Legal Help Live TV Show Notes - November 10, 2010

TV 11-10-10 Show notes Attorneys Stephen

Warren Solomon & Ralph B. Saltsman ”Legal

Help Live” TV Wed 4 pm PST call 1(800)405-4222,

or web casting la36.org

Disorder in the Court: Clerk Arrested

For Dismissing Relatives' Tickets

-Former Palm Beach clerk arrested for changing traffic tickets

-Butler was a deputy clerk at the Palm Beach County courthouse and for two

years helped out over a dozen friends who were stopped by cops and issued

tickets. I n all, she may have changed about 42 different cases, authorities

believe

I t’s the coffee?

-Man apparently commits suicide at

Starbucks in Thousand Oaks

-THOUSAND OAKS — Police are investigating an

apparent suicide at a Starbucks in the 500 block

of North Ventu Park Road.

High Court Case Tests Bans On Class- Action Suits

-The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in a case against AT& T

Mobility. A California couple sued the company on behalf of themselves

and all others who were charged $30.32 in sales tax for the supposedly free

phone they got when they enrolled. If they won, the class action could bring

potentially millions of dollars for all those consumers improperly charged.

But the cell phone contract barred class actions, meaning that the couple

would likely recover only $30.32 for themselves.

Explosion

-SAN M ATEO, Calif. (CN) - Attorneys for 18

families whose homes were destroyed or damaged

in the September gas explosion in San Bruno

place blame for the disaster squarely at the feet of

PG& E. Besides failing to maintain the enormous

pipeline under a rapidly growing neighborhood,

the families say, PG& E applied for rate increases

in each of the 3 years before the disaster, seeking

$5 million in taxpayer money to replace the pipe,

but "never made the repairs for which they

received the funds.

NCAA Hit With $25M Defamation Lawsuit

By CHI E AKI BA

LOS ANGELES (CN) - An events promoter claims the National

Collegiate Athletic Association defamed him by claiming he acted as

O.J. Mayo's "handler" and gave him cash, gifts and "extra benefits," in an

investigative report that led to sanctions against the University of Southern

California.

Rodney Guillory, the so-called "mayor of prep basketball" in

Southern California, demands $25 million from the NCAA, claiming its

report "mischaracterizes and misrepresents" his relationship with the former

Trojan star who now plays for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlie

-Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds

-San Francisco bans mc donalds happy meal toy give away

Justices Weigh Seat-Belt Lawsuits Against Mazda (CN)

-The Supreme Court on Wednesday looked at whether federal standards giving

car makers options in design and equipment requirements pre-empt design-defect claims

at the state level. The case arose from a California tort lawsuit accusing Mazda of failing to install a lap and shoulder belt instead of just a lap belt in the center back seat of a minivan, which allegedly led to a woman's death in a collision. The attorney for the victim's family, Martin Buchanan, said the family's state-law claims should be permitted based on Congress' intent to let common law play a role in determining safe vehicle standards.

Strip Search Machines at airports

-Transportation Security Administration initially

called “whole-body imagers” but has now

labeled “advanced imaging technology” units.

Critics, of course, call them strip-search machines.

Is this an evasion of privacy or just a security need

in today’s world?

Dina Lohan admits Lindsay is an addict

-- After years of downplaying Lindsay Lohan's

struggles with substance abuse, Dina Lohan

admitted M onday that her daughter is an addict

The Spa Half-Hour- the economy decline for the super rich.

By ABBY ELLI N NY times

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when every big hotel needed a spa. Leisure

travelers demanded it, and business travelers did, too — to reward themselves, their

clients or their employees with lavish massage and steam-filled weekends in opulent

settings.

Legal Help Live Show Notes - October 27, 2010

Legal Help Live offers legal suggestions each Wednesday at 4 PM. During the show the Hosts take calls from viewers with legal situations from parking tickets to personal injury. Viewers can catch the show on LA cable channel 36 or 16 in Santa Monica. Online the show can be viewed on LA36.org.

Legal Help Live Show Notes 10-27-10

If you'd like to ask the Hosts a question call 1(800)405-4222


600,000 Local Government Salaries Posted Online

By Chase Davis

-State Controller John Chiang today made good on a promise to post an online database of salary and benefits for hundreds of thousands of local government employees around the state.
So far, the database includes salary and benefit information for nearly 600,000 employees in more than 400 cities and about 40 counties statewide. The famous six-figure Bell salaries are included, although data from the city of Vernon, whose employees' big paydays are also under investigation, has not yet been collected.

