It’s been nearly nine years since Bob Cummins Construction filed suit against Bradford Sanitary Authority over an unpaid bill. Since then, there have been two jury trials in McKean County Court, numerous appeals and $3.5 million in attorneys’ fees for the BSA — that, as of now, have been paid by local ratepayers. The lawsuit was filed in 2016. The dispute comes from a rehabilitation project at the wastewater treatment plant. From 2014-15, Cummins Construction was the general contractor for a portion of the rehab project. In December 2015, authority engineer Gannett Fleming certified the project to be substantially complete, with the exception of a few outstanding items. Cummins said they did the work and were owed payment; Sanitary Authority said they withheld payment because the work wasn’t done according to the contract. The local contractor, which has been in business nearly 50 years and employs local people, says this suit seems like a vendetta; they did their jobs and want to be paid. The BSA, the provider of wastewater services to more than 18,000 local residents, says the contractor didn’t follow the contract and should take responsibility for alleged defects. ISSUES The biggest alleged issue was with the sequential batch reactor (SBR) installed by Cummins — one by the second manufacturer, Ashbrook, that was named in the contract specifications — and the Ultraviolet building, where wastewater is treated by exposing it to ultraviolet light. The BSA said the system wasn’t working correctly, with a possibility of moving too much treated water — effluent — to the UV building during the “decant” phase, where water is separated from sludge. Separated water is called decant water. To date in 2024, there is no documentation that such excessive decants have taken place, according to Don Cummins, senior project manager for Cummins Construction. He said both they and Ashbrook offered a free solution to this problem in the form of a plate; it has not been taken by the BSA, which allegedly wants a check valve. It’s important to note, said Nick Cummins, project manager at Cummins, that the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been “happy with the effluent quality,” with reports on its website indicating such. In 2015, BSA withheld final payment to Cummins and denied some change orders because they believed the company had not followed the contract’s provisions. Don Cummins said there was $260,000 of the unpaid contract balance, plus about $464,000 in unpaid change orders for a total of $724,000 outstanding. There were 120 change orders on the project, most of which were made by BSA’s engineer, Gannett Fleming. “Some were upgrades after the work started, which is not uncommon, and some were needed because of the unknown circumstances that occur on most large rehabilitation projects, which almost always happens,” Cummins said. “This is not uncommon either because as you dig and demolish portions for new construction, things are uncovered that need addressed including obstructions to new work.” From the BSA’s standpoint, Cummins holds the fault here. “Cummins started this lawsuit in 2016 because it refused to accept responsibility for clear defects in the sequencing batch reactors (SBRs), which was new technology central to BSA’s ability to provide effective wastewater treatment for its approximately 6,000 customer connections,” said Steve Disney, executive director of the BSA. It didn’t perform as required, the BSA said, “Cummins, however, denied responsibility from 2016 through the second trial in 2024, even though the Commonwealth Court specifically found in 2020 after the first trial that Cummins was solely responsible for the SBR defects.” Referring to the solution offered by Cummins and Ashbrook, Disney said the jury rejected it. And, he said, it would interfere with the performance of the SBR and possibly cause the plant to be derated by the DEP. FIRST TRIAL The first trial was held in 2019 before Judge Christopher Hauser. Cummins won 12 out of 16 claims for a judgment of $488,243.24. The BSA won one out of 21 claims for $4,945. Hauser’s decision was reversed by the Commonwealth Court and remanded to McKean County Court, where a second trial was eventually scheduled. Cummins explained the Commonwealth Court ruled the construction company was responsible for the alleged effluent problem with the SBR “because we chose the second-named supplier.” The appeals court ruled that the SBR specifications were not a design spec, but a performance spec. “Therefore it is up to the contractor to supply the system that meets the needs.” In other words, Cummins said, this is a change from the traditional way things are done. With this decision, “It is up to the contractor to use his own ingenuity to make the system work properly.” However, Cummins said, they are not designers, they are builders. They didn’t design the systems, they installed what the BSA wanted. MORE LITIGATION In January 2024, before the