December 2008 Archives

Transportation engineering expert Michael A. Replogle, Environmental Defense Fund Transportation Director, and adviser to the US Department of Transportation has this to say on the economic stimulus plan that Congress and President-elect Barack Obama are preparing to launch next month:

Bringing roads and bridges to a state of good repair, not building new roads should be a priority.  Research shows that transit spending creates more jobs than the same spending on new roadway construction.  National studies show that every $1 billion communities invest in transit yields $6 billion in economic returns, creating 35,000 jobs.

Many ports are trying to invest in cleaner trucks and machinery. Stimulus money should also support diesel clean-up programs, replacing old trucks with new ones, installing and manufacturing filters, and helping truckers get the most advanced technologies.

Excerpted from Boston.com.

Massachusetts patrolman Stuart Merry will ask the State Supreme Court to rule that he not be retried on vehicular homicide charges and that his case be dismissed.  Merry was convicted in March 2008 in the death of Bonney Burns, 61, who was sitting in her parked car on Jan. 20, 2007 when Merry's cruiser crashed into her at more than 50 miles per hour. 

A Peabody District Court judge later set aside the verdict and granted Merry a new trial due to new evidence.  The prosecutor used a statement from a state police reconstruction expert concerning a crack in the windshield as evidence during his closing argument.  Merry’s lawyers argue that the evidence had not been discussed during the trial and that prosecutors intentionally withheld the statement.

For more, see TheSalemNewsOnline.

Lawyers for Bernard Madoff may be exploring an insanity defense. Psychiatry expert Dr. Keith Ablow believes Madoff's attorney could make a case for diminished capacity.  "He might try to argue that Madoff suffered from dementia or a bipolar disorder,” says the psychiatrist, who has served as an expert witness in high-profile criminal cases. “ He could argue that Madoff committed the fraud during manic, euphoric periods and that he never found the equilibrium to correct his crime. Or that he was so delusional that he convinced himself the investment returns were real.  “Insanity defenses rarely work,” Ablow says, “but if you can influence just one juror, he may stand a chance.”

For more, see NYDailyNews.com.

After almost three weeks of hearings, the application by SCE&G and Santee Cooper to build two more nuclear power plants in Fairfield County still must win the approval of state and federal regulators.  South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. executives and nuclear power expert witnesses testified regarding SCE&G plans to add two reactor units to the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station at Jenkinsville at a cost of $9.8 billion.

The Office of Regulatory Staff serves as a watchdog for ratepayers in cases presented to state regulators but is also charged with looking out for the financial integrity of investor-owned utilities and promoting economic development. Bob Guild, a Columbia attorney who represented the environmental group Friends of the Earth in opposing the nuclear plan, says that representing  both ratepayers and utilities is a conflict of interest.

Fore more, see thestate.com. 

88-year-old Anne Harris has been awarded almost $100,000 after being struck on the head by a bulk food bin, which fell out of its receptacle.  Harris sued Ladner Save-On-Foods Store and Jim Pattison Ltd. for the accident which left her with permanent disabilities to her left wrist and shoulder.  The dispenser fell on her from the the top row of the supermarket's bulk food section.  The Vancouver Sun also writes:

An accident reconstruction and forensic engineering expert testified that he examined the bins in the supermarket following the accident and found that 17 of the 79 bins in the bulk food section were loose and not locked into place.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson says a federal judge erred in concluding that two environmental experts in a federal lawsuit against Arkansas poultry companies were not reliable. Poultry companies' attorneys claimed the work of Harwood and Olsen failed to pass the so-called Daubert test, a way judges scrutinize expert witnesses' work before it's presented to juries.

A 1993 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. suggested judges look closely at the scientific evidence of expert witnesses that is meant for juries and encouraged judges to consider whether the work was published in scientific journals and subjected to peer scrutiny.

Harwood and Olsen testified they tracked fecal bacteria and chemical components of poultry litter as it moved from poultry farms to streams. Witnesses who testified for the poultry companies said they doubted the researchers could track litter or its components accurately.

Excerpted from NWAnews.com.

