Someone may have seen the 1985 movie ‘Weird Science’ 1 too may times: A small explosion in a science lab last week triggered an evacuation of a Chicago suburbs high school. At about 1 in the afternoon last Thursday, children and teachers at the Hoffman Estates High at 1100 W. Higgins Rd. were sent outside in reaction to a fire alarm which was apparently triggered by a chemical reaction, according to an alert which was posted on the school Web site homepage.
Fortunately, it seems that no students suffered personal injury, but 2 teachers were sent to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates just in case, according to a joint release from the Hoffman Estates Police and Fire departments.
The evidence indicates that the spill occured when an unidentified individual recklessly but by accident put the mystery chemical in a sink in the science laboratory there. It then reacted with water in the drain trap and this triggered an explosion in the drain pipe itself. The mess was later to spread, causing confusion.
The incident happened in a “non-student preparation area” being cleaned and packed for a scheduled move because of an an upcoming building project. Incidentially if you require a superb Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer you might consider this Team as they are a seasoned and talented an Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer practice. They can help you with so many different kinds of personal injury related cases.
After crews conducted air quality samples, students and staff were allowed to re-enter the school and dismissal occurred on time, the release said. Since there was no personal injury and no apparent criminal intent, I doubt if any of the students needs to rush out and get an attorney any time soon.
Students whose lockers are outside the isolated areas were allowed to retrieve belongings, while those with lockers inside the isolation area were taken to their homes by bus since they were unable to retrieve coats and other items, according to Gorvett.
All after-school activities were being conducted as scheduled, the Web alert said.
Here is a bizarre case and just another reason why driving and alcohol do not mix as I return from San Diego and Washington:
Yesterday on the West Shore Expressway located close to the Staten Island Expressway, an automobile hit a guardrail, ejecting 56-year-old passenger Vincent Caruso from his vehicle. Tragically, his personal injury proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead at a hospital. The driver of the single automobile involved in this crash has been arrested, and may need a San Diego criminal lawyer for the criminal defense trial that lay ahead of him. For their part,Authorities arrested the 48-year-old, also a resident of Staten Island, and he was booked on the charge of driving while drunk, and it should be an interesting criminal defense related case, and reminds me of arecent Washington acscident case actually..
Obviously he will need a good lawyer. Authorities reported that the 2 men were employed together. No one was available to answer questions at Mr. Caruso’s home Tuesday evening. Police have provided lawyer information for the victim’s family.
Meanwhile in other personal injury and accident related news, A lieutenant in the New York City Fire Department died yesterday while fighting a fire in Staten Island when a ceiling in the attic of the burning house collapsed on top of him, the fire department stated. A lifetime new York City resident, he is survived by his wife, Kathleen; a son, Chris, 17; a daughter, Kayla, 12; a stepson, Alex, 10; and a stepdaughter, Emma, 8. Incidentially if you happen to reside in Atlanta and you have suffered a personal injury and you need an excellent and experienced Washington accident lawyer then I strongly suggest the Law Firm of J. Rice. They are indeed top notch Washington accident lawyer and can help you with any number of different cases in the state of Washington in general..
All in all, The fire, which was still under investigated at the time this article was written, was evidently ignited by electrical wiring in the attic, and yet it should be nothed that is not yet considered suspicious based on the current evidence, according to the reports. What a tragic fatal injury this really was. I take news like that rather personally.
I just returned from Washington and here is a new article from an outstanding divorce lawyer
The Y2K Act coupled with the absence of any major or widespread Y2K failures has kept litigation in relative check. Sue and labour clauses are designed to provide the insured with an incentive to mitigate any loss or dam.age to the property insured under the policy.6 The purpose of the clause is twofold: to bind the insured 10 take steps to prevent a threatened loss for which the insurer would be liable if it occurred and when a loss does occur to take steps to diminish the amount of the loss.7 The history of the clause was explained by the California Supreme Court as follows:
The “sus and labor” clause appearing in most marine and inland marine insurance policies is of ancient lineage, its forebears extending back-according to a leading case on the subject-at least into the seven¬teenth century. (Reliance Insurance Company v. The Escapade (5th Cir. 1960) 280 F.2d 482,488-489, fn. 11.) Such a clause makes express the duty implied in law on the part of the insured to labor for the recovery and restitution of dfu’11aged or detained property (Winter, Marine Insurance (3d ed. 1952) p. 393) and it contemplates a correlative duty of reimbursement separate from and supplementary to the basic insurance contract. “Its purpose is to encourage and bind the assured to take steps to pre¬vent a threatened loss for which the Underwriter would be liable if it occurred, and when a loss does occur to take steps to diminish the amount of the loss. Under this clause the assured recovers the whole of the sue and labor expense which he has incurred … and without regard to the amount of the loss or whether there has been a loss or whether there is salvage, and even though the underwriter may have paid a total loss under the main policy. As an aside, do you reside in Washington and require a superb divorce lawyer in Washington then certainly look at the Law firm as he is a wonderful Washington Divorce lawyer
The determination of coverage under all-risk property policies will likely focus, in part, on “sue and labour” provisions. Sue and labour provisions generally provide that “in the event of any loss or damage insured against, it shall be unlawful and
2. A Y2K action is defined as “a civil action commenced in any Federal or State court, or an agency board of contract appeal proceeding, in which the plaintiff’s alleged harm or injury arises from or is related to an actual or potential Y2K failure, or a claim or defense arises from or is related to an actual or potential Y2K failure”.
