Amy Eubanks Perkins

Ball State spring graduates and dean's list

♦From Albion: Terry Bowser and Samantha Hewitt.

♦From Angola: Kelsey Darmochwal, Alison French, Storey Gardner, Kristen Heator, Dominic Hosack, Shane Magwire and Kayla Tadsen.

♦From Auburn: Amie Hibbeln and Lynne Schlosser.

♦From Avilla: Aaron Black.

♦From Berne: Jeanette Lechlitner, Jordan Sharp and Whitney Sprunger.

♦From Bluffton: Jennifer Arnold, Clint Cochran, Brianne Diehl, Kourtney Fiechter, Elizabeth Gordon, Amy Higgins, Nicholas Moser, Lauren Petersen, Erin Popplewell and Kendra Tarr.

♦From Butler: Tabitha Pittman.

♦From Churubusco: Tiane Bianski and Todd Boyle.

♦From Columbia City: Shanon Lichlyter and Brian Wesson

♦From Corunna: Alex Knox.

♦From Cromwell: Neil Lortie.

♦From Decatur: Demar Amacker, Tricia Beer, Barrett Brown, Allison Gledhill and Trenton Schinnerer.

♦From Fort Wayne: Brittany Ade, Jonathan Arnold, Steven Arvola, Andrew Augenstein, Nathaniel Barnes, Caroline Blue, Daniel Boedeker, Luke Boggess, Allison Bouillon, Rachel Brauner, Cody Brobst, Dana Burgan, Lori Christner, Maxim Clare, Lauren Cleaver, Brittany Clute, Melissa Critell, Christopher Darby, Melissa Darby, April Deitche, Elizabeth Dobrow, Jason Doster, Rai Duffy, Kelsie Eikost, Whitney Ellis, Jack Farnbauch, Megan Fick, Shelby Flynn, Anthony Glaub, Sarah Goble, Megan Hall, Kara Hinde, Abigail Hines, Leslie Predina Hoagland, Michael Hoffman, Kelly Johnson, Lauren Johnson, Alexander Kartman, Jacob Killion, Dillon Kimmel, Eric Kleber, Megan Kleinschmidt, Michal Knappenberger, Jessika Knight, Andrea Kruse, Cynthia Lambertson, Kelsey Lamphier, Patrick Laughlin, Jessica Mahlan, Kassondra Musick, Christopher O'Connell, Carrie Olinger, Casey Ostermeyer, Taryn Oyer, Kristin Parks, Cortnie Peaks, Shelly Perrine, Madisen Ray, James Richman, Stacy Rorick, Karen Ruling, Catherine Rutan, Stephanie Rutan, Brittany Sanders, Aaron Skelly, Ashley Sollberger, Tyler Straessle, Krista Swaidner, Craig Templar, Christen Thatcher, Michael Thomas, Samantha Tyner, Aaron Voors, Kayla Ward, Margaret Warner, Elaina Wiegmann, Heather Williams and Megan Zimmerman.

state high court overturns $8m award to san antonio family over ...

AUSTIN - Bexar County jurors believed an engineer's naked conclusions and a doctor's conclusory opinions in linking a child's leukemia to a San Antonio landfill, the Texas Supreme Court ruled on May 1.

Six Justices reversed a verdict that would have awarded at least $8 million to Sarah Pollock and her parents, Charles and Tracy Pollock.

Jurors found that the city of San Antonio negligently allowed benzene to migrate with methane from a landfill to the Pollock home, damaging Sarah before birth.

The Justices found otherwise.

"We hold that there is no evidence the city knew it actions were substantially certain to cause the asserted injuries or that the personal injuries were caused by exposure to benzene," Justice Nathan Hecht wrote.

The Justices discarded evidence from landfill engineer Dan Kraft and Sarah's oncologist, Mahendar Patel, though the city hadn't objected to the evidence.

"Bare, baseless opinions will not support a judgment even if there is no objection to their admission in evidence," Hecht wrote.

He wrote that if the home contained as much methane and benzene as Kraft reported, the methane would have suffocated the family or exploded.

Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson and Justices Dale Wainwright, Phil Johnson and Don Willett joined Hecht.

Justice Scott Brister joined the decision but did not join the criticism of Patel.

Justices David Medina and Harriet O'Neill dissented, arguing that the city had to object or point out analytical gaps at trial to preserve error.

"Without an objection, a trial court simply cannot be expected to fulfill its role as gatekeeper," Medina wrote.

Justice Paul Green did not participate in the decision.

The city started disposing of waste at the site, a former rock quarry, in 1967

In five years the city closed the landfill and covered it with dirt.
Neighbors complained of odors, and in 1980 the city found pockets of methane.

The city drilled wells on the perimeter and installed a compressor to lower pressure and draw gas to the wells.

In 1982 consultants found methane migrating through cracks in the wall around the landfill and the base below.

The city carried out improvements in 1985, but the landfill subsided and portions of the collection system collapsed.

In 1991, the Pollocks bought a home near the landfill for $77,000.

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