Day: August 12, 2008

Plea hearings set for Moultrie co-defendants Morehead and Cawood

Notices of plea hearings are up on the Pacer system for Robert Moultrie’s co-defendants Charles Morehead and Nixon Cawood.

If my understanding of the limited information on the notices is correct, they are waiving indictment and will plea to a one count bill of information. Since Moultrie entered his plea on a one-count bill, I’m assuming (risky, I know) Morehead and Cawood are also pleading guilty to offering a gratuity.

Cawood’s hearing is set for 10:00am Wednesday (tomorrow) and Morehead’s for Thursday at the same time.

A post-script on developments in USA v Moultrie

I thought commenter Mktgpro and others would be interested in knowing that in addition to all the plea documents filed yesterday, Moultrie’s defense filed this Motion to withdraw their Motion to Strike grand jury testimony.

Defendants Facility Holding Corp., d/b/a The Facility Group, Facility Management Group, Inc., Facility Construction Management, Inc., and Facility Design Group, Inc. (collectively “TFG”) hereby withdraw their Emergency Motion to Strike Pleadings Containing Grand Jury Testimony Based Upon Violation of Rule 6(e) (Document # 160) and request that the Court strike the motion from the pleadings.

The motion speaks for itself but feel free, as always, to comment.

Jim Hood grandstanding or standing on the law in September 2005?

Open mind, now – Hood’s September 2005 lawsuit against State Farm and others is the underlying legal action of discussions here and elsewhere about his recent recent settlement with State Farm.

Common perception seems to be Hood was grandstanding in 2005 and his recent settlement announcement was just his taking another bow.

Evidence suggests otherwise, however, and makes the case that Hood was standing on the law when he filed suit; but, take a look – first at the allegations Hood made in the lawsuit as summarized by the Insurance Information Institute.

Adam Scales, Washington and Lee law professor and U-Conn visiting professorformer chair of the AALS section on insurance (American Association of Law Schools), provided commentary: How Will Homeowners Insurance Litigation After Hurricane Katrina Play Out?The Key Dynamics, the Mississippi Lawsuit, and the Courts’ Likely Views. Continue reading “Jim Hood grandstanding or standing on the law in September 2005?”

The People in Cedar Rapids Are Eating Well…..

I ate at the New Waveland Cafe once and the food was very good. I was particularily partial to the biscuits and tomato gravy. For the Rainbow family feeding ground zero was the start of what is turning out to be years of good work. H/T to Editilla at the New Orleans News Ladder for the link to the Gazette story.

Tie-dye, dreadlocks and trendy organic made-from-scratch food will be an everyday occurrence for several months near the Salem United Methodist Youth Center at 210 Second Ave. SW.

Three self-proclaimed hippies came to Cedar Rapids through American Rainbow Tribe disaster recovery. They have set up an outdoor kitchen to feed as many volunteers as they can, with the help of a few locals.

“You can imagine the most common reaction when a couple of hippies show up claiming they have a kitchen,” said Heather Bee, 37. “Every time we start a new project, we have to build rapport all over again.” Continue reading “The People in Cedar Rapids Are Eating Well…..”

Another Casualty of our Dysfunctional Insurance Market….

The 147 employees of Future Pipe Industries learned today the company will close its Gulfport location by the end of the year.

In a state that is hurting for jobs and tax revenue what reason do you think they cited to the Sun Herald for closing down their Gulfport plant, their first in the US and one of 11 worldwide? Continue reading “Another Casualty of our Dysfunctional Insurance Market….”