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Atlanta water main break causes major disruptions, closures
Atlanta officials were slowly repressuring the city’s water system Saturday after corroding water pipes burst in downtown and Midtown, forcing many businesses and attractions to close and affecting water service in area homes.
The city was handing out cases of water and setting up portable toilets at several fire stations and first responders were checking high rise residences to see if the elderly or other vulnerable residents were OK.
“Water is a valuable, critical resource and cities can’t function and lives can’t function without it,” Mayor Andre Dickens said during a news conference Saturday. “It’s absolutely at the top of our list.”
In a statement Saturday night, the mayor’s office said that crews had “completed multiple rounds of repairs” and the “system is gradually being brought back online to allow for the rebuilding of system pressures.”
A boil water advisory was still in effect for much of Atlanta, however, until the Georgia Environmental Protection Division determines the advisory can be lifted.
According to CBS affiliate WANF-TV, the Georgia State Capitol, the Georgia Supreme Court and Atlanta City Hall had no water service Friday.
Some attractions and businesses, including the Georgia Aquarium and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, remained closed Saturday.
“The city-wide water issue is still affecting the Aquarium and many others in the area. This is not affecting our animals, but it is affecting our guest areas like restrooms,” the aquarium posted on the social platform X.
The aquarium was expected to reopen Sunday, according to WANF.
The water main break also forced rapper Megan Thee Stallion to move her concert from Friday to Sunday.
“I’m extremely disappointed because I had a huge surprise for the Hotties tonight, but we will follow the Mayor’s protocol,” she posted on X. “Praying for the people who lost access to water due to this situation.”
The problems began Friday morning when water gushed into the street where three large water mains intersect downtown, causing water problems at two hospitals, a city jail, a county jail and local shelters. A separate break occurred later in Midtown, adding to the problem.
Officials were widely criticized for being slow to update citizens on the situation. The city and its water management department sent out an update after 8 p.m. Friday and waited more than 12 hours to update residents again. Dickens didn’t address the media until 2 p.m. Saturday and explained he was in Memphis when the problem began.
Someone in the affected area posted flyers around the neighborhood asking “Don’t have water?” and “Help us find our mayor.”
Dickens promised updates every two hours until the situation is resolved.
“Overnight, we did not do the best job of communicating. We could have done a better job over the past day, and for that, I apologize,” he said.
Residents were asked to restrict water usage to allow the pressure in the system to rebuild.
“Certainly we understand the urgency of getting water service restored, but we also want to make sure we do it in a manner that does not cause any further regression of our work,” Atlanta Department of Watershed Management Commissioner Al Wiggins Jr. said during a Saturday news conference. “Any water utility, it’s a fragile setup.”
He said he hoped service would be fully restored Saturday, but he could not guarantee it.
The city urged people to check on elderly or sick neighbors and relatives.
“The entire City Government is mobilized to address this issue,” the water department said Friday.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.