According to ContactMusic.com, Stacy Rowles, 54, a celebrated jazz musician, passed away on October 27, 2009 at her home in Burbank, California following a car accident. Rowles died from complications follwing the collision that occurred on October 13, 2009.

Rowles was a jazz trumpeter, fluegelhorn player and singer. She played regularly in several all-female jazz groups, including the Jazz Birds and Maiden Voyage. She was the daugher of jazz legend Jimmy Rowles and gained prominence on the Los Angeles jazz scene in the 1980s.

Stacy and her father recorded her 1984 album Tell It Like It Is and their 1992 duet album, Looking Back, among others. They also played together often until shortly before his death in 1996. Stacy is survived by her sister Stephanie Rowles and her brother Gary.

According to the Press Democrat, Eunice Peterson, a 91-year-old Burnside Road resident will most likely have no criminal charges pressed against her after she apparently struck and injured Sally Wong, a 43-year-old cyclist on Friday, October 16, and kept on driving.  Wong was struck from behind, knocked off her bike and sustained moderate injuries.  Her bike helmet was reportedly cracked in the mishap.  She was taken to the hospital, treated and released.

According to the CHP, it seems as though there was no intent on her part to flee the scene intentionally.  Peterson read about the incident in The Press Democrat and then contacted the CHP on Saturday stating that she thought she was the one who hit Wong.  Investigators said that it did not appear Peterson knew she hit someone.  Peterson’s driver’s license could be revoked if it appears she has eyesight or hearing issues, or cannot drive safely any longer.

According to the CHP, the front right corner of Peterson’s Corolla hit the rear wheel of Wong’s bicycle.  There was only minor damage to the Corolla.  The CHP said that it is possible that Peterson drove by, clipped Wong’s bicycle, sent the cyclist tumbling and wasn’t aware.  It is uncertain how fast the car was going when it struck the cyclist.

According to the Sacramento Bee, Cannon Hoops, a 4-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, received $1.75 million up front and will receive another $4 million in annuities that are expected to pay for his medical and assistive care as well as future lost earnings over the rest of his life.  The $5.75 million settlement was approved on Friday by a judge on his behalf.  The money was awarded by the University of California Board of Regents as a result of injuries the boy suffered when he was born in the UC Davis Medical Center.  Cannon undergoes speech, physical, aqua and several other forms of therapy.

Cannon’s parents also have been awarded $250,000 to waive any future wrongful death claims in the event their only son does not survive. The total of $6 million is the largest amount the university has ever agreed to pay to settle a medical malpractice case.

The attorney for the university declined to comment but in his court papers, he compiled a list of denials and defenses in his answer to the Hoops family’s complaint.  One of them was that the “comparative negligence” of the boy’s parents contributed to his injuries and that they gave their “informed consent” to the hospital’s practices at the time their son was born.

Sacramento attorney Leo H. Schuering Jr., who represented the university, declined to comment. In his court papers, Schuering compiled a list of denials and defenses in his answer to the Hoops family’s complaint. One of them was that the “comparative negligence” of the boy’s parents contributed to his injuries and that they gave their “informed consent” to the hospital’s practices at the time their son was born.

The family’s attorney stated that Cannon suffered “severe and permanent” neurological injuries as a result of a lack of oxygen to his brain during his December 1, 2004 birth at the medical center.  He said that Cannon’s fetal monitor strip “showed distress in the baby” just before he was born but that the attending medical personnel “all ignored or didn’t recognize or realize it, no one spoke up or said anything, and they all blindly proceeded to go through with a normal vaginal delivery.”

He went on to say that “the baby came out blue, not breathing, and it then took a while for the physicians to recognize there was a problem.”  He alleges that if the doctors had delivered the baby by Caesarean section, it “would have prevented the whole problem.”

The original complaint in the case named three doctors as defendants.  Richard Clement Graves’ license has not been renewed and “no practice is permitted” on his part.  Cheryl Ann Walker was placed on five years probation by the medical board for failing to note on her license application that she has twice been convicted of misdemeanor petty theft, in 1983 and 1998, records showed.  Bhoomi Manoj Brahmbhatt has had no actions taken against him.  He left UC Davis in 2007 and is practicing in San Diego.

All three were later dropped from the legal action.

According to the Washington Post, USA soccer player Charlie Davies, was badly injured in a car accident early Tuesday, October 13.  He was stable through the night at Washington Hospital Center.  He had extensive operations for fractures to his right leg, left elbow and face, as well as for a lacerated bladder.

Davies was transported via helicopter to Washington Hospital Center due to the extent of his injuries.  The driver was transported via ambulance.  According the U.S. Park Police, the investigation into the accident will take at least one to two weeks.  They are not identifying the survivors at this time. 

Davies plays for the French club Sochaux.  Alexandre Lacombe, president of the club indicated that they are all in shock.  According to Lacombe, Davies had dreams of playing in World Cup 2010 in South Africa.  However, due to the severity of his injuries, these dreams are unlikely.  Furthermore, his career may now be in jeopardy.

According to the Contra Costa Times, a Santa Clara County jury awarded Drew Bianchi, a former college student, more $49 million in damages this week.  The jury found that two truckers and state transportation officials were to blame for a 2007 accident on Highway 152 that left him permanently brain damaged.  At the time of the accident, Bianchi was finishing up community college in Bakersfield and preparing to start at the University of California, Davis .  He planned to attend medical school.  He’s now in a full-time neurological treatment center in Bakersfield and will need round-the-clock medical care for the rest of his life.

The verdict is one of the largest personal injury verdicts in years for the county.  Late Monday, the jury sided with plaintiff Drew Bianchi, 23-years-old, from Bakersfield.  In a five week trial, Bianchi’s attorney presented evidence that reckless driving by truckers on the perilous Pacheco Pass was to blame for the accident.  The collision occurred on May 3, 2007, when Bianchi was in the back seat of a Toyota Avalon with three other men heading for a camping trip.  Two trucks collided near the center line of the two-lane highway, with one veering into the rear of the Toyota and directly crushing the part of the car where Bianchi was riding.

The jury divvied up blame in the verdict, assessing 60 percent of the damages on Samuel Bimbela, the trucker who allegedly first drifted across the center line and triggered the accident; and 35 percent to Gordon Trucking and its driver, Michael Demma, who was accused of recklessly driving his truck by talking on a cell phone just before crashing into Bimbela. The jury found the state 5 percent at fault. Salazar Trucking, Bimbela’s employer, settled for the $2 million, so its driver faced trial alone.  Bimbela denied responsibility, saying it was Demma who crossed the center line.

The California Department of Transportation settled with Bianchi for $10 million prior to the trial to settle claims against the state based on allegations that they failed to correct safety issues on Highway 152.  Bimbela’s attorneys denied liability, saying that Caltrans’ failure to improve safety conditions along Pacheco Pass’s “bloody alley” were a significant cause of the accident.  The total damages in the case amounted to more than $60 million.

According to East County Magazine, on October 10, 2009 Debra Louise Allen, 42, died after being run over by a bus that struck the motorcycle on which she was a passenger.

The accident occurred at 10 a.m. east of Tecate Road in Dulzura.  According to the San Diego Coroner’s office, Allen was a passenger on a 2003 Harley Davidson motorcycle which tried to pass the bus on a steep, windy grade.  Allen was run over and crushed by the bus.  The male driver and his motorcycle were pushed to the side of the road. 

CHP and Border Patrol agents responded to a 911 call and confirmed Allen’s death at the scene.  Allen resided with her mother in La Mesa.

According to Bloomberg, Toyota Motor Corp., its units, lawyers and any other employees were ordered by a U.S. judge to preserve all documents relating to any make model or year platform vehicle, crashworthiness data, and research projects related to product liability or crashworthiness of its vehicles.  Toyota was accused of destroying lawsuit evidence.

