Wal-Mart backs off the Shanks

A few days ago I did a post about Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, suing a former employee to recoup medical expenses.  The woman was injured in 2000 and left brain damaged and living in a nursing home.  Wal-Mart sued three years after she received a settlement from the party at fault.  This story has been all over the news of late.  Today I received the following from WalMartWatch:

After years of hounding Debbie Shank and her family, Wal-Mart says it will finally do the right thing.

Today, Wal-Mart agreed to allow the Shank family to keep the money they won from the trucking company responsible for Debbie’s injuries.

Finally, the Shank family can put their fight with Wal-Mart behind them and focus on taking care of Debbie.

This was all possible thanks to the tremendous support from people like you.

Jim Shank released the following statement today thanking you and the rest of Debbie’s supporters:

“I am grateful that Wal-Mart has seen their error and decided to rectify it. I just wish it hadn’t taken them so long, this never should have happened. I sincerely hope no other family ever has to go through this.

“My thanks go first and foremost to my lord and savior Jesus Christ for the strength to bear up under all this. Thanks also to the citizens of the United States – it wasn’t me who made this happen, it was the outcry of the people, and if there’s a lesson in this story it’s that ‘we the people’ still means something.”

You showed Wal-Mart that we will not sit back while the retail giant takes advantage of a working family in need.

On behalf of the Shank family and all of us at Wal-Mart Watch, thank you for your support.

Storm water, levees and flooding

As we recently saw the Meramec river flooded a number of places along its banks.  Spared this year was Valley Park — their costly new levee keep the flood water at bay.  But at what price?  I don’t man the cash spent for construction but the impact to those up river.

One such casualty is the town of Pacific.  Some will say that Pacific floods anyway.  True enough.  However when you have a certain volume of water coming down the river it must go somewhere — if a levee keeps it from naturally spreading out then the crest gets higher until the water backs up and finds a spot where it can spread — the next point up river without a levee or one that is lower.

So while levees are part of the problem so is sprawl.  Runoff from all the streets, parking lots and such make matters worse.  We are responsible for the factors that caused our recent flooding issues — by messing with the natural flow of water and with adding acres upon acres of impervious surfaces.  I say we begin to undo the mess we’ve created — remove a bulk of the impervious surfaces like parking lots and then remove the levees.

Wal-Mart gives the Shanks the shaft

You’ve probably heard the story — Wal-Mart is suing a former employee that is brain damaged and living in a nursing home. Wal-Mart has won their case on a couple of levels — the health plan that paid nearly a half million dollars of her medical expenses had a clause which allowed the company to recoup expenses if the employee gets a settlement.

Debbie Shank received a million dollars from the trucking company that caused the accident that left her incapacitated — about $477K after legal expenses. The intent of the settlement was to pay for her on-going care. Wal-Mart is limited to only the amount that remains in the trust — just under $300K. The Shank family wonders why Wal-Mart can’t just let it go — who needs the money more? CNN has the full story.

This is a good example of the big corporate chain vs. the local retailer  the local merchant that is part of the same community would not take such a step.

Wal-Mart could take this amount of money from their foundation to recoup the health plan. The Walton family could dig through their sofas for this much. But the world’s biggest retailer is hiding behind corporate policy. So besides driving manufacturers to send jobs overseas and a long list of other strong-arm tactics, this is yet another reason not to shop at Wal-Mart & Sam’s.

For more on this story, links to help contribute to her care and a petition you can sign visit walmartwatch.com Please think about the costs to society for that “low price.”  It just is not worth it.

Bill introduced in MO house related to universal design in affordable housing

From M.a.d.e.n. (Missouri Advocates with Disabilities Empowerment Network):

Rep. Rachel Storch introduced the universal design bill this week. The bill, HB 2459, is still unnamed. HB 2459 creates laws related to the design of affordable, accessible housing units. Click here to learn more about the bill.

Universal Design differs from ADA in that it tries to create spaces usable by all — eliminating steps and other obstacles. When you find yourself suddenly disabled your housing choices, especially those that are affordable, become very limited in number. My loft will require a few modifications for my return but the open design with limited doors is a good start. Having more universal choices in the affordable category could only be a good thing.

A Changed Man

Nearly dying and now going through intensive physical therapy causes one to stop and think about what is important. In the last few years here I’ve focused often on details. On one hand these details don’t seem as important too me and on the other they seem even more important. I’m alive — I should be happy right? But life is short and it is the little details that impact our quality of life. Simply breathing everyday just isn’t enough. I am going to be far more demanding of a quality environment than before. Every year in our region we spend hundreds of millions if not billions on new infrastructure and buildings — are we getting our money’s worth? Does this money add to improved public space or simply so much square footage of new retail? I see no reason to settle for anything less than high quality public spaces. Life is too short to be spent in strip centers, boring subdivisions and stuck in traffic.