Bus Drivers (9/26/07)
A lot of trust is placed in the hands of school bus drivers. That's why applicants are scrutinized thoroughly (background checks, fingerprinting) to become one. The mother of a 5th grade girl at Imagine Academy of Careers Elementary School in south St. Louis, told police her daughter was taken on a 30 minute detour to the home of an Atlantic Express school bus driver, before being dropped off at her bus stop. The bus driver denies the accusation, but the girl was so frightened after she got off the bus that she didn't want to go to school the next day and never wants to ride the bus again. Police are still working to determine who is telling the truth. But it makes you wonder, who wants to be a bus driver and who would want to be a bus driver?

Buicks (9/25/07)
Early in the 2nd day of the U.A.W. strike against GM, there was a lot of concern about the impact on new, popular models of GM vehicles if the strike lasted a long time. One of those hot vehicles is the Buick Enclave. While covering the story, I had the chance to meet and interview auto dealer Dave Sinclair who has been addressing St. Louisans from behind his podium, for decades. What a delight! The next time you see a Dave Sinclair commercial on KMOV-TV and he gives his address, write it down and then stop in to meet him. You'll be glad you did.

Big Bucks Burgers (9/24/07)
Pinnacle Entertainment's new Lumiere Place is really taking shape. The hotel and casino complex is going up along I-70 between the Edward Jones Dome and Laclede's Landing. It was just announced that one of the restaurants going in will be another http://www.usmenuguide.com/burgerbar.htm Burger Bar, a popular gourmet burger restaurant located in Las Vegas and owned by renowned chef Hubert Keller. Expect to hear a lot of talk about this place when it opens. Besides standard versions of burgers, the menu also includes a $9 lamb burger and the $60 Rossini burger that's made with Kobe beef (fries are included). And if you get the wine that goes with it, the price goes up to $5000. If you decide to order it, you might as well splurge and get some desert too.

State of Missouri Added to Wrongful Death Lawsuit (9/21/07)
Who is to blame for the tragedy?

On Friday a judge added the Missouri Department of Natural Resources as a defendant in three ongoing lawsuits. The lawsuits were filed following the deaths of five children who drown in the Meramec River at Castlewood State Park in July of 2006. The children were there on an outing with the Dream Center Church of North St. Louis. Televangelist Joyce Meyer's Ministry started the church. The lawsuits name the church and Joyce Meyer Ministries as defendants.

Fast forward to the summer of 2007 and in another tragedy at the same spot, a 15 year old boy from New York drowned at the same area. Someone who was there at the time described the sand that he'd stepped in, as being like quicksand. The Metro West Fire Chief, whose department responded to the drownings both summers, told reporters that the Department of Natural Resources should do something about the park.

Now, one month later attorneys for Joyce Meyer Ministries go to court to have the DNR added to the lawsuit, placing the blame for the five children's deaths on the agency that oversees state parks. Attorney Bill Holland, who represents one of the children who drown in 2006, told me that his client was not suing the state. He said it wasn't the state's responsibility for supervising the children during their trip to Castlewood State Park.

But if the state knows people will go swimming at the park, does it have a responsibility to reduce the hazards for those who go in the water? Could the state use a line of stones, like those being placed into the middle of the Mississippi River (on a much smaller scale) to eliminate the swift current along the bank in that portion of the Meramec? Is it possible (without costing taxpayers a lot of money) to slope the riverbed at the swimming spot so that there are no sharp drop offs? Or drop a load of sand to correct the "quicksand" like conditions? And would you, the taxpayer, be willing to pick up the costs? Or does the responsibility, instead, fall to those who make the choice to swim in the river or the adults who fail to provide life jackets to children?

Deciding where to draw the line of responsibility and deciding who should pay the cost is why we hire attorneys and take our disputes before a judge. And in the end you can count on this, someone will pay the cost.