| Announcements | | 
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| | TTLA Annual Conference has moved to June 1-3 in Austin | |
| | We’ll be hosting all the events you’ve come to expect from our December conference. Between the 2-day CLE, parties, meetings, legislative update & special events. Check out the CLE program agendas for Wednesday and Thursday, which include a live video presentation with David Ball plus family friendly events to make this a true vacation opportunity. Register now! | | Share with your FB friends! | |
| | Gibson Vance: How our cars got safer, Washington Post 4-16-11. Traffic deaths in the United States have dropped to their lowest level since 1949, according to a report released this month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Remarkably, this drop occurred even as Americans drove 21 billion more miles in 2010 than they had the previous year. Click on the headline to continue reading. | | Laws/Cases | |
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| | Federal Circuit Dismisses Veterans' Case Over Agent Orange | |
| | The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has dismissed a petition in a case originally brought by Vietnam veterans more than 30 years ago. After their disability claims were denied, five veterans in 1979 filed a challenge to a 1978 Veterans' Administration publication suggesting that only limited claims could be brought based on chemical exposure to Agent Orange and other defoliants during the Vietnam War. The Federal Circuit, after recounting the labyrinthine history of the case, ruled that it lacked jurisdiction because there was no court avenue for procedural challenges to Department of Veterans Affairs regulations until the 1988 Veterans' Judicial Review Act. Sheri Qualters, The National Law Journal - $$ Subscription Required 04/19/2011 | | Read Article: The National Law Journal - $$ Subscription Required($) | | Jury Orders Nordstrom to Pay $1.6 M to Stabbing Victims | |
| | A Montgomery County jury ordered Nordstrom to pay nearly $1.6 million to two women stabbed inside its Bethesda store six years ago, concluding that the retailer did not adequately warn shoppers that a woman armed with four butcher knives was on the loose, attorneys said Monday. The jury returned its verdict Friday, awarding $345,500 to Sarah Paseltiner and $1.25 million to Jacqueline Greismann. Dan Morse, The Washington Post 04/19/2011 | | Read Article: The Washington Post | | Burger King Franchises Drop Suit Against Company | |
| | A lawsuit filed by a group of Burger King franchises against the fast food giant has been dropped after the company agreed to give individual franchises more control. The franchises filed the lawsuit over the mandatory $1 pricing of the restaurants' double cheeseburger, which operators said hurt profits. Burger King agreed to give its franchises more input on the price of items on its Value Menu and on how long special deals run, company officials said. Lisa Baertlein, Reuters 04/18/2011 | | Read Article: Reuters | | Lawsuit Filed in Fatal Colorado Car Crash | |
| | A lawsuit has been filed over a deadly single-car crash in Douglas County, Colo., the killed two and left an eight-year-old boy without a mother. The lawsuit claims the driver of the vehicle was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and was driving at speeds up to 110 mph in a 50 mph zone. He lost control of the vehicle, went into a ditch and rolled. The suit is seeking that the claim be classified as a felonious killing, which would increase the possible awards above the normal state cap. Carlos Illescas, Denver Post 04/19/2011 | | Read Article: Denver Post | | Fatal California Plane Crash Prompts Lawsuit | |
| | A lawsuit has been filed by the family of one of the victims in a fatal plane crash in Redwood Shores, Calif., last September. The suit, filed against the estates of the owner and pilot of the plane, claims they "negligently and carelessly owned, operated, maintained and controlled the subject airplane, thereby causing the airplane to crash." An official report on the cause of the crash has not yet been filed. Bonnie Eslinger, San Jose Mercury News 04/19/2011 | | Read Article: San Jose Mercury News | | Second Suit Against Daycare After Deadly Fire | |
| | A second lawsuit has been filed against a Houston daycare operator over a deadly fire that killed four children and injured others. The second suit, filed by the mother of a 22-month-old who suffered severe burns, claims the operator, Jessica Tata, was unfit to operate the daycare. Tata also faces criminal charges in Houston, including murder, reckless injury to a child, child abandonment and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Staff Report, KHOU-TV 04/18/2011 | | Read Article: KHOU-TV | | Parents of Teen Who Committed Suicide Sue Cy-Fair ISD | |
| | The parents of a Cypress-Fairbanks teen who committed suicide are planning a federal lawsuit against Cy-Fair Independent School District. Amy and David Truong claim their son, Asher Brown, was bullied to death and the district didn't do anything to stop it. The district maintains the accusations of bullying were not reported before the 13-year-old killed himself at home on September 2010. KRIV , Houston Chronicle 04/19/2011 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | | Issues | |
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| | FAA to Extend Minimum Time Off for Controllers | |
| | Air traffic controllers will be guaranteed a minimum of at least nine hours off between tightly scheduled shifts under a plan announced by federal officials. The FAA said the new rules were already in place, although it may be the end of the week before they take full effect. Ashley Halsey III, The Washington Post 04/19/2011 | | Read Article: The Washington Post | | Four Babies Die of Birth Defect in Bryan-College Station | |
| | A confirmed cluster of a rare and fatal birth defect in Bryan-College Station is being investigated by both the Texas Department of State Health Services and professors at Texas A&M University. Between August 2009 and February 2010, five families conceived children who were born with trisomy 18, a chromosomal defect that occurs at conception and causes the baby to have three copies of the number 18 chromosome instead of the usual two. According to data the DSHS used from the Texas Birth Defects Registry in its report, there were eight trisomy 18 cases reported in Brazos County in the previous decade. MICHELLE CASADY, BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION EAGLE, Houston Chronicle 04/19/2011 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | |
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