It is very important for personal injury victims to work with experienced personal injury attorneys like those at the Dover Law Firm. Jeffrey H. Dover, the firm’s founder, understands the confusion and anxiety of those victims. He and his support staff can explain how the justice system works and what is necessary for the victims to get full compensation for their medical costs, time lost from work and the pain and suffering associated with their injuries.
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'Tort reform' gets a frontal assault

After dealing with piecemeal challenges to the 2005 legislation that made it harder for plaintiffs to win suits, the Supreme Court of Georgia may soon get a case that tests the whole package, courtesy of the Fulton County Superior Court.

Attorneys for a man claiming to have been rendered quadriplegic by mistakes made in a Douglas County emergency room argued last week that the entire law passed as Senate Bill 3 should be declared unconstitutional.

The bill, which among other things capped pain and suffering damages at $350,000 and protected ER doctors from liability unless they exhibited “gross negligence,” was part of a so-called “tort reform” movement in the General Assembly, said Robert D. Roll of Atlanta's Watkins, Lourie, Roll & Chance.

For more information, follow the link below.

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WR Grad Dies After Crash

A 2004 graduate of Warner Robins High School died Wednesday night from injuries she suffered in a car accident last Sunday.

22-year-old Jamie Lynn Carter died at a Savannah hospital, three days after a wreck that also killed two of her sorority sisters. She was a member of Kappa Delta.

For more information, follow the link below.

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New Jersey Bans Death Penalty

Last Monday, Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed a measure that abolishes the death penalty, making New Jersey the first state in more than four decades to reject capital punishment.

Approved last week by the state's Assembly and Senate, the bill replaces the death sentence with life in prison without parole.

"This is a day of progress for us and for the millions of people across our nation and around the globe who reject the death penalty as a moral or practical response to the grievous, even heinous, crime of murder," Corzine said.

Eight men were spared on Sunday because of the measure. Corzine signed orders commuting the sentences of the men to life in prison without parole.

Among the eight spared is Jesse Timmendequas, a sex offender who murdered 7-year-old Megan Kanka in 1994. The case inspired Megan's Law, which requires law enforcement agencies to notify the public about convicted sex offenders living in their communities.

New Jersey reinstated the death penalty in 1982 - six years after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to resume executions - but it hasn't executed anyone since 1963.

The state's move is being hailed across the world as a historic victory against capital punishment. Rome plans to shine golden light on the Colosseum in support. Once the arena for deadly gladiator combat and executions, the Colosseum is now a symbol of the fight against the death penalty.

"The rest of America, and for that matter the entire world, is watching what we are doing here today," said Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, a Democrat. "New Jersey is setting a precedent that I'm confident other states will follow."

The bill passed the Legislature largely along party lines, with controlling Democrats supporting the abolition and minority Republicans opposed. Republicans had sought to retain the death penalty for those who murder law enforcement officials, rape and murder children, and terrorists, but Democrats rejected that.

"It's simply a specious argument to say that, somehow, after six millennia of recorded history, the punishment no longer fits the crime," said Assemblyman Joseph Malone, a Republican.

Members of victims' families fought against the law.

"I will never forget how I've been abused by a state and a governor that was supposed to protect the innocent and enforce the laws," said Marilyn Flax, whose husband Irving was abducted and murdered in 1989 by death row inmate John Martini Sr.

The last states to eliminate the death penalty were Iowa and West Virginia in 1965, according to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

The nation has executed 1,099 people since the U.S. Supreme Court reauthorized the death penalty in 1976. In 1999, 98 people were executed, the most since 1976; last year 53 people were executed, the lowest since 1996.

Other states have considered abolishing the death penalty recently, but none has advanced as far as New Jersey.

The nation's last execution was Sept. 25 in Texas. Since then, executions have been delayed pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision on whether execution through lethal injection violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

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California Wins Rights to Regulate Vehicles' Emissions

In a new defeat for automakers, a federal judge in California ruled Wednesday that the state has the authority to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from cars and trucks. It's the second federal ruling giving states that authority this year.

Greenhouse gases are blamed for global warming, and the main greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO). Because the only way to reduce CO output is to burn less fuel, automakers see greenhouse-gas rules as barely camouflaged fuel-economy regulations. Only the federal government has the authority to set fuel-economy standards.

"We will study the decision and consider the options, including an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court and the Supreme Court," said the spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The alliance is the industry's main trade organization.

In August, a federal judge in Vermont made a ruling similar to that in California. The alliance is appealing the ruling.

Even if automakers lose in court, California and other states that adopt identical regulations cannot enforce them unless the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants permission to vary from federal regulations.

In a case involving Massachusetts, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in April that greenhouse-gas emissions are, in fact, pollutants subject to federal regulation. They have not been considered toxic emissions.

Environmental groups cheered the California ruling. "It's time for the automakers to bench their lawyers and put their engineers to work," said Patricia Monahan at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Nearly every automaker, via the alliance and a smaller trade group for import brands, is battling state limits on greenhouse gases.

Car companies worry about having to meet differing state regulations and they say that there is no affordable technology able to meet California-style standards.

Territo said California's greenhouse-gas limits would require cars and the smallest trucks to average 43.7 miles per gallon by 2016 and other trucks to average 26.9 mpg.

That's stricter and quicker than required by the energy bill being debated in Congress. It would boost fuel economy to an overall 35 mpg by 2020 and reduce CO emissions by 30%.

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Couple Convicted in NY Slavery Case

On Monday, a jury convicted a millionaire couple of enslaving two Indonesian women they brought to their mansion to work as housekeepers.

Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, and his wife, Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 45, were each convicted of all charges in a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude, and harboring aliens.

Prosecutors said the women were forced to work 18 or more a day and subjected to repeated psychological and physical abuse.

The Sabhnanis, who operate a worldwide perfume business out of their Muttontown home on Long Island's Gold Coast and have four children, could face up to 40 years in prison. However, attorneys predicted the punishment would be considerably less. He is from India, and she is from Indonesia, but both are naturalized U.S. citizens

One of the couple's daughters collapsed in the front row as the verdict was read, prompting the judge to clear the courtroom while medical personnel attended to her.

Defense attorney said he would appeal. "Apparently, the jury was taken by the histrionics ..." of the Indonesian women, he said.

Prosecutors called it a case of "modern-day slavery." Assistant U.S. Attorney said in closing arguments the poorly educated women worked as housekeepers for $100 or $150 a month - all of which was sent to their relatives back home.

Prosecutors said the women, known only as Samirah and Enung, were subjected to "punishment that escalated into a cruel form of torture" that ended when one of the women fled on Mother's Day.

Allegations of abuse included beatings with brooms and umbrellas, slashing with knives, being made to repeatedly climb stairs and take freezing cold showers as punishment for misdeeds that included sleeping late or stealing food from trash bins because they were poorly fed.

Samirah, the woman who fled the house in May, said she was forced to eat dozens of chili peppers and then was forced to eat her own vomit when she failed to digest the peppers, prosecutors said.

"This did not happen in the 1800s," Prosecutors said. "This happened in the 21st century."

