Patron Management Institute
Romanian government resigns days after 32 die in nightclub blaze
11/4/15- AP BUCHAREST, Romania – Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced the resignation of his government Wednesday following huge protests in the wake of a nightclub fire that killed more than 30 people. “I’m handing in my mandate, I’m resigning, and implicitly my government too,” Ponta said in a statement. He said he would stay on until a new government is in place. “I am obliged to take note of the legitimate grievances which exist in society,” said Ponta. “I hope handing in my and my government’s mandate will satisfy the demands of protesters.” President Klaus Iohannis will name a prime minister to form a new government, which needs to be approved by Parliament. If this fails twice, early elections will be called. Romania is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections in December 2016. The mayor of the district in the Romanian capital where the nightclub is located, Cristian Popescu Piedone, also resigned Wednesday, saying he is morally guilty for the deadliest fire in Romania’s history. Piedone said: “I assume the moral blame. As for the legal (blame) I will leave it to justice to pronounce.” He came under pressure to step down following mass protests through the city Tuesday night, Keep Reading
Critical food safety violations up at Royals games this year
Critical food safety violations up at Royals games this year, health department says By Patrick Fazio, Oct 27, 2015 KHSB KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Critical health violations are up this season at Kauffman Stadium concession stands compared to last season. 2015: 146 critical violations on 176 inspections 2014: 129 critical violations on 167 inspections The Kansas City Health Department tells us inspectors plan to visit Aramark food stands at Kauffman during the World Series home games. As 41 Action News first investigated in May, critical violations at Kauffman Stadium have nearly doubled since 2012. As a follow-up to our investigation, we discovered health inspectors have cited Aramark food stands at Kauffman for numerous observations of, “Potentially hazardous hot food was not maintained at temperatures in accordance with the Food Code,” as well as these critical violations since May: Improper Handling “Observed cashier scooping ice with hands from ice machine” “Dishwasher did not wash hands before touching the clean dishes” (twice) “Observed popcorn being stored in black trash bag (instead of food grade bag)” (twice) Mold/Black Residue “Mold on top interior of ice machine.” “Mold on keg lines” “Soda fountain dispensers were found to have build up of black residue” Pest Keep Reading
Fans rappel from upper deck at Panthers game to protest BofA
Fans rappel from upper deck at Panthers game to protest Bank of America 11/2/15- Yahoo Sports By Frank Schwab Shutdown Corner In a surreal scene, two fans rappelled from the upper deck during the Carolina Panthers’ game against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night to protest Bank of America, and the company’s support of a planned liquefied natural gas facility. ESPN showed the fans during the second half, coming down from the second deck with a banner. Social media pictures of the fans revealed the banner that expressed opposition to Bank of America and to “Dump Dominion.” A media release from DumpDominion.org explained that the protest was against the bank’s “financing the planned liquefied natural gas [LNG] export facility in Cove Point, Maryland.” The Panthers play in Bank of America Stadium. The Charlotte Observer reported that four were arrested in the stunt. The report said that the four were David Baghdadi, Erica Madrid, John Nicholson and Angela Vogel, according to We Are Cove Point, an organization involved in the protest. The scene lasted a while. The protesters started to descend during the third quarter and hung by ropes “well into the fourth quarter,” according to the Associated Press. The media Keep Reading
3 dead after car crashes into Oklahoma State homecoming parade
By Nick Bromberg, Dr. Saturday, 10/24/15 Yahoo Sports A car crashed into the Oklahoma State homecoming parade Saturday “at a high rate of speed,” killing three people and injuring nearly three dozen others. Stillwater police said Saturday afternoon that 34 people were injured, including eight critically. The accident happened when a woman, identified as 25-year-old Adacia Chambers, drove her car into a crowd near the end of the parade route. She was arrested on suspicion of DUI. From the Tulsa World: A vehicle collided into parade attendees near the intersection of East Hall of Fame Avenue and North Main Street, according to multiple witnesses. The intersection is near the end of the parade route where a large concentration of people were watching the parade. From the World, continued: Geoff Haxton, who was about 100 yards away from the incident, said a 4-door vehicle not affiliated with the parade crashed into the crowd. Other witnesses told him the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed. The accident happened at approximately 10:30 a.m. CT in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Oklahoma State’s game against Kansas kicked off as scheduled at 2:30 p.m. as the school’s president told reporters that “We’re going to play Keep Reading
Man commits suicide during Bills tailgate
Man commits suicide during Bills tailgate near Ralph Wilson Stadium, cops say BY Amara Grautski NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, September 14, 2015 A man who was part of a group of Bills fans tailgating in a parking lot outside Ralph Wilson Stadium shot himself Saturday night, police said. The middle-aged man, who was from Western New York, could not be revived and died at the scene, the Buffalo News reported. Orchard Park police would not identify the man. “We do not, as a policy, release names of (suicide victims),” police chief Mark Pacholec said. The sold-out lot across Abbott Road from the stadium was reserved for campers and RV’s in advance of Sunday’s 1 p.m. Bills game against the Colts. FOLLOW THE DAILY NEWS SPORTS ON FACEBOOK. “LIKE” US HERE. A group of tailgaters was dancing to music around 10:20 p.m., one man told the newspaper, when the gun went off. “There was a bunch of screaming,” said Chris Hurley, a Vermont resident and Bills season-ticket holder. But with fireworks also being set off nearby, not everyone knew what had occurred. One woman said she saw the man collapse, according to the report, while a man said he heard Keep Reading
Man shot in head during Dallas Cowboys tailgate fight
Man shot in head during Dallas Cowboys tailgate fight outside AT&T Stadium after crowd goaded gunman BY Nicole Hensley NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Updated: Monday, October 12, 2015, A gunman shot a football fan during a rowdy Dallas Cowboys tailgate party outside AT&T Stadium after onlookers encouraged the attack, according to a report. A huge mele brought cops to what police believe was the drunken remnants of the night’s tailgating, an hour and a half after the Cowboys’ 30-6 blowout loss against the New England Patriots. Off-duty police officers handling security at the Arlington stadium were the first to arrive at Sunday night’s fight between two men. It’s there authorities heard a suspect fire a gunshot into the crowd. A male victim in his early 40s was found with a gunshot wound to his head. Paramedics airlifted the victim to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. The alleged assailant was injured after tripping over a retaining wall during his attempted escape, authorities added. The suspect allegedly held a gun to the victim’s head as a crowd egged him on to open fire, witnesses told a Star-Telegramreporter. “I didn’t think he was going to pull the trigger,” Lester Peters told the Keep Reading
Police investigating fight at Dodger Stadium, fan critically injured
Police investigating fight at Dodger Stadium after fan critically injured Sports Illustrated, Oct. 13, 2015 Police are investigating a fight outside Dodger Stadium Friday night, in which one fan sustained critical injuries, reports the Associated Press. The Dodgers hosted the New York Mets in Los Angeles on Friday for Game 1 of the National League Division Series. The Dodgers lost the game 3–1, and are down in the series 1–2. Officer Matthew Ludwig said the physical altercation escalated from an argument between fans, though he was not sure if they were from rival teams. Los Angeles police are still searching for the people involved in the fight. The injured fan remained hospitalized on Monday in critical but stable condition, the Los Angeles Times reports. Security was increased at Dodger Stadium after a 2011 fight drew national scrutiny. San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow was attacked by two men on Opening Day 2011 and left with permanent brain damage. The men eventually pleaded guilty and were sent to federal prison. The Dodgers will play the Mets at Citi Field for Game 4 on Tuesday. A Dodgers victory would force a Game 5 back in Los Angeles. http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/10/13/los-angeles-dodgers-stadium-police-investigating-fight-fan-critically-injured?xid=si_topstories
The Curious Science of Counting a Crowd
Popular Mechanics- Sep 12, 2011 Crowd-size estimation is tough for people who want to do it right. But when turnout implies clout, then politicians and event organizers have plenty of motivation to exaggerate the head count. Through careful research, though, it is possible to make better crowd-size estimates that aren’t the result of political bias. On June 4, a huge crowd gathered in Hong Kong for a vigil to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. But just how huge? In some stories 77,000 people showed up. Another story, though, listed the attendance as nearly double that: 150,000. There’s a reason for the disparity. The first figure—77,000—is a police estimate. The second is from the event’s coordinators, who probably had some motivation to pad their numbers. To find out which crowd size was correct, two professors—Paul Yip at the University of Hong Kong and Ray Watson at Melbourne University—ran the numbers. To fit 150,000 people into that space, they’d have to cram together at about one person per 2.7 square feet (four per square meter), so that estimate is unrealistic. That would be “mosh-pit density,” the researchers write in a new paper on crowd estimation techniques Keep Reading
Interesting Web Page
Dr. Keith Still is a well regarded research on crowd management and has any interesting web page. Here is the link: http://www.gkstill.com/Support/crowd-density/CrowdDensity-1.html.
An Art That da Vinci Could Not Master
Billy Langenstein / October 6, 2015 Facility Manager Magazine Leonardo da Vinci was known for the “Mona Lisa.” Donatello was known for “David.” One piece of art that surrounds us every day and does not have a famous artist is the portrait of crowd management. Whether you are hosting a football game, concert, music festival, or performing arts show, the type of crowds and behavior changes for each event. There is no equation that we can use that will tell us exactly what we want to know; however, every time we stand out on our concourses, parking lots, or plazas we are watching the painting come to life right before our very eyes. We have the opportunity to learn a little bit more about our craft, just like da Vinci did as he painted “The Virgin and Child with St. Anne.” But ask yourself, do we truly ever fully master the art of crowd management? When speaking with many of the top professionals in our industry, we always ask, “How is the ingress and egress?” Ask yourself where your ingress starts. At the entrance to your building as a guest’s ticket is being scanned? With the flow into your parking Keep Reading