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Assembly
member and son sue CBJ over traffic accident with city bus
Juneau Assembly member Stan Ridgeway has filed a lawsuit in Juneau
Superior Court against the local government he represents.
The lawsuit specifically names Capital Transit and the bus driver whose
vehicle collided with a car operated by Ridgeway's son on the evening of
November 27, 2000.
The legal action seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorney's fees
and other compensation the court may deem proper, even though the accident
was determined to be the fault of Ridgeway's son.
William Ridgeway, then 16, was driving his father's car outbound on Egan
when a city bus traveling inbound attempted to turn left onto the Glacier
Highway access road at about the two mile point.
Ridgeway's Mazda Protégé struck the bus on the rear corner of the
passenger side. The entire passenger side of the car was destroyed
seriously injuring a passenger in the vehicle.
One aspect of the police investigation involved measuring the Mazda's skid
marks. The report concluded that the damage caused to both vehicles
indicated a minimum impact speed of 70 miles per hour. Two different
measurements indicated the Mazda could have been traveling between nearly
65 miles per hour to just over 82 miles per hour at the time of impact.
Ridgeway's son was charged with Reckless Driving, a misdemeanor. According
to court documents, he entered a plea of no contest to that charge on
March 8 of 2002. He was ultimately charged with the less serious
infraction of negligent driving. He was fined $300 with $150 suspended and
placed on probation for 18 months.
The Ridgeway lawsuit is apparently based on what is alleged to be the bus
driver's negligence. The court filing says the bus driver acted
negligently when he attempted to cross the outbound lanes of Egan and
enter the Glacier Highway.
When asked about the basis of the lawsuit, Ridgeway says they are
challenging the accuracy of the police investigation at the scene of the
accident and how the accident actually took place.
The elder Ridgeway came upon the accident scene in a separate vehicle. The
suit says he suffered shock, despair, and emotional distress by not
knowing the extent of his son's injuries or if his son was alive or dead.
These conditions were enhanced, according to the suit, when Ridgeway went
to the hospital and saw the extent of his son's injuries.
The suit claims the younger Ridgeway suffered and will continue to suffer
psychological, emotional and physical injuries. It adds he will incur
medical expenses in the future, as well as continued lost wages.
The court filing claims the plaintiffs have sustained over a hundred
thousand dollars in medical expenses and over $40,000 in legal expenses.
It also specifies $3,500 in damage to the car.
The filing also describes the impact on the Assembly member and the
expenses he's incurred and the loss of wages and salaries he has suffered
Ridgeway says its his understanding the family of his son's passenger,
Kenny Taug, has also filed a lawsuit against the city and borough. another
lawsuit has been filed in connection with the incident.
Ridgeway offered no comment when asked about those who raise concerns
about a member of the Assembly in essence suing himself since the City and
Borough of Juneau is a strong assembly form of government.
Valley School project advances to
Assembly Committee of the Whole
The Assembly Public Works and Facilities Committee voted last night
(Wednesday) to
forward the school district's schematic design for the new Valley high
school to the Assembly Committee of the Whole
But it was done with one important amendment offered by Assembly member
Ken Koelsch. His amendment stipulated that the schematic design should
reflect the funding currently approved and available.
In 1999, Juneau voters approved bonding for half the cost of the project,
then estimated at 50 million dollars.
The school district design that has been forwarded, represents a project
estimated to cost 62 million dollars.
The additional 12 million dollars will have to be approved by voters.
Interim City Manager John MacKinnon says the difference represents a $12
Million conflict.
Koelsch's motion states that the design must be revised
to fit within the original 50 million dollars.
The district's design at 62 million dollars would have a capacity of 1050
students with future expansion that could accommodate up to 1400 students.
A proposal from the CBJ engineering department calls for school at 50
million dollars with a student capacity of 850 with possible expansion to
1100.
Committee chair Jeannie Johnson said that she wants to see the school,
built but is concerned about the additional burden on taxpayers. She's
heard from many people concerned about the city going out for an
additional 12 million dollars in bonding.
In offering his amendment, Koelsch said there are many other worthy city
projects that need voter approved funding, like a valley swimming pool and
library and upgrades to Floyd Dryden.
The motion to forward the school district's design to the Committee of the
Whole passed without objection after Assembly members Merrill Sanford and
Stan Ridgeway were assured that the Assembly's work session, scheduled for
January 22nd, would not be limited by Koelsch's motion.
