Universal Studios Employee Stole 1M In Tickets

A Universal Studios ticket theft by Florida woman Carmen Kunstorf shows that a day at theme park is no day in the park. Kunstorf, 43, a former employee at Universal Studios, allegedly stole 1,862 complimentary tickets to the theme park over an 18-month period. The tickets were valued at $208,544, but an internal audit calculated the loss as a result of the stolen tickets at $1 million. Kunstorf’s position at the park was to manage the distribution of complimentary park passes to Universal Studios, the Orlando Sentinel reports....

March 16, 2022 · 2 min · 375 words · Annie Cecere

Amber Alert On Phone Gets 1St Real Test In Calif

A statewide AMBER Alert sent by cell phone came as a surprise to millions of Californians this week. While some found the loud “buzz” of the alert jarring, many others feel law enforcement agencies made the right call. An AMBER Alert was issued about 11 p.m. Monday, after two children were allegedly kidnapped by a man from their home near San Diego. Neither the children nor their alleged kidnapper have yet been found....

March 15, 2022 · 2 min · 369 words · Doris Reed

Big Pharma Paying Doctors To Promote Drugs Where Is The Line

Yesterday’s record-breaking fines against Pfizer offer an opportunity to examine recently surfaced information regarding marketing tactics employed in the pharmaceutical industry. Though the line is not always clear, the Pfizer settlement agreement shows that federal prosecutors believe many widely used marketing tactics to be illegal. While much of yesterday’s news regarding the Pfizer fines concentrated on “off-label” marketing, the other area of large concern in the Pfizer case was its payment of doctors to promote and prescribe a whole host of drugs....

March 15, 2022 · 3 min · 493 words · Mark Williams

Conan O Brien Stalker Priest Arrested Again

So he’s no longer a priest, but still a stalker? The former priest accused of stalking late-night personality Conan O’Brien has shifted his sights a bit further down the celebrity food chain, but is still in legal trouble for his actions. Former priest David Ajemian, 49, allegedly violated the restraining order taken out against him by Anthony Everett, the anchor of a Boston nightly news show, Chronicle. Ajemian was removed from his priestly duties after he allegedly began writing to O’Brien back in September 2006, reports the Boston Globe....

March 15, 2022 · 2 min · 359 words · Jean Noble

Concealed Carry Permits Not Protected By 2Nd Amendment

Owning a gun is a right protected by the Second Amendment, but it doesn’t include the right to a concealed carry permit, according to a federal court. The case started with a Washington man, Gray Peterson, who was denied a concealed carry permit in Colorado. The state only issues those permits to certain people, a policy that Peterson claimed violated his Second Amendment rights. His complaint was initially dismissed by a federal district court judge and Peterson appealed the decision....

March 15, 2022 · 3 min · 441 words · Carolyn Bolt

Crew Settles Lawsuit Over Missing White House Emails

The group Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) has settled a lawsuit over missing White House emails from the Bush administration. According to a press release by CREW, they had filed the lawsuit because the Bush White House failed to archive two and half years worth of emails from the Bush White House servers. In spite of possessing the knowledge that the servers had a problem, the Bush Administration failed to recover the missing White House emails and continued using the broken servers....

March 15, 2022 · 2 min · 391 words · Amy Baca

Foreclosure Moratorium Citigroup Bank Of America J P Morgan Chase Wells Fargo Announce Brief Halt In Certain Foreclosures

Some of the nation’s largest banks, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan Chase, have announced brief moratoriums on mortgage foreclosures. The banks will halt some foreclosure proceedings for about three weeks while the Treasury Department announces and implements a foreclosure prevention plan including loan modification programs. Bloomberg reports that the moratoriums came in response to requests from members of Congress. As the Washington Post reported, CEO’s from these banks were amongst those grilled this week before the House Financial Services Committee over use of TARP funds, lack of lending and what if anything the banks have done to aid homeowners....

March 15, 2022 · 3 min · 447 words · Dora Conklin

Ftc Others Submit Standards For Marketing To Kids

On December 15th, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) conference of government agencies including the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Department of Agriculture (DOA) announced some tentatively proposed standards that would apply to foods marketed to children, ages 2-17. These suggested standards were the result of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act in which Congress included a direction for a multi-agency group to develop recommendations for marketing standards and suggestions for the types of media to which these standards should apply....

March 15, 2022 · 2 min · 418 words · Crystal Phillips

House Votes To Increase Fda Power And Funding

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) more oversight over prescription drug manufacturers – including increased FDA regulation of drug safety after products hit the market, and harsher fines for drug companies that engage in misleading advertising or fail to comply with FDA protocols. According to the Washington Post, “lawmakers crafted the legislation in response to complaints about the FDA’s handling of serious side effects seen after drugs hit the market....

March 15, 2022 · 1 min · 203 words · Jimmy Ward

Jon Gosselin Fires Warning Shot At Photographer Is That Legal

Jon Gosselin has allegedly fired a warning shot at a female photographer. Last Friday, an unnamed photographer, in an attempt to snap photos of Gosselin, supposedly followed him to his cabin. Doing so caused her to trail off onto dirt roads from the main roads, which she had assumed was still public property, reports TMZ. It turns out, Gosselin had a differing opinion about the land. In an effort to warn her for trespassing onto what he claimed was his property, Gosselin pulled a gun out and fired a shot....

