A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Alabama against Taco Bell, claiming its "seasoned meat" doesn't contain enough beef to fit the definition for "beef" set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
 
Attorney W. Daniel "Dee" Miles III, of Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & Miles PC, alleges in the lawsuit that the fast food giant's advertisements mislead consumers by claiming that it serves "seasoned ground beef" or "seasoned beef" in its menu items.

"You can't call it beef by definition," attorney W. Daniel "Dee" Miles III said in regard to the suit his firm has filed. "It's junk. I wouldn't eat it."
 
Taco Bell released a statement on its website from Greg Creed, President and Chief Concept Officer, defending its food:

"At Taco Bell, we buy our beef from the same trusted brands you find in the supermarket, like Tyson Foods. We start with 100 percent USDA-inspected beef. Then we simmer it in our proprietary blend of seasonings and spices to give our seasoned beef its signature Taco Bell taste and texture. We are proud of the quality of our beef and identify all the seasoning and spice ingredients on our website. Unfortunately, the lawyers in this case elected to sue first and ask questions later -- and got their 'facts' absolutely wrong. We plan to take legal action for the false statements being made about our food."

—Source:  Los Angeles Times and TacoBell.com

A Connecticut woman has filed notice that she is considering a lawsuit against the City of Waterbury (Connecticut) after she slipped on acorns on the town's Greenway.
 
Prospective Plaintiff Grace Triano, in the notice filed by her attorney William F. Gallagher, claims she fell on debris consisting mainly of acorns, banged her head and was treated at a local hospital.  Gallagher said the experience was like "walking on marbles."  
 
According to news reports, notice is all that is required for a lawsuit to be filed.
 
—Source:  Republican American (Middlebury, CT)

Alabama doesn't see a lot of snow, so its residents aren’t too familiar with snow angels, snow shovels and snow prints.  That's likely the case with two alleged burglary bandits.
 
Earlier this week, detectives in Sheffield, Alabama, responded to a break-in at the Chevron Convenience store. Reportedly missing from the store were 56 cartons of cigarettes, 24 packs of cigars and a donation change box.  What the accused crooks left behind, however, were snow prints.
 
"With almost a foot of snow we had two sets of distinctive footprints leading from the business to a residence, a few blocks away," said Sheffield Police Chief Greg Ray.

The footprints led police to the home of Ketrick Dewayne Mason. Investigators say Mason and Jantzen Jackson broke into the store and helped themselves to the armloads of goodies.  Police found the pair wearing snow-covered clothing.

"Along the way they located some of the things had been dropped like some cigars and some cigarettes that probably fell out of the box" said Ray. "They also located several indentions where it appears the offenders may have set the box down so they could rest for a few minutes before they could get back to the house in a foot of snow."

The two men are facing charges for third-degree burglary and are being held without bail in the Sheffield City jail.
 
"We were glad they were stupid. It certainly made our job a lot easier," said Chief Ray.
 
—Source:  WHNT-TV News 19 (Hunstville, Alabama)

A former fifth-grade multimedia teacher filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Allentown, Pennsylvania, claiming that school officials disregarded her learning disability when they terminated her for not obtaining her state teaching certification.
 
Michele Vulcano Hall was hired in 2008 and told she had two to three years to obtain her teaching certification.  In April 2009, the human resources director told Hall she had until the end of the school year to obtain the certification.  In August 2009, the district's school board, of which Hall's father, Paul Vulcano, Jr., is a director, voted unanimously not to retain Hall because she was teaching with an emergency certification.  According to news reports, one-year emergency certifications may be granted by the state if the applicant is actively working toward full certification.  Hall had been working for nearly 2 years under an emergency certification.
 
Hall's eight-count federal lawsuit claims the district did not accommodate her learning disability and seeks to have her reinstated, with back wages, front pay, lost health benefits, lost pension contributions, lost future earning capacity, as well as damages for emotional distress suffered by the alleged discrimination.   No mention is made of the manner of her disability.  Hall further claims in the lawsuit that the superintendent and the human resources director orchestrated her termination to quell her "vociferous" father and "chill [his] legitimate political expression," singling her out for "retaliation, harassment and a hostile work environment."
 
When his daughter was replaced by the school board in 2009, Hall's father said there were no hard feelings between him and the district.
 
—Source:  The Morning Call (Allentown, PA)