Original story: USAToday.com
A major supplier to the oil and gas industry says it will begin disclosing 100% of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluid, with no exemptions for trade secrets. The move by Baker Hughes of Houston is a shift for a major firm; it's unclear if others will follow suit.
The oil and gas industry has said the fracking chemicals are disclosed at tens of thousands of wells, but environmental and health groups and government regulators say a loophole that allows companies to hide chemical "trade secrets" has been a major problem. A Tulsa Oil and Gas Lawyer agreed.
A statement on the Baker Hughes website said the company believes it's possible to disclose 100% "of the chemical ingredients we use in hydraulic fracturing fluids without compromising our formulations," to increase public trust.
"This really good news. It's a step in the right direction," said Dr. Bernard Goldstein, the former dean of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. "One hopes that the entire industry goes along with it."
But Goldstein noted one "major hedge" in the Baker Hughes position, since the company said it will provide complete lists of the products and chemical ingredients used in frack fluids "where accepted by our customers and relevant governmental authorities."
Still, Goldstein said the Baker Hughes language sets a new standard for transparency and "clearly distinguishes them from Halliburton," another major industry supplier. Similar comments were made by a Texas Oil and Gas Lawyer.
Baker Hughes spokeswoman Melanie Kania wrote in an email that it will take "several months" for the new policy to take effect. She said the end result will be a "single list" that provides "all the chemical constituents" for frack fluids, with no trade secrets. This could be a good thing, according to a Dallas Oil and Gas Lawyer.
Amy Mall, a policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the Baker Hughes move is a positive step, and that "if one company can do it, it's very clear all companies can do it." Mall said NRDC doesn't believe companies should use the trade secret argument to hide drilling chemicals. The same was stated by a Pittsburgh Energy Lawyer.
A spokeswoman for Houston-based Halliburton, another major oil and gas supplier, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Salt Lake City Energy Lawyer said this could be potentially damaging to the company.
A boom in drilling has led to tens of thousands of new wells being drilled in recent years using the fracking process. A mix of water, sand and chemicals is forced into deep underground formations to break rock apart and free oil and gas. That's led to major economic benefits but also fears that the chemicals used in the process could spread to water supplies.
The mix of chemicals varies by company and region — and some of the chemicals are toxic and could cause health problems in significant doses — so the lack of full transparency has worried landowners and public health experts.
Many companies voluntarily disclose the contents of their fracking fluids through FracFocus.org, a website partially funded by the oil and gas industry that tracks fracking operations nationwide. But critics say the website has loose reporting standards and allows companies to avoid disclosure by declaring certain chemicals as trade secrets.
An Energy Department task force report issued in March that found that 84% of the wells registered on FracFocus invoked a trade secret exemption for at least one chemical. The Task Force said it "favors full disclosure of all known constituents added to fracturing fluid with few, if any exceptions."
The FracFocus website is managed by the Ground Water Protection Council and Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, both based in Oklahoma, and is funded by industry and the Energy Department.
Gerry Baker of the Oil and Gas Compact said he doesn't know of any other major supplier that has made a pledge similar to the one from Baker Hughes.
"It's a business decision on their part," Baker said. "Somehow, they've committed to this at the highest levels" of disclosure.
The Interior Department is expected to finalize proposed regulation for hydraulic fracturing on public lands by the end of the year. The measure would apply to some 700 million acres of federal lands and 56 million acres of lands controlled by federally recognized Indian tribes.
The rule proposed last year would require companies drilling for oil and natural gas to disclose chemicals used in fracking operations. The information would be made public.
The DOE said 25 states now mandate public disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, including 15 that use FracFocus as a reporting tool.
Industry groups oppose the disclosure rule, saying it would be costly for businesses, with little environmental or safety benefit. The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's top lobbying group, has praised the efforts of states to adopt the FracFocus database for disclosing chemicals, but has said additional federal regulations could jeopardize economic growth.
Asked about the Baker Hughes plan, API spokesman Zachary Cikanek said in an email that they "also welcome additional efforts by individual companies to increase public engagement and transparency."
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
NAACP DROPS PLAN TO HONOR DONALD STERLING AMID RECORDING CONTROVERSY
Original story: LATimes.com
The National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People announced Sunday that Donald Sterling will not receive an honor amid controversy over a recording said to be of the Clippers team owner making racist remarks.
The Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP had been scheduled to give Sterling the group's lifetime achievement award at its May 15 banquet.
"He is not receiving a lifetime achievement award from the NAACP," Lorraine Miller, NAACP interim vice president, told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Also, on Twitter, the NAACP announced Sterling "will not be receiving a lifetime achievement award from the LA Branch of the NAACP."
At the banquet, the NAACP chapter also planned to give its first "person of the year" awards to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Rev. Al Sharpton, according to the organization's website.
Garcetti's spokesman had said Saturday that the mayor was going to talk to the NAACP about the honor.
"In light of recent events, we will be discussing this event with the Los Angeles NAACP," Garcetti spokesman Yusef Robb had said.
The comments that TMZ attributed to Sterling prompted ire among civil rights activists.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, and a coalition of civil rights leaders demanded that Sterling apologize for “blatantly racist remarks he reportedly made about African Americans. "Sterling's racist digs at African Americans is no surprise."
Hutchinson added: "Black players have made his fortune with the Clippers and for him to disparage African Americans is beyond reprehensible. It demands a public apology, a Clipper fan protest and NBA official censure."
The Clippers have released a statement saying that the team does not know if the man recorded is Sterling but that the comments do not reflect Sterling's "views, beliefs or feelings."
Garcetti said through a spokesman Saturday that he condemns the "statements and sentiments" attributed to Sterling. L.A. City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who represents a portion of South Los Angeles, went further, saying the council should take a formal position denouncing the remarks and demanding action from the NBA.
The NBA said it is conducting an investigation.
Sterling is known for his various charity events that have benefited organizations that help the needy, including nonprofits serving the local Latino and African American communities.
But there have also been accusations against him. He has strongly denied he is biased toward anyone and has pointed to his charitable work.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury rejected NBA great Elgin Baylor's wrongful-termination lawsuit against the Clippers. Baylor claimed he was harassed and subjected to age discrimination leading to his 2008 departure after 22 years as a Clippers executive. An Augusta Labor and Employment Lawyer gave nod to the case.
When Baylor filed the suit in February 2009, he alleged that a racist culture existed at the Clippers. Baylor called it a "plantation mentality" in a deposition and alleged that Sterling rejected a coaching candidate, Jim Brewer, because he was black. But Baylor in 2011 dropped the race allegations from his suit. A similar case had been reviewed by a Grand Rapids Labor and Employment Lawyer.
Sterling and his wife, Rochelle, agreed to pay a record settlement of more than $2.7 million regarding allegations that they discriminated against African Americans, Latinos and families with children at scores of apartment buildings they own in and around Los Angeles. This sort of settlement is not uncommon, according to a Memphis Employee Rights Lawyer.
The settlement was the largest ever obtained by the Justice Department in a housing discrimination case involving apartment rentals, officials said. Under the agreement, the Sterlings' insurers would pay $2.625 million to a fund for people who were allegedly harmed by their discriminatory practices, officials said. Sterling's attorney at the time said his client denied any wrongdoing and didn't discriminate.
The National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People announced Sunday that Donald Sterling will not receive an honor amid controversy over a recording said to be of the Clippers team owner making racist remarks.
The Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP had been scheduled to give Sterling the group's lifetime achievement award at its May 15 banquet.
"He is not receiving a lifetime achievement award from the NAACP," Lorraine Miller, NAACP interim vice president, told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Also, on Twitter, the NAACP announced Sterling "will not be receiving a lifetime achievement award from the LA Branch of the NAACP."
At the banquet, the NAACP chapter also planned to give its first "person of the year" awards to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Rev. Al Sharpton, according to the organization's website.
Garcetti's spokesman had said Saturday that the mayor was going to talk to the NAACP about the honor.
"In light of recent events, we will be discussing this event with the Los Angeles NAACP," Garcetti spokesman Yusef Robb had said.
The comments that TMZ attributed to Sterling prompted ire among civil rights activists.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, and a coalition of civil rights leaders demanded that Sterling apologize for “blatantly racist remarks he reportedly made about African Americans. "Sterling's racist digs at African Americans is no surprise."
Hutchinson added: "Black players have made his fortune with the Clippers and for him to disparage African Americans is beyond reprehensible. It demands a public apology, a Clipper fan protest and NBA official censure."
The Clippers have released a statement saying that the team does not know if the man recorded is Sterling but that the comments do not reflect Sterling's "views, beliefs or feelings."
