July 1, 2015

Trump files $500 million lawsuit as pageant woes mount

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) — As fallout built over Donald Trump's remarks about immigrants from Mexico, the Republican presidential candidate answered back with legal action to match his trademark brashness, filing a $500 million lawsuit.

The suit against Univision for dropping the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants claims breach of contract, defamation and First Amendment violations, and contends Univision turned on him because it supports Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton for president.

In a statement, Univision called Trump's lawsuit "factually false and legally ridiculous." It said it will "continue to fight against Mr. Trump's ongoing efforts to run away from the derogatory comments he made."

Univision, which moved last week to opt out of Trump's pageants because of the celebrity businessman's remarks earlier this month, is now far from alone.

Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/entertainment/television/article/Trump-files-500-million-lawsuit-as-pageant-woes-6359664.php

July 1, 2015

Hood County Clerk reverses decision on marriage licenses

Hood County Clerk Katie Lang has reversed her previous decision to not allow anyone in her office issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, although she is claiming that we all just simply misconstrued what she said earlier about not allowing anyone in her office to issue those licenses.

I am pretty sure I did not “misconstrue” what the woman in Lang’s office told me earlier today when she said NO ONE in that office would issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. I called and asked specifically.

This is the statement now posted on Lang’s Hood County Clerk website:

“The religious doctrines to which I adhere compel me to personally refrain from issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Nonetheless, in addition to the county clerk offices in the several surrounding counties, as soon as the appropriate forms have been printed and supplied to my office, the County Clerk’s Office of Hood County will have staff available and ready to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

“Because some have misreported and misconstrued my prior statements, I want to make clear that the County Clerk’s Office of Hood County will comply with the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States.

“I am grateful that the First Amendment continues to protect the sincerely held religious beliefs of public servants like me. That has not changed since last Friday. As Justice Kennedy stated, ‘it must be emphasized that religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may continue to advocate with utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine precepts, same-sex marriage should not be condoned.’”

http://www.dallasvoice.com/breaking-hood-county-clerk-reverses-decision-marriage-licenses-10199820.html

July 1, 2015

Interactive map: See how each Louisiana parish is handling issuing same-sex marriage licenses

On Monday, Jefferson Parish will begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses to anyone who applies for them, Clerk of Court Jon Gegenheimer said. Gegenheimer’s office made the decision about 10 a.m. after speaking with his agency’s counsel,

Other parishes are now doing the same.

Check out the map below to track how each parish is handling the ruling.

-- If a parish is shaded blue, that means The Advocate has confirmed it's issuing licenses.
-- If a parish is shaded yellow (or green-ish on some devices/screens), that means The Advocate hasn't reached anyone at the parish for comment.
-- If a parish is shaded red, that means the clerk has confirmed to The Advocate that it isn't issuing licenses. In some cases, a comment from the clerk's office will be included.

See map at http://theadvocate.com/news/12756963-123/interactive-map-see-how-each

July 1, 2015

Mom booked after 3-year-old tests + for cocaine; police find the pair in apt. covered in dog feces

Baton Rouge mom booked after 3-year-old tests positive for cocaine; police find the pair in apartment covered in dog feces and dirty diapers

A Baton Rouge woman was arrested Monday after a hospital determined her 3-year-old child tested positive for high levels of cocaine.

And when Baton Rouge police arrived at Megan Gaylord’s apartment, they found it “covered in dog feces, spoiled food, trash, dirty diapers” and other materials, a police report says.

Police were called to the residence, Apt. 42C at 155 Marilyn Drive to investigate a disturbance call. The apartment was in such bad condition the officers could not complete their investigation of the home, the report says, and they contacted Child Services to document the conditions inside the apartment.

According to the report, while talking with Gaylord, 25, and the child, police smelled “a strong odor of burnt marijuana.” EMS then transported the mother and child to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, where the child tested positive for cocaine and the mother positive for multiple controlled substances, including marijuana and cocaine.

Read more: http://theadvocate.com/news/12797258-123/baton-rouge-mom-booked-after

July 1, 2015

Oz, popular French Quarter dance club, declares bankruptcy, to be sold at auction

Oz, which bills itself as "New Orleans #1 gay dance club," will be sold to the highest bidder during a July 22 auction in bankruptcy court.

The action comes after the owners -- Johnny Chisholm, Doyle Yeager and Bobby Warner -- were unable to pay off millions of dollars in loans that came due last summer. To avoid foreclosure, they declared bankruptcy in October but couldn't come up with a workable refinancing plan, forcing them to sell the business and property located at 800 Bourbon St.

Attorney Caleb Didriksen, who represents Warner, said an interested party has already entered a bid of $4.75 million. If that particular bidder wins, it's his intention to continue to operate the bar as the Oz, Didriksen said.

"I understand from the current high bidder that it's his goal to purchase it by mid-August, specifically to be able to control it before Southern Decadence (Sept. 2-7) because that will be a big money maker," Didriksen said. "Financially, I think it is most likely any new owner would want to build on the existing business. They wouldn't want to just trash can the whole thing."

Read more: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/06/oz_popular_french_quarter_danc.html#incart_most-read_

July 1, 2015

State Won't Track Gay Marriage Numbers

On the first day of legal same-sex marriage in Texas, more than 465 couples received licenses in 10 of the state's largest counties, according to numbers provided by clerk's offices.

But keeping track of how many Texans are issued licenses over time may prove difficult because the state, and some counties, do not plan to keep a separate count of same-sex licenses.

A survey of the state's 15 largest counties found that 10 began issuing same-sex marriage licenses on Friday, after the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing it. (The remaining five counties were all issuing licenses by Monday.) It is unclear which county issued the most licenses to same-sex couples because several did not specifically track that.

Though Texas collects detailed data on marriages by county and age, getting better information on same-sex marriage rates in Texas could take years since the state has no plans to separately track those unions. Following Friday’s ruling, the Department of State Health Services released a new gender-neutral marriage application for counties to use. The application does not ask for the sex of either of the applicants.

Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/30/same-sex-marriage-licenses-wont-be-tracked/

July 1, 2015

Lufthansa makes Germanwings compensation offer

BERLIN — Lufthansa on Tuesday offered financial compensation to relatives of people killed in the Germanwings crash three months ago — a proposal that a lawyer representing many German families immediately described as inadequate.

Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, is offering 25,000 euros ($27,740) in compensation per victim in all cases that fall under German law, plus payments of 10,000 euros each to immediate relatives. It wasn’t immediately clear what compensation people claiming in other jurisdictions might expect, or how many people would fall under German regulations.

The airline said it also plans to set aside up to 7.8 million euros to support education for children who lost one or both parents, plus a 6 million euro fund that would provide “individual support for aid projects of the relatives.” Money from that fund would be disbursed by a board of trustees that the company plans to set up in the coming months.

German lawyer Elmar Giemulla, who represents about 30 families of victims, described the offer as “completely inadequate.”

Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/606304/biz/biz-most-recent/lufthansa-makes-germanwings-compensation-offer.html (Albuquerque Journal)

July 1, 2015

Dubai Plans to Build 3-D Printed Office Building

Fast-growing Dubai, where something new is always being added to the skyline, may have found a way to make construction move even faster.

The Gulf commercial hub on Tuesday announced plans to add the world's first office building made using three-dimensional printer technology to its collection of eye-catching buildings.

Mohammed al-Gergawi, the United Arab Emirates' minister of Cabinet affairs, said the project is part of a broader effort by the seven-state federation to embrace cutting-edge technology and make it a global hub for innovation.

"This building will be a testimony to the efficiency and creativity of 3-D printing technology, which we believe will play a major role in reshaping construction and design sectors," he said in a statement.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/dubai-plans-build-printed-office-building-32125155

July 1, 2015

Austin Regional Clinic to Stop Taking Unvaccinated Children as Patients

The Austin Regional Clinic will stop accepting new unvaccinated pediatric patients — that is, children whose parents have opted them out of routine vaccinations. The ARC announced its new policy this morning.

The regional health system, which has locations in Austin plus six surrounding cities, cites patient safety as the reason for the new regulation, set to take effect Wednesday.

“Parents who are unwilling to commit to a vaccination schedule will need to find another physician outside of ARC,” clinic officials said in the release.

The ARC cites December’s measles outbreak in California, which infected more than 100 children in 21 states, as a public health concern. Measles spreads easily, and those who don’t receive preventative measles vaccinations remain particularly susceptible to infection.

Read more: http://kut.org/post/austin-regional-clinic-stop-taking-unvaccinated-children-patients