-Lindsay Can't Afford Rehab; Looking for a Sponsor- $ 50,000

-State High Court Rejects Riverside's Efforts To Ease Criminal Case Backlog
Trial courts facing criminal case backlogs don't have to sideline civil and family court matters to deal with the problem, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday.

-City drowning in rubbish: 10,000 TONS of waste pile up on streets of Marseilles in chilling echo of British 'winter of discontent-france

Nurse caught on CCTV turning off paralysed patient's life support machine-A paralysed patient has been left severely brain damaged after a nurse switched off his life support machine in an incident captured on CCTV. England


OAKLAHOMA-Edwin Fry, 73, of Hydro, faces charges after springing his poodle from the pound with a lawn tractor and bolt cutters. The dog, Buddy Tough, was euthanized while his owner was in jail. PIT BULL

BY ANN KELLEY Oklahoman 223
Published: October 22, 2010

HYDRO — A Hydro man sprung his poodle from the pound using a lawn tractor and bolt cutters, only to land himself behind bars with no one to rescue him. And while he was in jail, his dog was put back in the pound and euthanized
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/

Baby killed as family jumps from Paris window after 'devil sighting'Saturday, 23 October 2010
-A baby died when a family of 12 leapt from their second floor balcony in Paris claiming they were fleeing the devil.
Eight more were injured, some seriously, in the tragedy when they jumped 20ft into a car park in Paris suburb of La Verriere.
The baffling incident occurred when a wife woke to see her husband moving about naked in the room, police said.
She began screaming 'it's the devil! it's the devil!', and the man ran into the other room where 11 others adults and children were watching television. One woman grabbed a knife and stabbed the man before others pushed him out through the front door.
When the man forced his way back in, they all began screamed in terror and leapt from the balcony screaming 'Jesus! Jesus!'
The naked man also leapt from the balcony, detectives said

NYC bedbugs scaring off NYC tourists
- NEW YORK (AP) - New York City's bedbugs have climbed out of bed and marched into landmarks like the Empire State Building, Bloomingdale's and Lincoln Center, causing fresh anxiety among tourists who are canceling Big Apple vacations planned for the height of the holiday season.
Some travelers who had arranged trips to New York say they are creeped out about staying in hotels and visiting attractions as new reports of bedbugs seem to pop up every few days. And officials in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration are concerned about the effect on the city's image and $30 billion tourism industry.
The discoveries of pests at high-profile places are often not full-blown infestations, or even in public areas. Bloomingdale's reported finding exactly one bug in the famous department store, the Empire State Building had them in the basement and Lincoln Center's were in a dressing room

Legal Help Live Show Notes 10-13-2010

Legal Help Live offers legal suggestions each Wednesday at 4 PM. During the show the Hosts take calls from viewers with legal situations from parking tickets to personal injury. Viewers can catch the show on LA cable channel 36 or 16 in Santa Monica. Online the show can be viewed on LA36.org.

Legal Help Live Show Notes 10-13-10

If you'd like to ask the Hosts a question call 1(800)405-4222

-Station fire's lost 'window of opportunity' recounted- Why did air drops not come at 7 am but at 9am,and over 200 houses destroyed?
Ex-Forest Service chief tells congressional panel he tried to get timely help in fighting the massive blaze.

-California to Sell 24 Government Buildings for $2.3 Billion-The Associated Press reported earlier this year that the deal would end up costing the state $5.2 billion in rent over 20 years, perhaps saddling taxpayers with costs beyond whatever the state would net from the sal

-FOOD TRUCK GRADING PLAN A,B,C LOS ANGELES COUNTY ITS ABOUT TIME

-HIV FILM PORN STARS AND ADULT FILM STOP SHOOTING


-California Supreme Court upholds unpaid furloughs for state employees, but ...
Los Angeles Times (blog) - ‎17 hours ago‎
The California Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld last year's unpaid furloughs for more than 200000 state employees, ruling that state legislators ...


