The ultimate patrol vehicle now comes with more power for police forces that need it.

“All three wheels are now identical, providing extra grip and cushion for riding the not-so-smooth terrain of inner-city streets.”— Gildo Beleski, CEO

BUELLTON, CA, USA, May 18, 2023/ EINPresswire.com / — Trikke Professional Mobility is proud to introduce the Trikke Positron XL, the 72-volt, battery-powered electric patrol vehicle made for those times when law enforcement needs to amp up its capabilities to keep up with the increasing challenges of community policing.

The Positron is quickly becoming the personal electric vehicle of choice for more and more police departments, from the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police in Northern California to the Wheeling, West Virginia PD. Be it through already-existing models — the standard 60V AWD and the Elite 72V — the Positron’s high-performance features are an ideal solution for reliable green transportation. Each three-wheel vehicle comes complete with all-wheel drive, full suspension, and disc brakes, and serves as a stealth-like, emission-free transport for all-weather, continuous operation both indoors and outdoors and on and off-road. The Positron’s maneuverability and versatility make it an excellent tool for navigating crowded areas and interacting with the community. In congested locales, it can provide a faster response time than cars, making it an efficient and effective option for any operation.

“But sometimes more is better,” says Gildo Beleski, CEO of Trikke Tech, Inc, Trikke Professional Mobility’s parent company. “The newest model, the Positron XL, is fitted with new shoes and the much-sought-after wider wheels for navigating rough terrain with comfort, confidence, and increased safety.”

Beleski, the Positron’s chief engineer, notes that the XL frame has a longer wheelbase while the deck is two inches longer and one inch taller. The result: the steering geometry has been improved for working effortlessly with the new tires.

Additionally, the wider tires allow for heavier riders (up to 350 lbs) and can be ridden with lower air pressure, which makes the XL more forgiving when hitting irregularities such as potholes and bumps.

“The power and torque have been increased to a whooping 3.5KW – a 17% increase over the Elite version,” notes Beleski, “and the XL employs new heavy-duty, custom brakes with larger brake pads for enhanced stopping power.”

While the standard and elite models remain the best options for mixed use indoors and outdoors — the new Positron XL is now the ultimate tool when it comes to conquering the (sometimes) mean streets of the city.

Visitors to the annual NSA (National Sheriffs’ Association) conference at the Devos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids. MI, will be able to get an up-close and personal look at the Positron 72V XL, to be showcased in the Trikke Professional Mobility booth # 746 from June 26-29.

To learn more about the Trikke Positron XL or to schedule a demo, click here.

About Trikke Professional Mobility

TRIKKE Professional Mobility is a US-based manufacturer and distributor of rugged professional-grade personal patrol vehicles with all-wheel-drive and a proprietary cambering design for efficiently moving around large campuses, congested areas, and public events. TRIKKE vehicles are quiet and ergonomic, with high-torque electric motors and heavy-duty construction. The frame folds flat for easy deployment and storage in a small footprint, and the lithium-ion battery can be swapped out for quick recharging. These vehicles are designed for around-the-clock operations and are currently in use by many police departments around the US. TRIKKE leads the law enforcement industry in reliable alternative transportation.

By MATTHEW BROWN from the Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A legal dispute in Montana could drastically curb the government’s use of aerial fire retardant to combat wildfires after environmentalists raised concerns about waterways that are being polluted with the potentially toxic red slurry that’s dropped from aircraft.

A coalition that includes Paradise, California — where a 2018 blaze killed 85 people and destroyed the town — said a court ruling against the U.S. Forest Service in the case could put lives, homes and forests at risk.

An advocacy group that’s suing the agency claims officials are flouting a federal clean water law by continuing to use retardant without taking adequate precautions to protect streams and rivers.

The group, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, requested an injunction blocking officials from using aerial retardant until they get a pollution permit.

The dispute comes as wildfires across North America have grown bigger and more destructive over the past two decades because climate change, people moving into fire-prone areas, and overgrown forests are creating more catastrophic megafires that are harder to fight.

Forest Service officials acknowledged in court filings that retardant has been dropped into waterways more then 200 times over the past decade. They said it happens usually by mistake and in less than 1% of the thousands of drops annually, and that environmental damage from fires can exceed the pollution from retardant.

“The only way to prevent accidental discharges of retardant to waters is to prohibit its use entirely,” government attorneys wrote. “Such a prohibition would be tantamount to a complete ban of aerial discharges of retardant.”

