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| Eminent Domain Issues: Comment to the EIS: Stop the Stealth. Provide State funded humanistic mitigation rather than police action against Hoosier families. A call for openness and understanding. From: COUNT US! director John Smith Date: December 12, 2003 In July of 2002 after hours of searching volumes of mislabeled and illogically assembled data on the official I-69 website, I finally found "our map". I had only looked, because I had already been warned of what I would find if I took the effort. My years of web building expertise were necessary to find this data by trial and error on that version of the Evansville to Indianapolis I-69 study website. Other professional web experts reported the same. When I saw our home on a map for I-69, I became a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard). Two days later, I wrote a speech that announced the organization of COUNT US! and a Car Tour of The New Terrain Routes of I-69. My speech, "What will be the Toll of I-69", presented as comments to the DEIS, requested a CDC (Center for Disease Control) type study of the likely stress related effects of I-69 on those of us asked to give of our homes, neighbors and surroundings. Follows is an extreme example of the stress that perhaps proper government planning and trained humanistic intervention could avoid. While we do not consider the Bixbys a typical family, we understand the underlying emotions that triggered this horrendous response. A project that is legal but uncaring is not the only way. We can do better! In this light, we forward this story of a family that shot it out with police over a highway project on their land. ________________________ http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1555225 (Abbeville County) Dec. 9, 2003 - Two law enforcement officers are dead after a standoff that lasted almost 14 hours Monday night in Abbeville County. Three people are in custody , and one of them is in critical condition after being shot in what State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart called "a horrendous gunfight" that ended the standoff. Investigators believe Arthur Bixby's family planned the assault against the officers at a home on Union Church Road off Highway 72 because they were angry with the state and federal government about a road widening project. Investigators believe Bixby and his son, Steven Bixby, are responsible for shooting Abbeville County Sheriff's Deputy Danny Wilson and Constable Donnie M. Ouzts. Abbeville County Sheriff Charles Goodwin says Arthur Bixby and Steven Bixby are charged with two counts of murder and one county of conspiracy. Arthur Bixby's wife, Rita, has been charged with accessory before the fact of murder, conspiracy and failure to report a crime. Steven Bixby in court Tuesday in Greenwood for an arraignment said he was acting in self defense. Bixby told reporters in the courtroom that he loves what America stands for, but not the people in it. He says he shot deputy Danny Wilson because the officer forced his way into his home. Authorities say Wilson was only visiting the home because transportation workers complained the Bixbys threatened them last week when they began work on widening the road in front of the Bixby home. Steven Bixby's mother, Rita, also was arraigned on a charge of accessory before the fact of murder. Rita Bixby told the judge she was not guilty and hung her head when he told her she could face life in prison if convicted. Arthur Bixby is in critical condition at Greenville Memorial Hospital. Officers from the Abbeville Police Department, the Abbeville County Sheriff’s Office, the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office, the State Law Enforcement Division and the South Carolina Highway Patrol converged on the house for a standoff. Officers stormed the home around 9:00pm and about half a dozen shots were heard with several bursts of gunfire. Tear gas sent several dozen officers scrambling back hundreds of yards. Abbeville County Sheriff Charles Goodwin says Steven Bixby surrendered, but Arthur Bixby did not, "We tried to negotiate with him." The standoff ended Monday night around 11:00 with another gunfight. Sheriff Goodwin says it was war, "They were firing at our people at the end and what not, so we had to fire back." Goodwin says Arthur Bixby was shot in the standoff and taken into custody. As officers tried to storm the home, Chief Stewart says they were fired on with the most powerful weapons he had ever seen in his more than 30 years in law enforcement. None of the officers was injured during the assaults. During the standoff, Arthur Bixby's wife went to an Abbeville apartment with another son and threatened to open fire on bystanders if either man was harmed. No bystanders were injured. She was also later arrested. Updated
4:08pm by Chris Rees
with AP **************** http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1558490&nav=0RaMJae1 Steven Bixby, 36, who formerly lived in Haverhill, New Hampshire, and his father, Arthur Bixby, are charged with two counts of murder and one county of conspiracy. Investigators believe the family was angry with the state and federal government about a Highway 72 road widening project. Steven Bixby plead not guilty in an arraignment Tuesday. Constable Donnie M. Ouzts and Abbeville County Sheriff's Deputy were shot and killed during the course of a nearly 14-hour standoff Monday night at Arthur Bixby's Union Church Road home off Highway 72 in Abbeville County. Steven Bixby is wanted in New Hampshire on probation violations stemming from two traffic convictions. Grafton County, New Hampshire, Sheriff's Captain Paul Leavitt says Bixby was convicted in 1992 of driving with a revoked license and drunken driving. Two years later an arrest warrant was issued after Bixby did not contact the state to open a probation case and for not paying his fine. The court renewed the warrant in October, based on the probation violations. Steven Bixby mentioned New Hampshire's "Live Free or Die" motto as justification for the stand-off earlier this week. He told reporters he'd rather die if he can't be free from police intrusion. Bixby says he was defending his parents' home. Bixby told reporters in the courtroom that he is a true American, "I love this country. I just can't stand the bastards in it." He says he shot Deputy Danny Wilson because the officer forced his way into his home, "Why did I do it? We didn't do it. They started it, and, if we can't be any freer than that in this country, I would just as soon die. ... A sheriff kicking the door in just cause he had it slammed in his face? He didn't have a warrant." Bixby continued his defiance over the episode even when questioned about the high price, "Never a regret that my dad had to get shot. I don't know how he's doing. Like I said, he's 74-years-old. We have a right to defend our property." Arthur Bixby was in critical condition Tuesday. Authorities say Wilson was only visiting the home because transportation workers complained the Bixbys threatened them last week when they began work on widening the road in front of the Bixby home. The state says it purchased the right of way to the Bixby's land from the previous owner more than 40 years ago. Steven's mother and Arthur's wife, Rita Bixby, was also arraigned Tuesday on a charge of accessory before the fact of murder, conspiracy and failure to report a crime. Rita Bixby told the judge she was not guilty and hung her head when he told her she could face life in prison if convicted. Stewart says officers found anti-American literature, suicide notes and other items inside the house and the apartment. posted
