Orlando Free Fall ride to be removed nearly year after teen's death
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Free Fall, the 430-foot drop tower at ICON Park from which 14-year-old Tyre Sampson fatally fell last March, will start coming down next week.
The St. Louis teen’s mother, Nekia Dodd, is relieved the ride will be taken down before the anniversary of Tyre’s death on March 24, lawyer Michael Haggard said in a statement. She has pushed for it to be dismantled since her son died but hopes its removal “does not remove the memory of this tragedy,” he said.
“Ms. Dodd remains focused on real change in the oversight and operation of thrill rides and accountability by any party involved in failing to keep theme park guests safe,” Haggard said. “It is a part of Tyre’s legacy, a legacy that can never be stripped down.”
Trevor Arnold, a lawyer representing ride operator Orlando Slingshot, said the company hired amusement business Ride Entertainment to coordinate the Free Fall’s deconstruction. A crane will arrive next week to start taking the Free Fall apart, he said.
Tyre died after slipping through a restraint that state investigators found Orlando Slingshot had modified to accommodate larger riders. The 383-pound teen was allowed on the ride despite exceeding the attraction’s weight limit by nearly 100 pounds, and the state claimed employees were not properly trained on the ride’s operation.
—Orlando Sentinel
6 Palestinians killed in latest West Bank battle with Israel
At least six Palestinians were killed in a battle with the Israeli military, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the latest phase in a rapidly escalating crisis in the West Bank.
The Israeli army reported Tuesday it killed a man affiliated with the Islamic Hamas group in Jenin who was suspected of shooting and killing two Israelis, and arrested two of his sons in the West Bank city of Nablus.
The forces used shoulder-fired missiles and armed Palestinians responded with heavy fire, the Israeli army said in a statement, adding that its soldiers hit two additional militants.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, described the incident as part of “an all-out war” and urged the U.S. to step in.
Israeli-Palestinian violence has been escalating since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power as head of a far-right coalition late last year. The U.S. has been striving to mediate a calm ahead of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which starts later in March.
—Bloomberg News
FBI probes ‘suspicious death’ of woman aboard cruise ship
The FBI has opened an investigation into the “suspicious death” of a passenger traveling from South Carolina to the Bahamas aboard a Carnival Sunshine cruise ship.
The 44-year-old woman, who was not identified, was found unresponsive by crew members not long after the ship departed from Charleston on Feb. 27, according to a statement from the FBI Columbia field office. Despite their best efforts to revive her, she was pronounced dead on the scene.
Her death likely occurred in the early morning hours of Feb. 28, Kevin Wheeler, public affairs specialist for the FBI’s Columbia field office, told NBC News. The agency noted there was no threat to any other passengers throughout the five-day cruise, calling the woman’s death an isolated incident.
The woman had been traveling with her husband, who disembarked once the cruise arrived in Nassau on March 1. His wife’s remains were also taken from the ship.
Investigators with the FBI’s Evidence Response Team processed the passenger’s room as evidence once the ship returned to Charleston as planned on March 4, according to the agency.
—New York Daily News
Sohn withdraws after Manchin opposes her FCC confirmation
Gigi Sohn withdrew her nomination to become a member of the Federal Communications Commission after Sen. Joe Manchin III on Tuesday said he would oppose her confirmation.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Sohn’s withdrawal at a news conference. “She would have brought tremendous intellect and experience” to the FCC, Jean-Pierre said, adding that Sohn was a leading advocate for consumers.
Jean-Pierre said the White House doesn’t have any updates about possible nominees.
Manchin’s opposition left only the narrowest of paths for Sohn to get through the Senate.
“The FCC must remain above the toxic partisanship that Americans are sick and tired of, and Ms. Sohn has clearly shown she is not the person to do that,” Manchin, D-W.Va., said in a statement.
Sohn, a counselor at the FCC for three years ending in 2016, was first nominated by President Joe Biden for an open FCC seat in 2021. She has faced stiff opposition from some industry groups and Republican lawmakers who say she is too radical and accused her of unethical practices. Sohn has denied the allegations.
—CQ-Roll Call
———
