Miscellaneous

• Where is Grandma's Grave...and Where's Grandma? Family Wonders

  IB Contributor | May 26, 2007 7:24 AM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  Cemetery negligence or fraud? How would you feel if you had no idea where your loved one was buried?A Charlotte, N.C. family is finding out the hard way. According to an article posted on the local WSOC TV's Web site, the family found out this week that their grandmother, Rebecca Grier, was not buried in the plot they were told she was buried in at York Memorial Cemetery. For four years, that's...

• Firefighter Suffers Burn Injury Battling House Fire

  Christina Cole | May 07, 2007 7:59 PM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  A firefighter suffered a minor burn injury to his leg, on Saturday, in a blaze that destroyed the attic and one bedroom of a two-story house, police said. The firefighter was treated at the scene and released, according to the fire deparment.The fire started at approximately 7:50 a.m. in a single-family house located in the 31100 block of Lemm Drive, according to Riverside County Fire...

• What is your pet's life worth?

  IB Contributor | March 31, 2007 11:55 PM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  It's not a million dollar question. If the number of pet owners that we have talked with are any indication, thousands of pets will eventually fall sick or die as a result of the tainted pet food sold by Canada-based Menu Foods. To many families, whose grief for the loss of a pet is not much different than the loss of a loved one, in their minds, they deserve damages for that pain and suffering...

• Pastor accused of sexually assaulting boy

  IB Contributor | March 31, 2007 11:33 PM | 1 CommentOrange County, CA

  A south Sacramento pastor accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy earlier this month told reporters that he is "innocent" and that "God will help uncover the truth," according to an interview published in The Sacramento Bee."I have no idea why I'm here," Frederick Dew told a reporter from behind a glass partition at the Sacramento County jail. "I have just been praying and just believing in...

• Jury awards $41 million in priest abuse suit

  IB Contributor | March 31, 2007 11:17 PM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  A Delaware jury awarded $41 million Friday to a U.S. Navy officer who said a Roman Catholic priest sexually abused him hundreds of times as a teen, according to an Associated Press article posted on the New York Times' Web site)Jurors awarded Cmdr. Kenneth Whitwell $6 million in compensatory damages and $35 million in punitive damages. Whitwell, 39, claimed the Rev. Edward J. Smith raped and...

• To Whistle-BLOW or not ?-That is the Question

  IB Contributor | March 31, 2007 1:44 PM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  If you talked to Charlcie Woodruff, nursing director at the McLennan County Jail, she would tell you that being a whistle-blower is the right thing to do, even though Charlcie was placed on administrative leave from her job in Waco, Texas when she did just that . Charlcie accepted the nursing director position a little over six months ago, and only after County officials promised her that jail...

• Strike out artist, strikes out early

  IB Contributor | March 31, 2007 1:52 AM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  A life troubled with alcohol and drugs, cuts short a promsing career.It's been almost a year since Steve Howe, one of my favorite baseball players, died after rolling his pick up truck in Coachella, California. According to local police, the pickup truck Howe was driving left the road and then entered the median and rolled several times, ejecting Howe from his truck.To my knowledge the...

• FDA Toughens Advisory Committee Guidelines

  IB Contributor | March 29, 2007 12:35 AM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  After mounting complaints that its advisory committees were dominated by members with drug industry ties, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has tightened it rules on just who will be allowed to offer advice, according to a report on the Consumeraffairs.com Web site this week.Under its draft guidance, advisors who receive money from a drug or device maker would not be allowed to vote on...

• Denver Pastor accused of sexually assaulting children

  IB Contributor | March 28, 2007 10:09 PM | 4 CommentsOrange County, CA

  Clergy abuse claimed by brother and sister.A pastor faces charges of sexually assaulting two children in his wife's home day-care at least a dozen years ago, authorities said Monday, according to a Fox News report on its Web site.Stephen J. Heese, 51, pastor of The Church in South Denver, is accused of assaulting a girl, now 17, and her brother, now 20, when they attended the day-care operation...

• Denial of payment by "long term care" insurance companies

  IB Contributor | March 26, 2007 9:08 PM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  Will your insurance company pay when the tiime comes?According to a recent article in the New York Times , 64-year-old Mary Rose Derks, believed in long term care insurance (LTC). She faithfully paid Conseco Insuranace Company a $100 a month for a long-term care policy. Mary Derks was determined she would not be a burden on her family.After Mary had been hospitalized numerous times for chronic...