A school district in California has agreed to pay $139 million to resolve the remaining sex abuse lawsuits involving an elementary school teacher. Mark Berndt, a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, was convicted of numerous counts of lewd conduct. Some 82 students are involved in the settlement,…
According to a report by Massachusetts auditor Suzanne Bump, the state’s Department of Public Safety is running behind on elevator inspections, which are supposed to be conducted on registered elevators every year. As of October 2012, over 14,200 of the approximately 39,000 registered elevators are running despite an expired inspection…
A grand jury in Worcester County has indicted Dr. Ho Yin “Aaron” Shiu on one count of rape and multiple counts of indecent assault and battery. Shiu is a spine doctor. The indictments revolve around allegations involving two women. One of the alleged victims, a 42-year-old woman, said that Shiu…
Contrary to the 13 deaths reported by General Motors caused by a faulty ignition switch, the automaker’s attorney has identified more 32 deaths-and expects this toll to rise in the weeks ahead. The company’s victim-compensation team, led by Kenneth R. Feinberg, will post its weekly update of the number of…
Manufacturer Boston Scientific must pay a $26.7 million vaginal mesh verdict to four women who claim the medical devices caused them to sustain personal injuries. Jurors deliberated just four hours before finding that company officials defectively designed its Pinnacle pelvic organ implants and neglected to properly warn doctors and patients…
Dwayne St. Marie is suing the organizer of Pumpkinfest for Massachusetts personal injury. St. Marie claims that loud music and smoke from the yearly festival in 2011 caused him to suffer a major cardiac incident. He is seeking $1.2 million in compensation. At the time of the 2011 Pumpkinfest, St.…
According to a study published in the medical journal Pediatrics, of the 17,230 kids under the age of 6 that were exposed to laundry-detergent pods in the United States in 2012 and 2013, 769 of them were hospitalized. The researchers, from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, say that the number…
A woman died after she was hit by a train at the Downtown Crossing Station last night. The Red Line was bound for Braintree. The victim was reportedly hit as the train approached the station. The fatal Boston train accident caused serious delays on both the Orange and Red lines.…
Sean Leo Rooney, an ex-Roman Catholic priest, has settled a Boston sexual abuse lawsuit filed by a man who claims that the defendant molested him when he was a 14-year old student. According to the plaintiff, now 48, Rooney masturbated and fondled him on a bus during a school trip…
The tragic deaths of two young boys from Lawrence several weeks ago, caused by a fast-moving electrical fire in their family’s apartment, marked the 47th and 48th fire fatalities in Massachusetts this year. With the first wave of winter weather this weekend, more and more residents are beginning to bundle…