Baltimore's Key Bridge may have lacked collision protective measures for modern cargo ships: Experts

Via NTSB

(BALTIMORE) — In the wake of the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, engineering and infrastructure policy experts explained the critical need for bridge reform in the United States and an international standard for large cargo ships.

The Key Bridge partially collapsed early Tuesday morning after a massive cargo ship collided with one of the bridge’s support columns, sending vehicles into the Patapsco River below and leaving six people unaccounted for, according to officials.

The investigation into the cause of both the collision and the bridge collapse is ongoing, officials said.

Rick Geddes, infrastructure policy expert and director of the Cornell University Infrastructure Policy Program, weighed in on the infrastructure and safety of the Key Bridge.

“This disaster reveals how exposed America’s critical infrastructure is to sudden and devastating accidents as well as intentional destruction,” Geddes said in a statement to ABC News. “I think the bridge was not designed to take the force and the mass of an enormous cargo ship directly hitting one of the pylons,” Geddes said in an interview with ABC News.

Pylons, or piers, are the critical load-bearing components of cable-supported bridges, such as Baltimore’s Key Bridge, a 1.6-mile-long, continuous truss-style bridge, according to Geddes.

Modern protective measures for bridge piers include adding “fenders,” which are protection systems designed to protect the bridge from vessels transiting under or in the vicinity of the bridge, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Fenders on modern bridges include “dolphins,” which are large circular walls filled with material such as sand or concrete and “artificial islands,” armored artificial islands around the piers made of a sand core that is protected against wave and current action by armored slope protection, according to the Coast Guard.

However, it is not yet known whether or not the Baltimore Key Bridge had fenders at the time of the crash.

The Maryland Transportation Authority did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for a comment.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also weighed in on the bridge’s ability to withstand a massive cargo ship collision Wednesday, “What we do know is a bridge like this one completed in the 1970s was simply not made to withstand a direct impact on a critical support pier from a vessel that weighs about 200 million pounds,” he said during a press briefing.

“Right now, I think there’s a lot of debate taking place in the engineering community about whether or not any of those features could have had any role in a situation like this,” Buttigieg added.

The 984-feet-long and 157-feet-wide cargo ship — operated by Synergy Marine Group and named Dali — was moving at a speed of 8 knots, or about 9 mph, when it struck the bridge, according to officials.

“So it’s a tremendous force, that the bridge would have to be designed to absorb,” Geddes said, adding, “It clearly was not designed to take that.”

Construction of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge began in 1972 and finished in March 1977, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA).

Maria Lehman, former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, told ABC News that older bridges are not designed with the post Panama Canal expansion ship allowances in mind.

In 2016, the Panama Canal expansion project constructed pathways — on both the Atlantic and Pacific ends of the canal — that are 70 feet wider and 18 feet deeper, to accommodate larger cargo ships.

Lehman said because Baltimore’s Key Bridge was created with smaller cargo ships in mind, it was “inadequate for what we see with ships today.”

“Pier protection on long-span bridges that have been built within the last decade are in line with what you’re gonna need based on how heavy these new ships are,” Lehman said.

Lehman said the news of the Key Bridge collapse Tuesday reminded her of the 1980 Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse in Tampa, Florida, which she said was a “very similar” bridge and spurred a “base standard for pier protection” in the United States.

In May 1980, the M/V Summit Venture freighter struck a support beam on the Skyway Bridge causing a major collapse that left 35 people dead. The now 44-year-old tragedy spurred changes to the engineering of bridges that have been built since, according to Lehman.

Three years after the Skyway Bridge incident, the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration released a technical advisory titled “Pier Protection and Warning Systems for Bridges Subject to Ship Collisions”

In the 1983 advisory, the agency noted, “It may be extremely difficult to retrofit some existing bridge piers with protective systems. For this reason, it becomes particularly important to recognize the potential hazards from ship collisions and to locate and design piers on new bridges in such a way that the risks of collision are reduced to an acceptable level.”

Baltimore’s Key Bridge was constructed in 1977 and did not have the protected pier measures that bridges built in the decades since this advisory.

“Unless you’re doing a major retrofit of any piece of infrastructure, you don’t have to bring it up to code,” Lehman said, adding that the Key Bridge collapse is a “wake-up” call for better bridge infrastructure and reform.

“I think just like Sunshine Skyway was a wake-up call, I think this is the next wake-up call,” Lehman said, adding, “We’re going to have to take a look closely at the results of what happened, and then work on the plan. So it never happens again.”

In June 2023, Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) officials announced the construction of the Delaware Memorial Bridge Protection System.

“Our goal is to take preemptive measures to prevent a commercial vessel from striking one of the bridge towers, which could cause significant damage to the bridge infrastructure and disruptions to interstate travel,” Thomas J. Cook, executive director of the DRBA said in a press release.

The cost of the project is nearly $93 million, according to the release.

Rick Geddes hopes the devastation from the Key Bridge collapse will spur great reform in America’s bridge infrastructure safety.

“The real possibility of a massive container ship of this size, running into a bridge pylon, and causing the bridge collapse is no longer theoretical,” Geddes said. “I think a renewed effort to inspect and assess the state of a whole bunch of U.S. bridges will be the result of this accident.”

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Former Senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82

Win McNamee/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Former Sen. Joe Lieberman has died, his family announced Wednesday. He was 82 years old.

Lieberman died in New York City “due to complications from a fall,” his family said in a statement.

“His beloved wife, Hadassah, and members of his family were with him as he passed. Senator Lieberman’s love of God, his family, and America endured throughout his life of service in the public interest,” the statement read.

Lieberman, a prominent Jewish politician who represented Connecticut, was Al Gore’s running mate on the Democratic ticket in 2000. A political maverick who ultimately became an independent, he also nearly joined former Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain’s presidential ticket as his running mate. The two were friends and were both defense hawks, advocating for a muscular U.S. posture abroad.

Lieberman became a player on the political scene again in recent years as the founding chair of the No Labels party, which is weighing launching a “unity ticket” in this year’s presidential race, though no major candidates have said they plan to join.

Lieberman “meant so much to so many,” No Labels said in a statement following his passing. “He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather. He was a senator and a statesman. He was the founding chairman and moral center of the No Labels movement.

“His unexpected passing is a profound loss for all of us,” the statement continued.

“Senator Lieberman was a singular figure in American political life who always put his country before party. He was a deeply principled and pragmatic leader who believed public service was a privilege and who dedicated his life to the betterment of others. As a four-term senator, he led passage of transformative bipartisan legislation that made America’s air and water cleaner, that made us safer after 9/11, and that expanded equality and opportunity for all,” the statement continued, in part.

“Senator Lieberman leaves behind a void that cannot be filled,” No Labels added. “But we are honored to have known him and we hope his family can find comfort in the difficult days ahead knowing the tremendous impact that he had.”

Lieberman’s funeral will be held Friday at Congregation Agudath Sholom in his hometown of Stamford, his family said.

Lieberman’s former running mate, Al Gore, released a statement on X saying he was “profoundly saddened.”

“I am profoundly saddened by the loss of Joe Lieberman. First and foremost, he was a man of devout faith and dedication to his family,” Gore’s statement read.

“Joe was a man of deep integrity who dedicated his life to serving his country. He was a truly gifted leader, whose affable personality and strong will made him a force to be reckoned with. That’s why it came as no surprise to any of us who knew him when he’d start singing his favorite song: Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way.’ And doing things Joe’s way meant always putting his country and the values of equality and fairness first.

“His fierce dedication to these values was clear even as a young man. When he was about to travel to the South to join the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, he wrote: ‘I am going because there is much work to be done. I am an American. And this is one nation, or it is nothing.’ Those are the words of a champion of civil rights and a true patriot, which is why I shared that quote when I announced Joe as my running mate.

“It was an honor to stand side-by-side with him on the campaign trail. I’ll remain forever grateful for his tireless efforts to build a better future for America,” Gore’s statement concluded.

Former President George W. Bush released a statement, calling Lieberman “one of the most decent people” he met in Washington.

“Laura and I are saddened by the loss of Joe Lieberman. Joe was as fine an American as they come and one of the most decent people I met during my time in Washington,” his statement read. “As a Democrat, Joe wasn’t afraid to engage with Senators from across the aisle and worked hard to earn votes from outside his party. He engaged in serious and thoughtful debate with opposing voices on important issues. And in both loss and victory, Joe Lieberman was always a gentleman. I’m grateful for Joe’s principled service to our country and for the dignity and patriotism he brought to public life. As Laura and I pray for Hadassah and the Lieberman family, we also pray that Joe’s example of decency guides our Nation’s leaders now and into the future.”

In a statement on X, former President Barack Obama expressed his condolences.

“Joe Lieberman and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but he had an extraordinary career in public service, including four decades spent fighting for the people of Connecticut. He also worked hard to repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and helped us pass the Affordable Care Act. In both cases the politics were difficult, but he stuck to his principles because he knew it was the right thing to do. Michelle and I extend our deepest condolences to Hadassah and the Lieberman family,” his statement read.

Connecticut lawmakers honored Lieberman after news of his death broke.

“Connecticut is shocked by Senator Lieberman’s sudden passing. In an era of political carbon copies, Joe Lieberman was a singularity. One of one. He fought and won for what he believed was right and for the state he adored. My thoughts are with Hadassah and the entire family,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“On world and national stages, he helped to define and frame an era of history,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement. “He was a fierce advocate, a man of deep conscience and conviction, and a courageous leader who sought to bridge gaps and bring people together. He was dedicated to family and faith, and he was a role model of public service. He never ceased listening to both friends and adversaries. He leaves an enduring legacy as a fighter for consumers, environmental values, civil rights, and other great causes of our time and he was tireless in working for Connecticut no matter how far or high he went.”

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who beat Lieberman in the 2006 Senate Democratic primary but then lost to him in the general election when Lieberman ran as an independent, said they had ideological differences but honored Lieberman as “a man of integrity and conviction” and that “we stayed in touch as friends in the best traditions of American democracy” after their race was over.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called his longtime friend’s passing “devastatingly sad.”

“Just heard of my dear friend Joe Lieberman’s passing. As I am just now leaving Israel, so many emotions. This is devastatingly sad. I feel fortunate to have been in his presence, traveling the world in support of America’s interests as we saw it,” Graham said in a statement.

“To Hadassah, I know your heart is broken, but please understand your legion of friends love you dearly. To the Lieberman family, we will be with you through this journey. I look forward to sharing more thoughts about this wonderful man and the incredible life he lived.

“The good news, he is in the hands of the loving God. The bad news, John McCain is giving him an earful about how screwed up things are,” Graham said, adding: “Rest in peace, my dear friend. From the Last Amigo.”

Lieberman was the first Jewish American on a major party’s presidential ticket and was known for his Jewish observance.

“Sen. Joe Lieberman was a true trailblazer, and represented the hopes, aspirations, and ideals of the Jewish community in the United States,” the Jewish Federations of North America wrote on X. “As the first member of the Jewish community to run on a major party presidential ticket, he broke barriers and showed us what was possible, and always did so while holding strong to his values and moral outlook. Jewish Federations mourn his passing, and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”

The National Council of Jewish Women also mourned the loss of Lieberman, writing on X: “A trailblazer as the first Jewish candidate on the national ticket of a major party, he championed abortion access, LGBTQ+ equality and gun safety. Our communities are safer because of his leadership. May his memory be for a blessing.”

“Joe Lieberman was a true mensch and a great American,” former Sen. Norm Coleman, chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said in a statement. “Time and again, Senator Lieberman put principle over politics. He was a shining example of all that’s good and decent about public service. And he was a committed and proud Jew who served his country with distinction… I am proud to have known Joe and the Republican Jewish Coalition was proud to work with him over the years.”

ABC News’ Rick Klein, Kelsey Walsh, Mariam Khan and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.

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Kenan Thompson discusses 'Quiet on Set' and working with Dan Schneider

Disney Entertainment Television/Jeff Neira

Kenan Thompson, who starred in the Nickelodeon shows All That and Kenan and Kel as a teen, is speaking out about allegations made about his former producer Dan Schneider in the documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

“I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and is putting things on display that need to be told for accountability sake, but it’s definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place,” Thompson said of Nickelodeon during an appearance on Tamron Hall‘s chat show on Wednesday, March 27.

Addressing the accusations that Schneider created a toxic work environment, the Saturday Night Live star recalled that many of them happened after his tenure on the network.

“Dan wasn’t really on Kenan and Kel like that,” he explains. “He got a ‘created by’ credit, but it was a different showrunner, so our worlds weren’t overly overlapping like that outside of All That necessarily.”

“My heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized, or their families,” he said.

After noting that the production company said it was investigating all the allegations, Thompson said, “Well, investigate more.”

“It’s supposed to be a safe place, you know?” he added. “It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids and to hear all about that it’s just like, ‘How dare you,’ you know?'”

 

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In Brief: Austin Butler 'Caught Stealing' for 'The Whale' director Aronofsky, and more

Deadline reports Dune: Part Two‘s Austin Butler has been tapped to star in The Whale filmmaker Darren Aronofsky‘s crime thriller Caught Stealing, for Sony Pictures. The film, adapted from Charlie Huston‘s book of the same name, centers on, “a burned-out former baseball player, as he’s unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of ’90s NYC” …

Poor Things star Ramy Youssef will host Saturday Night Live for the first time on Saturday and promoted the appearance in a hilarious promo with SNL cast member Kenan Thompson. The clip shows Youssef falsely claiming to be the show’s “first Arab host,” only to be corrected by Thompson, who also shoots down the actor/comedian’s claim that he’s the first-ever Egyptian host and even the first-ever Egyptian host named Ramy, pointing out that Rami Malek once hosted the show. “Being first is dumb anyway,” Youssef fires back, eventually settling for being the first-ever Egyptian host named Ramy from New Jersey. Travis Scott is the musical guest on Saturday, March 30 …

West Side Story actress Ariana DeBose will mark her third time hosting the Tony Awards when the 2024 ceremony airs June 16 on CBS. “I couldn’t pass up the chance to host the Tonys one more time at Lincoln Center. I’m excited to collaborate with the team to create an incredible celebration of this season’s achievements on Broadway for our community and for everyone at home,” DeBose said in a statement. CBS and Pluto TV will once again team up to present The Tony Awards: Act One, a preshow of live, exclusive content leading into the 77th annual Tony Awards …

 

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Nelly Furtado thinks it's “so cool” that she inspired Dua Lipa: “It makes me proud and happy”

Sami Drasin for ‘Euphoria’

Though Nelly Furtado hasn’t released an album in quite some time, her impact on other musicians is undeniable: Dua Lipa has said that discovering Nelly’s music when she was 6 years old made her want to be a pop star, while Drake and Lorde have also cited her as an influence. As you can imagine, Nelly’s pretty happy about that.

Asked about being an inspiration for younger acts, Nelly tells Euphoria magazine for a new cover story, “Oh my God, it’s so cool. It makes me proud and happy.” She adds, “I always remember going to my good friend’s birthday and he had very intentionally invited me because he wanted me to meet his good friend Dua Lipa. We finally got to meet and it was something we had been meaning to do for years.”

“I get proud when I see somebody who’s told me, ‘Oh, you’ve influenced me,'” the “Say It Right” singer notes. “I literally just saw Dua’s Grammy performance and I was so proud. I was like, ‘This is f***** awesome!’ It’s a great feeling. I’m just grateful to be even in the conversation, to be totally honest.”

After returning to the music scene last year with “Keep Going Up,” a collaboration with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, Nelly is now planning to release a new album, which will be her first since 2017’s The Ride. She tells Euphoria, “I can’t reveal too much, but it’s gonna be elevated.”

“We have big plans and I’m so excited about it because I’m in a better head space than ever,” she adds. “I’ve never loved being an entertainer more. I feel like I’m really owning it.”

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Camila Cabello says her new album is exploring her “hyper-femme villain arc”

Dimitrious Giannoudis

Camila Cabello just dropped her new single, “I LUV IT,” featuring Playboi Carti, but hasn’t yet released any details about her upcoming album.  However, she tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that it’ll have one very important difference from all of her previous work.

“[There’s] one thing I have done on this album that I don’t feel like… I feel like I was getting to before, but for me, I’ve always been just like a song-based artist. I heard Charli [XCX] say the other day, it’s like artistry is more important than songs. I was always the opposite mentality,” she explains.

“I was always like, everything is about the song,” she continues. “That was everything for me. It was just isolated from the name or who did it or whatever, it was just about how does this four-minute, whatever, three-minute piece of music sound.”

But now, Camila says, she’s thinking of her music as more of an entire artistic work. “I think it’s because I started diving deeper into bodies of work and artists,” she says. “I was like, ‘I love the way Lana [Del Rey] or Carti … they just, like, create a whole world, and it makes the music so much richer.'”

“So I think I’d attempted to do that before, but never got the full gist of it,” says Camila. “And I learned so much from [my collaborators] and really studying this time around the character, the world, the motifs.”

Echoing her previous statement to Paper magazine that she’s playing a character on the album, Camila tells Zane that her new aesthetic — blonde hair and what she calls “the baby pink color, the lip gloss” — has helped her create the character.

“[It’s] my villain arc,” she says. “My hyper-femme villain arc, that was the beginning.”

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Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively returning for 'A Simple Favor 2'

Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in 2018’s ‘A Simple Favor’ – Lionsgate

A sequel to the 2018 film A Simple Favor is officially in the works.

Amazon MGM Studios announced Wednesday that director Paul Feig and stars Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively will reprise their roles for A Simple Favor 2, a co-production with Lionsgate.

Other cast returning for the sequel include Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho and Kelly McCormack.

The synopsis for the film notes that it’s the “return of Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively) as they head to the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman.”

“Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square,” the synopsis continues.

No release date was announced for the film, though production is set to begin sometime in spring.

The 2018 film was based on Darcey Bell‘s 2017 novel of the same name. Jessica Sharzer returns as screenwriter, with revisions from Laeta Kalogridis and Feig.

A Simple Favor earned more than $97 million at the worldwide box office, according to Box Office Mojo, and is Certified Fresh on the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

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4 dead, 1 in critical condition after Illinois stabbing spree; suspect in custody, officials say

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(ROCKFORD, Ill.) — An adult male allegedly stabbed multiple victims in the Rockford, Illinois area on Wednesday, leaving four people dead, one in critical condition and four others in stable condition, authorities said in a press conference Wednesday.

Rockford police say the suspect is in custody and there is no known motive at this time.

“Words can’t even express my thoughts right now; this a pretty painstaking event,” the Rockford police chief said, adding, “This was a heinous crime.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Fani Willis, responding to House Judiciary subpoena, vows to bring Trump's election case to trial

Alex Slitz/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(ATLANTA) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis vowed to bring former President Donald Trump’s Georgia election interference case to trial in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, arguing that her office has fully complied with a congressional subpoena related to a federal funding probe.

“[N]othing that you do will derail the efforts of my staff and I to bring the election interference prosecution to trial so that a jury of Fulton County citizens can determine the guilt or innocence of the defendants,” Willis wrote in the letter, which was sent on Monday.

The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee in February issued a subpoena to Willis for documents related to her office’s use of federal funds intended to support at-risk youth, according to a copy of the subpoena obtained by ABC News.

Earlier this month, Jordan warned that if Willis’ office failed to turn over related documents by March 28, he would consider “taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings.”

In her letter responding to Jordan, Willis wrote “I categorically reject” the assertion that her office is deficient in complying with the subpoena.

Willis said that her office was turning over additional information but pushed back on the idea that all the requested materials could reasonably be turned over by the following day.

“That demand is unreasonable and uncustomary and would require this government office to divert resources from our primary purpose of prosecuting crime,” she said.

Willis added that her office plans to turn over an additional production of records in the coming weeks.

“Let me be clear, while we are abiding by your subpoena in good faith and with due diligence, we will not divert resources that undermine our duty to the people of Fulton County to prosecute felonies committed in this jurisdiction,” Willis said. “We will not shut down this office’s efforts to prosecute crime — including gang activity, acts of violence and public corruption — to meet unreasonable deadlines in your politically motivated ‘investigation’ of this office.”

“My family, my staff and I have been threatened repeatedly by people making violent, often racist, attacks,” she wrote. “Neither those threats, nor anything your colleagues and you say or do, will deter us from fulfilling our duty to bring this case to trial.”

“My family, my staff and I have been threatened repeatedly by people making violent, often racist, attacks,” she wrote. “Neither those threats, nor anything your colleagues and you say or do, will deter us from fulfilling our duty to bring this case to trial.”

Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Four defendants subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.

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What states could vote on abortion access, reproductive rights in November?

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(WASHINGTON) — Advocates in as many as 14 states hope to get measures related to reproductive rights and abortion access on the 2024 general election ballot during a presidential election year, and as abortion access remains a major flash point in the United States, including at the Supreme Court.

It’s not the first time abortion has been on the ballot. A ballot measure that supported abortion access passed in Ohio in 2023, while initiatives in Kansas and Kentucky saying the state constitutions don’t protect abortion were defeated, respectively, by voters in 2022. Observers have speculated that the issue of reproductive rights is galvanizing voters across the political spectrum.

Here’s a look at where reproductive rights might be on the ballot in November.

Where are initiatives confirmed on the ballot?

In two states, Maryland and New York, a measure that relates to reproductive rights is confirmed to be on the November ballot. Abortion is already broadly allowed in both states, and in New York until fetal viability, according to research by the Guttmacher Institute.

In Maryland, voters will decide on an act that would enshrine the right to get an abortion in the Maryland Constitution.

In New York, voters will see the Equal Rights Amendment constitutional amendment on the ballot, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of various characteristics, including “reproductive health care and autonomy,” according to the bill’s text.

Where are initiatives gathering signatures?