Enung testified that Samirah's nude body once was covered in plastic wrapping tape on orders from Varsha Sabhnani, who then instructed Enung to rip it off. "When I pulled it off, she was screaming," the housekeeper said through an interpreter before breaking down in tears on the witness stand.

The Sabhnanis' defense attorneys contended the two women concocted the story of abuse as a way of escaping the house for more lucrative opportunities. They argued the housekeepers practiced witchcraft and may have abused themselves as part of an Indonesian self-mutilation ritual. They also said the couple went on frequent vacations that would have given the two women ample opportunity to flee.

The Sabhnanis spent nearly three months in jail until a judge approved a bail package that required them to post $4.5 million and pay an estimated $10,000 a day for security monitoring while they were kept under house arrest.

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Barry Bonds may have Recieved Advanced Drug Test Warnings

Barry Bonds and his cohorts often point to the fact that Bonds never flunked a drug test administered by Major League Baseball. The Mitchell Report suggests that it appears Bonds received advanced warning of two tests in 2003.

According to the report, Bonds was tested for steroid use on May 28 and June 4, 2003 as part of MLB's first attempt at formal detection. The report cites a San Francisco Chronicle report that it had obtained a tape recording of Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson boasting he received advanced notice of the testing. According to the report, Anderson supposedly said that he was told that the 2003 testing would occur in late May or early June.

"Therefore," the report said, "if the report of this conversation is accurate Anderson correctly predicted the dates of testing, at least for his client Barry Bonds."

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell released the report Thursday, culminating a 20-month investigation on steroids in baseball.

While Bonds was under investigation for perjury, Mitchell said Bonds declined to talk to him. "Under these circumstances his refusal to talk with me was understandable," Mitchell said.

On November 15, Bonds was charged perjury and obstruction of justice related to that December 2003 testimony before a federal grand jury.

Also in the report, Mitchell said San Francisco Giants owner Peter Magowan told him that he asked Bonds in 2004 if he took steroids.

"According to Magowan, Bonds responded that when he took the substances he did not know they were steroids but he later learned they were," Mitchell wrote.

"Bonds said that he took these substances for a period of time to help with his arthritis, as well as sleeping problems he attributed to concern about his father's failing health," Mitchell wrote. "To emphasize that he was not hiding anything Bonds added that he used these substances in the clubhouse in the plain view of others."

Magowan said the chat came during the end of telephone conversation with the slugger in February 2004.

"Magowan recalled asking Bonds whether this was what he had told the grand jury," Mitchell wrote. "Bonds replied yes. Magowan also asked Bonds if he was telling the truth, and Bonds said he was."

Magowan reported to Mitchell that Bonds said he discontinued use of the substances after a short time because they didn't work.

Two days after interviewing Magowan, Mitchell said lawyers for the Giants owner called investigators on his staff.

"Magowan's lawyer explained that his client misspoke when he said that Bonds had said that he later learned the substances he had taken were steroids," Mitchell wrote. "According to his lawyer, Magowan could only recall with certainty that (1) Bonds had said he did not knowingly take steroids, and (2) what Bonds said to Magowan during the call was consistent with what Magowan later read in the San Francisco Chronicle about Bonds' reported grand jury testimony."

Bonds' lead criminal defense attorney didn't return a telephone call Thursday.

At least two members of Bonds' inner circle talked with Mitchell, including Harvey Shields, another of the slugger's personal trainers. Shields' interview with Mitchell appears to be consistent with Bonds' grand jury testimony that he thought he was taking legal supplements that were purchased over-the-counter rather than powerful steroids that are legal only with a doctor's prescription.

Mitchell said Shields told him Bonds rubbed a cream on his elbow he thought to be "arthritis cream" and a translucent liquid dubbed the "clear" that Bonds dropped under his tongue. Shields said he believed the clear was flaxseed oil and that Bonds used the clear "more than once."

Mitchell said Shields "claimed to have entered into a confidentiality agreement with Bonds in 2006 that he believed precluded him from disclosing certain information to our investigation."

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Washington State Supreme Court: Widows May Sue Seattle

 

In a unanimous decision, the state Supreme Court has ruled in favor of an injured Seattle firefighter and the widow of a Seattle police officer, both of whom had sued the city for negligence.

In an opinion published Thursday, the justices found that both firefighter Kevin Locke and the widow of Officer Gary Lindell had the right to sue the city under a provision of the state's pension plan for police officers and firefighters.

"I'm overjoyed by it," Sgt. Rich O'Neill, president of the Seattle Police Officers' Guild, said of the ruling. "I think it sends a strong message to the city that officers and their families can hold the city liable."

The ruling involves both the case of firefighter Kevin Locke and that of Margaret Lindell, widow of Officer Gary Lindell.

Locke was a firefighter recruit who was hurt during a training class in June 2000. The training took place over the course of several warm days, and Locke, suffering the effects of heat stress, passed out while trying to carry a dummy down a ladder in a mock rescue and fell headlong to the pavement below. He was saved from landing on his head only by the quick actions of a firefighter who managed to strike Locke as he fell, causing him to land on his feet. Still, he broke several bones in his body and cannot work as a firefighter.

After his recovery, he was given a job in the Fire Department's dispatch center.

Locke successfully sued the city, contending that those in charge of the training class were negligent in part because they failed to ensure that recruits were adequately hydrated, which led to Locke's accident. In 2004, a jury awarded him $1.8 million.

Lindell, the widow of Gary Lindell, filed a lawsuit in February 2005 following his death.

Lindell had been a mounted patrol officer when, in May 1999, he was thrown from his horse and struck his head during training at the old facility used by Seattle police. He was never again able to work as a police officer. The department gave him a civilian position instead. He died in 2002 after suffering a seizure.

Margaret Lindell contends in her lawsuit that the city was negligent in its maintenance of the facility, in its training procedures and in its equipment. At the time, mounted officers wore cowboy hats instead of protective helmets. The case has been on hold pending this appeal.

After the firefighter won at trial, the city fought the jury's decision, but lost in the Court of Appeals. By the time they were ready to appeal that ruling, Margaret Lindell had filed her lawsuit.

The city challenged both lawsuits on the same grounds, arguing that the state law that allows such suits to be filed by police officers and firefighters violates the state constitution. It had hoped both cases would be dismissed.

The state Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Retirement System act specifically provides a "right to sue" provision, allowing them to sue for damages over the amount they get under workers' compensation.

But lawyers for the city challenged this provision, arguing that it violated the state constitution, which grants sovereign immunity to cities.

Thursday, the state Supreme Court ruled that there is no violation, and it upheld both the Appeals Court decision and that of the original jurors in Locke's case.

Calls to the City Attorney's Office were not returned Thursday.

Locke, who continues to be treated for pain associated with his injuries, said he was happy with the decision but will wait to see what the city lawyers do next.

"I'm just hoping someday it'll be over," he said.

The lawyer who represented Locke during his jury trial, said the city should quit fighting the courts on this matter.

"The city has fought Kevin the entire way," he said. "Hopefully, with this decision they'll get the message."

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Wright Medical Subpoenaed

Wright Medical Group Inc. said Wednesday the Department of Justice subpoenaed nine years of records, bringing the medical devices company into a larger investigation over industry payments to doctors using orthopedic products.

