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<DIV><FONT size=2>What a bunch of whores.</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=thansen@moscow.com href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">Tom Hansen</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Moscow Vision 2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 24, 2011 6:40
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Bill Targets
Megaload Opposition</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Let me see if I have this right . . .<BR><BR>Idaho
Transportation Department (ITD) is not required to conduct public<BR>hearings
concerning loads in excess of 200,000 pounds being transported on<BR>Idaho
public roadways. However, if anybody files a complaint about
such<BR>loads, it could cost the complainant potentially hundreds of thousands
of<BR>dollars, with the proceeds being awarded to the hauler.<BR><BR>Welcome
to Idaho. Esto perpetua.<BR><BR>Courtesy of today's (February 24, 2011)
Spokesman-Review.<BR><BR>---------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Bill
targets megaload opposition<BR>Bond would be required to file suit against
project<BR><BR>BOISE - St. Maries Rep. Dick Harwood introduced legislation
Wednesday<BR>designed to impose huge bonding requirements on anyone who sues
to block a<BR>megaload - or anything else - from traveling on Idaho's
highways.<BR><BR>Harwood's bill, which the House State Affairs Committee
agreed to<BR>introduce on a divided vote, would require anyone who files a
lawsuit<BR>against a transportation project on state highways to post a bond
equal to<BR>5 percent of the value of the items being hauled, and if the
plaintiffs<BR>lose the lawsuit, the whole bond would go to the Idaho
Transportation<BR>Department. For megaloads, that potentially could be tens or
hundreds of<BR>thousands of dollars. Plus, the bill would authorize the court
to award<BR>damages to the hauler in the amount of its loss for delays related
to the<BR>lawsuit.<BR><BR>"This has been brought because of the megaloads,"
Harwood told the<BR>committee. "Any time an individual group can stop our
commerce from<BR>flowing, it's not a good thing, and that's what
happened."<BR><BR>State Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, an attorney, raised
questions about<BR>Harwood's bill, saying, "It looks like they're paying
twice," between the<BR>bond and the damages to the hauler. Luker said if the
bond is excessive,<BR>the plaintiff should get amounts back beyond the
department's costs<BR>associated with the project, but said, "the bill doesn't
say that."<BR><BR>State Rep. Max Black, R-Boise, said, "I think that that's
totally<BR>justifiable because they really did put the Department of
Transportation<BR>into a lot of extra hearings and transportation costs, going
to North<BR>Idaho for the hearings and whatever else. Ultimately, they won,
but<BR>without this, there was no reimbursement for their extra
expenses."<BR><BR>State Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, who said he
supports the<BR>megaloads, voted against introducing Harwood's bill. "I don't
think he had<BR>any answers for any questions that were given to him - I think
he needs to<BR>refine it," Anderson said. "I can't even tell you what the bill
says right<BR>now, for reading it."<BR><BR>Harwood compared his proposal to
bonds required for lawsuits over state<BR>timber sales, and said those bond
requirements "pretty much ended any<BR>lawsuits on the Department of
Lands."<BR><BR>Meanwhile, megaloads opponents on Wednesday filed a petition
asking ITD to<BR>reconsider its initial approval of 207 megaloads that
ExxonMobil/Imperial<BR>Oil plan to send across Highway 12 now that the company
has begun<BR>modifying many of the loads to allow them to be trucked to
Alberta via the<BR>interstate system instead.<BR><BR>Highway 12 resident Borg
Hendrickson said, "Throughout 2010,<BR>Exxon/Imperial repeatedly told Idahoans
that no alternative route existed<BR>for these massive loads, but now 60 of
them are being shipped from<BR>Vancouver via an alternative route and 30 more
are also going to be<BR>shipped via an alternative route," after modifications
as they sit in<BR>Lewiston. "ITD's decision needs to be based on real facts,
and our<BR>petition, in effect, asks ITD to step back and get those
facts."<BR><BR>---------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Seeya
round town, Moscow.<BR><BR>Tom Hansen<BR>Moscow, Idaho<BR><BR>"This is the
'Mouse that Roared,' 'David and Goliath' and 'Avatar' all<BR>rolled into
one. We must remember that the thousands of citizens involved<BR>in this
effort to protect their personal and family safety, their<BR>businesses and
their lifestyles are confronting some of the largest<BR>international
corporations in the world."<BR><BR>- Linwood
Laughy<BR><BR><BR>=======================================================<BR> List
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