Ohio: Town drops proposed car smoking ban
WASHINGTON C.H., Ohio (AP) — An Ohio community has pulled back on banning smoking in cars when children are passengers.
The city council in Washington Court House gave tentative approval to the proposal on a 4-2 vote July 14. But Wednesday night, the measure was put aside because two council members decided to change their earlier yes votes.
Councilman Ben Roby says he decided to drop his support for the ban because he found more “public interest” in the proposal than he ever expected.
Before the council meeting, about 10 people held a noisy street corner protest against the ban. They held signs with messages including “Say no to more government control” and
“What’s next? Your home?”
The plan’s supporters had said their goal was to protect children from secondhand smoke.
New York: NYC judge: Saggy pants foolish but not illegal
NEW YORK (AP) — Wearing saggy pants is not a crime, just foolish.
That’s how a New York City judge ruled in throwing out a summons issued to a man wearing low-slung pants that exposed his underwear.
Judge Ruben Franco said that the summons appeared to be an attempt by one police officer to show his displeasure with the style.
The Bronx man, Julio Martinez, was issued the ticket on April 20.
The judge wrote that many may find the low-slung trouser trend distasteful and foolish. However, he said, people can dress as they want as long as they do not offend public order and decency.
Franco’s decision was issued last month. Martinez and his Legal Aid attorney could not be reached for comment.
Missouri: 2 plead guilty in college e-mail scam
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two Missouri men and their company have pleaded guilty in a nationwide e-mail spamming scheme.
Federal prosecutors say 29-year-old Amir Ahmad Shah, of St. Louis, and his brother, 26-year-old Osmaan Ahmad Shah, of Columbia, and their company, i20, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court. They admitted being part of a scheme that targeted students at more than 2,000 colleges and universities, including the University of Missouri.
The Shahs admitted that they and others conspired to illegally extracting student e-mail addresses, then sending targeted spam promoting various products and services to the students.
The two men were ordered to forfeit over $439,000 in proceeds from the scam. They face up to eight years in prison.
Paul Zucker, of Wayne, N.J., pleaded guilty in July to his role in the conspiracy.
Louisiana: Lawsuit filed in fatal roller coaster accident
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The parents of a 21-year-old Lafayette woman who fell to her death July 11 from a roller coaster at the Dixie Landing amusement park in Baton Rouge have sued the park.
George and Karen Zeno claim Dixie Landing failed to properly inspect and maintain the Xtreme roller coaster and failed to secure the locking mechanism necessary to hold Lindsay Zeno in her seat.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in state district court in Baton Rouge.
The Advocate reports park officials could not be reached for comment.
The suit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
State Fire Marshal Butch Browning said Wednesday his office is still awaiting a report and response from the roller coaster’s manufacturer.
Iowa: Jury awards Pella $788,000 in pool light lawsuit
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A jury has awarded the city of Pella $788,000 over improperly installed underwater lights at a pool where two boys drowned.
After three hours of deliberation Wednesday, the jury found Central Electric Co. breached its contract with the central Iowa city when it failed disclose it installed galvanized steel electrical piping instead of the red brass specified in construction plans.
The underwater lights were last used nearly six years ago. Pella sued Central Electric in 2006 after the fixtures rusted. Company attorneys told the jury the lights were still safe and would work if the city used them.
Two Kansas City, Mo., boys — 14-year-old Gael Chrispin and 15-year-old Nehmson Sanon — drowned in the pool July 14, the week the trial began. It’s not known if inadequate lighting was a factor.
Texas: Federal judge sets trial for whooping crane deaths
HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge in south Texas has set a trial date for a lawsuit that alleges poor Texas environmental regulations caused record die-offs among endangered whooping cranes.
The case has been brought by a nonprofit conservation group, The Aransas Project.
U.S. District Judge Janis Jack of Corpus Christi set the trial for March 2 on Wednesday.
The case accuses the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of not restricting the amount of water taken from rivers that feed the crane’s coastal nesting grounds. It says the commission has approved too many water-use permits for rapidly growing areas in south Texas.
In the winter of 2008, 23 whooping cranes died. In an average winter, only one dies.
TCEQ has said it diverts river flows based on conditions.
California: Jury: Yamaha not at fault in off-road crash
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A California jury says Yamaha Motor Corp. USA is not liable for injuries a man suffered when he crashed in one of the company’s off-road vehicles.
The case was the first to go to trial among more than 170 lawsuits filed in California over the company’s Rhino brand of vehicles. The cases are all being heard in Orange County Superior Court.
The plaintiff, Richard Holt, argued that defects in his 2005 Rhino 660 caused it to roll, fracturing two bones in his left leg.
Yamaha says the jury’s verdict Monday shows the vehicle’s design did not cause the crash.
Holt’s attorney did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Cypress, Calif.-based Yamaha faces about 400 other lawsuits over the Rhino in federal and state courts in Kentucky and Georgia.
Washington: Lawsuit filed to stop Hawaiian trash
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A lawsuit has been filed in federal court in Spokane to prevent garbage from being shipped from Hawaii to a landfill in the Eastern Washington town of Roosevelt.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the Yakama Nation and several environmental groups against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which approved plans for shipments of plastic-wrapped bales of waste.
The lawsuit seeks to prevent the garbage from coming to the Roosevelt landfill and to require a full environmental review. The Department of Agriculture had found the project did not pose a significant risk to the environment.
Maryland: Restaurant workers awarded $34M after CO leak
BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore jury has awarded $34.3 million to 23 employees of an Inner Harbor steakhouse who suffered brain damage as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The plaintiffs worked for the Ruth’s Chris Steak House at the Pier V Hotel. The restaurant was evacuated on Feb. 2, 2008, after employees complained of dizziness and nausea. Carbon monoxide in the air was measured at potentially fatal levels.
Attorney Billy Murphy, who represented the plaintiffs, said Wednesday that the leak went on for weeks before the evacuation and that the hotel had removed a safety device that would have detected the problem.
The lawsuit named the hotel’s operator and owner. Murphy says Ruth’s Chris was not at fault.
Attorneys for the defendants could not immediately be reached for comment.
Ohio: Christian teacher settles Ohio arm-branding case
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio family has settled a lawsuit against a middle school teacher who was accused of burning the image of crosses on students’ arms.
The family of Zachary Dennis and attorneys for teacher John Freshwater’s insurance carrier did not release details of agreement, which averts a trial scheduled to begin Monday in Columbus. U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost still must approve the pact.
The Mount Vernon school board voted to fire Freshwater in 2008, and he remains on unpaid administrative leave pending an appeal. The board settled a separate lawsuit with the Dennis family, agreeing to pay them $5,502 and their attorneys $115,500.
Family attorney Doug Mansfield said Wednesday the lawsuits were about correcting a wrong, not money.
