Through a series of detailed questions about specific points along the route and how the ConocoPhillips megaloads will negotiate them, attorneys for the opponents appear to be suggesting that ITD has underestimated how long the loads will hold up traffic at each of those points.…
Some stretches of U.S. Highway 12, shown in slides on a big screen at this morning's megaloads hearing, have a sheer rock wall on one side, and a guard rail on the other above the river, with just 31 feet between the two, along sharp…
The ConcoPhillips' megaload transports are 29 feet wide, ITD District 2 maintenance engineer Doral Hoff said just now under questioning from attorney Natalie Havlina. Yet the road, U.S. Highway 12, is just 24 feet wide - two 12-foot lanes. So that means the transport will…
Day 2 of the contested-case hearing on ConocoPhillips' proposed megaloads on U.S. Highway 12 in north-central Idaho has resumed this morning, with attorney Natalie Havlina continuing to question ITD District 2 maintenance engineer Doral Hoff. Asked how long the entire convoy, including the giant truck,…
Here's a link to our full story at spokesman.com on today's 1st District Court decision tossing out Rep. Phil Hart's state income tax appeal. Hart, a tax protester who owes more than $53,000 in back state income taxes, penalties and interest - and hundreds of…
Rather than run another hour into the evening, hearing officer Merlyn Clark announced just now, "We're going to recess for the evening at this time - we're going to resume this hearing at 8 a.m. tomorrow."
It's 5 p.m. in Boise, but rather than break for the day, hearing officer Merlyn Clark is considering allowing the hearing to continue so questioning of current witness Doral Hoff could be completed today and he could return to Lewiston. However, that's estimated to take…
If a megaload were to go into the river on Highway 12, it would be difficult and complicated to bring in a large enough crane to lift it out of the river, ITD maintenance engineer Doral Hoff acknowledged under cross-examination. Some spots along the river…
Opponents of the Highway 12 megaloads have called their next witness: ITD District 2 maintenance engineer Doral Hoff. The questioning is focusing on the role Hoff played in approving the permits for ConocoPhillips, and on recent changes to the route to ease the passage of…
U.S. Highway 12 where it runs through the Lochsa and Clearwater river canyons is a designated scenic byway on which highway management is coordinated with the U.S. Forest Service, ITD district engineer James Carpenter acknowledged under questioning from attorney Natalie Havlina. "There are some changes…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Former Idaho gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell has been charged with poaching an elk in eastern Idaho. Bonneville County Prosecutor Bruce Pickett says the Idaho Falls man was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor possession…
The intervenors have now called their next witness, James Carpenter, ITD's district engineer in Lewiston. Carpenter told attorney Natalie Havlina that when he attended a meeting in Kooskia about ExxonMobil's proposed megaloads, he was asked about traffic delays. "My response was that I was unaware…
ITD public involvement coordinator Adam Rush, under questioning from attorney Natalie Havlina, confirmed that ITD received a petition over the summer opposing the megaloads with signatures from about 3,000 people, opposing the granting of permits to ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips or any other corporation "to transport massively…
After a short break, the megaloads contested-case has resumed and it's time for the intervenors' case-in-chief. The opponents have called their first witness: Adam Rush, the public involvement coordinator for ITD in its office of communications.
As attorney Laird Lucas continued cross-examining ITD motor vehicles administrator Alan Frew, he noted that Frew, in his memorandum of decision, described public comments the department received as "subjective and hypothetical concerns," and asked whether he'd reviewed the chances of an accident. Frew said there…
Tax-protesting state Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, today lost his attempt in 1st District Court to appeal a state Tax Commission order that he pay $53,000 in back state income taxes, penalties and interest. In a sharply worded decision, District Judge John Mitchell granted the state's…
Here's why the permits for the ConocoPhillips megaloads call for barricading turnouts along U.S. Highway 12 for 24 hours before loads arrive: "It's my understanding that we had received information from ISP and from other sources outside the department that there would be protests, and…
Attorney Laird Lucas questioned how ITD motor vehicles chief Alan Frew could have had wrong information in his memorandum of decision about the speeds at which the Conoco megaloads will travel - and say today essentially that, contrary to what the memorandum says (maximum speed…
Both ITD officials who've been called as witnesses at the ConocoPhillips contested-case hearing on megaloads today acknowledged under cross-examination that they met with Conoco's attorneys to prepare for today's hearing.
There's been lots of sparring over how an ITD regulation says over-legal loads shouldn't block traffic for more than 10 minutes, but ITD used a 15-minute delay standard in issuing the ConocoPhillips megaloads permits. Alan Frew, ITD's motor vehicle administrator, said his interpretation is that…
Asked why ConocoPhillips would ship its four megaloads of oil refinery equipment to the Port of Lewiston without permits in hand to truck them over Highway 12 to Montana, ITD motor vehicles administrator Alan Frew said, "There was no guarantee. There were probably some informal…
Attorney Laird Lucas' cross-examination of ITD motor vehicles administrator started off with Lucas assuring Frew that he appreciates ITD and the job it does, and Lucas asked Frew if he'd ever seen a proposal like this one or the level of public concern that has…
The ConocoPhillips megaloads hearing has gone on a break for lunch; it'll be back in one hour at 1 p.m. Boise time, at which time cross-examination of the second witness of the day, Idaho DMV chief Alan Frew, will begin. (Note: The time stamps on…
Alan Frew, ITD motor vehicles chief, said, "In my experience, there is nothing 100 percent safe on the highway. We checked and rechecked to make sure we were reasonably sure that these loads could move safely." Asked if he received public comments about the planned…
"Safety comes into pretty much everything that we do," Idaho DMV chief Alan Frew said at the megaloads hearing this morning. "There's a very detailed traffic control plan." He said the trucking firm involved in the ConocoPhillips plan has a stellar reputation. "Emmert International is…
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