May 1, 2016

Attorney Adds Bus Driver, Casino to Fatal Rollover Lawsuit

Five survivors of the fatal bus rollover May 14 are expanding their lawsuit to include the Eagle Pass casino and the bus coordinator. The original lawsuit included only two survivors and named OGA Charters, of San Juan, as the sole defendant. An amended petition filed Saturday adds three plaintiffs and includes Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino; Porfirio Aguirre, the bus driver; and Elvia Estrada, a …


Transit Agency Settles Excessive-Force Lawsuit With Woman

BART says in a statement it settled the lawsuit earlier this month and accepted full responsibility for the injuries Megan Sheehan received after an officer slammed her face-first onto the floor, the East Bay Times reported Saturday (http://bit.ly/1RfVWm8). BART police said at the time that Sheehan was drunk and argumentative with officers who found her on a bench inside the station. Officers …


Long Beach Files Lawsuit Against Monsanto

Following the lead of six other West Coast cities, the city of Long Beach on Thursday filed paperwork to sue Monsanto, alleging that the agrochemical giant is responsible for chemical contamination of its water sources, including the Port of Long Beach. According to the complaint, PCBs find their way to Long Beach waters when they leach, leak, off-gas and …


Floyd Bledsoe’s Federal Lawsuit Offers New Theory on 1999 Murder of Camille Arfmann

Buried and briefly mentioned within a federal lawsuit filed this month is a new theory on a 16-year-old question: Why was Camille Arfmann killed? Arfmann stepped off a school bus in Oskaloosa on Nov. 5, 1999, and was found dead less than three days later. The 14-year-old had been shot four times and buried beneath garbage in the northern outskirts of the small Jefferson County town.


Vista Bar Overserved Motorcyclist, Led to Passenger’s Death

A bar in Columbia’s Vista is being accused in a lawsuit of serving so much alcohol to a patron that he became “grossly intoxicated” and crashed his motorcycle, causing the death of a friend who was riding with him. The suit, filed by the father of Caitlin Clark, 19, who died in the crash, is against Tin Roof Acquisition Co. LLC, which runs the Tin Roof bar at 1022 Senate St. in Columbia. “This …


Indiana Opposes IU Bid to Join Lawsuit Against Abortion Law

Indiana’s attorney general is opposing Indiana University’s effort to join a federal lawsuit that seeks to block a new state law banning abortions sought because of genetic abnormalities. IU filed a motion Monday seeking to intervene in the suit, claiming the law could subject IU researchers to criminal charges because they use fetal tissue for research into autism, Alzheimer’s and other …


Clinton Lawyer Loses George Soros-Funded Lawsuit Fighting Virginia Voter ID Law

On Thursday, judges of the U.S. District Court in Virginia dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the state’s voter ID law SB 1256. “Mindful that the Court’s mission is to judge not the wisdom of the Virginia voter ID law, but rather its constitutionality, this Court cannot say that Plaintiffs have met their burden of proof in showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the Virginia voter ID …


IU Files to Join Lawsuit Against New Abortion Law

Indiana University has joined the fight against the state’s new abortion law. This week, the school joined a challenge against HEA 1337 filed in federal court by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky. IU claims the law could result in criminal charges against the university and its employees engaged in ongoing fetal tissue research on autism, Alzheimer’s and …


‘Dirty Soda’ Lawsuit Calls Shop’s Co-Owners Responsible for Alleged Trademark Violations

In an increasingly dirty legal battle between dueling soda shops, Swig now names the owners and officers of its rival company, Sodalicious, as individual defendants in a federal lawsuit. The trademark lawsuit filed more than a year ago by St. George-based Swig Holdings LLC claims Provo’s Sodalicious Inc. has profited by being “a near exact knockoff” of the popular drink …


Border Higher Ed Gains Began With a Lawsuit

It began with a lawsuit by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in 1987. The Texas border area, including the area from Brownsville to Corpus Christi to San Antonio to El Paso, with 20 percent of Texas population, has improved from 11 percent of Texas higher education revenues in 1993 to 18 percent in 2013, and remains at 18 percent today. The area has …