The Legal News

Many people will not be able to buy their home outright. Don’t panic that normal. 99% of us will require a loan to purchase our homes. Especially lately theFHA mortgage is becoming quite common and is a great way to allow more people into the home market. FHA loans are also called government loans because they are backed by the government. The Veteran’s Administration also offers loans, I encourage you to see if you qualify. In recent years , the loan process has been simplified via the internet.

Many of the people that qualify for these loans are not aware that they do. In fact, most individuals who were in the military, do qualify for a VA loan. VA loans are, in my opinion, very strong.  You can pay more than required monthly, to get your loan paid off faster with no penalty.

A judge in Iowa has approved a family’s idea to gather sperm from a man who is dying, so that his betrothed can have his baby.

The family asked for the ruling asfter the hospital refused their wishes. Daniel Christy was in a  motorcycle wreck on September 9th that left him on life support. he is listeed as an organ donor, but the hospital declined to support the family wishes in continuing his bloodline because by the hospital interpretation, sperm is not covered under the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.

Judge Beckelman ruled that it does cover sperm.

  If if seeing a driver to your right on the interstate, gabbing away on his cell phone gets you ticked off, you’ve got a right to be. Multiple studies have demonstrated that operating a vehicle while talking on a cell phone can be as deadly as driving with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. Estimates of the number of U.S. traffic fatalities instigated by cell phone use while operating a vehicle  are normally in the 2,000 - 3,000 range with 100 times as many injuries.

The best fix for the plague of cell phone  collisions, would be common sense by many drivers and a realization that the common practice is rude and dangerous. Without a sudden epidemic of intelligence, law creation and strict enforcement need to be actualized. Bringing forth  legislation will be difficult given the lobbying ability of the cell phone industry. The effort, though, added to public education, can rescue thousands of lives annually .

It is illegal to keep time with music via tapping of feet, or nodding your head, etc, in any public establishment.

You may not sell the clothing upon your person to rectify gambling debts.

It is illegal to check into a hotel under an assumed name.

Its unlawful to pick up seaweed off a beach.

TITLE XVIII

FISH AND GAME

CHAPTER 207

GENERAL PROVISIONS AS TO FISH AND GAME

Collecting Seaweed

Section 207:48

In Night. ? If any person shall carry away or collect for the purpose of carrying away any seaweed or rockweed from the seashore below high-water mark, between daylight in the evening and daylight in the morning, he shall be guilty of a violation.

Source. 1973, 532:10, eff. Nov. 1, 1973.

Cattle crossing state raods must have a bag or similar device to catch their fecal matter.

It is illegal to operate machinery on Sundays.

It is illegal to eliminate waste from your body one a Sunday while looking skyward.

You may not get intoxicated, have a picnic, enter the grounds at night, or enter alone if under age 10: this is in regards to cemeteries.

Anyone caught cleaning or beautify parks or faorests will be fines 150 dollars for “maintaining a park without a permit”.

Reducing personal liability in a business environment.

Congress is being asked to authorize, create, and fund a nationwide database that will store oll positive drug tests, and DUI encounters. The American Trucking Association wants to see a  centralization of these records and for the records of these to be released to any interested employer in an effort to keep abusers from behind the wheel of large and potentially dangerous vehicles.

The ATA has noted that with just 2% of the nationwide commercial drivers testing positive for drugs,  the number of drivers affected by drugs is roughly 68000. A positive test during any portion of the employement process would be added to the databse and that applaicant would have that permanent mark on his record, likely barring him from any commercial driving job.

Legally if a man promises to marry an unwed woman, the marriage must take place.

In some cases when a train scares a horse the railroad may be liable?

A railroad must stay in a town that has more than 500 people.

Fortune tellers must  obtain a special permit from the state.

Dance halls may not function on Sundays except to sell light bulbs.
No work may be accomplished on Sunday.

It is illegal to sell musical instruments on Sunday.

You may not perform a U-turn within 1000 feet of an intersection.

Tattoos are illegal.

Horses are not to be kept in bathtubs.

You must obtain a permit to fire a missile.

Oral sex is outlawed in South Carolina.

In a non horse driven vehicle when you approach a 4 way intersection you must stop a hundred feet prior to the intersection, and shoot a gun to warn horse traffic.

On Sunday, it is perfectly legal to beat your wife on the court house steps.

Every adult male is required bring a rifle to church on Sunday.

It is a crime punishable by death to inadvertently kill someone while attempting suicide.

You must be eighteen years old to play a pinball machine.

The friends of Liberty State Park filed a lawsuit against the state to protect the views. The September 11th Memorial was placed in Liberty State PArk without a public hearing.

This short video is an interview, and shows one mans argument against workers compensation reform.

A Brooke County Circuit Court jury has  decided that Massey Energy will pay more 219 million in punitive damages to Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation. The suit was in regards to a failure to deliver on  a contract.  The contract states that Massey Energy was to deliver 104,000 tons of coal per month to Wheeling-Pitt monthly.

The suit alleged that CWVE blamed production problems for its inability to deliver per contract. The plaintiff claims however, that the Massey company  rerouting coal from its contract to another marketplace in an effort to make more money.
The jury demanded Massey and CWVE to give Wheeling -Pitt 119 million in  compensation and 50 million each in damges punitive from both defendants.

Wheeling attorneys maintain  that when the price of coal went up worlwide that the defendants would short them coal and ship it worldwide.

Massey counsel is determined to appeal the ruling.
The jury ordered Massey and Central West Virginia Energy to pay Wheeling-Pitt $119.8 million in compensatory damages, as well as $50 million each in punitive damages from both parties. Wheeling-Pitt’s attorney stated that, “When the price of coal went up, Massey started cheating Wheeling-Pitt by shorting it and sending its coal abroad and making millions of dollars.” Massey’s executive vice president, Baxter Phillips, claimed that the company “will most certainly appeal.”