By Manuel Valdes and Mike Baker The Associated Press MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — The Interstate 5 bridge collapse into the Skagit River was caused by an oversize truck hitting the span, the Washington State Patrol chief said. "For reasons unknown at this point in time the semi struck the overhead of the bridge causing the collapse," Batiste told an overnight news conference. The truck made it off t...

Eric Surkamp of the San Francisco Giants throws a pitch during a winning game last season. The Giants have become one of the most valued teams in baseball.   (SD Dirk / Flickr / Creative Commons ) Baseball may be America’s pastime, but concessions workers in the San Francisco Giants' ballpark say it’s past time for a new contract. After negotiations last week, officials with Unite Here Local 2 , w...

The Associated Press STOCKHOLM — Groups of youths have burnt down a restaurant, torched more than 30 cars and injured three police in a fourth night of riots in suburbs of the Swedish capital that started following a fatal police shooting. Police spokesman Kjell Lindgren says at least 30 cars were set ablaze across western and southern Stockholm early Thursday. Firefighters said they have "never b...

By Mario Moretto Bangor Daily News VERONA ISLAND, Maine — Police have recovered and identified the body of a Holden man believed to have committed suicide Monday by jumping off the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. A multi-agency search team was assembled early in the morning after a passing motorist reported an abandoned pickup truck on the bridge at 3:20 a.m. Police found a wallet and cellphone in ...

By  Lori Kurtzman The Columbus Dispatch GAHANNA, Ohio — They laughed as they crawled on the floor, hoods over their heads, clawing for an exit. They had just 60 seconds to escape. “You can’t breathe,” Mifflin Township Fire Lt. Mark Hendricks told them. “The carpet’s hot. It’s melting. What are you going to do?” “Cry?” one student said. More laughter. But there was a sobering undercurrent to t...

Community members reasoned, raged and begged for mercy at a school board meeting about the fate of 54 Chicago public schools. ( Chicago Teachers Union )   At times, the meeting of the Board of Education of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on Wednesday took on the air of a mass mock trial; at others, it seemed like a public execution. On the dock were 53 elementary schools and one high school charged w...

“I work at Quick Pita in the food court of the Ronald Reagan Building. I work nearly 12 hours every day serving lunch to the thousands of people who work in the building. But I am not here to tell you how hard I work. I am here to tell you that my employer does not follow the law,” testified Antonio Vanegas before a hearing of the Congressional Progressive Caucus yesterday. Vanegas is one of 100,0...

San Antonio Food Bank workers Sergio Baiz (right) and Ed Rivas (left) prepare to cook mashed potatoes that will be served to low-income students. Under the House of Representatives' new budget, food assistance will be cut by $20.5 billion over 10 years.   (U.S. Department of Agriculture / Flickr / Creative Commons). A time-honored tactic of conservative lawmakers is to “starve the beast” by defund...

An oversized puppet of the Wendy's mascot, provided by the People's Puppets of Occupy Wall Street, took part in silent street theater to convince the fast food giant to sign onto the Fast Food campaign. (Coalition of Immokalee Workers)   While rain pattered gently on the concrete steps of Manhattan’s Union Square last Saturday, a group of workers were giving the assembled crowd a tour of the sun-s...

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and 27 other government agencies held a press conference on Thursday about their investigation into what sparked the West, Texas explosion. They have ruled out all but three possible causes: a short circuit in the complex's 120-volt electrical system, a golf cart on site or an intentionally set fire. The investigation will continued. Daniel H...

Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has vowed to block Obama's appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.   Medill DC, Flickr , Creative Commons. WASHINGTON, D.C.–A partisan political standoff in the U.S. Senate threatens to close down the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in August, further eroding worker...

Acting Secretary of Labor Seth Harris listens May 14 as fast food worker Laura Bailey describes the financial stresses of raising a daughter while earning $7.80 an hour. Between them is Jonathan Martin, another Baltimore worker who would benefit from a minimum wage increase. (U.S. Department of Labor)   BALTIMORE—With one minimum wage hike proposal after another languishing in Congress, some advoc...

News of Foxconn's much-trumpeted workplace democracy reforms, announced in February, has yet to reach workers. (kofai/ Flickr /Creative Commons)   With a workforce of more than one million, the electronics giant Foxconn has enough workers in its Chinese factories to fill a small country. So it's fitting that the company has vowed to make its manufacturing kingdom a bit more democratic by encouragi...

In January, an appeals court effectively voided all rulings issued since 2012 by the National Labor Relations Board, which is headquartered in D.C.   DCtim1, Flickr , Creative Commons The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee hearing tomorrow morning about appointments to the National Labor Relations Board may sound like an arcane, inside-the-Beltway event. But it will have very r...

The port of Savannah, Georgia generates some $14.9 billion in income each year. The goods that flow through it are distributed throughout the South—including to a massive Wal-Mart distribution center in the nearby city of Statesboro. Savannah is now the country's fourth largest container port, and the fastest growing. Traffic at the port went up 11 percent between 2008 and 2012 even as the rest of...