UAS officials assured classroom
project will be done in time for fundraiser
The University of Alaska Southeast Egan Library classroom addition on the
Auke Lake campus is scheduled to be completed in time for the University's
annual fundraising event, the Scholarship Soiree.
The school's Kevin Meyer says they have been promised that
everything will be ready to go by Saturday evening.
The new wing includes classrooms, a 150 seat auditorium, and a new cafe.
Saturday's event begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at
the door. They're available at local book stores.
Hamilton in town for classroom
opening
University President Mark Hamilton is in Juneau beginning tomorrow.
UAS Chancellor John Pugh says Hamilton will help welcome back faculty
returning for the Spring semester during a meeting tomorrow. He's also
scheduled to speak to the Noon meeting of the Juneau Chamber of Commerce.
He'll also attend Saturday's Scholarship Soiree in the classroom addition.
The Spring Semester begins Monday, and Pugh says they are registering
students on a continuing basis.
Juneau 2002 weather statistics
released
Last year was slightly warmer and wetter than normal in Juneau.
Metrologist Julia Ruthford says the average temperature was 49 point 9
degrees which was point 84 degrees above normal..
The hottest day of the year was 82 on June 14. The lowest temperature was
one below zero which occurred on both January 26th and 27th.
Total precipitation in 2002 was 62 point 32 inches. The forecaster says
that is 4 point 09 inches above average.
She says the most unusual aspect of precipitation distribution during the
year was the record dry Spring when just over four inches of rain fell.
She says that included the very dry stretch from March 3rd to May 8th when
only 1 point 08 inches was recorded. That was the lowest amount of rain on
record for such a long stretch of days.
The most precipitation in any 24 hour period was 2 point 44 inches on
October 20th and 21st.
Total snowfall last year was 66 point 2 inches, 27 inches below average.
The year marked the latest, first snow of the year which occurred on
December 14th. The previous record was November 20th in 1980.
There was measurable snow on Christmas Day for the first time since 1988
and the first White Christmas since 1994.
Accident sends two people to
hospital
Fire and police responded to a traffic accident on Glacier near the
Pioneers' Home just before 12:30 this afternoon.
Captain Ed Quinto is with Capital City Fire and Rescue says they
transported two people from the one car rollover. The vehicle went over
the embankment there.
The conditions of the people were not known at this time. Additional
details are pending from the police department.
Police blocked off the roadway for a time while the scene was cleared. One
report indicated people were holding the car to stop it from rolling
further.
Quakers register disapproval of
Bush policy at school board meeting
A Juneau Quaker group is speaking out against a provision in President
Bush's No Child Left Behind Act.
The group told local school board members this week that they are
concerned about a provision that requires districts to turn over
confidential information on students to military recruiters.
Federal TAPS accorded extended
Governor Frank Murkowski joined Interior Secretary Gale Norton at a
signing ceremony in Washington yesterday. The ceremony recognized permits
issued to allow the trans-Alaska oil pipeline to operate for another 30
years.
Railroad puts dollar value to planned projects in new year
The Alaska Railroad expects to spend 77 million dollars in capital
improvement projects this year. The sum is comparable to last year's
spending. Three-quarters of the money will come from the federal
government.
Judge moves to delay sonar testing
of gray whales
Gray whales migrating off the West Coast are being left alone, at least
for a few more weeks.
A federal judge has blocked scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution from testing newly developed sonar on the whales. It's
designed to help ships steer clear of them.
Testing was to begin today about a mile off the central California coast.
The judge has set a hearing for January 17th to decide whether to make the
order permanent.
Environmentalists contend the high-frequency sonar could disorient whales
and separate babies from their mothers.
It's not the first ruling against sonar testing. In October, a federal
judge ordered the National Science Foundation to stop firing
high-intensity sonic blasts into the Gulf of California, and in November,
the Navy agreed to temporarily scale back the testing of its new sonar
system.
Bears claw Cougars
The men's basketball team at Juneau Douglas High School got a warm up win
in Anchorage over Service last night. The Bears defeated Service 71 to 59.
Brian Hamey led all scorers with 26 points. He scored 22 in the second
half. Steve Henderson had 12 and Byron Wilde contributed 10 for the Bears.
The Bears draw Wasilla in the first game of today's Dimond Prep Shoot Out.
Tip off is at 3 p.m. with the warm up beginning right here on KINY at
2:45.
Alaska Juneau Communications - KINY Radio News) |
