February 29, 2008

Aging Infrastructure Cause of Another Mall Explosion??

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Romanucci & Blandin has been actively involved in the Ford City Mall natural gas explosion for quite some time now. In that occurrence, many people were injured when a natural gas pipeline ruptured in the Ford City Mall parking lot. As having personally inspected the scene several times after the explosion -- it looked nothing short of a war zone. Quite frankly, it appeared as if a bomb had been dropped into the parking lot. as the cause and origin of that explosion is yet to be determined and the litigants are deep into discovery, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time what we feel is the cause of that particular explosion.

However, this most recent incident underscores that this State and this country is facing a crisis in its aging infrastructure. in the Waukegan incident it has been reported that a main ruptured. Mains are not supposed to rupture unless they are so old that they cannot handle he pressure of the gas in the main or they are being ill-maintained. Either way, we have a problem and it will not be fixed unless we get our butt out of Iraq and stop spending the money on a war we will never win and spend that money here at home fixing our infrastructure and education system. OK. Enough said. Thanks for listening.

February 27, 2008

And Another Airline Runway Excursion ...

If you have ever flown into Jackson Hole, Wyoming, you will be hard pressed to say that there is a prettier landscape to fly in and out of. After all, this is the only commercial airport in the United States that resides in a national park. Despite all of this, runway excursions are not immune.

As you know, Romanucci & Blandin has been very vocal about the safety of our skies -- especially when it comes to our airplane landings. Lately, there have been way too many incidents of overruns and excursions. The NTSB is investigating another such incident from Jackson Hole.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent two investigators to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to investigate an incident in which a United Airlines jet veered off the side of a runway.

Continue reading "And Another Airline Runway Excursion ..." »

February 17, 2008

Chicago and Illinois on Edge of Banning Non-Wood Baseball Bats

Romanucci & Blandin has reported that we have been the major proponent behind the ban of metal baseball bats in little league play. We are now one step closer to achieving that life saving reality. Rep. Robert Molaro of Illinois has introduced HB4140 which would ban non wood bats for organizational use for children under 13 years of age. We hope that Committee Hearings will be held soon and then on to Springfield for a vote. In the near future we will be publishing all of the known data inherent in the risks of metal bat use in baseball. This blog entry is to advise our readers of the introduction of the bill.

February 2, 2008

Blue Man Group named in Lawsuit -- Unnecessary Roughness

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In the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court by Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, Plaintiff Jim Srodon says the Blue Man actors used the "esophagus cam" to project an image of Srodon's mouth and throat onto a large screen for the audience's amusement.

The lawsuit alleges the Blue Man actors circled him, held his neck and arms and "forced his head back" to insert the camera. It claims he was restrained from removing the camera from his mouth.

"At the time the 'esophagus cam' was inserted into plaintiff's mouth, it was covered in food, liquid and grime from the Briar Street Theatre floor, including the thick blue paint used to cover the actors' faces," the lawsuit said.

Reaction to this lawsuit has been mixed. There have been very many negative responses, partly due to the wild popularity the Blue Man Group enjoys. R&B recognizes that there are two sides to the story whick is why we are publishing BMG's responses and those of their supporters. One Chicago Tribune reader said:

I was disappointed by your recent article about the Mr. Srodon suing Blue Man Group. It was the most ridiculous thing I've read in the Tribune since the last ridiculous thing I read there. We can only hope the judge throws out the case as the most absurd, senseless, pointless and nonsensical lawsuit in the history of frivolous lawsuits. With any luck, the judge will also jail Mr. Srodon and his lawyer for sheer stupidity.

The R&B response was as follows:

Continue reading "Blue Man Group named in Lawsuit -- Unnecessary Roughness" »

February 1, 2008

Veterans and Traumatic Brain Injury

As you know, Romanucci & Blandin, LLC has been very active and supportive of our troops in Irag. We have also been very sensitive to the issues effecting our troops. One of them being the VA's denial of treating non contact traumatic brain injuries. Currently, the VA's standard to treat TBI's has been only if there has been a contact with the head. Clearly, this logic is flawed since TBI can be caused by blast injuries through the "wave" concussion. The Chicago Tribune recently reported as follows:

Illinois veterans who have brain injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder now have access to an array of screening and counseling services, state officials announced Tuesday.

The Illinois Warrior Assistance Program, the first of its kind in the United States, was launched Tuesday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs and several other state and health organizations.

It provides a 24-hour toll-free help line for veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder, free phone screening for traumatic brain injury for all Illinois veterans and mandatory brain-injury screening for members of the Illinois National Guard returning from overseas.

An Army report released Jan. 17 found that as much as 20 percent of soldiers sustain at least a mild traumatic brain injury while deployed.

The new program's confidential help line can be reached at 866-554-IWAP, and more information can be found at http://www.illinoiswarrior.com .