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A 35-year-old woman dies after the SUV she was traveling in failed to yield to oncoming traffic, struck a taxi and overturned, a police news release said.
Jeanette Watford of Newport News was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, police said.
Witnesses told police that about 4:30 p.m. the red Lincoln Navigator was traveling south on Madison Avenue at 36th Street and struck a Porter Taxi Cab that was traveling east on 36th Street. The SUV flipped several times.
The SUV’s driver, a 34-year-old Newport News man, initially fled the crash scene on foot but then returned. The man, who police did not identify, was the woman’s boyfriend. He was being treated at a local hospital for hand injury. Charges are pending against him, and his name was being withheld until the completion of the booking process, the Newport News police news release said.
The taxi driver, Rashard Rassaw, 31, of Newport News was taken to a hospital for injuries to his head and neck. His injuries were not considered life-threatening.
If you or someone you know is involved in an automobile accident that results in a personal injury, please, call Attorney Michael S. Weisberg. He represents people injuried in car accidents and gets them the best settlement possible! He offers free consultations, so it costs you nothing to come and speak to him regarding your case. Please, contact us to set up an appointment.
The Federal Railroad Administration is awarding $45.4 million to Virginia to start developing high-speed passenger rail service between Richmond and Washington.
Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner announced the grant Monday. They say the money will allow the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transit to complete preliminary engineering and an environmental-impact study.
The project ultimately would provide train service that would take passengers between the two metropolitan areas in about 90 minutes.
The route is part of the federally designated Southeast High Speed Rail corridor between Washington and Charlotte, North Carolina. The project is part of an overall plan to extend high-speed passenger rail from Boston-to-Washington Northeast Corridor southward through Virginia into Charlotte.
The ability to taste is not limited to the mouth, and researchers say this discovery might one day lead to better treatments for diseases such as asthma.
It turns out that receptors for bitter tastes are also found in the smooth muscles of the lungs and airways. These muscles relax when they are exposed to bitter tastes, according to a report Sunday from researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore in the online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
That surprised Dr. Stephen B. Liggett, a lung expert who noted that bitter tastes often are associated with poisonous plants, causing people to avoid them.
Liggett said he expected the bitter-taste receptors in the lungs to produce a “fight or flight” reaction, causing chest tightness and coughing so people would leave the toxic environment.
“But that’s not what we found,” Liggett said.
Instead, when scientists tested some nontoxic bitter compounds on mice and on human airways in the laboratory, the airways relaxed and opened more widely.
The compounds “all opened the airway more profoundly than any known drug that we have for treatment of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” Liggett said.
Liggett, who hopes to begin tests in humans within a year, said eating bitter-tasting foods or compounds would not help in the treatment of asthma. Instead, he said, to get a sufficient dose people will need to use aerosolized compounds, which can be inhaled.
Fortunately, there are thousands of compounds known to have a bitter taste, such as quinine and many drugs, he said. Researchers can begin testing them to determine which have the best results, with few or no side effects.
When Ronald Cosman was diagnosed with cancer last October, he didn’t realize he’d be making history by the next year.
The 64-year-old retiree is the first patient to be treated at the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute, a $225 million project that celebrates its opening today with a ceremony to be attended by the governor and other dignitaries.
The red-brick institute is the eighth proton therapy center in the country, and the largest free-standing one in the world. As such, it’s expected to draw patients from across the globe. There’s already a waiting list of 90 patients and a list of inquiries from as far away as Scotland, the Middle East, and Britain.
But first came Cosman, 64, who travels all of 10 minutes from his Hampton home for proton therapy to zap a prostate cancer tumor.
Proton therapy is a noninvasive cancer treatment that uses high-speed, intense beams to release radiation directly into tumors to kill them without damaging surrounding tissue. Proponents say the method is more precise than conventional radiation treatments and has fewer side effects than surgery or chemotherapy.
Critics, though, have questioned whether the high dollar treatment is as cost effective as competing technology. Because so few centers exist, large, long-term studies comparing this type of treatment to others in terms of effectiveness and side effects aren’t yet available.
Some health policy experts have questioned whether the use of health care dollars toward such expensive facilities is more of a technology race than placing dollars where they are most needed.
Insurance companies, however, are stepping up to the plate to cover the cost for patients. Medicare, Medicaid, and many private insurers are covering proton therapy treatments.
A federal judge ordered the United States military Tuesday to stop enforcing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that prohibits openly gay and bisexual soldiers from military service.
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” law was originally proposed as a compromise measure to loosen military policies regarding homosexuality. Departing from a decades-old policy of banning service by gay, lesbian, and bisexual recruits, the new law allowed service and prohibited superiors from asking about sexual orientation. But the law also held that service members could be dismissed from the military if they revealed their sexual orientation or engaged in homosexual acts.
Judge Virginia Phillips of United States District Court for the Central District of California wrote that the 17-year-old policy “infringes the fundamental rights of United States servicemembers and prospective servicemembers” and violates their rights of due process and freedom of speech. She issued an injunction banning enforcement of the law and ordered the military “to suspend and discontinue” immediately any investigations or proceedings to dismiss members of the armed services.
While Phillips’ decision is likely to be appealed by the government, it represents a significant new milestone for gay rights in the United States.
Two other recent decisions have overturned restrictions on gay rights at the state and federal levels, but Tuesday’s ruling, in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America, could have a more sweeping impact because it would apply to all United States service members.
The government has 60 days to file an appeal.
According to Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles statistics, the traffic in Hampton Roads is getting worse while the number of accidents is decreasing. Since 2000, local traffic has increased by 8.4 percent, while accidents have dropped by 18.4 percent.
The experts are confounded by these statistics. Keith Nichols, a traffic engineer at the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization, said, “Theoretically, when there is more congestion, there should be crashes. Honestly, we’ve been trying to figure it out ourselves.
Experts have a few theories about the perplexing issue. One theory is that the new laws focused on young drivers, including requiring more hours driving with a parent before getting a license may be a reason for the decrease in accidents. Another theory is that it may be the red-light cameras in Virginia Beach, society’s intolerance for drinking and driving, or government safety messages and programs. The last theory is that it may have to do with improvements in car safety technology, such as anti-lock brakes.
Bernie Fette, a researcher at the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, pointed out one trend. “As congestion levels go up, crash severity is going to drop, and that’s because severity requires speed,” he said.
Whatever the reason for fewer accidents, traffic engineer Nichols is grateful. “It’s really great news,” he said. “It seems like a bunch of small answers coming together.”
NOTE: The number of automobile accidents in Hampton Roads is decreasing, however, they are still happening everyday. If you are injured in a traffic accident and feel that you may need the assistance of an attorney, call Michael S. Weisberg, P.C. We would be happy to assist you in your accident claim. We offer free consultations to all clients, so your first meeting is free! If you would like to make an appointment to meet with Attorney Michael S. Weisberg, please, contact us.
According to a recent article in the AARP Bulletin, there is a growing trend of nursing home residents regaining their independence. This trend is due to more state and federal programs that are designed to help elder people make this change.
Experts recommend that seniors ask these questions before deciding to move from a nursing home to an independent living situation:
• Do you want to live independently?
• Are you physically able to live on your own?
• Can you afford to live outside of a nursing home?
• Is in-home care available?
• Can you find appropriate housing?
• Does the home have everything you need?
• Does your community have necessary medical services?
• Do you have the skills needed to live at home independently?
• Do you have transportation available?
• Do you have social support?
Transitioning from nursing home to independent living is not an easy task and will not work for everyone. The key is to assess your current situation and potential options. Make sure to research available support, anticipate unexpected circumstances, and plan well in advance of a move. Life care planners and elder law attorneys can be key advisors in this process.
Michael S. Weisberg can assist elder clients and their families with their financial, estate, long-term care, life care, and special needs planning issues. Please contact us for a free consultation.
Frankly, I don't know how to categorize this subject, so I'll just go on and talk about the problem. Most of us eventually face the issue.
When you’re lucky enough to turn 65 and you're still working, what should you do? Should you quit? Do you have to quit? Can you start collecting social security payments if you decide to keep working? What about Medicare... do you have to enroll? If you have medical insurance at work, do you have to drop it? Should you drop it? What is best? What is required?
Who knows? Not me. I did turn 65, and am still working. I had no clue about what to do. Nobody tells you, and you can't look it up. Here I am, a “big shot lawyer," and I not only don't know the answer, but don't know how to find out. No use looking at the law…. too complicated. I fumbled around, made some mistakes, but somehow I'm o.k…. I guess. Of course, I have not been sick yet; that’s when the rubber meets the road.
I commend to you an article in the Wall Street Journal titled Retirees Snared by Medicare. Boy is it complicated. Check it carefully.
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