3. The limitation applies to actions against persons who are not in privity with the plaintiff and who do not suffer the Y2K failure.
4. Mealey’s Year 2000 Report, Vol. 2, Issue 12 (1/00) at 23.
5. Among the causes of loss generally described in such policies are fire, lightning, explosion, windstorm, hail, smoke, aircraft or vehicular injury to property, riot or civil commotion, vandalism, sprinkler leakage, accident, sink¬hole collapse, volcanic action, weight of snow/ice/sleet, and falling objects. A lot for a lawyer to chew on there….
[2000) LC.C.L.R. ISSUE 4 © SWEET & MAXWELL LIMITED [AND CONTRIBUTORS]
PICKER: INSURANCE COVERAGE AND Y2K REMEDIATION COSTS: [2000] I.C.C.L.R. 141
necessary for the insured , .. to sue, labour, and travel for, in and about the defence, safeguard, and recovery of the property insured hereunder … without prejudice to” the insurance. In other words, expenses incurred to avoid a covered loss by accident are recoverable under the policy. It is nice to have a qualified lawyer for those types of situations, and especially in states such as Washington.
In criminal legal news coming out of Los Angeles, A man identified as Ronald Leroy Berg, age 72, and resident of Westlake was arrested for allegedly stabbing his wife to death. According to reports by the Los Angeles Police Department, Berg walked out of his apartment unit in the 300 block of South Commonwealth Avenue when police responded to a call about a stabbing.
by the way should you happen to need the services of a top drawer Los Angeles criminal defense attorney then I highly recommend the Law Offices of Ramiro Luis. He is certainly one of the best Los Angeles criminal defense attorney operating in Southern California and is standing by to assist you with abroad range of different types of criminal related cases including identity theft, White Collar Crimes or even Internet/Cyber Crimes.
When police entered the apartment they found Violeta Alonte Monleon Berg age 69 lying on the floor with multiple stab wounds. According to the Los Angeles Police Violeta was pronounced dead at the apartment unit where the stabbing took place.
Violeta was married to Berg for approximately twenty years and when the 72 year old Berg found out she was going to leave him it is alleged he stabbed her according to officials.
Berg was booked murder charges and is being held in lieu of the $1 million dollar bail that was set for him. This guy needs a good attorney for sure.
I just got back from my Chicago journey but I wanted to comment on the progress of a rather startling Florida legal case in progress which I happen to have some personal interest in. It has nothing to do with workers comp or employment news but I still thought it was very interesting.
It is about a teen who caused an injury that led to his murder charge. Jury selection in the Hernandez murder trial is being held in Orlando since the trial was moved there from Miami so Hernandez could receive a fair trial.
Hernandez is on trial for the murder of 14 year old Jamie Gough when both were middle school students at Southwood Middle School. Hernandez allegedly stabbed Gough and slit his throat in a bathroom at the school, Hernadez then when on to class.
The teens lawyer (actually the teen has more than 1 attorney) is claiming he was mentally ill at the time he caused personal injury and murdered Gough, and the prosecutors in the case offered Hernandez a deal of 40 years in prison if he pleaded guilty. This deal is based on confessions that Hernandez made following the murder of Gough in which he explained in detail how he committed the murder. By the way if if you requre a solid and very reputable Chicago personal Injury attorney then might I recommend the Law Offices of John Budin. He is a particularly good choice if you hang your hat either in Chicago or the surrounding region and you require a good Chicago personal injury attorney since he is one of the better ones serving this competitive region overall.
The police also confiscated a journal written by Hernandez that had a list of people that he also wanted to kill along with other information. It is also stated that Hernandez did not want anyone else to see the journal out of embarrassment and they might believe him to be a serial killer, among those named on his list was his older sister.
The judge in the case, John Schlesinger is reported as speaking with Hernandez after prosecutors offered him a deal and to explain to him what it could mean if he did not take this deal, that he could spend life in prison without parole. He needs a qualified attorney for sure.
