FRANKLIN, NH — A man fatally shot a woman, their 18-month-old daughter, and wounded another child before he was found dead hours later of an apparent suicide on the bank of the Merrimack River, the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said.

The man, Jamie Bell, 42, was seen fleeing a home in Franklin on Saturday afternoon, Assistant Attorney General Adam Woods said during an evening news conference. Neighbors said they had heard gunshots.

Police arrived at the home to find Nicole Hughes, 35, and Ariella Bell, her daughter with Jamie Bell, shot to death, Woods said.

Woods said Hughes and

This post was authored by Amy Lavine, Esq.

The NY Appellate Division, Second Department, issued a pair of SEQRA decisions in March, 2023 involving the Village of Chestnut Ridge’s 2019 “House of Worship Law,” which sought to allow additional gathering places and houses of worship in residential districts.

in the first case, Matter of Kogut v Village of Chestnut Ridge, 2023 NY Slip Op 01283 (2d Dept. 3/15/23), the court held that the petitioners were timely in filing the proceeding pursuant to the savings provision of CPLR 205(a). The court found that the requirements in that section were satisfied

This post was authored by Amy Lavine, Esq,

A recent decision from the Suffolk County Supreme Court, Matter of Save Sag Harbor v Village of Sag Harbor, involving the village’s adoption of a local law that expanded the definition of an apartment building in order to allow more affordable housing. The village attorney had drafted a negative declaration pursuant to SEQRA, which was given to the village board members at the public hearing, but there was no discussion by the board members or public commenters about the law’s potential environmental impacts.

After closing the public hearing, the board simultaneously

WASHINGTON-Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day is recognized every year since 2021. US Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref is joining leaders across the nation this year to support Tribal communities.

“Recognizing and honoring missing or murdered Indigenous people is a top priority for the Department of Justice, and the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington,” Attorney Waldref. “It remains unacceptable that Native Americans experience some of the highest rates of violence in the country, a situation that is all the more tragic in the light of the generations of trauma already suffered by Indigenous people. We

This post was authored by Matthew Loescher, Esq.

In 2003, the City of Augusta, Georgia enacted an adult-entertainment ordinance with the stated purpose of combating negative secondary effects associated with adult-oriented businesses. The owners and operators of two longstanding nude-dancing clubs in downtown Augusta, the Discotheque Lounge and Joker’s Lounge, sued the City and others claiming that the ordinance and related regulations violated the First Amendment. The district court granted summary judgment to the City on some claims and held that the plaintiffs lacked standing on other claims, and this appeal followed.

On appeal, Plaintiffs first argued that the 2003

This post was authored by Matthew Loescher, Esq.

Appellants, Douglass Ebner, 2253 Cedar Point LLC, and 2243 Cedar Point LLC appealed the judgment of the Erie County Court of Common Pleas, which granted summary judgment in favor of appellee, the City of Sandusky, on Ebner’s counterclaims that Sandusky Ordinance Nos. 12-107 and 17-088 were invalidly enacted and were unconstitutional. The litigation at issue was initiated on October 31, 2017, when Ebner’s neighbor, Judith Kinzel, filed a complaint against Ebner seeking injunctive relief and damages. Specifically, Kinzel alleged that Ebner’s use of the properties for short-term rentals was in violation of

This post was authored by Matthew Loescher, Esq.

Representatives of the City of Paris, Kentucky, applied for a zoning map amendment to rezone the 47 acres of property from a conservation district to light industrial. The Paris City Commission and its representatives entered into a non-disclosure deal with a prospective corporate purchaser to conceal its identity. A bourbon distillery was to be built on the property, but the local Planning and Zoning Commission held a hearing during which evidence was presented, and then voted six to three to deny the zone map amendment. The Planning Commission was overruled by a