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Michael Moore and Crackers, the corporate crime-fighting chicken make a house call on Mike's Emmy-winning 1994-96 NBC+FOX show, TV Nation. See below. Breaking News Nevada State Bar whitewashes TV pitchman and non-practicing lawyer Glen Lerner Las Vegas Review-Journal 2-2-2010 More of the self-styled heavy hitter's greatest hits... ...and the hits just keep on coming Running red in a frozen economy Sparks and Reno face huge fines for labor law violations Cancerexia: Ralph Lauren boycott widens Barbwire by Barbano/ Expanded from Daily Sparks Tribune / 12-13-2009 Health care in prime time, ready or not Barbwire by Barbano/ Daily Sparks Tribune /12-6-2009 If Reform Fails: Health Care, Jobs & Unions LIVE TV Dec. 6 Available to every TV in N/E California and N/W Nevada Click here to see the show live on your computer NOTE: The above webstreaming link will not be hot until 5:30 p.m. PST / 01:30 ZULU/GMT, a half-hour before showtime on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009. Note: The above live link is now disabled. Click here to view the Dec. 6 show on your computer Catch the CW network re-run, 9:00 p.m. PST 12-6-2009 /05:00 ZULU/GMT Turn on, tune in and tell a friend If Reform Fails: Health Care, Jobs and Unions LIVE TV Dec. 6, 2009 Barbwire by Barbano/ Expanded from Daily Sparks Tribune / 11-29-2009 Give 'em health Harry, part deux Barbwire by Barbano/ Daily Sparks Tribune / 11-22-2009 Déjà vu all over again Renown/Washoe Med, always in desperate need of nurses, fires 15 of the best Message from the Mahatma Keith Olbermann Exposes Congressional Opponents of Universal Health Care

NEW: The Laub & Laub law firm, ubiquitous in TV advertising, has been hit with an embarrassing decision for attempting to rip off an injured client. "Instead of doing anything to benefit Mrs. (Raquel) Mora, Laub and Laub simply sought to increase its fees in direct conflict with the law and its clients' interests while purporting to represent her," Judge Robert Perry ruled. "In reaching this decision, the Court is mindful that Laub and Laub has a reported history of conduct wherein it disregarded clients' rights in preference to its own," Perry wrote in zeroing the firm's legal fees in the case and awarding them to Mrs. Mora. (From the 7-26-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune. Download the decision here. Access more Laub laments here.)

EXCLUSIVE: Nevada's experiment in hospital cost mitigation worked — so the state legislature repealed it, naturally.

Cleansing the soap opera of Follytix 2008
Judge in the Sludge + More Charter Cable Trudge
New 2008 Michael Moore film rebroacast schedule on Reno TV
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune / 10-19-2008

The good, the bad and the ugly
Illegal voting machines and killer vaccines
Michigan judge's ruling will affect Nevada cable ratepayers
Expanded from the 10-5-2008 Daily Sparks Tribune

Paul Newman: Driven Star
New Michael Moore film premieres on SNCAT this week
Slow progress on saving community radio-TV stations
Expanded from the 9-28-2008 Daily Sparks Tribune

Breaking News: Nurses win first contract at St. Mary's Reno
Washoe Med/Renown nurses also ink deal

Sen. Obama, meet Mr. Durocher
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune / 8-31-2008
Plus: The long lost OSHA labor films Ronald Reagan tried to destroy

Reno-Sparks-Washoe Charter cable channels 16 & 216 High-definition channel 80-295 2:00-4:00 p.m. PDT, 21:00-23:00 ZULU/GMT/CUT/SUT

What may well be the first marriage of talk radio, talk TV and webcast webchat

BREAKING NEWS
Charter cable attempts to kill community TV stations

Shining light into dark places
Charter cable and Reno City Council collude on keeping the public in the dark
Community radio/TV need your support now more than ever
Barbwire / Daily Sparks Tribune / 9-27-2009 / Updated 9-29-2009

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., ready to join legal action against Charter Cable

As the Barbwire show scooped the state on Friday, Aug. 22, 2008: Charter has caved in and postponed the execution date for 90 days. Thanks for bringing the heat. See the Barbwire in the Sunday Sparks Tribune for all the inside baseball. Be well. Raise hell. AB

SPARKS, WASHOE, CARSON AND DOUGLAS CABLE CUSTOMERS URGED TO CONTACT LOCAL OFFICIALS
ReSurge.TV may broaden legal action to include ratepayers and program producers outside of Reno
8-25-2008, Updated 8-28-2008

The evil empire eats its appetite
Community television wins a 90-day stay of execution
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune / 8-24-2008

Reno city council votes unanimously to sue Charter to keep community TV accessible
Resurge.TV will also file

Fight Back!

The people were heard on Aug. 14. Call, write or show up
at Reno City Hall on Wednesday, Aug. 20

Bandwidth bandidos admit to their greed
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune 8-17-2008

The people vs. Charter's pirate ship
Time to sue the bastards: Lawyers wanted
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune 8-10-2008

Donate to the cable ratepayer legal defense fund at ReSurge.TV

Deregulation is never having to say you're sorry
Bad news for cable subscribers, good news for Hug High School
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune 8-3-2008

Washoe Med: Renown for Ripping Us Off
Inhospitable Reno hospital terrorizes its nurses for daring to picket for an hour.
Barbwire Special Web Edition 4-10-2008
Take it to the streets today!

Copyright © 2004-2008 Andrew Barbano

"My doctor killed me"
Daily Sparks Tribune 2-24-2008

Colorado right-to-work-for-less proposal on the ropes
as residents learn the facts about fire-at-will
In These Times 3-14-2008

Longtime St. Mary's hospital employee
"Fired for cancer?" in a fire-at-will state
A not very Christian tale
Reno News & Review Editorial 3-13-2008

Fired for cancer?
Reno News & Review 3-6-2008

Right-to-work-for-less / fire-at-will law continues to plague Nevada
after more than half a century

Cab passenger in accident finds no one has to pay for her injuries
After hit-and-run, she learns Nevada law contains insurance loophole for taxis

Health care shapes up as the biggest political issue in the nation. (War only makes it worse.) Visit the new NevadaLabor.com Health Care War Room featuring the first online publication of the 1995 Washoe County Grand Jury Report detailing the corruption and skullduggery around the theft of Reno's publicly-owned hospital.

Governor challenges Sierra Health/United Health merger,
cites United Health's poor record

Heavy hitter lawyer Glenn Lerner:
negligence as an active defense strategery
...and the hits just keep on coming

Falling Short of Professional Standards
A new, worrisome survey raises doubts about physicians' willingness
to meet their medical and societal responsibilities
New York Times 12-24-2007
Free registration may be required.

Widening pool could hurt juries
New law might let noncitizens - who can't legally serve ­ slip through

System near collapse: Indigent defense reforms discussed
Proposed caseload caps garner most attention at hearing

Insurance company ratings irk doctors

Ex-official accused of embezzling money from osteopathic board

Judicial selection panel to open public hearings and some records

Judicial Discipline Commission dismisses some charges against judge

Nevada Supremes make sealing civil cases tougher

SEALED RECORDS: Trend among cases criticized
Las Vegas Review-Journal 12-16-2007

Chiropractor found guilty of unprofessional conduct after man's death
Previously pled guilty to to involuntary manslaughter
Las Vegas Review-Journal 12-16-2007

Reno Gazette-Journal Editorial:
Report of doctor disciplines show state trying to do its job
Problem physicians finally are being held to account.

Medical examiners board disciplines 7 doctors, 1 assistant

Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners website

ALLEGED MEDICAL SCHEME: Conspiracy cases now separated
Lawyer's speedy trial request granted; judge rips prosecutors

In the works: How to avoid 'surprise' medical bills

The "socialized medicine" myth
by Hugh Jackson, Las Vegas CityLife 12-6-2007

Alternative medicine on trial
A successful cancer doctor in Reno comes under federal scrutiny for New Age practices. Here’s the story from his point of view. (The Reno News & Review has covered Dr. Forsythe extensively for years. For more stories, use their search engine for "Forsythe".)

ADVERTISING ARGUMENT: Bar may face fight over lawyer ads
State Supreme Court rules require review of TV, print claims

Columnist Erin Neff: Sick over a merger

United Healthcare merger passes one test but faces additional scrutiny

Assemblywoman Leslie: Insurance deal sailed by with "big holes"

Sealed Clark County district court cases are not tracked

MySpace judgment: Guilty
A substitute judge lost his position with the North Las Vegas Justice Court because of hostile comments aimed at prosecutors on his MySpace page.