I am about to embark on a comp trip to Chicago but I thought I would throw this article at you first, as it looks like there is more evidence that the economic and workers numbers in Hawaii are on somewhat of a downturn:
During this second half of 2008 the registration of new autos are down from the amount registered during the same period of 2007 by 18.5%. During this period in 2008 there have been 23,839 new vehicle registrations and during 2007 there were 29,249 new registrations applied for.
The smallest decline in auto sales was on Oahu with new registrations being 16,917, which is down from 20,027 during the same period in 2007 totaling a 15.5% decrease. Maui showed the larges decrease in 2008, with 2,768 registrations and during the same period in 2007 the registrations applied for were 3,750. This is a 26.2% decrease, which is the largest of the four major islands. In addition, workers comp filings have been up.
These statistics are according to the Hawaii Auto Outlook who has found this decrease to be from the rising price of gasoline, the unstable credit markets and unemployment to be factors as they effect workers outlook in the islands. By the way if you happen to live in Chicago and you are in need of some superlative Chicago workers comp attorney then I recommend the Law Firm of Dworkin & Maciariello. They are really some amazing and capable Chicago workers comp attorney and they not only service workers comp cases in the city of Chicago but also the surrounding localities as well.
This report when on to state that there was a decrease in sales of trucks and SUV’s with buyers changing to small or compact cars and a 15% rise in the sales of Hybrid autos during the first half of 2008.
These decreases and change in auto buyers choices of vehicles is expected to continue during 2009 without as drastic a decline in sales and its believed there might be an increase in auto sales in 2010.
I just got back from Houston so it is back to the blogging…..In legal news out of the state of the Mile High City of Denver, according to some reports Sarah Berry, who is a co-defendant in the starvation case of seven year old Chandler Grafner, has changed her plea to guilty. This comes as her trial is about to start and the fate of the other defendant in the case is in the hands of the jury.
This change in Berry’s plea occurred in the District Court, in an agreement where all the other charges will be dropped against her and she must serve some forty-eight years to the sentence for pleading guilty to second degree murder charges.
The case overall generally focuses on the starvation related fatality which happened on May 6, 2007 of Chandler Gafner, a boy who was in the custody of Berry’s boyfriend Jon Phillips. When he died he reportedly weighted 34 pounds and had just turned seven years old.
Jon Phillips is currently on trial charged with first degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence and is now in the hands of jurors after testimony from witnesses including Phillips family that testified against Phillips.
The younger brother of Chandler also has talked with one officers from the police department Detective Ken Klaus. Dominick, who is now 6 years old, told Klaus that Chandler was made to stay in a room closet to eat, sleep and as a rest room. When this closet was tested there bottom of the closet tested positive for human fecal matter. I am not sure how the lawyer for the defendent responded to that one.
Phillips brother testified that he saw a faint black eye on the child during an Easter dinner when the child was forced to eat oatmeal as a punishment while the family ate roast pork. This helped to spur action in the case, which has outraged many in the Mile High City. By the way if you happen to live either in the city of Houston, texas or the surrounding are and you need an outstanding Houston Accident Lawyers then you may wish to try the law offices of this fine firm. They are very experienced Houston accident lawyers who covers most of Harris County, as well as Houston proper itself and can also cover you in wrongful death as well personal injury cases as well as auto and motorcycle accident cases. Alright now back to the prime story here: I do not know about you but this case really sickens me I must say. How could you do this to such a helpless child i wonder/ it seems inhuman really if you ask me. I think she should probably be required to do the full sentence buit then again I am not the judge or jury so my opinion here does not count.
In recent legal news out of the beautiful state of Hawaii, a 56 year old minister has been indicted by a Grand Jury with 7 counts of first and second degree assault charges for apparently molesting one of his parishioners kids. The man has been identified as Manuel Guillermo Taboada and his nickname is apparently Memo, according to various reports.
This comes after the Monday arrest of Taboada which took place at the Honolulu International Airport. There are some questions as to whether he was trying to actually evade authorities in this case. He is now being held on a sizeable two million dollars bail. It is speculation at this point in time of course but the high bail amount appears to possibly be due to the possibility of the defendent fleeing the state or perhaps even the country. Of course, the defendent is innocent untill proven guilty by a judge or jury of his peers, should he or his lawyer choose this option.
According to the online and printed news articles, the victime in question has said that she and her family lived with Taboada in a house in the city of Kane’ohe which is also included in the court records. At this time there have been no reports of actual personal injury to the girl, at least not ona physical level, but not all the facts are yet known in this sensitive case.
