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35
YEARS
VOL. 6 ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 2017
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Search For Justice Continues in OH Body Shop Owner’s Death
Two Stories: MN Body Shops Busy with Winter and Snowy IN Conditions Make for Busy Winter
Jan 5. marked one year since someone walked into a North College Hill, OH, auto body shop, robbed the owner, and shot and killed him. “For it to end like this with him is just unimaginable,” said the victim’s daughter Carla Broshear. “I feel like dad’s still around us and pushing us to be the people he wanted us to be.” On Jan. 5, 2016, someone came into Joe Leach’s shop on W. Galbraith Road in North College Hill, pulled a gun and demanded money. The suspect shot Leach in the back as he ran and called for help. Leach died a few days
While many people may not favor this winter weather, it is creating a lot of business for local body shops. “This winter we’ve definitely been having our share of crashes and vehicles slipping and sliding off the
by Ben Katko, Fox19 NOW
Credit: FOX19 NOW/Mike Buckingham
later.
“I know without a shadow of a doubt that if the person would have just asked him for money, he would have helped him,” Broshear told FOX 19 NOW. The hunt continues for that person. Police said, at the time of the robbery, the suspect was a black man wearing a See Body Shop Murder, Page 10
MPCC in NE Breathes New Life Into Antique Cars It pairs the look of the old with the drivability of the new. That’s one of the reasons Classic Car Restoration at Mid-Plains Com-
munity College is so appealing. Another is its rarity - only a handful of such programs even exist. “I can’t think of any college in Nebraska that has a program like this, See MPCC in NE, Page 38
by Laura Kennedy, wishtv.com
The snow has already done its damage for a lot of Hoosiers in central Indiana. State Police responded to 68
Credit: wishtv.com
road,” said Sgt. Jesse Grabow with the Minnesota State Patrol. “I think we’ve just had a few more snow type incidents and things like that.” Those crashes are leading more See Body Shops Busy, Page 26
Shad Simpson, of Taylor, works in the paint booth at Mid-Plains Community College. Simpson is studying Classic Car Restoration
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P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
Tyler Erickson, of North Platte, sprays pieces of a future Mid-Plains Community College raffle car. Proceeds from the car will be put toward scholarships for students in the Automotive Technology and Auto Body Technology programs
by Jackie Kelly, KVRR
crashes on December 13 alone. Snow piled up along the side of the road and wet pavement were the conditions for many roads across the entire region. Hundreds of plows and salt trucks worked to clear the roads all day. Many of them area headed out See IN Snows, Page 26
Eleventh Circuit Refuses to Reinstate Dismissed Auto Body Shop Antitrust Case on Procedural Grounds by James Burns and Baker Donelson
In early December, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one sentence decision refusing to reinstate the plaintiff/appellants’ appeal in Parker Auto Body v. State Farm Automobile Insurance Company. The appeal had previously been dismissed by the Court based upon the appellants’ failure to file their case Appendix (the records from the district court that the appellate court reviews when considering an appeal) on a timely basis. As a result of the Court’s most recent ruling, barring a successful appeal to the Supreme Court—which would seem unlikely—the Eleventh Circuit’s refusal to reinstate the appeal brings an end to the case for the auto body shop plaintiffs in that case. Notably, however, the Parker case is only one of a series of class action
proceedings brought by auto body shops in several states against many of the largest auto insurers in the nation. In each case, the auto body shops contended that the insurers had conspired to limit the reimbursement rates provided by the insurers for insured repairs. The cases were ultimately all consolidated before Judge Gregory Presnell (Middle District of Florida) as the In re Auto Body Shop Antitrust Litigation, and Judge Presnell subsequently dismissed the antitrust claims in most of the cases, many on a case-bycase basis, for failure to state a claim. The plaintiffs in several of the dismissed cases filed appeals with the Eleventh Circuit, with the Parker case being the earliest appealed action. Because the dismissal in the Parker case was on procedural grounds, it does not impact the other appeals. However, See 11th Circuit Refuses, Page 24
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