Deadly Crashes & Vehicle Pile-ups on I-35 in Forth Worth, Texas – Thursday, February 11, 2021

Sending my thoughts and prayers to all affected by this horrible crash. Please, let’s all drive slow in the rainy or icy weather.

What started as an average day for Ryan Chaney turned into something straight out of a disaster movie as he found himself trying to pull people from the wreckage of a mass-casualty crash in Fort Worth on Thursday morning, February 11, 2021.

Chaney, an independent trucker from Argyle, was driving south on I-35 to work, where he hauls power poles for Sabre Industries. The 6 a.m. traffic moved semi-normally, with Chaney and most drivers going about 60 mph on mostly dry roads.

As he neared the 820 interchanges, Chaney noticed his headlights reflecting off the surface of the road and recognized there could be black ice. He and other cars around him slowed down to about 20 mph.

But as he reached the 35W bridge near downtown Fort Worth, the road turned into “a solid sheet of ice,” he said. The driver next to him spun out and hit a guardrail. He slid into the car, luckily not causing much damage, and gained enough control to pull to the side of the highway.

Chaney got out of his truck and stood next to a guardrail that separated him from the TEXPress lanes. He asked the other driver that spun out if he was all right. As the driver told him that he was fine, he heard sliding sounds from the TEXPress lines beside him.

As he recovered from his own fender bender in the main lanes of traffic, Chaney watched a car slide on the ice and into the guardrail inside the TEXPress lanes. Another car was unable to slow down and smashed into the first car.

“The truck behind that vehicle tried to sacrifice himself into the concrete barrier, but the ice was so slick that as soon as he hit the brakes, it was over,” Chaney said. “He pushed them about 30 feet. And then it was car, truck, car, truck, car — it was never-ending.”

Car slid and crashed into one another for about three minutes. During a pause in the chaos, Chaney jumped over the guardrail to try and help. He found some people who needed help getting out of their cars. Most of the people seemed OK, so Chaney started to walk through the pile-up to see if more people needed help.

The crash quickly became worse. A grain hopper smashed into the stopped cars and exploded, he said.

“I couldn’t see a foot in front of my face,” he said. “All that stuff was in the air, and I figured that’s where I should focus my attention, where it was worse.”

He saw a woman inside a small car, crumpled to the point that he could not tell what kind of car it was. She was screaming, so he jumped the rail and tried to get to her. He was in-between a tractor-trailer, the rear of a tractor-trailer, and her car, which was wedged between the two vehicles.

He was trying to help her out of the trapped car when he saw a Fed-Ex truck heading toward them. He dove under the tractor-trailer and watched helplessly as the truck slammed into the woman.

“And she was crushed to death,” he said.

In a Facebook Live video he posted later, Chaney described the moment.

“I witnessed (someone) die in front of me, where I barely got out with my life. I mean, nearly missed it,” he said in the video. “I heard the truck hit, I heard the explosion, then I heard cars and metal crunching and I threw myself under a semi-truck trailer just behind me. And that lady that I was trying to get out of her car got crushed to death. But I did rescue a few other people who I was able to drag out of their vehicle.”

After he watched the woman he was trying to save die, Chaney said his “brain kind of shut off.”

He remembers a second truck hit the growing pile-up at high speed. The crash became denser as cars continued to pile on top of one another. Fires sprang from the wreckage, and Chaney turned toward the front of the crash site again.

A man started to yell for him and said a woman was trapped inside her car. She was on her phone and screaming. Chaney used his fists and a pocket blade to knock out her window and pull her out of the car. On a Facebook Live video posted after the crash, Chaney shows his bloodied, cut-up hands.

He helped the woman, who was not wearing a jacket, to his truck, then continued to walk through the crash. One trucker needed help getting out of the vehicle, which was smoking and dumping diesel. He walked away, thanking Chaney.

“Some of it, I don’t remember,” he said. “After that lady got crushed, I don’t remember much.”

In total, around 100 vehicles were part of the roughly mile-long wreckage, according to authorities.

