VERY desperate, investigators say. So desperate, in fact, they say the 43-year-old suburban Philadelphia woman posted an ad on the Web site Craigslist in which she described herself as a "gorgeous, tall, buxom blonde diehard Phillies fan" desperately seeking Series tickets.

LBN Senior Correspondent Sean Carter says there is no basis for the charges.

The pilots — Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., the captain, and Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., the first officer — told safety investigators they were working on their personal laptop computers and lost track of time and place.

The pilots, who were out of communications with air traffic controllers for 91 minutes, violated numerous federal safety regulations in the incident last Wednesday night, the FAA said in a statement. The violations included failing to comply with air traffic control instructions and clearances and operating carelessly and recklessly, the agency said.

"You engaged in conduct that put your passengers and your crew in serious jeopardy," FAA regional counsel Eddie Thomas said in a letter to Cheney. Northwest Flight 188 was not in communications with controllers or the airline dispatchers "while you were on a frolic of your own. ... This is a total dereliction and disregard for your duties."

A similar letter was sent to Cole.

The pilots said they were brought back to awareness when a flight attendant contacted them on the aircraft's intercom. By then, they were over Wisconsin at 37,000 feet. They turned the Airbus A320 with its 144 passengers around and landed safely in Minneapolis.Aviation Lawyer Charles Brewer

The revocations of the pilots' commercial licenses are effective immediately, FAA said.

The pilots have 10 days to appeal the emergency revocations to the National Transportation Safety Board. If that fails, they can apply for a new certificate after one year.

The pilots' union at Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest last year, had cautioned against a rush to judgment. The pilots told investigators who interviewed them on Sunday that they had no previous accidents or safety incidents.

Sacramento attorney Roger Dreyer of Dreyer, Babich, Buccola & Callaham LLC filed the suit on behalf of Strange’s husband, William Strange, their two children, and Ronald Sims, the father and guardian and Strange’s oldest child.

The family of Strange, who was 28 when she died, sued Philadelphia-based Entercom Communications Corp. and its subsidiary Entercom Sacramento LLC. Entercom owns and operates KDND 107.9 The End. The lawsuit named eight employees of Entercom as defendants, including “managing agents” John Geary, Steve Weed, Robin Pechota and Liz Dial, and “the talent,” Adam Cox, Steve Maney, Patricia Sweet and Matt Carter.

The jury found that neither Strange, nor Entercom Communications, had any fault in her death. They assigned 100 percent of the fault to Entercom Sacramento.

Solomon Neuhardt is a dedicated attorney in Billings, MT who specializes in accident and personal injury cases.

With years of experience as an attorney in Billings Montana and surrounding areas, Solomon has developed Neuhardt Law Firm into one of the best in America.

Stuart is an attorney with over 25 years of in house corporate legal experience. Stuart has vast experience in consumer products industries, for which he has counseled on a wide variety of general business, commercial contracts, employment matters, litigation, mergers and acquisitions and corporate compliance and governance. He has a proven track record of forging successful working relationships with executive management teams.

Prominent Houston attorney John O'Quinn was one of two men who died this morning when their speeding SUV slammed into a tree on Allen Parkway after the driver apparently lost control, police said.

 "I'm stunned. The community lost one of its biggest assets," said Rick Laminack, who worked with O'Quinn from 1987 until 2006. "He was a great lawyer who shared a lot of his wealth with people who needed help."

 O'Quinn, who made his fortune largely in personal injury cases, most notably in successful breast implant cases in the early 1990s, was a local philanthropist. He gave money to the Harris County Children's Assessment Center, the Houston Council on Alcohol and Drugs and various Texas Medical Center institutions including St. Luke's Hospital, which has a tower bearing his name..

The football field at the University of Houston's Robertson Stadium also is named for O'Quinn, a big UH supporter.

"Big man, big loss," Laminack said.

He also was a prolific giver to Democratic Party candidates. In the 2006 governor's race, he was the single biggest donor to Democratic nominee Chris Bell's unsuccessful campaign to unseat Republican Gov. Rick Perry. O'Quinn gave Bell $2.5 million. (Dale Lezon, Houston Chronicle)

Legal career

Making his name in handling plaintiff's litigation among O'Quinn's biggest wins were:

• $1 billion verdict in 2006 against Wyeth Laboratory for its diet drug, fen-phen
• $17.3 billion tobacco settlement for the state of Texas
• $100 million for silicone breast implants made by Dow Corning

In total, O'Quinn is estimated to have won $1.5 billion for the firm of O'Quinn & Laminack of Houston. According to a 2006 article in Forbes, O'Quinn's own firm had pending cases against stock brokers  and hedge funds for shorting the shares of weak companies, and against Ford for rollover accidents caused by the Ford Explorer  In the past decade, O'Quinn won, through settlement or verdicts, more than $20 billion for his clients.

(Ringler) After passage by the California State Assembly and Senate, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on October 11 signed into law Senate Bill 510, which gives greater judicial oversight to prevent predatory practices involving structured settlement annuity buyouts. The new law is much needed and will help stop companies from preying on a very vulnerable segment of the population, says Patrick Farber, a structured settlement broker with Ringler Associates.

Pat FarberInstead of receiving lump sum payments for defendants after a usually life-altering injury, injured parties, under legal and financial counsel, often opt for structured settlements--where payments are spread over time through the purchase of insurance annuities. These annuities are designed to provide long-term financial security and stability to the injured or disabled party and their families. When payments are set up within a structured settlement, payments are tax-free for the life of the annuity. In addition, the settlement is designed so that the injured party or "well meaning" friends and relatives are not tempted to spend the settlement in a reckless manner. Studies show that up to 90 percent of lump sum payments are spent within five years or receipt.

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