Jackson County, Mo., has agreed to a $270,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by a motorcyclist who crashed his bike in a pot hole last summer. The motorcyclist was riding his motorcycle in east Jackson County when he hit a pot hole ankle-deep and as wide as his arms, his lawsuit claims, suffering serious injuries. The suit alleges the county was previous aware of the dangerous pot hole but had done nothing to fix it.

Officials for the F.D.A. are asking Congress for more power to enforce rules and hold companies accountable, especially regarding imported food. The statements, made by F.D.A. Margaret Hamburg in a recent interview, came on the heels of a salmonella outbreak that affected some 1,300 and resulted in a recall of 500 million eggs. Hamburg said currently the F.D.A. is limited to only reactive measures regarding food regulation and needs more power to take “preventative approaches.” No deaths have been reported related to the current salmonella outbreak

Officers in the Seattle Police Department have been accused in a lawsuit of punching a disabled young man during a jaywalking stop in June 2009. According to the lawsuit, the young was stopped for jaywalking by a Seattle PD officer. The suit claims that when the young man could not produce ID, the officer began punching him. The young man suffered a broken nose and a concussions, the lawsuit claims and was released shortly after his arrest.

A lawsuit has been filed over the death of a Dolton, Ill., teenager who was hit by a car during a police chase last August. The suit claims that Cook County officers were “recklessly” pursuing a suspect through a Dolton neighborhood at dangerously high speeds without proper authorization. KThe boy was riding his bike in the neighborhood when he was hit by the car, which was traveling at around 70 mph. The suit is seeking unspecified damages from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department and the Dolton Police Department

The city of Atlanta, Georgia has agreed to a $4.9 million settlement with the family of a woman who was killed by police during an illegal raid of her home in 2006. Officers busted down the woman’s door after an informant said he had purchased drugs from her home. The woman fired one shot off before being gunned down by police, who then planted drugs in her home when none were found there, the suit alleged. Since the incident, five former police officers have been imprisoned for conspiring to violate the woman’s rights.

The Washington Department of Corrections has agreed to settle a $4.25 million with a local woman who was hit by a car driven by a mentally ill felon. The woman suffered severe brain injuries from the accident, which occurred in June 2008. The lawsuit claimed that the department should have been keeping a closer watch on the felon, who lawyers called a “dangerous mentally ill offender.” At the time of the accident, the felon was on release and under the DOC’s supervision for committing a similar crime.

A lawsuit has been filed over the death of a family by carbon monoxide poisoning in a rented Aspen luxury home. The gas leaked into the home in 2008 from a gas-fire broiler filling the house and killing the Lofgren family. The suit accuses the contractors, manufacturers and inspectors for Pitkin County of failing to properly construct and inspect the home that was riddled with code violations.

A lawsuit has been filed against the Jacksonville, FL sheriff’s office by a local woman who was shot by police officers in March. The victim’s car hijacked by someone that had just completed robbing a bank with the victim and her son inside. According to the suit, officers fired 42 shots at the car while it was in a Wendy’s parking lot, killing the bank robber and car their but also injuring victim and her 2-year-old son. The suit accuses the officers of firing upon the vehicle with no regard to the safety of innocent lives, and says the department has a “widespread practice” of shooting citizens for unjustified reasons. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

A settlement of $750,000 has been reached in a lawsuit against a Jefferson County, Illinois police officer who allegedly used a stun gun unnecessarily on three teenagers and assaulted another.  According to the suite the police officer used the stun gun on the teens two years ago and while Illinois state investigators found no wrongdoing and the officer is still employed with the department – the settlement was agreed to.

A Maryland man has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the death of his wife in a Maryland police helicopter crash in 2008. The man accuses Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers of negligence in the crash that killed his wife and three others. The lawsuit is seeking $7 million in damages.