Six people have been confirmed dead, and about 65 were injured.

Aftermath of crash

First responders started to show up to the crash. Chaney walked up and down the crash site in areas where he could get through and check on people through their windows. He gave them a thumbs up and, if they gave him a thumbs up in return, he would move on. He helped a few more people out of their cars.

At about 7:30 a.m., a little over an hour after Chaney saw the first car hit a guardrail, he drove himself and the woman he pulled from her car away. He drove to the hospital — not to get medical attention, but because the woman worked in the medical field and knew the hospital where she worked would need her help.

At 7:34 a.m., he posted a Facebook Live explaining what happened. He described the crash as “a genocide of metal.”

Then, not knowing where else to go and in a state of shock, Chaney drove to work. He started to haul power poles for Sabre and made a full loop of his usual route down to Alvarado and into Kennedale.

“I need to get paid. My bills don’t stop,” he said. “The highway was shut down and the only way I could go was to work.”

After his first loop, however, he realized he needed to go home. At about 2:45 p.m., he made it back to his house and started to try and process what happened.

“People called me a hero, but I’m just like no. It’s kind of fight or flight,” he said. “Either you leave or you stay and fight it out. And my instinct was to stay and see what I could do. I didn’t want to just pull out my phone and record like a pansy.”

He urged people to stop sharing photos and videos of the crash, warning that people might recognize a loved one’s car in the wreckage before they know what happened to them.

“Nobody needs to see that, especially people that were there that witnessed things,” he said. “Because then they relive it.”

He said he is “internally confused and sad,” and frustrated by the way people were trapped in the pile-up by the TEXpress lanes. The lanes require motorists to pay an electronic toll as a way to pay their way around congestion that chronically occurs near downtown Fort Worth.

“You’re trapped by two walls,” he said. “It was basically turned into a gigantic slip and slide.”

Credit: Journalist Kaley Johnson / Yahoo news

https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-tried-save-trapped-drivers-234949188.html

Here is another article by Journalist Gordon Dickson of the Fort Worth Star-News giving the reason why this part of the Interstate is so dangerous.

The area where six people were killed early Thursday during a 133-car pileup on an ice-coated Interstate 35W is known for its chronic traffic congestion.

In 2018, a $1.4 billion expansion and modernization of I-35W was completed north of downtown Fort Worth — yet traffic continues grinding to a halt, not just during rush hour, but throughout the day and night.

Why can’t this problem be fixed?

Part of the issue is that another freeway, Texas 121 — also known as Airport Freeway — dead-ends at I-35W near downtown Fort Worth, about two miles south of Thursday’s crash. That merger forces lots of cars into a relatively small space — and motorists trying to get from 121 to I-30 must cross several lanes of traffic in less than a mile to get to their exit, which during heavy traffic (or bad weather) can cause gridlock for miles up the road.

In the 1980s, the state proposed extending Texas 121 around the north side of downtown Fort Worth and extending the roadway into southwest Fort Worth, which would relieve much of the stressful lane-changing. But that plan was opposed by neighborhood groups, many of whom worried about the impact on historical Samuels Avenue.

“It absolutely would have facilitated the flow of all that traffic to the southwest, but people were concerned about the impact to Trinity Park and the river and Samuels Avenue,” said Bill Meadows, a former Fort Worth councilman and Texas Transportation Commission member who also served on the city’s Streams and Valleys organization in the 1980s.

In addition to the bottleneck caused by highway mergers, the 2018 expansion project created a new set of toll lanes — known as TEXPress lanes — in the median of I-35W. The toll lanes require motorists to pay electronically (most car owners do that by affixing a TollTag to their windshield), but once you’re in the toll lanes there are limited places to exit.

Thursday’s pileup occurred near where the TEXPress lanes merge back into the non-toll freeway main lanes, in an area between 28th Street and Northside Drive. The lanes merge back into the non-toll main lanes on the left side of the road, which often caused motorists in the fast lane to brake and swerve. The speed limit is 75 mph on the TEXPress lanes where the crash occurred, and there are no shoulders or breakdown lanes.