District Judge T. John Ward wrote, “The court finds an immediate threat of irreparable harm in that, under the allegations, a threat exists that evidence material to this case would be destroyed or altered.”  The judges order stems from a federal lawsuit filed in July in Los Angeles by Dimitrios Biller, a former in-house attorney for Toyota.  Biller claims Toyota destroyed documents that should have been retained as possible evidence in personal injury claims.  He further claims that he suffered a mental breakdown and is unable to work after he was forced to perform unethical and illegal tasks and finally resigned from Toyota, receiving a $3.7 million settlement when he left the company in 2007.

Todd Tracy, a Texas attorney is representing families of crash victims (some who died and others who were paralyzed) who’d resolved their product liability claims with the company.  Tracy sought Ward’s permission to reopen his clients’ cases in light of Biller’s claims because some suits were dropped due to lack of evidence.  Tracy sued Toyota after Biller made his claims and is seeking unspecified damages and sanctions against the company on their behalf.

Ward set a hearing for Oct. 7 to decide whether to extend his order.

According to Kristina Davis of the Union-Tribune, Sarah Garcia, 21, and a Marine were killed in a sequence of crashes on Interstate 15 on October 11, 2009.  Several others were injured.  The CHP suspects that a drunken driver was involved.

At 4 a.m. on northbound I-15 near Gopher Canyon Road, a 29-year-old Chula Vista man driving a Volvo rear-ended a Jeep Cherokee.  The Jeep spun out of control but the accident was minor.  Authorities said fatigue was a factor in the collision.  

The Jeep’s driver and passengers, Marines from Twentynine Palms, got out and stood on the right shoulder to survey the damage.  Moments later, a Chevrolet Cavalier crashed into the damaged Jeep.  CHP Officer Eric Newbury stated that the Jeep was partially sticking out in the traffic lane. 

The impact knocked one Marine off the freeway, down an embankment and onto Gopher Canyon Road below. As other Marines rushed to his aid, the driver of the Cavalier and his passenger ran away, Newbury said.  The Marine who was knocked off the freeway died at a hospital. His name was not released.  Three other Marines were treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

Soon after, Sarah Garcia, driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee, crashed into the abandoned Cavalier. The Grand Cherokee veered off the right shoulder and tumbled down two embankments. Sarah Garcia was also killed.

Oscar Tinoco, 18, of Quail Valley, and his 17-year-old passenger were caught by CHP officers.  Tinoco was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, felony driving under the influence and felony hit and run.

According to the Gridley Herald, Heather Jackson, 19, was seriously injured in a vehicle roll-over accident on September 12, 2009.  The van she was driving left the roadway and rolled several times.  Jackson worked for Cathy’s Christian Cottage in Richvale and was transporting one of the residents to a wedding in Chico.  According to the CHP, the accident occurred at 1:50 p.m.  The resident received broken ribs, but Jackson was trapped in the van.

The injuries received from the accident have caused paralysis from the chest down, with limited movement in her arms and hands.  She is currently at a spinal cord injury rehabilitation center in San Jose where her therapists think that they can improve the movement in her arms and hands.  According to her family, her spinal cord was not severed but when her neck was broken, it stretched it severely causing doctors to speculate she will not walk again.

Jackson is a well known athlete in Biggs, CA where she was the pitcher for the Butte College softball team.  This was following a very successful softball career as a Biggs Wolverine.  She received Honorable Mention for Butte College at the Golden Valley Conference for pitching in 2008.

According to the Santa Clarita Valley Signal, Joseph Novotny, 43, was struck on July 11 by 21-year-old Marco Valencia, an allegedly drunk Canyon Country driver.  According to the CHP, Novotny was killed and two others injured when Valencia’s truck plowed into a group of cyclists on Bouquet Canyon Road.

175 bicyclists took off that morning as they rode the “Memorial Ride of Silence” at 10 to 12 miles per hour.  Novotny’s widow, Jill Kantos, rode in a sheriff’s car escorting the cyclists down Magic Mountain Parkway to Railroad Avenue, up Lyons Avenue, across Stevenson Ranch Parkway and back down Magic Mountain Parkway to Citrus Street.

Marco Valencia is charged with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony hit-and-run and other charges.  A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 28 in at a San Fernando Superior Court.  Valencia, who had two previous DUI convictions prior to the July crash, could face life in prison if convicted.