Garcetti said through a spokesman Saturday that he condemns the "statements and sentiments" attributed to Sterling. L.A. City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who represents a portion of South Los Angeles, went further, saying the council should take a formal position denouncing the remarks and demanding action from the NBA.
The NBA said it is conducting an investigation.
Sterling is known for his various charity events that have benefited organizations that help the needy, including nonprofits serving the local Latino and African American communities.
But there have also been accusations against him. He has strongly denied he is biased toward anyone and has pointed to his charitable work.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury rejected NBA great Elgin Baylor's wrongful-termination lawsuit against the Clippers. Baylor claimed he was harassed and subjected to age discrimination leading to his 2008 departure after 22 years as a Clippers executive. An Augusta Labor and Employment Lawyer gave nod to the case.
When Baylor filed the suit in February 2009, he alleged that a racist culture existed at the Clippers. Baylor called it a "plantation mentality" in a deposition and alleged that Sterling rejected a coaching candidate, Jim Brewer, because he was black. But Baylor in 2011 dropped the race allegations from his suit. A similar case had been reviewed by a Grand Rapids Labor and Employment Lawyer.
Sterling and his wife, Rochelle, agreed to pay a record settlement of more than $2.7 million regarding allegations that they discriminated against African Americans, Latinos and families with children at scores of apartment buildings they own in and around Los Angeles. This sort of settlement is not uncommon, according to a Memphis Employee Rights Lawyer.
The settlement was the largest ever obtained by the Justice Department in a housing discrimination case involving apartment rentals, officials said. Under the agreement, the Sterlings' insurers would pay $2.625 million to a fund for people who were allegedly harmed by their discriminatory practices, officials said. Sterling's attorney at the time said his client denied any wrongdoing and didn't discriminate.
DONALD STERLING'S WIFE HASN'T ESCAPED CONTROVERSY EITHER
Original story: LATimes.com
An apartment tenant and managers claimed the wife of embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling denigrated African Americans, Latinos and once posed as a health inspector, according to court records.
Rochelle Sterling denied she is a racist in a statement released to ESPN earlier this week and distanced herself from remarks captured on an audio recording said to be of her husband. The court documents offer a different perspective.
In a 2009 deposition, a tenant at one of the Sterling’s apartment buildings in Los Angeles County said that Rochelle Sterling called him a “black m—f—” during a discussion at the building.
“I asked her again, I asked her, ‘would you reduce the rent?’” Darrell Rhodes said in the deposition. “And she said, ‘who do you think you are, you black m—f—.’ A Hudson Valley Landlord-Tenant Lawyer confirmed this could be grounds for tenant harassment.
“The way in which she said m—f— was more lower voiced, under her breath. She said black loud enough for me to hear, she said mother loud enough for me to hear. F— part was a little lower. I had to look at her lips to hear her say it. And I did.”
Rhodes, who filed a federal lawsuit against the Sterlings in 2007, alleged he was the target of discriminatory behavior by the Sterlings.
“Inflammatory remarks made directly to Darrell Rhodes by Shelley Sterling on several occasions indicate bias,” Rhodes wrote in a 2006 letter to the Sterlings that was entered into the court record. “We have been singled out in what we believe to be a discriminatory action.”
Rhodes’ lawsuit, along with an action by the Justice Department and other tenants, was part of a $2.765-million settlement in 2009. As part of the agreement, the Sterlings didn’t admit any wrongdoing.
In another deposition from 2009, former on-site manager Maira Oliva described Rochelle Sterling's visiting the apartment building she worked at on South Ardmore Avenue.
Oliva: “She said, ‘Oh, my God. This is so filthy. I can’t remodel my apartments the way that I want because Latinos are so filthy." A Hartford Landlord Lawyer commented that prior claims have been filed under such circumstances.
Attorney: “Did she say those exact words, ‘Latinos are so filthy’?”
Oliva: “I can’t remodel my building the way I want and that the building was filthy because of the Latinos."
In a 2004 deposition in a separate case, former property supervisor Sumner Davenport said Sterling expressed her dislike for children and “certain ethnic groups” in apartments. Similar cases have been prosecuted by a Charlotte Landlord and Tenant Lawyer.
Attorney: Did she say that [Donald Sterling] said he wanted to evict current tenants with children?
Davenport: “Yes. She didn’t want -- if they were playing in the hallway, if they were out hanging in front of the building, they didn’t fit the image.
Davenport sued Donald Sterling for sexual harassment in 2003 and lost at trial.
An August 2003 court order by U.S. District Court Judge A. Howard Matz in another housing discrimination lawsuit detailed Rochelle Sterling apparently posing as a health inspector while visiting a tenant’s apartment. A short video by one of the plaintiffs, Daryl Williams, documented the encounter in April 2003.
“[The] evidence is sufficient to support a finding that Rochelle Sterling did tell Plaintiff Williams she was a health inspector,” the order said. “Sterling’s failure to deny that she made that statement reinforces this conclusion.”
The order noted, however, the absence of evidence that Sterling entered the apartment.
“Sumner Davenport declares that when she worked for Sterling she often accompanied Rochelle Sterling on apartment inspections, that Rochelle Sterling would regularly pose as a government official in order to gain access to tenants’ apartments,” the order said.
The judge called the allegations “troubling,” but said they didn’t raise sufficient questions to support an injunction.
The Housing Rights Center, which filed the 2003 case, reached a confidential settlement with the Sterlings.
An apartment tenant and managers claimed the wife of embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling denigrated African Americans, Latinos and once posed as a health inspector, according to court records.
Rochelle Sterling denied she is a racist in a statement released to ESPN earlier this week and distanced herself from remarks captured on an audio recording said to be of her husband. The court documents offer a different perspective.
In a 2009 deposition, a tenant at one of the Sterling’s apartment buildings in Los Angeles County said that Rochelle Sterling called him a “black m—f—” during a discussion at the building.
“I asked her again, I asked her, ‘would you reduce the rent?’” Darrell Rhodes said in the deposition. “And she said, ‘who do you think you are, you black m—f—.’ A Hudson Valley Landlord-Tenant Lawyer confirmed this could be grounds for tenant harassment.
“The way in which she said m—f— was more lower voiced, under her breath. She said black loud enough for me to hear, she said mother loud enough for me to hear. F— part was a little lower. I had to look at her lips to hear her say it. And I did.”
Rhodes, who filed a federal lawsuit against the Sterlings in 2007, alleged he was the target of discriminatory behavior by the Sterlings.
“Inflammatory remarks made directly to Darrell Rhodes by Shelley Sterling on several occasions indicate bias,” Rhodes wrote in a 2006 letter to the Sterlings that was entered into the court record. “We have been singled out in what we believe to be a discriminatory action.”
Rhodes’ lawsuit, along with an action by the Justice Department and other tenants, was part of a $2.765-million settlement in 2009. As part of the agreement, the Sterlings didn’t admit any wrongdoing.
In another deposition from 2009, former on-site manager Maira Oliva described Rochelle Sterling's visiting the apartment building she worked at on South Ardmore Avenue.
Oliva: “She said, ‘Oh, my God. This is so filthy. I can’t remodel my apartments the way that I want because Latinos are so filthy." A Hartford Landlord Lawyer commented that prior claims have been filed under such circumstances.
Attorney: “Did she say those exact words, ‘Latinos are so filthy’?”
Oliva: “I can’t remodel my building the way I want and that the building was filthy because of the Latinos."
In a 2004 deposition in a separate case, former property supervisor Sumner Davenport said Sterling expressed her dislike for children and “certain ethnic groups” in apartments. Similar cases have been prosecuted by a Charlotte Landlord and Tenant Lawyer.
Attorney: Did she say that [Donald Sterling] said he wanted to evict current tenants with children?
Davenport: “Yes. She didn’t want -- if they were playing in the hallway, if they were out hanging in front of the building, they didn’t fit the image.
Davenport sued Donald Sterling for sexual harassment in 2003 and lost at trial.
An August 2003 court order by U.S. District Court Judge A. Howard Matz in another housing discrimination lawsuit detailed Rochelle Sterling apparently posing as a health inspector while visiting a tenant’s apartment. A short video by one of the plaintiffs, Daryl Williams, documented the encounter in April 2003.
“[The] evidence is sufficient to support a finding that Rochelle Sterling did tell Plaintiff Williams she was a health inspector,” the order said. “Sterling’s failure to deny that she made that statement reinforces this conclusion.”
The order noted, however, the absence of evidence that Sterling entered the apartment.
“Sumner Davenport declares that when she worked for Sterling she often accompanied Rochelle Sterling on apartment inspections, that Rochelle Sterling would regularly pose as a government official in order to gain access to tenants’ apartments,” the order said.
The judge called the allegations “troubling,” but said they didn’t raise sufficient questions to support an injunction.
The Housing Rights Center, which filed the 2003 case, reached a confidential settlement with the Sterlings.
MORE ENTERTAINMENT FIGURES ACCUSED OF SEX ABUSE
Original story: USAToday.com
A man who has accused X-Men director Bryan Singer of sexually abusing him when he was a teen sued three more entertainment industry figures on Monday claiming they also molested him.
The allegations in the latest lawsuits filed by Michael Egan III are substantially similar to his legal action against Singer. That lawsuit accuses the director of abusing him between the ages of 15 and 17 in Los Angeles and Hawaii. An Ann Arbor CPS Lawyer indicated the case may not be fully investigated, however.
Monday's lawsuits were filed in federal court in Hawaii against former Fox television executive Garth Ancier, theater producer Gary Wayne Goddard, and David A. Neuman, a former television executive with Current TV and Disney. Ancier and Goddard did not respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.
Neuman could not be reached for comment. Phone numbers associated with him have been disconnected, and he did not immediately respond to a message sent through the social networking site LinkedIn.
The lawsuits were filed in Hawaii under a law that temporarily suspends the statute of limitations in civil sex abuse cases. A Detroit CPS Lawyer is closely monitoring the case.
Singer's attorney Marty Singer has denied the director abused Egan, calling the allegations defamatory. He has said the director was not in Hawaii when Egan says he was abused and was instead working on production for the first X-Men film.
None of the men have been criminally charged and the statute of limitations for any such charges has passed.
Ancier was the founding programmer at the Fox network, later going on to create programming for The WB, and was a top executive at NBC Entertainment. These facts were corroborated by a Lansing CPS Lawyer
Egan, 31, appeared at a press conference Monday alongside his mother, who tearfully described her efforts to report alleged abuses to the FBI in 1999 and 2000.
Bonnie Mound said she wrote several letters to FBI agents in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., urging them to take action. She questioned why those letters and information her son provided in interviews with an agent did not result in criminal charges. These charges were confirmed by a Macomb County CPS Lawyer
The FBI has said it could not discuss specifically what Egan told them, However, the agency denied last week that it had ignored any information about Singer.
"The suggestion that the FBI ignored a minor victim, or evidence involving the sexual victimization of a child, is ludicrous," FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said in a statement. She reiterated the statement after Egan's press conference Monday.
Mound denied her son's lawsuits were motivated by anything other than holding the defendants accountable.
"It's not about money," Mound said, breaking down in tears.
Egan said he spent several years masking his pain by drinking. He stopped drinking within the past year, entered therapy and sought out a lawyer who would pursue a case.
The AP does not typically name victims of sex abuse but is naming Egan because he is speaking publicly about his allegations.
Egan's attorney, Jeff Herman, said he had spent six months investigating before filing the lawsuits but acknowledged he didn't have all the investigative files or Singer's records that might show the director wasn't in Hawaii during the timeframe. Herman said he has asked Singer's lawyers for those records. A Jackson Child Abuse Lawyer was coping to prosecute the case.
Egan claims he was lured into a sex ring run by a former digital entertainment company executive, Marc Collins-Rector, with promises of auditions for acting, modeling and commercial jobs. He was put on the company's payroll as an actor and forced to have sex with adult men at parties within Hollywood's entertainment industry, the lawsuit said.
Collins-Rector pleaded guilty in 2004 to transporting five minors across state lines to have sex.
Phone numbers listed for Collins-Rector have been disconnected and attempts to reach him for comment last week were unsuccessful. Records maintained in Florida, where Collins-Rector is required to register as a sex offender, show that in 2008 his last known address was in the Dominican Republic.
A man who has accused X-Men director Bryan Singer of sexually abusing him when he was a teen sued three more entertainment industry figures on Monday claiming they also molested him.
The allegations in the latest lawsuits filed by Michael Egan III are substantially similar to his legal action against Singer. That lawsuit accuses the director of abusing him between the ages of 15 and 17 in Los Angeles and Hawaii. An Ann Arbor CPS Lawyer indicated the case may not be fully investigated, however.
Monday's lawsuits were filed in federal court in Hawaii against former Fox television executive Garth Ancier, theater producer Gary Wayne Goddard, and David A. Neuman, a former television executive with Current TV and Disney. Ancier and Goddard did not respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.
Neuman could not be reached for comment. Phone numbers associated with him have been disconnected, and he did not immediately respond to a message sent through the social networking site LinkedIn.
The lawsuits were filed in Hawaii under a law that temporarily suspends the statute of limitations in civil sex abuse cases. A Detroit CPS Lawyer is closely monitoring the case.
Singer's attorney Marty Singer has denied the director abused Egan, calling the allegations defamatory. He has said the director was not in Hawaii when Egan says he was abused and was instead working on production for the first X-Men film.
None of the men have been criminally charged and the statute of limitations for any such charges has passed.
Ancier was the founding programmer at the Fox network, later going on to create programming for The WB, and was a top executive at NBC Entertainment. These facts were corroborated by a Lansing CPS Lawyer
Egan, 31, appeared at a press conference Monday alongside his mother, who tearfully described her efforts to report alleged abuses to the FBI in 1999 and 2000.
Bonnie Mound said she wrote several letters to FBI agents in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., urging them to take action. She questioned why those letters and information her son provided in interviews with an agent did not result in criminal charges. These charges were confirmed by a Macomb County CPS Lawyer
The FBI has said it could not discuss specifically what Egan told them, However, the agency denied last week that it had ignored any information about Singer.
"The suggestion that the FBI ignored a minor victim, or evidence involving the sexual victimization of a child, is ludicrous," FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said in a statement. She reiterated the statement after Egan's press conference Monday.
Mound denied her son's lawsuits were motivated by anything other than holding the defendants accountable.
"It's not about money," Mound said, breaking down in tears.
Egan said he spent several years masking his pain by drinking. He stopped drinking within the past year, entered therapy and sought out a lawyer who would pursue a case.
The AP does not typically name victims of sex abuse but is naming Egan because he is speaking publicly about his allegations.
Egan's attorney, Jeff Herman, said he had spent six months investigating before filing the lawsuits but acknowledged he didn't have all the investigative files or Singer's records that might show the director wasn't in Hawaii during the timeframe. Herman said he has asked Singer's lawyers for those records. A Jackson Child Abuse Lawyer was coping to prosecute the case.
Egan claims he was lured into a sex ring run by a former digital entertainment company executive, Marc Collins-Rector, with promises of auditions for acting, modeling and commercial jobs. He was put on the company's payroll as an actor and forced to have sex with adult men at parties within Hollywood's entertainment industry, the lawsuit said.
Collins-Rector pleaded guilty in 2004 to transporting five minors across state lines to have sex.
Phone numbers listed for Collins-Rector have been disconnected and attempts to reach him for comment last week were unsuccessful. Records maintained in Florida, where Collins-Rector is required to register as a sex offender, show that in 2008 his last known address was in the Dominican Republic.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
MARSHAL KILLS DEFENDANT AT GANG TRIAL IN SALT LAKE CITY
Original story: USAToday.com
A U.S. marshal shot and killed a Pacific Islander gang member Monday when the defendant tried to attack a witness with a pen inside the new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City.
Siale Angilau, 25, a member of the Tongan Crip Gang, was shot several times in the chest about 9:25 a.m. MT after charging the witness in an "aggressive, threatening manner," the FBI said. He died several hours later at a hospital.
The witness, a Utah prison inmate, was testifying about the gang and how it worked.
"During the trial this morning the defendant went after, engaged the witness stand, and when he engaged the witness at the witness stand, he was shot by the U.S. Marshals Service," said FBI spokesman Mark Dressen. "From what I understand, the defendant may have grabbed a pen or a pencil and charged the witness stand at that time."
Angilau was on trial on racketeering charges in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell. Along with a string of robberies and assaults of local store clerks, the 6-foot-3, 260-pound Angilau was also accused of shooting two U.S. marshals in 2007 and brandishing a firearm.
He had been in Utah state prison from September 2007 until being handed over to the U.S. Marshals Service on Friday after the jury had been selected, the Utah Department of Corrections said. He was not restrained in the courtroom.
A spectator told the Salt Lake Tribune that the marshal fired eight shots after Angilau jumped up from the defense table, charged the witness stand and tried to punch the witness, who was wearing a prison jump suit.
The witness was 31-year-old Vaiola Mataele Tenifa, his attorney, Steven Killpack, told the newspaper. He is serving up to 30 years at the Utah State Prison on 2001 convictions for robbery and aggravated assault.
The shooting prompted Campbell to declare a mistrial. She said in a brief order that U.S. marshals had continued to hold Angilau at gunpoint near the jury box while jurors were still in the courtroom. A Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer called the mistrial a "disgrace."