-Man driving lawn mower arrested for DUI
KENWOOD, CA -- A Kenwood man riding a lawn mower was arrested for DUI Saturday night after leaving a market, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A CHP officer stopped 55-year-old John Poshepny at about 7:50 p.m. when he left the parking lot of the Kenwood Market, located at 8910 Sonoma Highway, and drove south on Green Street, CHP Officer Jon Sloat said.
The mower did not have lights and was difficult to see, Sloat said.
Poshepny, who lives within two blocks of the market, told the CHP officer he occasionally uses the mower to drive to the store to get groceries, Sloat said.
Poshepny had a brown bottle in a brown paper bag, and the CHP officer smelled alcohol on his breath, Sloat said.

-Verizon Wireless to Pay Millions in Refunds
New York Times - ‎12 hours ago‎
WASHINGTON - Verizon Wireless said on Sunday that it would pay up to $90 million in refunds to 15 million cellphone customers who were wrongly charged for data sessions or Internet use, one of the largest customer refunds by a ...
Verizon Wireless to refund $50 million to customers Los



-Schwarzenegger approves bill downgrading marijuana possession of ounce or less to an infraction
-Supporters say the change will keep marijuana-related cases from becoming court-clogging jury trials, even though the penalty will remain a fine of up to $100, with no jail time.


-The new pot gardener
Growing pot at home: What's legal?
If you have a recommendation from a doctor to use medical marijuana, it is also legal for you to grow it, in limited quantities. The trouble is figuring out how much you can grow before law enforcement comes after you. A timeline of the rules in California:
1996: Proposition 215 passes, making it legal for "seriously ill" Californians and their primary caregivers to grow marijuana for medical purposes if medical use has been recommended by a physician. No limit for how much marijuana a person with a recommendation can grow or possess is set at this time.
2004: Senate Bill 420, the Medical Marijuana Program Act, goes into effect. The bill establishes a voluntary registration of medical marijuana patients and their primary caregivers through a statewide identification card system. The bill's guidelines state that a cardholder can possess up to 8 ounces of dried marijuana or may cultivate as many as six mature or 12 immature plants. Individual counties may choose to set higher limits, but no county may set a lower limit.
2010: In People vs. Kelly, the state Supreme Court holds that patients can possess or cultivate as much as is "reasonably necessary." They cannot be convicted simply for exceeding the possession or cultivation guidelines in SB 420; however, they can be forced to defend themselves in court.

-Judge orders halt to 'don't ask, don't tell'

-What it prevents and will there be an appeal

-Band's Stunt Shuts Down 101 Freeway

Legal Help Live Show Notes 9-29-2010

-FTC targets Pom juice health claims – true or false is it a help effective against heart and prostate problems
-Segway company owner rides one off cliff to his death ...year bought the company that makes the Segway scooter fell to his death off a cliff...Heselden bought the New Hampshire-based Segway company in December. The former coal... British law restricts the use of Segway scooters to private land.
-'Pulpit Freedom Sunday' to Defy IRS-church
Pastors Across the U.S. Say They Will Defy Law and Talk Politics-ederal tax law, established in 1954, prohibits churches and tax exempt entities from endorsing or opposing political candidates.
-Mc cord divorce attorney for both changed words after document signed. Contract or no contract?
-Arrested 8 bell officials for corruption
-Vatican bank and alleged money laundering
-First execution set for 9-20-10 in new death room-will it happen? None since 1977
-Ohio University Sorry Its Mascot Attacked Ohio State's Brutus Buckeye
Government to implement planned tax on sweets, ice cream and soft drinks
Medical marijuana growers join Teamsters union
-OAKLAND, Calif. -- As organized labor faces declining membership, one of the country's most storied unions is looking to a new growth industry: marijuana.
The Teamsters added nearly 40 new members earlier this month by organizing the country's first group of unionized marijuana growers. Such an arrangement is likely only possible in California, which has the nation's loosest medical marijuana laws
-FINLAND-On Thursday, the government decided in its general session that a tax is to be levied on candies and similar sweets, chocolate, cocoa products, ice cream, and popsicles.
-Lindsay Lohan's probation revoked, arrest warrant issued-Paris Hilton pleads guilty rat pack continues-who care anymore?

