CHICAGO (AP) — Federal investigators say the operator of a Chicago commuter train that crashed almost a year ago had alcohol in his system.
The Chicago Transit Authority train crashed into a slow-moving snow plow that was on the rails on Nov. 16. Thirty-eight people were hurt, including the train's operator.
A National Transportation Safety Board report states that a hospital test showed the 47-year-old operator had a blood-alcohol level of 0.06% about an hour after the crash, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday. The federal limit is 0.02%. The state limit in Illinois is 0.08%.
An additional test at a federal laboratory revealed his blood-alcohol level was 0.048%, according to the report, which was published Aug. 8.
The CTA told the newspaper Thursday that the NTSB had prohibited the agency from commenting on an ongoing investigation. The agency issued a statement saying it monitors employee drug and alcohol use by conducting hundreds of random tests of employees monthly. The train operator was hired in 2021 but never took a random drug or alcohol test during his tenure, according to the NTSB report.
The operator told investigators the train's brakes didn't work properly in the moments leading up to the crash, according to the report.
“I got the brake down, but I’m still feeling a little push on the train, so I’m like, I’m pulling it down,” the operator told NTSB investigators. “I jump on the radio, (saying) 'train not stopping.' I’m like well, my body’s going to get crushed."
NTSB investigators said in the days after the crash that they were focusing on a design problem with the train’s braking system. NTSB officials said that preliminary findings suggested the train was traveling at 26.9 mph (43.3 kph) when it hit the snow plow.
The plow was on the tracks as part of training for the winter season. A rail instructor who was working on the plow told investigators it appeared as if the train operator tried to apply the brakes but he knew a crash was inevitable.
“I was praying and hoping that it would stop, but the speed that the train was coming, I already knew that it wasn’t going to stop,” the instructor said.
The instructor hit his head and fell unconscious for a few seconds. He said the operator did slow the train somewhat, potentially saving lives.
“The operator is the real hero because if (he) didn’t slow down that train, I probably wouldn’t be here with you guys right now,” the instructor told investigators.
FILE - Chicago Fire and Police Departments triage patients at the scene of a Chicago Transit Authority train crash, Nov. 16, 2023, in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Beyoncé is expected to appear Friday in her hometown of Houston at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Harris' presidential campaign has taken on Beyonce's 2016 track “Freedom” as its anthem, and the singer's planned appearance brings a high-level of star power to what has become a key theme of the Democratic nominee’s bid: freedom.
Harris will head to the reliably Republican state just 10 days before Election Day in an effort to refocus her campaign against former President Donald Trump on reproductive care, which Democrats see as a make-or-break issue this year.
The three people were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Harris campaign did not immediately comment.
Beyoncé‘s appearance was expected to draw even more attention to the event — and to Harris’ closing message.
Harris’ Houston trip is set to feature women who have been affected by Texas' restrictive abortion laws, which took effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She has campaigned in other states with restrictive abortion laws, including Georgia, among the seven most closely contested states.
Harris has centered her campaign around the idea that Trump is a threat to American freedoms, from reproductive and LGBTQ rights to the freedom to be safe from gun violence.
Beyonce gave Harris permission early in her campaign to use “Freedom,” a soulful track from her 2016 landmark album “Lemonade,” in her debut ad. Harris has used its thumping chorus as a walk-out song at rallies ever since.
Beyoncé’s alignment with Harris isn’t the first time that the Grammy winner has aligned with a Democratic politician. Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, danced as Beyoncé performed at a presidential inaugural ball in 2009.
In 2013, she sang the national anthem at Obama’s second inauguration. Three years later, she and her husband Jay-Z performed at a pre-election concert for Democrat Hillary Clinton in Cleveland.
“Look how far we’ve come from having no voice to being on the brink of history — again,” Beyoncé said at the time. “But we have to vote.”
A January poll by Ipsos for the anti-polarization nonprofit With Honor found that 64% of Democrats had a favorable view of Beyonce compared with just 32% of Republicans. Overall, Americans were more likely to have a favorable opinion than an unfavorable one, 48% to 33%.
Speculation over whether the superstar would appear at this summer’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago reached a fever pitch on the gathering’s final night, with online rumors swirling after celebrity news site TMZ posted a story that said: “Beyoncé is in Chicago, and getting ready to pop out for Kamala Harris on the final night of the Democratic convention.” The site attributed it to “multiple sources in the know,” none of them named.
About an hour after Harris ended her speech, TMZ updated its story to say, “To quote the great Beyoncé: We gotta lay our cards down, down, down ... we got this one wrong.” In the end, Harris took the stage to star’s song, but that was its only appearance.
Last year, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, attended Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour in Maryland after getting tickets from Beyonce herself. “Thanks for a fun date night, @Beyonce,” Harris wrote on Instagram.
Long and Kinnard reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report. Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
This combination photos shows Beyonce at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, March 14, 2021, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a CNN town hall in Aston, Pa., Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo)
