Monthly Archives: <span>August 2018</span>

South Texas Town, Residents Recovering Nearly a Year After Harvey

Armonie Brown pauses for a second when asked about Hurricane Harvey. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports Brown saw friends and teammates lose their homes and all their belongings, while the school he went to was heavily damaged in the storm …

Virginia Governor Establishes Task Force to Study Worker Misclassification

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed an Executive Order establishing an interagency task force on worker misclassification and payroll fraud. The misclassification of employees as “independent contractors” undermines businesses that follow the law, deprives the Commonwealth of millions of dollars in …

Kentucky High Court Hears Arguments Over Med Mal Review Panels

After Ezra Claycomb was born with severe brain damage and cerebral palsy, his mother considered filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. But in 2017, Kentucky’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a law requiring all such lawsuits first be reviewed by a panel of …

Kansas Couple Claims Hospital Billing Scheme Widespread

A $90 million billing scheme found last year at a rural Missouri hospital spread to as many as 10 other hospitals, according to lawsuit filed by a couple from suburban Kansas City. James and Phyllis Shaffer are suing Jorge Perez …

Fewer Louisiana Homeowners Than Expected Seek Aid After 2016 Floods

Louisiana expects to spend $649 million on homeowner rebuilding aid after the 2016 floods, only about half the federal money Congress set aside for the effort. The Advocate reports 44 percent fewer households than anticipated are expected to access money …

Wildfires May Make Homeowners’ Insurance in California Harder to Get

California homeowners may find themselves facing insurance headaches even if their houses weren’t affected by this year’s blazes. The California Department of Insurance had already warned this year that the increasing number and severity of wildfires were making it harder …

Pennsylvania Church Sex Abuse Report May Be Released Soon

A damning report into allegations of decades of child sexual abuse at the hands of clergy members and efforts to cover it up in six of Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses is expected to be released in the coming days. The …

Black Soybean Farmers File Suit Claiming Faulty Seeds, Discrimination

Soybean farmers David Allen Hall and Tyrone Grayer had high hopes when a farm-show salesman told them the seeds he sold would bring good yields in their fertile Mississippi Delta fields, and were less likely to be damaged by weeds. …

Western Kentucky University Develops Statewide Drought Warning System

Western Kentucky University is developing a statewide drought warning system with the help of a $200,000 federal grant. The Bowling Green Daily News reports the Kentucky Climate Center at Western Kentucky University received the two-year grant from the National Oceanic …

Fraud News: Arson and Workers’ Comp Scam

North Carolina Family Charged With Insurance Fraud Officials have filed multiple charges against a North Carolina couple and their daughter in connection with two cases of arson at homes of people the wife knew. The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation …