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Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed a measure that would have banned smoking at CA state parks and beaches. The measure crossed the line of government intrusion and Schwarzenegger’s move to veto the bill came as a surprise to many who supported the legislation, the Associated Press reports. As previously discussed, the bill was aimed at reducing cigarette waste, limiting exposure to secondhand smoke and preventing wildfires. If signed into law, it would have made California the first state to ban smoking throughout an entire park system....

A 79-year-old substitute teacher from New Hampshire was fired after she refused to “unfriend” her students on Facebook. Carol Thebarge had been teaching in the Claremont, New Hampshire school district for more than 30 years when she was apparently given an ultimatum from school officials to delete her students as Facebook friends or face termination, according to New Hampshire’s WMUR9-TV. School administrators don’t argue that Thebarge was a good teacher, but written school policies forced them to let her go....

Not only are more and more college students graduating with student loan debt, they are owing more and more each year. Rising tuition costs coupled with graduate school means you could be entering the workforce with tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in school loan debt. And unless you’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, paying down that debt may seem unlikely or even impossible. Never fear – although the repayment process can be complicated, especially if you’re behind or can’t afford your payments, we’ve got answers to your most common student loan debt questions....

“If you were in the Museum Collections Building (bldg 2C) between the year 2000 and June 18, 2018, you were ’exposed’ to uranium by OSHA’s definition.” Not exactly something you want to hear after your vacation to the Grand Canyon, but that’s what the park’s health and safety manager is claiming. Elston “Swede” Stephenson says radioactivity readings gathered by Park Service officials on three buckets of stones believed to be uranium specimens appeared to be hundreds of times higher than federal exposure thresholds....

So-called “ag gag” laws have allowed some states to muzzle animal rights activists, barring them from taking pictures or videos at livestock facilities. But many of these laws are being challenged in court. In the latest challenge, the American Civil Liberties Union is fighting back against Idaho’s “ag gag” law, citing illegal constraints on First Amendment rights, Reuters reports. So what are “ag gag” laws? The term “ag gag” is short for two things: agriculture and gag order....

As medical technology has advanced, we have been faced with moral, ethical, and preferential questions regarding life-sustaining treatment. Often, these questions remain unanswered during a person’s life, leading to tragic arguments over a person’s medical treatment. There are several legal documents available to try and plan ahead for medical treatment, like living wills and durable powers of attorney. A physician order for life-sustaining treatment, or POLST, also tries to set out a patient’s wishes regarding medical treatment should he or she become incapacitated, but also differs from other advance directives....

Many people get a divorce because they feel they’ve run out of options in their marriage. As it turns out, there are options for the kind of divorce you can get. One of those options is known as a summary dissolution. While a summary dissolution has some advantages over a traditional divorce, it’s not for everyone. Here are the differences between a divorce and summary dissolution. Break-up Benefits Both a divorce and a summary dissolution will legally end your marriage....

According to a report Monday by The Los Angeles Times, there was something resembling an real taxpayer/citizen revolt in a Los Angeles County courtroom. Spurred by the financial hardship of serving on a jury for an extended period, empanelled jurors about to be sworn in by the judge voiced loud and extreme doubts about the case they were supposed to hear. The angry jurors claimed they could not believe that someone brave enough “to go out and get shot at” would suffer emotional distress at being falsely accused of being gay, as claimed by the plaintiff, a sheriff’s deputy suing his former sergeant, in the case before them....

The manufacturer of a number of popular brands of fitness balls is recalling about 3 million of its products and instructing consumers on safe inflation, after the company received numerous reports of the exercise balls bursting and causing injuries. Today’s recall applies to rubber fitness balls sold under the “Bally Total Fitness”, “Everlast”, “Valeo” and “Body Fit Fitness Balls” brands, and manufactured by New York-based EB Brands. The specific exercise balls being recalled came in 55, 65, and 75-cm diameter sizes and were sold nationwide from May 2000 to February 2009 (for between $15 and $30) according to an announcement from the U....