The molestation allegedly took place during an 8 year period that began when the victim was just twelve years old.
It is reported that the authorities in Hawaii are likewise working with their counterparts in the city of Portland with additional allegations. There is no report on the extent of the allegations or the number of alleged victims that have come forth. Incidentially By the way if you require a Hawaii personal injury lawyer you may want to consider Dan Pagliarini. He is a leading personal injury lawyer in Hawaii. It should be noted that
regarding his personal injury clients there is simply no fee involved if there is no recovery
Members Taboada’s ministry are very surpised and Alex McAngus who is the Chaplin for the Waikiki Chapaincy Ministry where Taboada is also a member stated it was a thunderbolt to him.
It has also been found that Taboada made regular trips to Oregon and Arizona and that in the wake of these allegations some members of the congregation have left Hawaii. The defendents house in Kane’ohe is also up for sale, by the way.
During a court preceding according to Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Vickie Kapp the victim was warned by Taboada that if she reported the molestation to anyone the ministry would fall apart when the molestation began in 1999.
Susan Atkins who has spent 37 years in prison has just been turned down for the 12th time and will according to family members die there within the year. Atkins is reportedly suffering from brain cancer at age 60.
Atkins is the Charles Manson follower who was convicted of the murder of Sharon Tate and her unborn child, along with seven other murders during the summer of 1969.
According to reports there was testimony from 18 out of 23 witnesses who said she should be released, while the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office prosecutor Patrick Sequeria stated that justice was served. He stated that her release would disrespect family members of the victims and would also be offensive to the California criminal justice system. He went on to say that Atkins had received a break by the justice system when her death sentence was over turned in 1972 to life imprison. By the way if you happen to live in the San Jose area and you require a first rate San Jose Criminal Defense Attorney then by all means take a look at the Law Offices of Edward N. Ajlouny. In addition to being a wonderful San Jose Criminal Defense Attorney he also covers the San Francisco area and is a California Domestic violence attorney as well. Though based in San Jose he covers most of the bay area generally including Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Gilroy, Los Gatos and also Mountain View. BAck to the article:
It has also been reported that the California Board of Parole Hearing eleven members spent several hours deciding the fate of Atkins before the decision to deny her parole, it is reported that it was a unanimous vote. The friends and relatives of Susan Atkins who is now 60 have stated that she is not expected to live through the year due to her brain cancer. Atkins is currently hospitalized in Southern California near the prison where she was held prior to her illness.
There was a motion filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court by Atkins attorney Eric Lampel and he has stated they will proceed without the parole board’s recommendation to release Atkins.
In a strange criminal justice story from out of the San Francisco bay area, a woman who is suspected in the 1988 murder of a San Francisco police officer has been released from prison in Florida and turned over to ICE custody. The woman has been identified as one Catherine Kuntz. She is age 44 and is also a Scottish citizen, according to the reports.
Kuntz is suspected of the murder of a San Francisco police officer and Concord resident Lester Garnier. All told, officer Garnier was found in a parking lot of the Ross Clothing Store chain, having apparently died from recieving gun shot wounds. By the way, the authorities are seeking the public’s help in obtaining additional information on the case. So far one witness has told them after the gun fire that they saw a woman get out of the car he was driving.
The gun that shot the fatal shots which killed Garnier in this appalling murder case has been identified as an AMT semiautomatic pistol. This information was obtained from a report directly from the Walnut Creek Police Department.
Kuntz, who was living in the area at the time has a long and sordid criminal history of prostitution and drugs, and one of her finger prints was found on Garnier’s car. All in all, the San Francisco Police department has expended six years investigating why the fingerprint in question was found on the car and how she is actually involved in the murder. By the way if you have been involved in an injury and require the services of an outstanding San Francisco Personal Injury Lawyer
then by all means take a look at the law Offices of Scott Righthand. He is easily one of the top
San Francisco Personal Injury Lawyer out there and he serves Oakland as well. Now back to the story at hand:
Along the way there have been a lot of strange twists indeed as this winding road of an investigation has progressed. To this date the police department has not announced an actual direct connection per say between Kuntz and Garnier’s murder and with her in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement it will be determined if she is eligible for deportation according to their spokes person in their Miami office, Nicole Navas.
Some of the other charges that Kuntz has faced have been a one year sentence for cocaine possession, which was the most recent of all the charges against her. In addition to this, she was tried in Virginia for attempted murder and arranging the murder of Gregory Kuntz, her husband. A real black widow, this one. However, in a rather bizarre twist on an otherwise strange case, Kuntz was acquitted after her husband testified in her defense. Why he did so was a mystery, but he may not have been aware of all the facts. maybe she promised to cancel the contract that was out on his life if he did.