Government officials and firefighters say fire retardant can be crucial to slowing the advance of a blaze so firefighters can try to stop it.

“It buys you time,” said Scott Upton, a former region chief and air attack group supervisor for California’s state fire agency. “We live in a populous state — there are people everywhere. It’s a high priority for us to be able to use the retardant, catch fires when they’re small.”

Forest Service officials said they are trying to come into compliance with the law by getting a pollution permit but that could take years.

“The Forest Service says it should be allowed to pollute, business as usual,” said Andy Stahl, who leads the Eugene, Oregon-based group behind the lawsuit. “Our position is that business as usual is illegal.”

A ruling from U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen is expected sometime after the opposing sides present their arguments during a Monday hearing in federal court in Missoula.

Christensen denied a request to intervene in the case by the coalition that includes Paradise, other California communities and trade groups such as the California Forestry Association. The judge is allowing the coalition’s attorney to present brief arguments.

As the 2023 fire season gets underway, California Forestry Association President Matt Dias said the prospect of not having fire retardant available to a federal agency that plays a key role on many blazes was “terrifying.”

“The devastation that could occur as a result of the Forest Service losing that tool could be just horrific,” Dias said.

More than 100 million gallons (378 million liters) of fire retardant were used during the past decade, according to the Department of Agriculture. It’s made up of water and other ingredients including fertilizers or salts that can be harmful to fish, frogs, crustaceans and other aquatic animals.

A government study found misapplied retardant could adversely affect dozens of imperiled species, including crawfish, spotted owls and fish such as shiners and suckers.

Health risks to firefighters or other people who come into contact with fire retardant are considered low, according to a 2021 risk assessment commissioned by the Forest Service.

To keep streams from getting polluted, officials in recent years have avoided drops inside buffer zones within 300 feet (92 meters) of waterways.

Under a 2011 government decision, fire retardant may only be applied inside the zones, known as “avoidance areas,” when human life or public safety is threatened and retardant could help. Of 213 instances of fire retardant landing in water between 2012 and 2019, 190 were accidents, officials said.

The remaining 23 drops were necessary to save lives or property, they said.

Stahl’s organization suggested in court filings that the buffer zones be increased, to 600 feet (182 meters) around lakes and streams.

In January — three months after the lawsuit was filed — the Forest Service asked the Environmental Protection Agency to issue a permit allowing the service to drop retardant into water under certain conditions. The process is expected to take more than two years.

Forest Service spokesperson Wade Muehlhof declined comment on the case.

From the Associated Press

BOGALUSA, La. (AP) — Firefighters from departments across southeast Louisiana and nearby areas of Mississippi worked for hours before extinguishing the flames from a massive fire at a sawmill on Lake Pontchartrain’s north shore early Monday.

The fire at the site of Hood Industries, north of Bogalusa, started about 10 p.m. Sunday. No injuries were reported.

Pearl River County firefighters said in a post on Facebook that the “large and dangerous” blaze was under control around 3:30 a.m. Monday.

It is still unclear how much damage was caused by the fire or what had started it.

The sawmill on Highway 21 is one of the largest employers in Washington Parish with additional locations in Mississippi and Georgia.

From the Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Firefighters in Indianapolis rescued dozens of people from a fatal blaze in a multilevel apartment building early Monday morning.

Multiple people called to report the fire in the three-story, 44-unit building around 4:45 a.m., the Indianapolis Star reported.

Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames. They used ground ladders to rescue at least 30 people from the building, the Indianapolis Fire Department tweeted. Other residents escaped by leaping from balconies.

Emergency responders discovered a dead woman in the building. Nine people were hospitalized, including four children. A firefighter also suffered a minor injury.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

By KIM CHANDLER and JEFF AMY from the Associated Press

DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Students at a small-town Alabama school, its flag flying at half-mast Monday, returned to class as investigators worked to piece together what happened at a Saturday night shooting that killed four people, including two Dadeville High School students.

The 485-student school is a center of civic life in Dadeville, population 3,200, where “Home of the Tigers” is painted on the water tower. The melee at a teenager’s birthday party also injured 28 at the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio, were the teen-age sister of one of the victims was celebrating her Sweet 16.

The weekend was marked by a series of high-profile shootings in the U.S.. One left two people dead and four wounded Saturday in Louisville, Missouri; another resulted in four men being shot — one fatally — in Los Angeles; and a third left two women wounded at Lincoln University in southeastern Pennsylvania.

It wasn’t clear if all of the 28 people injured in Alabama were shot, although Heidi Smith, spokesperson for Dadeville’s Lake Martin Community Hospital, said 15 people with gunshot wounds were received there. Others were taken to other hospitals.

The dead include Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, 19, of Opelika; Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23, of Dadeville; Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 18, of Camp Hill and Shaunkivia Nicole “Keke” Smith, 17, of Dadeville, Tallapoosa County Coroner Mike Knox told The Associated Press on Monday. Relatives had identified Dowdell and Smith on Sunday.

Tallapoosa County Superintendent Raymond Porter said counselors would be present at the school Monday. Smith said her hospital and others would provide at least some of those, saying students “are going to arrive today to a tragedy.”

“It’s going to be a tough time for graduation and for these kids and we will be here for them and their families for the duration,” Smith said.

It’s also unclear who may have started the shooting and why, or whether investigators have made any arrests. Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency did not take questions during news conferences Sunday. Officials repeatedly asked others to come forward with information on the shooting.

Dowdell was a Dadeville High School student who planned to attend Jacksonville State University to play football.

Michael Taylor, an assistant coach, said he met Dowdell when the boy was 9 and coached him in youth football. Taylor said the team was invited to Atlanta to play in the stadium used by the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

“He did some amazing things there, and he never stopped doing them since then,” he said. “He was the No. 1 athlete in the school.”

Smith was also a Dadeville High senior who managed the basketball and track teams.

Collins had played football at Opelika High School before graduating in 2022, his father, Martin Collins, told AL.com. Collins was an aspiring rapper and his father said Collins planned to attend Louisiana State University, where the father is a law student.

Keenan Cooper, the DJ at the party, told WBMA-TV the party was stopped briefly when attendees heard someone had a gun. He said people with guns were asked to leave, but no one left. Cooper said when the shooting began some time later, some people took shelter under a table where he was standing, and others ran out.

At least five bullet holes were visible in the windows of the front of the dance studio Sunday. Investigators combed the scene for more than 12 hours, including climbing onto the roof of the one-story brick building to look for evidence.

The shooting sparked what Mayor Frank Goodman said was a “chaotic” scene at the town’s small hospital, where emergency workers, relatives and friends swarmed on Saturday. Smith said six people were treated locally and have been released, but said others were transferred to larger hospitals in Birmingham, Montgomery, Opelika and Columbus, Georgia. She said transfers by helicopter were slowed by stormy weather Saturday.

“It’s very traumatic in a health care setting, in an emergency room setting when you have one gunshot wound come through, but when you have 15 and they’re all teenagers, our staff has been through a lot,” Smith said.

Antojuan Woody, from the neighboring town of Camp Hill, was a senior and fellow wide receiver with Dowdell on a Dadeville Tigers football team that went undefeated before losing in the second round of the playoffs last year. He said he and Dowdell had been best friends for all of their lives.

He described the victims “as great people who didn’t deserve what happened to them.”

Tallapoosa County Superintendent Raymond Porter said counselors would be present Monday at the system’s schools. Flags flew at half-staff outside Dadeville High Monday as an electronic sign displayed information about the prom and make-up days to take college entrance exams.

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Amy reported from Atlanta.

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and ERIC TUCKER for the Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Two men have been arrested on charges that they helped establish a secret police outpost in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government, and more than three dozen officers with China’s national police force have been charged with using social media to harass dissidents inside the United States, the Justice Department said Monday.

The cases, taken together, are part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions in recent years aimed at disrupting Chinese government efforts to locate in America pro-democracy activists and others who are openly critical of Beijing’s policies.

One of the cases concerns a local branch of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, which operated inside an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood before closing last fall amid an FBI investigation. The two men charged with establishing the outpost were acting under the direction and control of a Chinese government official, and deleted communication with that official from their phones after becoming aware of the investigation, according to the Justice Department.

The men, identified as “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, were arrested at their homes on Monday morning. It was not immediately clear if they had lawyers who could comment on their behalf.

At no point did the men register with the Justice Department as agents of a foreign government, U.S. law enforcement officials said. And though the police outpost did perform some basic services, such as helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driver’s licenses, it also performed a more “sinister” function, including helping the Chinese government locate a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent living in California, according to the officials.

“New York City is home to New York’s finest: the NYPD,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said at a news conference announcing the arrests. “We don’t need or want a secret police station in our great city.”

____

Tucker reported from Washington.

