| Dicky Grigg: 24 scholarships awarded by TTLA - Want to be part of it? | As we wrap up the fundraising for the 2014 TTLA Scholarship Program, we hope you will consider making a contribution. In April, 24 worthy applicants were selected to receive a one-time $1000 scholarship. If you would like to help these students achieve their educational goals, please join other TTLA members and send a contribution payable to: TTLA Scholarship Fund, ATTN: Mona Fults, P.O. Box 788, Austin, TX 78767. Please click on the headline to learn more about the program.
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| WARNING: Bogus Phone Calls, Emails on Jury Service May Lead to Fraud | In various parts of the US, citizens are being targeted by phone calls and emails, threatening them with prosecution for failing to comply with jury service in federal or state courts. In the calls and emails, recipients are pressured to provide confidential data, potentially leading to identity theft and fraud. These calls and emails, which threaten recipients with fines and jail time if they do not comply, are fraudulent and are not connected with the U.S. courts. Click on the headline to learn more.
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Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| Some Lawmakers Want Changes to Avoid Fertilizer Blasts |  | The TX House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety met Tuesday to discuss possible legislation aimed at preventing another disaster like last year's explosion in West, Texas - with some Republicans still skeptical of imposing regulations on fertilizer storage facilities. The draft legislation, proposed by state Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, chairman of the committee, would create an advisory group charged with recommending rules to the TDI regarding the safe storage of ammonium nitrate. The group would also develop penalties for enforcing the new regulations.
Gilad Edelman, Texas Tribune 08/06/2014    | | Read Article: Texas Tribune |
| DOT: Rail Insurance Inadequate for Oil Train Accidents | | Most freight railroad insurance policies couldn't begin to cover damage from a moderate oil train accident, much less a major disaster. And the Department of Transportation's own database of oil train incidents is flawed because some railroads and shippers provide incomplete information that far understates property damage. Those conclusions come from a DOT analysis of its own rule proposed to address the series of troubling derailments across North America as shipments of oil by rail surge.
KATHRYN A. WOLFE , Politico 08/06/2014 | | Read Article: Politico |
| Insurers to Waive Right to Dismiss Claims in Malaysia Airlines Crash | | | A growing number of insurance companies are promising to waive their right to dismiss claims on the private insurance policies of passengers and crew of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 if the aircraft's crash is deemed to be due to an act of war. One day after the plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine, the Dutch association for private insurance companies said its members would waive any exclusion for acts of terrorism or war. The Malaysian association of life-insurance companies followed suit a week later, also saying its member companies won't require death certificates and will speed up claims payments.
Jake Maxwell Watts, Celine Fernandez and Robert Wall, Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required 08/06/2014
| | Read Article: Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required($) |
| Appeals Court Revives Lawsuit Against SBI Agents | | An appeals court has ruled that a judge erred when he dismissed a lawsuit by a man alleging he was framed by federal agents for his wife's murder. The plaintiff, a dentist from Clemmons, N.C., filed the lawsuit alleging that two agents with the State Bureau of Investigation framed him for his wife's murder by creating blood evidence. He was acquitted of the murder five years ago. The N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the Forsyth Superior Court judge was wrong to dismiss many of the claims in the lawsuit.
Michael Hewlett, Winston-Salem Journal 08/05/2014 | | Read Article: Winston-Salem Journal |
| U.S. Court Approves $27.8M Deal for Toxic TN Spill | | A federal judge in Tennessee has approved a $27.8 million settlement from the Tennessee Valley Authority to more than 800 people affected by a 2008 accident that unleashed a wave of toxic coal sludge, plaintiffs' lawyers said Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan on Monday signed off on the deal, which resolves 63 lawsuits brought by residents and property owners in eastern Tennessee who said they were affected by the spill at the TVA's coal-powered Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee. More than a billion gallons of coal ash were spilled, plaintiffs' lawyers said.
Jessica Dye, Reuters 08/06/2014 | | Read Article: Reuters |
| Feds Stop Public Disclosure of Many Serious Hospital Errors | | The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services this month quietly stopped publicly reporting when hospitals leave foreign objects in patients' bodies or make a host of other life-threatening mistakes. CMS removed data on eight of these avoidable "hospital acquired conditions" (HACs) on its hospital comparison site last summer but kept it on a public spreadsheet that could be accessed by quality researchers, patient-safety advocates and consumers savvy enough to translate it. As of this month, it's gone. Now researchers have to calculate their own rates using claims data.
Jayne O'Donnell, USA Today 08/06/2014 | | Read Article: USA Today |
| Suit Filed Against Home Depot Over Joplin Tornado Deaths | | A woman has filed suit against Home Depot and two other companies alleging that the negligent construction of the Joplin Home Depot store is responsible for the deaths of her husband and children during the 2011 tornado. Engineers said the roof in the "tilt-up wall design" utilized by Home Depot can be compromised by high winds "and the wall panels can fall like dominoes." According to the suit, the woman's husband and two children took shelter in the Joplin Home Depot, but before they could reach the training room used as a tornado shelter "the large unsupported wall panels collapsed on top of them."
Mark Morris, Kansas City Star 08/05/2014 | | Read Article: Kansas City Star |
| University of California Faces Wrongful Death Suit | | The family of a former Cal football player has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the University, claiming the team's training staff failed to assist Ted Agu after he demonstrated symptoms of sickle-cell disease. The family believes the workout, supervised by Robert Jackson, was too extreme and trainers should have intervened sooner. Jackson was the assistant trainer at the University of Central Florida when a player died in 2008 after a similar workout.
Jeff Faraudo, San Jose Mercury News 08/05/2014 | | Read Article: San Jose Mercury News |
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