The company said it was asked, through the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, for records relating to any consulting and professional service agreements with orthopedic surgeons dating back to 1998. The Justice Department is looking for possible payments made to doctors in exchange for the use of company products.

In September, five orthopedic device makers agreed to pay $310 million and accept federal monitors for an 18-month period to settle concerns over doctor kickbacks. The government started investigating the industry in 2005 over concerns companies paid doctors in order to favor their products.

Zimmer Holdings Inc. is paying more than half of the $310 million, with the rest coming from DePuy Orthopedics Inc., Smith & Nephew Inc. and Biomet Orthopedics Inc. Stryker Corp. was not charged because it cooperated with the government investigation before the others did. The companies will be monitored for 18 months and will require doctors to disclose all consulting agreements with patients. Companies also have to post the deals and amounts on their Web sites.

Wright Medical, which makes knee replacement systems and products for orthopedic surgeons, said it will fully cooperate with the Justice Department. The company said it is unsure how the investigation will impact its financial guidance.

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Supreme Court Declines to Hear Viatical Settlement Cases

The Supreme Court declined Monday to rule on a case that tests whether states can regulate the sale of life insurance by policyholders to investors, a practice known as "viatical" or life settlements.

Under viatical settlements, individuals sell their life insurance policies for less than face value to third parties, including investors such as hedge funds, in order to realize an immediate cash benefit.

The policyholders are frequently terminally ill and need funds to pay for health care. The industry grew out of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, but has since expanded beyond sick policyholders. An estimated $13 billion worth of life insurance policies were sold in life settlements in 2005, up from $5 million in 1989 and $200 million in 1998, according to court filings.

States began to regulate the practice in the early 1990s, due to concerns that terminally or chronically ill people are particularly vulnerable to unfairly low prices or fraud.

The case before the Supreme Court began when a Virginia resident lodged a complaint against a Texas-based company, Life Partners Inc., charging that the company paid her only 26 percent of the face value of her $115,000 policy. Virginia law required LPI to pay at least 60 percent to 70 percent, based on her life expectancy.

Life Partners sued to have the Virginia law declared an unconstitutional interference with interstate commerce. While state regulation of insurance is expressly allowed under federal law, Life Partners argued that they aren't in the insurance business, because viaticals are between policyholders and third parties.

Virginia officials responded that viaticals alter the parties to a life insurance policy, among other changes, and therefore are subject to state regulation. A federal district court judge agreed and rejected Life Partners' challenge. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Va. upheld that ruling.

The justices' refusal to take the case lets the appeals court's ruling stand.

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Woman Miscarries After Domestic Abuse

Last month, Darshana Patel filed a restraining order against her boyfriend who, she says, abused her to the point that she once leapt from a moving vehicle to escape him.

Detailed court allegations show that Manishkumar M. Patel abused Darshana Patel physically and emotionally. She now accused him of slipping her a ground-up abortion pill to induce a miscarriage. However, despite the severity of the abusive relationship, she stayed with him for years even though he is married to someone else.

While she had financial security - she is a doctor who bought him a house – domestic abuse counselors say she may have felt trapped. The counselors also say her Indian culture may have made it difficult for her to seek help.

Darshana Patel suffered two miscarriages in less than a year. According to a criminal complaint, the 39-year-old family physician became suspicious when she noticed powder on a cup containing a smoothie he had given her. She didn't drink that particular beverage but she had eaten food her boyfriend prepared for her since she became pregnant.

The lab test later confirmed the presence of the abortion pill known as RU-486, the complaint said. While waiting for a laboratory kit to test the substance, she miscarried.

Darshana Patel and Manishkumar Patel, who are not related, have a 3-year-old son.

The 34 year old Manishkumar Patel was charged Nov. 29 with seven felonies, including attempted first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child and two misdemeanor counts of violating a restraining order. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 99 1/2 years in prison and a $92,000 fine.

The defense attorney said his client is not guilty of the charges and has a different version of the events but would not elaborate.

"We will give a vigorous defense," the defense attorney said. "I don't regard this as a given or slam dunk for the prosecution. I think they are going to have some significant proof problems."

Asked why Patel - whom she called "a highly qualified doctor" - remained in an abusive relationship for months, the prosecuting attorney commented "She is also a woman of Indian descent who has grown up in an Indian culture. That cultural overlay has perhaps played on the actions she may or may not have taken. The restraining order she obtained is simply one piece in a story of manipulation and abuse of Dr. Patel by the defendant.”

It was Darshana Patel's concern for her fetus that led her to seek the restraining order. In a letter she filed with the court, she recounted a 2006 incident in which she said she was about two months pregnant but leapt from a moving van to escape Manish Patel's abuse.

Court records also show that Darshana Patel took out a loan to help Manish Patel buy and pay mortgage payments for a house exceeding $3,800 a month.

She has declined comment, and her attorney said that Patel could not comment because of pending court action, including possible civil litigation in the dispute.

Manish had grown angry after she begged him to transfer the home loan into his name and pay his own mortgage, she wrote. He slapped her, bruising her eye and cutting her lip, and left her "afraid (for) my safety and my unborn child's safety," the letter said.

She jumped from the van, which she estimated was going 10 to 15 mph, and walked 20 minutes to her car on a cold winter evening, she wrote.

Darshana Patel said she didn't report the incident because she didn't want others, especially her parents, to know she was seeing a married man.

Cultural norms ingrained in South Asian women compel them to remain loyal even if they're being abused, said Maneesha Kelkar, director of Manavi, a New Brunswick, N.J.-based organization that provides resources for South Asian women who are victims of violence.

Darshana Patel was likely even more vulnerable because the two had a son together, Kelkar said, without knowing details of the case.

Counselor Shobha Rao said South Asian families often pressure abused women to put their families first.

"Even if the women go to their parents, the parents might just say, 'Just try to work it out,' or 'Oh, just have a child, that'll make things better,'" said Rao, a program coordinator with the San Jose, Calif.-based Maitri, which helps South Asian families deal with domestic violence.

Manish Patel, who runs service stations and other businesses, and Darshana Patel had known each other since he emigrated to the U.S. from India in 1998, the criminal complaint said. They began a relationship in 2001 and had a son in 2004.

Darshana Patel said she became pregnant with Manish's child again in September 2006 - a child he denied was his - but she miscarried two months later. The day before the miscarriage, he insisted she drink of glass of milk he said had saffron in it, according to court records.

She became pregnant with his child a third time in August 2007, and this time she noticed how attentive Manish became, the criminal complaint said. He even prepared meals for her, up to the days before her second miscarriage, in September.

Investigators asked Manish Patel whether he used abortion pills to cause the miscarriages, but he would not answer. In a follow-up interview, he admitted giving Darshana "one pill" but didn't say when or where, the complaint said.

Manishkumar Patel is free after posting $750,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 30.

Manishkumar Patel, who also goes by Manish, is married to Falguni Patel. He filed for divorce on Nov. 13, according to court records and the couple have no children.

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Negotiations in Hate-Crime Bill Come to Halt

Yesterday House and Senate negotiators stopped a measure to expand hate-crime protections by removing it from a Pentagon policy bill now likely to pass both chambers with ease. The bill would have extended hate-crime protections to victims based on gender, sexual orientation or disability.

