Divorce mediation can help families move forward When a marriage begins to dissolve, the spouses may feel a lot of uncertainty about the future. They may not know exactly what to do or what may happen, but they do know that the time is right to move on. Finding the best way to get through the divorce process can be confusing, especially since most couples never expected to be in this situation. Divorcing couples often find that they are unable to come to an agreement on their own on the important issues that need to be completed before a divorce will be finalized. ...

Sanitation worker hit by minivan Walking is a popular, convenient and inexpensive method of transportation. Unfortunately, a pedestrian who is struck by a moving vehicle often experiences devastating consequences, including potentially substantial and permanent injuries. Sometimes this may even happen during the course of a workday, as a recent case illustrates. Sanitation worker struck by vehicle while directing traffic According to WKTV, a sanitation worker was recently struck by a vehicle while he was standing on the road next to his truck. The New York State ...

Large group indicted after year-long investigation A drug charge can have a substantially negative effect on an individual's life, resulting in large fines, potential prison time and harm to a person's reputation if convicted. Even a single charge of possession with intent to distribute could result in a lengthy prison sentence without the proper knowledge and defense. Individuals accused of selling synthetic drugs The Bluefield Daily Telegraph recently reported that 20 individuals were indicted on drug-related charges as a result of a year-long investigation in ...

Colorado workers' comp change tightens review deadlines The end of a legislative term is when many bills are finally ready for the governor's desk. In the last weeks of May, Governor Hickenlooper signed 104 bills into law. Of the bills signed into law, SB 13-249 changes some of the deadlines in Colorado workers' compensation cases. Senator Lois Tochtrop and Representative Angela Williams sponsored the legislation. The bill will require that the state Division of Workers' Compensation review Division Independent Medical Examiner's (DIME) Reports within five days. Then ...

"Underground economy" puts strain on legitimate California businesses Not that long ago, the phrase "underground economy" evoked images of gangsters and drug dealers who operated outside of the mainstream business world out of necessity to keep their activities from drawing the attention of law enforcement. Now, though, while it still likely involves the criminals of yore, the underground economy has swelled to include much more respectable employers and employees (like carpenters, contractors, computer repair services, grocers and countless others) ...

Agency grants more young undocumented immigrants relief through Deferred Action Recently the government released figures on the number of young people who had applied for relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. As of April 30, the number of young undocumented immigrants applying for the program reached approximately 515,000, according to the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service. Of this figure, more than 141,000 applications were from California. Since last August, the program has made it possible for many young people to receive a temporary ...

An Overview of US Airways v. McCutchen Recent Supreme Court case reinforces need for skilled counsel in injury cases involving ERISA plans A recent decision handed down by the United States Supreme Court highlights how the complexity of insurance plan language can affect personal injury cases, and how subrogation claims interplay with an injured party's financial compensation. The facts The McCutchen case started out like many other personal injury and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) matters: the plaintiff, a former mechanic for transportation ...

New York police cracking down on seat belt law violations From May 20 through June 2, 2013, New York law enforcement participated in a national campaign to raise awareness about seat belt laws through a special increase in enforcement of those laws. New York drivers face stiff penalties if they receive citations for seat belt law violations, so they should understand the state's seat belt laws. Click It or Ticket campaign The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal agency charged with lessening the loss of life, property and money due to auto ...

Motorcycle accident leaves one dead and another seriously injured KOMO News recently reported on a motorcycle accident that left a 26-year-old man dead and a 45-year-old man injured. The report stated that the accident happened on Highway 101 about five miles south of Quilcene. According to the news report, the 26-year-old man was driving his motorcycle north on a right-hand curve on Highway 101 when he allegedly crossed into the southbound lane and collided with another motorcyclist. Both of the motorcyclists were ejected from their bikes. The 26-year-old man ...

Evidence requirements of a South Carolina marijuana trafficking charge The actual or constructive possession of marijuana in South Carolina comes with serious consequences. In the last legislative session, one South Carolina lawmaker did seek to change state marijuana laws with an amendment to legalize medical marijuana in the state. However, fellow legislators shut down his effort. Because it is against South Carolina law to possess even a small amount of marijuana, law enforcement officers take the offense seriously. Recently, drug trafficking and possession changes ...

New immigration bill will affect businesses and workers in Florida Human migration is a historically natural phenomenon. For centuries, people have been moving from one area of the world to another in search of food, shelter, a better job and a nicer place to call home. This is especially so in our modern world with the ease of global travel. For many years, the U.S. has struggled with immigration laws and how best to serve the people of the world who visit and relocate to America. In turn, businesses across the country rely heavily on immigrant workers, especially ...

A brief look at workers' compensation for asbestos exposure Job-related illnesses, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, affect thousands of workers in the United States. Although asbestos was more common on job sites many years ago, the effects of the exposure received during the early years are just now starting to manifest in some individuals. Those who have been injured by such diseases as part of their jobs often seek to obtain financial help by applying for workers' compensation. However, due to changes in the law, it has become much more difficult to prove injuries ...

US Supreme Court issues decision in case involving drug-sniffing dogs Protecting the right of people to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures is at the heart of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Minnesota mirrors the protections of the Fourth Amendment in article I, section 10 of the state constitution. State and federal courts frequently must decide if evidence seized by law enforcement officers and used to prove criminal charges violates the Minnesota and federal constitutional protections. In some of these cases, a police dog trained ...