Insurers ignore Nevada prompt payment statute in paying doctors

Charges against Reno doctor dropped

Shut down Christian health plan
State says whether or not it's called insurance, rules must be followed

Reno-Sparks-Washoe Charter cable channels 16 & 216 High-definition channel 80-295 2:00-4:00 p.m. PDT, 21:00-23:00 ZULU/GMT/CUT/SUT

What may well be the first marriage of talk radio, talk TV and webcast webchat

Court access policy drafted
Officials want to clarify process for how documents will be handled

Defamation suit against suspended LV Judge Halverson allowed to proceed

LVRJ Columnist John L. Smith: Judges Halverson and Hardcastle turn LV justice center into comedy central

Las Vegas Review-Journal editor Thomas Mitchell: Judge Hardcastle exhibits unfathomable hubris in testimony to keep court proceedings secret

KNAPP: Break in LV doctors corruption case expected soon

Spill from a ladder takes LVRJ columnist Erin Neff beyond the headlines of a troubled hospital and into its trauma center
For those interested in the ongoing scandals at the Las Vegas area county hospital, University Medical Center, try a search for UMC at the Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Review-Journal or LV CityLife websites.

University of Massachusetts professor decries "medical tourism" in Nevada
and builds a whole website about it

High court suspends LV lawyer Crawford

Jane Ann Morrison:
New rules on attorney ads still leave room for vagueness and lameness
Attorney advertising rules OK'd by justices

State Bar pays big for bad lawyers

State senate committee votes for doctor-backed "I'm sorry" law legal protection

Criminal defense attorneys oppose reinstatement of "guilty but mentally ill" verdicts

Jane Ann Morrison:
Simple human pain at core of complex doctor-lawyer conspiracy charges

Sheila Leslie's Assembly Bill 146 would require the state to start an Internet listing intended to allow individuals to shop around for the best and lowest-priced care

Las Vegas Sun Editorial: A sickening trend — Health insurance industry's practice of retroactively canceling coverage must stop

Concern brewing about control of clerks being moved under Clark County judges

DISPENSING OF DRUGS: Doctor to be tried for murder

Contraceptives and Pahrump protest at UNLV

Former state workers comp insurer set to go public, providing a financial windfall to employers
As with the privatization of Reno-Sparks' Washoe Medical Center, now renown for breaking its promise to lower health care costs, a few former public employees will become obscenely wealthy.

The constant hassle in implementing Nevada's new anti-smoking law
NevadaLabor.com hospitality industry news

Laub faces another suspension of law license

Las Vegas nurses lockout ends, picket lines go down after top officials mediate
NevadaLabor.com Health Care News

All southern Nevada hospitals skip accountability conference

MAJOR EXPOSÉ Waiting through the pain: Delays in disability cases long and getting longer Case studies reveal claimants died while awaiting benefits they deserved Disabled shouldn’t suffer Reno Gazette-Journal Editorial 8-1-2006

 

Editor's Note: Alas and alack, the very important news roundup about disability, above, has been wiped off the face of the web. Many of the news links on this site are from Nevada dailies. In late 2006, the Reno Gannett-Journal began randomly nuking much of its archive as a cockamamie way to pinch pennies. If you encounter any broken links, I encourage you to contact them and send me a copy. On the one hand, they want to build their web traffic in order to increase the price of ads. On the other hand, they are killing that very traffic. Far be it from me to reconcile the Dilbert-style motivations of an outfit for which a 38 percent net profit is not enough. If you can explain it, please enlighten me. — AB

NEWS UPDATES — Nov. 12 to Dec. 6, 2006

40-bed addition to Rawson-Neal southern Nevada mental hospital
can't open due to lack of doctors

Legal challenge targets smoking ban

Columnist JANE ANN MORRISON:
Backers of pro-smoking Question 4 find too late that honesty really is the best policy

Control of Eighth Judicial District Court transferred

Judge Saitta sentences doctor to two life terms in molestation of boy, 9
Las Vegas Review Journal 12-5-2006
AND MORE: Former medical resident gets 327-month sentence
More than 27 years in federal prison, LVRJ 11-21-2006