The private consortium of companies that built the express lanes for the Texas Department of Transportation is known as North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners. That group is responsible for the maintenance of the toll and non-toll lanes.

Videos of the pileup aftermath taken by passers-by appear to show the pavement iced over when cars and trucks began to smash into each other. However, a spokesman for the North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners told the Star-Telegram the company had been actively working to keep ice off the roads.

“NTE & NTE35W maintenance crews started pre-treating our corridors on Tuesday and have been spot treating since then,” spokesman Robert Hinkle said in an email.

But one state elected leader is calling for an investigation into NTE Mobility Partners’ role in the maintenance of the I-35W corridor.

State Rep. Ramon Romero, D-Fort Worth, whose district includes the site of the deadly crash, said he is “not a fan” of the state entering into partnerships with private companies to build and operate roads that ought to be the responsibility of the state. He said he is concerned that for-profit companies could overlook safety issues such as preventable bottlenecks.

“Texas should be doing this on our own,” Romero said in a phone interview. “Now we have created this clearly a very dangerous trap.”

Romero said that based on the videos and photos of the pileup that he saw, he doesn’t think NTE Mobility Partners had even tried to deice that stretch of I-35W.

“It sure sounds false to me,” Romero said. “The officers and fire folks that are there now, they’re hurting because they had to pull all those people out of those cars, and they know how it happened. Those folks didn’t have the ability to break.”

Beyond the deicing issue, Romero said he wants to learn more about how the state managed to spend $1.4 billion on road improvements yet didn’t add any non-toll lanes.

Southbound I-35W features three lanes heading toward downtown Fort Worth, but when motorists get to the Belknap Street exit the freeway shrinks to only two lanes. There, many motorists wait until the last second to get out of the merging right lane, and that can cause backups for several miles all the way to 28th Street — near the site of Thursday’s tragic pileup.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article249184995.html

Video credit: YouTube.com

Managing Depression During the Holidays

I am posting this again since we are in the Holiday season of 2020 and dealing with Covid19, things have changed big time. I first posted this in 2018, when things were as one may say “Normal,” but now we look back and it’s a memory of a time many of us took for granted and now would love for things to get back to that normal or better than normal.

With the holiday season upon us, many of us push harder than ever by keeping ourselves busy and believing we are just fine. That is until we stop for long enough to realize how exhausted we are. Many feel they can’t afford to slow down, but at times like this, it is more important that we take time to replenish our inner resources. According to experts, more people become depressed or anxious during the holidays than any other time of year, due to an increase in demands, family issues, being unable to manage expectations and also increasing financial worries, and wanting to fulfill your Christmas list for family and friends. This can lead to feeling overwhelmed by multiple responsibilities, not to mention your monthly bills.

FAMILY ISSUES:
The holidays are synonymous with family, so any and / all family-related issues may come to the forefront during this time such as loss, dysfunction, addiction, disconnection, abuse, separation, estrangement, divorce, and financial issues. If you are someone who is already working on managing your depression, this will be an additional emotional roller-coaster and burden. This is something that won’t go away on its own without effective communication, love, and support.
Unfortunately, when we get wound up too tight, it can be hard to figure out how to unwind, but I’d like to share some simple ways to relax that can be beneficial for your mental and emotional well-being and make your days a lot more enjoyable and comfortable. My suggestions include rest, laughter exercise, plenty of water, and healthy eating.
Sometimes it is hard to admit that we need to rest, but it’s a simple truth. When you sleep, not only are you physically recharging your system, you are also giving your mind and eyes time to rest as well. For those very reasons, it is extremely helpful to establish a regular sleep routine. By sticking to it as much as you can, you should be rested and ready to face those busy days ahead. Even when you aren’t sleeping, you can still rest your mind by finding some pleasant activity to do for short periods, like reading a book, playing a puzzle game, working on a favorite hobby, or just relaxing, listening to some soft music. Music is a powerful way of loosening up and releasing built-up stress.
As for my next suggestion, many have probably heard it before. If you want to relax, find reasons to laugh. Laughter oxygenates your blood and relieves stress, which in turn boosts your immune response. It naturally improves your mood and even burns off a few calories as well! To get your daily dose of laughter, enjoy a pleasant visit with friends, read a funny book, or watch shows on the television that make you laugh. I guarantee that a good 15 minutes of laughing will leave you feeling relaxed and refreshed.
And let us not forget about exercise. Exercise helps boost your endorphin levels and is good for your heart and blood vessels. Even if your schedule is busy, try to set aside time for daily exercise, even if it’s just 15 minutes. Walking around the block several times during lunch, making a short dash to the local park, or even putting music on at home and dancing through a few songs will do wonders for your body and mind!

