California
Settlement for owner of cabin where cop died
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) - The owners of the mountain cabin where rogue ex-Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner holed himself up during a deadly gun battle with deputies will be paid $200,000.
San Bernardino County and Palmdale resident Candace Martin and her son Eric Funnell agreed to the settlement in December. The board of supervisors approved the agreement at a closed session meeting in February, the San Bernardino County Sun reported.
The cabin caught fire and was destroyed in February 2013 after deputies threw pyrotechnic tear-gas canisters inside, trying to get Dorner out. He committed suicide.
Dorner killed four people in a 10-day rampage that ended in a massive manhunt and standoff at the cabin, authorities said. He killed the daughter of a former LAPD official and her fiancé, ambushed and killed a Riverside police officer and wounded another.
Dorner later stole a truck at gunpoint and was tracked to the cabin, where he killed a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy and seriously wounded another.
The former LAPD officer was fired by the department in 2009. He claimed that he was unfairly dismissed and in an online manifesto vowed revenge against law enforcement officers. A department review upheld the firing, saying Dorner fabricated allegations against fellow officers.
Martin originally filed a claim against the county seeking $420,000. In addition to property loss, she sought monetary compensation for emotional distress, attorney and expert fees.
A county spokesman told the Sun an appraisal of Martin's cabin came back for "considerably less" than what Martin had requested. "It is a fair settlement that both parties entered into voluntarily," he said.
New York
Barefoot Contessa files suit over frozen dinners
NEW YORK (AP) - The Barefoot Contessa says in a lawsuit that a California company sold unauthorized look-alikes of her frozen dinners.
Newsday says Ina Garten sued OFI Imports Inc. on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.
The host of the Food Network's "Barefoot Contessa" cooking show filed the suit after she says the company declined to stop the sales.
OFI didn't return phone calls seeking comment.
Barefoot Contessa dinners were made by third-party manufacturer Contessa Premium Foods from February 2013 until last spring when the company went out of business.
A news release issued on Garten's behalf said she had no ownership in the company. The lawsuit says OFI bought Premium Foods assets but didn't acquire licensing rights for the Barefoot Contessa brand.
The lawsuit seeks to stop the sales and award Garten damages.
Published: Thu, Feb 19, 2015
