Judge Dismisses Part of Birds Point Lawsuit

An attorney for more than 140 southeast Missouri farmers who are suing the federal government says he's not devastated by a ruling that dismissed a large chunk of the lawsuit.
    
Judge Nancy Firestone of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington on Friday dropped two counts of the lawsuit involving a "takings claim" related to the intentional breaching a year ago of the Birds Point Levee.
    
Firestone wrote that the May 2, 2011, breach of the levee was only the second time in nearly 75 years the 130,000-acre floodway had been activated, so a takings claim could not be proved.
    
Cape Girardeau attorney J. Michael Ponder says his clients have a chance to get just as much money from another part of the lawsuit claiming breach of contact.