FRESNO, Calif. — A landmark $500 million agreement has been reached to settle a slaughterhouse abuse case in California that led to the biggest meat recall in US history in 2008, an animal welfare group announced Friday.
The civil settlement with the owners of Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. is the largest-ever penalty for an animal abuse case, and the first time federal fraud statutes have been used, according to the Humane Society of the United States, the lead plaintiff. The settlement is largely symbolic because the company is bankrupt.
‘‘It’s a deterrence judgment,’’ said Jonathan R. Lovvorn, chief counsel for animal protection litigation at the Humane Society of the United States. ‘‘It informs other federal government contractors that when your contract says you provide humane handling, if you don’t do that you’re likely to end up bankrupt as well.’’
As a supplier of meats for the national school lunch program, the Riverside County company had signed federal contracts certifying that it would provide humane treatment of animals sent there for slaughter....
See: Alphabet Agency: USDA Dinner
They will slaughter anything, but don't worry, be happy.
--more--"
The civil settlement with the owners of Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. is the largest-ever penalty for an animal abuse case, and the first time federal fraud statutes have been used, according to the Humane Society of the United States, the lead plaintiff. The settlement is largely symbolic because the company is bankrupt.
‘‘It’s a deterrence judgment,’’ said Jonathan R. Lovvorn, chief counsel for animal protection litigation at the Humane Society of the United States. ‘‘It informs other federal government contractors that when your contract says you provide humane handling, if you don’t do that you’re likely to end up bankrupt as well.’’
As a supplier of meats for the national school lunch program, the Riverside County company had signed federal contracts certifying that it would provide humane treatment of animals sent there for slaughter....
See: Alphabet Agency: USDA Dinner
They will slaughter anything, but don't worry, be happy.
--more--"
Related: Home on the Range of Hunger
Just water into the grinder, right?
Also see:
Man kills 2 co-workers, then self at Calif. chicken plant
Calif. death penalty foes putting focus on high cost
"Border Patrol cited in wrongful death claim"
CHULA VISTA — The family of a 32-year-old mother of five shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent as he rode on the hood of her car in suburban San Diego has filed a wrongful death claim against the agency, saying the agent had a long history of misconduct in a previous law enforcement job and should not have been on the street. The documents say agent Justin Tackett, 34, was suspended four times for misconduct including crashing a patrol car and violating the rights of suspects in the nearly four years that he worked as a sheriff’s deputy in Imperial County (AP)."
"2 killed, 3 wounded by masked gunman
INGLEWOOD — A father and his 4-year-old son were killed and a woman and two other young children were wounded by a gunman wearing a painter’s mask who set fire to their home near Los Angeles on Saturday, police said. Inglewood Police Chief Mark Fronterotta told KABC-TV that a SWAT team was using a team of dogs to search for the attacker (AP)."
"A substance abuse counselor was charged with murder and drunken-driving Tuesday after authorities said she struck a pedestrian and drove for more than 2 miles with the dying victim embedded in the windshield of her car."
2 children among 4 dead in Calif. highway crash
"2 killed, 3 wounded by masked gunman
INGLEWOOD — A father and his 4-year-old son were killed and a woman and two other young children were wounded by a gunman wearing a painter’s mask who set fire to their home near Los Angeles on Saturday, police said. Inglewood Police Chief Mark Fronterotta told KABC-TV that a SWAT team was using a team of dogs to search for the attacker (AP)."
"A substance abuse counselor was charged with murder and drunken-driving Tuesday after authorities said she struck a pedestrian and drove for more than 2 miles with the dying victim embedded in the windshield of her car."
2 children among 4 dead in Calif. highway crash
California family dies trying to rescue dog
2d missing Calif. hiker rescued
April Fool: California Kidnapping
"Two charged in LA girl’s kidnapping" by Greg Risling | Associated Press, April 04, 2013
LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors filed nearly three dozen counts of sexual assault against 30-year-old fugitive Tobias Summers. He also faces kidnapping and burglary charges, along with suspected accomplice Daniel Martinez....
The girl was abducted at about 3 a.m. on March 27 and found about 12 hours later wandering near a Starbucks about 6 miles away.
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"Suspect in LA assault returned to US" by TAMI ABDOLLAH | Associated Press, April 25, 2013
LOS ANGELES — A fugitive charged with abducting and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old Los Angeles girl was returned to the United States Wednesday after being arrested in a Mexican village where he had checked himself into a rehabilitation facility under a fake name, authorities said.
Tobias Summers, 30, was being brought to Los Angeles to face 37 felony charges, including numerous sexual assault counts, FBI Special Agent in Charge Tim Delaney told a press conference.
Summers was a fugitive for nearly a month. Police Chief Charlie Beck credited a $25,000 FBI reward for a phone tip late Tuesday that led to Summers’ arrest Wednesday morning. Mexican authorities acted on the tip received by the FBI and tracked Summers to a drug and alcohol treatment facility in a village between Tijuana and Ensenada, according to Alfredo Arenas, international liaison for the Baja California state police.
The victim’s parents discovered she was missing from her bedroom in her Northridge home in the early morning of March 27. She was found about 12 hours later wandering near a Starbucks several miles away.
--more--"
Related(?):
"Missing 13-year-old girl found dead in Calif. park" Associated Press, February 04, 2013
FAIRFIELD, Calif. — Police were looking for clues on Sunday in the death of a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a park in the Northern California city of Fairfield.
A passerby discovered the body around 7 a.m. Friday in Alan Witt Park. The girl was reported missing Thursday.
An autopsy was performed, but police did not release the girl’s name or her cause of death. Police said the girl was unclothed but with no obvious signs of trauma.
‘‘I thought to myself, that looked like a mannequin — didn’t look like a human body,’’ the passerby, Eric May, told KTVU-TV.
The girl was reported missing by her guardian at a foster home in nearby Suisun City. Commander Tim Mattos of the Suisun City police said the guardian last saw her board a school bus. He said she was in class all day.
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"Fatal stabbing of girl, 8, prompts Calif. search" Associated Press, April 29, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — Residents of a rural Northern California county were being told Sunday to keep their doors locked and report anyone considered suspicious as authorities searched for the killer of an 8-year-old girl.
Calaveras County deputies and law enforcement officials from nearby agencies were looking for a suspect after Leila Fowler was found stabbed in her Valley Springs home around noon Saturday.
The girl was found by her brother — reported by local media to be 12-years-old — after he encountered a male intruder in the home.
When the intruder ran away, the boy found his sister stabbed. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital, officials said.
Authorities spent Saturday night and into Sunday conducting a door-to-door sweep of homes scattered across hilly terrain, checking storage sheds and horse stables, and even searching attics.
Marathon memories.
‘‘It is a difficult area to search, it’s rural, remote,’’ sheriff’s Captain Jim Macedo said.
Reverse 911 calls and electronic mass notifications alerted area residents about the incident and the search for the suspect, officials said.
Investigators on Sunday were interviewing several people, but no suspects had been named.
Television station KCRA reported that a neighbor told police that a man was running from the girl’s home.
The suspect was seen wearing a black shirt and blue pants. Authorities said they consider him armed and dangerous.
Investigators were asking area residents to call authorities if they had any information, or knew of anyone who may have unexplained injuries, or may have left the area unexpectedly after the girl was killed.
Valley Springs is a community of about 2,500 people in an unincorporated area of Calaveras County 60 miles southeast of Sacramento.
2d missing Calif. hiker rescued
April Fool: California Kidnapping
"Two charged in LA girl’s kidnapping" by Greg Risling | Associated Press, April 04, 2013
LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors filed nearly three dozen counts of sexual assault against 30-year-old fugitive Tobias Summers. He also faces kidnapping and burglary charges, along with suspected accomplice Daniel Martinez....
The girl was abducted at about 3 a.m. on March 27 and found about 12 hours later wandering near a Starbucks about 6 miles away.
--more--"
"Suspect in LA assault returned to US" by TAMI ABDOLLAH | Associated Press, April 25, 2013
LOS ANGELES — A fugitive charged with abducting and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old Los Angeles girl was returned to the United States Wednesday after being arrested in a Mexican village where he had checked himself into a rehabilitation facility under a fake name, authorities said.
Tobias Summers, 30, was being brought to Los Angeles to face 37 felony charges, including numerous sexual assault counts, FBI Special Agent in Charge Tim Delaney told a press conference.
Summers was a fugitive for nearly a month. Police Chief Charlie Beck credited a $25,000 FBI reward for a phone tip late Tuesday that led to Summers’ arrest Wednesday morning. Mexican authorities acted on the tip received by the FBI and tracked Summers to a drug and alcohol treatment facility in a village between Tijuana and Ensenada, according to Alfredo Arenas, international liaison for the Baja California state police.
The victim’s parents discovered she was missing from her bedroom in her Northridge home in the early morning of March 27. She was found about 12 hours later wandering near a Starbucks several miles away.
--more--"
Related(?):
"Missing 13-year-old girl found dead in Calif. park" Associated Press, February 04, 2013
FAIRFIELD, Calif. — Police were looking for clues on Sunday in the death of a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a park in the Northern California city of Fairfield.
A passerby discovered the body around 7 a.m. Friday in Alan Witt Park. The girl was reported missing Thursday.
An autopsy was performed, but police did not release the girl’s name or her cause of death. Police said the girl was unclothed but with no obvious signs of trauma.
‘‘I thought to myself, that looked like a mannequin — didn’t look like a human body,’’ the passerby, Eric May, told KTVU-TV.
The girl was reported missing by her guardian at a foster home in nearby Suisun City. Commander Tim Mattos of the Suisun City police said the guardian last saw her board a school bus. He said she was in class all day.
--more--"
"Fatal stabbing of girl, 8, prompts Calif. search" Associated Press, April 29, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — Residents of a rural Northern California county were being told Sunday to keep their doors locked and report anyone considered suspicious as authorities searched for the killer of an 8-year-old girl.
Calaveras County deputies and law enforcement officials from nearby agencies were looking for a suspect after Leila Fowler was found stabbed in her Valley Springs home around noon Saturday.
The girl was found by her brother — reported by local media to be 12-years-old — after he encountered a male intruder in the home.
When the intruder ran away, the boy found his sister stabbed. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital, officials said.
Authorities spent Saturday night and into Sunday conducting a door-to-door sweep of homes scattered across hilly terrain, checking storage sheds and horse stables, and even searching attics.
Marathon memories.
‘‘It is a difficult area to search, it’s rural, remote,’’ sheriff’s Captain Jim Macedo said.
Reverse 911 calls and electronic mass notifications alerted area residents about the incident and the search for the suspect, officials said.
Investigators on Sunday were interviewing several people, but no suspects had been named.
Television station KCRA reported that a neighbor told police that a man was running from the girl’s home.
The suspect was seen wearing a black shirt and blue pants. Authorities said they consider him armed and dangerous.
Investigators were asking area residents to call authorities if they had any information, or knew of anyone who may have unexplained injuries, or may have left the area unexpectedly after the girl was killed.
Valley Springs is a community of about 2,500 people in an unincorporated area of Calaveras County 60 miles southeast of Sacramento.
--more--"
Also see: Deputies shot and killed the lion""
