News

2023-09-28 19:04:12

Sporting Kansas City heads east this weekend to take on cross-state rival St. Louis at Citypark on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream for free on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish, while the match will also be available on the radio locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).

1. CRUNCH TIME FOR PLAYOFF OUTLOOK

It’s getting down to crunch time for Sporting Kansas City’s MLS Cup Playoffs hopes, with the club knowing that they likely need two wins from their final three matches to clinch a spot in the postseason. Sporting has won four of their six matches since the Leagues Cup break, beating San Jose, St. Louis, Minnesota and Houston while suffering a pair of tough losses at Miami and home to Nashville.

Sporting showed the type of heart and grit required to produce one of the most impressive turnarounds from early season form when the team played down a man for 51 minutes of regulation play and 18 minutes of first and second-half stoppage time to beat Houston Dynamo FC 2-1 last Saturday night.

Sporting is now set to travel cross-state to face St. Louis at Citypark knowing that the side needs to take three points either from their geographic rivals or the following Saturday once morest long-time foes Real Salt Lake at America First Field. The squad travels to St. Louis without influential captain Johnny Russell, who will serve a one-game suspension following his red card in the win over Houston and failed midweek appeal.

Since the start of May, Sporting have gone 10-6-5 in MLS play, scoring 38 goals along the way following going 0-7-3 and scoring just three goals in its first 10 league matches through the end of April. In that span, Sporting lead the Western Conference in wins (10), points (35), goals (38), goals per match (1.81) and goal differential (+9).

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#presented #Childrens #Mercy #Kansas #City #Sporting #heads #crossstate #Louis #Sept

2023-09-28 19:39:48

TOPEKA — Florida think tank lobbyists Madeline Malisa and Stewart Whitson pressured Kansas legislators to use their power to investigate Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly for negotiating a “secret” agreement requiring distribution of voter registration information to recipients of government safety-net assistance.

Representatives of the Foundation for Government Accountability and the FGA’s lobbying arm, Opportunity Solutions Project, told House and Senate members during an election integrity hearing Thursday that Kelly participated without consent of the Legislature in “backroom deals” with nongovernment organizations for the alleged purpose of broadening registration of likely Democratic voters in Kansas.

“These deals are hidden from the public as well as this Legislature until they are disclosed by others months or even years following the secret deal has been made,” said Whitson, legal director of the Foundation for Government Accountability in Tallahassee, Florida.

Kansas Reflector obtained copies of the consent decree from three separate sources. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

He recommended the Republican-led Legislature use its authority to compel Kelly to release a copy of the negotiated compromise with Kansas voting rights advocacy nonprofit Loud Light, the New York racial equity organization Demos, ACLU of Kansas and the ACLU’s national Voting Rights Project.

“We don’t have a copy,” Malisa said. “I think it would be a great question to the Kelly administration to provide a copy of that. You want to know what’s in there, right? The only information we have is from the press releases. The devil’s in the details. What’s in there?”

However, during the legislative committee’s lunch break separate copies of the consent decree were provided by written or oral request to the Kansas Reflector by the office of the governor, the Secretary of State’s Office and the executive director of Loud Light. Each request was filled for free and the copies were delivered by email.

Brianna Johnson, a spokeswoman for Kelly, said the governor’s office entered into the settlement to make certain Kansas state agencies followed federal laws on the books for 30 years. Kansas Reflector reported on the agreement in 2021.

“We have been transparent regarding this agreement from the start, sharing publicly how expanding opportunities to register to vote will help all Kansans — regardless of political affiliation — exercise this important right,” Johnson said.

Rep. Paul Waggoner asks during a Sept. 28, 2023, hearing, whether the consent decree has been made public. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
‘Never been revealed?’

The document outlined details of a 2021 agreement that involved negotiations with the Kelly administration to resolve deficiencies in state compliance with mandates in the National Voter Registration Act and to avoid protracted voting rights litigation. The settlement prompted two state agencies, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department for Children and Families, to participate in a program informing people of opportunities to register to vote. The agencies sent information regarding registering to regarding 275,000 recipients of public benefits.

Brenda Wright, interim director of legal strategies at Demos, said at that time in a news release the agreement was a victory for Kansas residents who would have “more access to voter registration and greater opportunity to vote and enjoy full participation in the democratic process.”

Rep. Paul Waggoner, a Hutchinson Republican on the interim election committee, asked Malisa and Whitson at the conclusion of their prepared testimony to clarify whether contents of the consent agreement between the governor and potential litigants had never been disclosed.

“It’s never been revealed to anybody?” Waggoner asked. “There’s not a copy? We don’t actually know even exactly what she agreed to. Is that correct?”

“We’ve not seen a copy,” Malisa said. “No copy has been publicly released.”

Malisa also recommended the Legislature seek involvement of Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Republican, for an inquiry of how Kelly might use the consent agreement to influence voter registration and election outcomes in the 2024 cycle. She said the consent agreement appeared to be valid through June 2025.

“Those are questions I think that need to be answered by the attorney general who should have a seat at the table,” Malisa said.

Sen. Mike Thompson, left, and Rep. Pat Proctor lead the Sept. 28, 2023, hearing on election integrity. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Democrats not a monolith

Sen. Mike Thompson, the Shawnee Republican who chairs the interim elections committee, said he was concerned how the state would respond if evidence emerged Kelly or anyone else was engaged in an illegal voter registration operation.

“It sounds like there have been or it sounds like this scheme may have been fruitful,” he said. “What do we do regarding registrations that have filed under illegal circumstances?”

Democratic Rep. Brandon Woodard of Lenexa, who also serves on the election committee, said it was frustrating Opportunity Solutions Project was attempting to attach words such as “scandal” to the Kansas governor.

He questioned testimony of Malisa and Whitson that indicated people receiving government assistance, such as food stamps, were most likely to vote for liberal candidates rather than conservatives.

“We just had a group say, ‘If you are a welfare recipient, you’re probably voting for Democrats,’” Woodard said. “People on public assistance are not a monolith. If that were true, everyone on Medicaid or Medicare would be voting for Democrats.”

Whitson and Malisa said the administration of President Joe Biden issued an executive order that would make use of federal tax dollars to encourage people to register to vote. They asserted Demos, which was involved in negotiations on the Kansas settlement, was involved in the Biden administration’s use of third-party groups to conduct a voter-registration campaign capable of benefitting Democrats more than Republicans.

“Election integrity isn’t regarding just stopping fraud,” Whitson said. “It’s also regarding inspiring confidence in the outcome of elections.”

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#tank #demands #release #secret #Kansas #voter #registration #deal #readily

2023-09-28 18:05:00

Earlier in the day, the jurors found her guilty of beating her son in the family home in Wihéries (Dour). On July 16, 2019, she called her husband, who was at work, to inform him that their nine-month-old son Enzo had felt unwell. She calls her mother and then the emergency services, six minutes later.

The paramedics decide to take the child to the Epicura hospital in Hornu for examinations. The mother refuses to let him spend the night in the hospital. Since the death of her daughter, who died during childbirth in October 2017, the mother has been anxious and depressed. The hospital staff threatens to contact the prosecutor, she gives in on the condition of being able to stay with her son and her husband.

The day of the crime

On July 18, 2019, the child was still hospitalized. His dad goes to get some clothes. Possessive and anxious, she calls her husband several times, which annoys him. At the last call, it’s her mother who answers and forbids her from calling her husband, except for something important.

Alone with her son in the hospital room, the one who did research on the Internet with the keywords suffocated baby, presses hard on her child’s chest, then timidly calls the nurses. The child is brain dead and is taken to Jolimont hospital urgently. He was declared dead on July 22. The death was of unnatural cause, notes a doctor. An investigation is opened for assault and battery resulting in death without intention to cause it.

The expert reports, which concluded that death was due to mechanical asphyxiation, changed the charge to murder.

Premeditated murder

On Thursday, jurors found that the crime was premeditated. On July 15, the mother did searches on the Internet with the keywords suffocated baby or child suffocation.

