talk about a lack of accountability," said Sawyer. Giffin asked MLAs to amend Bill 21 so unproclaimed legislation cannot be automatically repealed. If the government wants to repeal a bill, she said, members should do it on the floor of the legislature in open debate. Failing that, she called on the government to provide an exemption in Bill 21 for the Security and Investigative Services Act. Progressive Conservative MLAs Susan Corkum-Greek, Adegoke Fadare, Nick Hilton and Nolan Young defeated a motion by the NDP to send the bill back to the Justice Department for further review. Government MLAs then voted to send the bill back to the House, where it will next move to the committee of the whole House on bills.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Council denies annexation request
GREENSBURG – The voluntary annexation of the property at 1200 S. 60 E., adjacent to St. Mary's School on Millhousen Road and owned by Christian and Karen Rust, was again the topic of a public hearing and a vote at Tuesday's meeting of the Greensburg City Council. Before the public statement portion of the hearing began, city attorney Christopher Stephen explained the nature of voluntary annexation of a territory and the legal ramifications of such a move. Stephen clarified that the hearing was to receive input on whether or not the approximately 12 acres owned by the Rusts should be annexed, and not on the requested rezoning of the property. After a question from Councilor Darrell Poling, Stephen recommended a vote be taken on first reading with the understanding that the proposed ordinance might change, depending on the proposed zoning recommendation determined next month at the March meeting of the Greensburg Area Plan Commission. Stephen asked the audience to limit their comments to points that were relevant to annexation only. The Rusts were represented by attorney Matt Giffin from Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in Indianapolis and he spoke first. Giffin explained that under the law the only real issues were if the property was contiguous to Greensburg and if the requested R4 zoning classification for the property was appropriate. He explained that the Rusts wanted to develop the property to be of value to the city of Greensburg, but to do that the property would have to be zoned in a way that would benefit the Rusts ideas for development. Giffin assured the assemblage that the Rusts do not intend to use the property for multi-family housing nor for manufactured housing, but for a senior housing community much like Crowne Point Senior Living Community, which is also zoned R4. Giffin addressed a few of the public concerns that arose from last week's Area Plan meeting, saying that the construction of such a facility would only result in a minor increase of traffic. He also said providing police and fire service and capital services like street construction would only result in a 'marginal cost' to the city. Giffin cited studies that indicated the proposed senior living facility did not promote an increase in crime nor have a negative effect on adjacent property values. He also said the facility was consistent with the city's comprehensive plan. 'We urge the council on the first reading tonight and eventually on the second reading to approve this annexation and zone the property that makes future development possible,' Giffin said. Eleven members of the public spoke against the annexation and zoning change, citing issues like increased traffic on Millhousen Road, safety for the children at St. Mary's, the changing of the area's aesthetics with the addition of such a facility, and lowered property values. It should be noted that additional seating was necessary to accommodate attendance for the meeting, with several city officials standing along the walls during the proceedings. The public hearing was closed after approximately 35 minutes of testimony. During the meeting portion of the gathering, Greensburg Building Commissioner Sarah Hamer addressed the irregular order of the proceeding, acknowledging that the annexation should have been confirmed before the zoning ordinance was voted on. Lengthy discussion ensued between council members and Stephen, clarifying the irregular order of the proceedings. Stephen again clarified that any vote was strictly regarding the annexation of the property in question, and that the zoning classification would not be known until the second reading at next month's council meeting. A roll call vote was eventually taken, with councilors Jamie Cain and Darrell Poling voting to annex the property and councilors Mark Carmen, Kevin Fleetwood, Dr. Rodney King, Darrell Tressler and McKenzie voting not to annex. The ordinance failed on the first reading by the city council.
