Miscellaneous

• Plague Hits Boomtown

  Steve Klearman | December 18, 2007 7:09 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Alright, perhaps "plague" is too strong a word...Last week the Washoe County District Health Department issued a boil water order for Cabela's and Boomtown Hotel and Casino. This was due to total coliform bacteria found in their water supply. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, total coliform bacteria are "natural and common inhabitants of soil and ambient waters (such as lakes and...

• Chavez Slapped in the Face By His Own Electorate

  Steve Klearman | December 03, 2007 8:48 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  In American, politics and injury law are sometimes hard to separate, and attorneys are often misidentified as liberal or conservative depending on their view of whether an injured party deserves compensation. At the end of the day, we're all Americans though (and let's face it: those who support adequate compensation for victims are better Americans)...I have a background in international law,...

• Senator's Craig's Woes Deepen

  Steve Klearman | December 03, 2007 4:37 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Eight men say they either had sex with Sen. Larry Craig or were targets of sexual advances by the Idaho lawmaker at various times during his political career, according to Yahoo News citing the Idaho Statesman newspaper. Amid pressure from top GOP leaders in Washington, Craig announced his intent to resign from the Senate. He later changed his mind, deciding to finish out his term, which...

• No Private Right of Action Under Prompt Pay Law

  Steve Klearman | November 29, 2007 12:15 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  The Nevada Supreme Court examined Nevada's so-called "prompt-pay" statute, NRS 690B.012, in a decision dated November 21, 2007. See, Allstate Ins. Co. v. Thorpe, 123 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 52. That statute "requires casualty insurers to approve and pay, or deny, casualty claims, including claims for medical payment benefits, within a limited time frame. Under the statute, an insurer must pay...

• Health Insurer Encourages Survival of Fittest

  Steve Klearman | November 24, 2007 3:38 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Why is it little surprise that a health insurer would work to exclude sick people?According to the American Association of Justice, quoting Lisa Girion, writing for the Los Angeles Times, "one of the state's largest health insurers set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved. Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. avoided...

• Judge Weller Shot and Criticized

  Steve Klearman | November 21, 2007 3:21 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  It's relatively amazing that Judge Chuck Weller continues to be criticized. One would think that a judge who is shot by a crazed ex-husband might garner more sympathy than critique. But that hasn't really been the case for Judge Weller. In fact, it seems that those who support him are attorneys, many of whom may remain dependent on him to render decisions in their cases.Martha Bellisle,...

• Depression Higher in Nevada

  Steve Klearman | November 20, 2007 3:17 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  The rate of patients admitted to American hospitals with depression as a secondary diagnosis nearly tripled from 1995 to 2005, a new report found.Jason Hildalgo, writing for The Reno Gazette Journal on November 19, 2007, writes that the number of patients admitted to hospitals for other conditions but are also found to suffer from depression jumped from 93 per 10,000 people to 247 per 10,000...

• Myspace and Disclosure of Teen Risk

  Steve Klearman | November 12, 2007 1:28 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  I often borrow from D. Garth Sullivan, Esq. at Indox Consulting (www.indoxconsulting.com).Here's an interesting study about Myspace and the disclosure of teen health risks:Social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, have become popular Internet venues for adolescent social interaction. Approximately 25% of the estimated 150-160 million users of MySpace, the largest site, are under age...

• Brazilian Plane Crash Kills At Least 200

  Jenny Albano | July 18, 2007 7:41 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Tuesday night, a plane was trying to land on a short runway in a rainstorm at the Sao Paulo Congonhas airport, when it ran into an airline building and a gas station and burst into flames. The TAM Airlines Airbus-320, which had come from Porto Alegre in Southern Brazil, had 186 people on the plane, and it is unknown how many people were in the building that was hit.Witnesses said they saw the...

• Tahoe Burning and More Homes Threatened

  Steve Klearman | June 25, 2007 12:27 PM | 2 CommentsReno, NV

  I occasionally detour from the law.Last week my wife and I mountain biked up Angora Lakes Road in South Lake Tahoe, California. Straight up a long hill, beautiful views of Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe with two idyllic lakes at the very top and Desolation Wilderness even further above. This week the entire area is evacuated by a fire that has burned more than 2000 acres and South Lake is...