It Figures

$5 Million

The Army Corps of Engineer says it has awarded a $5 million construction contract for a Fargo, N. D., flood project. The corps says the contract is going to Rising Sun Construction Inc., of Fargo for a project in the city’s Ridgewood area. The Ridgewood Project includes a series of earthen levees and flood walls built to an elevation of about 900 feet, according to the corps. It also will include one pumping station capable of pumping out 9,000 gallons of water per minute. Construction was to start in September and finish by the end of October.

$8 Million

The Minneapolis Golf Club says it has reached an $8 million settlement with the family of Abigail Taylor, the 6-year-old girl who was fatally wounded by a swimming pool drain. Taylor died of injuries she suffered last summer when she sat on the drain of the club’s wading pool. The powerful suction ripped out part of her intestinal tract. Club President Herb Houndt said in a statement on Sept. 3 that the amount exceeds the limits of the club’s insurance, so the members had to vote to get a loan to pay the difference. After Abigail died in March, her family was instrumental in persuading the state legislature to pass a new pool safety law.

1,500

The Ohio National Guard sent 1,500 troops to Louisiana to help with the cleanup following Hurricane Gustav on Sept. 1. The Ohio group joins National Guard units in Missouri in providing guardsman to the hurricane ravaged area. Guard spokesman James Sims said deployment will include units from Columbus, Newark and Coshocton.

$4 Million

A Sedgwick County, Kan., jury has awarded more than $4 million in damages to a Wichita man who became permanently disabled after doctors failed to diagnose Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Kyle Jim was 11 when he was taken to Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus in June 1996 for treatment of a fever and rash. His lawyers said that because doctors failed to make the routine diagnosis, Jim lost both legs, four fingers on one hand and the index finger on the other. He is deaf, has lost the ability to speak and has brain injury. The jury ruled the hospital was 85 percent at fault and that Dr. Lyndon Gamelson was 15 percent at fault. Now 23, Jim lives with his mother in Wichita.