Tag Archives: state & local

Cast Away Competition

The executive director of “The Nantucket Wine & Food Festival,” Nancy Bean, has filed a lawsuit in US District Court and is asking for a trial by jury. Bean’s event has run since 1996, every year during the third week of May. The focus of the lawsuit involves the discovery of an announcement that Gordon Companies Inc. will be hosting a similar event next year under the name “The Nantucket Food and Wine Experience.” Although the names of the two events are undeniably comparable, the crux of the legal issue extends far beyond this matter.

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Time to Heal

Two years after an active shooter slayed 21 individuals at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, the families of the deceased students and the city reached a legal settlement. The $2 million amount was calculated based on insurance coverage for the city, as the families did not wish to completely deplete the city’s assets. Pursuing further compensation from Uvalde would subsequently drive the city to bankruptcy. The agreed upon compensation, however, seemed relatively fair to the majority and would also allow the community to heal without financial ruin.

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A Crisp Filing

After three weeks of scorched destruction in the Texas Panhandle, a massive wildfire known as the Smokehouse Creek fire, has been entirely contained. The fire has caused a debilitating loss, including the deaths of two individuals, the demise of cattle in the total of thousands, and the ruin of 500 structures. Although investigators have not yet indicated a precise cause for the start of the fire, a Texas resident, Melanie McQuiddy, has filed a lawsuit against Southwestern Public Service Company, claiming that the utility corporation failed to properly maintain a rotting pole.

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Bottled Up Tensions

The Army Corps of Engineers may face the harsh repercussions associated with opening the Bonnet Carré Spillway and subsequently causing the direct and indirect injury and death of a significant portion of the area’s bottlenose dolphin population. The spillway was opened in 2019 for a record 120 days. Over this extended period, as polluted fresh water from the Mississippi River traveled into the Mississippi Sound saltwater, the impact of the flooding proved detrimental. Many of the dolphins that did survive suffered from skin lesions.

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Strength of Ohana

What was once a quaint, historic town on the Western coast of Maui, Lahaina is now flattened to ash. In the aftermath of the crushing wildfires in Maui that displaced residents living in Lahaina and left over 115 people dead and hundreds still missing, Maui County has filed legal action against Hawaiian Electric. The utility company’s alleged negligence is pinned as the cause of the blaze. Maui is suing for civil damages, to recover lost tax revenue and the destruction of infrastructure and roads. The lawsuit is described as a cost recovery action that will benefit taxpayers.

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