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Conn. residents: Pfizer land battle unnecessary
Legal Business |
2009/11/16 09:45
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| pAfter drug giant Pfizer Inc. announced that it was opening a new research center here, city officials aggressively moved to acquire surrounding land for an economic development project — triggering an epic fight over eminent domain that reached the U.S. Supreme Court and ended with residents being forced from their homes./ppBut the land where the homes once stood has remained undeveloped, and the community took another hit last week when Pfizer, a major economic engine in the city and its largest taxpayer, announced plans to close the $350 million research center and relocate about 1,500 jobs to nearby Groton./ppNow some angry and befuddled current and former residents, including some who lost their homes, say the drug company's announcement reaffirms their conviction that the city never needed to pick the property rights fight in the first place. If they have lost, they say, then so apparently has the city./ppWe just got so sick of hearing that we were supposed to sacrifice for the greater good, said Matthew Dery, the sales and retention manager at The Day newspaper in New London who relocated to Waterford after being forced out of a home that had been in his family for about a century. As it turns out, there was no greater good./ppPfizer's pharmaceutical research center, which opened in 2001, was a catalyst for a planned multimillion-dollar private development that was to include residential, hotel conference, research and development space and a new state park. City officials decided they needed 90 acres adjacent to the Pfizer center to complement the building./p |
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Beazer Homes CEO McCarthy may face civil charges
Headline Topics |
2009/11/16 02:43
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pFederal regulators have notified Beazer Homes USA Inc. that its top executive could face civil charges over incentive compensation./ppThe notification comes more than a year after the Atlanta-based homebuilder settled a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into its financial statements./ppBeazer Homes said in a regulatory filing Monday that SEC staff issued a so-called Wells notice to CEO Ian McCarthy. That means the staff intends to recommend civil charges against McCarthy for possible securities violations. Recipients of the notices can respond to the allegations before the commission decides on any enforcement action./ppBeazer said McCarthy intends to respond to the notice, which is not a formal allegation nor a finding of wrongdoing./ppBeazer said the SEC staff recommended action against McCarthy to collect certain incentive compensation and other amounts allegedly due under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The company's filing did not disclose how much compensation is involved, or other details about the disputed pay.
/p |
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Madoff's yacht, 2 smaller boats on auction block
Topics |
2009/11/16 01:46
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| pA vintage 55-foot yacht named Bull and two smaller boats that once belonged to imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff are headed for the auction block, along with an even bigger yacht once owned by Madoff's right-hand man./ppMadoff's 1969 Rybovitch sportfisher, a wooden boat meticulously restored, is the prize offering at Tuesday's private auction. As of Monday, 29 people had put up a $100,000 deposit for the opportunity to bid and more were expected to register, according to the U.S. Marshals Service./ppPeople have heard of it. It's a piece of history, said Bob Toney, president and CEO of National Liquidators, which is handling the auction for the government./ppAlso for sale are Madoff's 38-foot Shelter Island runabout, named Sitting Bull, and a 24-foot Maverick center console named Little Bull. Then there's Madoff's black 1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 convertible, which has just 12,800 miles on the odometer, and a 61-foot Viking fishing yacht formerly owned by Madoff's ex-chief financial officer, Frank DiPascali./ppTogether, the vessels and car could fetch several million dollars, but officials don't want to put a price tag on any particular item before the auction. Madoff's notoriety could also boost the final sales prices, said Jennifer Crane of the Marshals' asset forfeiture division./p |
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Ex-Mass. House speaker DiMasi pleads not guilty
Headline Court News |
2009/11/15 09:48
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| Former Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has again pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges.pDiMasi and three co-defendants entered the pleas Thursday during their arraignment on an expanded indictment adding extortion to earlier public corruption charges./ppThe original indictment alleged DiMasi and three associates rigged two lucrative state contracts for the software company Cognos in exchange for payments, with the former speaker pocketing $57,000./ppA superseding indictment handed up last month added the extortion charge. It says DiMasi accepted payments from Cognos and a second member of the scheme, Joseph Lally, knowing the money was in exchange for helping the Burlington, Mass.-based firm win the contracts./p |
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Calif. fire suspect pleads not guilty to murder
Headline Court News |
2009/11/14 09:50
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| pA prison inmate has pleaded not guilty to arson and murder charges for a 2003 wildfire that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and was linked to five heart attack deaths in Southern California./ppSan Bernardino County prosecutors say 28-year-old Rickie Lee Fowler entered his plea Thursday in Superior Court./ppFowler is already serving time in state prison for burglary. He faces five counts of murder, one count of aggravated arson and one count of arson of an inhabited structure./ppThe so-called Old Fire erupted in the San Bernardino Mountains above the city of San Bernardino in October 2003 and eventually swept across 140 square miles./ppA pretrial hearing is set for Nov. 30. Fowler's bail has been set at $1 million./p |
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Fmr. slaughterhouse manager guilty of fraud
Court Watch News |
2009/11/14 09:49
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| pA jury has found the former manger of a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa guilty on 86 of 91 financial fraud charges./ppThe verdict against Sholom Rubashkin came Thursday evening after a nearly monthlong trial./ppRubashkin was charged with bank, mail and wire fraud, money laundering and ignoring orders to pay cattle providers in the time required by federal law./ppThe charges were linked to Rubashkin's job as a top manager at the former Agriprocessor's plant in Postville, Iowa. He was arrested months after a May 2008 immigration raid there that led to the arrest of 389 workers./p |
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Man admitted kidnapping missing NC girl
Court Watch News |
2009/11/14 09:48
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A North Carolina man has admitted to kidnapping a 5-year-old girl, authorities said Friday, but investigators still have not found the child more than three days after she disappeared from a mobile home park.
But the attorney for Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, said Friday that his client would plead not guilty to kidnapping Shaniya Davis. Fayetteville Police Department spokeswoman Theresa Chance said McNeill admitted taking the girl.
McNeill was charged with kidnapping while authorities dropped charges against another man, Clarence Coe, who was initially arrested in the case.
We're hoping we find her alive, Chance said at a news conference. We found Mr. McNeill, and Miss Davis was not with him.
McNeill had a first court appearance Friday. Attorney Allen Rogers said he only spoke briefly with his client, adding that he did not know what connection McNeill may have had with Shaniya or her mother. He also did not comment on the child's whereabouts.
Surveillance footage showed McNeill carrying Shaniya into a hotel room on Tuesday morning, when she was reported missing from a mobile home park. A hotel worker called police to report seeing a child matching Shaniya's description, but by the time police got there, McNeill had left.
Investigators used police dogs but could not pick up the child's scent during a search of the neighborhood. They found a blanket that may have belonged to the girl in a garbage can outside a neighbor's home.
Shaniya's father, Bradley Lockhart, made a tearful appeal Thursday for his daughter's safe return. |
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