Photo credit: Yahoo.com/images

 

The Good Ole Days!

Photo credit: Bing.com/images

I sure miss the good ole days, where times were simple and loads of fun. The people were friendly and would stand and talk for hours to everyone. Neighborhoods with families of all sizes. People cared for one another and enjoyed bonding and socializing.

Aww, Spring and Summer in the country, watching tumbleweeds roll down the dirt roads and off into fields or a yard. Skipping rocks at the lake or in a creek, such fun, I sure miss those days. Fresh lemonade stands for only 10 cents a cup, the boys racing their homemade box cars, and the hopscotch game drawn on the sidewalks were amazing I could never get enough. Boys chasing girls with horned toads and lizards, girls screaming, running, and giggling at having a boy chasing them regardless of the toad he had in his hand.

Children would be walking on homemade stilts while others hula hooped in the yard. It was always fun to see friends in a game of jacks or on windy days, running flying their box kites. Scooters blazing through the streets, children on bicycles with cards stuck in the spokes raced to see whose bike was the fastest. After all the fun, everyone grew thirsty and would turn the water hose on and get a drink and pass the hose to the next friend waiting for a drink. No one cared about drinking from the hose, it was an exciting thing to do, plus it was an opportunity to get wet up. The water tasted good, sometimes hot, but if you let it run a little bit, it would be cool enough to drink. After the last child drank from the hose and off they would go to find something else fun to do. There were so many fun things to do long ago, and it felt good to be outdoors running like the wind, and when you tired from running, there was always someone ready for a game of jump rope.  The good ole days, where did they go?  When will they ever return?  I guess they remain somewhere in our dreams, somewhere in time.

Today people are no longer as neighborly, and the trust has almost faded away. The news is full of negativity that can ruin a great day.  I still have faith in people and love to lend a helping hand. I engage in conversation and pray one day there will be peace in this land.

 

“Believe”

I choose to believe that all things are possible, not only for some but for all including me.

I believe in faith, strength, courage, wisdom, and being honest and humble.

This coffee mug is one of several that I have that I drink my morning coffee from as I brainstorm and go over in my mind what I am going to write about.

When we BELIEVE, we open doors that once seemed sealed from top to bottom, we develop an inner strength that engulfs us in love as it empowers us to do be, move forward and close old chapters in our lives and not look back.

I choose to BELIEVE in myself, my inner strength, my loving heart and my willingness to continue helping others find their peace!

11 Symptoms of Kidney Disease

Photo credit: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/human-kidney

I wanted to post these symptoms of kidney disease due to my being diagnosed a few weeks ago with stage three kidney disease. I can truly say it was a huge shock to me, but it’s also something that I will not allow to take control of my life. I will fight this disease and do all I can to reverse it. I do suffer from high blood pressure, which is now under control. I am eating healthier and staying away from soft drinks and getting as much rest as I possibly can.. Most people don’t have symptoms in the early stages. When chronic kidney disease is advanced, you may:

Below you will find 11 of the symptoms of this disease.