"The court has met with the jury and and observed that most of the jury members are visibly shaken and upset by this episode,'' the judge wrote. "The court finds that this occurrence in the courtroom would so prejudice Mr. Angilau as to deprive him of a fair trial."
Angilau's lawyer, Michael Langford, was not immediately available for comment. His office said the lawyer was "a bit shaken up but okay.''
The federal courthouse, which opened last week with upgraded security, was placed on lockdown.
The Angilau case was the last in a series of Tongan Crip-related trials that have been going on since 2007.
In 2011, a jury convicted six members of the gang for robbery, assault and use of firearms during crimes of violence committed in support of an ongoing criminal organization. Five others agreed to plea deals, and two were acquitted.
The newspaper says some jurors at the time feared retaliation from gang members and wanted assurances from the judge that they would be safe. A note from a juror asking for such assurances nearly caused a mistrial in the case, the Deseret News reported.
A U.S. marshal shot and killed a Pacific Islander gang member Monday when the defendant tried to attack a witness with a pen inside the new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City.
Siale Angilau, 25, a member of the Tongan Crip Gang, was shot several times in the chest about 9:25 a.m. MT after charging the witness in an "aggressive, threatening manner," the FBI said. He died several hours later at a hospital.
The witness, a Utah prison inmate, was testifying about the gang and how it worked.
"During the trial this morning the defendant went after, engaged the witness stand, and when he engaged the witness at the witness stand, he was shot by the U.S. Marshals Service," said FBI spokesman Mark Dressen. "From what I understand, the defendant may have grabbed a pen or a pencil and charged the witness stand at that time."
Angilau was on trial on racketeering charges in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell. Along with a string of robberies and assaults of local store clerks, the 6-foot-3, 260-pound Angilau was also accused of shooting two U.S. marshals in 2007 and brandishing a firearm.
He had been in Utah state prison from September 2007 until being handed over to the U.S. Marshals Service on Friday after the jury had been selected, the Utah Department of Corrections said. He was not restrained in the courtroom.
A spectator told the Salt Lake Tribune that the marshal fired eight shots after Angilau jumped up from the defense table, charged the witness stand and tried to punch the witness, who was wearing a prison jump suit.
The witness was 31-year-old Vaiola Mataele Tenifa, his attorney, Steven Killpack, told the newspaper. He is serving up to 30 years at the Utah State Prison on 2001 convictions for robbery and aggravated assault.
The shooting prompted Campbell to declare a mistrial. She said in a brief order that U.S. marshals had continued to hold Angilau at gunpoint near the jury box while jurors were still in the courtroom. A Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer called the mistrial a "disgrace."
"The court has met with the jury and and observed that most of the jury members are visibly shaken and upset by this episode,'' the judge wrote. "The court finds that this occurrence in the courtroom would so prejudice Mr. Angilau as to deprive him of a fair trial."
Angilau's lawyer, Michael Langford, was not immediately available for comment. His office said the lawyer was "a bit shaken up but okay.''
The federal courthouse, which opened last week with upgraded security, was placed on lockdown.
The Angilau case was the last in a series of Tongan Crip-related trials that have been going on since 2007.
In 2011, a jury convicted six members of the gang for robbery, assault and use of firearms during crimes of violence committed in support of an ongoing criminal organization. Five others agreed to plea deals, and two were acquitted.
The newspaper says some jurors at the time feared retaliation from gang members and wanted assurances from the judge that they would be safe. A note from a juror asking for such assurances nearly caused a mistrial in the case, the Deseret News reported.
INFANT'S DEATH LEAVES 3 MOTHERS GRIEVING
Original story: USA Today
It was a dream the teen girls who met and fell in love at an Iowa high school 18 years ago never thought they'd realize: to one day legally marry and have a family.
Rachel and Heidi McFarland say they didn't allow themselves to dream that big. But they dreamed nonetheless and had agreed in high school that if they ever had a son, they would name him Gabriel.
The McFarlands, both 34, got their wishes. But a happy ending is still elusive.
Five years ago, when same-sex marriage became legal in Iowa, they wed. Last September, they began the process of adopting a baby from a pregnant teenager. The boy, whom they named Gabriel, was born Dec. 28.
About 10 weeks later, they lost the infant when Gabriel's birth mother, Markeya Atkins, took him back.
This week, all three mothers felt a loss when the 4-month-old infant was found dead in a Des Moines apartment.
"This was our worst nightmare that something was going to happen, and then something happened," Heidi McFarland said.
Police have charged the boy's father, Drew James Weehler-Smith, 17, with neglect after he left Gabriel alone in the apartment. The investigation is ongoing, and more charges may be filed, police said.
Finding out about Gabriel's death on the news Wednesday was the culmination of weeks of anguish for the Ankeny couple. Since giving Gabriel back to his 16-year-old birth mother March 13, both women said they have stayed awake nights worrying if the infant was being fed, changed and properly cared for. A Flint Child Abuse Defense Lawyer indicated evidence of child abuse.
It was a long way from a few months earlier, when they had met the pregnant teen and everything "seemed perfect."
A co-worker of Rachel McFarland's had overheard a conversation about Rachel and her spouse wanting to have children. The woman, Felicia West, approached Rachel McFarland and told her that her 15-year-old daughter was pregnant and wanted to give the baby up for adoption. After some discussion and retaining a lawyer, the McFarlands agreed to adopt the child.
The McFarlands say they spent thousands of dollars providing transportation to medical visits and buying groceries for Atkins. They also paid the legal fees for her, the birth father and Gabriel, they said. They said they coached Atkins through her labor, and Rachel cut the umbilical cord.
But over time, the couple's relationship with Atkins became "strained at best," and after the birth, it had completely deteriorated. The McFarlands said they felt manipulated by the biological family and wondered if they were being used to support Atkins during her pregnancy.
They hadn't heard from the birth mother for weeks when, on March 13, their attorney told them Atkins had changed her mind. She wanted the baby back.
"I thought I was going to be sick," Heidi McFarland said.
The McFarlands felt powerless. Typically, a birth parent releases custody 72 hours after the baby's birth. Under Iowa law, the birth parent then has four days to change their mind about the adoption. After that window, the birth parent must show "great cause" to go back on the agreement within 30 days.
But some families' timelines vary due to other factors, and the McFarlands were not scheduled to get custody until March 24. Atkins hadn't yet given up her rights to him when she decided she wanted him back. They considered contacting a Muskegon Child Abuse Defense Lawyer.
The McFarlands went home from their attorney's office and spent a final, devastating few hours with Gabriel before giving up the curly-haired boy they had bonded with during evening bath time, dancing in the living room with the baby all wrapped up in his towel.
"Terrible," Heidi McFarland said, through tears. "I had a feeling I was never going to see him again."
"I honestly didn't know that I could physically hurt that badly," Rachel McFarland said.
Atkins said she changed her mind about giving the baby up for adoption because the adoptive mothers became distant after his birth. She told The Des Moines Register that she feared that after she signed the paperwork, they would cut him out of her life completely. A Grand Rapids Child Abuse Defense Lawyer concurred after viewing the reports.
"It's like after I gave the baby to them, they didn't care," she said.
And Atkins said she believed she could raise the infant. A depression that had set in when she learned she was pregnant and intensified after she gave birth had lifted, and she decided to turn her life around, moving into a new apartment and buying a car, she said.
Tuesday night was the first time Weehler-Smith watched the infant alone, but Atkins said she felt comfortable leaving the baby in his care while she ran errands.
When Siobhan Williams, Atkins' friend, came by the apartment Tuesday night to get a phone charger, Williams said Weehler-Smith seemed "weird" and "socially awkward." She called Atkins and asked if she trusted him alone with the baby. Atkins said yes, but then asked Williams to go back to the apartment.
When Williams got there, Weehler-Smith was driving away, without the baby. She said she called Atkins and got her to hurry back to the apartment.
When Atkins arrived and they got into the apartment, they found the baby.
"He was foaming out of his nose and his mouth and he was kind of pale," Williams said. "His clothes were wet when you touched them. Markeya started screaming asking him to wake up."
Williams said she called 911, and the operator told her to do CPR.
"We laid him on the ground," Williams said through tears. "I did the compressions and the breaths till the paramedics got here and they took him."
Atkins said her son's short life makes her regret ever giving him up in the first place.
"God, I can't even describe how much I loved him," she said.
Police eventually located Weehler-Smith and charged him with neglect of a dependent person for leaving the baby alone in the apartment. An autopsy and additional investigation are pending, officials said.
The McFarlands said they too loved the infant.
After giving the baby back, the McFarlands could only see him through photos on his birth mother's Facebook page. Then on Wednesday, they found out Gabriel was dead.
