Like fireworks, it has become an Independence Day weekend tradition unto itself: fireworks-related injury. On Saturday, a man lighting fireworks outside his Long Island home became the latest victim when he completely severed his left arm from his shoulder, Suffolk County police said. Eric Smith, 36, was using a three-foot-long metal tube to shoot mortars […]

Operators at the Perry nuclear power plant manually shut down the reactor about 11:20 p.m. Tuesday after pressure dropped in the equipment that automatically shuts down or “scrams” the reactor in an emergency. The reactor temperature at noon today was less than 200 degrees and electrical engineers were busy trying to track down the problem. “We […]

Consumer Reports has issued a safety warning on Toyota’s 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUV because of an increased rollover risk during a turn. The magazine says it uncovered the problem during routine tests, and is urging car shoppers not to buy the GX 460 until this problem has been remedied. The special designation given to […]

The Federal Aviation Administration is changing a generations-old policy banning pilots from taking antidepressants, saying the new policy will improve safety by bringing to the surface pilots who either ignore signs of depression or lie about their use of medication for fear of losing their licenses to fly. Beginning Monday, pilots with mild to moderate […]

The Vancouver police department’s old headquarters, the Public Safety Building at 312 Main St., is itself a threat to public safety, according to a report on the condition of the VPD’s facilities to be delivered to city council today. The report, dated Jan. 10 but not released to the public, is a shopping list of […]

Drivers of commercial trucks and buses will be prohibited from texting under federal guidelines that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is issuing Tuesday.

NEW YORK — Johnson & Johnson issued a massive recall Friday of over-the-counter drugs including Tylenol, Motrin and St. Joseph’s aspirin because of a moldy smell that has made people sick.