At a Glance ...

Lawmaker schedules meeting on foreclosures
State Rep. Sarah Roberts, D-St. Clair Shores, is inviting residents to join her at a community meeting on Monday, July 26 to learn about avoiding home foreclosure.
The meeting is scheduled from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Triumphant Cross Lutheran Church, 22310 13 Mile Road in St. Clair Shores.
Roberts will be joined by a panel of experts who will answer questions and offer on-the-spot counseling. They include Terry Gibb with the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan, local realtor Bonnie Richter and Eric Dusenbury with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
For information, contact Roberts’ office at 1.888.347.8024 or via e-mail at SarahRoberts@house.mi.gov.

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Surrogate moms win insurance battle in court
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Insurance companies may not deny coverage to surrogate mothers, according to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The recent unanimous decision overturns a lower court’s ruling that said Mercycare Insurance Co. and MercyCare HMO of Janesville did not have to provide benefits to two surrogate mothers who were denied coverage during their pregnancies.
The company had a policy of covering pregnant women, excluding surrogate mothers who act as “gestational carriers” for others’ babies.
Insurance companies may not make routine maternity services unavailable to surrogate mothers based solely on the reasons or methods of becoming pregnant, the Supreme Court said.
The court’s ruling affirms an earlier opinion by the Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner that the HMO could not legally withhold coverage under its 2002 policy.
The two surrogate mothers involved in the legal battle are not identified by name in court records.
Combined, they incurred more than $35,000 in medical bills during their pregnancies in 2003 and 2004, according to the court opinion.
There was no immediate response from either side regarding the ruling.

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Lawyer charged after courthouse brawl

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — An attorney has been charged with assault after authorities say he repeatedly punched his opposing counsel during an argument in a northeastern Pennsylvania courthouse.
Police say 46-year-old Michael Rauch threw three roundhouse punches at Scranton attorney John Fisher at the Lackawanna County Courthouse in Scranton last week.
The two had been on opposite sides of a civil lawsuit involving a 2003 car crash.
Rauch, of Cherry Hill, N.J., was charged with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct.
Court papers say Rauch told sheriff’s deputies that he had told Fisher to leave him alone but that he continued to harass him.
Rauch spent the morning in a holding cell and later left the courthouse on $10,000 unsecured bail. He could not immediately be reached by The Associated Press. Fisher declined to comment.

 

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