By Chad Hunter Times Record •chunter@swtimes.com A standing-room only crowd, many former Whirlpool employees, was assured Tuesday by environmental activist Erin Brockovich that she will investigate contamination in and around the now-vacant refrigerator plant. “This is going on across America,” Brockovich said. “I’m getting sick of it. What’s happening is people and communities are getting sick of it, as well. “We have your back.” Brockovich and associate Bob Bowcock, an environmental investigator, spoke to a crowd of at least 200 people Tuesday night at the Fort Smith Senior Activity Center. Brockovich and her consulting firm turned their attention to Fort Smith on a request from resident Debbie Keith, who lives in a neighborhood just north of the Whirlpool … [Read more...]

As the shooting that divided the nation gets closer to a trial, parents of Trayvon Martin, and George Zimmerman, are preparing for the case to reopen wounds. By FRANCES ROBLES, Special to the MIAMI HERALD -- The last time she was on TV with her face obscured by shadows, George Zimmerman’s mother explained, that her son’s roots are Afro-Peruvian. In the 10 months since her teenage son was killed, Trayvon Martin’s mom became a nationally known activist who mostly sleeps in hotels as she bounces from one speaking engagement to another talking about self-defense laws. “As a mother, this is a job,” said Sybrina Fulton, whose son Trayvon became a household name after Zimmerman shot and killed him in a townhouse complex in Sanford. “It is a position I never wanted.” Read more here: http://hrld.us/YkvRrt … [Read more...]

TALLAHASSEE (AP) -- The second driver is not automatically solely at fault in rear-end collisions, the Florida Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday as it resolved a pair of conflicting lower court decisions. The justices unanimously agreed that juries should be allowed to compare the negligence of each driver in a lawsuit regardless of who the plaintiff is and apportion blame accordingly. They upheld one appellate court ruling that came to the same conclusion in a Seminole County case and quashed another from Palm Beach County. The 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach had upheld a trial judge's decision that Maria Cevallos, the rear driver, was solely at fault. The high court's reversal of that decision will let Cevallos seek at least partial damages from the middle driver in a three-car rear end crash, Keri Ann Rideout. The defendant allegedly was on her cell … [Read more...]