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Wisconsin police say no charges in explosion that killed 1

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SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. — Miscommunication and an improperly marked gas main were to blame for an explosion last summer that killed a Wisconsin firefighter, injured 11 other people and levelled a city block, authorities said Thursday in announcing that no one would face charges.

The July 10 blast that rocked downtown Sun Prairie happened about 40 minutes after a subcontractor who was installing fiber communication lines struck the gas main, Patrick Anhalt, the police chief of the southern Wisconsin city, said at a news conference.

Police, firefighters and other emergency personnel raced to clear the area, including firefighter Cory Barr, who owned a downtown restaurant along with his wife, Abby. Barr was off duty, but he rushed to the scene to help evacuate people and was leaving his restaurant with another firefighter when the explosion occurred.

Barr was killed in the blast and 11 other people, including five other firefighters and a police officer, were injured. Among the six businesses that were destroyed was the Barrs’ tavern, the Barr House. One home was also destroyed.

Authorities released dashcam video Thursday that was taken from a squad car that was parked about half a block away from the site. It shows what appears to be five utility workers in hard hats and reflective vests crossing the street as the building erupts in a massive explosion. They run away as debris rains down and a plume of smoke rises.

Companies working to install the underground fiber-optic line exchanged and relied upon “incomplete and inaccurate information,” Anhalt said. Police, the county district attorney, state fire marshal and Wisconsin attorney general’s office all agreed that criminal charges weren’t warranted, he said.

The chief blamed the accident on “miscommunication” but didn’t explain what exactly happened or whether such a mistake can be prevented from happening again. He said investigators conducted 67 interviews and examined 45 pieces of evidence and 400 pages of documents during their five-month probe.

Neither Anhalt nor any of the other officials who were at the news conference fielded questions, but they did make public a redacted copy of the investigation report.

Abby Barr did not immediately reply to a message Thursday seeking comment about the decision not to criminally charge anyone. According to WKOW , she filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Thursday naming VC Tech, Bear Communications, USIC Locating Services and WE Energies as defendants. Two firefighters who were injured, Ryan Welch and Greg Pavlik, also filed suits Thursday with the same companies listed as defendants.

WE Energies spokesman Brendan Conway said the Milwaukee-based company had not received or reviewed the lawsuits, but does not comment on pending litigation.

Sun Prairie, a city of about 30,000, is just to the east of Madison, Wisconsin’s capital city.

In a search warrant request in which investigators were looking for evidence to support a second-degree reckless homicide charge, authorities said a worker for Wisconsin-based USIC, an underground utility locating firm, failed to properly mark a natural gas line prior to the explosion.

Anhalt said Verizon Wireless contracted with Bear Communications for the fiber optic installation project. Bear Communications first subcontracted with Jet Underground, but then changed subcontractors to Michigan-based VC Tech, he said.

VC Tech proceeded with the project and, while engaged in “underground directional boring,” cut through a WE Energies gas line that was not completely marked, the chief said.

About 40 minutes later, the escaping gas ignited. The cause of the ignition was not determined, Anhalt said.

“This error appears to be the result of miscommunication between USIC, Bear Communications, Jet Underground, and VC Tech,” Anhalt said. “Prior to the explosion, conversations occurred between representatives of each of these companies, both on and off site, during which incomplete and inaccurate information was exchanged and relied upon.”

Anhalt said the explosion could result in a law change to improve communication between companies involved in underground utility work.

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Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbauerAP

Scott Bauer, The Associated Press



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Kananaskis G7 meeting the right setting for U.S. and Canada to reassert energy ties

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Energy security, resilience and affordability have long been protected by a continentally integrated energy sector.

The G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, offers a key platform to reassert how North American energy cooperation has made the U.S. and Canada stronger, according to a joint statement from The Heritage Foundation, the foremost American conservative think tank, and MEI, a pan-Canadian research and educational policy organization.

“Energy cooperation between Canada, Mexico and the United States is vital for the Western World’s energy security,” says Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment and the Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and one of America’s most prominent energy experts. “Both President Trump and Prime Minister Carney share energy as a key priority for their respective administrations.

She added, “The G7 should embrace energy abundance by cooperating and committing to a rapid expansion of energy infrastructure. Members should commit to streamlined permitting, including a one-stop shop permitting and environmental review process, to unleash the capital investment necessary to make energy abundance a reality.”

North America’s energy industry is continentally integrated, benefitting from a blend of U.S. light crude oil and Mexican and Canadian heavy crude oil that keeps the continent’s refineries running smoothly.

Each day, Canada exports 2.8 million barrels of oil to the United States.

These get refined into gasoline, diesel and other higher value-added products that furnish the U.S. market with reliable and affordable energy, as well as exported to other countries, including some 780,000 barrels per day of finished products that get exported to Canada and 1.08 million barrels per day to Mexico.

A similar situation occurs with natural gas, where Canada ships 8.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to the United States through a continental network of pipelines.

This gets consumed by U.S. households, as well as transformed into liquefied natural gas products, of which the United States exports 11.5 billion cubic feet per day, mostly from ports in Louisiana, Texas and Maryland.

“The abundance and complementarity of Canada and the United States’ energy resources have made both nations more prosperous and more secure in their supply,” says Daniel Dufort, president and CEO of the MEI. “Both countries stand to reduce dependence on Chinese and Russian energy by expanding their pipeline networks – the United States to the East and Canada to the West – to supply their European and Asian allies in an increasingly turbulent world.”

Under this scenario, Europe would buy more high-value light oil from the U.S., whose domestic needs would be back-stopped by lower-priced heavy oil imports from Canada, whereas Asia would consume more LNG from Canada, diminishing China and Russia’s economic and strategic leverage over it.

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The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.

As the nation’s largest, most broadly supported conservative research and educational institution, The Heritage Foundation has been leading the American conservative movement since our founding in 1973. The Heritage Foundation reaches more than 10 million members, advocates, and concerned Americans every day with information on critical issues facing America.

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Poilievre on 2025 Election Interference – Carney sill hasn’t fired Liberal MP in Chinese election interference scandal

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From Conservative Party Communications

Yes. He must be disqualified. I find it incredible that Mark Carney would allow someone to run for his party that called for a Canadian citizen to be handed over to a foreign government on a bounty, a foreign government that would almost certainly execute that Canadian citizen.

 

“Think about that for a second. We have a Liberal MP saying that a Canadian citizen should be handed over to a foreign dictatorship to get a bounty so that that citizen could be murdered. And Mark Carney says he should stay on as a candidate. What does that say about whether Mark Carney would protect Canadians?

“Mark Carney is deeply conflicted. Just in November, he went to Beijing and secured a quarter-billion-dollar loan for his company from a state-owned Chinese bank. He’s deeply compromised, and he will never stand up for Canada against any foreign regime. It is another reason why Mr. Carney must show us all his assets, all the money he owes, all the money that his companies owe to foreign hostile regimes. And this story might not be entirely the story of the bounty, and a Liberal MP calling for a Canadian to be handed over for execution to a foreign government might not be something that the everyday Canadian can relate to because it’s so outrageous. But I ask you this, if Mark Carney would allow his Liberal MP to make a comment like this, when would he ever protect Canada or Canadians against foreign hostility?

“He has never put Canada first, and that’s why we cannot have a fourth Liberal term. After the Lost Liberal Decade, our country is a playground for foreign interference. Our economy is weaker than ever before. Our people more divided. We need a change to put Canada first with a new government that will stand up for the security and economy of our citizens and take back control of our destiny. Let’s bring it home.”

 

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