Pennsylvania: Court: English muffin exec can’t move to rival
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A food-industry executive armed with the secret to the “nooks and crannies” in Thomas’ English muffins can’t work for a rival amid a trade-secret lawsuit.
The U.S. appeals court ruling this week stops Chris Botticella of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., from moving to rival Hostess.
Thomas’ parent company, Bimbo Bakeries, says he is one of just seven people who knows its English muffin secrets. Bimbo says Botticella worked for it for months after accepting a Hostess job in Houston.
Bimbo sued to stop the move, fearing he would divulge trade secrets.
Courts must balance a company’s right to guard trade secrets against an employee’s right to switch jobs.
In this case, the appeals court says Botticella can be banned from Hostess while the lawsuit plays out.
California: Gang member convicted in revenge killing
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A Long Beach gang member has been convicted of murder for his role in the revenge killing of a 16-year-old rival in 2007.
Jason Benites, who was only 15 at the time of the shooting death of Florentino Rivera and was tried as an adult, was found guilty Wednesday on all courts, including attempted murder and assaults of five other people and gang enhancements.
He faces life in prison without possibility of parole when he’s sentenced Aug. 13.
Co-defendant Jason Trejo was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder, attempted murder and assault. He will be sentenced Sept. 10.
Prosecutors say the defendants killed to avenge the gang shooting death of Benites’ 13-year-old brother Jose Cano.
Arkansas: Woman accused of forging judge’s name
TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — A federal indictment accuses a woman of forging the signature of a federal bankruptcy judge in Texarkana.
Terah Mumau is accused of signing the name of Judge Richard Taylor onto documents that would free her from bankruptcy debt. Taylor is the chief bankruptcy judge in Arkansas.
Mumau and her husband filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in February 2009. She allegedly forged Taylor’s name on Nov. 2, 2009.
The couple lived in Nashville, Ark., at the time of the bankruptcy filing. She later filed an address change with the court saying she had moved to Fort Worth, Texas.
She is to be arraigned next week in federal court in Texarkana.
New Jersey: Ambulance squad accused of hosting nude dancers
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. (AP) — A volunteer ambulance company hosted parties with dancers and prostitutes in the squad building, officials in a New Jersey township have charged in allegations the company calls a “smear campaign.”
Woodbridge officials had announced Wednesday that police on July 14 charged a man, who is not a squad member, with promoting prostitution. They said he brought women to parties at the squad building, where they danced nude and were available for sex acts.
The case remains under investigation by Middlesex County prosecutors, who declined to comment.
The attorney for Avenel-Colonia First Aid Squad said officials are engaged in a “public smear campaign.” The charges are “trumped up and politically motivated,” attorney Livinia Lee Mears said.
Woodbridge Mayor John E. McCormac suspended the squad last month after police charged seven squad members, including two board members, with criminal trespass into a vacant skating rink in nearby Edison.
No charges have been filed against any squad member in connection with any incident at headquarters.
The squad charges patients for services and its captains are paid. Township Business Administrator Robert Landolfi said officials were hoping to keep the squad open if the accused resigned and the squad allowed a township-appointed supervisor to manage it.
Charges stemming from the incident at the skating rink are to be heard in Edison Municipal Court in August.
Iowa: Trial delayed for man in pacemaker attack
MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) — There’s another delay in the trial of an Iowa man accused of cutting his father’s pacemaker from his chest with a pocketknife.
Jesse Fierstine (FIRE’-stine), of Manchester, is charged with attempted murder and willful injury. His trial, which had been set for Aug. 4 in Delaware County District Court, is now scheduled for Sept. 15.
It’s the fourth continuance in the case.
Fierstine is accused of attacking his father, Charles Fierstine, on April 25, 2009. Charles Fierstine, who recovered from the attack, died July 12 after a lengthy illness.
Oregon: Court: Marijuana use not enough to take children
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled that the state cannot take away children from a mother who tests positive for marijuana without evidence that shows her drug use endangers the children.
The court’s decision on Wednesday reversed a Marion County juvenile court ruling in the case of a 19-month-old and a 6-month-old the state attempted to take from a woman who tested positive for marijuana during an investigation of the father’s own drug use.
The Oregonian reports that the case began in 2009 when the state began investigating claims the father of the children was selling methamphetamine at the family’s home.
During the investigation, a Department of Human Services noted the mother appeared to have appropriate parenting skills, however, the woman also failed to appear in mandatory meetings.
New York: Victim settles with NYC utility in steampipe blast
NEW YORK (AP) — A man injured in a steampipe blast in New York City three years ago has settled his lawsuit against the utility company that maintained the pipe.
Gregory McCullough and Consolidated Edison said in court papers Wednesday that they had reached a settlement. The papers did not specify the amount.
McCullough and a female passenger in his tow truck were engulfed in a scalding geyser when the pipe burst beneath a street near Grand Central Terminal on July 18, 2007.
He suffered third-degree burns to more than 80 percent of his body and spent months in a hospital.
McCullough, his lawyer and Con Ed declined to comment.
McCullough was one of several people badly injured in the blast, which also caused a New Jersey woman to have a fatal heart attack.
