It Figures

$743 Million

The latest damage estimate from last summer’s flooding at the University of Iowa – nearly triple the earlier estimate. University officials said it includes all building and content damage and the costs to relocate building complexes for theater and art. Part of the cost ($225 million) is for rebuilding two major arts complexes. Officials say the relocation is necessary because the damaged buildings were in a flood plain, and therefore cannot be covered by insurance or the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

$10,000

This could be the new threshold for bringing a case to small claims court in North Dakota. North Dakota law defines a small-claims case as one where less than $5,000 in damages is at stake. The Legislature is considering a constitutional amendment to raise the threshold.

$7.5 Million

The amount a federal jury awarded to an Iowa man who claimed his lungs were damaged by working with buttery flavoring used to make microwave popcorn. The verdict in favor of 69-year-old Ronald Kuiper came a day after the Sioux City man died of lung and heart failure.

13

The number of non-fatal injuries per 100 million miles traveled in crashes involving school buses, making them one of the safest ways to travel, according to University of Iowa researchers. Compared with all vehicles, fatalities in bus crashes were more than three times less likely, and injuries were more than five times less likely.

328,000

The original fine levied in 2005 against a South Dakota trucking firm, Action Carrier Inc., for operating without liability insurance. Now a federal judge has allowed the Sioux Falls company to keep its rigs on the road provided it carries insurance, against the wishes of U.S. Transportation officials who tried to keep the company from operating.

99%

The percentage of swimming pools, spas and whirlpools in Monroe County that Indiana health officials say don’t comply with a new federal law requiring them to be fitted with special drain covers to prevent children from drowning or sustaining gruesome injuries. The federal law that took effect Dec. 19 requires all public pools, spas and whirlpools to have anti-entrapment covers over their main drains.