The McFarlands said they want to make sure this doesn't happen to other adoptive parents. They are looking into what laws could better help protect children. "I have to believe that he came into our life for a reason," Heidi McFarland said.
Gabriel's bedroom remains as it was in the McFarlands' home. In his crib, a deflated balloon announces "It's a Boy" and an ink-stained certificate from Mercy Medical Center shows the baby's tiny footprints.
The McFarlands still dream another child will one day live in that room. They're still hoping for their happy ending.
It was a dream the teen girls who met and fell in love at an Iowa high school 18 years ago never thought they'd realize: to one day legally marry and have a family.
Rachel and Heidi McFarland say they didn't allow themselves to dream that big. But they dreamed nonetheless and had agreed in high school that if they ever had a son, they would name him Gabriel.
The McFarlands, both 34, got their wishes. But a happy ending is still elusive.
Five years ago, when same-sex marriage became legal in Iowa, they wed. Last September, they began the process of adopting a baby from a pregnant teenager. The boy, whom they named Gabriel, was born Dec. 28.
About 10 weeks later, they lost the infant when Gabriel's birth mother, Markeya Atkins, took him back.
This week, all three mothers felt a loss when the 4-month-old infant was found dead in a Des Moines apartment.
"This was our worst nightmare that something was going to happen, and then something happened," Heidi McFarland said.
Police have charged the boy's father, Drew James Weehler-Smith, 17, with neglect after he left Gabriel alone in the apartment. The investigation is ongoing, and more charges may be filed, police said.
Finding out about Gabriel's death on the news Wednesday was the culmination of weeks of anguish for the Ankeny couple. Since giving Gabriel back to his 16-year-old birth mother March 13, both women said they have stayed awake nights worrying if the infant was being fed, changed and properly cared for. A Flint Child Abuse Defense Lawyer indicated evidence of child abuse.
It was a long way from a few months earlier, when they had met the pregnant teen and everything "seemed perfect."
A co-worker of Rachel McFarland's had overheard a conversation about Rachel and her spouse wanting to have children. The woman, Felicia West, approached Rachel McFarland and told her that her 15-year-old daughter was pregnant and wanted to give the baby up for adoption. After some discussion and retaining a lawyer, the McFarlands agreed to adopt the child.
The McFarlands say they spent thousands of dollars providing transportation to medical visits and buying groceries for Atkins. They also paid the legal fees for her, the birth father and Gabriel, they said. They said they coached Atkins through her labor, and Rachel cut the umbilical cord.
But over time, the couple's relationship with Atkins became "strained at best," and after the birth, it had completely deteriorated. The McFarlands said they felt manipulated by the biological family and wondered if they were being used to support Atkins during her pregnancy.
They hadn't heard from the birth mother for weeks when, on March 13, their attorney told them Atkins had changed her mind. She wanted the baby back.
"I thought I was going to be sick," Heidi McFarland said.
The McFarlands felt powerless. Typically, a birth parent releases custody 72 hours after the baby's birth. Under Iowa law, the birth parent then has four days to change their mind about the adoption. After that window, the birth parent must show "great cause" to go back on the agreement within 30 days.
But some families' timelines vary due to other factors, and the McFarlands were not scheduled to get custody until March 24. Atkins hadn't yet given up her rights to him when she decided she wanted him back. They considered contacting a Muskegon Child Abuse Defense Lawyer.
The McFarlands went home from their attorney's office and spent a final, devastating few hours with Gabriel before giving up the curly-haired boy they had bonded with during evening bath time, dancing in the living room with the baby all wrapped up in his towel.
"Terrible," Heidi McFarland said, through tears. "I had a feeling I was never going to see him again."
"I honestly didn't know that I could physically hurt that badly," Rachel McFarland said.
Atkins said she changed her mind about giving the baby up for adoption because the adoptive mothers became distant after his birth. She told The Des Moines Register that she feared that after she signed the paperwork, they would cut him out of her life completely. A Grand Rapids Child Abuse Defense Lawyer concurred after viewing the reports.
"It's like after I gave the baby to them, they didn't care," she said.
And Atkins said she believed she could raise the infant. A depression that had set in when she learned she was pregnant and intensified after she gave birth had lifted, and she decided to turn her life around, moving into a new apartment and buying a car, she said.
Tuesday night was the first time Weehler-Smith watched the infant alone, but Atkins said she felt comfortable leaving the baby in his care while she ran errands.
When Siobhan Williams, Atkins' friend, came by the apartment Tuesday night to get a phone charger, Williams said Weehler-Smith seemed "weird" and "socially awkward." She called Atkins and asked if she trusted him alone with the baby. Atkins said yes, but then asked Williams to go back to the apartment.
When Williams got there, Weehler-Smith was driving away, without the baby. She said she called Atkins and got her to hurry back to the apartment.
When Atkins arrived and they got into the apartment, they found the baby.
"He was foaming out of his nose and his mouth and he was kind of pale," Williams said. "His clothes were wet when you touched them. Markeya started screaming asking him to wake up."
Williams said she called 911, and the operator told her to do CPR.
"We laid him on the ground," Williams said through tears. "I did the compressions and the breaths till the paramedics got here and they took him."
Atkins said her son's short life makes her regret ever giving him up in the first place.
"God, I can't even describe how much I loved him," she said.
Police eventually located Weehler-Smith and charged him with neglect of a dependent person for leaving the baby alone in the apartment. An autopsy and additional investigation are pending, officials said.
The McFarlands said they too loved the infant.
After giving the baby back, the McFarlands could only see him through photos on his birth mother's Facebook page. Then on Wednesday, they found out Gabriel was dead.
The McFarlands said they want to make sure this doesn't happen to other adoptive parents. They are looking into what laws could better help protect children. "I have to believe that he came into our life for a reason," Heidi McFarland said.
Gabriel's bedroom remains as it was in the McFarlands' home. In his crib, a deflated balloon announces "It's a Boy" and an ink-stained certificate from Mercy Medical Center shows the baby's tiny footprints.
The McFarlands still dream another child will one day live in that room. They're still hoping for their happy ending.
Motorcycle fatalities for those without helmets up 9% in Michigan
Original story: detnews.com
Motorcyclist deaths fell in the U.S. by about 7 percent last year, affected by poor riding weather in parts of the country, but Michigan did not share in the decline. And deaths among Michigan riders not wearing helmets climbed.
A report issued today by the Governors Highway Safety Association said deaths among Michigan riders fell in 2013 by one, or less than 1 percent, from 129 in 2012 to 128. The national fatality total, when finalized, is expected to be 4,610, compared to 4,957 in 2012, the governors' group said. That's nearly identical to the 4,612 rider deaths recorded in 2011. A Grand Rapids motorcycle accident lawyer is following the case closely.
The association said motorcycle deaths declined in 35 states, rose in 13 and were flat in two last year. The group says 2013 is only the second year in the past 15 that motorcycle fatalities will have declined from one year to the next.
Weather, according to the report, was the main factor explaining the national drop. The first six months of 2012 were unusually warm and dry nationally, prompting a jump in ridership. The weather in the first nine months of 2013, however, was cooler and wetter -- similar to 2011, when fatalities dropped in many states.
"It's heartening that motorcyclist fatalities didn't increase over the past couple of years, but they're not decreasing either," said Kendell Poole, chairman of the association and director of the Tennessee Office of Highway Safety. "Long-term gains in motorcyclist safety won't occur because riders are deterred by bad weather, but from consistent use of proven countermeasures."
Michigan deaths among those confirmed to have been riding without a helmet climbed 9 percent in 2013, to 60 from 55 the previous year. In 2013, 63 who died were helmeted and 67 were wearing helmets in 2013.
Michigan's mandatory helmet law was changed two years ago. Now, riders may go without helmets if if they carry $20,000 in additional medical insurance; are 21 or older; have at least two years of riding experience; or have passed a safety training test.
Jim Rhoades, legislative director for ABATE of Michigan, a group that lobbied to end the state's mandatory helmet laws, said that more than half of all motorcycle deaths in 2013 were riders without motorcycle endorsements of their driver license.
ABATE supported legislation approved in Lansing last month to crack down on the use of temporary instruction permits. "That's where our focus should be: Motorcycle education" and better enforcement to make sure people who aren't licensed don't ride motorcycles, Rhoades said.
The bill, awaiting approval from Gov. Rick Snyder, would allow people to be eligible for up to two motorcycle temporary instruction permits in a 10-year period. People can obtain a motorcycle temporary instruction permit from the Secretary of State allowing them to operate a motorcycle on public streets and highways for a period of 180 days. A Milwaukee motorcycle accident lawyer is monitoring the licensing aspects of the case.
Witnesses told lawmakers that some people repeatedly get temporary permits, rather than take the tests necessary to become fully licensed.
