Courtesy City of Madison Cities such as Madison, Wisconsin are the kinds of clients covered by the federal government's new municipal advisor rules. Related Links: New Federal Scrutiny of Advice to Municipal Clients SEC Rule Gives Design Frims Broad Exemption When is an engineer not an engineer?According to the U.S. Securities Exchange and Commission, whenever an engineer advises a municipality on project funding related to bond sales and debt financing, rather than project design or construction, the engineer is not performing engineering services.In that case, the SEC considers the engineering firm a municipal advisor and the firm is legally required
The Wayne County, Mich., prosecutor has charged three current and former county employees with felonies and misdemeanors for misconduct and neglect of duty in allegedly failing to inform county commissioners of increases in the cost of a partly completed jail project. Days after charging the three, the county announced it had settled its claims in state court against the project's at-risk construction manager.Officials of the construction manager, a joint venture of Walbridge Aldinger Co., Detroit, and dck Worldwide, Pittsburgh, could not be reached for comment. A Wayne County spokesman said that, under the settlement, the county would pay the construction
Related Links: Devastated by Tornado, Joplin, Mo., Learning Lessons From Rubble Communities Ramp up Tornado Defenses Home Depot, the Atlanta-based building supply giant, faces a wrongful death lawsuit over eight people dying inside its store when a 200-mph tornado carved a path estimated as a mile wide and six miles long through Joplin, Mo., in 2011.The storm lifted the steel-truss roof from Home Depot, at 3110 E. 20th St., causing 63 concrete tilt-up building panels to topple.Russell T. Howard, a 29-year-old electrician, his 5-year-old daughter, Harli, and his 19-month-old son, Hayze, were crushed to death.On May 23, Howard's widow filed
PhScarborough had pledged coal waste at this West Virginia tract as the asset backing his bonds. Edmund C. Scarborough, who owned the biggest and most public individual surety business in the U.S., once claimed that his guarantees were backed by solid assets comprised of valuable coal waste.In federal bankruptcy court in Tampa July 17, Scarborough and his wife, Yvonne, filed for protection from their creditors, listing assets of $4.5 million and liabilities of $16.2 million.The 70-page filing states that the main business asset held by the debtors is IBCS Mining, a Charlottesville, Va., based company that
Courtesy NTSB Crash in 2012 cost insurer $1 million. Courtesy NTSB The runway slope was improperly made by contractor, claims insurer for crashed jet. An insurer that reportedly paid out $1 million to the owner of a small private jet that crashed on a Georgia airport runway in 2012 is suing the airport and a contractor that reconstructed the runway. The insurer claims the runway was improperly built.To win its case, the insurer, Old Republic Insurance, will apparently have to disprove part or all of a National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the crash at Macon Downtown Airport. The investigation
New York State Court lawsuit exhibit An aerial view of the excavation for Barclays Center in New York City entered as an exhibit in Laquila's lawsuit against Hunt. A New York State judge has ruled that Laquila Construction Group, the excavation and foundation subcontractor for the Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn, can sue prime contractor Hunt Construction Group for additional payment even though Laquila signed releases when it accepted progress payments during the project.The arena open on time in September 2012.New York City-based Laquila filed a complaint against Hunt in state court in Brooklyn in May, 2013. Although Hunt paid
Related Links: New Hollywood Map Shows Two Projects Atop Active Fault Millennium Hollywood On July 1, the California State Geological Survey started mapping the Santa Monica fault in Los Angeles, part of almost 2,000 miles of unmapped fault lines. The project could delineate new earthquake zones and restrict future developments in the state.CSGS was able to ramp up its mapping efforts weeks after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed the state's $156.3-billion budget, which includes $1.49 million this year for fault zoning and $1.3 million in dedicated annual funding. State officials had been under increased pressure to provide fault-line data to
Related Links: Text of Supreme Court NLRB v. Noel Canning decision (majority and concurring opinions) High Court Rules Against Obama on NLRB Recess Appointments Nation's High Court Hears Recess Appointment Case (enr.com 1/14/2014) [subscription] The National Labor Relations Board will be poring over more than 400 decisions, from 2012 and 2013, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous June 26 ruling that President Obama exceeded his authority in naming three members to the board during a three-day break between Senate sessions.But the court's unanimity about that judgment veils a split. Five justices signed on to the majority opinion.
Related Links: Copy Of Class-Action Lawsuit Elk River Chemical Spill Triggers Lawsuits, Investigations A uniquely designed airport built in 1947 in Charleston, W.Va., has been swept up in the flurry of litigation surrounding a January incident that spilled 10,000 gallons of chemicals into the Elk River, contaminating the water supply of over 300,000 residents in nine counties. The federal class-action lawsuit, filed on June 20 in Southern West Virginia District Court, claims Triad Engineering and excavation contractor Cast & Baker were environmentally negligent on a Yeager Airport runway extension project, finished in 2011.The 10 residents and four businesses listed in
Related Links: Text of court's decision in NLRB v. Noel Canning Supreme Court to Hear NLRB Recess-Appointment Case (enr.com 6/25/2013) [subscription] The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that President Obama exceeded his authority when he named three members to the National Labor Relations Board in January 2012 during a three-day break between Senate sessions.But the court’s unanimity about that judgment thinly veils a split. Five justices signed on to the majority opinion. The other four, though concurring that Obama went beyond his powers, said the majority should have gone much further in limiting presidential authority.The ruling calls into question
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