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State appeals court rejects power plant approval
Court Line |
2014/02/10 22:07
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A state appeals court has rejected approval of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s planned new natural gas power plant in Contra Costa County.
The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said the California Public Utilities Commission approved the plant in Oakley without hearing firsthand from anyone that it was needed.
The court issued its 3-0 ruling on Wednesday. The Contra Costa Times reports (http://bit.ly/1e9Ew76) that the court has previously also turned back the commission's approval of the plant.
PG&E spokeswoman Tamar Sarkissian told the newspaper the utility was carefully reviewing the court's ruling.
Supporters say California needs more energy production, and the 586-megawatt plant would help.
Opponents say the state should be moving away from fossil fuels to other, cleaner energy sources. |
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Teen charged in Mass. teacher killing due in court
Court Line |
2014/01/30 22:08
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A 15-year-old Massachusetts boy charged with killing his math teacher is returning to court Thursday for arraignment on a second rape charge.
Philip Chism is charged in the October killing of Colleen Ritzer, a 24-year-old teacher at Danvers High School.
Chism has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, robbery and murder. He was indicted last week on the initial rape charge. In court documents filed last week, state police say Chism admitted killing Ritzer but denied raping her.
Police say they want to conduct a forensic examination of Chism's cellphone to see if he memorialized the killing in photos, video or audio recordings.
Authorities allege Chism raped and killed Ritzer after she asked him to stay after school for extra help.
Chism's arraignment is in Salem Superior Court. |
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Viacom, Fox want to run anti-smoking ads too
Court Line |
2014/01/30 22:08
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More TV networks want to gain from tobacco companies' mandate to run anti-smoking ads that will cost tens of millions of dollars.
Fox Broadcasting and the company behind MTV, Comedy Central and BET argue that a court-ordered plan to air anti-tobacco ads on ABC, CBS and NBC won't do a good job reaching young adult and black viewers. Those populations were aggressively targeted by the tobacco industry and are areas of concern for the public health community.
Fox, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox Inc., and Viacom Inc. are asking the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to include its channels in the anti-smoking ad purchase.
The required ads stem from a 2006 ruling that the nation's largest cigarette makers concealed the dangers of smoking for decades. A judge ordered the tobacco companies to pay for corrective statements related to issues such as the adverse health effects of smoking, the addictiveness of smoking and nicotine and the negative health effects of secondhand smoke. The companies involved in the case include Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc., owner of the biggest U.S. tobacco company, Philip Morris USA; No. 2 cigarette maker, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., owned by Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc.; and No. 3 cigarette maker Lorillard Inc., based in Greensboro, N.C.
Along with the TV ads, the tobacco companies are also meant to publish statements in newspapers, websites and on cigarette packs.
The tobacco companies and the federal government last month agreed on how to publish the statements. The court must still approve the deal.
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High court rules against steelworkers' claim
Court Line |
2014/01/27 21:47
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The Supreme Court says steelworkers do not have to be paid for time they spend putting on and taking off protective gear they wear on the job.
The court was unanimous Monday in ruling in favor of United States Steel Corp. over workers' claims that they should be paid under the terms of federal labor law for the time it takes them to put on flame-retardant jackets and pants, safety glasses, earplugs, hardhats and other equipment.
Justice Antonin Scalia said for the court that the labor agreement between the company and the workers' union says the employees don't get paid for time spent changing clothes. Scalia said most of the items count as clothing. He said earplugs, glasses and respirators are not clothing, but take little time to put on. |
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Tenino man pleads guilty to child pornography
Court Line |
2013/12/30 21:22
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The U.S. attorney's office says a Tenino man pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Tacoma to possession of child pornography.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors are recommending a four-year prison term when 47-year-old James Donald Mobley is sentenced in March.
The U.S. attorney's office says the former teacher at Tenino Elementary School is one of 348 people arrested worldwide as part of the "Project Spade" investigation into a Toronto-based website.
Investigators found Mobley purchased child pornography from the company. He was arrested last January. A search of his computer found 650 photos and 45 videos of child pornography. |
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