second trial, the BSA filed suit against engineers Gannett Fleming, but didn’t act on the suit. When questioned later by Hauser about the lack of progress on the suit, BSA’s attorney John Gisleson allegedly said during a status conference that BSA had filed suit against the engineers in case they lost the suit against Cummins. A second jury trial was held in February 2024, again before Hauser. The verdict was 12 of 14 claims for $398,568.94 in favor of Cummins, and 2 of 13 claims for $636,188 in favor of BSA based on the issue with the SBR and Ultraviolet building. “The jury awarded BSA the necessary money to properly correct the defects that Cummins and its contractor Ashbrook created,” Disney said. Regarding the potential repair to the SBR, he added, “BSA also does not consider Cummins to be a responsible and trustworthy contractor based on the jury’s award and the Court’s findings that Cummins failed to comply with the parties’ contract in multiple ways. Throughout the project, Cummins misinterpreted the contract in ways that benefitted Cummins and sought extra compensation at ratepayer expense that Cummins had no right to receive. BSA therefore does not agree to Cummins performing any further work at BSA’s plant. BSA will have another contractor perform the work after Cummins pays what it owes under the verdict.” For the trial, BSA hired an expert to design a “conceptual solution” to the issue. The concept was a “pinch valve” with a price tag of $695,000, but with no design drawing and no bid from a contractor, Don Cummins explained. In 2019, BSA’s engineer designed and bid out the repair they wanted; the low bidder was for $20,000. However, the successful bidder was stopped from doing the repair — the one that would solve the problem at the base of the lawsuit, Cummins alleged. Again, the BSA said it would have another contractor perform a repair after Cummins pays what it owes under the verdict. CURRENT The latest argument in the case is over attorneys’ fees — the Sanitary Authority wants the judge to order Cummins to pay the $3.4 million in fees they’ve incurred throughout the course of the case. This was filed as a 689-page motion for post-trial relief, including exhibits. “Cummins needs to pay BSA’s fees as bound by the contract,” Disney told The Era. This was always part of the contract, the BSA argued. However, Cummins disagreed, alleging the contract would allow the authority to recover fees only if a third party were to sue, not in the case of the contractor filing suit, their motion stated. From Disney’s standpoint: “Cummins’ refusal to follow the contract and its litigation actions caused those fees. BSA did not start the lawsuit and has always wanted the dispute to be resolved. Cummins, however, has repeatedly obstructed those efforts. BSA sought to resolve the dispute years ago through motions filed with the court, but Cummins opposed those efforts and demanded money it had no right to receive while leaving BSA with a defective SBR and a project that still has not closed out due to the SBR deficiencies.” He added that PENNVEST is still holding money payable to BSA because of the SBR defects caused by Cummins. According to the motion opposing the awarding of fees, Cummins disagreed with the BSA on several points, the first of which was that the request came in Sept. 10 when the deadline for such a request to be made was March 25, as was set by Hauser. Anything not filed by the deadline is considered waived. Cummins’ attorneys also argued that the fees for the authority’s attorneys, Morgan Lewis & Bockius of Pittsburgh, were “grossly excessive” at $3.4 million — $910 an hour for a partner, $575 an hour for a senior attorney and $305 an hour for a paralegal. The total was five times the amount of Cummins’ attorney, Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott of Pittsburgh. The billing rates were also more than three times that of McKean County attorney Bob Saunders, who also assisted with the case, at $250 an hour. According to the motion, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court must consider the “reasonableness of a party’s requested attorneys’ fees” rather than the billed rate. Senior Judge John Foradora denied the Sanitary Authority’s request for fees on one basis — missing the March deadline by 5 1/2 months. Because the request for fees was not raised in a timely fashion, Foradora didn’t consider the remaining arguments. The BSA filed a notice of appeal to Foradora’s decision, which is currently underway. “If Cummins reimburses those fees to BSA, the litigation ends, at least from BSA’s perspective,” Disney said. “The contract requires Cummins to pay BSA’s fees, and BSA believes it has good grounds to recover them in the current appeal. BSA will seek those fees from Cummins if successful, which should conclude the litigation. “BSA explained its interpretation of the contract from the very beginning of the lawsuit, and that interpretation was upheld by both the Commonwealth Court and the trial court following the second trial,” Disney said. “The lawsuit unfortunately continued far longer than it should have because Cummins refused to comply with the contract and opposed the trial court interpreting the contract.” The case in chief remains on appeal as well.Analysis: Barkley is NFL's version of Ohtani
