Free Republic

Two Central Valley biomass plants have agreed to pay more than $830,000 in fines for violating the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday. “Today’s enforcement actions are a victory for human health,” Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest, said in a statement. The plants in Chowchilla and El Nido, both owned by Global Ampersand, LLC, of Boston, were fined $343,000 and $492,000, respectively. Company representatives did not respond to requests for comment. David Kim, assistant regional counsel for the EPA, said that the fines showed that even the renewable energy industry could run...

The NFL announced today that Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre will be fined $50,000 for the Jenn Sterger episode. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed the announcement on his Twitter account, writing that the NFL found “no violation of league policy,” during its investigation into accusations that Favre sent lewd photographs to Sterger in 2008. Aiello added that Favre’s fine stemmed from a “lack of cooperation” into the investigation. (Snip) Favre, 41, acknowledged earlier this year that he left Sterger voicemails while trying to woo the stunning ex-model in 2008.

Freehold Attorney Fined $2,500 for Trapping, Drowning Squirrels

Cracking the whip on all those throwing plastic bags in drains, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has fined nearly 150 people and collected a fine of Rs 1.32 lakh in a fortnight. After having learnt lessons from July 26 deluge, when plastic bags had blocked drains and led to flooding in the metropolis, the civic body has formed two 'plastic ban' squads consisting of six people. "We have collected a fine of Rs 1.32 lakh from 146 people who were caught throwing plastic in drains in the last 12-13 days. These people are largely hawkers and shopkeepers," Deputy Municipal Commissioner...

LANSING, Mich. - The campaign of former Rep. Joe Schwarz and a Republican group have paid $5,000 in civil fines to settle federal campaign finance violations. The Federal Election Commission said Tuesday that the Battle Creek lawmaker's campaign and the Republican Main Street Partnership PAC coordinated communications for radio ads during the 2006 primary. The FEC said coordinating the work meant the campaign accepted, but did not report, excessive in-kind financial contributions. The Schwarz campaign and GOP group each paid fines of $2,500. Tim Walberg defeated Schwarz in the August 2006 GOP primary and served one term in Congress. Democrat...

DARWIN, Australia - An Australian man has been fined after buckling in a case of beer with a seat belt but leaving a 5-year-old child to sit on the car's floor, police said Tuesday. Constable Wayne Burnett said he was "shocked and appalled" when he pulled over the unregistered car Friday in the central Australian town of Alice Springs. The 30-can beer case was strapped in between two adults sitting in the back seat of the car. The child was also in back, but on the car's floor. "The child was sitting in the lump in the center, unrestrained," Burnett...

A motorist has been fined for defrosting his car outside his home because he left it unattended with the engine running. Ken Hardman was given a £30 fixed penalty notice for leaving his engine on to warm up his car during the cold snap in the morning. He was prosecuted under the Road Traffic Act offence of 'quitting' which is when a person leaves their vehicle's engine running while they are not in it. The 45-year-old was visited by a police officer as part of Operation Cold Start which targets residential areas of Chorley and Leyland in Lancashire where car...

August 30, 2007 Washington Post FEC SENDS A MESSAGE ACT Fined $775,000 The Federal Election Commission yesterday issued the latest in a string of six-figure fines against partisan political groups -- this time, against America Coming Together, a group financed by George Soros and labor organizations that sunk more than $100 million into campaign activities intended to help Democrats in the 2004 elections. The decision to fine the group $775,000, the FEC's third-largest penalty in its three-decade history, was intended to send a stern message to independent groups. The FEC has said it will crack down on groups that raise...

RICHLAND, Wash. - The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday fined the federal Energy Department $1.1 million over violations of an agreement to clean up the Hanford nuclear reservation, the nation's most polluted nuclear site. The fine involved operations at a landfill that is the primary repository for contaminated soils, debris and other hazardous and radioactive waste from cleanup operations across the site. After first shutting down operations upon discovery of the failures, the EPA has permitted the landfill to resume operations under strict oversight. The EPA pointed out problems in a letter to the Energy Department on Tuesday, saying that...

SAN DIEGO -- A Southern California fence-building company, its founder and another executive have pleaded guilty to knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. They will pay a combined penalty of $5 million. Among Golden State Fence's projects in recent years was part of a 14-mile border fence in San Diego. Prosecutors will ask for sentences of six months, but prison time is rare in such cases. The fine, however, is one of the biggest ever imposed in an immigration case. The company will pay most of it. Founder and president Mel Kay will forfeit $200,000. Manager Michael McLaughlin will pay $100,000. The...

Pittsburgh Steelers' linebacker Joey Porter was fined $10,000 by the NFL on Thursday for a gay slur he made towards Cleveland Browns' tight end Kellen Winslow after the game on Thursday. During the game, Winslow was flagged for a personal foul for hitting Steelers linebacker James Farrior after a play. In a post-game interview, Porter referred to Winslow with a derogatory word used to describe homosexuals. On Tuesday, Porter apologized, saying he didn't intend to offend anyone but Winslow. "I guess, how we used that word freely, me using it growing up, I didn't think anything of it," Porter said...

The federal government is considering new rules that would toughen laws against companies hiring undocumented immigrants. The proposed regulations would require companies to respond promptly to letters from the government alerting them to discrepancies between the names of employees and their Social Security numbers, or else be liable for violating immigration laws. Employers currently are under no obligation to respond to these “no-match” letters from the Social Security Administration; there are no criminal or administrative penalties. But if the new regulations are enacted, companies would be liable for having “constructive knowledge” of hiring undocumented immigrants – if they were to...

Gas Stations Fined for Gouging by R News Staff Published Dec 19, 2005 Fifteen gasoline stations statewide have been fined more than $63,000 dollars by New York state for jacking up prices after Hurricane Katrina Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office released Monday the results of a three-month investigation into the gouging. The No-Co gas station on West Main Street in Webster is among those fined for the gouging. State officials say three oil companies, Getty, B.P. Amoco and Lukoil set prices for the service stations they control. Spitzer's office says the investigation of other retailers continues. Local gas prices hit...

The city of San Diego's Ethics Commission has levied the largest fine in its history against San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts for misidentifying contributors to his mayoral bid last year. The Roberts campaign incorrectly identified at least 30 contributors as homemakers or retired when in fact they were employed. Roughly 900 of Roberts' 3,740 contributors were identified in that fashion, and the campaign is trying to confirm how many actually had occupations. The commission's executive director called the campaign's efforts to inform voters of the sources of the funds as "woefully inadequate" – a characterization the Roberts campaign did...

An Arizona national guardsman serving in Iraq has been demoted for posting classified information on his blog, an army official said. Leonard Clark (40) was demoted from specialist to private first class and fined $1 640 said Colonel Bill Buckner, a spokesperson for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, on Monday. Soldiers in Iraq are allowed to maintain blogs but cannot post information about army operations or movements. They also are barred from posting information about the death of a soldier whose family hasn't yet been notified. "The intent of the policy is not to violate soldiers' rights, but to safeguard soldiers," Buckner...

A Romanian traffic cop has been demoted after he fined a driver for “having a face like a moron and being a big monkey”. Marius Vlasceanu pulled over Gheorghe Tosa as he drove through Craiova in Romania, local daily Jurnalul National reported. But Tosa failed to see the funny side as Vlasceanu fined him £22 and handed him a ticket explaining the reason for the fine was “having a face like a moron and being a big monkey”. ananova

DALLAS (May 2) - The NBA fined Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy $100,000 - the largest amount ever for a coach - on Monday, a day after he accused officials of targeting center Yao Ming this postseason and said Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is to blame. While Van Gundy laughed off the penalty and Yao offered to pick up half the tab, the matter jumped to another, far more serious level. Commissioner David Stern called the fine "an intermediary step," adding that an investigation will continue once the Rockets finish their playoff run. He said further punishment is...

'Pimp My Ride' shop fined by feds Replacing air bags with video screens illegal By Danny Hakim NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE Posted on Fri, Dec. 31, 2004 DETROIT - Pimp the ride, pay the price. In the first of what is expected to be a broader crackdown against auto customization shops, federal regulators this week levied a $16,000 fine on West Coast Customs, the celebrity auto body shop affiliated with MTV's "Pimp My Ride," a reality show that makes over rundown cars. The shop, which has customized sport utility vehicles for celebrities such as Shaquille O'Neal, was fined for...

Counterterrorism efforts got a major boost last week when an American district court found three Muslim organizations and one individual, mostly based in the Chicago area, guilty of funding Hamas and fined them an astonishing US$156 million.The four were found liable for their roles in the murder of an American teenager, David Boim, on May 13, 1996, when he was shot by Hamas operatives as he waited for a bus near Jerusalem. This case is important in itself, providing some measure of justice and relief for the Boim family. Beyond that, it helps fight terrorism in four ways.First, it validates...

Ex-beauty queen convicted of fraud A former beauty queen who collected Social Security benefits by claiming she was disabled was sentenced yesterday to nearly four years in prison and was ordered to pay $193,000 in restitution. Denise Henderson – Mrs Minnesota International in 1999 and Mrs Iowa International in 2001 – also must complete three years of supervision once she’s released. Defense lawyers said they will appeal. The judge instructed Henderson, 44, and her attorneys not to comment afterward. She was ordered to begin serving her three-year, 10-month prison sentence after the holidays. In August, a federal jury found Henderson...