Legal Help Live Show Notes

Legal Help Live offers legal suggestions each Wednesday at 4 PM. During the show the Hosts take calls from viewers with legal situations from parking tickets to personal injury. Viewers can catch the show on LA cable channel 36 or 16 in Santa Monica. Online the show can be viewed on LA36.org.

If you'd like to ask the Hosts a question call 1(800)405-4222

Show Notes 9-13-2010

-Plaintiffs May Sue Over Explosion -Lawsuits are likely on the horizon after last week's massive explosion and fire in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno that, as of Friday afternoon, had killed four people, destroyed and damaged more than 40 homes and injured dozens.
-Ageless Cher Turns Back Time to 1989 in a very familiar outfit at the MTV Video Music Awards-at 64
-Fitness guru Jane Fonda looks amazing at 72 in new workout DVD for old age pensioners. She is just as famous for her 1980s workout videos as she is for winning two Oscars and protesting the Vietnam War. And now, fitness guru Jane Fonda is stepping back into the lycra to release two new exercise DVDs - aimed at old age pensioners. As these pictures show, the 72-year-old actress has managed to maintain the amazing body she flaunted in skimpy aerobic leotards 25 years ago.
-Sponge left inside Palm Beach County judge during surgery nearly kills him-Palm Beach Post Staff Writer- It has been called the “surgeon’s dread.” The most common mistake made in surgery, according to medical journals, is leaving a sponge or instrument inside a patient. County Judge Nelson Bailey knows precisely what happens when something is left behind. After abdominal surgery at Good Samaritan Medical Center for diverticulitis, the pain in the judge’s belly only got worse. Repeatedly, he says, he returned to his primary doctor and complained. Repeatedly, he was sent for CT scans. And repeatedly, the metal marker on the sponge appearing in the scans was misidentified. For five months, the surgical sponge festered near Bailey’s intestines. The pus- and bile-stained mass measured more than a foot long and a foot wide when finally removed and unwound in March. “I was expecting something like a kitchen sponge,” the longtime judge said. “I was shocked.”
-Invalid conditions of criminal probation
-California DUI and Motorcycle Fatalities Highlight Big Declines in Overall Traffic Deaths /PRNewswire/ -- For the fourth year in a row, DUI deaths dropped in 2009. At the same time, motorcycle fatalities saw their first drop since 1998, marking the end to an 11-year, 175 percent increase. DUI and motorcycle deaths were just two of the highlights of a statewide decline in total traffic fatalities of 10.3 percent.
In figures released by the Federal government today, California recorded 950 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities in 2009, a 7.6 percent decline from 1,025 in 2008. The 2009 totals mark a 26.8 percent drop from the 2005 high of 1,298. Motorcycle fatalities dropped by 29.6 percent, from 560 in 2008 to 394 in 2009. Total traffic fatalities from all causes fell from 3,434 in 2008 to 3,081 last year.
-California Supreme Court seems likely to uphold forced state furloughs-Los Angeles Times-The justices' questions to lawyers indicate they'll rule Schwarzenegger's furloughs legal. The furloughs sparked more than 30 lawsuits.
-Hermosa Beach tattoo parlor ban ruled unconstitutional by appeals court -By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times -Tattoos and the art of tattooing... Beach ban on tattoo parlors is unconstitutional...Cheat'n Heart Tattoo in Gardena, after...coastal community. Hermosa Beach officials had refused...said he expected Hermosa Beach officials to reconside
-Don’t ask don’t tell policy of military violates 1st amendment riverside district court judge rules
-FDA says e-cigarette companies must seek regulatory approval
The FDA targets five firms, warning them that e-cigs need to be approved as drugs and/or drug delivery devices.

Researchers see Rise in Children's-Sports Related Concussions (with comment by Stephen Jamieson)

By Jennifer Corbett Dooren Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The number of concussions suffered by school-age children appears to be rising even as participation in certain organized team sports declines, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

The study, by researchers at Hasbro Children's Hospital and Brown University, both in Providence, R.I., is the first national look at concussions in school-age kids, who may be more vulnerable to long-term complications from such head injuries than adults.

The study looked at more than 500,000 emergency room visits for concussions in children ages 8-to-19 from 2001 to 2005 with a focus on concussions caused by sports injuries.