10:32am by Chris Rees with AP ******************* http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1556983&nav=0RaMJae1 (Abbeville County) Dec. 9, 2003 - "We lost two fine officers in this tragedy." One of Abbeville County Sheriff Charles Goodwin's deputies was killed Monday, along with a state magistrate's officer, after a 13-hour standoff at a Union Church Road home off Highway 72 in Abbeville County. Investigators believe the family of Arthur Bixby family were angry with the state and federal government about a road widening project. Sheriff Goodwin says it appears Bixby and his family had planned for a fight, "We feel that it was planned. ... It was a dispute over the right of way over some land as ... Highway 72 is being widened in Abbeville, and there was a dispute over the land issues." Sheriff Goodwin says Arthur Bixby and his son, Steven Bixby, are charged with two counts of murder and one county of conspiracy. In court for an arraignment Tuesday, Steven Bixby said he was acting in self defense. Bixby told reporters in the courtroom that he is a true American, "I love this country. I just can't stand the bastards in it." He says he shot Deputy Danny Wilson because the officer forced his way into his home, "Why did I do it? We didn't do it. They started it and if we can't be any freer than that in this country I would just as soon die...A sheriff kicking the door in just cause he had it slammed in his face? He didn't have a warrant." Bixby continued his defiance over the episode even when questioned about the high price, "Never a regret that my dad had to get shot. I don't know how he's doing. Like I said, he's 74-years-old. We have a right to defend our property." Authorities say Wilson was
only visiting the home because transportation workers complained the
Bixbys threatened them last week when they began work on widening the
road in front of the Bixby home. The state says it purchased the right
of way to the Bixby's land from the previous owner more than 40 years
ago. His mother, Rita, also was arraigned on a charge of accessory before the fact of murder, conspiracy and failure to report a crime. Rita Bixby told the judge she was not guilty and hung her head when he told her she could face life in prison if convicted. Officers say the incident began around 9:00am when Deputy Wilson came to Arthur Bixby's home. Abbeville Sheriff Charles Goodwin says Wilson went to the small white house along state Highway 72, just west of downtown Abbeville, but didn't return to his office. Constable Donnie M. Ouzts, 63, and another officer then went to the house and almost immediately put out an officer-down call. Ouzts was reportedly then shot. The other officer escaped without injury. The Highway Patrol retrieved the fatally wounded Ouzts some time later. The Associated Press reports Ouzts was shot with a high powered rifle outside the Bixby home. Ouzts' son, Chris Ouzts, says his father was a family man and always visited his wife each morning at her work. They were married for 40 years. Officers stormed the home around 9:00pm and Steven Bixby surrendered. Police, who at one point thought Wilson was being held hostage, found his body during the raid. Wilson's girlfriend Verteema Chiles held hope until the end, "He has an outgoing personality. He smiles constantly. He's always smiling. You never see him without smiling." Goodwin says the men who were killed would have wanted the law upheld, "Danny and Donnie would encourage us to keep our heads up and our hands to plow to do the best we can to enforce the laws of the State of South Carolina" Arthur Bixby was taken into custody after he was shot in a gunfight around 11:00pm. During the standoff, Arthur Bixby's wife went to an Abbeville apartment with another son and threatened to open fire on bystanders if either man was harmed. No bystanders were injured. She was also later arrested. Stewart says officers found anti-American literature, suicide notes and other items inside the house and the apartment. Neighbor Gene Land says Steven Bixby was angry because the state planned to take some of his land to widen the highway. Land lives about a half-mile away and says Bixby had been living in the house with his mother and father for at least 10 years. Land says some days Bixby was a good guy, some days he was moody. One unnamed neighbor says he doesn't understand the anger, "I hate to see something like that happen, especially over what is supposed to be just land. Just a little bit of land the state was going to take for the road move." Updated 6:16pm by Chris Rees with AP ********************** Few would deny NAFTA's I-69 on 3-C, if built, will damage the property values and disrupt the lives of thousands of Hoosiers along its route. Some can't sell and others are just now buying and building their homes unaware. Developers are sharking the valuable proposed exits. COUNT US! has recently requested that the Monroe County Indiana's Metropolitan Planning Organization provide unbiased notifications and meaningful maps with clearly marked "potential road closings" to all property owners within 2500 feet of proposed routing of I-69. We have also requested that all realtors be formally provided this information. Our request was voted down as the MPO voted to add the I-69 project to the region's long term plan, in the name of "government planning". We believe stealth and an under informed, misguided public are important tools used by public officials working toward eminent domain acquisition. Public access to INDOT study material is routinely denied and when granted, is blacked out as if a national security issue. Such short cuts damage the public trust of government. With the proposed $3 to $4 billion (pdf) in Indiana transportation tax dollars for a state wide I-69 already flowing out, can INDOT afford a negotiation/ intervention team trained in psychology? Homeowners deserve some help accepting the unacceptable. If the project is sound, can it stand up to true advanced notification? Can every effected home within 2500 feet of 3C have a GIS generated map with accurate likelihood of access closings and restrictions? It is easier to accept loss in a fair debate rather than feeling tricked and without the needed power and influence. |
© COUNT US! 2002 -'03,'04 |
