Sunday, July 26, 2015

Whodunit - Murder in Texas Edition

By Jeff Simpson

This weekend in Texas, there was a tragedy at their Six Flags Amusement Park.  It was Rosy Esparza's first and last trip to the park. 


She sat beside her son on the Texas Giant — a 14-story-high roller coaster that boasts what the amusement park calls “the world’s steepest drop.” And before the ride started climbing, CNN affiliate KTVT reported, Esparza was worried.
To her, the lap bar that holds passengers in their seats didn’t seem secure, witnesses told the CNN affiliate.
Minutes later, one of the roller coaster’s seats came back empty.
Now Esparza is dead, family members told CNN affiliates KTVT and WFAA
This is the fact of the case, Now the clues to figure out Whodunit! 

First comes the park:

A spokeswoman for Six Flags Over Texas says the theme park is committed to finding out what led to the woman’s death on Friday. And authorities are investigating.

Clue #2:

On Saturday, authorities said an initial investigation showed no sign of foul play in the woman’s death.
“At this point of the investigation, it does not appear there was any foul play or criminality associated with this tragic incident,” the Arlington Police Department said in a statement.

Clue #3

 She goes up like this,” Carmen Brown told the affiliate, raising her hand up in the air. “Then when it drops to come down, that’s when it released and she just tumbled.”
Brown told the Dallas Morning News that the woman had expressed concern to a park employee that she was not properly secured in her seat.
“He was basically nonchalant,” Brown said. “He was, like, ‘As long as you heard it click, you’re fine.’ Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn’t feel safe. But they let her still get on the ride.”
 
Finally the mystery:

 Six Flags Over Texas spokeswoman Sharon Parker said the park is committed to determining exactly what happened.

Well Ms. Park if you are determined to figure out exactly what happened, let me help solve the mystery for you.

Ms. Esparza, who had never been on the Roller Coaster before knew something was wrong before she went up.   It appears she is a bigger safety expert than the ride operator.   It could be because the ride operator is making a piddly $8.39/hr and probably has had the bare minimum in training.  It works out well though, because while Six Flags is saving money by paying crappy with no training,  their revenues are increasing every year, 6% in 2014 even.    These numbers the company has led to a major raise, no not for the park employees silly, for CEO James Reid-Anderson.  

Six Flags Entertainment CEO James Reid-Anderson received compensation valued at about $9.3 million last year, up 230% from the $2.8 million he received in 2011, according to a proxy filing made with securities regulators Tuesday.
Reid-Anderson also cashed out previously awarded stock options and restricted shares that vested in 2012, gaining nearly $71 million.
 The 2012 haul vaults Reid-Anderson, 53, into select company: the swelling ranks of CEOs hauling in annual compensation and realized equity gains of $50 million or more.
 Let's hope that Ms. Esperza's death does not cut into his pay at all, but wait, as Capper points out, there is more.  

In Texas, they feel regulations are for the liberals and the best way for anyone to remain safe is police themselves.  

 According to a spokeswoman from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, state officials "are best able to determine the level of regulation needed for their state."
Texas regulations require a yearly inspection of amusement parks by each park's insurance company, but Texas' Department of Insurance disavows responsibility for guaranteeing the safety of rides, saying, "Recognition by the Department that the amusement ride has satisfied these standards is not an endorsement by the Department or a statement regarding the safe operation of the amusement ride."
Parks themselves are responsible for investigating accidents. Six Flags has announced that theTexas Giant will stay closed until its own investigation is completed. According to NBC News, several "significant injuries" had already occurred on the coaster this year.
A recent investigation by PublicSource found that Texas is not alone in having potentially problematic amusement park oversight: "State records show that more than half of Pennsylvania's permanent parks and water parks did not turn in all of their 2012 [safety inspection] reports -- affidavits in which certified inspectors attest that they've performed the inspections required by law. The agency had no reports at all for 12 of the state's 117 permanent parks and water parks."

Ms. Esperza's son should sleep well tonight knowing that they passed the safety standards that they set for themselves.   He should also sleep well knowing that getting rid of those job-killing regulations allows the park ride operator to almost make $8.40/hr.   

God Bless Texas!

So Ms. Parks, let me take a stab at solving this murder mystery.

It was Rick Perry, with a pen, in the Capital statehouse, fueled by massive corporate greed and lack of ethics and morals of Mr. Reid-Anderson.  

I win,Ms. Esperaza and her family lose.  

(Credit: Gabe Flores)



2 comments:

  1. Just another stupid liberal writing.
    So, would paying the worker more make the incident go away?
    Umm, no.
    Murder?
    Umm, no.
    Just another reason why liberals just should not be given access to computer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No i dont "think" that...i know that if we paid the workers well, trained them correctly and had independent safety reviews she would still be alive.

      Unfortunately in Republican world her life is just collateral damage, as long as we increase profits and the ceo can bring home 71 million then all is well. We need to keep that possible, because maybe one day you too, can make 71 million if you keep working hard.

      Delete