In Arizona, advocates are gathering signatures for the Arizona Abortion Access Act ballot initiative, which would amend the state’s constitution to prohibit the state from legislating against abortion up until fetal viability, and it would enshrine other abortion protections into law. Currently, according to the Guttmacher Institute, abortion is banned after 15 weeks in Arizona and under a variety of restrictions.

Arizona will also feature a high-profile Senate race on the ballot in November, likely between Republican candidate Kari Lake and Democratic candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego.

In Arkansas, groups are collecting signatures to get the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the ballot. The initiative would amend the state constitution to prohibit the government from banning abortion further than 18 weeks and includes exceptions for rape, incest and the mother’s health. Abortion is currently fully banned in Arkansas, with few exceptions.

In Colorado, where abortion is not restricted but where state Medicaid coverage for abortion is usually prohibited, dueling initiatives are currently gathering signatures.

The Right to Abortion initiative would “ensure the right to abortion” in the state constitution, according to the text of the initiative, while the Equal Protection of Every Living Child in Colorado initiative would add to state statutes language banning abortion fully in the state, framed around protecting children beginning at conception.

In Florida, the Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion is a ballot initiative that would amend the state’s constitution to prohibit the government from legislating about abortion “before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health,” according to the initiative.

In January, the petition surpassed the required number of signatures but is currently held up due to a challenge from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, which the Florida Supreme Court is supposed to rule on by April 1.

In Missouri, the Right to Reproductive Freedom ballot initiative would enshrine the right to reproductive freedom relating to reproductive health care, according to the petition text. Abortion is currently fully banned in the state with few exceptions.

In Montana, which allows abortion until fetal viability, a proposed ballot initiative would affirm in the state’s constitution “the right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion” and would prohibit the government from “denying or burdening the right to abortion before fetal viability,” according to the group Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights.

Montanans voted down in 2022 a measure that would have restricted abortion access. In November 2024, the state will also have a high-profile Senate race on the ballot, likely between Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Tester and Republican candidate Tim Sheehy.

In Nebraska, the Protect the Right to Abortion initiative by the Protect Our Rights coalition would amend the state constitution to allow abortion up until fetal viability. Abortion is currently banned after 12 weeks in Nebraska.

Separate initiatives that would restrict abortion access or procedures have also been introduced in Nebraska, including a Protect Women and Children initiative that would ban most abortions after the first trimester. The initiative was launched in early March, according to Omaha ABC affiliate KETV. That initiative is not yet listed by the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office.

In Nevada, the Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom Political Action Committee is currently collecting signatures to put an initial vote to add a section enshrining the “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” into the state’s constitution. Under the proposed section, according to the petition’s text, the state would be allowed to legislate about abortion after fetal viability unless a health care provider says abortion is necessary. Abortion is currently banned after 24 weeks in Nevada.

If the initiative makes the ballot and passes in 2024, it would still need to pass another vote in 2026 to amend the state’s constitution.

In South Dakota, which almost fully bans abortion, a proposed constitutional amendment would guarantee abortion access to preserve the life and health of pregnant women, would prohibit an abortion ban before the end of the first trimester, and would allow the state to regulate abortion through the end of the second trimester, according to the proposed amendment. A ban would be allowed at the beginning of the third trimester under the proposed amendment.

Where are initiatives undergoing state legislative action?

In Maine and Pennsylvania, proposed constitutional amendments to enshrine reproductive rights are currently in progress in the respective state legislatures.

In Iowa and also in Pennsylvania, amendments that would say there is no constitutional right to abortion in those states are in progress in those respective legislatures, as well.

The initiatives in those respective states need to go through various votes by the state legislatures before they can potentially be on the general election ballot.

ABC News’ Libby Cathey, Hannah Demissie, Nicholas Kerr, Kendall Ross, and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.

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Baltimore's Key Bridge may have lacked collision protective measures for modern cargo ships: Experts

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

(BALTIMORE) — In the wake of the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, engineering and infrastructure policy experts explained the critical need for bridge reform in the United States and an international standard for large cargo ships.

The Key Bridge partially collapsed early Tuesday morning after a massive cargo ship collided with one of the bridge’s support columns, sending vehicles into the Patapsco River below and leaving six people unaccounted for, according to officials.

The investigation into the cause of both the collision and the bridge collapse is ongoing, officials said.

Rick Geddes, infrastructure policy expert and director of the Cornell University Infrastructure Policy Program, weighed in on the infrastructure and safety of the Key Bridge.

“This disaster reveals how exposed America’s critical infrastructure is to sudden and devastating accidents as well as intentional destruction,” Geddes said in a statement to ABC News. “I think the bridge was not designed to take the force and the mass of an enormous cargo ship directly hitting one of the pylons,” Geddes said in an interview with ABC News.

Pylons, or piers, are the critical load-bearing components of cable-supported bridges, such as Baltimore’s Key Bridge, a 1.6-mile-long, continuous truss-style bridge, according to Geddes.

Modern protective measures for bridge piers include adding “fenders,” which are protection systems designed to protect the bridge from vessels transiting under or in the vicinity of the bridge, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Fenders on modern bridges include “dolphins,” which are large circular walls filled with material such as sand or concrete and “artificial islands,” armored artificial islands around the piers made of a sand core that is protected against wave and current action by armored slope protection, according to the Coast Guard.

However, it is not yet known whether or not the Baltimore Key Bridge had fenders at the time of the crash.

The Maryland Transportation Authority did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for a comment.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also weighed in on the bridge’s ability to withstand a massive cargo ship collision Wednesday, “What we do know is a bridge like this one completed in the 1970s was simply not made to withstand a direct impact on a critical support pier from a vessel that weighs about 200 million pounds,” he said during a press briefing.

“Right now, I think there’s a lot of debate taking place in the engineering community about whether or not any of those features could have had any role in a situation like this,” Buttigieg added.

The 984-feet-long and 157-feet-wide cargo ship — operated by Synergy Marine Group and named Dali — was moving at a speed of 8 knots, or about 9 mph, when it struck the bridge, according to officials.

“So it’s a tremendous force, that the bridge would have to be designed to absorb,” Geddes said, adding, “It clearly was not designed to take that.”

Construction of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge began in 1972 and finished in March 1977, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA).

Maria Lehman, former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, told ABC News that older bridges are not designed with the post Panama Canal expansion ship allowances in mind.

In 2016, the Panama Canal expansion project constructed pathways — on both the Atlantic and Pacific ends of the canal — that are 70 feet wider and 18 feet deeper, to accommodate larger cargo ships.

Lehman said because Baltimore’s Key Bridge was created with smaller cargo ships in mind, it was “inadequate for what we see with ships today.”

“Pier protection on long-span bridges that have been built within the last decade are in line with what you’re gonna need based on how heavy these new ships are,” Lehman said.

Lehman said the news of the Key Bridge collapse Tuesday reminded her of the 1980 Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse in Tampa, Florida, which she said was a “very similar” bridge and spurred a “base standard for pier protection” in the United States.

In May 1980, the M/V Summit Venture freighter struck a support beam on the Skyway Bridge causing a major collapse that left 35 people dead. The now 44-year-old tragedy spurred changes to the engineering of bridges that have been built since, according to Lehman.

Three years after the Skyway Bridge incident, the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration released a technical advisory titled “Pier Protection and Warning Systems for Bridges Subject to Ship Collisions”

In the 1983 advisory, the agency noted, “It may be extremely difficult to retrofit some existing bridge piers with protective systems. For this reason, it becomes particularly important to recognize the potential hazards from ship collisions and to locate and design piers on new bridges in such a way that the risks of collision are reduced to an acceptable level.”

Baltimore’s Key Bridge was constructed in 1977 and did not have the protected pier measures that bridges built in the decades since this advisory.

“Unless you’re doing a major retrofit of any piece of infrastructure, you don’t have to bring it up to code,” Lehman said, adding that the Key Bridge collapse is a “wake-up” call for better bridge infrastructure and reform.

“I think just like Sunshine Skyway was a wake-up call, I think this is the next wake-up call,” Lehman said, adding, “We’re going to have to take a look closely at the results of what happened, and then work on the plan. So it never happens again.”

In June 2023, Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) officials announced the construction of the Delaware Memorial Bridge Protection System.

“Our goal is to take preemptive measures to prevent a commercial vessel from striking one of the bridge towers, which could cause significant damage to the bridge infrastructure and disruptions to interstate travel,” Thomas J. Cook, executive director of the DRBA said in a press release.

The cost of the project is nearly $93 million, according to the release.

Rick Geddes hopes the devastation from the Key Bridge collapse will spur great reform in America’s bridge infrastructure safety.

“The real possibility of a massive container ship of this size, running into a bridge pylon, and causing the bridge collapse is no longer theoretical,” Geddes said. “I think a renewed effort to inspect and assess the state of a whole bunch of U.S. bridges will be the result of this accident.”