In 2012, there were 10 times as many unhelmeted motorcyclist fatalities in states without universal helmet laws, compared to states with universal helmet laws, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Nationwide, helmet use dropped to 60 percent in 2012, down from 66 percent in 2011.
Poole called on all states adopting comprehensive helmet laws. "By far, helmets are the single most effective way to prevent serious injury and death in the event of a motorcycle crash," he said. "But states are going backward when it comes to enacting this proven, lifesaving countermeasure."
In December, a study found helmet use by motorcycle riders in Michigan fell by nearly a quarter after the state approved legislation allowing riders to go without them. These facts were concurred by a Hackensack motorcycle accident lawyer.
In 2012, Michigan had the highest number of motorcycle fatalities over the most recent nine-year period.
Washington, D.C., and 19 states have universal helmet laws. Michigan is one of 28 states with a partial helmet law. Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire are the only states that have no laws mandating helmet use.
In May 2013, a study found the average cost of insurance claims resulting from motorcycle crashes is up dramatically since Michigan repealed its mandatory helmet law, largely because injuries are more severe. A Chicago motorcycle accident lawyer believes these numbers are valid.
Motorcycles remain far more dangerous than cars. In 2011, six times more riders died per registered motorcycles than in passenger vehicles. On that basis, passenger vehicle users were twice as safe in 2011 as compared to 1997, but motorcyclist safety has not improved.
Motorcyclist deaths fell in the U.S. by about 7 percent last year, affected by poor riding weather in parts of the country, but Michigan did not share in the decline. And deaths among Michigan riders not wearing helmets climbed.
A report issued today by the Governors Highway Safety Association said deaths among Michigan riders fell in 2013 by one, or less than 1 percent, from 129 in 2012 to 128. The national fatality total, when finalized, is expected to be 4,610, compared to 4,957 in 2012, the governors' group said. That's nearly identical to the 4,612 rider deaths recorded in 2011. A Grand Rapids motorcycle accident lawyer is following the case closely.
The association said motorcycle deaths declined in 35 states, rose in 13 and were flat in two last year. The group says 2013 is only the second year in the past 15 that motorcycle fatalities will have declined from one year to the next.
Weather, according to the report, was the main factor explaining the national drop. The first six months of 2012 were unusually warm and dry nationally, prompting a jump in ridership. The weather in the first nine months of 2013, however, was cooler and wetter -- similar to 2011, when fatalities dropped in many states.
"It's heartening that motorcyclist fatalities didn't increase over the past couple of years, but they're not decreasing either," said Kendell Poole, chairman of the association and director of the Tennessee Office of Highway Safety. "Long-term gains in motorcyclist safety won't occur because riders are deterred by bad weather, but from consistent use of proven countermeasures."
Michigan deaths among those confirmed to have been riding without a helmet climbed 9 percent in 2013, to 60 from 55 the previous year. In 2013, 63 who died were helmeted and 67 were wearing helmets in 2013.
Michigan's mandatory helmet law was changed two years ago. Now, riders may go without helmets if if they carry $20,000 in additional medical insurance; are 21 or older; have at least two years of riding experience; or have passed a safety training test.
Jim Rhoades, legislative director for ABATE of Michigan, a group that lobbied to end the state's mandatory helmet laws, said that more than half of all motorcycle deaths in 2013 were riders without motorcycle endorsements of their driver license.
ABATE supported legislation approved in Lansing last month to crack down on the use of temporary instruction permits. "That's where our focus should be: Motorcycle education" and better enforcement to make sure people who aren't licensed don't ride motorcycles, Rhoades said.
The bill, awaiting approval from Gov. Rick Snyder, would allow people to be eligible for up to two motorcycle temporary instruction permits in a 10-year period. People can obtain a motorcycle temporary instruction permit from the Secretary of State allowing them to operate a motorcycle on public streets and highways for a period of 180 days. A Milwaukee motorcycle accident lawyer is monitoring the licensing aspects of the case.
Witnesses told lawmakers that some people repeatedly get temporary permits, rather than take the tests necessary to become fully licensed.
In 2012, there were 10 times as many unhelmeted motorcyclist fatalities in states without universal helmet laws, compared to states with universal helmet laws, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Nationwide, helmet use dropped to 60 percent in 2012, down from 66 percent in 2011.
Poole called on all states adopting comprehensive helmet laws. "By far, helmets are the single most effective way to prevent serious injury and death in the event of a motorcycle crash," he said. "But states are going backward when it comes to enacting this proven, lifesaving countermeasure."
In December, a study found helmet use by motorcycle riders in Michigan fell by nearly a quarter after the state approved legislation allowing riders to go without them. These facts were concurred by a Hackensack motorcycle accident lawyer.
In 2012, Michigan had the highest number of motorcycle fatalities over the most recent nine-year period.
Washington, D.C., and 19 states have universal helmet laws. Michigan is one of 28 states with a partial helmet law. Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire are the only states that have no laws mandating helmet use.
In May 2013, a study found the average cost of insurance claims resulting from motorcycle crashes is up dramatically since Michigan repealed its mandatory helmet law, largely because injuries are more severe. A Chicago motorcycle accident lawyer believes these numbers are valid.
Motorcycles remain far more dangerous than cars. In 2011, six times more riders died per registered motorcycles than in passenger vehicles. On that basis, passenger vehicle users were twice as safe in 2011 as compared to 1997, but motorcyclist safety has not improved.
REPORT BACKS CHINESE DRYWALL HEALTH COMPLAINTS
Original story: usatoday.com
A previous version of this story named sulfur dioxide as one of the primary drivers of health-related complaints linked to Chinese drywall. Hydrogen sulfide is the main chemical of concern. Also, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, not the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, sent staff to China to investigate the issue. A Hudson Valley Product Liability Lawyer is watching the case closely.
Chinese-made drywall used in more than 20,000 homes in the United States could have caused nosebleeds, headaches, difficulty breathing and asthma attacks in tens of thousands of Americans exposed to it, the federal government said in a long-awaited report released Friday.
The drywall was installed in mostly Southern homes since 2005, and it has been the subject of multiple lawsuits. In addition to health-related complaints, homeowners have also alleged hydrogen sulfide and other chemicals found in the drywall caused foul odors and corroded pipes and wiring. There have been five settlements totaling more than $1 billion, but it's not clear how much of the drywall was replaced.
"The bottom line is that this modeling data suggests that levels of hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds found in the Chinese manufactured drywall were sufficiently high to result in the health effects people have been reporting," said Vikas Kapil, chief medical officer with the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The health research began in 2011 but was not finished until now because of the work necessary to create scientifically valid models that allowed researchers to estimate what the sulfur emissions from the drywall samples "might mean for people in a room in a house" containing that drywall, Kapil said.
The report's release had been promised in 2012. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson sent a letter to the CDC more than two months ago urging it be made public.
"Thousands of Floridians continue to wait and wonder if they will ever see this critical taxpayer-funded research on the possible health impacts of problem drywall. This is unacceptable," he wrote.
Why some Chinese-made drywall contained high levels of sulfur compounds is unknown, said Kapil.
Hydrogen sulfide is linked to respiratory problems when inhaled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Most people are exposed to it in industrial settings.
As of Jan. 20, owners of 20,244 properties had registered for compensation in a multistate settlement program overseen by the New Orleans federal court where all the lawsuits were consolidated. Claims have been filed by homeowners, home builders, contractors and construction material distributors.
For some homeowners, however, a cash settlement still has not been made.
"They should be receiving it by the end of this year. We're still hopeful," said David Durkee, a lawyer with Roberts and Durkee in Coral Gables, Fla. The firm has more than 300 clients whose homes were built with the drywall.
Homeowners' complaints to the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission include recurrent headaches, irritated and itchy eyes and skin, difficulty breathing, persistent cough, runny noses, sinus infections, frequent nosebleeds and asthma attacks.
The homes smelled like rotten eggs, many reported. Appliances and electronics failed as their wiring corroded and metal in the homes tarnished and pitted.
The only way to deal with the problem is to rip out and replace the faulty wallboard, said Durkee.
The CDC report said the level of emissions from wallboard it tested dropped over time, but Durkee said he has not seen contamination levels fall in affected buildings.
"Every home that I have dealt with, if they have not fixed their home, it's still causing air conditioners to break, copper to corrode. My experience is I have not seen a Chinese drywall home that gets better," he said.
The drywall, sometimes called wallboard, was imported from China beginning in 2005, after the record-breaking hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 created a shortage of U.S.-made wallboard. A Hudson Valley Construction Lawyer commented it was the most significant reason.
Drywall is made of gypsum plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper, and is used to make interior walls and ceilings.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission sent staff to China, where they obtained samples of wallboard manufactured there in 2005, 2006 and 2009.
