BALTIMORE (AP) — Years after immigrating to the U.S. and settling in the Baltimore area, Maria del Carmen Castellón was working toward a new chapter of her family’s American dream, hoping to expand her successful food truck business into a Salvadoran restaurant.
Her husband, Miguel Luna, was right there beside her. Years of welding and construction jobs had begun taking a toll on his health, but he kept working hard because he couldn’t afford to retire yet. He was filling potholes on an overnight shift when disaster struck. A massive container ship lost power and slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending Luna and five other men plunging to their deaths as the steel span collapsed into the water below.
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Maria del Carmen Castellón, the wife of Miguel Luna, a welder who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gustavo Torres, executive director of advocacy organization CASA, speaks during a press conference among relatives of Miguel Luna, a worker who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A portrait of Miguel Luna, a worker who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, is displayed among articles of his welding gear, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, during a press conference in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maria del Carmen Castellón, center, the wife of Miguel Luna, a welder who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A portrait of Miguel Luna, a worker who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, is displayed among articles of his welding gear, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, during a press conference in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maria del Carmen Castellón, the wife of Miguel Luna, a welder who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, becomes emotional while speaking during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maria del Carmen Castellón, the wife of Miguel Luna, a welder who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, places a rose near a portrait of her husband and his welding gear before speaking during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Several months later, Luna’s family is still struggling to construct a future without him.
“That day, a wound was opened in my heart that will never heal, something I would not wish on anyone,” Castellón said in Spanish, speaking through a translator at a news conference Tuesday.
She appeared alongside other victims’ relatives and attorneys to announce their plans to take legal action against the owner and manager of the Dali, arguing the companies acted with negligence and ignored problems on the ship before the March 26 collapse.
A last-minute mayday call from the ship’s pilot allowed police officers to stop traffic to the bridge, but they didn’t have time to alert the road work crew. Most of the men were sitting in their construction vehicles during a break and had no warning. One survived falling from the bridge by manually opening the window of his truck and climbing out into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River.
Following the disaster, salvage divers worked around the clock to recover the victims’ bodies. The underwater wreckage blocked the main channel into the Port of Baltimore for months, disrupting East Coast shipping routes and putting many longshoremen temporarily out of work.
All six of the victims were Latino immigrants who came to the U.S. seeking better-paying jobs and opportunities for their families. Most had lived in the country for many years, including Luna, who grew up in El Salvador. He left behind five children.
Luna would often go straight from a construction shift to helping at the food truck, where his wife served up pupusas and other Salvadoran dishes. The business attracted a diverse clientele and had a loyal following in their close-knit Latino community south of Baltimore.
Castellón said the business symbolized their shared vision for the future. Just days before his death, Luna surprised her with a visit to the storefront they hoped to rent.
“Every mile driven in that food truck, every vegetable chopped took us a step closer to our dreams,” she said.
She recalled how he stopped by the food truck before heading to work the last time. She gave him dinner and he gave her a kiss.
In seeking justice for her family, Castellón said, she hopes to prevent future tragedies by advocating for safer working conditions. She wants more robust protections for immigrant workers who too often find themselves taking dangerous jobs no one else is willing to do. She displayed a pair of her husband’s old welding uniforms, noting holes in the fabric caused by flying sparks.
Gustavo Torres, executive director of the Maryland-based advocacy group CASA, said it should come as no surprise that the victims of the collapse were immigrant workers. He said their suffering must not be brushed under the rug by corporate interests.
“No financial loss can compare to the loss of human life,” Torres said at the news conference, calling the victims “six irreplaceable souls” whose loved ones are trying to pick up the pieces after their worlds were destroyed in an instant.
The Dali is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and managed by Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore. The companies filed a court petition days after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability, a routine procedure for cases litigated under U.S. maritime law. The joint filing seeks to cap their liability at roughly $43.6 million in what could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history.
Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for the ship’s owner, said the victims’ upcoming challenge was anticipated and noted there is a Sept. 24 deadline for such filings in the case. He declined to comment further on the pending litigation.