The deal, announced on Tuesday night, will see hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed militants Hezbollah suspended for 60 days, with both sides withdrawing from southern Lebanon. Brokered by the US and France, the agreement is designed to provide a permanent end to the conflict, US President Joe Biden said following the announcement. But Israeli ministers insisted it would resume strikes on Lebanon if Hezbollah breached the terms of the ceasefire, while the deal does not affect Israel’s continuing war with Hamas in Gaza. In a statement, Sir Keir Starmer described the deal as “long overdue”, saying it would “provide some measure of relief to the civilian populations of Lebanon and northern Israel, who have suffered unimaginable consequences during the last few months of devastating conflict and bloodshed”. He said: “Now, this deal must be turned into a lasting political solution in Lebanon, based on Security Council Resolution 1701, that will allow civilians to return permanently to their homes and for communities on both sides of the border to rebuild. “The UK and its allies will continue to be at the forefront of efforts to break the ongoing cycle of violence in pursuit of a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East. “We must see immediate progress towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the removal of restrictions on desperately needed humanitarian aid.” The announcement of the deal follows a day of intense Israeli air strikes in Beirut, with local authorities saying at least 24 people were killed in the bombardment while Hezbollah continued to fire rockets into northern Israel. Recommending the ceasefire to his cabinet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal would isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus more on Iran, which supports both Hamas and Hezbollah and has staged attacks on Israel in recent months. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the announcement offered “hope” and must become “a turning point that builds momentum towards a lasting peace across the Middle East”. He said: “The UK was the first G7 country to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah in September and we have worked relentlessly since with our allies and partners to apply pressure to end this conflict since. “We strongly urge all parties to use this agreement to open a pathway to a lasting peace.” While aid organisations have welcomed the ceasefire, they have also called for it to be made permanent and extended to the conflict in Gaza. Amelia Whitworth, head of policy, campaigns and youth at the children’s charity Plan International UK, welcomed news of the deal. She said: “It is essential that all parties respect this ceasefire so that vital humanitarian aid can be delivered to the children and families that desperately need it.” Ms Whitworth added: “Today’s agreement must act as a vital step towards a sustained, permanent ceasefire – both in Lebanon and across Gaza and the wider Middle East region. “The horror must stop immediately, all children deserve to enjoy their childhood free from the threat of violence.” Paras Tamang, global humanitarian director at ActionAid, echoed her comments, saying the ceasefire would provide “temporary relief” for civilians but was “not an acceptable long-term solution to the crisis”. Mr Tamang said: “Whilst air strikes may stop for a while, the fallout from these attacks will continue to be felt for years to come. “More humanitarian aid is needed to help the hundreds of thousands of people who have lost everything.” According to the UN, more than 3,700 people, including 240 children, have been killed in Lebanon since the latest round of fighting began in October 2023, while around 900,000 have been displaced.Best NFL DFS sleepers and expert value picks for Week 13 of the 2024 season for DraftKings, FanDuel, SuperDraft | Sporting News“Dear Remy”: Hollywood Career Coach on How to Ring in the New Year and the Joys of Laziness
