A Florida appellate court has reversed a lower court's injunction against a Pensacola-area resident accused of "stalking" his neighbor after evidence on appeal demonstrated the man was merely doing everyday activities like walking his dog, throwing away trash and trying not to get hit by traffic.

According to news reports, Billy Stone routinely takes walks around the circular street he shares with neighbor Teresa McMillian. One day in 2016, McMillian honked her horn and allegedly drove her car at Stone and his dog, prompting them to jump out of the way. Angered by the incident, Stone put a threatening letter in McMillian's mailbox warning her not to "pull another stunt like she did today."

McMillian, claiming she was intimidated by the letter, installed motion-activated sprinklers at her property line and called law enforcement on Stone for putting dog waste in her roadway garbage can and stepping onto her property to avoid being hit by a bus. McMillian filed suit requesting an injunction, telling the court she had received the threatening letter and that her camera showed Stone walking past her property more than 10 times a day on multiple days.

The lower court issued a one-year injunction against Stone prohibiting him from going near McMillian or her property, but after evidence came to light on appeal that Stone, who walks to alleviate anxiety, was walking near McMillian's property to visit with neighbors and to help with the neighborhood watch program he helped develop, the Florida First District Court of Appeal reversed the injunction.

“We do not disagree with Stone’s argument that he walks around his neighborhood, put dog waste in a trash can, and avoided getting hit by a bus for legitimate purposes under (Florida statute),” the court wrote.

Stone’s attorney, Robert Powell of Clark Partington, said his client “feels exonerated that justice was properly meted out” and relieved that the stain on his neighborhood reputation had been removed.

—Source: pnj.com

James Dolan, CEO of Madison Square Garden (“MSG”) company, is being sued by a group of shareholders who claim he is overpaid, only works part-time, and spends too much of his time with his band, JD & the Straight Shot band. MSG company owns 14 brands, including the Knicks, the Rangers, Radio City Music Hall and the Rockettes.

According to news reports, the lawsuit argues Dolan allegedly made more than $75 million over a three-year period, far in excess of MSG’s peer companies, yet Dolan traveled and performed “extensively domestically and internationally” with his band. “By comparison, MSG’s peer companies paid their CEOs an average of $17 million for the same three-year period. The highest-paid peer CEO received $32.4 million, over $43 million less than James,” the complaint stated.

MSG says the lawsuit has been brought by a trust owned by one shareholder. In a statement issued by the company, MSG countered, “This lawsuit amounts to nothing more than corporate harassment. The company stands by its policies and practices.”

—Source: nydailynews.com

A Texas woman is suing restaurant chain Olive Garden claiming she suffered severe burns from a hot stuffed mushroom that became lodged in her throat.

Danny Howard of Fort Worth, Texas, is seeking $200,000 to $1 million in damages, alleging that Olive Garden was negligent in not warning her that the mushrooms were extremely hot. According to the lawsuit, there was no notification that the "mushrooms were particularly hot or (carried) the risk to cause severe burns."

Howard claims the hot mushroom got lodged in her throat, causing her to choke and stop breathing. Howard ultimately vomited up the mushroom. She later sought medical treatment.

—Source: star-telegram.com

A Kentucky judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by an unvaccinated teenager who sued his local health department for temporarily barring students at his school who were not deemed immune against chickenpox.

Following an outbreak of chickenpox affecting roughly 13% of the student population at Our Lady of Sacred Heart/Assumption Academy in Walton, Kentucky, the Northern Kentucky Health Department announced that all students who did not have "proof of vaccination or proof of immunity against chickenpox will not be allowed to attend school until 21 days after the onset of rash for the last ill student or staff member."

According to news reports, the school's sports and extracurricular activities were canceled to avoid spreading the illness to other schools and places.

Jerome Kunkel, a senior basketball player at the school who refused the chickenpox vaccine for religious reasons, filed a lawsuit against the county. In late February, Kunkel was told he couldn't attend or play any upcoming basketball games because test results indicated he was not immune to chickenpox. Kunkel and his father said he was being discriminated against because of religious beliefs.

"The fact that I can't finish my senior year of basketball, like our last couple games is pretty devastating. I mean you go through four years of high school, playing basketball, but you look forward to your senior year," he told news agencies.

Kunkel had argued that missing weeks of school may have lifelong consequences and alleged that the health department had "acted in retaliation for his exercise of his religious beliefs." The health department responded that it had ordered the temporary ban because of the chickenpox outbreak, not because he wasn't vaccinated.

Boone County Circuit Judge James Schrand rejected Kunkel's request to prevent the health department from enforcing its school and activities ban.

"The Court's ruling ... underscores the critical need for Public Health Departments to preserve the safety of the entire community, and in particular the safety of those members of our community who are most susceptible to the dire consequences when a serious, infectious disease such as varicella, is left unabated and uncontrolled," the county stated.

—Source: CNN.com