Several other interested parties, including city officials and local businesses, have already filed opposing claims accusing the companies of negligence. Filings on behalf of the victims and their families are expected in coming days.
Preliminary findings from a National Transportation Safety Board investigation show that the Dali experienced a series of electrical issues before and after leaving the Port of Baltimore. The ship was destined for Sri Lanka when it experienced a power blackout and lost steering at the worst possible moment. The FBI launched an investigation into the circumstances leading up to the crash.
A plan is underway to rebuild the bridge, but it could take years.
Meanwhile, Castellón said she plans to continue pursuing her dream of opening a restaurant — now in her husband’s honor.
“I know he is up there watching down on me, celebrating all of the victories with me,” she said. “I will continue to make him proud.”
Maria del Carmen Castellón, the wife of Miguel Luna, a welder who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gustavo Torres, executive director of advocacy organization CASA, speaks during a press conference among relatives of Miguel Luna, a worker who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A portrait of Miguel Luna, a worker who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, is displayed among articles of his welding gear, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, during a press conference in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maria del Carmen Castellón, center, the wife of Miguel Luna, a welder who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A portrait of Miguel Luna, a worker who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, is displayed among articles of his welding gear, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, during a press conference in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maria del Carmen Castellón, the wife of Miguel Luna, a welder who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, becomes emotional while speaking during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maria del Carmen Castellón, the wife of Miguel Luna, a welder who died during the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, places a rose near a portrait of her husband and his welding gear before speaking during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are both pushing Tuesday to energize key constituencies that their allies worry might be slipping away. The vice president is looking to reach Black men and the former president is focusing on women.
Harris will appear at a town hall-style event in Detroit hosted by the morning radio program “The Breakfast Club,” featuring Charlamagne Tha God. Trump, meanwhile, will tape a Fox News Channel town hall featuring an all-female audience moderated by host Harris Faulkner.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz unveiled his ticket’s plan to improve the lives of rural Americans. It’s yet another sign that in a razor-tight race, each side is trying to cut into the other’s margins while shoring up traditional areas of strength.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Trump sat down for a discussion at the Economic Club of Chicago.
Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
Here’s the latest:
Former President Barack Obama plans to join Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz in Wisconsin next week for the kickoff for in-person early voting in the battleground state.
Walz, the governor of neighboring Minnesota, and Obama have scheduled a rally in Wisconsin’s liberal capital city of Madison on Oct. 22. That is the first day that Wisconsin voters can cast ballots in person at designated polling locations ahead of Election Day. Absentee ballots started being sent to voters in late September and, as of Monday, about 240,000 had been returned.
Wisconsin is a “blue wall” state, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, and is key to Vice President Kamala Harris’ victory strategy.
Obama is the only presidential candidate in the past six elections who has won Wisconsin by more than a percentage point.
On the day before the 2012 election, Obama held a rally in Madison that attracted about 18,000 people. Another Obama rally in October of that year drew about 30,000 people.
Donald Trump is once again claiming that there was a peaceful transition of power after the 2020 election, despite the fact that his supporters violently stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6 after he refused to accept his loss.
And he is claiming that there was “love and peace” in the crowd, even as those who descended on the Capitol smashed windows, rammed through doors and clashed violently with police, leaving more than 100 injured.
“It was a peaceful transition of power,” Trump said at a Chicago Economic Club event.
The friendly audience responded with boos when his interviewer tried to dispute him.
Trump also repeated several other falsehoods in his response.
He claimed that “not one of those people had a gun” and that “Nobody was killed,” except Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter who was shot and killed by police.
In fact, five people died in the riot and its immediate aftermath, including Brian Sicknick, a police officer. Four additional officers who responded to the riot killed themselves in the following weeks and months.
A slew of rioters were carrying weapons, including firearms, knives, brass knuckle gloves, a pitchfork, a hatchet, a sledgehammer and a bow. They also used makeshift weapons, including flagpoles, a table leg, hockey stick and crutch, to attack officers. One rioter has been charged with climbing scaffolding and firing a gun in the air during the melee.
