A Montana woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the tavern her daughter was working at prior to her death in an alcohol-related car crash. According to the lawsuit, management at the Windsor Bar in Boulder, Mont. encouraged Dallice Smith to drink on the job then allowed her to drive despite knowing she was intoxicated. The case is scheduled to be heard in Jefferson County District Court in Boulder.

Ohio company Malcolm Meats has issued a recall of 4,530 pounds of its marinated beef products due to undeclared allergens. The products contain both wheat and soy, which are not listed on the products’ labels. The company believes the mistake occurred because the ingredients were not listed as present in the marinade used on the meats.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of 25,000 solar inverters due to risk of injury. The product’s manufacturer, Schneider Electric, said gases can build up in the inverter and blow the compartment cover off with a large amount of force, potentially causing injury. The company has received five reports of covers being blown off, but no injuries occurred.

Two wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against the University of Alabama in Huntsville by the families of two people killed in a shooting the occurred there last year. The lawsuits claim the school’s provost “did not follow procedures that could have saved lives” and that school officials were aware of the mental instability of the alleged shooter. The lawsuits, filed separately, are seeking unspecified damages.

A multiple vehicle crash at Union Boulevard and Dublin Road on the morning of 9/29/2010 resulted in the death from injuries suffered by a 19-year old victim in his Acura Intergra.  The driver of one car was cited for careless driving resulting in death.

Two pickups collided at the intersection of Venetucci and Tenderfoot Hill Road in Colorado Springs today (9/14/2010).  This location is to the west of Office Max and Target just south of Lake Avenue and, oddly enough, it appears that the intersection has been pre-built for traffic control.

Any claim against the City of Colorado Springs would require notice to be filed within 180 days from today.

A Las Vegas woman whose husband was killed in a car wreck in December has filed a lawsuit against Toyota Motors, claiming the wreck happened due to a “faulty accelerator and floor mat.” According to the lawsuit, the gas pedal of the woman’s Toyota became stuck under floor mat, causing the wreck. The suit also names a local service repair shop as a defendant, claiming they were aware of the potential problem but failed to mention it. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

A retired police sergeant in Bell, Calif., has accused other officers of voter fraud in a lawsuit he filed against the city. The plaintiff claims in his suit that in 2009, officers passed out absentee ballots to voters, telling them which candidates to vote for, and filed out voter cards for deceased individuals. The plaintiff says he reported this to the FBI last year and was demoted and eventually forced out of the department because of it. He has also filed a claim for damages against the city and with the state Department of Fair Employment.

An FDA panel has made a recommendation  to the agency that the controversial diabetes drug Avandia should either be taken off the market or its sale should be severely restricted.  Avandia has recently come under attack for trial results that revealed that patients taking Avandia are at an increased risk of heart attack. In order to keep the drug on the market, the panel decided that the maker, GlaxoSmithKline must complete another clinical trial to prove it is safe.

As is typical when there is an accident involving a car and a motorcycle, generally the motorcycle looses.  This was true at Powers & Grinnell  where one of the two people on the motorcycle did not survive and the other is in the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Drivers of cars need to be particularly aware of motorcyclists during the summer months – it is not easy to see a motorcycle when driving.