On July 18, she placed a blanket on little Enzo, while the temperature was scorching in the summer of 2019. She made sure to ask for his meal tray in order to be alone in his room, while the nurses distributed the trays in other patients.

She also disconnected the electrodes placed on the child while he was sleeping, which explains why the alarm system did not activate.

Just before taking action, she walked through the corridors of the hospital with her son in her arms, in order to show that he was well and to be able to give the excuse of sudden death.

Finally, the accused admitted to having put pressure on her son’s chest, which caused death.

The punishment

For the sentence, the jurors took into account mitigating circumstances: his young age, his limited intellectual abilities, complicated family circumstances, Münchhausen syndrome, his depression following the death of his daughter.

The accused declared that she had not wanted to kill her son, but the president reminded her that the legal truth was quite different.

The public prosecutor did not request his immediate arrest.

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#Hainaut #Assizes #Madissone #Massy #sentenced #years #prison #murdering #9monthold #son #Hornu

2023-09-28 18:00:15

Top national law firm Akerman is pleased to announce that 112 lawyers were named to the 2023  edition of Super Lawyers Magazineincluding 44 Rising Stars.

Super Lawyersa Thompson Archyde.com business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

The lawyers, their locations and the categories in which they are honored are listed below. A link to a list of Akerman Super Lawyers according to practice group is also below.

California – Los Angeles

Super Lawyers 2023

William J. Bernfeld, Real Estate

Kanika D. Corley, Business Litigation

Caroline H. Mankey, Intellectual Property Litigation

Brenda K. Radmacher, Construction Litigation

Rising Stars 2023

Daphna R. Davidovits, Real Estate

Nancy Sotomayor, Employment Litigation: Defense

Harrison Thorne, Class Action

Colorado – Denver

Rising Stars 2023

Melissa Cizmorris, Employment & Labor

Adam L. Massaro, Intellectual Property Litigation

Joyce C. Williams, General Litigation

Florida – Fort Lauderdale

Super Lawyers 2023

Stacy Bercun Bohm, Construction Litigation

Michael I. Goldberg, Bankruptcy: Business

William Heller, Business Litigation

Brett Marks, Bankruptcy: Business

Jason S. Oletsky, Business Litigation

Eric D. Rapkin, Real Estate

Glen A. Stankee, Tax

Leslie Miller Tomczak, Construction Litigation

Rising Stars 2023

Eric Coleman, Business Litigation

Erica Gomer, Business Litigation

Ross Heft, Real Estate

Tiffany Hendricks, Employment Litigation: Defense

Reginald Janvier, Securities Litigation

Donnie King, Business Litigation

Max C. Rudolf, Business Litigation

Florida – Jacksonville

Super Lawyers 2023

Christian George, Business Litigation

Cindy A. Laquidara, State/Local/Muni

Peter O. Larsen, Tax

John B. Macdonald, Creditor Debtor Rights

David E. Otero, Bankruptcy: Business

Rising Stars 2023

Ashlea A. Edwards, Employment & Labor

Jay Harrington, Business Litigation

Florida – Miami

Super Lawyers 2023

Jacqueline M. Arango, Business Litigation

Jonathan L. Awner, Mergers & Acquisitions

Richard M. Bezold, Real Estate

James S. Bramnick, Employment & Labor

Dana A. Clayton, Business Litigation

Gerald B. Cope, Jr., Appellate

Joanne Gelfand, Bankruptcy: Business

Andrea S. Hartley, Bankruptcy: Business

Daniel Jacobson, Business/Corporate

Neisen O. Kasdin, Land Use/Zoning

Michael C. Marsh, Business Litigation

Richard C. Milstein, Estate and Trusts Litigation

Andrew S. Robins, Real Estate

Rising Stars – 2023

Marissa Amuial, Land Use/Zoning

Daniel Cardenal, Consumer Law

Elizabeth Hughes, Estate & Trusts Litigation

Daniel A. Silva, Mergers & Acquisitions

Florida – Orlando

Super Lawyers 2023

Megan C. DeLeon, Business Litigation

Joseph E. Foster, Business Litigation

Rising Stars 2023

Sara Brubaker, Business Litigation

Florida – West Palm Beach

Super Lawyers 2023

David P. Ackerman, Business Litigation

Robert I. Chaskes, Business Litigation

Christopher Duke, Employment & Labor

Eric A. Gordon, Employment & Labor

Arlene K. Kline, Employment & Labor

Lawrence P. Rochefort, Business Litigation

Grasford W. Smith, Jr., Business Litigation

Florida – Tallahassee

Super Lawyers 2023

Silvia M. Alderman, Environmental

Martin R. Dix, Healthcare

Kristen M. Fiore, Appellate

Rising Stars 2023

Michael J. Larson, Environmental

Florida – Tampa

Super Lawyers 2023

Irene A. Bassel Frick, Business Litigation

Kirk S. Davis, Healthcare

John L. Dicks II, Business Litigation

Alejandro Fernandez, Intellectual Property

Scott T. Silverman, Employment & Labor

Steven R. Wirth, Bankruptcy: Business

Georgia – Atlanta

Rising Stars 2023

Brittanie Browning, Insurance Coverage

Kamber Stefany Burke, Insurance Coverage

Illinois – Chicago

Super Lawyers 2023

Sergio E. Acosta, Criminal Defense: White Collar

Mark S. Bernstein, Business Litigation

Scott A. Meyers, Business Litigation

Thomas G. Pasternak, Intellectual Property

Rising Stars 2023

Jessica Lynn Dagley, General Litigation

Thomas B. Fullerton, Banking

Jamel AR Greer (and Los Angeles), Schools and Education

Geneka L. Holyfield, Banking

Elpitha B. Lambros, Business Litigation

Louisiana – New Orleans

Rising Stars 2023

Elizabeth Horn, Business Litigation

Nevada – Las Vegas

Rising Stars 2023

Scott R. Lachman, Civil Litigation: Defense

Lilith V. Xara, Consumer Law

New York

Super Lawyers 2023

Joshua D. Bernstein, Real Estate

Lorenzo Borgogni, Mergers & Acquisitions

Alan S. Cohen , Real Estate

Brian S. Fraser, Business Litigation

Peter Haveles, Jr., Business Litigation

William A. Hoy, Mergers & Acquisitions

Scott M. Kessler, Business Litigation

Jeffrey A. Kimmel, Employment Litigation: Defense

Richard G. Leland, Environmental

Lansing R. Palmer, Estate and Trusts Litigation

Steven P. Polivy, Real Estate

Ira B. Stechel, Tax

John B. Wood, Real Estate

Rising Stars 2023

Raymond Berti, Employment Litigation: Defense

Cassidy Mara, Employment & Labor

Paul Rutigliano, Employment Litigation: Defense

Jaclyn Scarinci, Land Use/Zoning

Texas – Dallas

Rising Stars 2023

Christy S. Hawkins, Consumer Law

Texas – Houston

Super Lawyers 2023

Scott D. Marrs, General Litigation

Rising Stars 2023

Sean M. Cichowski, Business Litigation

Alexandra I. Ledyard, Civil Litigation: Defense

Kristen W. McDanald, Civil Litigation: Defense

Mark B. Shutt, Insurance Coverage

Washington, D.C.

Super Lawyers 2023

Jeffrey G. Gilmore: Construction Litigation

Rising Stars 2023

Ildefonso “Dito” P. Mas, Business Litigation

Daniel Miktus, Construction Litigation

*Click here for a list of Akerman Super Lawyers according to practice group areas.

About Akerman

Akerman LLP is a top 100 U.S. law firm recognized among the most forward-thinking firms in the industry by Financial Times. Its more than 700 lawyers and business professionals collaborate with the world’s most successful enterprises and entrepreneurs to navigate change, seize opportunities, and help drive innovation and growth.

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#Akerman #Lawyers #U.S #Named #Super #Lawyers #Rising #Stars #Lists