Pahrump emergency responders charged with felonies in death of patient

State's health ranking drops

New rules cause confusion
Some may opt out of Medicaid benefits because of document requirements
and fear of deportation

Columnist JOHN L. SMITH:
FBI investigation into doctor-lawyer collusion moving forward

Attorneys sued over tax penalties Couple say forms not filed,
meeting with IRS missed

Society's lost souls become UMC's John and Jane Does

Study: Health insurance costs outstrip wages

Attorney who came to court drunk court drunk now sober,
committed to rebuilding career

Attorney indicted on tax charges

Boulder City lawyer agrees to disbarment

MALPRACTICE LAWSUIT: Justice delayed, denied
Woman sues lawyer who vanished after settling case

Trial of Reno cancer doctor postponed

Las Vegas Review-Journal IN DEPTH:
LV's UMC provides lots of care to illegal immigrants, most of whom can't pay

Columnist John L. Smith:
Allegations of unnecessary back surgeries will send a chill down your spine

Nevada's Cancer Kids

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MORE NEWS

Federal investigation into Las Vegas doctors and lawyers revealed
KLAS TV-8 News, 11-8-2006

Saitta upends Becker, who becomes the third incumbent Nevada supreme court justice unseated in the past 100 years
(Patrick McCarran — 1918, Noel Manoukian — 1984)

Insurance company drops maverick cancer doctor
Reno Gazette-Journal 10-11-2006
Reno osteopath under fire
Reno Gazette-Journal 10-8-2006

Ads so tasteless you want to sue
State Bar debates how far lawyers can go
Las Vegas Sun 8-7-2006
Lawyer/advertiser Lerner plans counterpunch after taking heavy hit from arbitrator
Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Jane Ann Morrison, 10-9-2006
...and the self-styled heavy hitter's hits just keep on coming

The doctor is in, for a price
In Las Vegas, premium service is offered for an annual fee over and above the actual treatment cost
Las Vegas Sun editorial, 10-8-2006
For patients willing to pay, the doctor is always in
Las Vegas Sun, 10-6-2006

FRESHLY UPDATED DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS

BARBWIRE Sicko: workers, renters and kids

Panel charged with regulating alternative medicine criticized

Judge issues gag order in Prempro case

Doctor indicted in drug scandal

Reno Gazette-Journal Editorial: Commit to training doctors

Doctor shortage predictions dire
Gee — We thought the 2004 malpractice damage cap was supposed to draw 'em here like flies!

Nevada tops the nation for a projected shortage of family physicians, according to a national report

Nevada Bar opposes breakup of 9th Circuit

Federal judge orders new trial in Las Vegas doctor's discrimination case

Judge Del Vecchio accused of sexual harassment

COLD SHOULDER: Fernley judge criticized for ruling on killing muskrat by freezing

Reno lawyer Kevin Mirch faces fraud and other charges

LV atty Joseph Carmagno enters drug, alcohol rehab facility

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Suit claims Washoe Med violated antitrust laws
Saint Mary's isn't the only health-care provider complaining about Washoe Health's contract negotiations.
Reno Gazette-Journal 8-20-2006
The above link is now stale due to the RGJ's penny-pinching. If anyone has the text, please send it here. Thanks.

Nursing shortage is linked to instructors' salaries
Las Vegas Sun 8-19-2006
Nurses wanted: University officials and legislators set goal
Las Vegas Review-Journal 8-9-2006

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Las Vegas Sun Editorial: A plan to stop the "begging"

Campaign fundraising makes judge feel like a hooker on a street corner

Nevada Supreme Court asks judge for briefs on proposal to prohibit direct solicitation
of campaign contributions by judicial candidates
Las Vegas Sun 8-17-2006

Washoe Dist. Judge Brent Adams submits draft code of judicial conduct amendment
to prohibit judges from actively soliciting campaign money
Las Vegas Review-Journal 7-28-2006

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Political Writer ERIN NEFF:
Money backing tax and condemnation initiatives isn't from Nevada
The only thing green in the grass-roots efforts behind two statewide ballot initiatives is the flow of cash from a New York City millionaire. His name is Howard Rich…
Las Vegas Review-Journal 8-13-2006

TROJAN HORSE
Two Clark County commissioners say eminent domain ballot question loaded with perks for lawyers and creates new class of lawsuits
Las Vegas Review-Journal 8-13-2006

Washoe Regional Medical Center enters housing business to attract employees; competitors watching
Reno Gazette-Journal 8-13-2006

State-founded malpractice insurer seeks to go private
Las Vegas Review-Journal 8-1-2006

Patients feel abandoned by physicians
They begged and pleaded, but to no avail. Marsha and David Meyer couldn't convince their family doctor to keep them as patients.
Las Vegas Review-Journal 6-14-2006

Lawsuits against doctors decrease but new Nevada law hasn't led to malpractice insurance premium cuts
Las Vegas Sun 3-15-2006

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Workplace health care news

Sen. Joe Neal's 2002 universal health care proposal looks visionary in retrospect

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YOGI BERRA JUDICATURE: Déjà vu all over again County clerk's duties may shift. Gomorrah South judges accused of power grab in a situation similar to what happened in Washoe County (see below) Las Vegas Sun 4-26-2006

NOBODY HOME —The above photo was taken at the clerk's desk at the Washoe County Courthouse on July 24, 2006. No one was available to accept filings on a busy afternoon. After a prolonged battle by elected Washoe County Clerk Amy Harvey, the Nevada Supreme Court decided that the courts rather than county clerks should manage court clerical functions. Perhaps this photo should make the rounds in Gomorrah South before the judges down there perform a similar exercise in diminishing returns. If their cumulative honors really want to be efficient, they might instruct the guy in the back of the room to switch off the lights on his way out since apparently nobody will need them. Washoe County OKs hiring of more court security officers Pay blamed for exodus of bailiffs

LV doctor shot by patient is released from hospital

Jon Ralston: Doctor's lobby never gets enough
Las Vegas Sun 7-21-2006

Prosecutor's involvement called a lapse

Las Vegas lawyer named frontrunner for moral obtuseness award
NevadaLabor.com 7-9-2006

Plastic surgeon asks court to reverse $500,000 judgment
Las Vegas Review-Journal 5-10-2006

Update: Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 4:08 a.m. PDT — Nevada ranks among the worst in the nation for citizens without access to any health care: Nevada ranks 12th among 50 states and the District of Columbia when it comes to the number of uninsured adults with no access to care, according to a report released today. An estimated 36 percent of uninsured adults in Nevada are unable to get care. Read the entire Reno Gazette-Journal sad story...Speaking of poor health care...

ON THIS DATE in 1986, the world's worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere; at least 31 Soviets died immediately. [New York Times e-headlines]

Arbitration agreements can come between doctors and patients
Las Vegas Sun 4-24-2006

BARBWIRE: Fosamax/Actonel side effects affect Nevadans
Now, if Merck could just come up with a safe version of Fosamax to shore up the brittle housing market...
Daily Sparks Tribune 3-12-2006

Legal Beat: "Silent Tort Reform" Is Overriding States' Powers
Stephen Labaton, New York Times, 3-11-2006 (May require no-charge registration)

BARBWIRE: Nevada Supreme Court decision contradicts itself
Welcome to Legal LaLaLand
Daily Sparks Tribune 3-4-2006

BARBWIRE: You're worth $100K dead
Daily Sparks Tribune 2-19-2006

Another public relations coup for Nevada
Asleep at the switch: 67 percent decrease in board actions comes despite a 42 percent increase
in the number of doctors practicing in the state.
Also linked to this major news roundup
Nevada made deal; California wants doctor’s license
How to file a complaint
FSMB audit recommendations
Full text of February 2004 special report on doctors and the state medical board
Choosing a surgeon
Tips for choosing your physician
Reno Gazette-Journal 5-22-2005

Medical board not tough enough?
An annual report by a public interest watchdog group has reignited debate about how Nevada disciplines its doctors
Las Vegas Sun 5-8-2006

Las Vegas Review-Journal's Judging the Judges, 2006 Archive

Reno-Sparks-Washoe Charter cable channels 16 & 216 High-definition channel 80-295 2:00-4:00 p.m. PDT, 21:00-23:00 ZULU/GMT/CUT/SUT

What may well be the first marriage of talk radio, talk TV and webcast webchat

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