Missouri: Highway shut down after barge hits bridge

Part of U.S. Highway 36 was closed for about an hour after two barges struck the bridge that carries traffic across the Missouri River, the Coast Guard said.

The highway reopened around 8:30 a.m. Sunday after the Missouri Department of Transportation examined the bridge and determined it had not been damaged, said Jodi Ott of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The accident happened when a tug boat that was pushing four barges two loaded with corn and two empty struck the St. Joseph Railroad Bridge, said Michael Kirby, a petty officer for the Coast Guard in Keokuk, Iowa.

The barges came apart and two of them hit the U.S. 36 bridge about a mile downstream.

One of the barges suffered some damage and was secured, Kirby said.

He said that it’s not uncommon for a barge to strike a bridge without causing damage.

Tennessee: Medical examiner tied to bomb-like device

Memphis’ chief medical examiner was attacked, bound with barbed wire and left with what appeared to be a bomb tied to his body, police said Sunday.

The device did not explode and Medical Examiner O.C. Smith escaped Saturday night’s attack with minor injuries. Police said it appeared that it would have been possible for the device to explode.

The device appeared similar to a crude bomb found in March in a stairway of the Shelby County Regional Forensic Center, where Smith and his staff work. The bomb was destroyed by police, and no one was injured.

Deputy Police Chief Bob Wright declined to speculate on why Smith was attacked but noted that he has helped in several criminal investigations.

Smith and his staff perform autopsies on the bodies of crime victims and often provide information used in prosecutions.

New Jersey: Forest fire closes Garden State Parkway

A forest fire burned Sunday across more than 1,000 acres near a state park, threatening hundreds of homes and shutting down a 24-mile stretch of one of the state’s busiest highways.

By nightfall, state forest fire officials said they had stopped the fire from moving forward. One house in Berkeley Township was engulfed in flames, and nine were damaged. At the fire’s peak, 500 homes were evacuated.

State police said the Garden State Parkway was closed along the east side of Double Trouble State Park, and several local roads also were shut down.

Berkeley Township Police evacuated the town’s Pinewald section, sending residents to a school building. Sunday night, fire officials said the main threat was that the flames were burning toward nearby Beachwood.

The fire was in central New Jersey near the coast about 50 miles northeast of Atlantic City. The parkway in the area is usually packed on summer weekends with people visiting the shore.