Minimum Wage California requires a minimum wage for most employees. The current minimum wage, effective January 1, 2008 in California is $8.00 per hour. There are some exceptions, such as for new learners, the mentally or physically disabled and some nonprofits. Overtime You may be eligible for overtime if you work: - Over 40 hours in a week - Over 8 hours in a day - Or 7 days in a row The rate for overtime is required to be one and one-half times the employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of eight hours. For time in excess of 12 hours, ...

On August 4, 2010, the New York State Senate passed a short-term moratorium on a controversy-laden type of natural gas drilling. The questionable method, hydraulic fracturing -- commonly known as "hydrofracking" -- uses massive amounts of a pressurized solution comprised of water, sand and chemicals to crack rocks housing natural-gas deposits, allowing the escaping gas to be collected. While certainly not a new method, having been used to gather difficult-to-obtain gas deposits for decades, hydrofracking has come under fire in recent years. Environmental watchdogs began ...

From the time you were a small child you were taught to dial 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency. One thing that you were probably not taught was that calling 911 has a larger benefit than simply alerting authorities that an accident occurred or a crime was committed. When a criminal or personal injury case goes to court, recordings and transcripts of 911 calls can provide a wealth of information to attorneys. For example, after an accident a person may call 9-1-1 to alert the authorities and, while describing what happened, make candid statements about his or her involvement ...

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare have changed the way people connect to friends, family and coworkers. For many users of these services, the day-to-day details of life have become more public, with far-reaching consequences. While these sites and services allow us all to connect in ways we never previously imagined, they also pose new challenges with respect to personal privacy. Failing to recognize these challenges can impact one's life online and offline, causing marital strife and providing divorce attorneys with fodder for divorce negotiations. According ...

On August 15, a new Louisiana law making texting-while-driving a primary offense took effect. Prior to that date, drivers could be ticketed for texting while behind the wheel, however, the driver had to be pulled over for another violation, such as speeding, before the ticket could be written. Now, police officers will be able to pull over and ticket drivers solely for texting or checking e-mail while driving. "Innocent people should not lose their lives because someone chose to text while driving," stated United States Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, speaking in ...

Last October, the Nevada Supreme Court carved out an exception to the state's rule on insurance stacking in motor vehicle accident cases. In Delgado v. American Family Insurance Group, the court held that passengers injured in a two-car accident can recover under the permissive driver's liability and underinsured motorist (UIM) policies when both drivers are found to be jointly liable for the accident. Delgado v. American Family In 2004, Dionicia Delgado was riding as a passenger in a car driven by Eunice Marcelino when the vehicle was involved in an accident with ...

It's back to school time, and this year 25.1 million children will ride to school in 474,000 school buses in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). While school buses are safer than other passenger vehicles, there are specific laws in place to prevent bus related accidents. According to the NHTSA, between 1998 and 2008 there were 414,399 fatal motor vehicle crashes, of which only 0.34 percent were classified as school transportation related. Buses are safer than smaller passenger vehicles, due primarily to their size. ...

The Illinois Tort Immunity Act shields local governments and employees of government agencies from liability for ordinary negligence committed in the course of their duties. But the shield is not a blank check for wrongdoing. Government agencies and their employees can be held liable for any act or omission that constitutes willful and wanton misconduct. The death of 5-year-old Michael Langford, Jr., in May raises the issue of willful and wanton misconduct in a very compelling way. On Mother's Day 2010, Kathie La Fond worked a double shift, getting off of work at approximately ...

At the heart of the American justice system are the concepts of fairness and impartiality, especially on the part of juries and judges. Judges generally have reputations for knowing the law and applying it justly to the situations and defendants before them. So, what happens when the judges are the ones acting inappropriately? Following a string of scandals and corrupt practices involving multiple judges in Georgia, the way people in the state view judges is currently under careful review. A Very Thin Line There seems to be a very thin line between the judge's ...

Former Hewlett-Packard (HP) Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd has made national headlines once again with the announcement that, after his firing from HP, he will join Oracle Corp., the world's second largest software company, as a president and board member. This announcement comes just a month after Hurd's public departure from HP following allegations that he violated standards of business conduct. As Business Week reports, this is an excellent move for both Hurd and Oracle. Oracle is shifting its focus from software to hardware, and Hurd has experience with both. ...

The recent financial meltdown revealed problems within the financial system, especially for consumers, which is why Congress passed new legislation intended to safeguard financial transactions and stabilize the entire industry. The Frank-Dodd Act creates an entirely new federal agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is designed to protect consumers from shady or fraudulent transactions and will oversee all financial companies, including banks, credit unions and private mortgage firms that do business with the public. The act will create or improve rules ...

William Scott Simon, of Belmont, was sent to prison late last year after being convicted for his eighth DUI, stemming from a January 2009 incident. Mr. Simon previously had his license suspended in 2004 after his seventh DUI conviction, but his license was eventually reinstated. While considered an extreme case, it prompted state Assemblyman Jerry Hill to author Assembly Bill 1601, which would allow judges to revoke the licenses of habitual DUI offenders for 10 years. This new law would apply to people who have three or more convictions within a 10 year period. Current ...

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year in the United States 4.7 million people are victims of dog bites. Of those people attacked about 900,000 are forced to seek medical attention. In this unfortunate situation, the responsibility for the attack falls squarely on the dog's owner. If found responsible, the owner could be required to pay for the victim's medical costs and lost wages. Insurance Companies pay the majority of these claims, and are passing the increased costs to their policyholders, and limiting coverage. Insurance companies ...

Pseudotumor cerebri (pronounced SOO-doh-too-mur SER-uh-bry) is an illness that can cause serious long term health consequences. Symptoms of pseudotumor cerebri mimic those of a brain tumor; however, no tumor is present. In fact, pseudotumor cerebri literally means "false brain tumor." Although pseudotumor cerebri can lead to severe complications, it is often reversible, especially if correctly diagnosed at an early stage. What is Known About Pseudotumor Cerebri Pseudotumor cerebri occurs when pressure inside the skull increases. There is often no obvious reason for ...

There are 1.5 million children transported on Pennsylvania roads each day, across more than 346 million miles annually, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles. And every year, children are severely injured or killed by drivers disobeying Pennsylvania's School Bus Stopping Law. The law requires drivers to stop for any stopped school bus with red signal lights flashing when meeting or overtaking the bus on the road. Vehicles must be stopped at least ten feet away from the bus and remain stopped until the red lights have stopped flashing and the stop ...

A Charlotte family is still reeling from the distracted-driving death of a loving wife and mother who was struck and killed while walking on a sidewalk along Craig Avenue. The victim, 33-year-old Susan Karabulut, was taking a Sunday-morning walk on August 22 with a fellow nurse when a car driven by 19-year-old Leah Ann Walton jumped the curb and struck her, pinning her body and dragging her for a short distance. Mrs. Karabulut died at the scene. The other victim, 47-year-old Lisa McIe, was critically injured. Ms. Walton told police that she took her eyes off the road ...

Senator Nicholas Sacco and Senator John Girgenti, Chairman of the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee, have proposed a law that would expand New Jersey's criminal DNA database. If enacted, the law could have a significant impact on people suspected of committing certain violent crimes, such as murder and aggravated assault . DNA is a powerful piece of evidence used to identify alleged perpetrators of crimes and also to exonerate individuals who are wrongfully accused or convicted. DNA is present in almost every cell in the human body and is unique to each person, ...

More people these days are drinking and driving. This is especially scary if you are one of the 4 in 5 people that view drunk driving as a serious threat to the safety of yourself and family. A new study conducted by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has found that 1 in 5 drivers admit to driving within two hours of drinking. It also estimated the number of drunken driving trips taken by drivers in the past month to be 85.5 million, up from 73.7 million in 2004. In addition, the study found that young adult drivers are drinking more. The 16 to ...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently reinstated a controversial ruling that had been issued by corrupt former Luzerne County judge Michael Conahan. The new ruling was issued in the Forester Vanderhoff v. Harleysville Insurance case, and it restored a 2004 decision by Conahan that allowed the case to be brought to arbitration. The case involved claims of a so-called "phantom vehicle" causing a car crash when a truck driver rear-ended a car in Hanover Township. This is one of many uninsured or underinsured motorist arbitration rulings that are part of the federal government's ...

A New Jersey man recently obtained a reversal of his conviction for a 2002 homicide after he successfully petitioned for post-conviction relief. Aswad Charles, who was serving forty five (45) years to life in jail, will remain in prison pending the state's appeal of the Superior Court judge's decision. At issue is the prosecution's reference to the results of a so-called "lie detector" test when Charles was tried for murder in Union County in 2004. Prosecutors claimed that Charles fired a single shot from a vehicle occupied by three men, killing an intended victim who ...

Between the unanticipated expiration of the federal estate tax in 2010 and its abrupt resumption in 2011, many clients are revisiting their estate plans to take into account all implications of the legal fluctuations over recent years. A decade of incremental benefits for million-dollar-plus estates is scheduled to come to a screeching halt at the end of the year. Congress began to pare back the estate tax in 2001 by increasing the amount of an estate's value that was exempted from taxation. In 2001, that figure stood at $1 million, and by 2009 it had risen to $3.5 million. ...

A Delaware County man whose 2005 conviction on thirty counts of Sexual Abuse of Children and Criminal Use of a Communication Facility was upheld in a major 2009 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision now faces new sex crimes charges. Anthony Diodoro of Folsom has been charged again with a similar array of criminal offenses after a probation officer allegedly found 72 child porn videos on Diodoro's laptop computer. If convicted, prosecutors say he faces a mandatory minimum 25-year prison sentence. Diodoro was released on probation late last year after spending several months ...

The Holiday Inn Express Atlanta North Perimeter Hotel & Suites near Dunwoody, GA offers nearby accommodations to guests attending the 8th Annual Pumpkin Festival at Stone Mountain Park. The Festival is being held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout the month of October. On Saturday evenings, guests at the park can also enjoy the Lasershow at 8:00pm. This festival is a favorite family event, with something for all ages. Some of the featured activities include: - Kids Trick or Treat Scavenger Hunt - Great Pumpkin Puppet Parade - Children's Costume Contest - ...

Holiday Inn Express Simpsonville Hotel has been selected as recommended lodging for attendees at the 2010 Regional South Carolina Koi and Goldfish Show. The Show will take place on October 1 - 3 at Heritage Park in Simpsonville, SC. This 3rd annual event is presented by the South Carolina Koi and Water Garden Society. South Carolina has seen a continuous increase in interest in Koi keeping and water gardening. This year's Koi and Goldfish Show is expected to have entrants from across the Eastern Seaboard. It is open to the public and provides an opportunity for members ...

Hampton Inn Spartanburg - North I-85, a premier Spartanburg hotel, offers convenient lodging accommodations to visitors attending A Taste of Africa Festival. The event will take place throughout the month of October at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in the Multi-Cultural Gallery. The Festival will include: - African food - African music and entertainment - An exhibition of cultural artifacts from Kenya and other African nations "A Taste of Africa celebrates the culture of the African nations," share Dawn Allison, General Manager at the Hampton Inn Spartanburg Hotel. ...