Steve Korris News
East St. Louis $10 vacant land purchase questioned in Monsanto pollution suit
EAST ST. LOUIS - Lawyers who arranged for this city to pay St. Clair County $10 each for 73 vacant parcels possibly worth $3.6 million each in a pollution suit against Monsanto admitted on Nov. 21 that the sale lacked necessary approval from the county board.
Gerrymander law Greenwood voted for contributed to her political demise
SPRINGFIELD - Former state representative LaToya Greenwood has lost to Rep. Kevin Schmitt twice since she approved a gerrymander that legislators enacted for the safety of representatives Jay Hoffman and Katie Stuart.
Prairie State Generating seeks stay on Sierra Club suit pending clean air permit
BENTON - Owners of Prairie State Generating asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Reona Daly to stay a Sierra Club suit seeking to shut down their power plant on Nov. 20.
Crash suit plaintiff allegedly seeks to keep middle driver in case to defeat diversity jurisdiction
EAST ST. LOUIS - Kariah Buckmire of St. Clair County pleads for a chance to prove that Zachary Langley of Caseyville contributed to an accident that happened when a vehicle behind him shoved his vehicle into hers.
Illinois election results by county: How Harris compared to Pritzker's '22 popularity
ILLINOIS - Counties with the fewest black residents liked Vice President Kamala Harris more than they liked Gov. JB Pritzker in 2022, but Cook County with more than a million black residents liked Pritzker more than Harris.
Meta challenges Illinois biometric law in Messenger case at SDIL
EAST ST. LOUIS - Facebook provider Meta Platforms challenged the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act on constitutional grounds at U.S. district court on Nov. 14.
Failing Venice school district sued over discrimination, hostility claims
BENTON - Former Venice school principal Roshion McKinley and former instructional coach Lakishia Brock allege discrimination, hostility and retaliation against the school district.
Alleged polluters can perform discovery on city of East St. Louis
EAST ST. LOUIS - For three years this city performed discovery on possible pollution by Monsanto, Pharmacia and Solutia, and now defendants get to perform discovery on the city.
ESL police chief says he wasn't served with excessive force suit; Facing $825K default judgment
BENTON - East St. Louis Police Chief Kendall Perry, facing an $825,035.97 default judgment on an excessive force claim, swore at a hearing that no one served the complaint on him.
Prison warden denied move to reinstate 'deliberate indifference' defense
EAST ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn denied leave for prison warden Daniel Monti to reinstate a defense he withdrew last year against prisoner Charles Yoder’s complaint of deliberate indifference to his medical conditions.
Honduran woman granted asylum pursues lawsuit against U.S. for the year she was expelled
EAST ST. LOUIS - Somewhere in Caseyville a mother from Honduras hides from gangs and pursues a lawsuit against the nation that granted asylum to her and her family.
Plaintiff lawyer offers to drop defendant in exchange for not removing injury case, removal notice says
EAST ST. LOUIS - Lawyer Branden Stein claims lawyer Joseph Bartholomew offered to dismiss an Illinois defendant from an injury suit in exchange for a promise not to remove a Georgia defendant to U.S. district court.
Judge quashes subpoena of doctor's tax and financial records in crash suit
BENTON - Rich, Rich and Cooksey of Fairview Heights didn’t convert a client’s treating physician to a retained expert, Senior U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert ruled on Oct. 31.
Caseyville opposes CSX motion to dismiss flood lawsuit; 'Tracks are knowingly inoperable'
EAST ST. LOUIS - Caseyville claims CSX railroad can’t plead that the village’s lawsuit over a flood interferes with railroad operations when it hasn’t used the track since the flood.
Former St. Clair County HR director claims Chairman Kern, others defamed him
EAST ST. LOUIS - Former St. Clair County human resources director Frank Bergman claims county board chairman Mark Kern defamed him and improperly terminated his employment.
Judge Rosenstengel: Newer Paraquat plaintiffs can't dodge exposure subpoenas
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ruled on Oct. 28 that 402 plaintiffs in nationwide litigation of claims that weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease must serve subpoenas for proof of exposure.
Law firm opposes motion to disqualify opposing legal malpractice expert
BENTON - Quinn Johnston law firm of Peoria, facing a malpractice suit, claims product liability lawyer Joseph Bleyer of Marion can explain actions of lawyers in a product liability case to a jury as well as a legal malpractice expert.
New retaliatory discharge suit against ESL Housing Authority details alleged sexual harrassment
BENTON - Jacqueline Powell, former interim director of the East St. Louis Housing Authority, sued the authority’s board over conduct of former board president Shonte Mueller 10 days after Mueller sued the city for removing her from the board.
Nameoki Township granted summary judgment in residents' suit claiming they were banned from premises
EDWARDSVILLE - Nameoki Township didn’t ban former township clerk Nick Cohan and wife Sheilby Cohan from public offices as they alleged, Madison County associate judge Ron Motil ruled on Oct. 8.
Parent opposes OTHS motion to dismiss suit challenging residency; Says evidence 'irrelevant, specious'
EAST ST. LOUIS - Niesha Anthony told the truth when she registered daughter Zariah at O’Fallon Township High School according to her counsel Mark Schuver of Belleville.