National Roundup

New?Jersey
Town’s ban on nonresident drivers nixed

LEONIA, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey town plans to seek to reverse a judge’s ruling striking down its ordinance that banned nonresident drivers from using some of its streets as shortcuts to a heavily traveled bridge into New York.

Leonia adopted an ordinance in January in response to traffic congestion and safety issues caused by navigation apps sending motorists through town to the George Washington Bridge.

A resident of a nearby town sued shortly after the road closures went into effect, and in the spring, New Jersey’s attorney general said the closures “weren’t legally valid.”

On Thursday, a state Superior Court judge found that Leonia failed to get the required permission for the road closures from the state Department of Transportation. The DOT commissioner must sign off on laws that affect a state roadway, and many of Leonia’s closures were near Grand Avenue, the local section of state Route 93.

Leonia Mayor Judah Zeigler said in an email that the town would seek an immediate stay of the judge’s order and also would appeal. He said Judge Peter Bariso’s ruling “makes it clear that Leonia had the right to enact the regulations that were adopted and, if the streets adjacent to Grand Avenue had not been included in the ordinance, there would be no legal issue.”

Zeigler said the borough would introduce new ordinances next week and that he wants “to do everything possible to work with the Department of Transportation.”

Attorney Jacqueline Rosa, who sued the borough over the closures in February, on Thursday called the judge’s ruling “fantastic” for commuters.

Apps like Waze and Apple Maps reroute some of the tens of thousands of vehicles headed to the George Washington Bridge each morning, particularly when there is an accident or other disruption. Police said in January that studies have shown more than 2,000 vehicles often pass through town of about 9,000 residents from just one of the three exits off Interstate 95, causing safety concerns and gridlock on side streets.

A few weeks after the ordinance went into effect, the town replaced “Do Not Enter” signs with what it called “less menacing” signs after local business owners expressed concerns about losing business.

More than 140,000 vehicles cross the George Washington Bridge each day. The bridge was the site of a political scandal in 2013 when aides to Republican then-Gov. Chris Christie were accused of deliberately closing access lanes and causing traffic jams to spite the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing him. Christie denied any knowledge of the scheme, but three people close to him either pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial.


Kansas
Court upholds $907K verdict in malpractice suit

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld a $907,000 medical malpractice verdict against a Wichita doctor.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the Supreme Court says in a news release that it’s affirming a Sedgwick County jury’s 2013 judgment against physician Brian DeBrot.

The verdict resulted from a 2009 lawsuit by the family of 74-year-old Barbara Mae Castleberry, of Wichita. Her family contended that DeBrot, her primary doctor, wrongly diagnosed her condition during two visits in December 2007.

DeBrot decided that Castleberry’s symptoms were related to carpal tunnel syndrome, a common condition that involves numbness, pain or tingling in the arm or hand. But Castleberry suffered a stroke the day after her last appointment and died about a year later after she fell.

A lawyer for DeBrot couldn’t be reached for comment.

Washington
John Dean of Nixon fame to testify at hearing over Kavanaugh

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary Committee has added former Solicitor General Theodore Olson and former White House counsel John Dean to the list of witnesses who will testify next week in the confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court.

Olson served as solicitor general in the George W. Bush administration. He’s one of the country’s best-known lawyers, having argued the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case that stopped Al Gore’s recount in the 2000 presidential election. He’ll offer backing to a former colleague in the Bush White House. Kavanaugh served as legal counsel and later as staff secretary for Bush.

Dean ultimately cooperated with prosecutors and helped bring down Richard Nixon’s presidency, though he served a prison term for obstruction of justice. He has been a harsh critic of President Donald Trump and is listed as a Democratic witness. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Dean will “speak about the abuse of executive power.”

Democrats trying to defeat Kavanaugh’s nomination have asserted that Trump chose him for the court because he would protect the White House from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Kavanaugh has written that it would be appropriate for Congress to pass a statute that would allow lawsuits against a sitting president to be deferred until the president’s term ends. He said Congress should consider doing the same with “respect to criminal investigations and prosecutions of the President.”

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and attorney Lisa Blatt will introduce Kavanaugh when hearings begin Tuesday.

Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, will also testify as a Democratic witness later in the week.

Virginia
Left behind: Thieves raid store of right foot shoes

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — Try walking a mile in these shoes.

The Roanoke Times reports a Virginia shoe store lost mostly shoes designed for the right foot over the course of two break-ins this summer.

Clean Soles operator Rob Wickham says his two-year-old sneaker store was raided by two people on July 20 and by one person in Aug. 25. Taken together, he lost shirts, hoodies, a jacket, one complete sneaker pair — and 13 right shoes.

Wickham says he typically keeps right shoes on display, while their other halves rest behind the counter. Accordingly, Wickham says the looters were “pretty much risking their freedom for nothing.”

Roanoke County police spokeswoman Amy Whittaker says one 17-year-old has been charged in the July burglary. Police have also released video of the Aug. 25 burglary.