With the Los Angeles Chargers now playoff bound following a win over the New England Patriots on Saturday afternoon, few have it better than head coach Jim Harbaugh . And his pocketbook is doing well, too. By clinching one of the AFC’s wildcard slots — Kansas City has won the AFC West already — Harbaugh has the Chargers in the tournament and triggered a big bonus, as he’s set to earn $1 million for making it to the postseason, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. That’s on top of his already hefty reported base salary of $16 million annually. So it’s a safe bet the cross-country flight from New England back to the West Coast will be a contented one for Harbaugh and Co. And his team on the field has given him plenty of reason to be content, too. Los Angeles is 10-6 with one game remaining, and has been a team reborn largely due to a rapid defensive turnaround, led by coordinator Jesse Minter , who came with Harbaugh from Michigan. That unit entered the day ranked No. 2 in the NFL in points per game and No. 17 in yards allowed. A 40-7 win on Saturday will do little to harm those figures. And while the offense hasn’t been gangbusters, quarterback Justin Herbert appears to have a newfound confidence and conviction to his play and the run game has begun to evolve and progress. It’s been a stark departure from the 5-12 mark that Los Angeles posted in 2023. And it’s hardly the first time Harbaugh has headed up one of these turnarounds. With the Chargers clinching the playoffs on Saturday, Harbaugh becomes the first head coach in the Super Bowl era to take two teams with losing records the prior year to the playoffs in his first year as head coach, according to the AP’s Josh Dubow. He took the San Francisco 49ers to the playoffs in 2011, his first year as head coach there. The Chargers finish the 2024 regular season at the Las Vegas Raiders. A win would push Los Angeles to 11-6, the best win-loss mark for the franchise since the team went 12-4 in 2018. The Chargers are also seeking a playoff win for the first time since that season. This will also be Los Angeles’ first playoff appearance since 2022. This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.
Children and their parents are being told in an Usborne book that refugees “enrich our country”. Usborne has published a book for ages seven and up called Lift the Flap: Questions and Answers About Refugees, which informs readers that “we all have roots in other countries”. Teaching material has been provided alongside the book which sets out classroom activities including having children write to MPs to express how much refugees “enrich our countries”. Further guidance seeks to educate mothers and fathers on the importance of their children learning about the “array of multicultural foods” and “population numbers” provided by refugees who also drive “growth”. The book, which has been branded “indoctrination” by critics, has been stocked by local council libraries, and free copies have been distributed to schools following its release in 2023. The children’s book was created with help from the Refugee Council, and contains 14 illustrated pages with lifting flaps providing answers to questions about issues . One page covers the “big risks” faced by those in small boats, while another page is titled “Refugees Welcome”, and shows a crowd with placards stating “our home is your home” and “bridges not borders”. The final page urges children to talk about how “we all have roots in other countries”, and how refugees “enrich our countries”. Usborne teaching resources paired with the book outline lesson objectives, including “to know that positive action is possible”, with one activity stating: “People in power can do a lot to help – but they don’t always choose to. “Governments want to be popular with their own people, so one way to encourage them to support refugees is by showing them how important refugees’ safety is to you.” It adds: “You could also write a letter to your local MP or councillor. Try to include some facts about why refugees need our help and how they can enrich our countries.” Usborne has also created “notes for grown-ups to help explain why it’s important to talk to children about refugees”. These notes urge parents to drill home to their children the point that “without migration we would not have access to the vast array of multicultural foods that we are lucky to enjoy”. Parents are assured that there are “so many” positives to the arrival of refugees, who “fill gaps in the labour market”. The material claims it is cheaper to recruit foreign doctors than train British medical staff. Low-skilled arrivals additionally “do dirty, difficult, dangerous or dull jobs that locals do not wish to do”, adding that “ageing societies with a shrinking native working-age population benefit from the arrival of younger refugees” who “support population numbers, and thus investment and growth”. Around via small boats in 2024, most of whom claim asylum. The total cost for maintaining the system of migrant hotels is now estimated at £5.4 billion a year. The notes further claim that “people who have been uprooted from one culture and exposed to another tend to be more creative” and they can “help spark new ideas and technologies”. The Arts Council-backed Books Trust has since supported a promotion which promised to distribute 500 copies to UK schools to mark an occasion called “Empathy Day”. The children’s book and the accompanying material has been criticised by Rupert Lowe, the Reform MP for Great Yarmouth, who has pushed for transparency on the costs of migration. He said: “This is disgraceful indoctrination, which is sadly widespread in schools across the country. “Parents need to be incredibly cautious about what is being shown to their children in schools - I would advise parents to take a far more proactive role in monitoring their school’s curriculum where possible. “We need to remove activist teachers, remove activist material and remove all political activism from British schools. Teach children how to think, not what to think.” Usborne has been contacted for comment.None
