Monthly Archives: December 2012

In a tone-deaf response to the horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday that left 26 dead, including 20 children, the National Rifle Association this morning blamed “gun-free” zones for the massacre and called for an armed police officer in every school. The statements were stunning in their lack of recognition that public opinion is turning against the easy access to firearms, including deadly assault weapons. The U.S. already has the most lax gun laws in the …

A jury ordered two international shipping companies to pay $5.75 million for a drowning accident that killed one worker and injured another while they were docking an oil tanker at the port. Carl Williams and Edward Purdue were on duty helping to bring the massive oil tanker Glennross into an Alabama port when a 17-foot boat attached to a rope on board the tanker let loose and sent the workers into the water before the skiff came crashing down onto …

With the speed and convenience of social media, it takes minimal time and effort to perpetrate a hoax online. But Internet pranksters may want to think twice before making their next fraudulent post, now that state and federal authorities in Connecticut have raised the possibility of criminal charges against those who impersonated Sandy Hook Elementary shooter Adam Lanza and others connected to the shooting. “Misinformation is being posted on social media sites,” said Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance …

Marijuana stores in Colorado and Washington won’t be open for at least a year, but new laws legalizing the drug took full effect in both states this month. Washington’s Initiative 502 kicked in on Dec. 5, sparking a midnight gathering of marijuana enthusiasts near Seattle’s Space Needle to celebrate the occasion. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper formalized Amendment 64 into his state’s constitution just days later. Though President Obama said there wouldn’t be a federal campaign against individual marijuana users in Colorado …

A former Philadelphia city employee is alleging that he was fired from his job at the Controller’s Office for refusing to participate in a cover-up of misused city money. Ralph Kaplan was a recently-hired auditor who was reviewing a city bond program in the fall of 2011. During the audit, he discovered that $2.2 million had been spent on back taxes and other bills by a cultural institution called the New Freedom Theatre, when the enabling legislation indicated that the …