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Four manufacturers have announced child safety seat recalls that could potentially affect nearly 850,000 car seats nationwide. Certain car seats made by Britax, Evenflo, Regal Lager, and Dorel Juvenile Group are included in the child safety seat recalls. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported the recalls on its website Monday. The companies say they have been notifying registered owners. The recalls are as follows: Dorel Juvenile Group is recalling 55 models of car seats because the harness locking button can get stuck....

This isn’t the first time Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines has gotten into hot water for airing her opinions. But this time, an Arkansas judge backed her up. District Court Judge Brian S. Miller has ordered the plaintiff in a defamation suit against the singer to pay the court costs accrued from defending the suit he dismissed in December of 2009. During a rally in Little Rock Ark. in 2007, and in a letter she wrote seeking contribution to the legal defense fund for the convicted men, Maines made comments that Hobbs claimed accused him of the murder....

No one knows more about arrests than police officers, and one former cop is spilling his secrets for how ordinary civilians can avoid arrest. According to The Atlantic, former Miami-Dade police officer Dale Carson is now a criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville, Florida, and his new book “Arrest-Proof Yourself” gives readers some key tips on how to stay out of police custody. Here are five standout tips from Carson on avoiding arrest:...

It’s gotta be hard if you’re a struggling artist and you think a major studio ripped off your idea. What’s even harder, though, is backdating that idea, forging some sketches, and suing said studio in an attempt to extort a multimillion dollar settlement. So hard in fact, that you’ll probably be forced to withdraw your civil lawsuit, then get charged, indicted, and convicted on federal fraud and perjury charges, sentenced to two years in prison, and forced to pay the studio $3 million....

In a November 13, 2009 press release, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a food safety report from the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) recommending objectives be set to improve tracking on global food supply chains. The IFT is a nonprofit scientific society focusing on the science of food. This report was commissioned by the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in 2008. Since food can become contaminated at any point in the supply chain, the improved ability to trace the movement of food products will allow the FDA and other agencies to more quickly identify the source of contaminated foods and thus hopefully reduce the instances of illnesses in consumers....

The Food and Drug Administration is issuing a warning to patients taking the bisphosphonate class of osteoporosis drugs for more than five years. These drugs can cause a rare but serious type of thigh bone fracture, and the FDA wants those using these drugs to be aware of the risk. Bisphosphonates are used to prevent osteoporosis and include commonly known names such as Actonel, Atelvia, Boniva, Fosamax, Reclast, as well as the generic versions of those drugs....

As virtual reality technology advances, like with every new technology, the law frequently needs time to play catch-up. We have already seen the law extend to cover credible criminal threats made online. However, when it comes to virtual reality (VR), lawmakers may be teetering upon an uncertain slippery slope. Recently, a virtual reality user reported having her VR character (avatar) repeatedly molested by another VR user inside the same VR world....

An internal probe conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department has concluded that Officer Patrick Smith racially profiled Latino drivers, according to the Los Angeles Times. This is the first time in the department’s history that it has substantiated such an allegation. Smith has been with the LAPD for 15 years, working as a motorcycle cop in the West Traffic Division. Evidence shows that he targeted Latino drivers and falsified reports by purposefully misidentifying them as white....

A young husband and wife are under arrest in connection with the killing of their neighbor, a Las Vegas landlord. The man was apparently hacked to death with an electric saw, and his body stuffed inside a garment box, investigators say. Anthony Stiger and Melanie Costantini, both 20, remained silent at a court hearing Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. A judge entered not guilty pleas on their behalf. Stiger admitted to the saw attack in a jailhouse interview with KTNV-TV, but claimed it was in self-defense....

Google users have long complained that they cannot control the data the search giant shows about them. This week the company rolled out a new “About Me” page that lets users see what others are seeing about them across Google products. From the one page, users can control personal settings. The “About Me” page aggregates personal information available across Google services such as YouTube, Photos, and the Google+ social network, the Christian Science Monitor reports....

