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There’s no time to lose as federal prosecutors continue to a urge a judge to reject ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s request to delay his corruption trial. According to the Associated Press, Rod Blagojevich has asked a judge to reschedule his trial that is set to begin on Jun 3. As previously discussed prosecutors are hoping that the upcoming decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on honest services fraud does not delay the Blagojevich trial....

A Miami Beach cop’s crash - while on duty - injured two innocent tourists at the popular Florida tourist attraction. The ATV crash was the result of drunk driving. The police officer involved in the crash had earlier gone to a South Beach nightclub, even though he was on duty. Derick Kuilan is a five-year veteran of the force. He and another officer, Rolando Gutierrez, apparently drank and acted so unprofessionally that members of a bachelorette party at the club thought they were not real police officers, though they were in uniform....

Congress has proposed increasing the minimum wage and that has left small business owners divided on whether the move could help or hurt. The bill would increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $9.80. That’s the hourly equivalent of $20,000 per year, reports The Motley Fool. The bill also proposes upping the base hourly pay for tipped employees from $2.13 to $6.86 over the next several years by increasing it $0....

As we discussed previously, President Obama signed a new hate crimes bill last month. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act was the first expansion of federal civil rights laws since the mid-1990s. It extends federal protections to include people who are victims of violent crimes because of their sexual orientation, gender or because they are disabled. This week, the FBI made its annual release of hate crimes statistics....

What are a resident’s rights at a nursing home? Many may be wondering after the death of a resident at a senior living facility in California late last month. A nurse at the facility refused to perform CPR on the 87-year-old woman, despite pleas from a 911 dispatcher. The deceased woman’s daughter, herself a nurse, didn’t blame the staffer for apparently abiding by the facility’s “no CPR” policy. It should be noted the facility was an “independent living facility,” which is legally different from a nursing home....

A barber shop owner in Colorado now has a policy of refusing service to people who smell like marijuana. Hugo Corral of Hugo’s Barber Shop in Greeley supported marijuana legalization in Colorado. But he created the anti-stink policy at his shop because the odor was driving away customers, especially those with children in tow, Denver’s KCNC-TV reports. Is it legal to refuse service to someone who smells like pot? Under state and federal public accommodation laws, a business that’s open to the public cannot discriminate against a person based on a “protected trait” such as race, age, gender, and religion....

Today is the federally recognized Columbus Day holiday, celebrating the voyage of Christopher Columbus and his “discovery” of the New World. But in some cities – including Seattle and Minneapolis – Columbus Day has been replaced, or at least joined, by a new holiday known as Indigenous People’s Day, reports Smithsonian. The holiday is aimed at celebrating the culture and traditions of the people who already inhabited the Americas when Europeans began colonizing the Western Hemisphere following Columbus’ storied journey....

An aroma wafting through an open window pointed to pot plants growing inside a Van Nuys warehouse. The odor which was so strong that it led police to the warehouse, the Associated Press reports. Officers recognized the smell immediately and found more than 200 marijuana plants growing inside the warehouse. The pot plants were growing through use of hydroponic system. Officials said they were growing in water, without soil, under a light and fan system powered and wiring....

A group of San Diego strippers is accusing the city’s police department of civil rights violations after a raid at the club that employed them. Twenty-five dancers employed by Cheetahs, a “gentlemans club,” have filed a claim against the city, alleging that 10 San Diego police officers held them for about an hour and forced them to “pose in various positions and expose body parts” while being photographed, reports U-T San Diego....

Have you ever received torn money and wondered what to do with it? Many people don’t realize that you can often take mutilated money to the bank – er, the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. Mint – and get reimbursed. Here’s how to trade that mutilated moola and chump change: Mutilated Bills To be reimbursed for damaged or “mutilated” currency, you must mail or personally deliver it to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington D....

Actor Steven Baldwin’s foreclosed home in New York is going to public auction later this month, and although the AP reports that Baldwin reportedly paid only $515,000 on the home, filings indicate that “Baldwin and his wife Kennya defaulted on more than $824,000 in payments” to the mortgage holder. Now, most of us might not ever be in a position for that sort of default, but many people might still be wondering when can a lender start foreclosure proceedings?...

You finally thought you were getting your life together, financially speaking. Paying bills on time, paying down credit card debt, and even trying to set some money aside for retirement. So, you talked to a financial advisor who put together what you thought was a great plan, but now the plan seems to have been to lose all that money you invested. If your financial advisor screwed up, do you have any legal recourse?...

An errant Mythbusters cannonball tore through a Northern California home and a minivan last Tuesday night. The popular Discovery Channel show debunks various “myths” using science experiments. The cannonball was supposed to go through some water-filled barrels and a concrete wall. Instead, it shot clear of the barrels, through a wall, then bounced. Luckily, no one was injured in the incident. Accidents don’t always signal legal liability. But in some cases, accidents don’t occur unless someone has acted negligently....

To err is human. Yet few leaders like to admit they do it. The winner takes all, allegedly. But losing provides invaluable lessons if you are big enough to face your failure. Admitting mistakes will help you improve yourself and your work. It is also a great way to improve your leadership skills and employee engagement. When your workers know you value genuine growth, they will be more inclined to tell you and themselves the truth, too....

Divorce can often be complicated, but for some couples, a more streamlined, uncontested divorce may be an attractive option. Perhaps you and your spouse don’t have any property and/or children to speak of, and a cut-and-dry divorce agreement seems best. Not so fast, Mr. or Ms. Soon-to-be-Single, there are a number of potential pitfalls to consider before getting a quickie divorce. Here are five you’ll want to think about: An uncontested divorce works off of the principle that both spouses are generally of one mind on basic divorce issues such as:...

Workers everywhere scramble to remember their sick time off policies whenever they catch a cold, but many are not entitled to paid sick leave. Unless you live in specific states or cities with mandatory paid sick leave laws, there are no laws that require your private employer to pay for your time at home with the flu. Why is that? The Family and Medical Leave Act, signed into law more than 21 years ago, provides workers with unpaid mandatory time off for serious illnesses and family needs....

You may have heard your accountant talk about it: What’s the difference between an S Corporation and a C Corporation? And more importantly, why does this difference even matter? Let’s take some time to talk about the key differences between the two, while briefly explaining the whole idea of entity choice. They’re taxed differently. There are certain restrictions in stock ownership for S Corporations. C Corporations have fewer restrictions on ownership....

On Monday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asked California’s largest for profit health insurance provider, Anthem Blue Cross, to send a letter detailing what she termed an “extraordinary” rate hike proposed for California customers. Blue Cross is owned by parent company Well Point, Inc. According to the report by ABC News, Well Point saw a profit in the final quarter of last year of $2.7 billion. ABC reports similar hikes are taking place nationwide, although California’s appears to be the most extreme....

Construction is a hazardous job filled with perils that could cause illness, injuries, and even death. According to OSHA, 20 percent of all workplace fatalities in 2013 occurred in construction. This equals 828 deaths. While there are many sources of construction site injuries, construction’s Fatal Four accounts for over 57 percent of construction workers’ deaths in 2013. Construction’s Fatal Four OSHA identifies the four leading causes of worker death on construction sites as:...

Bryan Stow was brutally attacked in a parking lot at Dodgers Stadium in March. From most accounts, the senseless beating was brought on simply because Stow, 42, is a Giants fan. The crime occurred in a stadium parking lot after an opening game between the Dodgers and the Giants. Stow, a paramedic, was wearing Giants gear. The Giants had lost the game against the Dodgers. As Stow walked back to his car with a group of friends, two Dodgers fans approached him, shouted an insult against the Giants, and then knocked him to the ground, reports The Los Angeles Times....