West Virginia’s emergency medical-care system got a “C” grade in the most recent national survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians.  While the state got a “B” for emergency-room access and high rankings for staffed inpatient beds and psychiatric beds, ACEP’s National Report Card on the State of Emergency Medicine gave it a "D" in public health and injury prevention and disaster preparedness.  West Virginia ranks 41st for infant mortality and 50th for both obesity and smoking, the report card states.  The report said that the state should start requiring mandatory pre-trial screening panels and require medical expert witnesses to be licensed in the state.  A reporting system is also needed for hospital-incurred infections and “adverse events” or medical mistakes. timeswv.com also reports:

“This report’s message is clear — we have to do a better job of supporting emergency patients,” said Dr. Joseph Hartzog, president of the West Virginia chapter of ACEP.  “The tough economic times we’re facing make it imperative that we do everything we can to strengthen our emergency-care system,” Hartzog said.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson says a federal judge erred in concluding that two experts in a federal lawsuit against Arkansas poultry companies were not reliable. In court papers filed Monday, Edmondson said District Court Judge Greg Frizzell was wrong to discount the testimony and research of Oklahoma's expert witnesses Jody Harwood and Roger Olsen.  Harwood, a University of South Florida biologist, and Olsen, an environmental expert with Cambridge, Mass., consultant Camp Dresser & McKee, testified in Edmondson's unsuccessful effort to obtain the preliminary injunction. Edmondson claims the practice allowing farmers to continue spreading poultry litter as fertilizer is an environmental and human health threat.

Excerpted from NWAnews.com.

Canada's infrastructure will be getting a multibillion-dollar makeover. Fixing Canada's "infrastructure deficit" is seen as a way to not only improve roads and sewage treatment but  also tackle the economic slowdown by putting people to work.  But despite the multi-billion dollar pledges from the Harper government, a leading engineering expert says the federal plan simply isn't good enough.  "The government of Canada has not acknowledged that we do face a crisis right now - a crisis in terms of deteriorating infrastructure," said Saeed Mirza, a McGill University civil engineering expert who wrote the federation's study on the infrastructure deficit.  Canada.com also reports:

Breakdowns in infrastructure have already left tragedies in their wake and many experts fear greater disasters are looming.  The 75-year old Pattullo Bridge crossing the Fraser River in the Vancouver region continues to be the site of numerous fatal head-on collisions and accidents because of its narrow lanes that were not designed with fast-moving cars in mind.

Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company formally notified the Oklahoma Corporation Commission Dec. 12 of its intent to file a rate case early in 2009.  OG&E’s Brian Alford says that providing the notice gives the commission staff time to make workload plans and give them an idea of the types of energy industry experts they may need for the case. okcbusiness.com reports:

The case will proceed through the first half of 2009. If an increase is approved by the Commission, customers would not see it reflected in their electric rates until August 2009 at the earliest.  “Even though we’re still working through the details, we do know that we’ll be asking for an increase. OG&E’s current rates are based on costs experienced in 2004. In the last four years, the cost of doing business has increased dramatically; labor, health care, materials and other expenses are much higher,” he said. “At the same time, we’ve invested more than $700 million in new assets to ensure the reliable delivery of electricity, and those investments are not included in today’s rates.”

Forty-five yearold Antonio Richardson won $6 million last week against physician Arnold Seid in a medical malpractice lawsuit in Oahu Circuit Court.  Richardson went to Seid in 2001, when tests for health insurance showed signs of kidney disease.  For two years, Seid treated Richardson for high blood pressure, ignoring test results indicating kidney disease.  Seid eventually referred Richardson to a specialist, but by then his kidneys were already dead.  An expert witness said Richardson should have been referred to a kidney specialist in 2001.  Another witness said his kidney problems, if treated, could have been delayed or prevented.

Excerpted from StarBulletin.com

A Jasper County, Missouri, jury awarded John R. Brooks $550,000 Thursday in his lawsuit against Freeman Health System and two doctors who treated him.  Brooks was working at Milnot Co.’s condensed-milk products plant in Seneca when he was injured in a workplace fall on March 27, 2006. Brooks struck a floor causing rib fractures that went undetected and led to bleeding in his chest cavity over the next several days resulting in permanent injury to his lungs.

Brooks’ attorney argued Dr. Marzetta Parks missed diagnosing his client with rib fractures because she failed to order a computerized tomography scan, and that she sent him back to work with few restrictions.  Medical malpractice experts testified that by the time Brooks was seen by Parks on a follow-up visit April 3, 2006, and the rib fractures were discovered, the pleural effusion in Brooks’ chest had progressed significantly. He was sent back to work with no new restrictions, and a CT scan was not performed for another three days.

For more, see TheJoplinGlobe. 

Saint Joseph's University has appealed before the Philadelphia Zoning Hearing Board over the "similar use" to which the university is entitled in renovating and improving Maguire Campus.   Testimony was heard from both sides concerning the extent to which the university can modify Maguire's existing athletic facilities to meet NCAA standards.  Saint Joseph's presented Dennis Glackin, of Glackin, Thomas Panzak, Inc. as a land use expert and the Merion Community Coalition brought Charles Guttenplan as an expert witness to argue that Saint Joseph's had overstepped its similar use agreement.

Saint Joseph's appeal is based on the assertion that does not need to make a special request to the Zoning Board to move forward with plans for certain projects beyond the permission it has already been granted. These include the upgrade of the public address system at baseball and softball fields, the construction of press boxes and dugouts, and the four-foot excavation of the baseball field among other things.

Risk managers and insurers should prepare for an active hurricane season in 2009 if predictions by Tropical Storm Risk, a consortium of atmospheric science experts led by the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Center, are correct. TSR is projecting Atlantic basin hurricane activity and landfall in the United States will be 35% above normal in 2009.

A Colorado State University team, formed by forecasting pioneer William Gray, says 2009 would be another "above-average" hurricane season after an active 2008. They predict three of next year's hurricanes would be dangerous storms with a rank of Category 3 or above on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.  Key factors that create above-average hurricane activity are warmer than normal sea surface temperatures and weaker-than-normal trade winds.

The future of solar industry is suffering due to falling oil prices, supply issues and the lack of financing for solar projects.  Miroslav Begovic, a solar and electrical engineering expert at Georgia Tech, says even with declining prices for silicon and other materials, tax incentives and advancements in technology, the cost of generating juice from solar is still two or three times the cost of generating electricity through traditional sources.  Semiconductor.net writes:

Even as new solar factories opened in places like Austin, Texas and greater Atlanta in recent weeks, several big solar companies in China and Canada warned that they'll pull back on expansion plans and preserve cash after customers canceled projects and credit markets dried up. Shares of many publicly held solar companies have fared even worse than the overall stock market.

Industry analysts, meanwhile, are now predicting that there may soon be a worldwide glut of solar panels and silicon -- the key ingredient for solar cells -- amid the industry's recent buildup.

Ottawa's heavy construction operators are warning city council members that the short-term savings planned by postponing road maintenance in 2009 will cost much more in future years. Frank Merkley, President of the National Capital Heavy Construction Association (NCHCA), warned that putting off asset renewal work will only plunge the city into a deeper financial mess in coming years.  He's scheduled to make a presentation to the council during budget deliberations on Tuesday.  Dale Harley, an NCHCA adviser and heavy construction expert told the council, "If you want to ensure industry capacity, have a long-term plan and stick to it."  

For more, see OttawaBusinessJournal.com.

Research experts recently surveyed drivers and found they are not prepared for winter weather driving. Of the more than 5,000 licensed drivers surveyed across the nation, GMAC Insurance found several startling facts about driver competency during frozen or snowy conditions:

• 46 percent were unaware their gas tanks should be at least half full in order to continue providing heat in case of an emergency
• 38 percent didn't know driving while using cruise control, even in clear conditions, could be dangerous
• 24 percent did not know to turn the wheel in the direction of a skid

One of the most significant misconceptions revealed in the survey was in regard to vehicles equipped with four-wheel drive. While four-wheel drive helps with traction in snow and ice, it does not replace good driving practices and taking the correct precautions to stay safe.

An insurance expert warns that the financial crisis and cross-border cooperation between insurance supervisors and tax authorities has led to increased scrutiny of insurance compliance. Speaking at the BIE Executive Forum—Risk Perspectives, Praveen Sharma, senior vice president and practice leader at Marsh Inc.’s regulatory and tax consulting unit, said he has seen a recent increase in audits carried out by tax and regulatory authorities. BusinessInsurance.com writes:

Multinational companies are being squeezed from all sides—by accounting, insurance supervisory and tax authorities, said Mr. Sharma. Multinational companies also face an inconsistent response from insurers, he added, with some insurers moving forward with solutions while others are sticking with past processes.

The Hays Daily News writes on the epic dispute between Colorado and Kansas over water rights to the Arkansas River:

Colorado already has agreed to pay its neighbor to the east more than $34 million after the high court decided in 1995 that groundwater pumping in Colorado diverted millions of gallons of upstream water that rightfully belonged to Kansas.

But Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six wants Colorado to pay an additional $9 million in expert witness fees. Six urged the justices to overturn a special master's ruling that limited witness fees to about $163,000.

"I believe the expert witness fees in this case were vital to the resolution," Six said.

The holiday season is a deadly time on America's roadways. Experts report that nearly 1,500 people were killed in crashes involving a drunk driver from Thanksgiving 2007 through New Year's Day.  An estimated 2 million drunk drivers with three or more convictions will be on our roadways this holiday season. MADD is ramping up its call for every state to introduce interlock laws that cover all convicted drunk drivers including those facing their first convictions – as Washington state did in 2007. NAMIC reports:

An alcohol ignition interlock is a breath test device linked to a vehicle's ignition system. When a convicted drunk driver starts his or her vehicle, he or she must first blow into the device. The vehicle will not start if the driver is violating probation by having alcohol in his or her system. If interlocks were required for all convicted drunk drivers in the United States, thousands of lives could be saved each year.