| Save the Date | TTLA Members: please mark your calendars to attend the TTLA Annual Membership Meeting & Board of Directors Meeting December 4th & 5th at the Sheraton in Austin. Details and registration information coming soon.
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Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| Harris County Seeks Accounting for Decades of Pollution |  | For more than half a century, parts of the San Jacinto River, Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay have suffered devastating environmental contamination. A Harris County district court jury will hear opening statements in a lawsuit filed to wrest penalties from three of the companies allegedly responsible. The case is far-reaching and unusual because the lead plaintiff is Harris County itself, not state regulators. And the county isn't asking for traditional damages, such as economic harm. Instead, it is demanding what could amount to billions of dollars in civil penalties from the three companies for violating state water laws. County officials say they were spurred to act because state regulators had not.
Neena Satija, Texas Tribune 10/16/2014    | | Read Article: Texas Tribune |
| Lawsuit Claims Malfunctioning Wipers Contributed to Megabus Crash | | A lawsuit claims malfunctioning windshield wipers contributed to the crash of a Chicago-bound Megabus along Interstate 65 earlier this week. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by four Chicagoans who were on their way back from the Bears game in Atlanta when the bus tipped over near Indianapolis early Tuesday. The lawsuit claims Megabus failed to supervise its driver and maintain its equipment.
Liam Ford , Chicago Tribune 10/16/2014 | | Read Article: Chicago Tribune |
| Guardrail Tests Went Unreported, Court Hears | | On Tuesday and Wednesday in Texas federal court, plaintiffs revealed that Trinity and its research partner, the Texas Transportation Institute, had conducted additional tests of a modified ET-Plus guardrail in 2005 and 2006, which were never disclosed to federal officials. Brian Smith, a Trinity executive, testified Tuesday afternoon that the five failed tests were not reported, even after what are said to be problems with the ET-Plus came to light two years ago.
AARON M. KESSLER and DANIELLE IVORY, The New York Times 10/16/2014 | | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Class-Action Case Accuses G.M. of Neglect Beyond Ignition Switch | | Lawyers in sweeping class-action litigation against General Motors have significantly broadened their case against the embattled automaker, claiming that the company disregarded and concealed safety issues far beyond the defective ignition switch that is now linked to 27 deaths. In a strongly worded complaint, filed late Tuesday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, the lawyers contend that the 'new G.M.' that emerged from bankruptcy in 2009 so valued cost-cutting that it 'produced an inordinate number of vehicles with serious safety defects,' which it has sought to remedy only this year with the recall of about 27 million vehicles in the United States.
HILARY STOUT, The New York Times 10/16/2014 | | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Chrysler Recalling Nearly 907,000 Cars, SUVs | | Chrysler is recalling nearly 907,000 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep SUVs and cars for failing alternators and heated power mirrors that can cause minor fires. The largest of the recalls issued on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014, covers nearly 470,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees, Chrysler 300s, and Dodge Chargers, Challengers and Durangos from 2011 through 2014. The alternators can fail, causing the 3.6-liter V6 engines to stall unexpectedly.
TOM KRISHER, AP, Houston Chronicle 10/16/2014 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
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