High winds during a thunderstorm caused some damage to trees and power lines as a severe thunderstorm passed through Arlington Heights beginning just before 10:15 p.m. Thursday.

A large tree was reported down in the roadway at Dryden and Fairview.

A tree was also reported to have fallen on a house in the 400 block of South Windsor.

A transformer/power problem causing arcing in the 400 block of North Drury was reported about 9:45 p.m. Thursday.

A fallen tree branch brought down a power line that went pole-to-pole in the 300 block of West Phelps.

ComEd and Arlington Heights public works crews were working to repair or cleanup the incidents.

An oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico with 13 aboard. All workers are accounted for, but one is injured and has been transported to Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma.

The oil rig had seven active oil wells on the platform with one of the oil wells on fire, according to Mariner Energy, Inc., the Houston company that owns the oil rig. The oil rig is located 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay.

Rescue helicopters from New Orleans and Houston responded to the scene where workers were reported in the water in immersion suits. Coast Guard cutters were immediately dispatched to the scene.

The oil rig, known as Vermilion 398, is leaking oil with a sheen about 100 feet wide and one mile early Thursday afternoon. The rig is being checked for environmental impact.

View Gulf of Mexico in a larger map
MAP OF HORIZON AND MARINER ACCIDENT SITES: Mariner platform explosion is west of Deepwater Horizon disaster site.

See also …
oilspill.labucketbrigade.org from Tulane University, Louisiana Bucket Brigade and Tulane University Disaster Resilience Academy

Wikipedia List of Oil Spills

Mariner Energy Inc. — official website

Resore the Gulf — restorethegulf.gov — United States ‘federal portal’
Unified Area Command: Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Department of the Interior

University of Iowa football player Josh Koeppel walked away with only a few bumps and bruises after a pickup truck hit his motorcycle, tossing him into the street.

University of Iowa senior center Josh Koeppel was hit head-on by a pickup truck making a left turn while he was traveling on a Yamaha moped on Monday. Koeppel will miss Saturday’s season opener against Eastern Illinois due to minor injuries sustained in the crash. Koeppel was transported to UI Hospitals and Clinics.

The crash was captured by a police dashboard camera. Koeppel was westbound on Burlington Street on his Yamaha moped at the intersection with Gilbert Street in Iowa City at 7:25 a.m. Monday when the driver of a Ford F-150 pickup that was eastbound on Burlington turned in front of Koeppel.

John Logan of Iowa City, was issued a traffic citation for failure to yield while making a left turn. The misdemeanor charge costs $100.

Cellphone video from the Cline Avenue extension (unknown if this is the scene that injured an extra).

Off-duty Indiana State troopers and firefirefighter/paramedics were on the scene of Transformers 3 filming at the Cline Avenue extension in Hammond, Indiana when a stunt involving multiple vehicles went awry. An object crashed the windshield of an extra’s personally-owned 2006 Toyota and hit the female driver, Gabriela Cedillo. The Toyota hit the median concrete barrier and continued traveling about one mile before stopping. The Toyota had extensive damage on the driver’s side of the vehicle.

The on-scene rescuers called in a medical helicopter and transported Gabriela Cedillo, 24, of Chicago to Level I Trauma Center Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood with a serious head injury.

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Antioch Fire Department responded just before 9:00 a.m. to report of a fire at Dublin O’Shea’s, 25385 Route 173. Firefighters reported a fire in the basement . Fire departments from Bristol, Fox Lake, Grayslake, Lake Villa, Richmond, Round Lake, Salem (Wisconsin), and Spring Grove assisted Antioch firefighters at the scene or provided protection for the rest of the town of Antioch Wednesday morning.

A little after 9:00 a.m. Wednesday firefighter command was declaring the fireground operations were in defensive mode, which usually means no interior attack, and operations include a deluge of water from ladder towers and/or deck mounted hoses on fire engines. Damage is extensive to the building, which included a restaurant/bar and apartments on a second floor. The fire was declared under control just after 11:00 a.m.

The first search of the building by firefighters inside the building did not report any victims.

One firefighter was hurt with a broken arm. The firefighter was transported to Centegra Hospital-McHenry, where he was treated and released.

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Chicago Fire Department responded to report of a small plane that skidded off the end of a runway at Chicago’s Midway International Airport about 9:00 a.m. There were no injuries and no significant damage in the incident. Developing …

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