News article:

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Three people were injured in a shooting inside an Indianapolis shopping mall Wednesday night when a dispute turned violent and gunfire also struck bystanders, a police commander said.

 Police stand outside of the entrance at the Washington Square Mall on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, in Indianapolis. Indianapolis police responded to a report of multiple people shot at the shopping mall.... (Associated Press)

 Officers enter a Target at the Washington Square Mall on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, in Indianapolis. Indianapolis police responded to a report of multiple people shot at the shopping mall. (AP Photo/Darron... (Associated Press)

 Police stand outside of the entrance at the Washington Square Mall on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, in Indianapolis. Indianapolis police responded to a report of multiple people shot at the shopping mall.... (Associated Press)

 All three of the victims were transported to hospitals and one was in serious condition but expected to survive, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Deputy Chief of Operations Brian Mahone said. The other two did not have life-threatening injuries, he said.

 The suspect was not in custody, he told reporters at the scene outside the Washington Square Mall on the city's far east side.

 The gunman went to the mall, encountered one of the victims and the two had words before the shooting started, Mahone said,

 "This is not a random act and it looks like the suspect and the victim knew each other," he said.

 The other two people injured were nearby when the gunman opened fire, Mahone said.

 The victims were two men and a woman, all young adults, he said.

 The location of the shooting in a mall was a coincidence, he said. The victim and gunman could have encountered each other anywhere, Mahone said.

 "This could have been a mall, a park, a gas station," he said.

 A witness, Jacob Laffey, told WISH-TV he was inside the mall's Target store when he heard 10 or 11 shots and saw people running. ||||| No one is in custody at this time, police say.

 Buy Photo The scene of a reported shooting on Wednesday night at Washington Square Mall in Indianapolis. (Photo: Michael Anthony Adams / The Star)Buy Photo

 Patricia Reason hadn't been in Target five minutes when she heard gunfire.

 She was in the back of the retail store, in the clothing section picking out a shirt, when she heard several shots coming from somewhere near the entrance.

 "I knew immediately what it was," said Reason, 57. "Someone started screaming, 'Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.' Then it was just deafeningly quiet."

 The Target, which is connected to Washington Square Mall, was where police said they found two gunshot victims who had been bystanders to a shooting at the southwest entrance of the mall.

 Police said three people were shot and injured at the mall Wednesday night when a suspect opened fire on a man he knew. On Thursday, investigators said they were searching for two suspects, both men between the ages of 19 and 20 years old.

 Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded around 6:30 p.m. on reports of shots fired in the mall.

 "I hid in the fitting room," Reason said. "I called 911 right away as soon as I got in the fitting room."

 Police think a man entered the mall, approached a man he knew and shot him, said IMPD Deputy Chief of Operations Brian Mahone.

 "This is not a random act," Mahone said. "It looks like the suspect and the victim knew each other."

 Two males, 25 and 26 years old, and one 20-year-old female were wounded. The 26-year-old remained in serious condition at IU Methodist Hospital Thursday, police said.

 The other two victims were transported to Eskenazi Hospital and have since been released, said police.

 "This (shooting) could've been anywhere these two individuals would've run into each other," Mahone said.

 Other details about the incident, including how many shots were fired and a description of the suspect, remained scarce. Police did confirm that the suspect did not use a "long gun" or AK-47, as other media outlets were reporting.

 Workers from @Burlington Coat Factory describe what they heard during the shooting. pic.twitter.com/3ka0ayZHJz — MichaelAnthonyAdams (@MichaelAdams317) October 29, 2015

 The mall is at the intersection of Mitthoefer Road and Washington Street on the Far Eastside.

 Adrian Lewis, the mall's property manager, said in a statement:

 We can confirm that a shooting occurred this evening at the Washington Square mall. The mall's security staff and Indianapolis Police Department responded quickly. The mall is cooperating fully with the police's investigation.

 The safety of our shoppers and employees is our top priority. As part of our commitment to promoting a safe shopping environment, we maintain a highly-trained staff that is prepared to respond to a variety of emergency situations. We take numerous proactive measures and coordinate very closely with local officials as a best practice.

 Our thoughts are with the victims and their families during this difficult time.

 Washington Square, which opened in 1974, is managed by Jones Lang LaSalle. Among the mall’s tenants are Dick’s Sporting Goods and the AMC Showplace 12 theater.

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 "You hear about this stuff all the time, these (shootings) happening," Reason said. "People are just chaotic and it's like anarchy. It's just so scary...Thank the lord it wasn't worse than it was."

 This story will be updated. For the latest updates on this story, follow IndyStar reporter Michael Anthony Adams on Twitter.

 Call Star reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123.

 Read or Share this story: http://indy.st/1MjvFRO ||||| Three people were injured in a shooting inside Washington Square Mall on the east side of Indianapolis Wednesday evening.

 The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. in a corridor of the mall near the Target store. Investigators say a male suspect came into the mall and had words with a man he knew, then shot him. Two other victims were wounded by ricochet fire.

 Police say the suspect and his intended target knew each other and had some sort of issue, but what that was, investigators aren't saying.

 "We have a pretty good idea that these two had something going on," said IMPD Chief Brian Mahone.

 While police aren't saying what the issue was between the suspect and victim, they will say that none of it is related to recent high-profile police takedowns of drug suspects.

 "This could have been a mall, a park, the gas station," Mahone said. "This could have been anywhere that these two individuals ran into each other."

 This time, though, it was at a mall with innocent bystanders under gunfire.

 "You should be able to be safe anywhere you go," said witness Joshua Matthews.

 Police say the three victims, two men and a woman, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, though one of the male victims was taken to the hospital in serious condition. Later Wednesday, police said the victims were all stable.

 RELATED: Customers, workers describe chaos during mall shooting

 A suspect wearing dark clothing reportedly fled the scene to the west. Police say there may be a second suspect, but have not released any suspect descriptions. Police hope the victims of the shooting will be able to help them identify the shooter.

 Officers say the parties involved in the shooting were all "young adults" and that no juveniles were involved in the incident.

 Witnesses described a chaotic scene inside the mall on social media.

 "People screaming. Parents trying to find their children. It was scary" - witness to Washington Square Mall shooting pic.twitter.com/92cpP31qoG — Jennie Runevitch (@JennieWTHR) October 29, 2015

 Never going to Washington square again.. Idk how someone can just pull a gun out and shoot someone. Scariest moment of my life — Brooke Bell (@bell_brooke) October 28, 2015

 Matthews told Eyewitness News he was inside the mall with his three-year-old son when the suspect started shooting.

 "Bullets don't have a name. So it could get anybody," said Joshua Mathews.

 Matthews says as gunfire rang out, he picked up his son and started running.

 "He just started crying and I just had to get him to safety," explained Matthews.

 He said he saw at least two of the victims fall to the ground.

 "You could tell they were shot. So didn't nobody have time to go back and see if they're okay, because when you hear a gunshot, your first instinct is to run," said Matthews.

 So that's what Matthews did, running through nearby Burlington Coat Factory and finally outside to his car.

 Anyone with information about the shooting or possible suspect is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 262-TIPS or text "INDYCS" plus tip information to 274637 (CRIMES). All tips are considered anonymous.

 Mall statement

 Wednesday night, Washington Square Mall property manager Adrian T. Lewis Sr. issued the following statement:

 We can confirm that a shooting occurred this evening at the Washington Square mall. The mall's security staff and Indianapolis Police Department responded quickly. The mall is cooperating fully with the police's investigation.

 The safety of our shoppers and employees is our top priority. As part of our commitment to promoting a safe shopping environment, we maintain a highly-trained staff that is prepared to respond to a variety of emergency situations. We take numerous proactive measures and coordinate very closely with local officials as a best practice.

 Our thoughts are with the victims and their families during this difficult time. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– A gunman shot three people and terrified hundreds more when he opened fire at a mall in Indianapolis Wednesday night. Police believe the incident was the result of a dispute between the gunman and one of the victims, not a random mass shooting, reports the Indianapolis Star. Police say the suspect entered the Washington Square Mall and opened fire on a man he apparently knew near a Target store. Two women, apparently bystanders, were also shot and all three victims were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. "This could have been a mall, a park, the gas station," a police spokesman says, per the AP. "This could have been anywhere that these two individuals ran into each other." The gunman has not been apprehended and police have not released a description of him or a possible second suspect. Witnesses tell WTHR that there was chaos in the mall after 10 or 11 shots rang out. A man who ran to safety with his 3-year-old son says he saw two of the victims fall to the ground. "You could tell they were shot. So didn't nobody have time to go back and see if they're okay, because when you hear a gunshot, your first instinct is to run," he says. A woman who had entered Target minutes before the shooting tells the Star that after the shots, "someone started screaming, 'Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.' Then it was just deafeningly quiet."


News article:

Sleep-deprived New Yorkers make switch to beef jerky to get caffeine fix

 Rosier/News Gabriel Colinesco gives Perky Jerky smile of approval.

 Put down that espresso. And forget about chugging another Red Bull.

 Sleep-deprived New Yorkers have a new way to get their caffeine fix: beef jerky.

 Tribeca inventor Matt Keiser, 38, came up with what he thinks is the world's first caffeinated beef jerky after spilling a can of Red Bull on the meaty snack while skiing in Utah four years ago.

 Perky Jerky hit the Internet in August and will be sold in Sports Authority shops beginning next week.

 "This is a great combination," said Keiser, who founded the company with his ski partner, Brian Levin, 37.

 "It is like vodka and orange juice, or peanut butter and chocolate," Keiser said.

 The odd treat sells for $2.99 for a 1 oz. bag and $4.99 for a 2 oz. bag. Each ounce contains 60 mg of caffeine - the same as slurping down a small cup of coffee or about one can of Red Bull.

 The Daily News took the jerky to the streets, asking caffeine freaks to try the peppy - and peppery - snack.

 Brave barista Keyon Revels, 24, walked away from working a Wall Street espresso machine to chomp on some Perky Jerky. "Ewww," Revels yelped. "It is disgusting. I like beef jerky. I like caffeine. But it is not a good combination."

 Engineer and gym rat Sal Bouseliman, 41, said the jerky gave him an extra jolt while lifting weights at New York Sports Club. "I didn't crash after the workout like I do with Red Bull," he said.

 simonew@nydailynews.com ||||| Ready to step up your game? Perky Jerky is the fuel to take you to the next level. This ultra-premium jerky powers professional adults to keep them focused and alert all day long. As an all natural, high-protein, low-fat snack, Perky Jerky is perfect for active lifestyles.

 It's also the best tasting jerky on the planet: Perky Jerky is created from premium strips of tender beef, given a teriyaki-pepper flavoring, and finished with a hint of Guarana for a unique boost you won't find in any other snack. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Next time you’re tired and hungry, don’t waste time pounding a Red Bull and a snack—get both fixes with some Perky Jerky. Available on the Internet and coming next week to Sports Authority outlets in New York, each ounce packs as much caffeine as one cup of coffee or a can of Red Bull. “This is a great combination,” a company founder tells the Daily News, “like vodka and orange juice, or peanut butter and chocolate.” Matt Keiser says the idea was born on a Utah ski slope 4 years ago, when he slopped Red Bull on some jerky. It got mixed person-on-the-street reviews, however. “It is disgusting,” one New Yorker says. “I like beef jerky. I like caffeine. But it is not a good combination.” But, says another, “I didn’t crash after the workout like I do with Red Bull.”


click to enlarge COURTESY OF DAVID ROLAND

 Carl and Janice Duffner.

 click to enlarge COURTESY OF DAVID ROLAND

 The Duffners lawn, photographed last summer, is lush. But it doesn't contain turf grass.

 click to enlarge COURTESY OF DAVID ROLAND

 Another view of the Duffners' yard.

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 A federal judge in St. Louis ruled yesterday that Carl and Janice Duffner can be forced to plant turf grass in their yard — even though Janice Duffner has severe grass allergies.If the Duffners fail to plant the grass, under the ruling, the city of St. Peters can sock them with fines that have potentially grown to well over $200,000 — or even have them sent to prison for several decades.David Roland of the Freedom Center of Missouri, who is representing the Duffners, said the ordinance is so absurd, and the possible punishments so over-the-top, the case could ultimately end up with the U.S. Supreme Court.Suffice it to say, he's appealing."It is so outrageous," he says. "This is a couple with health problems facing gross penalties for what they've chosen not to plant on their personal property. If ever there was a circumstance where the court should intervene, it would be these facts."St. Peters passed an ordinance in the last decade requiring that homeowners cover at least 50 percent of their yard areas with turf grass. And that was a problem for the Duffners, who've owned their home in the well-heeled St. Louis suburb since 2002 — and, upon moving in, had planted a lush flower garden that contains no turf grass, thought it does have other ground cover.In May 2014, the Duffners got a letter from the city saying their yard was not in compliance. The couple applied for a variance, and in July 2014, they were granted one.However, it didn't give them a free pass; it still required them to plant at least five percent turf grass. Absent that, the St. Peters ordinances suggested, they would face fines of at least $10 a day, and potentially much, much more.The couple refused — and, that September, filed a lawsuit.The litigation has taken a long and torturous route. After the Duffners filed in state court, an adverse ruling sent them to appeals court, where they earned a partial victory. But the ruling sent the case back to the lower court. The Duffners chose to instead file in federal court in 2016.Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge John A. Ross issued a ruling that was mostly in favor of the city. He found that even if the facts as presented by the Duffners were true, it wasn't enough to win the case. And with that, he granted summary judgment for St. Peters.Roland says there are some strategic benefits to Ross' decision, and said he's glad to have clarity, more than a year after St. Peters moved for summary judgment.But, he says, the decision cannot be allowed to stand."My estimation is that this is one of the most important property rights cases in the country right now," he says, suggesting that advocacy groups that care about property rights will likely choose to join the Duffners' fight. "We're going to go all hands on deck."Rather than prohibiting certain plants that might be harmful, Roland notes, St. Peters' ordinance instead forces homeowners to proactively plant others. "It's a huge leap conceptually, and that's why it's so dangerous," he says. "By this principle, a city could require you to put in a swimming pool and pay to maintain it. That's the same thing we're talking about here."He adds, "The courts have long found that people have the right to use their personal property in a lawful, harmless way — and have the right to exclude things from their property they don't want there." ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||

Write a summary.

– Janice Duffner is allergic to grass, so she and her husband, Carl, have no lawn—only flowers are planted in their Missouri yard, which also includes ponds and pathways. They bought their St. Peters home in 2002, and in 2008, the Board of Aldermen adopted a city ordinance requiring 50% of residents' yards to be made up of grass turf. Someone eventually filed a complaint about the Duffners' yard; the couple requested an exemption, but it was denied. In 2014, they were granted a variance, but were still required to plant grass on at least 5% of their property. After various court and administrative battles, in 2016, the Duffners filed a civil rights action in federal court, saying they faced up to $180,000 in penalties and 20 years in jail for their refusal to comply. Last week, a federal judge ruled in favor of the city, the Kansas City Star reports. US District Judge John A. Ross ruled that the Duffners "have failed to identify a fundamental right that is restricted by the Turf Grass Ordinance," have failed to show that the penalties for noncompliance with the ordinance are excessive, and that the Supreme Court has held that "aesthetic considerations constitute a legitimate government purpose." He also said the complaint was too general and if a court accepted it, it could place "many, if not all" such zoning laws under scrutiny, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The couple's lawyer, who says "this is one of the most important property rights cases in the country right now," says the couple will appeal. He tells the Riverfront Times the case could go to the Supreme Court. "This is a couple with health problems facing gross penalties for what they've chosen not to plant on their personal property."


Here is a news article: Families of victims in the Sandy Hook school shooting are taking their fight against a major gunmaker to the Connecticut Supreme Court on Tuesday. They're seeking to reinstate a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the military-style weapon used in the attack.

 Last year, a lawsuit filed by some victims' families was dismissed because federal law protects gunmakers from liability in shooting deaths, reports CBS News correspondent Don Dahler.

 Now, lawyers claim gun manufacturer Remington knowingly marketed its version of the AR-15 assault rifle to a high-risk group of young men, including shooter Adam Lanza.

 In a brief submitted to the Connecticut Supreme Court, attorneys representing 10 Sandy Hook families contend that in order to boost sales, gun manufacturer Remington targeted a "younger demographic" by "linking the AR-15 to macho vigilantism and military-style insurrection."

 Nearly five years after her six-year-old son Dylan was killed by Lanza -- armed with an AR-15-style rifle made by Remington subsidiary Bushmaster -- Nicole Hockley wants the gun manufacturer held accountable.

 CBS News

 "This is a weapon that's been designed to inflict mass casualties and, 'you're not a man if you don't have it.' That's morally reprehensible and, from a marketing perspective, that's just wrong and needs to stop," Hockley said.

 In print ads, the firearm is portrayed alongside phrases like: "perform under pressure," "bow down" and "consider your man card reissued."

 "Remington increases the risk when they market the weapon this way, pulling in dangerous users," said Josh Koskoff, the attorney representing the 10 families in the suit against Remington.

 "Not all of them are going to use them like Adam Lanza, but collectively, they're going to be at increased risk," Koskoff said.

 According to the Gun Violence Archive project, more than 1,500 mass shootings have taken place since Sandy Hook.

 Legal analysts say the effort to appeal the dismissed lawsuit rests on proving that the manufacturer's negligence allowed the weapon to fall into the wrong hands.

 "What the appellate judges are supposed to do is judge this case according to the law. So although these horrific, horrific shootings that have happened are out there, theoretically the judges should disregard them," said CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman.

 CBS News reached out to Remington, but the gun manufacturer did not respond. If Tuesday's appeal is successful, the case will advance to the discovery phase, during which Remington's marketing campaigns could be scrutinized. ||||| HARTFORD, Conn. (Reuters) - A lawyer for families who lost loved ones in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting told Connecticut’s highest court on Tuesday that Remington Outdoor Co [FREDM.UL] should be held responsible because its military-themed marketing was designed to appeal to young men like killer Adam Lanza.

 “They knew they were hitting their mark and Lanza was responding to their marketing,” said lawyer Joshua Koskoff

 Lanza, 20, used a Remington AR-15 Bushmaster rifle, a semi-automatic civilian version of the U.S. military’s M-16, to kill 20 school children between the ages of 6 and 7, as well as six adult staff members, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012. He then killed himself.

 Following the conclusion Tuesday’s arguments, the Connecticut Supreme Court will now decide whether the families of nine of the victims and one survivor can proceed with a trial seeking to hold Remington, along with a gun wholesaler and local retailer, responsible for the carnage based on its marketing.

 A representative for the court declined to say when it would rule.

 The families are advancing a somewhat novel legal argument in hopes of overcoming a federal law enacted by U.S. Congress in 2005 to shield gun manufacturers from liability for how their products are used.

 Remington’s lawyer, James Vogts, told the Connecticut court that the families’ claims, first filed in 2014, are barred by the 2005 law.

 FILE PHOTO: Street artist Mark Panzarino, 41, prepares a memorial as he writes the names of the Sandy Hook Elementary School victims during the six-month anniversary of the massacre, at Union Square in New York, June 14, 2013. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

 “What happened in the school that morning was horrific,” Vogts said. “But no matter how much we wished those children and teachers were still alive, the law needs to be applied.”

 A lower court judge agreed with the gun maker and dismissed the families’ lawsuit in 2016. But the Connecticut Supreme Court agreed to hear the case a week after the families filed their first appeal.

 The packed courtroom in Hartford, Connecticut, included many of the victims’ family members. Ian Hockley, who lost his 6-year-old son, Dylan, in the shooting, told reporters after the proceeding that families were “running out of patience” over the gun maker’s ability to escape liability.

 “But we have not lost one ounce of confidence in the validity of our case,” he said.

 The families claim Remington and the other defendants “extolled the militaristic and assaultive qualities” of the AR-15, advertising the rifle as “mission-adaptable” and “the ultimate combat weapons system” in a deliberate pitch to a demographic of young men fascinated by the military.

 The families said Lanza was part of that demographic and cited media reports saying he previously expressed a desire to join the army. The rifle was bought by Lanza’s mother, whom he also killed, as a gift for him or for the two of them to share, the lawsuit claims.

 The families’ argument is based on the legal doctrine of negligent entrustment, in which a product is carelessly sold or given to a person at high risk of using it in a harmful way. Negligent entrustment is specifically excepted from the 2005 gun maker shield laws.

 FILE PHOTO: Mourners hold signs during a solidarity vigil in memory of victims of Las Vegas' Route 91 Harvest music festival mass killing, in Newtown, Connecticut U.S., the site of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, October 4, 2017. REUTERS/Michelle McLoughlin/File Photo

 The argument has historically been used where someone lends a car to a high-risk driver who goes on to cause an accident. It has met with some success in lawsuits against gun shop owners, but legal experts said it has never been used before to target a manufacturer.

 David Studdert, a Stanford law professor, said on Monday he thought negligent entrustment was a tough argument for the families to make because it has traditionally involved someone having direct knowledge that another person poses a risk.

 If the Sandy Hook families are successful, Timothy Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University, said on Monday he would expect the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case. ||||| Connecticut Supreme Court justices spent more than 90 minutes Tuesday peppering attorneys for some victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and the manufacturer of the gun used by the shooter with questions about the merits of a lawsuit filed by the families seeking to hold Remington Outdoor Co. liable for Adam Lanza’s shooting spree.

 In front of a packed courtroom that included about a half dozen victims’ families, lawyers representing special interest groups including the National Rifle Association and a group of physicians who have treated the victims of mass shootings, and national media, the five justices focused their questions on “negligent entrustment,” 100-year-old Connecticut laws and how a case about a slingshot injury in Michigan equates to one of the worst mass shootings in the country’s history.

 It was difficult to ascertain any pattern in the justices’ questions. At one point, Justice Richard Palmer asked Remington attorney James Vogts what legitimate uses there were for an AR-15, noting that plaintiffs called the weapon used in the Newtown school shooting a “killing machine.” Vogts said it is used for target practice, deer hunting and home security.

 Justice Raheem L. Mullins asked plaintiffs’ attorney Josh Koskoff what could be a key legal question: “Was it negligent entrustment to sell the weapon to [Adam Lanza’s mother, Nancy Lanza]?” Nancy Lanza bought the Bushmaster AR-15 used in the shooting.

 A Superior Court judge in Bridgeport dismissed the lawsuit in 2016 agreeing with attorneys for Remington that the lawsuit "falls squarely within the broad immunity" provided to gun manufacturers and dealers by the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, or PLCAA. The lawsuit also named Camfour Holding LLP, the gun's distributor, and Riverview Gun Sales Inc., the East Windsor gun shop where Nancy Lanza purchased the AR-15 right around her son’s 18th birthday.

 Legal experts said the case will come down to how the state Supreme Court will interpret two possible exceptions allowed under PLCAA — whether Remington can be held liable for so-called “negligent entrustment” or whether it violated the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. Negligent entrustment is defined as “supplying of a qualified product by a seller for use by another person when the seller knows, or reasonably should know, the person to whom the product is supplied is likely to, and does, use the product in a manner involving unreasonable risk of physical injury to the person or others.”

 Koskoff started his argument taking the courtroom back to the morning of Dec. 14, 2012 to a “young man on a mission” who knew exactly what weapon to choose to carry out the killings — a Bushmaster assault weapon.

 “Remington may have never known Adam Lanza but they had been courting him for years,” Koskoff said. “It wasn’t just that [Remington] marketed the weapon looking for people with characteristics of Adam Lanza but that Adam Lanza heard the message. He idolized the military and wanted to be an Army Ranger and Remington marketed the AR-15 as the weapon used by the Army Rangers.”

 Adam Lanza killed 26 people, including 20 first graders, after shooting his way through the front window of the school before killing himself. Lanza had killed his mother before going to the school. Families of nine victims who were killed and a teacher who survived the Dec. 14, 2012 massacre filed the lawsuit in January 2015 seeking to hold Remington liable, arguing it marketed the AR-15 to the public even though it knew the weapon was designed for military use.

 Koskoff appealed the lower court’s dismissal and is seeking to have the high court return the case to the Bridgeport Superior Court so “the discovery phase of this case can begin and we can start uncovering documents on how this military weapon ended up in civilian hands.” The case has drawn national attention and came on the same day as a shooting at a school California and on the heels of another mass shooting inside a church two weeks ago in Texas. That was the fourth mass shooting involving assault weapons that has occurred since the Sandy Hook lawsuit was filed.

 There were five justices seated for the hearing. Two justices, newly appointed Maria Araujo Kahn and Richard A. Robinson, weren’t present for the hearing but will be involved in the court’s decision. Supreme Court hearings normally last an hour but justices had so many questions for Koskoff that Palmer extended the hearing to allow equal time for Vogts and a rebuttal by Koskoff.

 Vogts and attorney Christopher Renzulli, who represents Camfour, stuck to the argument that they have used since the lawsuit was filed — PLCAA protects them from this type of lawsuit. Vogts argued the law is clear — the manufacturer of the gun used at Sandy Hook is not liable for the damage “the criminal” caused.

 “There is no need for a legal re-examination of the law,” Vogts said. “Under the law, the manufacturer of the gun used by the criminal that day isn’t responsible legally for his actions.”

 Palmer challenged Vogts, asking him if he would acknowledge that the law must adapt to current times.

 “We’re not just hearing from plaintiffs the law needs to adapt,” Vogts said. “We’re hearing that the law of negligent entrustment needs to be ignored.”

 Vogts said courts in Connecticut and around the country have ruled that manufacturers are not held liable in cases such as Sandy Hook, but that the liability could rest with the gun seller, who can assess how appropriate it was to sell the weapon to the buyer.

 Justice Andrew McDonald then asked why Remington’s advertising boasts about how “forces of opposition bow down” to owners of the AR-15. “What purpose is that kind of advertising?” McDonald said.

 “The plaintiffs haven’t explained how advertisements fit into the issue of negligent entrustment,” Vogts said. He argued, “there is no case law on advertising being declared a cause of death.” Vogts said to the extent that advertising has been at the center of legal cases, they have concerned misleading or deceptive advertising, such as the kind involved in tobacco cases.

 The justices pushed Koskoff on how he expects to hold Remington liable for what occurred after a legal gun sale was made to Nancy Lanza in 2010. |||||
A summary of this is?

– The families of nine Sandy Hook victims and one teacher who survived the deadly mass shooting presented their case to Connecticut Supreme Court justices Tuesday in their lawsuit against Remington, maker of the AR-15 weapon used by Adam Lanza to kill 20 children and six adults in 2012, the Hartford Courant reports. The victims' argument centers around the marketing campaign behind the AR-15, which the mother of one 6-year-old victim tells CBS News was "morally reprehensible." The lawsuit claims Remington linked "the AR-15 to macho vigilantism and military-style insurrection" in order to target a "younger demographic" and increase sales. One AR-15 ad included the tagline "consider your man card reissued." Another ad touted it as "the ultimate combat weapons system," according to Reuters. Josh Koskoff, lawyer for the victims' families, compared it to "the Ford Motor Company advertising a car that can run over people" and said that kind of advertising attracts "dangerous users," including Lanza. "Adam Lanza heard their message," Koskoff told the justices Tuesday. "He idolized the military and Remington advertised the AR-15 as the weapon used by Army Rangers." He says Remington "knew exactly what they were doing" with its marketing strategies. James Vogts, lawyer for Remington, says the company is protected by the 2005 Lawful Commerce in Arms Act that shields gun makers from liability in shootings. "No matter how much we wished those children and teachers were still alive, the law needs to be applied," Vogts told justices. Following Tuesday's arguments, justices will decide whether the families' lawsuit can go to trial.


Summarize this article:

Atlanta (CNN) Sixteen US Postal Service workers got sentences of between three to nine years in federal prison for accepting bribes to deliver cocaine on their routes in Atlanta.

 Drug traffickers bribed the postal workers, sometimes with amounts as low as $250, to deliver drugs to designated addresses, the US Attorney's Office said in a statement this week.

 "US Postal Service workers are typically valuable members of the community, entrusted to deliver the mail every day to our homes," US Attorney Byung J. Pak said. "This important operation identified and prosecuted 16 corrupt individuals who chose to abuse that trust and instead used their positions to bring what they thought were large amounts of dangerous drugs into those same communities for a

 Operation discovered in 2015

 Federal agents learned about the operation in 2015, while working to take down a drug trafficking organization in Atlanta. Drug traffickers targeted postal workers because their jobs made it less likely for them to be caught by law enforcement officials, federal authorities said.

 Read More ||||| ATLANTA – The last defendant of a group of 16 U.S. Postal Service letter carriers and clerks from across the Atlanta area was sentenced to federal prison for accepting bribes to deliver packages of cocaine – two kilograms or more at a time – in a wide-reaching undercover operation. The defendants were willing to make the deliveries for bribes as low as $250, and received sentences of between three and nine years in prison.

 “U.S. Postal Service workers are typically valuable members of the community, entrusted to deliver the mail every day to our homes,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “This important operation identified and prosecuted 16 corrupt individuals who chose to abuse that trust and instead used their positions to bring what they thought were large amounts of dangerous drugs into those same communities for a quick payoff.”

 “The FBI places a high priority on public corruption based investigations and we hope this sentencing will serve as a deterrent for others,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office. “The blatant abuse of the public trust in this case not only stains the reputation of all U.S. Postal Service employees, but it puts the residents on their routes in significant danger by bringing drugs into their community.”

 “Postal employees are paid to deliver mail, not drugs,” said Imari R. Niles, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Capital Metro Area Field Office. “The vast majority of the Postal Service’s 600,000 employees are hard-working, trustworthy individuals. When postal employees decide to risk their job, benefits, retirement, and freedom to get involved with drug trafficking, Special Agents of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General will work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office to put them all in federal prison.”

 “Drug trafficking, in itself, is an inherently dangerous crime,” said Sherry Boston, DeKalb County District Attorney. “When perpetrated by those in positions of public trust, citizen safety is severely compromised. The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to ferret out cases of public corruption and ensure that those who abuse their authority and violate the public’s trust, are held accountable for their actions.”

 According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: In 2015, federal agents involved in the dismantling of a drug trafficking organization in Atlanta learned that drug traffickers had been bribing postal workers to intercept and specially deliver packages of drugs while they were on their regular routes, including through residential neighborhoods. The drug traffickers believed the postal workers were less likely to be caught by law enforcement because of their official jobs, and found that the corrupt postal workers were willing to hand deliver the drugs in exchange for bribes. That criminal partnership exploited the U.S. Postal Service to deliver dangerous drugs into the community, and also increased the risk that innocent postal workers and bystanders on their routes would be exposed to the dangerous substances or to rival drug traffickers who sometimes try to rob postal workers to steal packages of drugs.

 To catch the corrupt postal workers, federal agents used a confidential source who posed as a drug trafficker looking for postal workers to deliver packages of kilogram quantities of cocaine or marijuana. The defendants agreed to deliver the packages and negotiated the amount of the bribes they would charge, while law enforcement agents watched from a distance and recorded the interactions. All the defendants chose to deliver cocaine instead of marijuana, believing they could charge a higher bribe for packages of cocaine. They also agreed to deliver packages on multiple occasions over a period of time. When the confidential source asked if they knew any other postal workers who did the same thing, some of the defendants introduced the confidential source to coworkers who also wanted to deliver packages (with the defendant claiming an additional bribe for every package their recruit delivered).

 The defendants convicted as a result of this operation include:

 Cydra Rochelle Alexander, 33, of Riverdale, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Ralph McGill Carrier Annex and Central City Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to five years, 10 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $4,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on February 22, 2018. Alexander pleaded guilty to these charges on November 27, 2017.

 Aurthamis O. Burch, a/k/a Tank, 47, of Snellville, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Doraville Post Office was sentenced to three years, 10 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $1,500 by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones on April 10, 2018. Burch pleaded guilty to these charges on December 11, 2017.

 Kawana Rashun Champion, 36, of Jonesboro, Georgia, a clerk assigned to the North Springs Branch of the Sandy Springs Post Office and Central City Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to nine years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $10,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on May 11, 2018. Champion pleaded guilty to these charges on February 20, 2018.

 Eleanor Lolita Golden, a/k/a Eleanor Johnson, 55, of East Point, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to six years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on May 17, 2018. Golden pleaded guilty to these charges on December 20, 2017.

 Tonie Harris, 55, of Decatur, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Sandy Springs Post Office was sentenced to three years, one month in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,450 by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones on August 14, 2018. Harris pleaded guilty to these charges on March 20, 2018.

 Leea Janel Holt, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Old National Branch of the Riverdale Post Office was sentenced to 6 years, 6 months in prison to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on November 27, 2018. Holt pleaded guilty to these charges on June 6 and August 28, 2018.

 Clifton Curtis Lee, a/k/a Cliff, 43, of Lithonia, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Sandy Springs Post Office was sentenced to three years, 10 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,800 by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones on June 18, 2018. Lee pleaded guilty to these charges on February 28, 2018.

 Shakeed Anilah Magee, 41, of College Park, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on February 13, 2018. Magee pleaded guilty to these charges on November 14, 2017.

 Horace Manson, 41, of Roswell, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to three years, 10 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on April 17, 2018. Manson pleaded guilty to these charges on January 29, 2018.

 Olivia Marita Moore, 26, of Atlanta, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Old National Branch of the Riverdale Post Office was sentenced to five years, 10 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on July 16, 2018. Moore pleaded guilty to these charges on January 5, 2018.

 Eddie Nash, 64, of Decatur, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on July 17, 2018. Nash pleaded guilty to these charges on December 14, 2017.

 Jeffrey A. Pearson, 61, of Austell, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Decatur Post Office was sentenced to four years, nine months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,000 by U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross on May 22, 2018. Pearson pleaded guilty to these charges on February 1, 2018.

 Rodney Antwain Salter, 34, of Jonesboro, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Martech Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on May 17, 2018. Salter pleaded guilty to these charges on December 20, 2017.

 Frank Webb, 41, of Lithonia, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Central City Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to three years, four months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $3,000 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on May 16, 2018. Webb pleaded guilty to these charges on January 30, 2018.

 Katrina Nicole Wilson, a/k/a Trina, 39, of Fairburn, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to eight years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $9,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on August 27, 2018. Wilson pleaded guilty to these charges on April 12, 2018.

 Harvel Donta Young, a/k/a Dante, 41, of Atlanta, Georgia a letter carrier assigned to the Westside Annex Branch of the Marietta Post Office was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,800 by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones on August 14, 2018. Young pleaded guilty to these charges on May 1, 2018.

 Additionally, Dexter Bernard Frazier, a/k/a Dec, 57, of Fairburn, Georgia, who was not a postal employee but participated in some of the package deliveries by connecting the confidential source with postal workers, was sentenced to nine years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $10,700 by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones on June 13, 2018. Frazier pleaded guilty to these charges on March 6, 2018.

 This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, and U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

 Assistant U.S Attorneys Garrett L. Bradford and Jill E. Steinberg, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, prosecuted the case.

 The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov . ||||| Sixteen U.S. Postal Services workers in metro Atlanta were sentenced to federal prison for accepting bribes, some as low as $250, to deliver cocaine, The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia said in a news release Tuesday.

 They each received sentences between three and nine years, federal officials said.

 Federal agents first learned of the crimes in 2015 while investigating a drug trafficking organization in Atlanta, according to the release. Drug traffickers bribed the postal workers to deliver the drugs because they believed they were less likely to be caught by law enforcement officials.

 To catch the postal workers, federal agents posed as drug traffickers looking for postal employees delivering packages of cocaine in exchange for money while law enforcement officials recorded the interactions.

 ALSO|2 arrested in killing at DeKalb gas station

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 Here is a list of metro Atlanta postal workers sentenced in the crime:

 Cydra Rochelle Alexander, 33, of Riverdale, was a letter carrier assigned to the Ralph McGill Carrier Annex and Central City Branch of the Atlanta Post Office. She pleaded guilty to the crime on Nov. 27, 2017 and was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. Alexander must also pay $4,500 in forfeiture.

 Aurthamis O. “Tank” Burch, 47, of Snellville, was a letter carrier assigned to the Doraville Post Office. He pleaded guilty to the crime Dec. 11, 2017 and was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Burch was also ordered to pay $1,500 in forfeiture.

 Kawana Rashun Champion, 36, of Jonesboro, was a clerk assigned to the North Springs Branch of the Sandy Springs Post Office and the Central City Branch of the Atlanta Post Office. Champion pleaded guilty to the crimes Feb. 20, 2018 and was sentenced to nine years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. He must also pay $10,500 in forfeiture.

 Eleanor Lolita Golden, 55, of East Point, was a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office. She was sentenced to six years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. Golden pleaded guilty to the crime Dec. 20, 2017 and was ordered to pay $4,500 in restitution. She also went by the alias Eleanor Johnson.

 Tonie Harris, 55, of Decatur, was a letter carrier assigned to the Sandy Springs Post Office. Harris pleaded guilty to the crime on March 20, 2018 and was sentenced to three years and one month in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. Harris must also pay $1,450 in restitution.

 Leea Janel Holt, 39, of Atlanta, was a letter carrier assigned to the Old National Branch of the Riverdale Post Office. Holt pleaded guilty to the crime on Aug. 28, 2018 and was sentenced to six years and six months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. She was ordered to pay $4,500 in restitution.

 Clifton “Cliff” Curtis Lee, 43, of Lithonia, was a letter carrier assigned to the Sandy Springs Post Office. He pleaded guilty to the crime in Feb. 28, 2018 and was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Lee was also ordered to pay $1,800 in restitution.

 Shakeed Anilah Magee, 41, of College Park, was a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office. Magee was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. Magee pleaded guilty to the crime Nov. 14, 2017 and was ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution.

 Horace Manson, 41, of Roswell, was a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office. Manson was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to the crime Jan. 29, 2018 and ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution.

 Olivia Marita Moore, 26, of Atlanta, was a letter carrier assigned to the Old National Branch of the Riverdale Post Office. She pleaded guilty Jan. 5, 2018 and was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. She must also pay $4,500 in restitution.

 Eddie Nash, 64, of Decatur, was a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office. He pleaded guilty Dec. 14, 2017 and was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. Nash must also pay $3,000 in restitution.

 Jeffrey A. Pearson, 61, of Austell, was a letter carrier assigned to the Decatur Post Office. He was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. Pearson pleaded guilty to the crime Feb. 1, 2018 and was ordered to pay $2,000 restitution.

 Rodney Antwain Salter, 34, of Jonesboro, a letter carrier assigned to the Martech Branch of the Atlanta Post Office. He was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. Salter pleaded guilty on Dec. 20, 2017 and must also pay $3,000 in restitution.

 Frank Webb, 41, of Lithonia, was a letter carrier assigned to the Central City Branch of the Atlanta Post Office. He pleaded guilty Jan. 30, 2018 and was sentenced to three years and four months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release. Webb must also pay $3,000 in forfeiture.

 Katrina Nicole “Trina” Wilson, 39, of Fairburn, was a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office. She pleaded guilty on April 12, 2018 and was sentenced to eight years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Wilson must also pay $9,500 restitution.

 Harvel Donta “Dante” Young, 41, of Atlanta, was a letter carrier assigned to the Westside Annex Branch of the Marietta Post Office. He pleaded guilty to the crime on May 1, 2018 and was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Young was also ordered to pay $1,800 restitution.

 In other news: |||||

– Federal officials say postal workers in metro Atlanta weren't just delivering mail but also cocaine on behalf of drug traffickers in exchange for bribes as low as $250. When the gavel came down Tuesday, a mail clerk and 15 letter carriers had been sentenced to between three and nine years in prison. The scheme first came to light in 2015 during an investigation into a drug trafficking group, which apparently thought postal workers would have a better chance of making the deliveries uncaught, according to the US Attorney's Office. Federal agents then watched as a confidential source posing as a drug trafficker sought USPS employees willing to deliver drugs to specific addresses for bribes, nabbing 16 "corrupt" workers ranging in age from 26 to 64, per CNN and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. In a statement, prosecutors note defendants negotiated the amount of money they would charge and took additional bribes for packages delivered by other employees they recruited. Though USPS workers are "typically valuable members of the community, entrusted to deliver the mail every day to our homes," these 16 individuals "chose to abuse" the public trust and "used their positions to bring what they thought were large amounts of dangerous drugs into those same communities for a quick payoff," says US Attorney Byung J. Pak. Noting the possibility that rival drug traffickers could target USPS workers, officials say the scheme also put innocent people at risk. In addition to prison time, the workers were ordered to pay restitution. (This postal worker stole 6,000 greeting cards.)


Michael Schumacher’s medical files have been stolen and offered for sale to the media, his manager has announced.

 The files are thought to have been stolen from his hospital in Grenoble.

 The stricken Formula One legend, who sustained life-threatening injuries in a skiing accident six months ago, was moved from Grenoble to University Hospital Lausanne in France last week after it was announced he was no longer in a coma.

 His medical files have reportedly been offered for around €50,000 (£40,000) and contained details of surgical procedures.

 Sabine Kehm, the seven-time champion’s manager, said that stolen documents and data had been offered for sale for several days

 “We cannot judge if these documents are authentic. However, the documents are clearly stolen. The theft has been reported. The authorities are involved,” said Ms Kehm.

 “We expressly advise that both the purchase and the publication of such documents and data is forbidden. The contents of any medical files are totally private and confidential and must not made available to the public. “

 “We will therefore, in every single case, press for criminal charges and damages against any publication of the content or reference to the medical file.”

 The 45-year-old has been in hospital for nearly six months after his accident skiing off-piste on the French Alpine resort of Meribel in December. ||||| Follow us at @WorldSportCNN and like us on Facebook

 (CNN) -- Stolen medical files that may be those of Michael Schumacher are being offered for sale, the injured former F1 racing driver's manager said.

 Schumacher has been undergoing hospital treatment since a skiing accident last year but is now out of a coma.

 Manager Sabine Kehm said the documents had been offered for sale for several days.

 She added, "We cannot judge if these documents are authentic. However, the documents are clearly stolen. The theft has been reported. The authorities are involved."

 Medical files are confidential, and it is forbidden to buy or publish such data, Kehm said.

 "We will therefore, in every single case, press for criminal charges and damages against any publication of the content or reference to the medical file," she said.

 Schumacher, 45, suffered severe head trauma in a December 29 skiing accident at the French Alps resort of Meribel.

 The champion driver, from Germany, was transferred last week to Switzerland for rehabilitation from a hospital in Grenoble, France, where he was kept in a medically induced coma for more than three months.

 The Grenoble hospital's media office said in a statement that Kehm "told us that a person intended to sell to the press a document allegedly issued from the medical records of Michael Schumacher."

 "Without knowing the precise nature of the document, the Grenoble Hospital decided to sue for 'theft and breach of medical confidentiality' so that an investigation can be initiated."

 A spokesman for the German newspaper Bild, Tobias Frolich, told CNN that the tabloid was among a number of media outlets to be offered Schumacher's alleged medical records, but that "the editorial office decided to reject the offer."

 A French prosecutor investigating the accident concluded that speed was not behind the fall suffered by the seven-time world champion, whose F1 career ended in 2012.

 Read: Schumacher out of coma and transferred to rehab

 Read: Red Bull tycoon re-energizing Formula One

 Read: Rosberg heads off Hamilton to extend lead

 CNN's Stephanie Halasz, Diana Magnay and Lindsay Isaac contributed to this report. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Michael Schumacher's medical files have been stolen from a hospital in France and are being offered for sale to the media, the F1 champ's manager warns. The files taken from a hospital in Grenoble where Schumacher spent months in a coma after a skiing accident last December contain details of surgical procedures and are being offered for close to $70,000, according to the Telegraph. The manager says while it's not clear if the documents on offer are authentic, they have clearly been stolen and, since it is illegal to buy or publish confidential medical data, she will "press for criminal charges and damages against any publication of the content or reference to the medical file," CNN reports. The 45-year-old racing legend finally emerged from his coma earlier this month and is now undergoing rehabilitation in Switzerland.


The information entered on this page will not be used to send unsolicited email, and will not be sold to a third party.

 Longtime members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) often report little or no craving for alcohol, but why this happens remains poorly understood. Now, in what is believed to be the first study to explore brain physiology in AA members, researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center found that members who recited AA prayers after viewing drinking-related images reported less craving for alcohol after praying than after just reading a newspaper. The reduced cravings in those that prayed corresponded to increased activity in brain regions responsible for attention and emotion as measured by MRI, according to study results published recently in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

 “Our findings suggest that the experience of AA over the years had left these members with an innate ability to use the AA experience—prayer in this case―to minimize the effect of alcohol triggers in producing craving,” says senior author Marc Galanter, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse at NYU Langone. “Craving is diminished in long-term AA members compared to patients who have stopped drinking for some period of time but are more vulnerable to relapse.”

 The study results revolve around craving, one of the criteria physicians use to diagnose addiction. Such strong desires can persist even in addicted people who no longer use alcohol or drugs, and AA members recite abstinence-promoting prayers to reduce cravings.

 “We wanted to determine what is going on in the brain in response to alcohol-craving triggers, such as passing by a bar or experiencing something upsetting, when long-term AA members are exposed to them,” Dr. Galanter says.

 To investigate, Dr. Galanter and his colleagues recruited 20 long-term AA members who reported no cravings for alcohol during the week preceding testing. The participants were placed in an MRI scanner and then shown either pictures of alcoholic drinks or people drinking to simulate drinking behavior in a laboratory setting. The pictures were presented twice: first after asking the participant to read neutral material from a newspaper, and again after the participant recited an AA prayer promoting abstinence from alcohol to represent the impact of AA.

 According to the study authors, all research subjects reported some degree of craving for alcohol after viewing the images, and less craving after reciting an AA prayer. MRI data revealed that there were changes in parts of the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain that controls attention, and in brain sites responsible for control of emotion and the semantic reappraisal of emotion, which represents the different ways a people understand situations based on their perspectives.

 “This finding suggests that there appears to be an emotional response to alcohol triggers, but that it’s experienced and understood differently when someone has the protection of the AA experience,” Galanter says.

 In Galanter’s decade-long research into the role of spirituality in long-term AA members, he and his colleagues have found that members undergo a transition from initially craving alcohol to a new status where they reported little or no craving. This reduction in craving, according to Dr. Galanter, is associated with the amount of time that passed following a “spiritual awakening” in AA, which marks a transition to a different attitude toward drinking.

 Previous investigations by other researchers of the role of prayer on drinking behavior found that alcohol abusers who reported a spiritual awakening drank less after treatment for alcoholism. Research participants assigned to engage in prayer—unrelated to drinking—every day for four weeks drank about half as much as those who were not.

 “Our current findings open up a new field of inquiry into physiologic changes that may accompany spiritual awakening and perspective changes in AA members and others,” says Galanter. He says the study results also support the validity of a long-term AA experience in terms of physiologic changes in the brain.

 In early 2016, Oxford University Press published Dr. Galanter’s book, What Is Alcoholics Anonymous?, which provides context for his group’s studies of the psychological effects of AA.

 Dr. Galanter’s co-authors were Zoran Josipovic, PhD, and Helen Dermatis, PhD, of NYU Langone, Jochen Weber of Columbia University, and Mary Alice Millard, formerly of NYU Langone. The research was supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

 Media Inquiries:

 Greg Williams

 Phone: 212-404-3533

 gregory.williams@nyumc.org ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Does prayer have the power to help recovering alcoholics squash temptation? A small new study out of the NYU Langone Medical Center finds that at least among 20 long-term Alcoholics Anonymous members who reported no cravings in the week leading up to the test, prayer reduced cravings that arose when shown images of alcoholic drinks or people drinking. To perform the tests, the researchers report in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, participants were asked to read the newspaper or pray after being shown the images. Participants reported some craving following seeing the images, but less so after having prayed, while MRI data showed changes in parts of the prefrontal cortex that controls attention as well as in regions thought to control emotion. "This finding suggests that there appears to be an emotional response to alcohol triggers, but that it’s experienced and understood differently when someone has the protection of the AA experience," says senior author Marc Galanter, who published a book on Alcoholics Anonymous earlier this year. He goes on to suggest that the reduction in cravings in AA members correlates to the amount of time that has elapsed since one's so-called "spiritual awakening," which AA describes as taking a different attitude toward drinking. In previous research, participants asked to pray every day for four weeks drank about half as much as those who were not. (See why some have been challenging the 75-year hegemony of AA.)


News article:

Scott Walker for president?

 Asked whether he was considering a run for president in 2016 Sunday, the Republican governor from Wisconsin said he believed “governors make much better presidents than members of Congress.”

 Governors offer a “fresh approach,” with “executive experience from outside of Washington to provide a much better alternative to the old, tired, top-down approach out of Washington, D.C,” Walker said, adding, “We need something fresh, organic from the bottom up – and that’s what you get in the states.”

 Chuck Todd also asked the governor whether he'd deferred to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), considered to be a possible presidential candidate since his run for vice president in 2012.

 “I love Paul Ryan. I’ve said many times before I’ll be the president of the Paul Ryan fan club, but I do think if we’re going to beat Hillary Clinton in this next election, we’re going to have a message that says Hillary Clinton is all about Washington,” Walker said.

 Responding later, Democratic National Committee spokesman Michael Czin said, “we’re thrilled that Governor Walker thinks Republicans should run for president on the record of GOP governors,” calling that “wing of the GOP…every bit as broken and dysfunctional as the congressional wing of the party.”

 Under Walker, Wisconsin “lags the country in job growth,” Czin said. And pointing to other GOP governors, he added, “Chris Christie’s policies have led to a record number of credit downgrades, and nearly one in five live in poverty in Rick Perry’s Texas.”

 Read more about: Paul Ryan, Scott Walker, 2016 Elections, 2014 Elections ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Just back from a trip to Iraq, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa said on Sunday the government in Baghdad is “still quite delusional” about the urgency of the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

 “They're still talking about long-term training before they're ready to fight,” the California Republican said an ABC’s “This Week.”

 Issa said he was ready to vote to authorize the U.S. military campaign against ISIL — something President Barack Obama has requested. “The fact is we're already there,” Issa said. “We've had to be there.”

 Issa also said Iraqis — not Americans — should be the ones engaging in ground combat against ISIL. The Kurds were up to the challenge, he said.

 “I have no doubt whatsoever that the Kurds will fight,” he said. “All they need is our air support and our technical know-how, and they will do it.”

 Read more about: Iraq, Darrell Issa, ISIL |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– For the special few among us who were breathlessly awaiting the 2014 election so that we could get down to seriously speculating about the presidential election that is now two years away, well, Scott Walker has you covered. The newly re-elected Wisconsin governor is seriously flirting with a run for the White House, and he's not shy about it, reports Politico. Asked whether he'd bow out if fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan sought the Oval Office, Walker responded that "governors make much better presidents than members of Congress. I love Paul Ryan. I’ve said many times before I’ll be the president of the Paul Ryan fan club, but I do think if we’re going to beat Hillary Clinton in this next election, we’re going to have a message that says Hillary Clinton is all about Washington." Walker said governors combine "executive experience from outside of Washington" with a "fresh approach," concluding "we need something fresh, organic from the bottom up—and that’s what you get in the states." More from today's Sunday dial: Darrell Issa on ISIS and Iraq: Baghdad is "still quite delusional" in its lackadaisical approach to fighting ISIS. "They're still talking about long-term training before they're ready to fight." Cory Gardner, Republican senator-elect in Colorado: "The mandate was this: People don’t like dysfunction, they don’t like gridlock." The new GOP majority in the Senate, he says, will need to govern with "competence" and "maturity." Meanwhile, former President George W. Bush is handicapping brother Jeb's chances of deciding to make a 2016 run.


Here is a news article: Robin Williams Last Photos Before Suicide

 Robin Williams' Last Photos Before Suicide

 EXCLUSIVE

 These are the last known pictures of... a day or so before he committed suicide.A frail Williams was at an art gallery reception Saturday night ... near his Bay Area home. He surprised local artist-- a ceramics teacher at Marin Catholic High School -- whose works were featured.Jaeger tells TMZ Robin was there for about an hour, seemed in good spirits ... laughing frequently. Jaeger says Williams was not drinking.Jaeger's art includes a "superhero sculpture series" ... Robin purchased one of his superhero clay heads in the past. The artist says he and Williams were talking about a possible script based on the concept of his sculptures ... a homeless superhero who comes out during the night to help people in need.Robin was there with wife... the woman in the foreground with dark hair. We're told Robin spoke to Jaeger's students and seemed engaged.The pic was taken at 5:45 PM Saturday. Robin's body was discovered Monday morning. ||||| Robin Williams “had no financial problems” that might have contributed to his apparent suicide, his spokeswoman told TheWrap on Wednesday.

 “Robin had no financial problems,” Mara Buxbaum, Williams’ longtime publicist and the president of ID-PR told TheWrap. She added, “We should be blessed to have Robin’s financial status.”

 Shortly after Williams’ death was confirmed Monday, online gossip publications jumped to potential money issues of the late actor, something that his publicist said simply do not exist.

 “I understand the desire to understand the ‘Why,'” Buxbaum continued. “It’s not going to happen. The better thing to do is to try to understand severe depression. That isn’t going to be answered, and you can speculate all you want.”

 Also read: Robin Williams’ Children Mourn Father, Remember Him As Warm, Gentle Soul

 Still last year, Williams told Parade magazine that part of the reason for his return to TV via CBS’ “The Crazy Ones” was to have a steady gig and pay the bills: “The idea of having a steady job is appealing. I have two [other] choices: go on the road doing stand-up, or do small, independent movies working almost for scale [minimum union pay].”

 “The movies are good, but a lot of times they don’t even have distribution,” he added. “There are bills to pay.”

 “My life has downsized, in a good way,” Williams continued. “I’m selling the ranch up in Napa. I just can’t afford it anymore.”

 “The Crazy Ones” was canceled after just one season; Williams earned an estimated $165,000 per episode.

 Also read: Robin Williams’ Final Photo, Social Media Moments

 Buxbaum says that in that interview her client was expressing his appreciation for stability, and was otherwise joking about a comfortable financial status.

 “Robin often said things in jest, and sometimes it just doesn’t translate in print,” she said. “There were plenty of times over the years that Robin was offered to do TV,” Buxbaum told us. “Robin wanted to do ‘The Crazy Ones’ because of (show creator) David Kelley and the material. That’s why he took the show … not because he needed the money.”

 Also read: Robin Williams Leaves Behind Four Movies Including ‘Night at the Museum 3’

 Another topic that he often cracked wise about were his divorces, Buxbaum said.

 When asked by Parade if he lost all of his money in the two splits, Williams said: “Well, not all. Lost enough. Divorce is expensive. I used to joke they were going to call it ‘all the money,’ but they changed it to ‘alimony.’ It’s ripping your heart out through your wallet. Are things good with my exes? Yes. But do I need that lifestyle? No.”

 Also read: Robin Williams Found in Bedroom ‘With a Belt Secured Around His Neck,’ Coroner Says

 On reported trust funds and the financial status the late comic and actor leaves behind, she concluded, “We will not comment on specifics other than to say Robin’s family is amply taken care of.”

 According to Forbes, Williams’ net worth was an estimated $50 million. Public real estate records show that Williams’ Napa Valley mansion, which rests on 653 acres and is named Villa Sorriso, has been on the market since April for $29.9 million. Williams also leaves behind a 6,500-square-fo ot waterfront home in Tiburon, Calif., valued at roughly $6 million.

 The two properties have mortgages that totaled $7.25 million as of 2011. Doing some math, that means Williams left behind real estate with equity of around $25 million, subject to a Villa Sorriso sale.

 See video: Robin Williams on Battling Depression, Addiction: ‘I Get Bummed’

 “Presumably there are no probate issues because he had good legal advice and had a fully funded living trust,” legal trust expert Bruce Givner said, adding: “Presumably there will be no interesting legal issues because his trust provided that the assets would be held for his wife and children.”

 “Whether there was estate tax planning we probably won’t know because his estate planning documents will never become public,” he continued. “The only way they will become public is if he died without a will or trust; with only a will and not a living trust; or if there is litigation.”

 Givner is no stranger to high profile Hollywood clients, having represented Phil Spector all the way through jail and probating Robert Blake’s estate, among many others.

 See video: ‘Peter Pan Live!’ Star Allison Williams Pays Tribute to Robin Williams During Flying Lesson: ‘Big Shoes to Fill’

 While Givner doesn’t know Williams’ specific bequeathment situation, he can make a fairly reasonable assumption, he said. “No one with any type of wealth will have a will as their main dispositive document,” Givner told TheWrap.

 Plus, California is the home of the alternative living trust, a substitute for a will, Givner said. And the living trust has many advantages over a will — the main one being privacy.

 While a probated will goes to probate court and is public, a living trust doesn’t, unless there is a dispute. In 98 percent of cases there are no fights and living trusts are never made public.

 Also read: Robin Williams, Oscar-Winning Actor, Dead at 63 of Suicide

 On Monday, Williams was found dead in his residence “with a belt secured around his neck, with the other end of the belt wedged between the closed closet door and door frame,” according to the coroner. There was no note. ||||| In the days before Robin Williams tragically took his own life, the beloved actor was sleeping up to 18 hours a day and had no appetite, tumbling into a dark depression that RadarOnline.com has exclusively uncovered.

 “Robin had been suffering from depression and would often sleep a majority of the day and night. His bedroom had black out curtains, because Robin didn’t want light in his bedroom,” a source told Radar.

 “He wasn’t eating and was just having problems getting out of bed. He would often complain that he was just so tired, even after sleeping 20 hours.”

 PHOTOS: The Woman Who Discovered Robin Williams’ Body

 The source points to sadness in Williams’ personal life, and comedy being a relief for it.

 “Robin’s comedic talent came from the sadness he had in his personal life . . . the laughter was his coping mechanism,” the source added.

 “He had been battling depression for most of his adult life . . . it was always there.”

 PHOTOS: Robin Williams’ Hollywood Peers Remember The Late, Great Star Of Film & TV

 A joint investigation by Radar and The National ENQUIRER revealed that the individual who tragically found Williams was his longtime confidante and friend, Rebecca Erwin Spencer.

 Their personal and professional relationship came to an untimely end on August 11. After Williams was unresponsive to knocks on his bedroom door, Spencer, “was able to gain access to Mr. Williams’ bedroom and entered the bedroom to find Mr. Williams clothed in a seated position, unresponsive, with a belt secured around his neck with the other end of the belt wedged between the closed door and the door frame,” Marin County Lieutenant Keith Boyd said Tuesday.

 Williams also had several “superficial cuts” on his left wrist and a pocket knife found near his body.

 PHOTOS: Inside The Waterfront Home Where Robin Williams Tragically Died

 “Mr. Williams at that time was cool to the touch, with rigor mortis present in all of his extremities, and rigor mortis positioned appropriately for the position he was located in,” Boyd continued.

 A “distraught” Spencer called 9-1-1 at roughly 11:55 a.m., and police arrived soon after to pronounce Williams dead.

 Lt. Boyd said in Tuesday’s press conference that toxicology reports are expected back in five to six weeks.

 Our source added, “Everyone is obviously just stunned that Robin committed suicide . . . his family is holed up together and beginning to make plans for a very private funeral.

 PHOTOS: In Memoriam: Robin Williams’ Career Was Pure Magic – He Was A Genie After All

 “There will most likely be a public memorial to celebrate his life that his fans can be a part of.”

 If anyone you know, is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please immediately seek help. You can speak with a skilled, trained counselor at a national Suicide Prevention Lifeline crisis center in your area, anytime 24/7 — call 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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 Robin Williams Was Gaunt, Subdued, In Haunting Last Image Taken During Summer Rehab Stay — SEE The Disturbing Photo

 Coroner Suspects Robin Williams Death ‘To Be A Suicide Due To Asphyxia’ — Read The Police Report ||||| We have behind the scenes footage of Robin Williams working on one of his final roles before his tragic death.

 PICS: Robin Williams Through the Years

 The Oscar winner was in the studio doing voice-over for the indie film Absolutely Anything. The recording session came just weeks before Williams entered rehab. In the movie, Robin voiced the character of a dog.

 "It was a magical experience working with Robin," said screenwriter Gavin Scott. "He bounced into the studio and he was like, 'Yes, let's do this!'"

 In Tuesday's press conference, authorities revealed that Williams' wife Susan spent the night in a different bedroom, which raised the question of whether they usually slept in separate rooms.

 NEWS: Latest on the Death of Robin Williams

 As Susan didn't see Robin before she left in the morning, Dr. Phil McGraw told us that the family should be wary of blaming themselves.

 "What I hope they don't do is play the 'What if?' game," said Dr. Phil. "Let me tell you something if someone really wants to take their own life they can get it done."

 Williams died at his Marin County home on Monday due to asphyxia caused by the late actor hanging himself with a belt.

 According to Williams' rep, the actor had been battling "severe depression as of late." ||||| But, like any major movie star with such a long career, Williams accumulated his share of bombs along with the hits, including much-maligned critical and commercial duds like "Fathers' Day" and "Bicentennial Man." In recent years, he would sometimes joke self-deprecatingly about what he seemed to view as a downturn in his career. On his 2009 stand-up tour, he imagined a conversation with his car's GPS, in which the navigation system was trying to steer him off the Golden Gate Bridge. "I said, 'Why? Have you seen my movies recently?'" |||||
A summary of this is?

