Wrong direction; State lowers bar on MCAS science standards.
COLUMN: IN OUR OPINION The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education this week took a step back from educational excellence by approving "emergency rules" that will permit high school students to appeal for relief from the MCAS science requirement after just one failure. The...

Settlement to repay adoptive families.
Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard The state of Oregon has agreed to pay a combined $1.7 million to thousands of families who adopted Oregon foster children and then saw their promised state assistance abruptly reduced during a 2003 state budget shortfall. The payments to the...

Failure to diagnose pulmonary embolism-death results.
CASE ON POINT: 2008-MN-0904, 070 Hawkins v. Fontaine, (09/02/2008) N.W.2d--MN ISSUE: Should a Dr. who fails to diagnose pulmonary embolism in-spite of classic symptoms-be liable for a patient's death? CASE FACTS: On May 3, 2004, Bonnie Moore was seen in the Urgent Care Department of...

KY: can 'highlighted' records go to jury room? Court barred records from going to jury room.
CASE FACTS: Mary Herr was treated by Dr. Stephen Burton, who became her family doctor, while he was working for Olash Medical Associates, PSC. In addition to her other symptoms, she was treated for mitral and tricuspid valve prolapse. Dr. Burton referred Mary to Dr. Michael Imburgia, who continued...

EWEB, employees settle lawsuits.
Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard The Eugene Water & Electric Board will pay more than $3 million in retirement benefits to hundreds of current and former employees under a settlement of two lawsuits approved Tuesday by Lane Circuit Court Judge Charles Carlson. Six EWEB retirees...

Court pro business? Not so fast.
A highly watched Supreme Court case has added uncertainty to the finality of insurer-administrators' employee benefits denials. Ending its 2007-2008 term, a divided high court ruled that an insurer that both decides and pays benefits has a conflict of interest that may be weighed by a federal court in...

Judge asked to find error in firefighter request; Legal residency questioned.
Byline: Scott J. Croteau SHREWSBURY - A legal battle over whether the son of former Fire Chief Gerald LaFlamme lived in town when he took the firefighters exam two years ago continues, as the town filed a complaint in court recently. The town is asking...

Judge denies motion by Catholic Workers; Group faces charges for prayer protest.
Byline: Lee Hammel WORCESTER - A federal magistrate judge has denied a motion for a "necessity defense" for five people in the Catholic Worker Movement charged with obstructing the U.S. District courthouse when they prayed there for an end to the war in Iraq. The...

Moot Court: Hamdi v Rumsfeld.
Yaser Esam Hamdi was captured when his military unit surrendered in Afghanistan in late 2001. He had an AK-47. The U.S. government believed he had trained with the Taliban and had ties to al Qaeda. He was sent to Guantanamo Bay as an "enemy combatant." Hamdi had been born...

Eugene planners reject appeal of zone change consent.
Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard Another step forward was taken this week in what promises to be an unhurried process to build a 23-acre, mixed-use development on riverfront property along Goodpasture Island Road in Eugene. The Eugene Planning Commission rejected a neighboring landowner's appeal of...