Of the approximately 502,000 emergency room visits for concussions, more than 252,000 were sports-related, which included individual sports like bicycling and snow-skiing as well as team sports.

Children ages 8-to-13 had a higher rate of sports-related concussions at 58% than children ages 14-to-19.

The study's lead author, Lisa Bakhos, who is now a pediatric emergency room doctor at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, N.J., said that while many studies have been conducted on the impact of concussions among high-school, college and professional athletes, little is known about sports-related concussions in school-age children.

"We really don't know what the long-term consequences [of concussions] are in kids," Bakhos said. Researchers speculate that concussions in the still growing brains of young children may produce more severe long-term developmental and cognitive problems than a similar injury in an adult. A concussion is caused when the brain is jarred from being hit and temporarily interferes with the way brain works, affecting things like memory, balance, judgment and even sleep patterns.

The study also looked at concussions in children and compared them with participation rates in five organized team sports-- baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey and soccer--from 1997 to 2007.

During that decade, participation in those sports declined by about 13%, but concussion-rated emergency room visits related to the same sports rose substantially during the same time period. ER visits for children ages 8-to-13 doubled from about 3,800 to 7,800, and among children ages 14-to-19, visits tripled from about 7,000 to 22,000.

Bakhos said researchers don't know if the reasons behind the increase are that team sports have become more competitive or if it's because of an increase in reporting rates, or both.

She also noted that the study looks at only ER visits for concussions, and so it underestimates the actual concussion rate. The National Institutes of Health estimates there are more than one million concussions annually in both children and adults.

Bakhos said parents shouldn't shy away from letting their kids participate in sports, but should make sure they and coaches are following good prevention strategies such as wearing helmets. While most athletes wear proper helmets and other protective gear during football games for instance, Bakhos said she's seen practices conducted without helmets.


**Comment by Stephen Jamieson**

Hi Jennifer, I read with great interest your article, as well as others that are coming out in other publications.
For years I have represented athletes who were put back in too early by coaches, trainers, and physicians.
Horrible consequences result from the athletes, particularly children, not accurately reporting how they are feeling and the "professionals" simply relying on the child's assessment of their own condition, without giving adequate weight to the fact that these kids want to "go back in" right away.
This has resulted in a number of 5 to 10 million dollar verdicts and settlements. Perhaps these verdicts and settlements, and the liability that goes with it, has helped to spur the professionals into action. I hope so anyway.
This baseline testing is excellent news.

Brain injuries among athletes and the preventative role appropriate lawsuits serve to make the coaches, trainers, and medical personnel more vigilant

Appropriate lawsuits in these instances can make sports safer.

I have represented brain injured and spinal injured athletes and recreators for many years.

The Supreme Court, however, issued several precedential decisions in 1993, and there are government immunities in place per statutes, in an attempt to severely limit liability for sports programs and other "risky" activities. I wonder if the aftermath of those cases and statutes, and their more recent progeny and refinements, have helped to increase the risk for athletes like you describe, and thus cause what appears to be a greater incidence of injuries.

In the United States we accept that people/companies generally tend to do the right thing, or at least more of it more often, when they otherwise risk civil or criminal liability for their failure to do the right thing, keep people safe, fix defective products, etc. Think about car manufacturers and manufacturers of other products, or wayward financial institutions, for examples.

The development over the years of the immunities available to government entities, like school districts, perhaps have allowed the administrators to become complacent in their duties to keep kids safe and to make sure that training and competition is done in the safest manner and method possible.

Perhaps the greater incidence of injuries, and difference in attitude, you describe in your articles is directly or indirectly the result of years of immunities taking their toll. These things seem to go in cycles and the current state of the law and immunities should be reviewed and evaluated in light of the serious and dangerous effect on our children. The Supreme Court and Legislators attempt to impose personal responsibility on those that engage in sports and recreation. Personal responsibility for one's actions and activities is certainly a laudable goal, but particularly when we are talking about children (even older college age "children"), subject to authority figures like coaches, trainers, and administrators perhaps requires more oversight and legal liability for those that do become complacent in satisfying those duties to our kids. Perhaps the personal responsibility should be that of those responsible for the training and programs, those that are tasked with increasing safety and reducing risk.

Appropriate lawsuits in these instances can make sports safer.

Stephen A. Jamieson, Esq.