Cash-strapped states are eyeing what some may think is an unlikely target for their budget axes: the death penalty. In what is likely to become a heated debate over policy, CNN is reporting that some states have introduced legislation to “take the death penalty off the books over financial concerns.” The subject of the “cost” of the death penalty is nothing new to either side of the debate. However, hard numbers produced by states on the actual costs of seeking the death penalty are now being thrown into the discussion....

George Zimmerman remains in jail with bail revoked, as a judge considers arguments for and against releasing the accused murderer before trial. Judge Kenneth Lester told attendees at a court hearing in Sanford, Fla., on Friday he needed more time to weigh the evidence, the Associated Press reports. Zimmerman’s lawyer Mark O’Mara “briefly considered calling his client to the stand, but ultimately decided against it,” according to the AP. The Zimmerman defense team’s Twitter feed, however, provided a slightly different take:...

Last year, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center reported that citizens of our neighbor to the north were cheated out of $9.5 million, through credit card fraud, cloned debit cards and cash scams. A further 11,000 were the victims of identity theft. Calls to the Fraud Center unsurprisingly spike in January, as people discover problems linked to holiday purchases. Needless to say, online shopping is a prime target for fraud since customers send money and credit card information to people and business they do not necessarily know....

Authorities say that 47-year-old Philadelphia man Franklin Manual Santana was killed by his neighbor over a dog poop dispute. The shooting occurred on Valentine’s Day. Investigators say that the neighbor, 27-year-old Tyrirk Harris had walked his Chihuahua dog earlier that day. Harris was a recently unemployed Philadelphia school police officer. He had a permit for a gun and was wearing it in his holster at the time. The license may have been expired, according to WPVI-TV....

Laser pointers can be fun, useful gadgets, but pointing them at helicopters can land you in handcuffs. Laser pointer pranksters may think these helicopter hijinks are funny, but state and federal law enforcement aren’t laughing. In recent months, laser pointer pranksters from coast to coast have been arrested for incidents involving laser pointers and helicopters. Here are just a few examples: In California, 19-year-old Jenny Gutierrez of San Bernardino County was arrested Thursday for allegedly shining her green laser pointer at a sheriff’s helicopter – which then followed the car she was riding in and relayed her location to deputies on the ground....

The sordid details of Tiger Woods’ affair with Rachel Uchitel may be hitting the newsstands sometime soon, as the home wrecker turned reality star has reportedly been forced to give back a hefty chunk of the $10 million sum she was paid to keep quiet. But that’s not all. Uchitel’s donation to Tiger’s reportedly dwindling bank account was allegedly marred by lawyer misconduct and greed, with none other than Gloria Allred accused of raking in the big bucks on the back of her client....

Rapper Rick Ross has been sued by a neighbor. According to the suit, Rick Ross’ pitbull attacked the neighbor’s dog. The neighbor’s suit claims that three pitbulls ran away from Ross’ home in Atlanta. They then somehow got into her home and attacked her dog, Banks, according to celebrity gossip source TMZ. Banks was a small Yorkshire Terrier, reports TMZ. The tiny dog suffered from 3 bite wounds on his back and a large bite wound on his neck, according to the court documents obtained by TMZ....

Bacon, salami, and ham are all linked to an increased risk of cancer, according to the World Health Organization. Does that mean the end of awesome American sandwiches? Unlikely. While the news about processed meats may temper our seemingly insatiable cultural appetite for bacon everything, we probably won’t stop eating it. Nor should we necessarily. Popping salami is not quite like smoking cigarettes, says a Forbes analysis of the data....

The case against an alleged Selena Gomez stalker has been dismissed, but Gomez’s pursuit of a permanent restraining order against the man continues. A judge Wednesday reissued a temporary restraining order against Thomas Broadnicki, 46. A hearing on whether to make the order permanent was pushed back to Jan. 6. The temporary order, first issued in October, requires Broadnicki to stay at least 100 yards away from Gomez, her parents, and her assistant....

If your student loan balances make you feel like a member of the Class of Forever, help may be here. It’s not exactly a bailout, but a number of federal student loan rule changes that went into effect this week are aimed at lightening the repayment load for overburdened borrowers. Lower Interest Rates. As of this week, people with older student loans will catch a bit of a break. For federal loans issued before July 1, 2006, the interest rate will be reduced to 2....