Declarations

What’s the Objective, Now?

“Our objective is to inform the public and the last thing we want to do is misinform.”

—Ed Link, the director of the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, referring to a mix-up in flood-risk assessments for parts of New Orleans by the Corps. In June, the Corps said work on levees and pumps since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina had reduced the risk of flooding to Lakeview and nearby neighborhoods. The improvements reduced by 5.5 feet the amount of flooding Lakeview would see in a storm of the size expected just once every 100 years, the agency said. Then, in mid-November Link said the previous estimates were wrong, and the flood risk had been reduced just 6 inches. A few days later, however, residents were told that the original flood estimates were in fact correct. Link said it turned out that the problem was in the technical report, which listed some elevations incorrectly. AP.

A Struggle to Recruit

“It gets tough to meet the requirements. … What’s happening is we’re getting a decline. It’s hard to keep jobs and be a volunteer firefighter.”

—Jim Sierzchula, fire chief of Grover Township Protection District in Arkansas for about 19 years, says some volunteer fire departments in north Arkansas are struggling to recruit new firefighters because of increased training requirements and aging populations. Sierzchula said his department has 19 firefighters, down about six in the past five years. Most volunteer firefighters have full-time jobs during the day, making it difficult to complete the required 24 hours of training. Mike Scrima of the Oakland-Promise Land Fire Department said the average age of his 26 firefighters is 64 years old. AP.

Not Ratting Anybody Out

“Nobody is on a radar screen. We’re not trying to rat anybody out. … I want to promote business in Oklahoma.”

—Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields warned the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission recently the state’s four racetracks face a potential problem of horse trainers who do not carry workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. Fields said that if a person who works on the backside of a track is injured, and the trainer for whom they work doesn’t have workers’ comp insurance or doesn’t claim them as an employee, the injured person could theoretically look to racetracks to pay their medical costs. Constantin Rieger, the racing commission’s executive director, said the workers’ comp issue—which has been the subject of much debate within the racing industry in recent years—is one the commission planned to “aggressively” address in the coming months as it grants licenses for 2008. He said one thing that could be done is to more closely monitor license applications made by trainers to ensure they have the proper insurance. AP.