The collision was head-on, truck and van — and the cable barriers dividing the two sides of highway were of no help whatsover, according to eyewitnesses.

This week, it was revealed that the federal government ordered the trucking company responsible for that tractor-trailer truck, Hester, Inc. of Fayetteville, Alabama, to be shut down.

The actual order, coming down from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, actually dates back to June 2010, but the public only became aware of the ruling after a Freedom of Information Act request allowed it to be release to the public at large.

Apparently, truck driver fatigue may have been a factor in the Kentucky crash (which happened at 5:30 am), as the FMCSA Order apparently based the Hester closing on a failure to fix certain violations, among them Hester’s drivers being allowed on the roads longer than the HOS limits.

To view a photograph of the tragic crash site itself and see for yourself the tremendous power of a big rig when it collides with a minivan, click here.

New Guidelines for Concussions in Kids Issued Today

The American Association of Pediatrics has issued new Guidelines for head injuries in kids, focusing upon sports-related concussions.  The complete study, “Emergency Department Visits for Concussion in Young Child Athletes,” appears in Pediatrics magazine (available online today).

The new Guidelines are as follows (emphasis added):

• Children or adolescents who sustain a concussion should always be evaluated by a physician and receive medical clearance before returning to play.
• After a concussion, all athletes should be restricted from physical activity until they are asymptomatic at rest and with exertion.
• Physical and cognitive exertion, such as homework, playing video games, using a computer or watching TV may worsen symptoms.
• Symptoms of a concussion usually resolve in 7 to 10 days, but some athletes may take weeks or months to fully recover.
• Neuropsychological testing can provide objective data to athletes and their families, but testing is just one step in the complete management of a sport-related concussion.
• There is no evidence proving the safety or efficacy of any medication in the treatment of a concussion.
• Retirement from contact sports should be considered for an athlete who has sustained multiple concussions, or who has suffered post-concussive symptoms for more than three months.

How can you tell if your child has suffered a concussion?

According to the Mayo Clinic, children that are old enough to communicate with you should be monitored for the following symptoms of concussion:

• Confusion
• Amnesia
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Ringing in the ears
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Slurred speech
• Fatigue
• Memory or concentration problems
• Sensitivity to light and noise
• Sleep disturbances
• Irritability
• Depression

Non-verbal clues that young children (infants, pre-K) may be suffering from a concussion include:

• Listlessness
• Tiring easily
• Irritability
• Crankiness
• Change in eating patterns
• Change in sleeping patterns
• Lack of interest in favorite toys
• Loss of balance, unsteady walking

Better to Be Safe Than Sorry — Get Your Child Seen by the Doctor Pronto

If you suspect that your child may be suffering from a concussion, it’s better to be safe than sorry.  Get your son or daughter to a doctor and have them checked out — and until it’s ruled out, it’s better to assume that they are injured than to ignore symptoms and ask the child to “shake it off.”

Head injuries are very serious and can all too often be permanent, life-altering events.  You can’t be too careful here.

That was followed by a second producer, Hillandale Farms of Iowa, issuing a recall of another 170 million eggs.  Keeping count?  That’s getting close to 600,000,000 eggs that aren’t safe to eat.

Indiana is Part of the Salmonella Egg Recall

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) reported that 17 states have seen spikes in the reported salmonella poisoning cases since May. Those states include Indiana, as well as Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Oklahoma, Oregon, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The new recall by the second egg producer adds Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas to the list.

With Third Recall Illinois Now Involved, As Well

Recalls by their very nature are after-the-fact warnings. The current recall does not include any information from mid-July forward: it’s only after people get sick that they get tallied by the CDC.

Accordingly, it’s possible that these bad eggs have made their way into many more  restaurants or stores, and to the family fridge, in our area and victims of these Salmonella eggs haven’t been publicly acknowledged.

It’s also possible that the recall may be expanded once again to include additional states.

Why? The eggs carrying Salmonella Enteritidis have been distributed to wholesalers, distribution centers and food service companies across the country.

They’ve been packaged under the following names, according to the press releases issued by Hillandale and Wrignt Country Egg:

(Third Recall) Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, Sunny Meadow, Wholesome Farms and West Creek.