From the Associated Press

SALISBURY, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina woman apparently seeking revenge on her ex-boyfriend tried to set fire to a house owned by someone else, according to a sheriff’s office.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office said in a report that a homeowner in Gold Hill was awakened Friday by a neighbor who saw a woman trying to set fire to the house. There were bundles of wood and a fire on the front porch and deputies found a jug of oil that they say was used to start the fire.

As the homeowner went to get a garden hose, he saw burning pieces of wood around a propane tank. The garden hose didn’t work because the woman had apparently used a sealant to block the flow of water, deputies said.

The homeowner grabbed a rifle and confronted the woman, who was holding one of his dogs on a leash. With law enforcement and emergency personnel approaching, the woman drove off, the sheriff’s office reported.

Deputies arrested the woman and charged her with felony first-degree arson, assault with a deadly weapon, and larceny of an animal. Bond was set at $101,500. It couldn’t be determined Tuesday if she had an attorney.

Investigators estimate the home sustained approximately $20,000 in damage.

From the Associated Press

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California burglar returned to the scene of the crime this weekend after he forgot his keys inside a doughnut company’s corporate office.

The thief stole some petty cash from Johnny Doughnuts’ office in the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday night, police said. In another twist, he also grabbed the keys to a bakery vehicle, but didn’t steal the vehicle itself.

San Rafael police are seeking the public’s help to identify the burglar, who used an unknown tool to “manipulate” the office’s doorknob and get inside around 10 p.m., according to Lt. Dan Fink. The crime was reported to police on Monday.

Surveillance video shows the man moving between the office and a back storage area, where he pried open a filing cabinet, Fink said.

The lieutenant said the thief took a bank bag with an unknown amount of cash.

“Part of the investigating is finding out why this specific business was targeted,” he said.

Craig Blum, founder of Johnny Doughnuts, said his company plans to deliver a few dozen doughnuts to the San Rafael police officers “who came to our aid to ensure that we can continue serving our community hand-crafted doughnuts without interruption.”

“It was an unfortunate incident, but we’re glad no doughnuts or team members were harmed,” Blum said. “Sometimes even the thought of a doughnut makes you do crazy things.”

By DYLAN LOVAN and BRUCE SCHREINER for the Associated Press

JACKSON, Ky. (AP) — Search and rescue teams backed by the National Guard looked Friday for people missing in record floods that wiped out entire communities in some of the poorest places in America. Kentucky’s governor said 16 people have died, a toll he expected to grow.

Gov. Andy Beshear told The Associated Press that children were among the victims, and that the death toll could more than double as rescue teams search the disaster area.

“The tough news is 16 confirmed fatalities now, and folks that’s going to get a lot higher,” the governor said later at a briefing. He said the deaths were in four eastern Kentucky counties.

Powerful floodwaters swallowed towns that hug creeks and streams in Appalachian valleys and hollows, swamping homes and businesses, trashing vehicles in useless piles and crunching runaway equipment and debris against bridges. Mudslides marooned people on steep slopes and at least 33,000 customers were without power. Numerous state roads were blocked by high water or mud, and crews were “unable to even get to some of these roadways it is so bad,” Beshear said.

“We’ve still got a lot of searching to do,” said Jerry Stacy, the emergency management director in Kentucky’s hard-hit Perry County. “We still have missing people.”

Emergency crews made dozens of air rescues and hundreds of water rescues, and more people still needed help, Beshear said: “This is not only an ongoing disaster but an ongoing search and rescue. The water is not going to crest in some areas until tomorrow.”

Rachel Patton said floodwaters filled her Floyd County home so quickly that her mother, who is on oxygen, had to be evacuated on a door that was floated across the high water. Patton’s voice faltered as she described their harrowing escape.

“We had to swim out and it was cold. It was over my head so it was, it was scary,” she told WCHS TV.

The water was so swift that some people trapped in their homes couldn’t be reached on Thursday, said Floyd County Judge-Executive Robbie Williams.

Just to the west in Perry County, some people remained unaccounted for and almost everyone in the area had suffered some sort of damage, firefighter Glenn Caudil said.

“Probably 95% of the people in this area lost everything — houses, cars, animals. It’s heartbreaking,” Caudil told WCHS.

Determining the number of people unaccounted for is tough with cell service and electricity out across the disaster area, Beshear said: “This is so widespread, it’s a challenge on even local officials to put that number together.”