      1.Vomit or feel like you are going to

2. Pee more or less often than normal
3. See foam in your urine
4. Have swelling, especially in your ankles, and puffiness around your eyes
5. Feel tired or short of breath all the time
6. Not feel like eating
7. Not be able to taste much
8. Have muscle cramps, especially in your legs
9. Have very dry, itchy skin
10. Sleep poorly
11. Lose weight for no obvious reason

     Credit: webmd.com

 

What is Juneteenth?

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Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House two months earlier in Virginia, but slavery had remained relatively unaffected in Texas—until U.S. General Gordon Granger stood on Texas soil and read General Orders No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”

The Emancipation Proclamation  – 

The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, had established that all enslaved people in Confederate states in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” 

But, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t instantly free any enslaved people. The proclamation only applied to places under Confederate control and not to slave-holding border states or rebel areas already under Union control. However, as Northern troops advanced into the Confederate South, many enslaved people fled behind Union lines.

Juneteenth and Slavery in Texas – 

In Texas, slavery had continued as the state experienced no large-scale fighting or a significant presence of Union troops. Many enslavers from outside the Lone Star State had moved there, as they viewed it as a safe haven for slavery.

After the war came to a close in the spring of 1865, General Granger’s arrival in Galveston that June signaled freedom for Texas’s 250,000 enslaved people. Although emancipation didn’t happen overnight for everyone—in some cases, enslavers withheld the information until after harvest season—celebrations broke out among newly freed black people, and Juneteenth was born. That December, slavery in America was formally abolished with the adoption of the 13th Amendment.

The year following 1865, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of “Jubilee Day” on June 19. In the ensuing decades, Juneteenth commemorations featured music, barbecues, prayer services, and other activities, and as black people migrated from Texas to other parts of the country the Juneteenth tradition spread. 

In 1979, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday. Today, 47 states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday, while efforts to make it a national holiday have so far stalled in Congress. 

Does an Exception Clause in the 13th Amendment Still Permit Slavery?

The amendment, which officially abolished slavery in the United States in 1865, includes a loophole regarding involuntary servitude.

The year the Civil War ended, the U.S. amended the Constitution to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude. But it purposefully left in one big loophole for people convicted of crimes.

The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, says: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Scholars, activists, and prisoners have linked that exception clause to the rise of a prison system that incarcerates black people at more than five times the rate of white people, and profits off of their unpaid or underpaid labor.

“What we see after the passage of the 13th Amendment is a couple of different things converging,” says Andrea Armstrong, a law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans. “First, the 13th Amendment text allows for involuntary servitude were convicted of a crime.” At the same time, “black codes” in the south created “new types of offenses, especially attitudinal offenses—not showing proper respect, those types of things.”

https://history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth

Beautiful Creations!

 

When we stop and take a look at some of the beautiful fowls and animals in this world, you truly began to see the artistic craftsmanship of God, and also realize that he has a sense of humor as well! These birds may be different species and different colors, but all are beautiful and bring a natural, but glorious essence while show-casing their true colorful beauty!

The Struggle is Real!

This is a repost with a few additions:

We have all heard the saying, “The Struggle is Real.” Many may not know what that phrase means, but as we read and listen to the news each day, and go through our day to day lives it becomes pretty clear as to what it means. Each and every one of us is fighting a battle of our own; and for many, the struggle is more real than one could ever imagine!
Here lately I’ve noticed on Facebook more and more friends stating how depressed and/or stressed they are, and asking for prayer. We have to admit, our jobs can be very stressful and adding to that stress are our bills in which we can’t escape, family illnesses and other issues, the cost of groceries going up higher and higher, gasoline prices soaring, plus those who commute back and forth to work in heavy traffic experience lots of stress due to their daily drive.

I know people who don’t watch or listen to the news anymore because they say it stresses them out and they feel as though the media reports more negative news than positive news. As we continue with our daily tasks and go through life, we all should think of things we can do to keep our stress to a minimum and continue encouraging one another as much as possible. It’s very hard these days with the Pandemic and everyone being Quarantined, but we are all doing the best we can and are all in this together!

We all live in this world and there is no escaping many of life’s situations, but we can reach out to others in need and be a pillar of support. The struggle is real, and everybody needs somebody! We can’t live in this world all by ourselves!