Although not the most expensive divorce of all time, the nearly $1 billion divorce settlement recently announced between oilman Harold Hamm and his ex-wife Sue Ann Hamm is set to lighten Harold’s wallet a bit. But beyond the headline-grabbing dollar amount of the Hamms’ divorce settlement, the resolution offers an opportunity for married couples (as well as those who aren’t yet married, but plan to be someday) to take a closer look at the laws governing the division of assets following a divorce....

Disputes regarding child custody can be contentious and grueling, even under the best of circumstances. Navigating the complex legal process with your child’s future on the line can be stressful, frightening, and potentially riddled with hidden legal pitfalls. Having an experienced child custody attorney on your side can make a big difference in terms of both the outcome, and the toll taken by a protracted child custody case. Why? Here are five things a child custody lawyer can do that you probably can’t:...

Call it a popular tax break you didn’t know you might lose, or a divorce penalty, but the new tax bill could include some bad news for those paying alimony. The GOP plan released last week contains a slew of changes to the tax code, many that might not make the headlines, but that still make a big difference to a lot of people’s finances. One of those proposed changes would be removing spousal support or alimony as a deductible expense....

Convicted Ohio rapist Anthony Sowell was ordered held without bond today during his first appearance in court on charges for five aggravated murder counts. So far, a total of 10 bodies have been discovered in the basement, buried in the backyard, in an upstairs living room and in the crawl space of his Clevland home, the Associated Press reports. After Sowell’s court appearance authorities said they will continue their investigation and tear apart walls inside the house in search of more evidence or bodies....

Divorce is one of the hardest legal events anyone will ever face. When you divorce, you face losses that are not just emotional, but financial and legal as well. This blog series will help answer some basic questions you might have about divorce. When you file divorce papers, the court clerk stamps all the copies, keeps a few, and gives one back to you with a stamped summons, and maybe a stack of other informational documents....

The Washington D.C. city council has approved medical marijuana use and is set to join California and the 13 other states that already allow residents to legally obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes. The District of Columbia Council approved a measure legalizing marijuana for medical use and now the bill goes to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty to sign into law, the Washington Post reports. The legislation approved by the D....

Government benefit programs exist to help society’s most vulnerable in times of difficulty. Many of us are familiar with social security disability insurance (SSDI) because we pay a portion of our earnings into the system. That is different from Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits. These SSI payments are available to adults and children and unrelated to employment. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), children who are disabled and growing up in a home with little or no income and resources are eligible for social security income....

Your average traffic citation doesn’t result in a five-day jail sentence. And whether you do jail time for a traffic offense shouldn’t be contingent on your inability to pay. That just seems like common sense. And, according to a federal judge in New Jersey, that’s what the Constitution demands. A then-20-year-old college student, Anthony Kneisser, was ticketed in 2014 for throwing a cigarette butt out of his car window on the New Jersey Turnpike....

More federal agencies are looking into whether rental car companies are renting potentially dangerous recalled vehicles. First Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) requested that the FTC crack down. Now the issue of rental car companies renting out cars under recall has come to the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NTSA launched an investigation into the practices of rental car companies regarding recalled cars – propelled in part by stories of injuries and deaths in rental cars under recall....

After weeks of rumors, Google announced late Monday evening its launch of a venture capital arm. It plans to invest $100 million over the next year in start-ups across a variety of industries. With new small businesses needing to tap every potential source of funding available, some quick tips about venture capital plans can be useful. As reported by CNN, Google’s venture capital arm will utilize Google’s wealth of PhDs to help evaluate companies and select those with the most promising technologies....

When shopping for a divorce lawyer, most people will want to know how much it’s going to cost. Like any other legal matter, the answer will depend on numerous factors. Regardless of the answer, it’ll likely be more than you want to pay. Lawyers typically charge hourly rates for family law matters, such as divorce cases. However, occasionally a lawyer may charge a flat fee for a simple or uncontested divorce that does not involve significant assets or children....