Smelly Pennsylvania Landfill Must Face Class Suit
The Third Circuit revived a federal class action Monday over the stench of a Pennsylvania landfill affecting some 20,000 people.
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property
Mining
Twelve residents of Belfair, Wash., sued Mason County in a federal class action, claiming it illegally “gifted a private company, Grump Ventures, LLC … with a valuable right to operate a 66.5-acre surface mine in a residential zone where mining is prohibited.
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Student Accused of Trying to Topple Jackson Statue Appears in Court
A federal judge shut down the Justice Department on Monday when it sought to ban a student, charged with trying to tear down a statue of Andrew Jackson, from all federal monuments in the nation’s capital.
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‘Tiger King’ Star Slams Court Order Giving Zoo to Rival
Netflix star Joe Exotic lamented behind bars Tuesday a court order turning over his former Oklahoma zoo to nemesis Carole Baskin to satisfy a $1 million trademark judgment.
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Foe of ‘Tiger King’ Zookeeper Granted Oklahoma Property
A federal judge granted Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue control Monday of imprisoned reality TV star Joe Exotic’s former zoo properties in Oklahoma, finding they were fraudulently transferred to avoid paying her under a $1 million trademark judgment.
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Property Tax Overhaul Initiative Qualifies for California Ballot
The coronavirus pandemic and California’s shattered finances have injected urgency into an initiative that qualified for the November ballot Friday which — if passed — would reform the state’s landmark property tax code to raise billions for cash-strapped schools and counties.
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Seventh Circuit Hears Arguments in Obama Library Land Grab Suit
The Seventh Circuit was skeptical Thursday of a parks advocacy organization’s arguments opposing the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago’s Jackson Park, in a case that has left many supporters of the former president bewildered and angry.
Read morePFOA Contamination
The Second Circuit upheld the denial of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell’s attempt to dismiss personal injury and property damage claims relating to a manufacturing facility that used perfluorooctanoic acid and contaminated the water supply in the Village of Hoosick Falls, New York.
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Feds Defend Plans for Coal Leases on Public Land
(CN) — A federal judge in Montana heard telephonic arguments Wednesday on whether the Trump administration provided proper environmental analysis
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Justices Hear Fight Over Tribal Land in Criminal Appeal
The Supreme Court appeared unwilling Monday to side with a Native American convict who argued that most of eastern Oklahoma should be classified as protected tribal land.
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Delaware Court Says Outdated Property Values Hurt Schools
In a 150-page opinion Friday, a Delaware chancellor rapped state officials for skimping on public school funding by relying on property tax values that are more than 30 years old.
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High Court Nixes Bridgegate Fraud Convictions
The Supreme Court was unanimous Thursday in tossing the convictions of two New Jersey political operatives who orchestrated the state’s notorious Bridgegate scandal.
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Maryland Court Upholds Conviction for Racist School Graffiti
Racial slurs, swastikas and other offensive language spray-painted on a Maryland high school campus are not shielded from hate-crime prosecution under the First Amendment, a state appeals court ruled.
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Backers of Revision to Proposition 13 Turn in 1.7 Million California Voter Signatures
A group looking to break up California’s iconic property tax code and spur billions in new commercial property taxes for local governments and schools said Thursday it has enough voter signatures to qualify a measure for the November ballot.
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Russia Ordered to Pay Owners of Demolished Buildings
Russia must pay damages to a couple whose property was confiscated and demolished to make way for a municipal building, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday.
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Buttigieg Releases Plan to Protect US Public Lands
On the eve of the Nevada caucuses, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg released a new pillar of his environmental policy that aims to preserve and protect public lands in an overall effort to battle the effects of climate change.
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France Defends Seizure of Mansion Tied to Equatorial Guinea
France and Equatorial Guinea wrapped up a week of hearings Friday at the United Nations’ highest court in a dispute over a Parisian mansion that the tiny central African country called its embassy.
Read moreWisconsin High Court Upholds Golf Course Land Annexation
The Wisconsin Supreme Court Friday upheld the annexation of a small town’s land by a nearby city to clear the way for a luxury golf course, finding the land grab satisfied state law requirements but disagreeing over the use of the rule of reason to check a municipality’s powers.
Read moreFracking Earthquakes
Ninety-seven people sued New Dominion for property damages from “thousands of earthquakes” in central Oklahoma, allegedly caused by its underground injections of wastewater from fracking operations, in Cleveland County Court.
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