September 2011 Archives

At what point is a school no longer responsible for the acts of its students? That’s the question that the principal of South Philadelphia High School is asking following another incident of Philadelphia school violence.

Earlier this week, police say a fight among schoolgirls at the high school led to a triple shooting that critically injured a toddler, reports Philadelphia Daily News. The fight occurred off school grounds an hour after school ended, and the shootings injured the toddler, a 10-year-old boy, and their 59-year-old grandmother.

With 13 reported cantaloupe deaths, the listeria illness linked to Colorado cantaloupes is already the third deadliest food-related outbreak. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has announced a cantaloupe recall affecting 26 states including Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.

Along with the 13 deaths, there have also been 59 reported cases of non-fatal illnesses related to the Colorado cantaloupes, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. None of the deaths or illnesses occurred in the Philadelphia region; however, consumers are urged to be wary.

A Cherry Hill gas station took advantage of Hurricane Irene by allegedly illegally raising gas prices, but apparently not high enough for it to be determined hurricane price gouging.

The Lukoil gas station, located at Kings Highway, is charged with pricing violations after customers complained that the station illegally raised prices multiple times on the day of August 26, just before Hurricane Irene struck the area. According to state law, gas prices can only be raised once per day, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. For the violation, the owners of the Lukoil face a $1,500 fine.

Hank Haney was Tiger Woods’ former swing coach until the world’s greatest golfer became embroiled in personal scandal. Haney then took his name recognition to coach celebrity golfers like Ray Romano and Rush Limbaugh, as well as offering his services to laypeople willing to fork over $30,000 for lessons.

One Ambler woman wanted her son to swing like Tiger and paid the money for her son, Matthew Teesdale, to enroll at the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy in South Carolina. For $30,000, Haney promised that his students would receive not only his expertise, but also a “meaningful relationship” with the professional swing coach, reports the Philadelphia Daily News.

The legal process can be complicated. Everyday words like “complaint,” “serve,” and “answer” take on new meaning when used in the context of a legal action. However, the law is not rocket science, and with a little effort, just about anyone can understand how to file a civil suit.

Generally, to start a lawsuit, you will want to make a complaint. This is where you outline your legal issue and make your case against the other party. In this document, you identify the parties involved, the basic facts of the case, and lay out the legal basis for why you are right. In addition, you should end the complaint with what it is you want — money damages, performance of a contract, for your neighbor to cut down a tree, etc.

Attorney General Linda Kelly says to watch out for home repair fraud in storm damaged communities. Home repair contractors may be going door-to-door with home repair scams and price gouging, warns the A.G., in Central and Eastern Pennsylvania.

Following the hurricane damage and flooding in some parts of the state, many homeowners may be evaluating the damage to their homes and considering several contractors to make repairs, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York are just three of the states affected by a voluntary Colorado cantaloupe recall. The recall follows a multistate outbreak of listeriosis linked to the melons.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are currently working to determine the source of contaminated cantaloupes, and have not issued an official recall yet, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, many grocery stores have removed cantaloupes from shelves, and customers are urged not to buy cantaloupes most likely coming from Colorado’s Rocky Ford region.

This month we've already written about bike accidents, bar accidents, dog accidents, and even duck accidents. Whatever the cause, you may have been harmed and know that someone bears responsibility. But do you know how to collect damages?

The first step is choosing a lawyer and hiring the right Philadelphia personal injury attorney for your case. The right attorney will help you get through the troubling time and guide you through what can be a legal minefield.

Some people are displaced from their homes because of floods. Others because of rapper Jay Z. To quote the rapper himself, "it's a hard knock life," if you're paying your rent to Jay Z.

Tenants of Lighthaus Condominiums at 603 North American Street in Philadelphia accuse the rapper's reps of using strong arm tactics to force them out of their homes, reports FoxNews. Apparently, the rapper, also known as Shawn Carter, is looking to condo-convert the building that he partially purchased in 2009, and so he needs to first rid himself of the renting tenants.

The Paul Holmgren bike accident details remain unclear. However, the 55-year-old Philadelphia Flyers general manager is listed in stable condition at Cooper Medical Center.

On Monday night, Holmgren was reportedly riding his bike in Avalon, New Jersey, on the Jersey shore. The details after that become unclear, but Holmgren was apparently involved in a serious bike accident that resulted in multiple fractures and cuts that required stitches, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Is beer an attractive nuisance for a 19-year-old trying to (literally) climb into the Mad River Bar and Grille in Manayunk?

An unidentified underage man was denied entry at the Mad River Bar Thursday night, and so he did the only logical thing a 19-year-old wanting beer would do, he tried to scale a 20-foot wall at the back of the bar to gain entry into the establishment. Unfortunately, the man fell 15 feet and injured himself.

This week a New Jersey woman was charged with a fatal hit and run of a pedestrian on Route 70. Police were led to the woman days after the crash thanks to a tip. Now the woman has been arrested and faces stiff penalties for fleeing the scene of the accident.

Hitting a person or car while driving is probably not something you’ve thought about or prepared for. But as your first instinct may be to get away, there are things you should know for what to do following a Philadelphia car accident.

Carmen Ramos was killed by a pack of pit bulls. The dogs belonged to her husband, Jose Alvarez, and the dog pack has had a history with the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA). Now Ramos' son is blaming the PSPCA for the dog attack death.

Ramos, of North Philadelphia, was killed by five pitbulls on Tuesday. The attack happened less than two weeks after another violent incident involving the same dogs, reports the Philadelphia Daily News. On August 19, the dogs attacked two neighborhood residents, a 51-year-old woman and 25-year-old man. Police were able to subdue the dogs in that attack before things turned deadly.