Negotiations on the defense authorization bill had bogged down, with House Democratic leaders worried that they did not have enough votes to pass the bill if it included the hate-crime measure. After the House formally balked at voting on the provision in a conference meeting, Senate Democrats vowed to bring up the measure again next year.

"At a time when our ideals are under attack by terrorists in other lands, it is more important than ever to demonstrate that we practice what we preach, and that we are doing all we can to root out the bigotry and prejudice in our own country that leads to similar violence here at home," Sens. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the sponsor of the hate-crime bill, said in a statement.

 

"After more than 10 years and several successful bipartisan votes, it is heartbreaking to fall short this close to the finish line," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign.

 

The House had already approved the hate-crime measure, but the Senate has not been able to move it as a free-standing measure, leading to Kennedy's attaching it to the defense authorization bill in September. The White House and congressional Republicans balked at attaching non-military issues to the defense bill, which sets policy issues and authorizes certain weapons programs.

 

House Democrats already faced a loss of support from many liberals in their caucus who would not support the Pentagon policy bill because it did not include withdrawal timeline provisions for the Iraq war. Now, without the hate-crime measure, the defense authorization will probably be approved easily, with a large number of Republicans in both chambers supporting it.

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Ahead for Bonds: Courtroom Circus

On Dec. 4, 2003, Barry Bonds walked into a grand jury room on the 17th floor of the Philip Burton Federal Building here and gave three hours of testimony about his alleged steroid use.

Today, he returns to the building as the government begins its case to prove he committed perjury.

Bonds will appear this morning in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria-Elena James and then U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in Courtroom 10, two floors above where he gave his original testimony.

Bonds, who faces four counts of perjury and one count for obstruction of justice, will be arraigned before James and then have a trial date set by Illston. The proceedings are expected to be short.

Bonds is expected to enter a not-guilty plea, then hear when U.S. vs. Bonds really gets started.

The scene inside will be limited to a small group of credentialed media members and citizens who line up early this morning to get one of the 30 seats available to the public. There will be no cameras inside the federal building, and Bonds' attorneys probably will do their best to keep Bonds from being seen entering the building.

How Bonds' attorneys handles today could be the biggest story of the hearings. Bonds' attorney blasted the prosecutors after the indictment was handed down last month. If he backs off accusations that the government has conspired against his client, it may be a sign he's ready to reach a deal with the prosecutors.

"One thing to watch is if they are still going to take this very aggressive adversarial tone about the prosecution that it's evil and all a big plot against Bonds." said a law professor at Golden Gate University who has followed the case closely. "That's what they've been saying up until now.

"If you see a more moderate tone taken by Bonds' lawyers, that's a tip-off that they want to talk to the prosecution and explore some things, possibly a plea bargain."

Bonds and his attorney had been interviewing attorneys to lead his defense, and late last night, the San Jose Mercury News reported Bonds had added two new attorneys to his legal team. The two new attorneys have extensive federal experience. Neither could be reached for comment late last night.

Illston will consider the defense's desires when making the trial date. Because the 43-year-old slugger still wants to play baseball, that may lead him to want a quick trial date.

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Leona Helmsley's Dog Subject of Estate Lawsuit

The one-time diminutive canine companion of Leona Helmsley is being sued for allegedly attacking one of the late New York real estate mogul's ex-housekeepers.

Zamfira Sfara, 48, is suing the Maltese, to which Helmsley left $12 million in her will, for allegedly attacking her several times while in the hotel owner's employ, the New York Daily News reported Sunday.

In her suit, Sfara alleges that while working for Helmsley in 2004, the businesswoman's dog, Trouble, repeatedly mauled her.

Sfara previously targeted the canine with a 2005 lawsuit in which she alleged the dog had bitten her while working for the notorious hotel magnate. That lawsuit ultimately was thrown out of court.

The newspaper said that while awaiting the outcome of the most recent lawsuit, Trouble will continue to enjoy the pampered life in Florida.

The little dog enjoys meals prepared by a gourmet chef and regular grooming under the watchful eye of security experts, all at the cost of $300,000 a year.

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Supreme Court to Hear Wal-Mart Discrimination Suit

An Arkansas woman who claims Wal-Mart Stores Inc. discriminated against her after she became disabled has successfully appealed her case to the Supreme Court.

The justices said Friday they would rule on a lawsuit by Pam Huber, who remains a Wal-Mart employee. The case centers on how far employers must go under the Americans with Disabilities Act to accommodate disabled employees.

Specifically, the dispute is over whether Wal-Mart was required to provide Huber with an equivalent position after she could no longer perform her job due to disability, or whether the company simply had to allow her to compete for an equivalent job.

Huber's lawyers argued in court filings that the federal appeals courts have split on the issue and asked the justices to resolve the split.

Huber was an order filler in a Wal-Mart distribution center in Clarksville, Ark., earning $13 per hour, when she was hurt in April 2001 in an on-the-job accident. The company agreed she was disabled and no longer able to perform her current job.

Huber applied for a new job as a router, which paid $12.50, but the position was given to another employee Wal-Mart considered more qualified. Huber was offered a janitorial position that paid $6.20 an hour, her lawyers said in court papers.

Huber sued in June 2004, arguing that under ADA rules, she only had to be qualified for the equivalent position, not the most qualified, and should have been reassigned to the router job.

Wal-Mart said in court papers that the job went to the most-qualified candidate under a "standardized, legitimate, and non-discriminatory" process that is allowed under ADA rules.

A federal court in Arkansas sided with Huber, but the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis, reversed and ruled in favor of Wal-Mart.

The ADA "only requires Wal-Mart to allow Huber to compete for the job, but the statute does not require Wal-Mart to turn away a superior applicant," the appeals court said.

A phone call to Wal-Mart seeking comment wasn't immediately returned.

Justice Stephen Breyer, who owns Wal-Mart stock, recused himself from the decision.

The case will be argued before the court next year and decided by July.

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Three dead on Aiken County roads

AIKEN, SC-- A deadly weekend on Aiken County roads has now brought the year's death toll to 43.

Two separate accidents early Saturday morning left three people dead.

The first crash happened on Rainbow Falls road in Graniteville.
23-year-old Christopher Pritchett of Warrenville was killed when he crashed into an embankment around 2:00 am.

He was ejected into the backseat and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two more people died after a fiery car accident in the city of Aiken.

For more information, follow the link below.

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New Research: Diabetes Drug Avandia May Increase Chances of Osteoporosis

New research has raised concern that long-term treatment of Avandia, also known as rosiglitazone, could lead to osteoporosis. The popular diabetes drug may increase bone thinning, a discovery that can help explain why diabetics can have an increased risk of fractures.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health funded the research.

Avandia is taken to improve response to insulin.  Even though bones appear solid, they are constantly being broken down and rebuilt by the body. Researchers found that in mice, Avandia increased the activity of the cells that degrade bones.

GlaxoSmithKline, which markets the drug, has acknowledged that a former study found a higher risk of fractures among women who take the drug. But this report is the first to attempt to explain the link between the drug and fractures. Researchers claim that the finding has led to a better understanding of the challenges associated with long-term treatment of patients with Type II diabetes.

