February 2012 Archives

Rain, snow, fog, and smoke can all cause total blindness on the highway regardless of the time of day. The Associated Press reports that three people were killed in a series of Interstate 80 car accidents apparently caused by snowy whiteout conditions.

The accidents occurred on Saturday afternoon, close to what would be the brightest time of day on a clear afternoon — 2:00 p.m. However, on this weekend, a snow storm hit Western Pennsylvania and a ten-mile stretch near Venango County making roadway visibility almost zero.

Philadelphia is becoming the focal point of the NFL concussion lawsuits. A variety of lawsuits representing groups of retired players have been filed across the country and these lawsuits are slowly being consolidated into one giant lawsuit in Philly.

Most of these lawsuits are the same, making the same basic claims against the same defendants — the NFL and helmet manufacturer Riddell. However, as more lawsuits are filed, new wrinkles are being discovered and different facets of the case are being emphasized.

In the newest wrinkle, the family of former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson is suing the NFL not just for his injuries, but for his death.

Lawsuits from across the country are being filed against the NFL for concussion-related injuries. Many of the lawsuits were consolidated in Philadelphia as plaintiffs and defense attorneys agreed that it was easier to try one case as opposed to having multiple identical cases spread across the county.

In the latest news, almost a dozen former players living in Louisiana or having played for the New Orleans Saints brought a separate lawsuit against the NFL in a federal court in New Orleans. This suit is also expected to be consolidated in Philadelphia.

The final cost of the Jerry Sandusky scandal on Penn State University will likely be immeasurable. From the sad end to Joe Paterno’s career, to the lost blue chippers who will choose rival Big 10 schools instead of the Nittany Lions, the school stands to lose millions, if not billions, in the long run.

But for the two short months following the break of the Sandusky sex abuse story, the university announced that it incurred nearly a $3.2 million Jerry Sandusky legal bill in legal, consulting, and public relations fees for the 2011 year.

The news of infant cereal arsenic and arsenic in infant juices will probably be the next thing that drives American parents crazy.

A series of tests by Consumer Reports apparently revealed inorganic arsenic in about 10 percent of test samples of apple and grape juices given to children, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

After that study, Dartmouth College later found that arsenic was also found in infant formula and cereal bears.

The culprit seems to be organic brown rice syrup, which is used as a sweetener instead of the notorious high-fructose corn syrup.

People die over gold, oil, and now, dog poop.

A 27-year-old was arrested with the shooting and killing of a neighbor over a fight caused by dog poop, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The young man, Tyrik Harris, allegedly shot Franklin Manuel Santana, age 47, in the 6500 block of Torresdale Avenue.

Neighbors are saying that Tyrik Harris used to let his Chihuahua and a German Shepherd defecate on other people’s lawns. When Franklin Manuel Santana confronted Tyrik Harris, things got violent. Harris shot Santana with a 9mm.

The Dorney Park amusement park finds itself subject to a personal injury lawsuit brought by a New York mother and her daughter. The Dorney Park lawsuit claims that Nastasia Hamilton suffered permanent injuries from an assault that happened there in 2009.

The lawsuit did not provide too many details, nor did it reveal the age of Hamilton. However, it’s claimed that Hamilton was assaulted and held against her will by three park employees, reports The Express-Times. It does not appear that criminal charges were ever filed.

Former Philadelphia Eagles fullback Kevin Turner said he was once hit so hard in the head that he had no idea where he was. On the sidelines, he was told to remember five basic words. He couldn’t do it. By the second half he remembered, and was sent back in the game where he continued to take a beating.

Turner is just one among hundreds of former professional football players suing the league in the NFL concussion lawsuits. He now suffers from ALS and doctors say he only has a couple of years to live, reports CNN. Turner says incidents like the one above contributed to his fatal disease, and that the NFL knew about the dangers of sending people with head injuries back into the game.

Thirty-five people in four states have fallen ill after drinking raw milk bought from the Family Cow farm in Chambersburg.

Responding to the Pennsylvania raw milk scare, health officials have told customers to throw out milk bought from the farm on or after January 1, reports the Associated Press. Officials are still waiting for final test results of milk samples from the farm, but the farm has already voluntarily suspended raw milk production.

At least four of the lawsuits filed against the NFL by former players for concussions and head injuries will be consolidated in Philadelphia. Both the plaintiffs' attorneys and the NFL were in favor of the consolidation due to logistics and avoiding the chaos of having dozens of similar suits heard before different judges in different cities.

Lawsuits have been filed in New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Florida, and Philadelphia. It's not clear which lawsuits were consolidated, but the one filed by former Eagles quarterback Jim McMahon will be one of the cases heard in Philadelphia, reports the Associated Press. The other lawsuits may also eventually be consolidated in Philadelphia.

This weekend, a white cab driver and his white passenger were beaten by a group of black teens in Center City. The passenger ran away from the scene as the cab driver was able to beat his attackers off with a tire iron. The taxi cab beating victim was unidentified, until he wrote a column in the University of Pennsylvania newspaper describing his attack.

UPenn senior, Brian Goldman, says that he was the passenger in the cab and the victim of the unprompted beating, reports the Philadelphia Daily News. The attack happened at about 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night as the young man was headed to a date. He says he does not remember race being a motivation for the attack, but felt that it was more of a case of random violence.