Nevada: Shuffle Master settles with Prime Table Games
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Casino supplier Shuffle Master Inc. said Friday that it has reached a settlement in its litigation with Prime Table Games LLC and will pay the game developer $5.5 million in licensing fees for table games.
“This agreement will eliminate some outstanding litigation and related future legal expenses as well as expand our table game intellectual property rights,” said David Lopez, Shuffle Master’s interim chief executive officer.
Investors pumped Shuffle Master’s stock up 34 cents, or 3 percent, to $11.60 on the news that the company had wrapped its litigation.
In a separate announcement unrelated to the litigation, Shuffle Master said that it has paid $1.5 million for licenses to Prime Table Games’ “Three Card Poker” in the British Isles. The acquired Internet rights include Internet gambling and gambling via cell phones, in addition to certain social media uses such as play-for-fun applications on the Internet.
Shuffle Master has said the game is one of its most successful and that it is keen on offering it in more countries and expanding its presence on the Web.
Oregon: Judge to hear plea for new Islamic charity trial
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Defense lawyers return to court next month to ask a judge to overturn the conviction of an Oregon man found guilty of smuggling $150,000 to Saudi Arabia through a now-defunct Islamic charity that he ran in Ashland.
The Medford Mail Tribune reports that U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan has scheduled arguments Jan. 18 in Eugene in the case of Pete Seda. He was convicted Sept. 10, but no sentencing date has been set.
Federal prosecutors have asked Hogan for an eight-year prison sentence based on evidence that the money went to finance terrorism by Muslim fighters trying to break Chechnya away from Russia.
Louisiana: Fellow actor sues Costner over BP centrifuge deal
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The actor Stephen Baldwin is suing fellow movie star Kevin Costner over their investments in a device that BP used to try to clean up the massive Gulf oil spill.
A federal lawsuit filed last week by Baldwin and a friend claims Costner and a business partner duped them out of their shares of a $18 million deal for BP to buy oil-separating centrifuges from a company they formed after the April 20 spill.
BP ordered 32 of the centrifuges, which separate oil from water, and deployed a few of the devices on a barge in June.
Costner’s publicist, Arnold Robinson, declined to comment on the suit’s allegations.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Pennsylvania: Media company sues over Erie gambling money
ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A nonprofit public radio and television company has sued the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority over money generated from Presque Isle Downs & Casino.
The Erie Times-News reports that WQLN Public Media filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the authority claiming that it should be designated a “dedicated regional asset” and therefore should be eligible for a share of the casino funds. The authority has already designated nine such entities including the Erie Zoo, Erie Art Museum and Erie County Historical Society that will receive what have been called “uncommitted” gambling funds.
The gaming authority refused comment on the lawsuit.
Tennessee: Lawsuit against helmet manufacturer moves forward
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — An appeals court has ruled the federal court in Memphis must reconsider a dismissed lawsuit against a motorcycle helmet manufacturer.
Robert Fabian sued Memphis-based Fulmer Helmets, Inc., after a friend who had purchased a used helmet from him died from severe brain trauma in a motorcycle crash.
Fabian claims in the April 2009 suit that the helmets had failed a safety test by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration but were misrepresented as safe.
The U.S. District Court in Memphis previously dismissed Fabian’s claim. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overturned that ruling on Thursday.
Fabian seeks class action status for the suit, which asks for a refund and disgorgement of profits.
Wisconsin: Inmate who damaged cell gets more than 7 yrs
RACINE, Wis. (AP) — An inmate who caused nearly $5,500 in damage to the Racine County Jail when he broke out of his cell has been sentenced to 71/2 years in prison.
Sean Riker of Waterford had been convicted of charges including escape and felony criminal damage to property. He was sentenced Wednesday.
Authorities say the 42-year-old was being held in January on allegations that he threatened his wife and her children. They say he bent the steel door of his cell, then smashed windows, lights and cameras in a common area.
Public defender Travis Schwantes suggested a two-year sentence, calling it appropriate for causing less than $6,000 in damage.
But the judge said Riker’s behavior and history of violent tendencies required a heftier sentence.
Nebraska: Fed. judge orders village to allow cell tower
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The village of Doniphan must allow the construction of a new cell tower within the village limits, a federal judge has ruled.
NE Colorado Cellular Inc., which does business as Viaero Wireless, sued the village in April for denying it a permit to build an 80-foot telecommunications tower. The company said in its lawsuit that it wants to improve service in southeastern Nebraska but can’t do so without the tower.
U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf vacated the denial last week and ordered the village to issue a permit and any other licenses needed for construction of the tower.
A village spokesman has said the denial was based on testimony at a public hearing in February. Residents who spoke at the hearing didn’t want the tower for aesthetic reasons. The proposed site is in a commercial zone that abuts a residential one.
NE Colorado Cellular said in its lawsuit that computer models show the tower needs to be in that location in order to provide service for Doniphan and the surrounding areas.
The company said in court documents that the village was violating federal telecommunications law by inhibiting its ability to provide cell phone service, among other things.