Avandia recently was labeled with warnings about the risk of heart failure in some patients.

Nearly 21 million people in the United States have diabetes. Avandia is widely used in people with Type II, or adult onset diabetes, the most common form of the disease.

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Toyota Recalling 49,000 Lexus Cars

Last Thursday, Toyota began recalling 264,000 luxury passenger vehicles over faulty fuel pipes including 49,000 flagship Lexus cars sold overseas.

The recall includes Lexus models produced in Japan in 2005 and sold overseas, and Lexus, Mark X, and Crown models sold in Japan, according to a Toyota Motor Corp. spokeswoman.  Faulty fuel pipe design on the recalled models could cause cracks and corrosion and lead to a fuel leak, according to a notice filed with the Transport Ministry.

In the United States, 26,274 Lexus GS300, 5,429 Lexus IS250, and 2,640 Lexus IS350 vehicles are being recalled.  The recalled models were exported from Japan and the same models were also being recalled in Canada, England, and Germany.

There have been 39 cases of trouble within Japan but no reports of injuries, according to the Transport Ministry. It was not immediately clear whether any problems have been reported elsewhere.

The Japanese automaker has been hit with quality control problems in recent years, as it ramps up production to meet booming demand. Toyota has promised to beef up quality checks.

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Latest Chinese Recall: Children's Storage Racks

Some 36,000 Chinese-made children's storage racks in the United States were recalled after a baby was suffocated by an overturned rack, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Friday.  The storage racks were being sold at Wal-Mart. 

The wooden storage rack, manufactured for Irving, Texas-based Jetmax International Ltd, has three levels and nine removable canvas totes, the safety agency said. One model has red, blue, yellow and green canvas totes, and another model has pastel-colored canvas totes.

The recall was prompted after an 8-month-old boy suffocated after he pulled on a storage rack and it fell over on him, with the top rail landing on his neck. 

The storage rack organizers were sold at Wal-mart under the brand "Home Trend Kids" from August 2004 through July 2005 for about $40, the agency said. The product was also sold at Ollie's stores from July 2006 through June 2007.

Consumers should immediately stop children from using the recalled storage racks and contact Jetmax International to receive a free repair kit that adds stability to the base of the rack, the agency said.

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Dietary Supplement Encore Recalled

Bodee LLC and the FDA notified consumers and healthcare professionals of a nationwide recall of Encore Tablets, a dietary supplement sold in health food stores, via the internet and by mail order nationwide and in Canada.

The product was recalled because it contains potentially harmful, undeclared ingredients. One lot of the product contained aminotadalafil, an analog of tadalafil, the active ingredient of a FDA-approved drug used for Erectile Dysfunction. The undeclared chemical poses a threat to consumers because it may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs (such as nitroglycerin) and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels.

Consumers who have this product should stop using it immediately and contact their physician if they have experienced any problems that may be related to taking this product.

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Appropriate care difficult to find for brain injury victims

Room 491, where Ben Fuller lives, has filled with family.

Fuller's parents and older brother are there. His son, Logan, romps about the Floyd Medical Center room, crawling under furniture and playing with an inflated medical glove.

For more information, follow the link below.

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Taser should not be first police tool

Since Tasers were introduced as a law enforcement tool less than 10 years ago, their popularity among police agencies has grown enormously. An estimated 12,000 departments nationwide have made them standard issue.

In Georgia, Gwinnett County has become ground zero in the use of Tasers as a "nonlethal" method of confronting and subduing suspects. Last week, Gwinnett police leveled a 50,000-volt charge into a handcuffed, 14-year-old trick-or-treater who continued to be unruly while being held by two officers.

For more information, follow the link below.

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Georgia court sides with doctor in med-mal case

ATLANTA - Georgia's Supreme Court rejected a challenge to a state malpractice law Wednesday that argued it treated medical malpractice cases differently than other professional malpractice claims.

Plaintiff Kay Nichols claimed the law bars only medical malpractice claims that occur more than five years after the negligent act, not other types of malpractice claims, violating the equal protection clauses of the U.S. and state constitutions.

For more information, follow the link below.

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Avandia Given Black Box Warning by FDA

Avandia, the widely used diabetes drug manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline PLC got a new warning label Wednesday telling patients that it may, or may not, increase the risk of heart attacks.

Thus far, studies by the Food and Drug Administration have been too contradictory to tell if Avandia really is riskier than other Type 2 diabetes medications.

Still, the FDA put the controversy in a black box on the drug's label — the most severe warning the agency can require — at the behest of its scientific advisers, while it awaits further research to settle the issue.

Further complicating the new warning label: Patients may need a medical dictionary to interpret it. The warning says that Avandia may be associated with "myocardial ischemic events such as angina or myocardial infarction." In layman's terms, that's chest pain or a heart attack.

Avandia was FDA approved in 1999 and millions of Americans take the drug to help control their blood sugar levels. Avandia helps sensitize the body to insulin and was considered a breakthrough medication for blood-sugar control. Avandia contains rosiglitazone, which is part of the class of prescription drugs called called thiazolidinediones (TZDs). It helps the body use the insulin that it already manufactures. Avandia makes it possible for the insulin the body produces to move glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cells where it's needed for energy.

Type 2 diabetics who also have heart disease or are at high risk for it should talk with their doctor about Avandia's potential risk as they decide among treatment options, the FDA advised.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC has agreed to begin a major new study comparing that drug to another active blood sugar-lowering medication to better understand if there is a risk.
About 1 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes use Avandia.

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Illinois Mother Suing Drug Maker over Infant's Death

Dimitria Alvarez of Bloomington, Ill., has filed suit against McNeil-PPC Inc., maker of Infant Tylenol Cold Decongestant Plus Cough, and Walgreen Co., retailer of Infant Tylenol drops and Walgreen's Pediatric Drops-Cough Plus Cold.  She claims her infant son, Devon, died in 2001 after he was given Infant Tylenol Drops and Walgreen's Pediatric Drops at the recommendation of the family's pediatrician.

The cause of death was dextromethorphan intoxication. Devon's family says they were told later that Devon's body could not metabolize one of the key ingredients found in many infant cold and cough medicines.

The lawsuit filed in Lake County Circuit Court is one of the first since Federal Drug Administration hearings last month at which health experts testified that parents should not give children younger than 6 such medicines because they don't work and can be harmful.

In August, federal health officials recommended the "consult your physician" advice to parents on the labels of cold and cough medicines aimed at young children be replaced by a warning not to use the medications in children under 2 unless directed to do so by a health care provider.

The lawsuit says that McNeil and Walgreen should have known of the hazards of dextromethorphan, that the two medicines had never been tested for use by infants and that there had been deaths associated with the ingredient.

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Cart, car crash injures worker

TIFTON — A Tifton man is in critical condition after the golf cart he was driving was struck head-on at Abraham Baldwin College, police officials said.

Jack Larry, a custodial supervisor with Sodexho — a company contracted by the state university to provide maintenance duties — is in critical condition at the Medical Center of Central Georgia after a Tuesday-morning crash.

For more information, follow the link below.

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Thoughts of 'what if' follow teens' horrific wreck

Emergency workers rolled up on a sickening sight last weekend - five boys thrown from a wrecked car, all sprawled on Jefferson Road.

Two of the boys died, two were seriously hurt and the 14-year-old driver is in jail on vehicular homicide charges.

For more information, follow the link below.

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Boys were 'like family'; wreck kills teen, 1 charged

The two boys donned boxing gloves when they met for the first time a few years ago and became fast friends after duking it out in their northern Athens apartment complex.

For more information, follow the link below.

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East Hall wreck victims identified

GILLSVILLE - Authorities Tuesday morning identified the two Lula men who were killed in a wreck on Gillsville Highway Monday night.

According to Trooper Thompson of the Georgia State Patrol, Hugh William Moon, 34, and William Anthony Standridge, 30, were in a minivan that left the road in a curve near Georgia Highway 52.

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Lawsuits Filed in Bluffton University Baseball Crash

On March 2, 2007, a charter bus carrying members of the Bluffton University baseball team to spring training in Florida fell off an overpass in Atlanta. Five students, the bus driver and his wife were killed. Twenty-eight others were injured.

Now, attorneys want a federal court to decide if the members of the team involved in the crash are entitled to insurance money. A lawsuit filed on behalf of Bluffton University's players and coaches seeks to confirm the bus driver and the busing company were covered in the March accident.

The October filing in the U.S. District Court claims that the bus company and driver were insured under policies issued to the university and the injured victims are entitled to recover damages. The lawsuit also states that the insurance companies-- Hartford Fire Insurance Co., American Alternative Insurance Corp., and Federal Insurance Co. -- have not recognized the driver or company as being covered under estimated policies.  Representatives of all three insurers said they could not comment on the lawsuit.

A separate lawsuit against the company that made the bus, the university, the city of Atlanta and the company that provided the bus and driver to the team, has already been filed by the mother of one of the deceased players seeking unspecified damages. 

Investigators claim that the bus driver may have mistaken an exit ramp for a highway lane, but the National Transportation Safety Board has not made any finding on the crash's cause. The board's final accident report is expected next spring.

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Paralyzed Teen Getting Off Ventilator?

The parents of a Satsuma High School football player, paralyzed in a car crash, are optimistic their son will be taken off a ventilator soon.
Joseph Toomey was airlifted to Atlanta on Tuesday, one week after he was paralyzed from the chest down in a car crash.

For more information, follow the link below.

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Thanksgiving deadly on Georgia roads

Traffic crashes killed 26 people in Georgia during the Thanksgiving holiday period between Wednesday and Sunday nights, with six of the deaths happening in Southwest Georgia, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

For more information, follow the link below.

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Orion sues Sun Pharmaceuticals to Protect Drug Patent

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Supreme Court to Hear Exxon Valdez Case

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Novartis Sued for Withholding Tasigna Research

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FDA Issues Advisory of CellCept

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Georgia man injured in car accident Sunday

A Georgia man was injured when his pickup truck crashed into a tow truck in the median of Interstate 75 on Sunday.

Billy Fleming, 23, of Woodstock, Ga., was northbound on I-75 a mile south of State Road 200 when he apparently lost control of his Chevrolet S-10 at 5:45 p.m. The truck spun into the median, where the rear of the vehicle struck a tow truck that was stopped in the median after picking up a vehicle, according to Florida Highway Patrol reports.

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One dead, two injured following two-car crash

MELDRIM - One person was killed and two others were injured following a fiery Tuesday morning two-car accident at the intersection of U.S. 80 and Sandhill Road in southern Effingham County.

The unidentified victim was killed after his GEO Tracker collided head on with a Pontiac Aztek shortly before 2 a.m., said Robert Scott of the Georgia State Patrol.

For more information, follow the link below.

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2-Year-Old Suffers Bleeding on the Brain After Assault

Because a 2-year-old was acting like a 2-year-old, it has bleeding on the brain from repeated punches. Twenty-year-old Juan Arreola pleaded guilty to two counts each of endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangerment and simple assault according to Associated Press reports.


While caring for his girlfriend’s son, he allegedly kicked the boy, squeezed his face and then punched the infant in the head. After the punching episode, the mother brought the child to the hospital. The boy had severe bruises on his face and back.


When Northampton County (Pa.) Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden asked Arreola if that's how he regularly treated 2-year-olds, the defendant replied: "I was working till midnight. I'm not a morning person." McFadden then asked, "You're going to look at me straight in the face and say 'I'm not a morning person,'?" she asked.


The judge ordered Arreola to undergo psychological and psychiatric evaluations and set sentencing for Dec. 14. The maximum penalty is a Pennsylvania state prison term of more than 20 years.

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Co-Defendant to Testify Against O.J. Simpson

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Social Security Database Full of Errors

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Press Release: Medtronic Halts Sales of Defibrillator Wires After 5 Die

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Link Suspected Between Acute Pancreatitis and Byetta

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"Racing Rage" Claims Three More Lives in California

Senseless “racing rage” between two young men in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte October 11 left a mother and her two children dead and a husband wondering what to do with the rest of his “empty” life.



Father Lost Everything He Lived For



“It’s the worst day of your life, times three,” said Stephen Groce, his filmy, hazel eyes fixed on the floor. “I’m a 44-year-old guy…you don’t have a lot else to look forward to.”



Authorities believe the mother, 41-year-old Dora Groce died on impact from the broadside smash. It’s believed her two children – 4-year-old Catherine and 8-year-old Robert – might have burned to death in their seats.



“It was a fierce crash," said El Monte Police Detective Ralph Batres. "The explosion that resulted was immense."



Groce’s car was heaved 50 feet after the crash and wound up a charred piece of twisted metal no one could recognize. Five other people were injured when several cars nearby were struck by the racing vehicles.



If Convicted, Teen-age Motorist Could Face Life in Prison



El Monte police identified the speeding drivers as Robert Canizalez, 19 and Martin Morones, 21. Canizalez, driver of the Mustang that crashed into Groce’s car, was arraigned in L.A. Superior Court and charged with three counts of murder. Bail was set at $3 million. If convicted, Canizalez could face life in prison. Morones is at large and charged in abstentia with three counts of murder and one count of felony hit-and-run. He abandoned his Honda one block from the crash.



Ironically, both men live in the same, mobile-home park as the Groces. Stephen Groce said he knew neither young man.



He was returning home from his job as a U.S.D.A. inspector when he carefully drove around the crash scene near his home. Not until he pulled into the park did neighbors tell him to talk to police. "This was a disaster waiting to happen," he said. "I just didn't know it was going to happen to me."


Sixteen people now have died from drag racing incidents in California this year.

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Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against Washington, D.C. Police Department

The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office now are in charge.



In a fervent wrongful death case in the Nation’s Capital, the attorney for the deceased and D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) agree on nothing surrounding the death of a teenager.



Teen Died from Gunshot to Back of Head



Determined is 14-year-old Deonte Rawlins died of a bullet to the back of his head. As of this week, family attorney Gregory Lattimer filed a $100 million, wrongful death lawsuit against the MPD.



