Court Roundup

West Virginia Massey Energy settles coal slurry case MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Massey Energy and a subsidiary have settled a 7-year-old lawsuit with hundreds of southern West Virginia residents who say the companies' coal slurry disposal practices poisoned their drinking water. Judge Alan Moats confirmed the deal was struck early Wednesday morning after a marathon mediation attempt that began Monday. The terms are confidential. Moats and Judge Derek Swope had been trying to settle the case as three other judges prepared for a long trial that was set to start Aug. 1. Moats praised both sides for working hard to find common ground. Some 700 people sued Massey and Rawl Sales & Processing over water supplies they say were ruined by 1.4 billion gallons of slurry pumped into worked-out underground mines. All parties remain under a gag order and didn't immediately comment. Washington Judge dismisses lawsuit on US stem cell research WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge is throwing out a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's funding of embryonic stem cell research. The lawsuit claimed the research violated a 1996 law that prohibits taxpayer financing for work that harms an embryo. The Obama administration allows research on embryos that were culled long ago through private funding. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, chief of the federal court in Washington, last year said the lawsuit was likely to succeed and issued an injunction to block the research while the case continued. But the appeals court overturned his injunction and said the case was likely to fail. Lamberth said in his ruling Wednesday that he was bound by the higher court's analysis and ruled in favor of the Obama administration to dismiss the case. Massachusetts Judge says cops not liable in teen's suicide BOSTON (AP) -- A federal judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Beverly police by the mother of a 19-year-old woman who committed suicide in 2005 after leaving a hospital where officers had left her hours earlier. The Salem News reports that Judge Nancy Gertner ruled that Danielle Tarsook was not in custody when she died, so police had no duty under federal law to protect her at the time. Tarsook, who had a history of depression, was found hanged in her home a short time after walking out of Beverly Hospital. Police had taken her to the hospital earlier in the day and then left her with her father, who was a police sergeant. A $10 million suit filed by Tarsook's mother claimed police did not do enough to ensure her daughter's well-being. Wisconsin City to pay $270,000 to settle asbestos lawsuit BELOIT, Wis. (AP) -- The City of Beloit has agreed to pay $270,000 to settle allegations that it sold a building with asbestos issues. City Manager Larry Arft says the city council voted 6-0 this week to approve the settlement. Dan Langone sued the city in 2009 claiming that the city failed to address asbestos problems in property that his company bought in 1998. The property was the former site of the city's public-works department. A Beloit Daily News report (http://bit.ly/nCdTSu ) says the city had provided a letter to Langone's attorney guaranteeing the building had been cleaned of asbestos before the sale. But Langone says he found asbestos in 2008. Arft says the settlement is fair for all parties. Langone's attorney, Derrick Grubb, says Monday's decision was "long overdue." Published: Thu, Jul 28, 2011