WASHINGTON —
We support the Daviess County Commissioners in their stand for local taxpayers with this week’s filing of a lawsuit for damages done to the Bennington Levee last spring.
Often when natural disaster occurs, only random chance can be blamed. If the eye of a hurricane shifts just a few miles or a tornado changes paths as it approaches a community, only prayer and the instinct of self-preservation can keep one safe.
However last spring, for the farms and the community west of Washington, the results may have seemed like a natural disaster, but is looking more like an engineering and construction mistake.
With almost $2.5 million due in repairs to the levee, we stand behind the county commissioners seeking relief from the people and companies who allegedly caused the levee to be undermined.
We don’t believe that maliciousness or skullduggery was involved when the one-mile ditch was excavated in the winter of 2010-2011, and it will be up to a judge to determine whether or not the dredging near the levee was the primary reason the levee failed. We do know that a flood plain permit was not requested, nor was an engineering study done.
So if the ditch excavation caused damage to the 18-mile long levee, then those involved with that project need to compensate the county for the cost of the repairs. When the levee breached in 2008, the county was lucky enough to get financial help from the Natural Resource Conservation Service. It’s looking like that won’t be an option this time.
We are not looking “for a pound of flesh” simply for the sake of being punitive, just that those who are responsible need to step up and take financial responsibility — and we assume their liability insurance policies will kick in.
Thankfully, no lives were lost and personal property damage was kept to a minimum after the breach. But in today’s financially challenging times this is simply too big of a project to be absorbed by the flood plain taxpayers of Daviess County — especially if it is determined that it was avoidable incident.
Columns
Lawsuit is the right move
- Columns
-
-
Pacers miss golden opportunity
The Indiana Pacers had the Miami Heat right where they wanted them in the waning moments of overtime Wednesday night, but they couldn’t get out of their own way long enough to secure their most important playoff victory in more than a decade.
-
SeaPerch sets bar high for WHS
It may seem uninteresting, even trivial to some, of the accomplishments of the Washington High School SeaPerch teams as they won in national competition over the weekend.
-
Stop acting like sports are life and death
I’ve followed sports for much of my 27 years on earth, but one inescapable fact has caught my attention lately - sports make people crazy. You can't get around the fact that rooting for your favorite team can enrage you and turn you into a ravenous sports junkie. Passion isn’t always a bad thing, but combined with hatred for the rival of your favorite team can turn into something ugly and disgusting.
-
A confession directly from Genoa City, Wis.
I am a confessed hopeless addict. And, after a conversation this week, even my co-workers know the ugly truth. I rarely go an entire week without catching up on my soap opera - The Young and the Restless.
-
Quite simply less is more
Money can’t buy happiness, or at least that’s what you have been told. In Major League Baseball there has been a hot debate on when and how much should a team spend to improve the team on the field.
-
Daviess County talent runs deep
Oakland City University head men’s basketball coach Dr. Mike Sandifar has a long and successful career.
He has a combined high school and college mark of 631-383 and is 427-234 at Oakland City in a career that covers 1987-1999 and 2003-2013. -
The thrill of the grass
In the spring, they say a young man’s fancy turns to — baseball.
-
Jackie still a hero after all these years
Too often in our society we put elite athletes on a pedestal so high that they are referred to as heroes and we talk about the so-called adversity they face. This, of course, is laughable on every level.
-
A lifelong love of golf
It was an unusually cold, snowy day in April as I looked out the window at the clubhouse nearly 20 years ago.
Winter was hanging on, and golf on that particular Monday was not going to happen. -
All she needs is GPS, notebook
Lately some residents may have seen an out-of-county car driving aimlessly around town in search of some destination that even the youngest kiddo could find in a matter of seconds. That car would be mine, and the driver, who on occasion has nearly turned the wrong way down one way streets would be me, Lindsay Owens. Fear not though. I have GPS and a collection of maps Columbus would have envied.
- More Columns Headlines
-
Pacers miss golden opportunity
Officials: Truck Hit Bridge Before Collapse
Sheriff: No Sign Killing of 2 Kids Was Planned
Obama Defends Drone Strikes, With Limits
Raw: Jurors Deadlock on Jodi Arias Penalty
Boy Scouts Decision "First Step" Say Activists
Raw: Utah Teen Arrested in Death of His Brothers
Closer Look at Okla. School Where Children Died
Two Suspects in Murder Known to London Police
Boy Scouts Mom Supports Gay Inclusiveness
"Be Ready": NOAA Warns of Busy Hurricane Season
SeaWorld: Penguins Are Coolest Thing in Florida
Obama Renews Call to Close Gitmo
Obama Offers Drone Strike Defense
Raw: Heckler Interrupts Obama on Guantanamo
A Slice of Apple History Up for Grabs