“This is as close to official murder as one can get," Lattimer told WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Washington.



Authorities said on September 17, two off-duty officers in plain clothes responded to a report that one of their homes was burglarized.



MPD Chief Cathy Lanier said two officers drove around looking for the alleged stolen item -- a mini bike. The officers saw a teen on a mini-bike in the 600 block of Atlantic Street SE and approached in their civilian vehicle.



Police Allege Teen Fired First



"When the officer pulled up next to the decedent on the mini-bike, the decedent opened fire three times, striking the officer's vehicle while the officer was still inside. The officer returned eight shots did not have time to identify himself," the chief said.



Not so, said Lattimer. And he has three witnesses to support him. “There was no gun in the hands of Deonte Rawlins," Lattimer said. "Deonte Rawlins never fired a weapon. Deonte was trying to get away. He was running.”



Lattimer said one of his witnesses was running away with Deonte when officers fired. The attorney hasn’t said police are lying but he’s implying a cover up.



"The police didn't release the autopsy report," Lattimer said. "Nobody told us about this boy being shot in the back of the head. Nobody told us about these bruises. They won't even tell us about this mini-bike they supposedly found. What about this gun? Where is this gun? What about all the evidence they supposedly have? Where is it?"



Lattimer also contends James Haskel, the officer who shot and killed Rawlins, had previous encounters with the youth, harassing him about alleged drug activity and shootings in the area.



Rawlins' father maintains his son did not have a gun and said someone else fired the shot that pierced the officer’s sport utility vehicle. Neighbors in the Condon Terrace community said there were 20 teenagers in the area when the officer fired.



The autopsy report showed Rawlins was shot in the back of the head. The report revealed Rawlins had cuts, bruises and blunt-force trauma to the left side of his face, shoulders and back.



Autopsy Found No Gunpowder on Decedent’s Fingers



"Those injuries [from the autopsy] are consistent with only two things -- either the officers physically assaulted him or he was hit and dragged by a vehicle," Lattimer said. "Those are the only two things that would justify the injuries Deonte suffered."



The autopsy report revealed no gunpowder residue on the decedent’s fingers, which would signify the firing of a gun.



The officer who fired the shots is a 22-year veteran assigned to the department's special operations division. The accompanying officer is a 19-year veteran with the training academy.

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Iron Worker Files Suit After Fall Through Open Roof Section

An iron worker backpedaling while carrying heavy equipment, fell 25 feet through a hole in the roof of a Wal-Mart Supercenter under construction in southern Illinois, according to the Madison County Record.



Jay Jeffers has filed a $100,000 personal-injury lawsuit against the project manager, Brinkmann Constructors as well as subcontractor Bell-O Sales and Services. The accident happened June 21 in the town of Belleville, Il.



Roof Was Cut Open for HVAC Equipment



The roof opening had been cut to accommodate HVAC equipment but Jeffers said there was no warning to workers. Jeffers was helping carry a 20-long section of angle iron with another worker when he inadvertently stepped through the roof deck opening. While he fell, Jeffers struck metal roof bracing before landing on the ground, according to the lawsuit.



Jeffers, who was employed by Rednour Steel Erectors, claimed the opening was not adequately covered by barricades or warning tape.



The suit stated, "The plaintiff has suffered permanent disability and disfigurement and has sustained a loss of enjoyment of his life." He is seeking in excess of $100,000 in damages.

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Michigan Teacher Sustains Brain Injury After Crashing Head-First into Bleachers

An Upper Peninsula Michigan teacher is in critical condition after falling in the school gymnasium during a homecoming activity. The Rapid River High School teacher was participating in hockey match between school seniors and faculty when he tripped and crashed head-first into the base of the wooden basketball bleachers.



Mike Winkowski, who teaches business education at Rapid River, remained in intensive care at Marquette General Hospital.



“He tripped and fell head first and hit the base of the bleachers. It was just a freak accident,” School Superintendent Terri Mileski said.



Winkowski was transported to St. Francis Hospital for preliminary tests before being transferred to Marquette, where he underwent seven hours of surgery.



“It just shows you how things can change in a heartbeat,” Mileski commented. “It just shows you life is fragile.”



Son Heard Hospital Officials Mention “Paralysis



Winkowski’s son, Jarrett said, “Dad was running for a ball and tripped and fell head first into the bleachers. He never lost consciousness, but on arrival at the hospital, they said he was paralyzed from the waist down. He did have function of his hands and shoulders. He was in a lot of pain then, but still managed to be his same witty self.”



Reports were that Winkowski fractured a bone in his upper spine but did not sever his spinal cord.

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Roadside Memorials: Hallowed or Hazardous?

In this information age, there are symbols for everything, everywhere. Stop at a red light and you’re “head-ached” with stickers – not just on the bumper – from the car in front of you. “My kid is an honor roll student at …” is common. If someone has a pet, there is a decal signifying what type. If one owns beach property, there are acronyms telling all just where the hideaway exists. License plates are fair game too and the mixed bag of numbers and letters are a phonics-frenzy game for some.



Information Age Fosters Symbols for Any Message



In tragedy, there are signs as well. It’s commonplace to see wreaths and flowers along the road or against a tree, where someone has lost their life. “Makeshift memorials” have become the standard-bearer for motorist-related fatalities. Watch a television newscast and it’s the first thing “on camera” as an on-air personality walks reverently on the site with a microphone and muted voice.



However, “makeshift memorials” aren’t just for the grieving. Drivers take their eyes off the road to notice them. Those stopped at a light stare at them, trying to make out the name where the marker’s ink has run in the rain.



They’ve become hazards, which could cause another tragedy at the memorial, itself. Oftentimes, they’re situated at the base of a large tree, where a vehicle had impacted. Passing motorists focus on teddy bears and signs while trying to negotiate the same hairpin curve in the road. Usually, the accident site appears without warning, just as it might have during the fatal accident.



Roadside Memorials – Hallowed or Hazardous?



The debate on the memorial’s hazards pit surviving relatives and friends against police, road engineers and “disconnected” motorists who want them removed. It’s a sensitive issue without a governing law.



John P. Medeiros, who lost his 20-year-old son in a Rhode Island car accident in April 2002, gets "very upset" hearing people complain about roadside memorials, according to EastBayRI.com. "People have to put themselves in our position to learn what we lost and what it means," said the high school gym teacher.


There have been only two cases when the Rhode Island Department of Transportation asked a family to remove a memorial for safety reasons, according to Dana Alexander Nolfe, department spokeswoman.


"It's an issue we're very aware of and we need to be sensitive. Right now we're handling it on a case-by-case basis. So long as it's not a safety issue and it's not a danger to drivers, we tend to leave them alone," she said.


Tiverton (R.I.) Police Chief Thomas Blakey said it's a "very delicate subject" and sympathizes with families who’ve lost loved ones in car accidents. "Yet I see them along main highways, and it leads me to wonder whether they're distracting to drivers sometimes," he said.


Blakey said long-term memorials should be located in safe areas, away from drivers. "I understand the respect they're trying to bestow, but there are some elaborate ones out there now," he said.