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Music notes: Mariah Carey, Zayn Malik and more

Mariah Carey is celebrating her 55th birthday — or, anniversary, as she calls it — in a new photo posted to Instagram. “Anniversary adventures commence,” Mariah captioned the photo of her smiling while relaxing on a boat. Friends Jennifer Hudson and Paris Hilton sent Mariah well wishes on her special day. “Happy anniversary, @mariahcarey! ‘Anytime you need a friend, I will be here!!! Love u!!!” Jennifer wrote on her IG Story, while Paris wrote, “Happy Birthday to an absolute icon @MariahCarey.” 

Shawn Mendes is teasing something new in the works. In an Instagram post shared Wednesday, Shawn posted a Polaroid picture of himself on top of a sound board in a recording studio. “nobody knows,” he captioned the post. This comes after a post he made on March 7, where he confirmed he’s “been working on a new album.” 

Zayn Malik says his daughter, Khai, already shares his musical talent. “Khai has a lot of natural ability herself already,” Zayn told L’Officiel magazine. “I know, it sounds ridiculous because she’s three, but her retention for language, especially when it’s formatted in a musical sense to her, has been amazing.” He also says she remembers every lyric of every song she likes. “She remembers chord progressions and notes. She can do runs that have, like, three, four notes already. I look forward to seeing what she’s going to be capable of doing as she gets older,” Zayn said.

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Man sentenced to 11 months in prison for voicemail threats to Nancy Pelosi, Alejandro Mayorkas: DOJ

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(WASHINGTON) — A California man was sentenced to 11 months in prison for making threatening calls to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

David Carrier, 44, of Concord, had pleaded guilty to two counts of making threats against public officials in December 2023.

Federal prosecutors had only sought a sentence of four years of probation for Carrier, noting he quickly accepted guilt and acknowledged his “lapse of judgment” in making the threats, according to a sentencing memorandum filed last week.

The judge overseeing his case ultimately disagreed. In addition to the 11-month prison sentence, Judge William Alsup ordered Carrier to three years of probation as well as requiring him to seek mental and substance abuse treatment upon his release during a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Carrier left a voicemail with Pelosi’s San Francisco office on Jan. 21, 2021, the day after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, according to federal prosecutors.

“You better resign, you piece of f—— s—,” Carrier said in his voicemail to Pelosi’s office, according to the sentencing memorandum. “Cause we got a bullet and a rope with your f—— name on it. We’re gonna f—— get you b—-.”

An intern who initially heard the message perceived it as a threat and forwarded it to her bosses, who subsequently forwarded the voicemail to law enforcement for investigation, according to prosecutors.

More than a year later, he made threatening calls to Mayorkas, prosecutors said. According to the sentencing memorandum, on June 30, 2022, he told an operator with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General to relay the following message: “If [Mayorkas] does not close the border someone is going to be shot. And it will be illegal immigrants.”

Later that day, he left a voicemail with the DHS general hotline stating, according to the sentencing memorandum, “Tell that f— Mayorkas to close the border before we citizens start killing those f—— illegal immigrants or we come looking for him and feed him to the dogs.”

The voicemail message was perceived as a threat and forwarded to law enforcement for investigation, prosecutors said.

“Participating in the public political conversation is an important right for all citizens. Nevertheless, threatening our public servants is not protected by the First Amendment and corrodes our ability to engage in peaceful and important public discourse,” U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey, whose office prosecuted the case, said in a statement. “This Office will not tolerate behavior that crosses the line to criminal threats.”

ABC News has reached out to Carrier’s attorney for comment on the sentencing.

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Nicole Kidman thanks Olivia Rodrigo for helping her score points with her kids

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Even if your mom is an Oscar-winning actress and your dad’s a Grammy-winning country star, sometimes it takes a pop girlie to impress you. That’s what Nicole Kidman found out when it came to her daughters and Olivia Rodrigo.

Olivia posted a TikTok of her walking around the Bell Centre in Montreal ahead of her concert there on March 27. As she sat in the stands and walked in the aisles of the empty arena, she lip-synced to one of Kidman’s much-memed ads for AMC Theaters, which features the Australian actress saying things like, “We come to this place for magic.”

In fact, Olivia wore a tank top with that very line during the video.

A delighted Kidman posted a screenshot of the video on her own Instagram Story and captioned it, “You just won me some major points with my girls! Adore you, @oliviarodrigo xx.”

Kidman and her husband, Keith Urban, share daughters Sunday, 16, and Faith, 13.

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