The Las Vegas Raiders are one of the most obvious candidates to select a quarterback with their first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Over recent months, there have been many rumors about there being mutual interest between the Raiders and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Owner Mark Davis speaking with the quarterback at a Las Vegas Aces game certainly helped fuel the rumors and so have some of the comments made by the . However, the one thing that was giving these rumors the most life was Sanders' social media activity. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Thanks for the feedback.Bill Plaschke: Fans are heard, title hopes are solidified, Teoscar Hernández is back with Dodgers
No. 7 Tennessee outscored UT Martin by 28 points in the second half in routing the visiting Skyhawks 78-35 on Friday afternoon in Knoxville. Chaz Lanier scored a game-high 18 points for the Volunteers (7-0), who expanded on a 35-20 halftime lead with a 43-15 second half. Felix Okpara had 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, helping Tennessee command the paint along with Igor Milicic, who added nine points and 13 rebounds. Zakai Zeigler nearly had a double-double with 11 points and nine assists. The Volunteers used their size to their advantage, outscoring UT Martin 36-10 in the paint and out rebounding the Skyhawks 49-24. That included 20 offensive rebounds for Tennessee, which led to 19 second-chance points. UT Martin (2-5) was cold coming out of the locker room after halftime, missing its first eight shots. Conversely, the Vols started the second half with a nine-point run to extend their lead to 24 points. The Vols never let the Skyhawks score consecutive baskets in the first half, holding UT Martin to 25 percent shooting (4 of 16) from beyond the arc and allowing a total of only three points from the starting five. For the game, guard Josue Grullon led UT Martin with 15 points. The leading scorer in the Ohio Valley Conference entering Friday at 18.2 points per game, Grullon has not started any game for head coach Jeremy Shulman. Most of the Skyhawks' points -- 28 of 35 -- came from their reserves. The starting five combined to score seven points -- six points from Matija Zuzic and a free throw for Lamine Niag. The starters went a combined 2 of 18 from the floor, while UT Martin as a team shot 22.6 percent (12 of 53) from the field. The Skyhawks made 5 of 7 free-throw attempts and made 18 turnovers. The Volunteers, who got 23 points off the bench, were 8-for-10 and had 11 turnovers. Tennessee improved to 6-0 all-time against UT Martin since 1993. --Field Level MediaThruway Authority bolstering safety efforts ahead of winter weather
Polls close in Uruguay’s election, with ruling coalition and opposition headed for photo finish MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Uruguayans on Sunday voted in the second round of the country's presidential election , with the conservative governing party and the left-leaning coalition locked in a close runoff after failing to win an outright majority Nayara Batschke, The Associated Press Nov 24, 2024 2:47 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Pedestrians pass by Uruguay's national flag and political party banners for sale on the day of the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Uruguayans on Sunday voted in the second round of the country's presidential election , with the conservative governing party and the left-leaning coalition locked in a close runoff after failing to win an outright majority in last month’s vote . The closing of polls started a countdown to the announcement of official results as independent polling firms were preparing to release so-called quick counts. Depending on how tight the vote turns out to be, electoral officials may not call the race for days — as happened in the contentious 2019 runoff that brought center-right President Luis Lacalle Pou to office and ended 15 years of rule by Uruguay’s left-leaning Broad Front. Uruguay's staid election has turned into a hard-fought race between Álvaro Delgado, the incumbent party’s candidate who won 27% in the first round of voting on Oct. 27, and Yamandú Orsi from the Broad Front, who took 44% of the vote in the first round. But other conservative parties that make up the government coalition — in particular, the Colorado Party — notched 20% of the vote collectively, enough to give Delgado