More than 330 people have sought shelter, Beshear said. He deployed National Guard soldiers to the hardest-hit areas. With property damage so extensive, the governor opened an online portal for donations to the victims. President Joe Biden called to express his support for what will be a lengthy recovery effort, Beshear said, predicting it will take more than a year to fully rebuild.

Biden also declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency appointed an officer to coordinate the recovery. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell joined Beshear at a briefing.

“We’re committed to bringing whatever resources are necessary to support the life-saving efforts as well as the ongoing recovery efforts,” Criswell said.

Even the governor had problems reaching the devastation. His plans to tour the disaster area on Friday were initially postponed because conditions at an airport where they planned to land were unsafe, his office said. The governor scheduled a flyover for later in the day.

Days of torrential rainfall in the region sent water gushing from hillsides and surging out of streambeds, inundating roads and forcing rescue crews to use helicopters and boats to reach trapped people. Flooding also damaged parts of western Virginia and southern West Virginia, across a region where poverty is endemic.

“There are hundreds of families that have lost everything,” Beshear said. “And many of these families didn’t have much to begin with. And so it hurts even more. But we’re going to be there for them.”

Poweroutage.us reported more than 33,000 customers remained without electricity Friday in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia, with the bulk of the outages in Kentucky.

Rescue crews also worked in Virginia and West Virginia to reach people in places where roads weren’t passable. Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for six counties in West Virginia where the flooding downed trees, power outages and blocked roads. Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made an emergency declaration, enabling Virginia to mobilize resources across flooded areas of southwest Virginia.

“With more rainfall forecasted over the next few days, we want to lean forward in providing as many resources possible to assist those affected,” Youngkin said in a statement.

The National Weather Service said another storm front adding misery to flood victims in St. Louis, Missouri, on Friday could bring more thunderstorms to the Appalachians, where flash flooding remained possible through Friday evening in places across the region.

Brandon Bonds, a weather service meteorologist in Jackson, said some places could see more rain Friday afternoon and begin to dry out on Saturday “before things pick back up Sunday and into next week.”

The hardest hit areas of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches (20-27 centimeters) over a 48-hour period ending Thursday, Bonds said. Some areas got more rain overnight, including Martin County, which was pounded with another 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) or so leading to the new flood warning.

The North Fork of the Kentucky River rose to broke records in at least two places. A river gauge recorded 20.9 feet (6.4 meters) in Whitesburg, more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) over the previous record, and the river crested at a record 43.47 feet (13.25 meters) in Jackson, Bonds said.

In Whitesburg, Kentucky, floodwaters seeped into Appalshop, an arts and education center renowned for promoting and preserving the region’s history and culture.

“We’re not sure exactly the full damage because we haven’t been able to safely go into the building or really get too close to it,” said Meredith Scalos, its communications director. “We do know that some of our archival materials have flooded out of the building into Whitesburg streets.”

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Contributors include Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Ky., Timothy D. Easley in Jackson, Ky., and Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Md.,

From the Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Marine Corps will keep its new amphibious combat vehicle — a kind of seafaring tank — out of the water while it investigates why two of the vehicles ran into trouble off Southern California’s coast this week amid high surf, military officials said Wednesday.

No Marines or sailors were injured when one of the vehicles rolled onto its side Tuesday in waves that were unusually high because of a storm in the southern hemisphere. The other one became disabled when waves as high as 8-feet (2.4 meters) slammed the coastline.

The mishaps prompted troops to leap out of the vehicles and make their way to shore at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. The mishaps were first reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The new vehicles were introduced to replace Vietnam War-era amphibious assault vehicles, one of which was involved in one of Marine Corps’ deadliest training accidents of its kind two years ago off Southern California’s coast.

Lt. Gen. David J. Furness, the deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for plans, policies, and operations, said the officials decided to halt waterborne operations involving the newer vehicles as a precaution while an investigation is underway. The Marine Corps will continue using the vehicles for land operations.

“This is the right thing to do,” Furness said in a statement. The effort will allow time to “ensure our assault amphibian community remains ready to support our nation,” he added.

In the July 30, 2020 amphibious vehicle accident, eight Marines and one sailor died when the vehicle sank rapidly in 385 feet (117 meters) of water off San Clemente Island. Seven of the Marines were rescued.

A Marine Corps investigation found that inadequate training, shabby maintenance and poor judgment by leaders led to the sinking.

The Marines use the amphibious vehicles to transport troops and their equipment from Navy ships to land. The armored vehicles that have machine guns and grenade launchers look like tanks as they roll ashore for beach attacks, with Marines pouring out of them to take up positions.