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Ala. tried to close home where twisters killed 7
Court Feed News |
2011/05/27 16:47
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The government sued last fall to close an assisted living facility where nine elderly, disabled people lived in two double-wide mobile homes parked in a valley miles from the nearest town. Yet the facility was still open April 27, when a tornado smacked the mobile homes and killed four residents along with the owner, his daughter-in-law and 7-year-old granddaughter.
The state filed suit because Shoal Creek Valley Assisted Living didn't have a license — the fact that it was illegally operating in mobile homes wasn't even mentioned in the complaint. But months passed, winter turned to spring, and the place remained open. Then came the day tornadoes killed more than 200 people across Alabama.
One of those tornadoes, an EF-4 with winds as strong as 180 mph, wiped out the homes in a direct hit, leaving only twisted metal, splintered wood and seven bodies scattered across a horse pasture. That nondescript plot of land about 45 miles northeast of Birmingham was the site of the South's largest cluster of deaths on that epic day of misery.
While other cities and counties suffered more total fatalities in the twisters last month, state emergency management officials across the Southeast said they know of no other single location where more people died in the April outbreak. However, the destruction was so total in some places that it's impossible to determine exactly where some people died, and other victims remain hospitalized.
No one will ever know if the seven people who died in the assisted living center would have survived in a more substantial structure, but 71 patients escaped without injury when another tornado struck the brick-and-masonry La Rocca Nursing Home in Tuscaloosa about 90 minutes before Shoal Creek Valley's trailers were demolished. |
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Deliberations Tuesday in co-op lawyer trial
Court Feed News |
2011/05/27 16:47
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Deliberations will resume Tuesday in the felony theft trial of an attorney accused of stealing from a Central Texas electric cooperative.
Jurors in Kendall County failed to reach a verdict Thursday in the trial of Walter Demond, who did work for the Pedernales Electric Cooperative. The trial is in recess for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The former partner at Clark, Thomas & Winters is charged with theft, money laundering and misapplication of fiduciary property. The Austin American-Statesman reports the case involves $700,000 in Pedernales funds, alleged inflated legal bills and money reaching relatives of co-op executives.
Former co-op general manager Bennie Fuelberg was sentenced to 300 days in jail and ordered to repay $126,000 after being convicted of theft of co-op funds, money laundering and misappropriation of fiduciary property. |
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CAS postpones appeals hearing in Contador case
Court Feed News |
2011/05/26 15:46
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The Court of Arbitration for Sport postponed its hearing in Alberto Contador's doping case on Thursday, meaning the cyclist could compete in the Tour de France before the court issues a ruling. The CAS postponed the June 6-8 hearing, and the case could drag on beyond the start of this year's Tour. CAS said it agreed to put off the hearing to give "all parties concerned reasonable time to prepare for such hearing and to guarantee the participation in person of witnesses and experts." CAS said new hearing dates will be set as soon as possible. "We are not ready yet with replacement dates," the court said in a statement. CAS did not specify who sought the postponement. The court is scheduled to hear appeals filed by the International Cycling Union and World Anti-Doping Agency. They are challenging the Spanish cycling federation's decision to clear the three-time Tour de France champion after he blamed his positive test for clenbuterol at last year's race on eating contaminated beef. CAS had previously said it aimed to issue a verdict by the end of June, which would allow Contador to defend his Tour title if exonerated. The Tour runs from July 2-24. |
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Documents: Former cop to plead guilty to ID theft
Court Feed News |
2011/05/25 15:39
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A former Anchorage police officer accused of being an illegal immigrant living under a stolen identity plans to plead guilty to federal charges, according to court documents. Mexico-born Rafael Mora-Lopez, who lived for more than two decades in Alaska as Rafael Espinoza, said in court papers he will plead guilty to charges of passport fraud and false claim of U.S. citizenship. The documents filed Thursday say the real Rafael Espinoza is a legal U.S. citizen. Authorities say he also holds citizenship in another unspecified country. Mora-Lopez, 47, worked as a well-regarded police officer for six years until his arrest in April. He initially pleaded not guilty to passport fraud and has been out on bail under home confinement and electronic monitoring. He has declined to comment. His attorney, Allen Dayan, did not immediately respond Monday to a telephone call seeking comment. The court papers say Mora-Lopez's wife, Margarita Cynthia Espinoza, had been a neighbor of the real Espinoza in Guadalajara, Mexico, in the 1980s. But it's not clear how the identity was obtained, Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Russo said. Mora-Lopez used Espinoza's name, Social Security number and date of birth to apply for an Alaska driver's license in June 1989, presenting a birth certificate and Social Security card as evidence of his identity, the court papers say. |
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Lawsuit Alleges Staples Center Is Unsafe
Court Feed News |
2011/05/25 11:38
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A lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of the family of Lucas Tang, a 2-year-old who plunged to his death from a skybox after a Lakers game in November. The suit alleges there are unsafe conditions at Staples Center that must be fixed.
The suit claims that Anschutz Entertainment Group and the L.A. Arena Company, which operates the arena, have not warned fans about the luxury boxes’ dangerous design. The filing seeks an injunction that would require taller barriers in front of the boxes. Michael Roth, the vice president for communications for A.E.G., declined to comment because he had not seen the lawsuit. |
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Texas lawyer wants extra pollution controls nixed
Court Feed News |
2011/05/23 15:37
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A lawyer representing the energy industry has filed a petition with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality seeking a relaxation of rules governing air-borne pollution that he says compel Texas businesses to pick up the tab for foreign polluters.
Attorney Jed Anderson said states should not be forced to make deeper cuts in smog-forming emissions to meet federal limits because of wind-borne pollution from places such as Mexico.
"It's important to push for cleaner air, but we need to do it in a way that is just and fair," said Anderson, of Houston.
He filed the petition last week, the Houston Chronicle reported Monday.
TCEQ has 60 days to respond to the petition. If the agency agrees with Anderson, it could ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revise the rules.
Federal law gives states the primary responsibility for assuring that the air is safe to breathe. The law allows an exception if foreign pollution is the only reason that an area does not comply with smog limits, but that is difficult to prove. |
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