Voting machine company settles lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; Diebold Inc. agreed to pay $2.6 million to
settle a lawsuit filed by California alleging that the electronic
voting company sold the state and several counties shoddy voting
equipment.
Although critics characterized the settlement announced
Wednesday as a slap on the wrist, Diebold also agreed to pay an
undisclosed sum to partially reimburse Alameda, San Diego and other
counties for the cost of paper backup ballots, ink and other
supplies in last week’s election.
New county trauma center to open
A downtown hospital announced it would open the county’s
first new trauma center in more than a decade, a move that would
provide another option for treating severely injured patients if
the trauma unit is closed at the troubled Martin Luther King
Jr./Drew Medical Center.
The announcement from California Hospital Medical Center arrived
five days before a public hearing where the County Board of
Supervisors could vote to close the King/Drew trauma center. County
health officials and supervisors say the trauma center has become
such a drain that it threatens the survival of the entire
hospital.
Residents in the struggling neighborhoods around the hospital
have objected to the closure, and some paramedics have said gunshot
victims could die in the time it takes to get them to another
trauma center.
Compiled from Bruin wire services.