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Richard Heene, father who staged the balloon boy hoax has turned himself in to begin his jail sentence. According to the Associated Press, Heene will begin his 90-day jail sentence. He also is on the hook for four years probation. The judge ordered that Richard Heene could not profit directly from his crime. But in a recent interview Richard Heene has maintained there was no balloon hoax, even though he pleaded guilty and agreed to be sentenced to 90 days in jail....

A car driven at speeds of a least 100 mph crashed into the concrete pillar supporting a bridge on Ohio Interstate 675 on Monday, August 23. The moment of impact tore the car into three pieces and was caught on tape by the camera mounted in a police car at the scene. NDTV reported 19 year-old Brennan Eden was driving his 1985 Pontiac Firebird past other drivers at high speed when he drove off the left side of the roadway while passing a Sugarcreek Township police car....

Just about every office has a dress code, whether it’s as stringent as ‘business professional only’ or as lax as ’no flip-flops, please.’ And while we might have minor quibbles with office attire requirements here and there, sometimes they seem downright unreasonable and down take into account an employee’s special circumstances. You might think that cancer is one of those special circumstances where employers might relax their dress code standards, but not all bosses are that reasonable....

Small businesses will go to great lengths for good publicity, and even a little bit of backlash can be good for the bottom line. Just take Black Forge Coffee House in Pittsburgh, PA – the store employs loyalty cards not unlike many food and beverage service stops, with customers getting a hole punched in the card for each purchase and the promise of a free coffee down the line. But while Black Forge’s cards may look similar to other businesses’ on the front, the back features head shots of politicians and people unpopular with the shop’s owners, making every hole punch look like a hole in the head....

If you are self-employed you’ve probably already discovered that there is a lot to do and you could use some help with basic contract issues. Maybe sometimes you imagine that if you had a legal team, everything would be easier. That might be true. But there are quite a few things you can do on your own – and times when it is right to decide not to do much. Knowing the difference will make your working life easier....

The majority of Americans may be shocked and angered to learn the National Security Agency was collecting and storing data on many of their phone calls. And a federal appeals court agreed, saying the NSA’s program “would be an unprecedented contraction of the privacy expectations of all Americans.” The ruling comes weeks before parts of the PATRIOT Act are set to expire and both parties in Congress are wary of the NSA’s domestic spying capabilities....

Despite the activism of groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the cautionary tales from those like Lindsay Lohan, Americans continue to drive drunk. A new survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted in late 2008 and released this week found that approximately 17 million people drive drunk in the U.S.at least once in the course of a year. Breaking down these surprising numbers further, the Associated Press reports that under the survey, NHTSA believes that 8 percent of all drivers, or 17....

If your small business handles enough credit card transactions, you already know how much of a hassle they can be. There’s the processing equipment, the interchange fees, the data security issues, and the risk of fraud, all of which can fall on the small business owner. But a slightly larger business has decided to fight back. Home Depot filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard, claiming the two largest credit card issuers colluded to hike transaction fees and suppress new chip-based card technology that can prevent fraud....

One of the biggest problems facing people who have been laid off is what to do about their health insurance coverage. Adding to this concern, NPR is reporting that job losses including layoffs piled up further in 44 out of 50 states last month and that economists are saying employers probably won’t want to increase hiring until some economic confidence is restored. As a result, jobless individuals face not only the prospect of losing their employer-sponsored health plans, but perhaps for a fairly long time, at that....

Guest post by Jennifer K. Halford, Esq. Many business owners are struggling. Cash flow is tight. Profits are down. And they still have the same demands on their bottom line. Getting legal advice has become a luxury. You need legal help to keep your business safe. Yet paying $350 for an hour of your attorney’s time may not fit into this quarter’s budget. Most business owners don’t realize that you can get free legal help for your business....

Whether for the sake of pure curiosity or in the face of financial hardship, many have likely wondered whether selling an organ would be legal. After all, there is a perpetual need for organs for use in organ transplants. And according to the National Kidney Foundation, organs such as the kidney and parts of the lung, liver, and pancreas are among those can be transplanted from living individuals. But is it legal to sell your organs?...

Summer is the time when many families pack up the minivan or the SUV and take to the highways for vacation, so it’s time to pay extra attention to the safety of our littlest passengers. Parents and caregivers who may be driving kids around should check out this list of 10 “kids and cars” safety tips, on everything from choosing the right safety seat option, to preventing injuries from power windows – even tips for avoiding little-known hazards like backovers and trunk entrapments (with links to more information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)....

Cesar Sayoc, the person accused of sending pipe bombs to foes of President Trump, has been indicted on 30 federal counts associated with using the U.S. Mail to send weapons of mass destruction, and threatening interstate commerce. The indictment claims Sayoc mailed 16 bombs to various addresses throughout the country, listing in detail five of the bomb mailings to intended recipients Hillary Clinton, John Brennan, Robert DeNiro, James Clapper, and George Soros....

Seattle has become known for its anti-capitalist protests over the last decade, and many were predicting that the 2016 May Day protests could turn ugly. Organizers even warned participants on Facebook to “be prepared for violent police repression (pepper spray, flash bang grenades, tear gas, beatings, arrests, etc.).” They were right about the flash bang grenades – one exploded near a man filming the protest, sending shrapnel through his face and opening up a gash on his cheek....

New Year’s Day 2014 brings new resolutions and renewed vows, but it also brings the enforcement of new laws. Hundreds of state and national laws which were passed in 2013 (or before) will be taking effect in 2014. Here are some of the most notable ones: Although the set of legislation that makes up Obamacare has many different parts, the “individual mandate” requiring all Americans to have some minimum form of health coverage is now in effect....

Protest in New York over the gay marriage laws have taken on a different spin: two New York clerks have resigned their posts in anticipation of the new same-sex marriage law. For 10 years, Rosemary Centi was the official marriage officer in Guilderland, New York. In Barker, New York, Laura Fotusky had served as the town clerk. Both women cite their resignation as a result of their religious views, which stand in opposition to the New York same sex marriage law....

A recent lawsuit filed by the widower of a Michigan manufacturing plant worker is seeking to hold the makers and installers of robotic manufacturing equipment liable for the death. Wanda Holbrook was inspecting a section of machinery that was not working properly, when another malfunctioning robotic machine struck her in the head and killed her. The lawsuit alleges that the robot that killed her should not have been able to access the area where she was located, and the very fact that the incident occurred is proof of a design defect and the failure of the various safety systems....

In the wake of the brutal Orlando SeaWorld whale attack, the lawsuits have begun. But this lawsuit is not a suit against SeaWorld. Rather, it’s a suit to prevent the release of the video of the horrific incident, where veteran whale trainer, Dawn Brancheau, was dragged into the pool and killed by the very whale she trained. Brancheau’s family claims that the release of the information would worsen their grief and as a result, does not want the tapes of the SeaWorld whale attack to be made public....

The Senate vote to reduce the disparity between sentencing for crack cocaine possession and powdered cocaine aims to improve the criminal justice system. According to the Associated Press, the bill’s sponsor, Dick Durbin (D-Il.), said that if the bill recently approved by the Senate is enacted into law, it would help to ensure that people are treated more fairly criminal justice system. As the law stands, a person convicted of crack cocaine possession gets the same mandatory jail time as someone with 100 times that quantity of powder cocaine....

With only a few days left in February, the U.S. Supreme Court’s calendar includes three days of oral arguments this week – on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Though nine cases are listed on the Court’s docket, six of those appeals are set to be heard at the same time. Here are our picks for Supreme Court cases to watch in this final week of February: Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency This case has actually been consolidated with five other cases against the Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate federal regulation over greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles....