Latest news with #Largent
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Litigation results in payments for southeast SD landowners along rail-to-trail route
Scenes from the old Napa-to-Platte rail line. (Courtesy of Friends of the Tabor to Platte Rail to Trail). Seven landowners in Bon Homme and Charles Mix counties will receive a total of nearly $128,000 from the federal government after the U.S. Court of Federal Claims found their land was taken without compensation to make way for a proposed hiking and biking trail. The ruling stems from a claim for compensation filed under the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause, which requires just compensation when private property is taken for public use, a process known as eminent domain. Attorneys from the St. Louis firm Lewis Rice represented the landowners. 'If the government takes 10 feet or 10 acres, you should be rightly compensated,' said attorney Meghan Largent. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX At issue is a 24-mile stretch of former railroad corridor between Tyndall and Ravinia in southeast South Dakota. On Aug. 18, 2023, the federal Surface Transportation Board issued a notice allowing the removal of the tracks and conversion of the corridor into a public trail. The stretch is part of a larger proposed rail-to-trail project, converting a 75-mile portion of the old Napa-to-Platte rail line to a trail from Tabor to Platte. A spokesperson with the transportation board declined to comment. Some sections of the rail-to-trail land are owned by the state. However, Largent said some sections within the 24-mile stretch are under easements, which are agreements allowing the crossing of someone else's land. She successfully argued that the purpose of the easement can't be changed without just compensation to the landowners. She said the $128,000 will be paid out of a federal judgment fund, and efforts to create the trail will continue regardless of the lawsuits. Robert Foley is with Friends of the Tabor to Platte Rail to Trail. 'No, it doesn't really doesn't impact the project,' he said. Foley said the project is moving forward. He said the group is raising its final $5,000 of funding for a $250,000 feasibility study. He said the study should be completed by late fall. Largent said her analysis shows another 120 landowners along the corridor qualify for compensation. They have until Aug. 18, 2029, to file a claim. The firm is already pursuing two more cases.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Yahoo
Hearing in fatal July 4 alleged DUI crash postponed
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A preliminary hearing was postponed more than three months on Monday in the case of a man charged with murder in an alleged drunken driving crash that killed a pedestrian on the Fourth of July. William Largent, 33, is now scheduled for a preliminary hearing — where a judge determines if there's enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial — on July 8, according to court records. He remains in custody without bail. Alleged drunken driver booked on 2 counts of murder in Bakersfield crash that killed married couple Largent was driving home the night of July 4 when he attempted to make a right turn from Oak Street onto 24th Street. His car — traveling an estimated 90 mph — ran over the center divider, hitting and killing Chad Anthony Jacques, 48, according to court filings. The car then hit three vehicles on westbound 24th Street before coming to a stop, police said. Largent agreed to a breath test and blew 0.170 and 0.166% — double the state's 0.08% blood-alcohol limit for driving, according to the filings. He has a prior DUI conviction. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
