Fun fact about Currie’s house
May 30, 2008
With state Sen. Ulysses Currie in the news these last few days, curious types here at The Daily Record couldn’t help but peruse his public records. (Hey, it’s what we do.)
Even when what we learn that way is completely unrelated to the story that spurred the search, it can still be a fun fact to know and tell — like this one: According to the State Department of Assessment and Taxation, Currie bought his Forestville home back in 1991 from one Steny H. Hoyer.
We were all pleased to see that the transaction was described as “arms-length.”
BARBARA GRZINCIC, Managing Editor/Law
Above: The home of State Sen. Ulysses Currie on Thursday, May 29, in District Heights, Md. (AP Photo/Brendan Hoffman)
Sphere: Related ContentIs the PSC powered by energy bars?
May 30, 2008
At today’s Public Service Commission meeting, a strange thing happened: Chairman Steven B. Larsen called for a 45-minute lunch break.
The utility company representatives and energy efficiency experts stood around awkwardly, not quite sure of what to do.
That’s because recently the commission has rarely taken more than a 15-minute lunch break – just long enough for someone to get down to the lobby of the William Donald Schaeffer building, with its elevators that move at the pace of molasses.
Word around the PSC is that the commissioners run on energy bars. Insert your own joke here.
DANIELLE ULMAN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentWhat’s next–demographically tailored iPOD marketing?
May 30, 2008
I received an e-mail the other day from Baltimore-based ETC Information Inc. that released a survey looking at how people from different ethnic groups use different types of media.
| Hispanics | African Americans/ Blacks | Asians | Caucasians |
| 1. Cell phone | 1. Cell phone | 1. Cell phone | 1. Cell phone |
| 2. IPod/MP3 player | 2. Text messaging | 2. Instant messaging | 2. TiVo/DVR |
| 3. Text messaging | 3. Video gaming | 3. IPod/MP3 player | 3. Video gaming |
The survey, conducted by Ohio-based BIGresearch, found some pretty stark differences in what types of radio stations each racial group listens to and some differences in what types of new media people use the most.
I have to admit, I’m not entirely shocked to see that whites most often listen to rock, oldies and country music; blacks listen mostly to R & B, hip-hop and religious radio stations; Latinos listen to rock, Latin/Hispanic or hip-hop; and Asians listen most to rock, top 40 and news.
But something I wouldn’t have guessed on my own was that all three minority groups reported using text messaging, instant messaging and iPods more than whites did. (Whites reported they were more likely to use TiVo.)
The survey’s methodology wasn’t included, but I’d imagine that this information might be relevant to marketers looking to create more targeted advertising. With the down economy and the need to find cheaper, effective advertising, will people be looking at not just cell phone marketing but also using iPods and TiVo to tailor demographic-specific ads for air?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentSchool board, radio station scrimmage over fees
May 30, 2008
The Allegany County School Board and Cumberland Broadcasting Co. came to terms four months ago, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped fighting.
The operator of WCBC-AM sued the board last August, saying it cut access to high school football games in retaliation for critical coverage. After months of hostile out-of-court relations and stop-and-go litigation, the case settled in February. The board even agreed to pay the radio station’s legal fees, as determined by the court.
Then, it saw the $115,000-plus bill from Astrachan Gunst Thomas PC.
The board’s attorneys, Thomas J. Althauser and G. Gary Hanna, challenged the amount in court this month, calling the time entries “remarkably vague” and saying attorneys billed “a substantial amount of time…for what were clearly administrative tasks.” The motion also objected to bills for an amended complaint that was never filed.
The Astrachan firm fired back last week, defending its invoices against what it called “a blunderbuss attack” and demonstrating that there will be no love lost between the parties when this saga is finally over.
“Employing three law firms, defendants walked away from two settlements, and now have the temerity to assert that plaintiffs’ Motion to Enforce Settlement Agreement and Amended Complaint were unnecessary,” the plaintiff’s firm responded. “There is no question — and defendants tacitly concede — that, had plaintiffs not taken such action, this case would not have settled.”
The response notes that the latest bickering has only served to up the board’s bill. “Defendants’ misstatement of plaintiffs’ counsel time records necessitated this Reply, resulting in $11,752.00 of additional attorney time,” it says.
The Astrachan firm is now requesting a total of $129,350 in fees and $3,697 in expenses — plus $3,240 in expert witness fees for Baltimore civil rights attorney C. Christopher Brown, who was hired to confirm the reasonableness of the fees charged.
BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentSuing ‘Dr. Doe’
May 29, 2008
The children of a woman who died of cancer in June 2005 filed suit last month against her doctors, alleging they neglected to recommend regular screenings that could have led to an earlier diagnosis and saved her life.
True, lawsuits claiming a doctor missed some early indication of what later became a serious or even fatal condition are fairly common. What struck me about this suit is the lead defendant: John Doe, M.D.
It’s also true that the use of “Doe” defendants is common in malpractice cases. But this complaint says Dr. Doe (and his later-named colleague, Dr. Samuel Croff Jr.), “provided primary care and treatment” to the decedent, Barbara Jameson, for nearly a year before she reported to the emergency room in April 2005 with “a massive intra-abdominal cancer.”
Maybe Dr. Doe was a behind-the-scenes type who read the results of imaging tests — the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, doesn’t say.
In fact, much of what happened here remains unknown as the case is in the early stages of litigation; and there may be a difference between what Jameson knew about the doctors who allegedly treated her for a year and what her children are able to figure out.
Still, if a patient is in the dark about the identity of her primary care physician, might that not foretell more disastrous communication problems down the line?
BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentBlues are skin deep for indigo man
May 29, 2008
The following really has little to do with the law, but it involves the one person who makes her own rules: Oprah.
Fran, our office manager in Towson, told me she saw on Oprah’s talk show Tuesday a man with blue skin. And it wasn’t a member of the Blue Man Group or some dude dressed as a Smurf for Halloween.
The man in question was Paul Karason of California, and he was originally on “Oprah” in February. It turns out he began drinking a tonic called colloidal silver more than 15 years ago in solidarity with a friend diagnosed with petroleum poisoning, according to Oprah’s Web site. Karason said he discovered in a matter of days that the drink cured his acid reflux, according the Web site.
Karason then began applying the colloidal silver to damaged skin on his body. After he had used the potion for several months a friend noticed his skin had changed color from white to blue. (I’d like to think if I started to resemble a ripe blueberry, I would recognize it immediately.)
Silver is known to kill bacteria and was at one point a popular antibiotic (PDF), but one potential side-effect of long-term use is argyria, a condition whereby the skin turns silver or blue. (One law firm refers to it as the “disease of the living dead,” because of the ghostly appearance of those who have it and the fact that any exposure to sunlight darkens the hue.)
So that explains Paul Karason’s blue skin. And why the Food and Drug Administration in 1999 said colloidal silver has no medical benefit (PDF), meaning it can be sold as a dietary supplement without making health claims.
No word from the government as to whether silver-tainted products led to this, however.
DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentFree buses downtown!
May 29, 2008
Mayor Sheila Dixon announced Wednesday that she plans to add three free bus lines around downtown. One would go north to south; another east to west, and a third would loop from downtown into Fells Point and up to Johns Hopkins Hospital. These runs are supposed to start by the end of the year.
Lots of people were touting the plan at a news conference yesterday to formally announce the service. It’s going to reduce downtown congestion, help tourists get around and cure Dutch elm disease, they said (OK, they didn’t say the last one).
But there are some questions. First, the city wants to pay for this through an increase in the parking tax, which is levied at garages. If you park, the mayor’s office points out, you can take the shuttle around without having to move your car and park again. This could actually save people money, by Dixon’s calculation. But if people are saving money on parking, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the tax might decline as a revenue source? Just a thought.
The Maryland Transit Administration says the buses won’t interfere with their service downtown, but the plan is for the free buses to come once every 10 minutes. We’ve all been behind an MTA bus on these relatively narrow downtown roads, and it’s no picnic. Are you worried about that?
ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentOwner of Westminster livestock auction house charged
May 29, 2008
The Maryland Department of Agriculture has spoken on the issues that stemmed from a Humane Society video of a downed cow at the Westminster livestock auction house.
The agency says it will “tighten” its inspection policies, and has charged the owner of the auction house - James Horak of Hanover, Pa. - with four counts of violating state animal health regulations.
From the AP story:
The agency says the revisions require inspectors to report and track downed animals; inform operators of what action they must take; and follow up to ensure that the action has been taken.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentIs the best way to a lawmaker’s heart through his stomach?
May 28, 2008
In 1999, Maryland prohibited lobbyists from buying meals for lawmakers as part of an ethics reform law. Pretty simple, right? Well, not according to Tuesday’s Washington Post.
The Post reports that Maryland lobbyists spent nearly $1 million during the course of this year’s General Assembly session on meals for groups of lawmakers. The practice is allowed for delegations and committees, but not for individuals.
Some lobbyists argue that the meals are a valuable (and definitely legal) way to get some time to discuss their key issues with the people who are making decisions on them. Still, it takes a lot of juice to be able to drop $3,700 at an Annapolis steakhouse. Not just anyone can do it.
Let’s not forget, though, that lobbyists are also allowed to make campaign contributions so long as they report them.
It’s certainly an interesting debate. Are the group meals OK by you? And if so, would you support allowing lobbyists to buy meals for individual legislators again?
ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentABA Journal: ‘You decide’
May 28, 2008
In celebration of their recent Web award, the abajournal.com is letting you pick which of three acceptance speeches they’ll give at the June 10 ceremony. The site won the People’s Voice Webby Award in the Law category - an award that’s considered, by some, to be the Internet’s highest honor.
And for all the busy lawyers out there, choosing your fave should take less than 15 seconds. See, the choices are like a Haiku, only shorter — five words, to be exact.
They are:
1. Had we lost, we’d sue.
2. Shakespeare was wrong – lawyers live!
3. We don’t plan to appeal.
From the editor’s note on the achievement:
In addition to the People’s Voice award, the Webby judges also give an award in each category. In the Law category, it was won this year by the IT and e-commerce legal advice site Out-Law.com, which is published by the British law firm Pinsent Masons. Other nominees were the 2007-08 Recruiting Campaign at Shearman & Sterling; the University of Pittsburgh School of Law’s JURIST; and Pro Bono Net’s LawHelp.
….The Webby Awards famously limit acceptance speeches to just five words. In recent years, they’ve included Al Gore (”Please don’t recount this vote”), the Beastie Boys (”Can anyone fix my computer?”), and Prince (”Everything you think is true”).
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
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