– In the days before his death, Robin Williams "would often sleep a majority of the day and night," a source tells Radar. He was so depressed, "he wasn't eating and was just having problems getting out of bed," the source continues. "He would often complain that he was just so tired, even after sleeping 20 hours." Friends who will actually allow their names to be used tell the Los Angeles Times similar, though not as dramatic, stories. "He started to disconnect," fellow comedian and longtime friend Rick Overton says. "He wasn't returning calls as much. He would send texts and things like that, but they would get shorter and shorter." He was last photographed in public on Saturday night, with his wife at an art gallery reception near his home, TMZ reports, noting that he looked "frail" but seemed happy and was not drinking. He was found dead Monday morning. "You could just tell something was off," says Steven Pearl, another comedian and longtime friend, about the last time he saw Williams last month. "He seemed detached. It's hard to explain. He didn't seem like his usual self. My fiancee and I were like, 'Is he OK?' I didn't know it would get this dark." He also took a hit with the cancellation of his TV show, The Crazy Ones, after just one season, Overton says. And since Williams had spoken last year about needing to take on that gig in the first place thanks to all the money coughed up in his two divorces, some speculated financial problems contributed to his suicide, leading his publicist to explain to The Wrap that the actor "had no financial problems. ... Robin often said things in jest, and sometimes it just doesn't translate in print." He took the job "because of (show creator) David Kelley and the material ... not because he needed the money," she says. The current speculation, ETOnline notes, is whether Williams and his wife frequently slept in separate rooms, as they did on the last night of Williams' life.


A man claims he contracted a "harmful parasite that eats away at the cornea of the eye" when he was splashed with water while riding the Raging Rapids at Kennywood Park, according to a lawsuit filed this week.

 Robert and Krystsina Trostle, of Squirrel Hill, were waiting in line July 2 when they noticed that the water surrounding the ride was "dirty, stagnant and sludge-like," the lawsuit said. "Additionally, the Trostles noticed that the waterfall was not operating."

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 Near the end of the ride, Robert Trostle was splashed with water in his left eye, according to the lawsuit.

 "Unbeknownst to Robert, this seemingly inconsequential event caused him to come into contact with microsporidia, a harmful parasite that eats away at the cornea of the eye and was present in the water used in the Raging Rapids," the lawsuit claims.

 Stay updated with breaking news: Download the WTAE mobile app

 Over the next two days, Robert Trostle's left eye became inflamed, itchy, red, photosensitive and "severely painful," the lawsuit said.

 He was diagnosed with acute conjunctivitis on July 5 and given antibiotics, but the symptoms got worse, and he was diagnosed with microsporidia keratitis on July 14, according to the lawsuit.

 "Robert had to undergo an extremely painful surgery where the parasite was scraped out of the eye with a surgical scalpel, and he was required to remain in a dark room for the next two days," the lawsuit said. "The microsporidia parasite penetrated the second level of Robert's eye and the entirety of the parasite was unable to be removed via surgery. Robert still has problems with his left eye, including but not limited to, blurry vision, difficulty with night vision, redness, itchiness, dryness, inflammation and pain, along with microsporidia still being present in his eye."

 The Trostles claim that Kennywood did not have "adequate policies and procedures to inspect the water being used on the 'Raging Rapids' ride to eliminate and/or reduce the dangers posed by microsporidia and ensure it is safe for use," according to the lawsuit.

 The suit was filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, alleging negligence against Kennywood Entertainment and claiming damages in excess of $35,000.

 Nobody answered the door Wednesday night at the address listed in the Trostles' lawsuit.

 “As soon as he was shot in the eye with the water, he immediately started experiencing, that day, discomfort in that eye. There's no other possible cause other than that," said Trostle's attorney, Alan Perer, via telephone.

 Kennywood spokesman Nick Paradise said he was unable to comment on pending litigation. In an email, he said the parasite claim was an allegation that has not been proven.

 "In general, safety is Kennywood's top priority in everything we do, and that certainly extends to maintenance of the rides and water involved in rides," Paradise said.

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 A Pittsburgh man claims in a lawsuit that a ride on the Raging Rapids at Kennywood left him with a parasite that “eats away at the cornea of the eye.”

 The lawsuit filed this week by Robert Trostle and his wife, Krystsina, in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court claims he was splashed in the left eye by dirty water that contained a parasite known as microsporidia. Doctors have not been able to completely kill off the parasite, according to the lawsuit.

 During a trip to Kennywood on July 2, “while in line, the Trostles noticed the water surrounding the Raging Rapids was dirty, stagnant and sludge-like,” the lawsuit said. “Additionally, the Trostles noticed the waterfall was not operating.”

 Robert Trostle was splashed toward the end of the ride, “which is customary for those riding the Raging Rapids.”

 The splash led the parasite to embed in Trostle's eye, according to the lawsuit, which alleges negligence against Kennywood Entertainment Inc.

 His left eye became inflamed, and he was treated July 5 for acute conjunctivitis with antibiotics. But his condition worsened, and doctors diagnosed him on July 14 with microsporidia keratitis.

 “Robert had to undergo an extremely painful surgery where the parasite was scraped out of the eye with a surgical scalpel, and he was required to remain in a dark room for the next two days,” according to the lawsuit. “The microsporidia parasite penetrated the second level of Robert's eye and the entirety of the parasite was unable to be removed via surgery.”

 He still suffers from inflammation, blurry vision, redness and pain, the lawsuit said.

 The Raging Rapids simulates a whitewater rafting excursion and opened in 1985, according to Kennywood's website.

 The Trostles, of Squirrel Hill, are represented by Pittsburgh attorney Alan Perer, who told the Tribune-Review Thursday that the Allegheny County Health Department took samples from the ride's water after the incident. He said the health department would not provide results, despite Perer filing a Right To Know request in the fall.

 “That's one of the reasons we filed suit,” Perer said. “We need more information. But we're virtually certain this is how he got the parasite.

 The county health department issued a statement Thursday afternoon.

 “This was reported to the Health Department during the summer,” health department spokesman Ryan Scarpino wrote in an email. “ACHD notified the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and assisted them with the investigation. At this time, the investigation is still ongoing, and no further information is available.”

 Kennywood spokesman Nick Paradise said he could not comment on pending litigation. He said safety of all rides and water are a “top priority” at Kennywood.

 In June, the family of a teen who contracted a brain-eating amoeba after rafting at a North Carolina water park, sued the facility.

 The lawsuit on befalf of Lauren Seitz, 18, alleged the U.S. National Whitewater Center's rafting channels were dangerous and that park operators showed “conscious disregard for the safety of visitors.”

 Seitz, of Westerville, Ohio, died of a rare brain infection caused by a single-celled animal, the amoeba Naegleria fowleri, days after visiting the center on June 8, 2016, with a church group , according to the Charlotte Observer. She was in a raft that overturned. The amoeba can infect a person when water goes up the nose and infections are rare, but almost always fatal. the Observer reported.

 The park closed down for nearly two months and a federal epidemiologist found that filtration and disinfection systems were inadequate to properly clean the facility's waters.

 A park employee complained that its water quality caused raft guides to routinely contract staph infections, ringworm and other skin illnesses, the Observer reported. Dead animals and trash were commonly found floating on the water's surface, the employee said.

 The park wound up changing its filtration and disinfection system.

 Ben Schmitt is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-320-7991, bschmitt@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @Bencschmitt. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||

Write a summary.

– Its website proclaims Kennywood "Pittsburgh's best amusement park." Robert Trostle would likely append "for contracting an eye-eating parasite" to the end of that. That's what the Squirrel Hill man is claiming happened to him during a July 2 visit to the Pennsylvania park, per a negligence lawsuit filed Tuesday. It says Trostle and wife Krystsina opted to ride the Raging Rapids water ride, which is supposed to mimic a white-water rafting trip, even after noticing the ride's water was "dirty, stagnant and sludge-like" and its waterfall wasn't running. The ride typically splashes riders at the end, reports TribLive, and in Trostle's case, he said the water hit his left eye—and then the trouble allegedly began. Per the suit, the eye reddened, became sensitive to light, and itchy and painful, reports the Post-Gazette. He was initially diagnosed with acute conjunctivitis. Antibiotics didn't rectify the situation, and on July 14 he was diagnosed with microsporidia keratitis. The suit says microsporidia is a "harmful parasite that eats away at the cornea of the eye," and alleges it was in the ride's water. It's also still in Trostle's eye, he says: Though he underwent an "extremely painful" surgery that involved scraping the parasite out with a scalpel, he claims the parasite reached a "second level" of his eye where surgery can't reach it, leaving him with vision problems and discomfort. A rep for the park wouldn't comment on the suit directly but says, "Safety is the top priority of everything we do." WTAE reports Trostle is seeking at least $35,000 in damages. (This 18-year-old died after being exposed to an amoeba on a rafting trip.)