Ahh, the ironing. Paying tribute to those who protected 'The Land of the Free'...

[King of Mars]

by trying to seize land to build a memorial for them. You gotta love this country.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/flight93_memorial


PHILADELPHIA – Relatives of those who died aboard United Airlines Flight 93 want the Bush Administration to seize the land needed for a memorial where the plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa., in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Families of Flight 93 sent a letter earlier this month asking President George W. Bush to empower the Secretary of the Interior to take the land in dispute from a homeowner who had been in negotiations with the National Parks Service, said Patrick White, vice president of the families' organization.

The group says ground must be broken early next year in time for a memorial to be build for the 10th anniversary of the crash in 2011.

Svonavec Inc. owns one of the last large chunks of land needed for the 2,200-acre memorial, including the area where the plane crashed Sept. 11, 2001. Svonavec's treasurer Mike Svonavec has said the park service has not done enough to negotiate a deal.

White said Svonavec has not been willing to negotiate, and called that unacceptable.

"We've certainly sought to do this within in the process, following protocol as much as we possibly can," White said Saturday. "It has gotten to the point where we fear we'll lose significant momentum.

"We have an administration that has been very supportive of this effort. We just wanted to make sure the president is aware of what the circumstances are. ... We just didn't want to get lost in the shuffle."

In October, the National Park Service said it would use an independent appraiser to determine the value of 275 acres of land needed for the memorial. The NPS also said it could use eminent domain to acquire the plot if all else fails.

Construction of a $58 million permanent memorial and national park is scheduled to begin in 2009.

White, whose cousin Louis Nacke II died on Flight 93, said the group would favor Bush giving the interior secretary or director of park services the power to take the necessary steps to acquire the land before the administration leaves office in January.

He said the families understand that the outgoing president has plenty to do in his final weeks in office. But White pledged that the group would carry its fight to the Obama Administration, if needed.

"I think the rest of the family members and I feel there is no point at which we will stop," White said. "Whatever it takes. As long as it takes. Whoever it takes. To do anything less would be doing a disservice to those that we love."

Flight 93 was en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco on Sept. 11, 2001, when it was diverted by hijackers. The official 9/11 Commission report said the hijackers crashed the plane as passengers tried to wrest control of the cockpit.

[Ray G.]

Yeah, that really grinded my gears when I read it.

The New York groups had the same attitude towards Ground Zero, for a while, demanding that nothing ever be built there again. They eventually gave up...but it looks like they might get their wish. :?

[Ashwin Pande]

Ironing?

[Joe Kalicki]

Eminent domain is the worst law in America.

(that's an exagerration)

[leviathan]

Ironing?

That's what I was wondering too. Irony and Ironing aren't even close so I'm confused...:-?

[PimpSlapStick!]

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg24/jbmathis9490/JohnIron.jpg

Yes the ironing, it is a chore

[King of Mars]

Irony and Ironing aren't even close so I'm confused...:-?You've obviously never heard a downstate New Yorker pronounce the word "irony". :)

[CougarTrace]

Eminent domain is the worst law in America.

(that's an exagerration)

without it though most school districts could never expand.

It's a sad law in most cases, but necessary sometimes.

[DaveCummings]

Yeah, that really grinded my gears when I read it.

The New York groups had the same attitude towards Ground Zero, for a while, demanding that nothing ever be built there again. They eventually gave up...but it looks like they might get their wish. :?


Oh I know. All the bullshit bickering with what to do with it kept Ground Zero a big hole for way too long. Though I despise Glenn Beck, he made a good point when he said that we should of just put Trump in charge of rebuilding. It would of been done a long time ago.

[Jason California]

Oh I know. All the bullshit bickering with what to do with it kept Ground Zero a big hole for way too long. Though I despise Glenn Beck, he made a good point when he said that we should of just put Trump in charge of rebuilding. It would of been done a long time ago.

http://www.606studios.com/bendisboard/showpost.php?p=5573624&postcount=46

[majorjoe23]

[Bart Simpson]The ironing is delicious[/Bart Simpson]

[Joe Kalicki]

without it though most school districts could never expand.

It's a sad law in most cases, but necessary sometimes.

They've used it to build Wal-Marts!

[Jason California]

They've used it to build Wal-Marts!


Private property no longer really exists. If the state wants to take it they can. It no longer needs to be for a school or some such. If they think they can get a higher tax base in there they have enough reason now to take it.

[Joe Kalicki]

Private property no longer really exists. If the state wants to take it they can. It no longer needs to be for a school or some such. If they think they can get a higher tax base in their they have enough reason now to take it.

And that is ridiculous.

[KingMob]

http://withmalice.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/taxi-ironing.jpg

[leviathan]

You've obviously never heard a downstate New Yorker pronounce the word "irony". :)

Heh. I must admit, my years living in upstate New York have left me incredibly sheltered and naive. :)

[King of Mars]

Well, it appears the landowners are, indeed, going to get fucked.


