North Dakota’s largest city is planning to offer buyouts to residents of 56 homes next year as part of a plan to protect them from Red River flooding.
Fargo officials say the buyouts will likely cost about $24 million, The Forum newspaper reported. Nathan Boerboom, an assistant Fargo city engineer, said that several homes on the list are high-end properties.
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New Mexico’s Court of Appeals has ruled against a group of current and former Hobbs residents who sued an oil company because of illnesses and other damages.
The court on Tuesday upheld a Lea County District Court decision not to grant a new trial in the case against Shell Oil Co. and Shell Western Exploration and Production Inc.
The Hobbs residents alleged there was environmental contamination from oil and natural gas production in an area that became a housing subdivision in the southeastern New Mexico community.
A jury in 2007 ruled in favor of Shell, which had oil storage tanks in the area from 1946 until 1993. There also was an unlined storage pit for oilfield wastes that was buried in the 1960s. Housing development in the area started in the 1970s.
A lawyer for the residents, Michael Newell, said Wednesday that no decision has been made on whether to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
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Some 3,000 Warren County, Iowa, residents have been notified that their personal information may have been scattered by the wind in the aftermath of a December fire at a human services office.
Pat Penning, service area manager for the Department of Human Services region that includes Warren County, said it is unlikely the water-logged or burned records could be used for identity theft, but the state is treating the breach seriously.
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A man who was found dead in his burned home was among the confused and panicked residents who called Colorado authorities as a wildfire raged near them.
Police tapes obtained by KMGH-TV show that Sam Lucas expressed surprise after responders told him the fire was a controlled burn, despite winds that reached 80 mph. Lucas and his wife were found dead at their home last week.
Another resident urged authorities to rescue a woman who apparently died in the fire. A friend of Ann Appel was concerned for her safety because she was being treated for cancer.
The Colorado State Forest Service has accepted responsibility for the fire, which charred 6 square miles in a mostly rural, mountainous area southwest of Denver.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: West NewsTopics: Colorado State Forest Service, safety, wildfireHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk