By Matt Smith, CNN updated 1:37 PM EDT, Sat April 27, 2013 Yscloskey, Louisiana (CNN) -- On his dock along the banks of Bayou Yscloskey, Darren Stander makes the pelicans dance. More than a dozen of the birds have landed or hopped onto the dock, where Stander takes in crabs and oysters from the fishermen who work the bayou [...]
Railroad companies sued by man who claims he contracted cancer
March 21, 2013 4:37 PM By Tia Benton NEW ORLEANS – A former employee of Amtrak and CSX Transportation is suing the entities on claims that each is liable unto him for damages after he contracted non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Joseph Tangell filed a lawsuit against CSX Transportation Inc. and National Railroad Passenger Company (AMTRAK) on Jan. 18 in the Orleans [...]
Union racetrack must cease operations
Written by Scott Rogers USA Speedway will be forbidden to operate its commercial racetrack in a residential neighborhood near Sterlington following a ruling by a Union Parish district court. The lawsuit was filed by 59 residents in 3rd Judicial District Court in August 2010 seeking damages against USA Speedway's owners Jerry and Casey Hobson. The plaintiffs also sought a [...]
Mystery ‘oil sheen’ grows near site of BP Gulf disaster, says researcher
By John Roach, Contributing Writer, NBC News A persistent, mysterious "oil sheen" in the Gulf of Mexico near the site of BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster grew to more than seven-miles long and one-mile wide during a recent stretch of calm seas, based on aerial observations made by a former NASA physicist turned environmental activist. "We had maybe three or [...]
For these spill victims, legalese is just one language barrier
Crabber Dung Tran, a Vietnamese immigrant, says the Gulf oil spill destroyed 300 of his crab traps and diminished the harvest. By Emily Pickrell December 2, 2012 CHAUVIN, LA. - Even the lawyers and accountants poring through the 1,200-page Gulf oil spill settlement sometimes grumble about deciphering the intentions in its legal language, and Vietnamese immigrant crabber Dung Tran [...]
It’s Not Just Money Fears Blocking Access to Legal Help; Lawyer Distrust Is Growing
Posted Dec 1, 2012 2:20 AM CST By Rachel M. Zahorsky The fear of possibly unaffordable legal fees is paralyzing access to legal aid for a growing number of moderate-income Americans, as we reported in “Biloxi Blues” in last month’s ABA Journal. And while would-be clients, courts and lawyers struggle to find cost structures that bridge the gap between [...]