(Second Recall) Albertsons, Farm Fresh, James Farms, Glenview, Mountain Dairy, Ralphs, Boomsma, Lund, Kemps and Pacific Coast.

(First Recall) Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.

Have You Been Poisoned by a Salmonella Egg?

If you or a loved one suffers any of the following symptoms, please seek medical attention immediately. Salmonella poisoning can be life-threatening.

Symptoms of Salmonella poisoning:

• fever
• abdominal cramps
• diarrhea (which can be severe enough to require hospitalization)
• appear 12 – 72 hours after injection of the tainted egg.

We have to assume Officer Bisard knows the drunk driving laws of this state. We also have to assume that Officer Bisard knows exactly what can happen when someone drives a motor vehicle while they are under the influence.

Accidents happen. People die.

This is exactly what happened. As a result of Officer Bisard’s actions one hot summer evening, he slammed his squad car into two motorcycles. In the crash on August 6, 2010, Eric Wells died and two others, Mary Mills and Kurt Weekly, were injured. Our condolences go out to their families.

There’s an investigation going on right now.

David Bisard’s blood has been tested and his BAC levels have been revealed in the local media as being 0.19%. That’s someone who is very, very inebriated.

Sure, the first thing everyone thinks about is the criminal laws that have been violated. A police officer becomes a criminal – though there’s some anger that he wasn’t booked into jail after his arrest.

Civil Lawsuits: Trying to Find Justice

However, the civil laws quietly exist on the books, too – to help those in situations like this find some sort of justice. That’s why we have wrongful death statutes and negligence damages as longstanding Indiana law.

This may seem like a sad solution to the tragedies the victims and their loved ones are facing – the option of filing a lawsuit — but it’s a fight worth fighting. Especially in cases like this, where fury doesn’t seem an unreasonable reaction.

Indiana University School of Medicine Researching New TBI Treatments

However, the good folks at the Center for Neuroimaging at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis are trying to help TBI victims. Right now, IU is recruiting individuals suffering from memory and attention problems related to traumatic brain injury (TBI) to participate in their new research study. The new study will be evaluating the effectiveness of three possible TBI treatments.

Qualifications to Participate in the IU Study

If you or someone you know suffers memory and attention issues due to traumatic brain injury, and they would be interested in taking part in the Indiana University Study, then they should know the following, per the IU news release:

1. They must be between 18 – 60 years old
2. Their brain injury must have occurred between 4 months and 5 years ago
3. Their brain injury must have caused lasting problems with both attention and memory.

Assuming that they meet these three criteria, then:

1. They need to be able to travel to the IUPUI campus for 5 clinic visits scheduled over 7 weeks.
2. Those that participate in the research study are eligible to be paid for their trouble.

More questions? Call Dr. Brenna McDonald at (317) 278-8878 or email her at mcdonalb@iupui.edu.

That’s four new U.S. Steel plants in Indiana – all designed to produce cheaper, synthetic coal that will be burned as a fuel in the company’s huge blast furnaces used to make steel over in Gary, Indiana.

All that’s needed now, before construction can begin, is the approval of the federal government – and that’s expected to come from the E.P.A. (Environmental Protection Agency) before the end of the month. Once U.S. Steel has the green light, construction will begin.

Creating Jobs Now and In the Future in Two of the Most Dangerous Lines of Work

Even before U.S. Steel’s plan creates new mill worker jobs, it’s going to bring around 500 construction jobs into the local area. That’s good news for the economy. Safety? Construction and steel mills are two of the most dangerous lines of work in this country – let’s hope there’s lots of attention given to keeping people safe.

The first plant will be on Lake Michigan, and it’s estimated to cost $220,000,000 to build. According to U.S. Steel, this will be the first of four plants in their master plan as their goal is to produce 1,000,000 tons of coke substitute annually. All this coke substitute will be used at the Gary steel facility.

U.S. Steel wants to build four plants would make a total of 1 million tons of coke substitute per year. This first phase of the 4-plant project is expected to create 500 construction jobs.

If it passes, the new law would make some mining companies implement new safety measures for the protection of their employees as they work in the mines, as well as forcing the companies to adhere to new standards regarding employee rights – including new protections for whistleblowers and mining accident victims.