an edge over his challenger. Congress ended up evenly split in the October vote. Most polls have shown a virtual tie between Delgado and Orsi, with nearly 10% of Uruguayan voters undecided even at this late stage. Many said they believed turnout would be low if voting weren't compulsory in the country. “Neither candidate convinced me and I feel that there are many in my same situation," said Vanesa Gelezoglo, 31, in the capital, Montevideo, adding she would make up her mind at “the last minute.” Analysts say the candidates' lackluster campaigns and broad consensus on key issues have generated extraordinary indecision and apathy in an election dominated by discussions about social spending and concerns over income inequality but largely free of the anti-establishment rage that has vaulted populist outsiders to power elsewhere . “The question of whether Frente Amplio (the Broad Front) raises taxes is not an existential question, unlike what we saw in the U.S. with Trump and Kamala framing each other as threats to democracy," said Nicolás Saldías, a Latin America and Caribbean senior analyst for the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit. “That doesn't exist in Uruguay.” Both candidates are also appealing to voter angst over a surge in violent crime that has shaken a nation long regarded as one of the region’s safest, with Delgado promising tough-on-crime policies and Orsi advocating a more community-oriented approach. Delgado, 55, a rural veterinarian with a long career in the National Party, campaigned on a vow to continue the legacy of current President Lacalle Pou — in some ways making the election into a referendum on his leadership. He campaigned under the slogan “re-elect a good government." While a string of corruption scandals rattled Lacalle Pou's government last year, the president — who constitutionally cannot run for a second consecutive term — now enjoys high approval ratings and a strong economy expected to grow 3.2% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Inflation has also eased in recent months, boosting his coalition. Delgado served most recently as Secretary of the Presidency for Lacalle Pou and promises to pursue his predecessor's pro-business policies. He would continue pushing for a trade deal with China that has raised hackles in Mercosur, an alliance of South American countries promoting regional commerce. "We have to give the government coalition a chance to consolidate its proposals,” said Ramiro Pérez, a street vendor voting for Delgado on Sunday. Orsi, 57, a former history teacher and two-time mayor from a working-class background, is widely seen as the political heir to iconic former President José “Pepe” Mujica , an ex-Marxist guerilla who raised Uruguay's international profile as one of the region's most socially liberal and environmentally sustainable nations during his 2010-2015 term. His Broad Front coalition oversaw the legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and the sale of marijuana in the small South American nation of 3.4 million people. “He's my candidate, not only for my sake but also for my children's,” Yeny Varone, a nurse, said of Orsi. “In the future they'll have better working conditions, health and salaries.” Mujica, now 89 and recovering from esophageal cancer , was among the first to cast his ballot after polls opened. “Uruguay is a small country, but it has earned recognition for being stable, for having a citizenry that respects institutional formalities,” he told reporters from his local polling station. “This is no small feat.” While promising to forge a “new left” in Uruguay, Orsi plans no dramatic changes. He proposes tax incentives to lure investment and social security reforms that would lower the retirement age but fall short of a radical overhaul sought by Uruguay's unions. The contentious plebiscite on whether to boost pension payouts failed to pass in October, with Uruguayans rejecting generous pensions in favor of fiscal constraint. Both candidates pledged full cooperation with each other if elected. “I want (Orsi) to know that my idea is to form a government of national unity,” Delgado told reporters after casting his vote in the capital's upscale Pocitos neighborhood. He said that if he won, he and Orsi would chat on Monday over some yerba mate, the traditional herbal drink beloved by Uruguayans. Orsi similarly pledged a smooth and respectful transition of power, describing Sunday's democratic exercise as “an incredible experience" as he voted in Canelones, the sprawling town of beaches and cattle ranches just north of Montevideo where he served as mayor for a decade. “The essence of politics is agreements,” he said. “You never end up completely satisfied.” ___ Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Villa Tunari, Bolivia, contributed to this report. Nayara Batschke, The Associated Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? 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