An attorney charged with stealing $99,000 from two elderly couples he represented has met a judge's deadline to appear in court for trial.

Fifty-three-year-old Mark Morrison didn't appear for trial Monday after his attorney said he couldn't arrange for an ambulance to bring the bedridden counselor to the Fayette County Courthouse.

But the Herald-Standard newspaper in Uniontown is reporting that County Judge Steve Leskinen believes that Monday's delay and some related motions may be a last-ditch attempt to put off the trial that has been pending since 2006.

Leskinen has found Morrison competent to stand trial even though the attorney showed up on a gurney and claimed to be unable to speak during a competency hearing in November.

The judge's staff says Morrison arrived in court Tuesday morning.

The Supreme Court will join Congress and the president next year in cutting costs to reduce the federal deficit, Chief Justice John Roberts said Friday in his year-end report.

Roberts asked the court's staff to cut unnecessary expenses and improve operations to save money.

"As a result of those efforts, and notwithstanding increases in operating costs owing to inflation, the court expects to voluntarily reduce its fiscal year 2012 appropriations request to less than its fiscal year 2011 request. Not many other federal government entities can say that," Roberts said.

The federal judiciary is not a large part of federal spending — "less than two-tenths of 1 percent of the federal budget for one of the three constitutional branches of government," Roberts said.

"But the courts are committed to working closely with the president and Congress to shoulder our share of the burdens of reducing the federal deficit," the chief justice said. "We will strive to reduce costs where possible, but we ask in return that our coordinate branches of government continue to provide the financial resources that the courts must have to carry out their vital mission."

The other federal courts are also striving to save money, Roberts said. "Those initiatives include focused efforts to reduce judicial costs through more efficient use of office space, information technology and support personnel," he said.

The judiciary will reduce by 60 percent its request for new court staff in the next budget year, Roberts said.

Roberts also called on Republicans and Democrats to find a long-term solution to selecting federal judges, blaming both sides for the political blockage of judicial nominations in the Senate.

The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a decision to levy corporate income taxes against fried chicken giant KFC.

At question is whether the state can impose income tax on revenue received by a company that doesn't have a presence in Iowa. KFC doesn't own any restaurants or have employees in Iowa. All KFC's in the state are owned by independent franchisers.

The Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance assessed KFC more than $248,000 for unpaid corporate income taxes in 2001.

Mark Schuling, the agency's director, says any corporation that collects revenue in Iowa should pay taxes.

KFC Corp., whose parent company is Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc., challenged the assessment saying under Iowa law it was not subject to taxes because it didn't have property in the state.

A divided Michigan Supreme Court has issued an opinion that would continue to prevent an energy company from discharging treated wastewater into the headwaters of the Au Sable River in Otsego County.

The 4-3 decision would deny the water discharge plan for Merit Energy Co. because the court's majority ruled it is "manifestly unreasonable."

The company already had abandoned the discharge plan and considered the case moot. A previous Supreme Court ruling would have prevented the discharge.

The new ruling, however, could set precedents for future environmental cases in which the state has issued permits.

Conservative justices who currently form the court's minority blast the more liberal majority for using a moot case to "reach desired policy results."

The court is expected to return to conservative control in 2011.

Ohio has unveiled new disclosure requirements in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year that eased restrictions on campaign spending.

Corporations, nonprofits and labor groups will have to show the amounts they spend on independent ads for or against candidates, under rules announced Wednesday by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (BROO'-nur).

The state's outgoing elections chief says the ad sponsors also will have to provide voters with a website address in their ads.

The rules include a ban on independent ad spending by businesses that have been awarded state or federal money through Ohio during the previous year.

The rules approved by a Legislative panel give the secretary of state's office the power to pursue violators.

Slices, hooks, and other errant shots are a common hazard on the links and a golfer can’t expect to get a warning shout of “Fore!” every time a ball comes his way, New York’s top court ruled last week in dismissing a personal injury lawsuit.

Dr. Anoop Kapoor and Dr. Azad Anand were playing on a nine-hole Long Island course in October 2002 when Anand was hit in the head while looking for his ball on a fairway, blinding him in one eye. The seven judges on the state Court of Appeals, siding with lower courts, said Kapoor’s failure to yell in advance of his errant shot from the rough didn’t amount to intentional or reckless conduct.

The court cited a judge’s finding that Anand wasn’t in the foreseeable zone of danger and, as a golfer, consented to the inherent risks of the sport.