JASMINE D. PARKER ©

Three Dead After Someone Tosses Dry Ice Into a Swimming Pool at a Birthday Party!

 How can something this tragic happen at a birthday party? Why would someone throw dry ice into a swimming pool while people are supposed to be having a good time? I’m pretty sure these are just two of the many questions being asked at this time by people all around the world.

Three people have died and 6 are in intensive care after inhaling vapors created by mixing dry ice with pool water. The victims suffered from carbon dioxide poisoning, and some guests were reported to have chemical burns. All involved were celebrating at a popular Russian blogger’s birthday party. The deceased include the blogger’s husband Valentin (Valya) Didenko, 32, plus party goers Naalia Monakova and Yuri Alferov, both 25 years old. All were pronounced dead at the scene.

A big crowd of the couple’s friends were seen clinking glasses moments before the tragedy in the south of Moscow.

Ekaterina’s husband Valentin bought dry ice ‘to create an impressive steam show’ as the party guests jumped into a pool. 

But as soon as the ice was poured in people started fainting. Paramedics failed to rescue two of the guests who were pronounced dead at the site.

The Russian Investigative Committee confirmed a criminal case was opened into causing death by negligence. 

The ‘preliminary reason for the death of three (partygoers) was mechanical asphyxia because their airways were blocked’, reported crime channel 112.

The three were in the pool when the dry ice was released and could not breathe.

Five people remained in hospital this morning.  My heart goes out to all involved in this tragic accident.  I hope no one else tries something like this!  I’ve included a different video below of a young man showing what happens when dry ice is tossed into a swimming pool.

 

Credit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk      

Dandelions – The Incredible Edible Flower!

Photo Credit: http://www.ediblewildfood.com

Gardeners have cursed the dandelion and its pervasive nature. They pop up everywhere in spring and are so hard to get rid of.
Having grown up in a small West Texas town, I am no stranger to the Dandelion; although we pulled them up with our gloved hands or chopped them down with the hoe. We had no idea what we were missing out on and clumped this healthy plant into the weed family.
To be perfectly honest, I always thought they were poisonous. I guess it was because of the white milky sap that oozed from the stems. When I first started reading up on edible plants, I just couldn’t believe Dandelions were on the list. I’m excited about all of the health benefits associated with eating this plant and can’t wait to give it a try!

• The Normans called this plant “dent de lion”—tooth of the lion—for its jagged leaves. Anglo-Saxons corrupted this name into dandylion.
• The Vikings brought dandelion seed with them to Iceland and Greenland where the plant still thrives today.
• The Chinese call it “nail in the earth” for its long taproot which draws nutrients and moisture from deep in the ground.
• In medieval times, dandelions gathered on St. John’s Eve—June 24—were believed to repel witches. The milky sap, given the name “devil’s milk pail”, was used to cure warts and pimples.

DANDELION HEALTH BENEFITS

Seeds were brought here by the Puritans to plant in their herb gardens and the plants soon escaped, making their way across the country. Since all parts of the plant are edible and rich in vitamins, that is not a bad thing.

• Dandelions are more nutritious than spinach, have 25 times the vitamin A of tomato juice, and are a good source of calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, lecithin, and vitamins C, B, and E. For many early settlers, dandelions made a life-saving spring tonic.
• The dandelion was a standard medicinal plant used by herbalists for generations. Their Latin name—Taraxacum officinale—means a remedy for disorders. The leaves are a powerful diuretic but since they do not flush potassium from the body they are safer than pharmaceutical diuretics. The roots are slightly laxative and a tea made from ground fresh or dried roots is reported to improve digestion.
• Similar to their cousin chicory, the roots can be roasted until they are dark brown inside and out, ground into a powder, and used as a coffee substitute.

For more health benefits and also recipes, please visit: https://www.almanac.com/news/gardening/garden-journal/dandelion-health-benefits

Photo Credit: http://www.ediblewildfood.com