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Archive for August, 2011

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30
Aug

Indianapolis State Fair Stage Collapse Leading to Lots of Lawsuits

August 30, 2011

Last week The Indianapolis Star reported on the first batch of lawsuits to crop up after a stage at the Indianapolis State Fair collapsed on August 13, killing seven people and injuring dozens more. This week has yielded yet another lawsuit, as the family of a 23-year-old woman who died file suit alleging gross negligence and recklessness by the promoters and producers of the concert for country duo Sugarland.

The family filed the suit on Monday, August 29, in a Marion County Court on behalf of the estate of the woman who died and her parents, reports The Evansville Courier & Press. The lawsuit reportedly maintains that the organizers of the fair and concert failed to warn audience members about impending weather conditions.

The attorney in this case is also representing the family of a 42-year-old woman who died in the collapse, as well as a woman who was injured.

There are already at least three potential lawsuits against the state, as reported in the Star last week. One of these lawsuits comes from a woman who, though not injured in the stage collapse, claims in her lawsuit that she suffered “severe emotional trauma” from witnessing the tragedy.

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Indiana injury or accident, the Indiana lawyers at Woods and Woods can help.

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26
Aug

1 Person Dead, 1 Person Injured in U.S. 60 Crash in Kentucky

August 26, 2011

A crash on U.S. 60 west of small-town Corydon, Kentucky, left one person dead and another injured on the night of Thursday, August 25.

The accident occurred around 7:15 p.m. when a 24-year-old male who was traveling eastbound on U.S. 60 in a 2005 Chevy Cobalt lost control of his vehicle for unknown reasons, according to a news release from Kentucky State Police. The Chevy then spun counterclockwise into the path of a motorcycle traveling west on U.S. 60, causing the motorcycle to slam into the passenger side of the Chevy.

That motorcyclist was a 51-year-old male from Morganfield, Kentucky. The Evansville-Courier Press reports that he was pronounced dead at the scene by the Henderson County coroner.

The driver of the Chevy was transported to Methodist Hospital in Henderson, Kentucky, where he was treated and released. A passenger in his car—a 19-year-old male from Sturgis, Kentucky—had to be taken to Deaconess Hospital in a medical helicopter. As of Friday morning he is listed in stable condition.

Both the driver and passenger in the Chevy were wearing seatbelts, and the motorcyclist was wearing a helmet.

The accident is still being investigated.

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If you lost a loved one to an auto accident in Indiana or Kentucky, the auto accident lawyers at Woods and Woods may be able to help.

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16
Aug

5 People Die When Stage Collapses at Indianapolis Sugarland Concert

August 16, 2011

Five people died and dozens were inured on Saturday, August 13, when a State Fair stage collapsed in high winds before a concert that country superstars Sugarland were to perform. Twelve-thousand people were in attendance at the concert.

According to the Evansville Courier-Press, Governor Mitch Daniels called the incident a “learning point” and said that he may support mandating inspections of temporary structures like the stage that collapsed.

The state Department of Homeland Security has said it didn’t inspect the stage that was toppled by a wind gust estimated at 60 to 70 miles per hour.

CNN reports that the Indiana State Fair Commission has hired engineering company Thornton Tomasetti Inc. to investigate the collapse.

As of today, 18 people remain hospitalized after the collapse. Four people died at the scene: Alina Bigjohny, 23, of Fort Wayne; Christina Santiago, 29, of Chicago; Tammy Vandam, 42, of Wanatah; and Glenn Goodrich, 49, of Indianapolis. Nathan Byrd, a 51-year-old stagehand from Indianapolis who was atop the rigging when it fell, died overnight.

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Do you think temporary stage inspections should be mandatory in Indiana?

If you lost a loved one to an Indiana wrongful death, the Indiana wrongful death lawyers at Woods and Woods may be able to help.

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11
Aug

2 Tennesseans Die in Northwest Indiana Car Crash

August 11, 2011

Two people died on Wednesday, August 10, in Jasper County, Indiana, when three big-rigs collided on Interstate 65 in a “high impact crash” near the 212 mile marker, according to an Indiana State Police release.

The accident occurred around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, killing two people from Manchester, Tennessee.

A 59-year-old Tennessee man was reportedly traveling south in a 1996 Western Star semi truck and towing a flat bed trailer when he rear-ended a box trailer. The trailer was being towed by a 2003 Freightliner semi-truck manned by a 56-year-old Buckeye, Arizona man. The 2003 semi had been slowed by traffic, according to WLSAM. Traffic had been reduced to one lane as construction work was done and a bridge was being painted.

In turn, the rear-ended freightliner rear-ended the back of a box trailer being towed by a 2004 Freightliner semi truck that was being driven by a 37-year-old man from Brookfield, Illinois.

The Tennessee man and his passenger – a 57-year-old Tennessee woman who was in the sleeper berth at the time – both died in the crash, despite that the driver wore a seatbelt.

Neither of the other drivers was injured. They both were wearing seatbelts.

The crash shut down I-65 for more than eight hours while an investigation was done and debris was cleared.

Drugs and alcohol are not believed to be a factor in this Indiana auto accident.

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Indiana injury or accident, the Indiana Injury Lawyers at Woods and Woods can help.

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3
Aug

Bloomfield Environmentalists Sue to Block I-69 Construction

August 3, 2011

On Monday a Bloomington, Indiana, citizen group filed a lawsuit voicing environmental concerns about the expansion of Interstate 69 from Indianapolis to Evansville.

The group, called Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, wants the Indiana Department of Transportation to stop the in-progress construction on an I-69 expansion from the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center to Evansville.

Among other complaints, the group says the new highway would impact sinkholes, caves, springs, and sinking streams in Indiana, and even possibly wipe out the Indiana bat population.

The suit includes a Bloomington couple who would lose a portion of their property in part of the six-section highway extension.

“The [couple] enjoys recreating on their farm with their children and grandchildren, walking the same soil as [their] ancestors, taking their grandchildren on nature hikes, and swinging on grapevines,” the suit reads. “They enjoy the many creatures that inhabit the woods and pastures of the farm, including cattle, deer, and wild turkey. The proposed I-69 highway would destroy this environment, and thereby adversely affect the use and enjoyment of their property.”

The Evansville Courier & Press reports that INDOT will move forward with construction despite the lawsuit.

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Indiana injury or accident, the Indiana Environmental Injury Lawyers at Woods and Woods can help.

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