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Pensions the latest political risk for RI governor
U.S. Legal News |
2011/10/30 15:51
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In 10 months in office, Gov. Lincoln Chafee has managed to anger an impressive assortment of constituencies: business leaders and organized labor, medical marijuana advocates and critics of illegal immigration.
It's been a bumpy ride for the nation's only independent governor, who insists he's only doing what is necessary to stabilize government finances and heal the state's frail economy. But so far Chafee is winning criticism faster than compliments, a risky move for a politician without a party elected by less than half of Rhode Island's voters.
"This is a tough year — there are no surprises there," Chafee told the Associated Press during a recent interview. "This year's budget was one of the worst. ... We're facing a very difficult economy. My belief is the status quo is unacceptable here in Rhode Island. Changes have to be made."
There's no question Chafee took office during one of the most challenging times in Ocean State history. The state's jobless rate remains stubbornly high at 10 percent. The financially troubled city of Central Falls was forced to seek bankruptcy protection. A state budget deficit that once stood at $300 million led to difficult spending cuts even as the state's long-looming pension crisis further destabilized government coffers. |
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Appeals court overturns key Cape Wind clearance
Legal Career News |
2011/10/28 16:45
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A federal appeals court has rejected the Federal Aviation Administration's ruling that the Cape Wind project's turbines present "no hazard" to aviation, overturning a vital clearance for the nation's first offshore wind farm.
A decision Friday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the FAA didn't adequately determine whether the planned 130 turbines, each 440 feet tall, would pose a danger to pilots flying by visual flight rules.
The court ordered the "no hazard" determinations vacated and remanded back to the FAA.
It also ruled that if the FAA found the project posed aviation risks, the U.S. Interior Department would likely revoke or modify the lease granted Cape Wind — the first granted to a U.S. offshore wind project.
The decision signals further delays for the project, which has struggled to find financing. |
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Man pleads guilty to Picasso theft at SF gallery
Court Feed News |
2011/10/28 16:44
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A New Jersey man who walked out of a San Francisco gallery with a pencil sketch by Pablo Picasso worth $275,000 pleaded guilty to grand theft Thursday.
Workers at the Weinstein Gallery said Mark Lugo brazenly snatched the drawing, called "Tete de Femme" (Head of a Woman), from a wall of their gallery on July 5. Lugo then walked down the street and got into a cab with the sketch under his arm.
But quick police work, video surveillance cameras and an alert taxi driver led to his arrest within 24 hours.
When investigators searched Lugo's apartment in Hoboken, N.J., they uncovered a treasure trove of stolen art worth some $430,000.
Lugo, 30, pleaded guilty to grand theft in the San Francisco case. Under terms of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop other charges, including burglary. The deal calls allows for Lugo to be released on his sentencing date, Nov. 21, after getting credit for the time he has already served.
His attorney, Douglas Horngrad, said Lugo would then be extradited to New York to face similar charges in art heists there. |
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Judge denies Edwards' bid to dismiss campaign case
Headline News |
2011/10/27 16:10
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A federal judge denied on Thursday a bid by former presidential candidate John Edwards to have the criminal case against him thrown out, paving the way for a trial to begin in January.
U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Eagles said in Greensboro that the five motions to dismiss are being denied without prejudice, meaning Edwards' lawyers can use them at a later date. The former U.S. senator is charged with using campaign funds to cover up an affair he had during his unsuccessful bid for the White House and then submitting false campaign finance reports to cover his tracks. He has pleaded not guilty.
Edwards was in the courtroom and displayed no visible reaction to the decision.
Edwards and his defense team argue that the federal government's case depends on a completely novel set of legal arguments that have never been validated by a court. But Eagles said it may be that the facts of his case are unique and untested.
The 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee had an affair with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter, eventually fathering a child. Prosecutors contend that Edwards used money from donors far in excess of legal campaign limits to keep the dalliance under wraps. |
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Ill. high court suspends Blagojevich's law license
Headline News |
2011/10/27 15:09
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The Illinois Supreme Court has suspended convicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's license to practice law.
The court acted Wednesday in response to a request from the state Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
Blagojevich is awaiting sentencing on federal corruption convictions, including that he tried to personally profit from his power to appoint a U.S. senator to the seat being vacated by President Barack Obama.
The Chicago Democrat has been a lawyer since 1984, but he hasn't practiced law since joining Congress in 1997. Blagojevich was governor from 2003 to 2009, when he was impeached and removed from office.
The suspension of his law license could lead to him being disbarred. Two other former Illinois governors — Otto Kerner and Dan Walker — were disbarred following criminal convictions. |
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5 states take Asian carp case to Supreme Court
Business Law Info |
2011/10/27 12:09
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Five states asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear their plea for quicker federal action to prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from moving between the Great Lakes and Mississippi river watersheds.
Michigan Attorney Bill Schuette said he had filed a petition with the nation's highest court to review a ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, which in August refused to order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speed up a study of how to block aquatic pathways between the two water systems.
The Corps has promised to complete its study in 2015, but Michigan and four other states in the Great Lakes region — Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — say that's too slow.
Large, voracious bighead and silver carp have infested the Mississippi and tributary rivers that are connected by other waterways to Lake Michigan in the Chicago area. If they become established in the lakes, some experts say the Asian invaders could gobble enough plankton to destabilize the food web and damage the region's $7 billion fishing industry. |
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