Injection drugs recalled after causing fever, flu-like symptoms The FDA reported that in April 2013, a pharmaceutical company had to recall injection drugs after receiving reports of fever, flu-like symptoms and soreness from patients who received an injection of the drug. The FDA alerted health care providers of their concerns about drug products made and distributed by the company, and instructed them to quarantine any of the drugs from that company immediately. Also, FDA investigators inspected one of the company's facilities and observed what they described as poor ...

Skin cancer prevention strategies over the summer months As the most common cancer in the U.S., skin cancer accounts for nearly 50 percent of all diagnosed cancer. Generally broken into two categories, non-melanoma occurs most frequently yet melanoma the deadlier form accounts for three-quarters of all skin cancer deaths. One of the most dangerous activities that will increase your chance of getting skin cancer is not seasonal. Indoor tanning beds have been linked to melanoma, cancers of the eye and squamous cell carcinoma. It is best to avoid all indoor tanning. During ...

Michigan's Super Drunk law drawing attention from residents As of October 2010, Michigan drivers are subject to a law that heightens penalties for persons convicted of operating a motor vehicle when they are "Super Drunk." While the legal limit on blood alcohol content for drivers remains at 0.08 percent, this new law increases penalties for those caught with a BAC of 0.17 percent or higher. The Super Drunk law, and the penalties for a Super Drunk offense, will apply regardless of whether it is the individual's first drunk driving offense or a repeat offense. Super ...

Bankruptcy is usually a better option than debt settlement or consolidation Whenever an individual is carrying a huge amount of debt, he or she might start to look into possible options for getting rid of, or at least gaining more control over the debt so that it becomes more manageable. Some may consider working with debt settlement companies, while others consider debt consolidation options. There are many myths about the different options and it is important to know the facts about each one, as well as the differences, to determine what route is best for you. The ...

Assisting community schools in success The Umansky Law Firm's donation helped Boone High School Mock Trial team members achieve first place in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Mock Trial District Tournament, followed by a fourth place finish at the 2013 Florida Law Related Education State Mock Trial Tournament. Boone High School Mock Trial team members make personal contributions to defray the costs of participating in the activity, as well as engage in fund-raising. However, the team needs the generous support of community members such as The Umansky Law Firm in order to ...

The Government of Nicaragua received an award by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for reducing the number of malnourished people in the country by 50 percent before 2015. The original hunger and malnutrition Millennium Goal 1, of halving the proportion in each country between the period from 1990-1992 and 2012-2012 was set in 1996, while the World Food Summit Goal, established in 2000, calls for halving the absolute number of hungry in each country by 2015. Eighteen countries achieved the second, more difficult goal, including Nicaragua. "It ...

Las Vegas will become immersed in vibrant sexual energy as party goers attend the Vegas Exchange Lifestyle Convention that will be held in Las Vegas August 7-11, 2013. The event is the grandest of its kind and is bound to attract alternative lifestyle couples from all over the globe. The 5-day event will feature everything from decadent adult entertainment to sizzling, sexy surprises. Numerous celebrities like the fabulous Nina Hartley, Larry Flynt of Hustler, Dr. Jessica O'Reilly and others will grace the occasion with their presence. Vegas Exchange 2013 has been named ...

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft captured this infrared image of Tropical Storm Barry in the Gulf of Mexico's Bay of Campeche at 07:53 UTC (3:53 a.m. EDT) on June 20, 2013, as the storm was about to make landfall in southern Mexico. At the time, Barry had maximum sustained winds of 40 knots (46 miles per hour, or 74 kilometers per hour), gusting to 50 knots (58 miles per hour, or 93 kilometers per hour). The AIRS image shows Barry's cloud top temperatures, with the coldest clouds and most powerful thunderstorms ...

On June 19, 2013, NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites captured striking images of smoke billowing from illegal wildfires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The smoke blew east toward southern Malaysia and Singapore, and news media reported that thick clouds of haze had descended on Singapore, pushing pollution levels to record levels. Singapore's primary measure of pollution, the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI)—a uniform measure of key pollutants similar to the Air Quality Index (AQI) used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—spiked to 371 on the afternoon of June ...

This news release is available in French. Imagine being able to zoom into the brain to see various cells the way we zoom into Google maps of the world and can see houses on a street. And keep in mind that the brain is considered the most complex structure in the universe with 86 billion neurons. Zooming in is now possible thanks to a new brain atlas with unprecedented resolution. BigBrain is the first 3D microstructural model of the entire human brain, and is free and publicly available to researchers world-wide. The results of the BigBrain model, created at the ...

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara, in collaboration with University of Notre Dame, have recently demonstrated the highest reported drive current on a transistor made of a monolayer of tungsten diselenide (WSe2), a 2-dimensional atomic crystal categorized as a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD). The discovery is also the first demonstration of an "n-type" WSe2 field-effect-transistor (FET), showing the tremendous potential of this material for future low-power and high-performance integrated circuits. Monolayer WSe2 is similar to graphene in that it has a hexagonal atomic ...

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have demonstrated that sensory regions in the brain develop in a fundamentally different way than previously thought, a finding that may yield new insights into visual and neural disorders. In a paper published June 7, in Science, Salk researcher Dennis O'Leary and his colleagues have shown that genes alone do not determine how the cerebral cortex grows into separate functional areas. Instead, they show that input from the thalamus, the main switching station in the brain for sensory information, is crucially required. O'Leary ...