ALEX JONES ORDERED TO PAY EXTRA $45 MILLION IN PUNITIVE DAMAGES TO PARENTS OF SANDY HOOK VICTIM

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A Texas jury ordered Alex Jones to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages to the parents of a Sandy Hook victim on Friday, August 5th, a day after he was ordered to pay $4.1 million in actual damages for claiming that the school shooting was a hoax. Friday's damages are punishment for Jones’ statements, while Thursday’s damages were meant to compensate the parents for economic and noneconomic damages like emotional distress. Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of the 459th District Court in Travis County may reduce the punitive damages given due to limits on punitive damages, with a per-defendant cap of two times the amount of economic damages, plus the amount of noneconomic damages found by the jury if the latter part not to exceed $750,00

STRUCTURE FIRE CAUSES SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO UNFINISHED POUDRE TRAIL APARTMENTS IN GREENLY, COLORADO

www.GreeleyTribune.com

At 7:20 p.m. on August 3rd, firefighters responded to the scene of a large fire at the construction site for the Poudre Trail Apartments in the 100 block of north 30th Avenue, Greenly, Colorado. The Greeley Fire Department is investigating the cause of a fire. Fire crews found a burning two-story apartment building with 10 living units under construction. Due to heavy fire activity and the volume of smoke, responding units issued a second alarm for additional assistance. In total, six engines, two ladder trucks, one brush truck, two battalion chiefs, one fire investigator, and one staff chief responded to the scene. No injuries were reported and no one was displaced due to the fire, but Greeley fire expects damage to exceed $1 million.

DEVELOPER OF MAJOR PENNSYLVANIA PIPELINE PLEADS NO CONTEST TO CHARGES

www.ReadingEagle.com

Dallas-based Energy Transfer Operating, The developer of a major pipeline system that connects the Marcellus Shale gas field in western Pennsylvania to an export terminal near Philadelphia, pleaded no contest Friday, August 5th, to criminal charges that it systematically polluted waterways and residential water wells across hundreds of miles. The developer agreed to independent testing of homeowners’ water and promised to remediate contamination in a settlement of two separate criminal cases brought by the Pennsylvania attorney general. The company will also pay $10 million to restore watersheds and streams along the route of its Mariner East pipeline network.

FIRE VICTIMS SEEK OVER $85 MILLION FOR TAMARACK FIRE DAMAGES

ThisIsReno.com

People who lost their homes and property in last summer’s Tamarack Fire in northern Nevada and California have filed a claim against the U.S. Forest Service seeking more than $85 million. Twelve of the claimants are from Douglas County, Nevada, while the rest were Alpine County, California, residents. The Tamarack Fire started on July 4, 2021, when lightning hit a tree in the Mokelumne Wilderness in Alpine County, California. The fire spread, eventually scorching nearly 109 square miles along the Nevada-California border. Authorities from both counties evacuated nearly 2,000 people in 15 communities.

SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO RANCHERS LOOKING FOR HELP WITH GILA REHAB AND PROPERTY DAMAGE

Sourcenm.com

Gila, New Mexico suffered fire damage on July 28th. The second-largest blaze recorded in the state’s history consumed much of the Gila National Forest, charring federal land, as well as the acres where ranchers live and work. Locals and recreationalists, like tourists and hunters, will be feeling the effects of the fire for years to come.

EPA TO CLEAN UP SOUTH JERSEY SUPERFUND SITE

Cen.acs.org

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to clean up a polluted 400-acre South Jersey superfund site that emits “harmful vapors.” The Cinnaminson Groundwater Contamination site, polluted by two former landfills, spread over four areas of the site. The remediation plan calls for digging up soil and treating groundwater due to concerns the groundwater may be reaching the Delaware River. The EPA first discovered contaminated groundwater in the 1980s while plans were underway to close the landfills bordered by Union Landing Road, U.S. Route 130, River Road, and Taylors Lane. The EPA plans to inject chemicals into the contaminated groundwater and monitor for vapors using a system similar to those used to detect radon in homes.

SBA HAS APPROVED $4.5 MILLION IN DISASTER LOANS SO FAR FOR THOSE IMPACTED BY THE FLOODING OF THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER

www.BozemanDailyChronicle.com

On July 23rd, A federal agency announced that millions of dollars in disaster loans have been approved for people affected by flooding this past June of the Yellowstone River and some other streams in southern Montana. The Small Business Administration announced that more than $4.5 million in disaster loans have been approved. The agency offers three types of loans: Business Physical Disaster Loans, Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Home Disaster Loans. The application period deadline for physical damage loans is August 29, 2022, while the economic injury loan application period ends March 30, 2023.

The business loans are for repairs or replacing disaster-damaged property. Private businesses, nonprofits, churches, universities and others are eligible, according to the agency. Economic injury loans are for businesses that cannot meet their financial obligations because of flooding. And home loans are for homeowners or renters who need to repair or replace disaster-damaged real estate and personal property.

WITH WATERS RISING, BALTIMORE EYES $138 MILLION PLAN TO LIMIT COASTAL FLOOD DAMAGE

www.bayjournal.com

Because Baltimore, Maryland, is facing increased risks of coastal flooding from storms as sea level rises, federal officials have put forward a $138 million plan aimed at protecting the interstate highway tunnels and reducing flood damage to homes and businesses in low-lying waterfront neighborhoods. The draft plan is to build floodwalls around the openings to the Interstate 95 and Interstate 895 tunnels that carry traffic beneath the harbor. The plan doesn’t envision erecting any levees or other structures to hold back the water for the tourism-centric Inner Harbor and waterfront neighborhoods like Canton, Fells Point, Riverside and Locust Point.

The Baltimore metropolitan area has felt the effects of at least nine hurricanes or tropical storms since the 1950s, the Corps study noted. Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003, caused $4.8 million in property damage in the city and up to $252 million in total damages in the county. One person died in the floods, while more than 570 homes and 15 businesses were declared uninhabitable.