Finally, the proposal as it is currently written makes it mandatory for there to be independent, third-party accident investigations for certain mine accidents.

Which all sounds good, right? Except that H.R. 5663 may never become reality. Right now, opposition is growing to its passage.

Follow it here:

Two people burned to death at one accident scene. Traffic diverted because the freeway was impassable, going in either direction.

Semi Truck Wreck No. 1 Happens Around 7 am Early on Monday Morning

Just as many commuters were hitting the roads to drop kids off at school, or to grab a fast-food breakfast and coffee on the way into work, a tractor-trailer crashed on Interstate 70 and its entire load of food fell upon the asphalt. The truck driver was taken to the hospital; there were no other injuries.

Big Rig Crash No. 2 Triggered by the First Wreck

Since the roadway was blocked by the fallen food cargo, Interstate 70 traffic was forced to a standstill until I-70 could be cleared. Around 2 miles away, in this frustration, three semi trucks and a pick up truck crashed in the westbound lanes. Sadly, one of the big rigs burst into flames, and two of the truckers died in the truck fire.

Tractor-Trailer Truck Accident No. 3 Follows Shortly

Across the roadway, and near to the scene of the flaming big rig accident, a motorcycle crashed into a semi truck. The motorcycle rear-ended the tractor-trailer: however, amazingly, no one was seriously injured in this wreck. The truck driver was not hurt; the motorcyclist suffered only minor injury.

That is FIVE big rigs in three wrecks on I-70 within a few hours’ time. What’s Being Done?

It’s well known that Interstate 70 is one of main big rig roads in this country, rivaling I -80/94 through Northwest Indiana just south of Chicago: I-70 carries a huge amount of truck traffic through Illinois and Indiana, and beyond.

Last year, Missouri was pondering creating 200 miles of I-70 as “truck only” traffic – moving the big rigs into separate lanes, as well as giving them their own interchanges and bridges. However, the Missouri Department of Transportation did not get much support for the plan and it’s come to naught.

Perhaps Illinois and Indiana should consider a similar plan?

Illinois Retaliatory Discharge Plaintiff’s Burden of Proof

In the case, the Seventh Circuit considered Illinois workers suing for justice in federal court after being harmed for retaliatory discharge.

What is retaliatory discharge? In some jurisdictions, it’s known as “wrongful discharge” or “wrongful dismissal” and it happens when someone is fired without good cause as the employer retaliates against them – firing them in response to an action that the worker has taken. Whistleblowers, for example, risk retaliatory discharge by their employer.

In this month’s decision, all the 7th Circuit justices agreed, issuing a unanimous opinion written by Judge Posner which states that the legal standard in these lawsuits is not the federal standard used in federal court pursuant to McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, but instead the Illinois state law standard which requires a plaintiff to prove causation.

What’s the difference? Under the federal standard found in McDonnell Douglas, the plaintiff only needs to show the employer’s reasons for firing the plaintiff were just pretext — unworthy of belief. That’s a lesser burden than having to prove causation.

Gacek and the Erie Doctrine

In the Gacek opinion, Judge Posner notes that in Clemons v. Mech. Devices Co., 704 N.E.2d 403, 407-08 (Ill. 1998), the Illinois Supreme Court rejected the McDonnell Douglas standard because the state high court was “… unwilling to expand the tort of retaliatory discharge by reducing plaintiff’s burden of proving the elements of the tort.”

With this precedent in place, the opinion relied upon the longstanding Erie doctrine which requires the federal courts to apply state law in substantive issues that come before it. The 7th Circuit felt legally bound to adhere to the Illinois Supreme Court’s rationale in Clemons.

No word yet on whether or not the decision will be appealed.

This flies in the face of Kellogg’s recent press release, where the company blamed the cereal box liners for the strange smell that emanated from the recalled boxes of Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops, and Honey Smacks.

Kellogg’s already admits that eating the cereal may cause “temporary” nausea and diarrhea. If the Washington Post investigation is right, then ingesting the cereal means eating a known carcinogen – something known to cause cancer. That’s a big difference.

Do you have any of these cereals in your pantry?