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Judge Rules Teacher Performance Ratings Should Be Public
Headline Topics |
2011/01/12 03:59
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| pA State Supreme Court judge ruled yesterday that New York City can make teacher performance ratings public. The United Federation of Teachers has vowed to appeal the decision./ppThe suit, which was launched by the UFT against the Department of Education, argued that the move by the city to release the ratings was “arbitrary and capricious.”/ppThe data reflected in the Teacher Data Reports (TDRs) should not be released, because the TDRs are so flawed and unreliable as to be subjective and without merit, argued a union representative./ppState Senator Velmanette Montgomery, a longtime champion of children’s education, expressed some concern around the test methodology which, she says, should be independently verified by a recognized authority. If it is flawed, the actions taken could ruin the careers of valuable educators and hurt the school system and our children, said Montgomery./p |
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Cops Bust Wrong Pot Party, End Up in Supreme Court
Headline Court News |
2011/01/12 02:59
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| pHollis King and his two friends might be the unluckiest pot smokers in Kentucky./ppThe three men were sitting around King's apartment in Lexington, Ky., on a Thursday night in October 2005, when police officers knocked on the front door, then kicked it in. They did not have a search warrant./ppThe police were looking for a man who fled into an apartment building after selling cocaine to an informant. They heard a door slam in a hallway, but by the time they were able to look down it, they saw only two closed doors./ppThey didn't know which one the suspect had gone through, but, smelling the aroma of burnt pot, chose the apartment on the left./ppTheir quarry had gone into the apartment on the right. But in King's place, they found one person smoking pot and a small amount of cocaine and money, and arrested King and his friends./ppKing pleaded guilty to drug charges, but the Kentucky Supreme Court threw out the evidence against him and the conviction, ruling that the police did not have cause to burst into his home without a warrant./ppThe U.S. Supreme Court is hearing the state's appeal of that ruling Wednesday, in a case that could clarify rules for when police can conduct searches without a warrant./ppThe police contend they entered the apartment because they heard noises they thought might indicate that evidence was being destroyed. King says the noises they heard were people moving around in response to the commotion in the hallway./ppAnd what of the original suspect? The police eventually found him in the apartment on the right. But prosecutors later dropped charges against him for reasons that are not explained in court papers./p |
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SEC charges 4 with insider trading
Network News |
2011/01/12 01:02
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| pFederal regulators on Monday charged the co-founder of a New York hedge fund and three other individuals with insider trading, the latest action in what the government has called the biggest insider-trading case in U.S. history./ppThe Securities and Exchange Commission announced it filed a civil lawsuit against hedge fund Trivium Capital Management, its co-founder Robert Feinblatt and analyst Jeffrey Yokuty. The SEC also filed charges against Sunil Bhalla, a former senior executive of tech company Polycom, and Shammara Hussain, a former employee at a consulting firm that did work for Google. The agency said Bhalla and Hussain provided confidential information that enabled Feinblatt and Yokuty to make about $15 million from trading on the information./ppSo far the SEC has filed civil charges against 27 people and hedge funds in a wide-ranging probe of the Galleon group of hedge funds and its founder. The government says Galleon funds made about $69 million in illegal profits. Raj Rajaratnam, the one-time billionaire founder of the Galleon funds, has pleaded not guilty. Federal authorities have arrested 23 people on criminal charges in the case; 14 have pleaded guilty./ppThe SEC alleged in its suit that Feinblatt and Yokuty traded using confidential information they received from Roomy Khan, a Florida investor who pleaded guilty in 2009 to conspiracy and securities fraud in the Galleon case. Khan has been cooperating in the government's investigation./ppThe SEC said that Bhalla gave Khan inside information on Polycom's fourth-quarter earnings in 2005, and that Khan traded on the information and gave it to others, including Feinblatt and Yokuty. The SEC also alleged that Hussain gave Khan confidential information about Google's second-quarter earnings in 2007./p |
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Appeals Court judge lobbies for high court spot
Headline Topics |
2011/01/09 09:02
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| pAppeals Court Judge Jane Markey of Grand Rapids says Gov. Rick Snyder should name her to the Michigan Supreme Court because she'd bring a west Michigan perspective. /ppSnyder could name a replacement as early as Monday for Justice Maura Corrigan, who steps down Friday to become Human Services director. /ppThe 59-year-old Markey said in a release that current justices are from southeast Michigan or the Lansing area. She adds no one from Grand Rapids has been a justice since 1946. /ppMarkey hoped to run for the high court in 2010, but Republicans nominated Wayne Circuit Court Judge Mary Beth Kelly, who beat Justice Alton Davis. /p |
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Anna Nicole Smith doctor subpoenaed by med board
Blog Updates |
2011/01/08 09:03
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| pAnna Nicole Smith's primary doctor, who was acquitted in the late model's high-profile drug prescription case, has been subpoenaed in a separate investigation, his attorney said Friday./ppIt's outrageous, said Ellyn Garafalo, who represents Dr. Sandeep Kapoor. This shows that this is a vendetta./ppShe said Kapoor was standing outside the courtroom where a judge dismissed most charges against Kapoor's co-defendants on Thursday when he was handed a subpoena by a process server representing the California Medical Board./ppGarafalo said the board is investigating cases unrelated to the Smith case./ppShe said Kapoor has treated many severely ill patients and has written numerous prescriptions for them./ppKapoor was tried with Howard K. Stern and psychiatrist Dr. Khristine Eroshevich on charges of excessively prescribing opiates and sedatives for the former Playboy model. A jury acquitted him of all charges./ppAfter a long and costly trial prosecution, Superior Court Judge Robert Perry threw out conspiracy convictions against Stern and Eroshevich, allowing one charge against her to remain but reducing it to a misdemeanor./p |
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Navajo high court halts discretionary spending
Headline Court News |
2011/01/07 07:03
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pThe Navajo Nation’s high court has banned elected tribal officials from doling out public money until the tribe establishes rules on their financial aid program./ppThe court made the decision this week in a case that challenged the reduction of the Tribal Council from 88 members to 24./ppTribal lawmakers set aside $150,000 in public money to mount the challenge. The Supreme Court justices said the appropriation was unlawful and that tribal officials failed to adequately review it./ppSome lawmakers have been criticized for discretionary spending. All but 11 of the 88 lawmakers and the incoming tribal president were charged in a probe of the spending./ppOne of the cases has been dismissed, but a judge hasn’t ruled on whether it can be refiled.
/p
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Court won't speed challenge to MN disclosure law
Headline Court News |
2010/10/04 09:20
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| pA federal appeals court has declined to fast-track a challenge against a Minnesota law requiring disclosure of corporate political spending./ppIn an order Monday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion to expedite the case, and it scheduled oral arguments for Jan. 11 in St. Louis, well after the election./ppMinnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, the Taxpayers League of Minnesota and a travel company are trying to overturn the law on free-speech grounds./ppU.S. District Judge Donovan Frank last month refused to block the state law./ppThe groups have also asked the 8th Circuit for an injunction to suspend enforcement of the disclosure law while their appeal is considered. The appeals court took that request under advisement./p |
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