Trump also claimed that “a lot of strange things happened” and that rioters were waved into the building.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said in a memo that the allegation that “our officers helped the rioters and acted as ‘tour guides’” is “outrageous and false.” Manger said police were completely overwhelmed and outnumbered, and in many cases resorted to de-escalation tactics to try to persuade rioters to leave the building.
While there were cases where police retreated or stepped aside, there is no evidence that any rioter was “ushered” into the building.
Donald Trump won’t say whether he’s spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he left office.
But he says doing so would be good for the country.
“I don’t comment on that,” he said at an event before the Chicago Economic Club. “But I will tell you that if I did it’s a smart thing. If I’m friendly with people, if I can have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing and not a bad thing in terms of a country.”
Journalist Bob Woodward reported in his new book, “War,” that Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Putin since leaving office and secretly sent the Russian president COVID-19 test machines during the height of the pandemic.”
Trump spokesperson Steve Cheung called the reporting false. Trump told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl that Woodward is “a storyteller. A bad one. And he’s lost his marbles.”
Donald Trump is defending his support for high tariffs as an economic cure-all as he speaks before members of the Economic Club of Chicago.
“To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tariff,’” Trump tells Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait, who is interviewing him at the event. Micklethwait has repeatedly pressed Trump on warnings from economists that the costs of high tariffs will be passed along to American consumers, raising prices.
But Trump isn’t budging.
“It must be hard for you to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you’re totally wrong,” he says, to laughs.
The Economic Club of Chicago describes its membership as “a curated composition of business and civic leaders.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday will unveil his ticket’s plans to improve the lives of rural voters, as Vice President Kamala Harris looks to cut into former President Donald Trump’s support.
The Harris-Walz plan includes a focus on improving rural health care, such as plans to recruit 10,000 new health care professionals in rural and tribal areas through scholarships, loan forgiveness and new grant programs, as well as economic and agricultural policy priorities. The plan was detailed to The Associated Press by a senior campaign official on the condition of anonymity ahead of its official release on Tuesday.
It marks a concerted effort by the Democratic campaign to make a dent in the historically Trump-leaning voting bloc in the closing three weeks before Election Day. Trump carried rural voters by a nearly two-to-one margin in 2020, according to AP VoteCast. In the closely contested race, both Democrats and Republicans are reaching out beyond their historic bases in hopes of winning over a sliver of voters that could ultimately prove decisive.
Walz is set to announce the plan during a stop in rural Lawrence County in western Pennsylvania, one of the marquee battlegrounds of the 2024 contest. He is also starring in a new radio ad for the campaign highlighting his roots in a small town of 400 people and his time coaching football, while attacking Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has sued CNN over its recent report that he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board. He made the announcement Tuesday and calls the reporting reckless and defamatory.
The lawsuit comes less than four weeks after a report that led many of his fellow GOP elected officials and candidates to distance themselves from Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign. That includes GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
CNN declined to comment on the lawsuit. Robinson is also suing a man who alleges Robinson frequented a porn shop decades ago.
A Georgia judge has ruled county election officials must certify election results by the deadline set in law and cannot exclude any group of votes from certification even if they suspect error or fraud.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that “no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.” While they have the right to inspect the conduct of an election and to review related documents, he wrote, “any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so.”
Georgia law says county election superintendents, which are multimember boards in most counties, “shall” certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday after an election — or the Tuesday if Monday is a holiday as it is this year.
The ruling comes as early voting began Tuesday in Georgia.
Julie Adams, a Republican member of the Fulton County election board, had asked the judge to declare that her duties as an election board member were discretionary and that she’s entitled to “full access” to “election materials.”
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump reads a note that Justin Caporale brought onto the stage at a campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves to supporters at a campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks along the southern border with Mexico, on Aug. 22, 2024, in Sierra Vista, Ariz. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris departs Erie International Airport, in Erie, Pa., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, after a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, in Erie, Pa., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris talks with local staff before she departs Erie International Airport, in Erie, Pa., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, after a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump greets supporters at a campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris claps on stage during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, in Erie, Pa., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