March 15, 2022 · 2 min · 418 words · Jerry Schiavone

Lawrence Upton Celebrity Hacker Sentenced

The individual that hacked into Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and other celebrity iCloud accounts was sentenced to 9 months in prison and $5,700 in restitution for his crimes. The hacker used a targeted phishing scheme that tricked the celebrities into revealing their login credentials. Once he had their credentials, he was able to login to their accounts and access the private information as well as intimate photos of Lawrence, Upton, and other celebrities....

March 15, 2022 · 3 min · 501 words · Lois Wiggins

Matchmaker Matchmaker Settle Your Suit Eharmony Lawsuit Settles

All you need is love… and a $2 million settlement fund. That is just what a class of plaintiffs will receive based on the settlement reached Tuesday, with online matchmakers eHarmony.com. eHarmony, known for its “scientific” method of matching couples supposedly based on compatibility of life goals and values (seen the commercials?), will now extend its valuable services to same sex couples seeking true love. Just in time for Valentine’s Day....

March 15, 2022 · 2 min · 381 words · Donald Aguiar

Maytag Raw Milk Blue Cheese Recalled From Whole Foods

Raw food fans tout the benefits of unpasteurized dairy products, including improved skin tone, fewer allergies, and weight loss. But this week, go for the pasteurized cheese, or at least avoid Maytag brand Raw Milk Blue Cheese, sold at Whole Foods Markets around the nation. The cheese is being recalled for possible Listeria bacteria contamination. The Food and Drug Administration, however, has reported no illnesses in connection with this recall, according to NBC News....

March 15, 2022 · 2 min · 361 words · Maurice Batdorf

Miranda S Public Safety Exception 3 Legal Concerns

Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was initially interrogated without his Miranda rights being read to him. The Justice Department cited Miranda’s “public safety” exception. Tsarnaev’s questioning was conducted by the department’s High-Value Interrogation Group, The Huffington Post reports. But there are potential dangers to expanding Miranda’s public safety exception in order to extract information from suspects. Legal concerns include: The public safety exception allows testimony gained from interrogation without Miranda warnings to be used against a defendant, if that questioning was “necessary to secure [officers’] safety or the safety of the public....

March 15, 2022 · 3 min · 461 words · Jannette Spencer

Roy Moore Sues Sacha Baron Cohen Showtime Cbs For 95M

We’ve poked some fun at former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and senate candidate Roy Moore before – both for his brutal hazing as a first-year law student (he garnered the nickname “fruit salad” from a professor after mixed-up answers to questions) and for his quixotic crusade against gay marriage in Alabama (earning repeated slap-downs from federal courts). It turns out we’re not the only ones. Sacha Baron Cohen, disguised as fictional Israeli anti-terrorism expert Erran Morad, interviewed Moore on his Showtime series “Who Is America?...

March 15, 2022 · 3 min · 596 words · Alyssa Stanton

Ruth Madoff Agrees To Show Trustee The Money

Ruth Madoff, the wife of convicted and imprisoned Ponzi schemer Bernard ‘Bernie’ Madoff, just agreed (read the agreement below) to show Trustee Irving Picard the money she spends each month if it’s more than $100. She acted in response to the Madoff bankruptcy trustee’s lawsuit over $44 million that Ruth Madoff allegedly received over a six year period before Bernie was caught stealing other people’s money, forcing his investment firm into bankruptcy....

March 15, 2022 · 2 min · 298 words · Allen Forehand

School Found Liable For Field Trip Tick Bite That Paralyzed Student

‘The normal expectations of the participants in a school sponsored educational trip abroad involving minor children supported the imposition of a duty on the defendant to warn about and to protect against serious insect-borne diseases in the areas to be visited on the trip.’ Most of that is pretty standard stuff: we want schools to adequately warn students and parents about the dangers they might encounter on a field trip. It’s the “serious insect-borne diseases” part that gives one pause....

March 15, 2022 · 3 min · 560 words · Robert Vasquez

Steven Seagal Sued For Overkill Arrest On His Lawman Tv Show

Actor Steven Seagal is being sued by an Arizona man who claims he was under siege in an “overkill” arrest staged for reality TV. Jesus Llovera, 43, filed a civil lawsuit against Seagal, 59, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, and the county’s Board of Supervisors, The Arizona Republic reports. Llovera claims his March 2011 arrest – for keeping roosters and chickens on his property, in violation of his probation – was staged for a reality TV show, A&E’s “Steven Seagal: Lawman,” according to the Republic....

March 15, 2022 · 2 min · 398 words · Sylvia Mosley

Supreme Court Supports Crush Videos As Protected Speech

An unusual configuration of the Supreme Court handed down an opinion on April 20 finding that a federal law barring the sale of animal “crush” videos was unconstitutional. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, found the law to violate the protection of free speech under the First Amendment. The government had argued to the Court that portrayals of animal cruelty had no protection at all under the First Amendment, in the same way that obscenity, libel and fraud are unprotected....

March 15, 2022 · 3 min · 498 words · Frances Long

Terry Joe Sedlacek Indicted For Pastor S Murder Reports Indicate Mentally Ill Could The Tragedy Have Been Avoided

Terry Joe Sedlacek, 27, has been charged with first degree murder for the fatal shooting of pastor Fred Winters of Maryville, Illinois during services this past Sunday. He has also been charged with aggravated assault involving the altercation and alleged stabbings of parishioners that occurred after the shooting. “These days, Sedlacek, now 26 and living in Troy, Ill., with Abernathy, has difficulty speaking. He’s got lesions on his brain. He’s taking several drugs, including anti-seizure medication....

March 15, 2022 · 2 min · 345 words · Eddie Harrington