In Barrington, Police Chief John LaCross could recall only one occasion when police removed a memorial. LaCross also said memorials serve a good purpose. "Sometimes it's a reminder for people to exercise caution, slow down and wear safety belts." he said. “But if it's a location that poses a traffic hazard where there is no shoulder or the ability for people to pull off, there shouldn't be a memorial that could potentially cause a second accident," he added.

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Father Ties Up Daughter, Forces Her to Swim in Chilly River

If this isn’t “cruel and unusual punishment” or even “personal (mental) injury,” then what would be? Thank the Chinese paparazzi in Beijing for presenting all the evidence a jury would need to convict. Accompanying a FOXNews.com report was a photograph of a father, hoisting a whimpering and exhausted 10-year-old girl from the chilly waters of a Chinese river. Look closely and you’ll notice strings dangling from the girl’s wrists and ankles.



Dad Ties Up Daughter for Chilly Swim



In extreme vicariousness, a father tied together the hands and feet of his 10-year-old daughter and forced her to swim for three hours. Why? To train for the Olympics, of course, which are to be held in China next year.



He said this “training” would help the girl achieve “her” dream of swimming across the English Channel. Of course, the girl has not publicly spoken on “her” wishes or reaction to the training regimen.



Huang Li swam more than a mile in the Xiang River in late September. The father was “kind enough” to let her swim with the current. However, she had to swim by moving like a dolphin, sometimes paddling with her bound hands.


Huang Daosheng, lacking the credentials of a swimming coach, let alone a father, said, "Her swimming skills are perfect and she insisted on doing this," he told FOXNews.com. Daosheng said his daughter got the idea after seeing similar training on television.


Upcoming Olympics Spurs Extreme Training


Sadly, this wasn’t the only instance of “Chinese Dads Gone Wild.” Earlier this summer, 8-year-old Zhuang Huimin ran over 2,200 in 55 days. During this “fun run,” her father rode behind her in a motor scooter he didn’t have to peddle.


After that “Polar Bear Dip,” 10-year-old Li’s face was so chilled, it was blue, reported one Chinese newspaper.


But since she’s such an adept swimmer (is that with or without her extremities bound), dad wasn’t concerned. "It's not dangerous because, first, her swimming skills are really good and second, I was swimming with her, staying close to her," he said. "I had her when I was 35, so she is my heart. I would never play around with her life." Does he not consider possible hyperventilating, cramping, fatigue or drowning “playing around?”


It is reported that budgetary restraints prohibit the father from hiring a skilled coach. Hopefully, there’s insurance for neglect, personal injury or wrongful death.



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299262,00.html

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Drunk Driver Slams Police Cruiser into DeKalb County Officer

A DeKalb County policeman who was struck by a vehicle in a chain-reaction and lost consciousness is recovering at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC).

Officer Lucky to Be Alive in Near Miss

Dwight Green, a two-year veteran of the police force, had stopped on the shoulder of Interstate 295 to check an abandoned vehicle. A drunk driver behind the wheel of a sport utility vehicle left the road and struck the police cruiser, which was pushed into Green, forcing him to the pavement, where he passed out. The incident happened on September 29, near the intersection of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and I-295.

An off-duty Barrow County Sheriff’s deputy arrived at the scene and used Green’s radio to call for assistance. Green later was listed in good condition.

The driver of the SUV -- 54-year-old Daniel Hariston -- was hospitalized at Atlanta Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, according to the AJC. Police charged him with DUI, reckless driving, following too closely and violating Georgia’s new “move-over law.” That law requires motorists to slow down and change lanes if they see a patrol car in the adjacent lane.

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Co-Pilot Suffers Facial Cuts After Bird Collides With Atlanta-bound Jet

The co-pilot of an AirTran Airways jet bound for Atlanta suffered facial cuts from flying glass after a bird collided with the plane’s windshield. The Boeing 737 returned to Philadelphia International Airport without incident. Neither the pilot, other crew or passengers were injured during the mid-air mishap.

Air Tran Flight 47 carrying 143 passengers had been airborne 10 minutes when the right-side windshield was shattered by the bird, the Federal Aviation Administration said..

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Woman Left Inside CT Scan Machine for Five Hours

Think about lying inside an MRI or CT scan device for half an hour. Now think about a technician leaving you inside it with a buzzer squawking, locking the doors, flipping off the lights and going home.



This was the nightmare Elvira Tellez lived last week at an oncology center in Tucson, Arizona. And it may be the only time in her life she didn’t think about her cancer.



After lying inside for what seemed a good half hour, she called out to the technician but heard no answer. Screaming didn’t help. She then wiggled out from under a rubberized blanket and “wormed” her way out of the fiberglass cocoon. When she tried to leave the building, she couldn’t unlock the door. Her only salvation was to call her son, who dialed 911, according to the Associated Press.



A 25-Minute Procedure Took Five Hours



When Pima County sheriffs arrived to the locked facility, they coached her to unlock the door. Deputy Dawn Hanke contacted the Arizona Oncology Associates (AOA) manager, who was unaware a patient had been left inside a scanning machine. Tellez was admitted overnight to a hospital for precautionary reasons, then released the next day.


"I don't know what to think," Tellez said in Spanish. "I think and think and think, but I can't understand it."


Ted Eazer, director for AOA, said his center has revised its “closing” protocol to prohibit the incident from repeating itself.


What was supposed to be a routine, 25-minute procedure took five hours. The 67-year-old patient was sent there for scans to see if her cancer had spread.



http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g4WpybGkA9sxp2b6ext-RBoaO_FQD8RUMN9O0







Think about lying inside an MRI or CT scan device for half an hour. Now think about a technician leaving you inside it with a buzzer squawking, locking the doors, flipping off the lights and going home.



This was the nightmare Elvira Tellez lived last week at an oncology center in Tucson, Arizona. And it may be the only time in her life she didn’t think about her cancer.



After lying inside for what seemed a good half hour, she called out to the technician but heard no answer. Screaming didn’t help. She then wiggled out from under a rubberized blanket and “wormed” her way out of the fiberglass cocoon. When she tried to leave the building, she couldn’t unlock the door. Her only salvation was to call her son, who dialed 911, according to the Associated Press.



A 25-Minute Procedure Took Five Hours



When Pima County sheriffs arrived to the locked facility, they coached her to unlock the door. Deputy Dawn Hanke contacted the Arizona Oncology Associates (AOA) manager, who was unaware a patient had been left inside a scanning machine. Tellez was admitted overnight to a hospital for precautionary reasons, then released the next day.


"I don't know what to think," Tellez said in Spanish. "I think and think and think, but I can't understand it."


Ted Eazer, director for AOA, said his center has revised its “closing” protocol to prohibit the incident from repeating itself.


What was supposed to be a routine, 25-minute procedure took five hours. The 67-year-old patient was sent there for scans to see if her cancer had spread.



http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g4WpybGkA9sxp2b6ext-RBoaO_FQD8RUMN9O0







Think about lying inside an MRI or CT scan device for half an hour. Now think about a technician leaving you inside it with a buzzer squawking, locking the doors, flipping off the lights and going home.



This was the nightmare Elvira Tellez lived last week at an oncology center in Tucson, Arizona. And it may be the only time