Family of slain Minnesota prison guard pleads for state lawmakers to settle case
Nearly three years after a corrections officer was murdered by an inmate with a hammer at the Minnesota Correctional Facility, the officer’s family is asking state lawmakers to take up a bill that would give the family $3 million and result in sweeping safety changes in the system. Minnesota has a law regarding line of duty death benefits for corrections officers, that provides a mechanism for eligible families to receive a separate cash line of duty death benefit in addition to workers’ compensation. KARE (Minneapolis)
Unemployment fraud rampant in West Virginia and nationwide
Unemployment fraud has materialized nationally on an unforeseen level as the result of the pandemic. Washington state has been hit for more than $500 million in fraudulent unemployment claims since March 2020, but that’s only about half the amount of Texas, where that state’s workforce commission says identity thieves have made off with nearly $1 billion. Charleston Gazette-Mail
Panel recommends disbarring Illinois attorney
A Chicago-area lawyer is accused of using clients’ cash to pay for personal expenses. A truck driver who was awarded $10,000 in a workers’ comp case in 2013 was the first client to flag trouble. CBS Chicago
Lawsuit filed against pulp mill over ‘rotten egg’ odor
A Charlotte, North Carolina homeowner has filed a class action nuisance suit against a South Carolina pulp and paper mill whose fumes have sickened residents in the Carolinas for many months. The lawsuit seeks at least $5 million in compensation. Charlotte Observer
‘Store mask policies are a mess and nearly impossible to enforce’
A patchwork system of mask policies has emerged at large retail chains in the wake of Centers for Disease Control guidance that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks indoors or outdoors, except in health care settings, on public transportation, or in other areas where governments mandate masks. KTEN