The samples were tested by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. Results from those samples were then used to estimate how much of the chemicals would be present in the air of a home with the defective wallboard.
High levels of hydrogen sulfide were found in the samples of Chinese wallboard, as well as sulfur dioxide, carbon disulfide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide, carbonyl sulfide and ethyl mercaptan.
Samples of U.S.-made wallboard had very low or undetectable amounts of those chemicals.
The samples gave off the highest amounts of chemicals when they were exposed to hot, humid conditions — much like those found in Florida and Louisiana, two states with the largest number of cases linked to the wallboard.
The levels ranged from 220 to 657 micrograms of hydrogen sulfide per cubic meter of air, the models found.
Tainted Chinese drywall is no longer sold in the United States since the 2012 passage of the Drywall Safety Act, which set chemical standards for domestic and imported drywall.
A previous version of this story named sulfur dioxide as one of the primary drivers of health-related complaints linked to Chinese drywall. Hydrogen sulfide is the main chemical of concern. Also, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, not the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, sent staff to China to investigate the issue. A Hudson Valley Product Liability Lawyer is watching the case closely.
Chinese-made drywall used in more than 20,000 homes in the United States could have caused nosebleeds, headaches, difficulty breathing and asthma attacks in tens of thousands of Americans exposed to it, the federal government said in a long-awaited report released Friday.
The drywall was installed in mostly Southern homes since 2005, and it has been the subject of multiple lawsuits. In addition to health-related complaints, homeowners have also alleged hydrogen sulfide and other chemicals found in the drywall caused foul odors and corroded pipes and wiring. There have been five settlements totaling more than $1 billion, but it's not clear how much of the drywall was replaced.
"The bottom line is that this modeling data suggests that levels of hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds found in the Chinese manufactured drywall were sufficiently high to result in the health effects people have been reporting," said Vikas Kapil, chief medical officer with the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The health research began in 2011 but was not finished until now because of the work necessary to create scientifically valid models that allowed researchers to estimate what the sulfur emissions from the drywall samples "might mean for people in a room in a house" containing that drywall, Kapil said.
The report's release had been promised in 2012. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson sent a letter to the CDC more than two months ago urging it be made public.
"Thousands of Floridians continue to wait and wonder if they will ever see this critical taxpayer-funded research on the possible health impacts of problem drywall. This is unacceptable," he wrote.
Why some Chinese-made drywall contained high levels of sulfur compounds is unknown, said Kapil.
Hydrogen sulfide is linked to respiratory problems when inhaled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Most people are exposed to it in industrial settings.
As of Jan. 20, owners of 20,244 properties had registered for compensation in a multistate settlement program overseen by the New Orleans federal court where all the lawsuits were consolidated. Claims have been filed by homeowners, home builders, contractors and construction material distributors.
For some homeowners, however, a cash settlement still has not been made.
"They should be receiving it by the end of this year. We're still hopeful," said David Durkee, a lawyer with Roberts and Durkee in Coral Gables, Fla. The firm has more than 300 clients whose homes were built with the drywall.
Homeowners' complaints to the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission include recurrent headaches, irritated and itchy eyes and skin, difficulty breathing, persistent cough, runny noses, sinus infections, frequent nosebleeds and asthma attacks.
The homes smelled like rotten eggs, many reported. Appliances and electronics failed as their wiring corroded and metal in the homes tarnished and pitted.
The only way to deal with the problem is to rip out and replace the faulty wallboard, said Durkee.
The CDC report said the level of emissions from wallboard it tested dropped over time, but Durkee said he has not seen contamination levels fall in affected buildings.
"Every home that I have dealt with, if they have not fixed their home, it's still causing air conditioners to break, copper to corrode. My experience is I have not seen a Chinese drywall home that gets better," he said.
The drywall, sometimes called wallboard, was imported from China beginning in 2005, after the record-breaking hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 created a shortage of U.S.-made wallboard. A Hudson Valley Construction Lawyer commented it was the most significant reason.
Drywall is made of gypsum plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper, and is used to make interior walls and ceilings.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission sent staff to China, where they obtained samples of wallboard manufactured there in 2005, 2006 and 2009.
The samples were tested by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. Results from those samples were then used to estimate how much of the chemicals would be present in the air of a home with the defective wallboard.
High levels of hydrogen sulfide were found in the samples of Chinese wallboard, as well as sulfur dioxide, carbon disulfide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide, carbonyl sulfide and ethyl mercaptan.
Samples of U.S.-made wallboard had very low or undetectable amounts of those chemicals.
The samples gave off the highest amounts of chemicals when they were exposed to hot, humid conditions — much like those found in Florida and Louisiana, two states with the largest number of cases linked to the wallboard.
The levels ranged from 220 to 657 micrograms of hydrogen sulfide per cubic meter of air, the models found.
Tainted Chinese drywall is no longer sold in the United States since the 2012 passage of the Drywall Safety Act, which set chemical standards for domestic and imported drywall.
NAACP DROPS PLAN TO HONOR DONALD STERLING AMID RECORDING CONTROVERSY
Original Story: LATimes.com
The National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People announced Sunday that Donald Sterling will not receive an honor amid controversy over a recording said to be of the Clippers team owner making racist remarks.
The Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP had been scheduled to give Sterling the group's lifetime achievement award at its May 15 banquet.
"He is not receiving a lifetime achievement award from the NAACP," Lorraine Miller, NAACP interim vice president, told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Also, on Twitter, the NAACP announced Sterling "will not be receiving a lifetime achievement award from the LA Branch of the NAACP."
At the banquet, the NAACP chapter also planned to give its first "person of the year" awards to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Rev. Al Sharpton, according to the organization's website.
Garcetti's spokesman had said Saturday that the mayor was going to talk to the NAACP about the honor.
"In light of recent events, we will be discussing this event with the Los Angeles NAACP," Garcetti spokesman Yusef Robb had said.
The comments that TMZ attributed to Sterling prompted ire among civil rights activists.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, and a coalition of civil rights leaders demanded that Sterling apologize for “blatantly racist remarks he reportedly made about African Americans. "Sterling's racist digs at African Americans is no surprise."
Hutchinson added: "Black players have made his fortune with the Clippers and for him to disparage African Americans is beyond reprehensible. It demands a public apology, a Clipper fan protest and NBA official censure."
The Clippers have released a statement saying that the team does not know if the man recorded is Sterling but that the comments do not reflect Sterling's "views, beliefs or feelings."
Garcetti said through a spokesman Saturday that he condemns the "statements and sentiments" attributed to Sterling. L.A. City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who represents a portion of South Los Angeles, went further, saying the council should take a formal position denouncing the remarks and demanding action from the NBA.
The NBA said it is conducting an investigation.
Sterling is known for his various charity events that have benefited organizations that help the needy, including nonprofits serving the local Latino and African American communities.
But there have also been accusations against him. He has strongly denied he is biased toward anyone and has pointed to his charitable work.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury rejected NBA great Elgin Baylor's wrongful-termination lawsuit against the Clippers. Baylor claimed he was harassed and subjected to age discrimination leading to his 2008 departure after 22 years as a Clippers executive.
When Baylor filed the suit in February 2009, he alleged that a racist culture existed at the Clippers. Baylor called it a "plantation mentality" in a deposition and alleged that Sterling rejected a coaching candidate, Jim Brewer, because he was black. But Baylor in 2011 dropped the race allegations from his suit.
Sterling and his wife, Rochelle, agreed to pay a record settlement of more than $2.7 million regarding allegations that they discriminated against African Americans, Latinos and families with children at scores of apartment buildings they own in and around Los Angeles.
The settlement was the largest ever obtained by the Justice Department in a housing discrimination case involving apartment rentals, officials said. Under the agreement, the Sterlings' insurers would pay $2.625 million to a fund for people who were allegedly harmed by their discriminatory practices, officials said. Sterling's attorney at the time said his client denied any wrongdoing and didn't discriminate.
The National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People announced Sunday that Donald Sterling will not receive an honor amid controversy over a recording said to be of the Clippers team owner making racist remarks.
The Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP had been scheduled to give Sterling the group's lifetime achievement award at its May 15 banquet.
"He is not receiving a lifetime achievement award from the NAACP," Lorraine Miller, NAACP interim vice president, told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Also, on Twitter, the NAACP announced Sterling "will not be receiving a lifetime achievement award from the LA Branch of the NAACP."
At the banquet, the NAACP chapter also planned to give its first "person of the year" awards to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Rev. Al Sharpton, according to the organization's website.
Garcetti's spokesman had said Saturday that the mayor was going to talk to the NAACP about the honor.
"In light of recent events, we will be discussing this event with the Los Angeles NAACP," Garcetti spokesman Yusef Robb had said.