Government to condemn land for Flight 93 memorial


By DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer Dan Nephin, Associated Press


PITTSBURGH – The government will begin taking land from seven property owners so that the Flight 93 memorial can be built in time for the 10th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, the National Park Service said.

In a statement obtained by The Associated Press, the park service said it had teamed up with a group representing the victims' families to work with landowners since before 2005 to acquire the land.

"But with few exceptions, these negotiations have been unsuccessful," said the statement.

Landowners dispute that negotiations have taken place and say they are disappointed at the turn of events.

The seven property owners own about 500 acres still needed for what will ultimately be a $58 million, 2,200-acre permanent memorial and national park at the crash site near Shanksville, about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

"We always prefer to get that land from a willing seller. And sometimes you can just not come to an agreement on certain things," park service spokesman Phil Sheridan said.

"Basically, at this point, we have not been able to acquire all the land we need," he said.

Even with willing sellers, Sheridan said title questions, liens and other claims can arise that would have to be worked out and could delay the project.

"We had a group of people who took some very heroic actions. It's just fitting and right that we get this done in time for the 10th anniversary," he said.

The next step will be for the U.S. Justice Department to file a complaint in federal court. A court would have to decide the matter and would set a value on the land.

Two owners account for about 420 acres the park service plans to condemn, including Svonavec Inc. — which owns 275 acres, including the impact site where 40 passengers and crew died. About 150 acres are owned by a family that operates a scrap yard.

Most of rest of the land to be condemned are small parcels, two of which include cabins.

Tony Kordell said the park service visited him late Friday afternoon and made him an offer for his 150 acres. He declined to give the price, but said his attorney requested the appraisal used to determine the value on Monday.

He's not gotten that appraisal, he said Thursday. On Wednesday, he was told the park service would condemn the land.

The property Kordell owns includes the scrap yard, which must be relocated and he said cost to move the business also hasn't been determined. The property includes where the visitor center, parking lot and park walkways will be placed, he said.

"We've been working with (the park service) all along. We've given them rights to come on the property" to do planning, he said.

"All it's going to do is cost a huge amount of money for attorneys," he said.

Randall Musser owns about 62 acres that the park service wants to acquire.

"They apologized about the way it's come together, but what's sad is they had all these years to put this together and they haven't," he said.

Musser served on the committee that helped establish the park's boundaries and said landowners were promised in 2002 that eminent domain would not be used.

"It's absolutely a surprise. I'm shocked by it. I'm disappointed by it," said Tim Lambert, who owns nearly 164 acres that his grandfather bought in the 1930s. The park service plans to condemn two parcels totaling about five acres — land, he said, he had always intended to donate for the memorial.

"To the best of my knowledge and my lawyer, absolutely no negotiations have taken place with the park service where we've sat down and discussed this," Lambert said.

Lambert said he had mainly dealt with the Families of Flight 93 and said he's provided the group all the information it's asked for, including an appraisal.

While he knew that condemnation was a possibility, he thought it was an unlikely scenario and that the park service and family group had wanted to acquire the larger parcels before dealing with owners of smaller properties.

"I was never told that May was the drop-deadline," he said.

Patrick White, the vice president of Flight 93 Families, welcomed the park service's action and had planned to ask for it at an upcoming meeting with Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

"We appreciate the timely nature of this decision, which will keep us on the timetable for the tenth year dedication of the permanent memorial," he said in a statement.

Sheriden said condemnation is rarely used. The last time the park service used it, he said, was to acquire a tower at the Gettysburg battlefield in 2000. The tower was demolished to return the battlefield to the way it looked in 1863.

In February, government officials and representatives of the 33 passengers and seven crew members killed when the plane crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, pledged to dedicate a memorial on the site by the 10th anniversary. Officials said then that more than 80 percent of the needed land had been secured.

United Flight 93 was traveling from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco when it was diverted by hijackers with the likely goal of crashing it into the White House or Capitol. The official 9/11 Commission report said the hijackers crashed the plane as passengers tried to wrest control of the cockpit.


Nice.

[Joe Kalicki]

That's the American way all right. If you can't get it legally just take it.

Manifest destiny!

[Jason California]

Craptastic.

[Ray G.]

It's for the greater good, fellas. Surely that's the foundation this country was built on - majority will above individual rights. Right? Right?

[Jason California]

It's for the greater good, fellas. Surely that's the foundation this country was built on - majority will above individual rights. Right? Right?


righhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht.

[thatguyfromsyracuse]

I understand wanting a memorial there, but why does it have to be so fucking big? They can't make a smaller one so they don't have to fuck a bunch of people over?

[King of Mars]

I understand wanting a memorial there, but why does it have to be so fucking big? They can't make a smaller one so they don't have to fuck a bunch of people over?Or they could forget their arbitrary, self-imposed deadline and actually take the time to hammer out a deal with these people. Christ, this isn't about dealing with people who are unwilling to sell. The landowners are willing to sell, and they're condemning the land because they don't want to take the time to negotiate. It's disgusting. What a tribute to our fallen heroes.