The comments that TMZ attributed to Sterling prompted ire among civil rights activists.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, and a coalition of civil rights leaders demanded that Sterling apologize for “blatantly racist remarks he reportedly made about African Americans. "Sterling's racist digs at African Americans is no surprise."
Hutchinson added: "Black players have made his fortune with the Clippers and for him to disparage African Americans is beyond reprehensible. It demands a public apology, a Clipper fan protest and NBA official censure."
The Clippers have released a statement saying that the team does not know if the man recorded is Sterling but that the comments do not reflect Sterling's "views, beliefs or feelings."
Garcetti said through a spokesman Saturday that he condemns the "statements and sentiments" attributed to Sterling. L.A. City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who represents a portion of South Los Angeles, went further, saying the council should take a formal position denouncing the remarks and demanding action from the NBA.
The NBA said it is conducting an investigation.
Sterling is known for his various charity events that have benefited organizations that help the needy, including nonprofits serving the local Latino and African American communities.
But there have also been accusations against him. He has strongly denied he is biased toward anyone and has pointed to his charitable work.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury rejected NBA great Elgin Baylor's wrongful-termination lawsuit against the Clippers. Baylor claimed he was harassed and subjected to age discrimination leading to his 2008 departure after 22 years as a Clippers executive.
When Baylor filed the suit in February 2009, he alleged that a racist culture existed at the Clippers. Baylor called it a "plantation mentality" in a deposition and alleged that Sterling rejected a coaching candidate, Jim Brewer, because he was black. But Baylor in 2011 dropped the race allegations from his suit.
Sterling and his wife, Rochelle, agreed to pay a record settlement of more than $2.7 million regarding allegations that they discriminated against African Americans, Latinos and families with children at scores of apartment buildings they own in and around Los Angeles.
The settlement was the largest ever obtained by the Justice Department in a housing discrimination case involving apartment rentals, officials said. Under the agreement, the Sterlings' insurers would pay $2.625 million to a fund for people who were allegedly harmed by their discriminatory practices, officials said. Sterling's attorney at the time said his client denied any wrongdoing and didn't discriminate.
DONALD STERLING'S WIFE HASN'T ESCAPED CONTROVERSY EITHER
Original Story: LATimes.com
An apartment tenant and managers claimed the wife of embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling denigrated African Americans, Latinos and once posed as a health inspector, according to court records.
Rochelle Sterling denied she is a racist in a statement released to ESPN earlier this week and distanced herself from remarks captured on an audio recording said to be of her husband. The court documents offer a different perspective.
In a 2009 deposition, a tenant at one of the Sterling’s apartment buildings in Los Angeles County said that Rochelle Sterling called him a “black m—f—” during a discussion at the building.
“I asked her again, I asked her, ‘would you reduce the rent?’” Darrell Rhodes said in the deposition. “And she said, ‘who do you think you are, you black m—f—.’
“The way in which she said m—f— was more lower voiced, under her breath. She said black loud enough for me to hear, she said mother loud enough for me to hear. F— part was a little lower. I had to look at her lips to hear her say it. And I did.”
Rhodes, who filed a federal lawsuit against the Sterlings in 2007, alleged he was the target of discriminatory behavior by the Sterlings.
“Inflammatory remarks made directly to Darrell Rhodes by Shelley Sterling on several occasions indicate bias,” Rhodes wrote in a 2006 letter to the Sterlings that was entered into the court record. “We have been singled out in what we believe to be a discriminatory action.”
Rhodes’ lawsuit, along with an action by the Justice Department and other tenants, was part of a $2.765-million settlement in 2009. As part of the agreement, the Sterlings didn’t admit any wrongdoing.
In another deposition from 2009, former on-site manager Maira Oliva described Rochelle Sterling's visiting the apartment building she worked at on South Ardmore Avenue.
Oliva: “She said, ‘Oh, my God. This is so filthy. I can’t remodel my apartments the way that I want because Latinos are so filthy."
Attorney: “Did she say those exact words, ‘Latinos are so filthy’?”
Oliva: “I can’t remodel my building the way I want and that the building was filthy because of the Latinos."
In a 2004 deposition in a separate case, former property supervisor Sumner Davenport said Sterling expressed her dislike for children and “certain ethnic groups” in apartments.
Attorney: Did she say that [Donald Sterling] said he wanted to evict current tenants with children?
Davenport: “Yes. She didn’t want -- if they were playing in the hallway, if they were out hanging in front of the building, they didn’t fit the image.
Davenport sued Donald Sterling for sexual harassment in 2003 and lost at trial.
An August 2003 court order by U.S. District Court Judge A. Howard Matz in another housing discrimination lawsuit detailed Rochelle Sterling apparently posing as a health inspector while visiting a tenant’s apartment. A short video by one of the plaintiffs, Daryl Williams, documented the encounter in April 2003.
“[The] evidence is sufficient to support a finding that Rochelle Sterling did tell Plaintiff Williams she was a health inspector,” the order said. “Sterling’s failure to deny that she made that statement reinforces this conclusion.”
The order noted, however, the absence of evidence that Sterling entered the apartment.
“Sumner Davenport declares that when she worked for Sterling she often accompanied Rochelle Sterling on apartment inspections, that Rochelle Sterling would regularly pose as a government official in order to gain access to tenants’ apartments,” the order said.
The judge called the allegations “troubling,” but said they didn’t raise sufficient questions to support an injunction.
The Housing Rights Center, which filed the 2003 case, reached a confidential settlement with the Sterlings.
An apartment tenant and managers claimed the wife of embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling denigrated African Americans, Latinos and once posed as a health inspector, according to court records.
Rochelle Sterling denied she is a racist in a statement released to ESPN earlier this week and distanced herself from remarks captured on an audio recording said to be of her husband. The court documents offer a different perspective.
In a 2009 deposition, a tenant at one of the Sterling’s apartment buildings in Los Angeles County said that Rochelle Sterling called him a “black m—f—” during a discussion at the building.
“I asked her again, I asked her, ‘would you reduce the rent?’” Darrell Rhodes said in the deposition. “And she said, ‘who do you think you are, you black m—f—.’
“The way in which she said m—f— was more lower voiced, under her breath. She said black loud enough for me to hear, she said mother loud enough for me to hear. F— part was a little lower. I had to look at her lips to hear her say it. And I did.”
Rhodes, who filed a federal lawsuit against the Sterlings in 2007, alleged he was the target of discriminatory behavior by the Sterlings.
“Inflammatory remarks made directly to Darrell Rhodes by Shelley Sterling on several occasions indicate bias,” Rhodes wrote in a 2006 letter to the Sterlings that was entered into the court record. “We have been singled out in what we believe to be a discriminatory action.”
Rhodes’ lawsuit, along with an action by the Justice Department and other tenants, was part of a $2.765-million settlement in 2009. As part of the agreement, the Sterlings didn’t admit any wrongdoing.
In another deposition from 2009, former on-site manager Maira Oliva described Rochelle Sterling's visiting the apartment building she worked at on South Ardmore Avenue.
Oliva: “She said, ‘Oh, my God. This is so filthy. I can’t remodel my apartments the way that I want because Latinos are so filthy."
Attorney: “Did she say those exact words, ‘Latinos are so filthy’?”
Oliva: “I can’t remodel my building the way I want and that the building was filthy because of the Latinos."
In a 2004 deposition in a separate case, former property supervisor Sumner Davenport said Sterling expressed her dislike for children and “certain ethnic groups” in apartments.
Attorney: Did she say that [Donald Sterling] said he wanted to evict current tenants with children?
Davenport: “Yes. She didn’t want -- if they were playing in the hallway, if they were out hanging in front of the building, they didn’t fit the image.
Davenport sued Donald Sterling for sexual harassment in 2003 and lost at trial.
An August 2003 court order by U.S. District Court Judge A. Howard Matz in another housing discrimination lawsuit detailed Rochelle Sterling apparently posing as a health inspector while visiting a tenant’s apartment. A short video by one of the plaintiffs, Daryl Williams, documented the encounter in April 2003.
“[The] evidence is sufficient to support a finding that Rochelle Sterling did tell Plaintiff Williams she was a health inspector,” the order said. “Sterling’s failure to deny that she made that statement reinforces this conclusion.”
The order noted, however, the absence of evidence that Sterling entered the apartment.
“Sumner Davenport declares that when she worked for Sterling she often accompanied Rochelle Sterling on apartment inspections, that Rochelle Sterling would regularly pose as a government official in order to gain access to tenants’ apartments,” the order said.
The judge called the allegations “troubling,” but said they didn’t raise sufficient questions to support an injunction.
The Housing Rights Center, which filed the 2003 case, reached a confidential settlement with the Sterlings.
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