She rattles off the history of Methodism in this city, as well as tidbits about William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea. She discusses the canopy of Spanish moss that hangs above Savannah’s streets, whether “Jingle Bells” was actually composed here, and just how haunted one of the country’s largest historic landmark districts might be.

But Ms. Freenor has also emerged in recent weeks in a new role: plaintiff in a federal lawsuit that could reshape Savannah’s lucrative and potent tourism industry. Backed by a nonprofit law firm with libertarian leanings, Ms. Freenor and three others, including her husband, are challenging the Savannah ordinance that requires tour guides to hold licenses and pass regular academic and medical examinations.

“It’s the free market that made us successful, not the City of Savannah,” said Ms. Freenor, 43. “You shouldn’t have to pass a test to be able to tell people where the best ice cream in Savannah is.” She said autoimmune disorders could make her need a wheelchair in the coming years and keep her from receiving a compulsory doctor’s certification.

The case here is the latest significant courtroom pushback to municipal regulations that govern tour guides in a…

Woman’s family alleges employees were negligent

The family of a 61-year-old woman whose body was found in March inside a Macy’s department store restroom at the Westfield Vancouver mall has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Family members of Lydumila I. Tikhomirova of Vancouver allege that Macy’s employees were negligent when they failed to check the women’s restroom before closing time March 9 at the department store at 8208 N.E. Vancouver Mall Drive. A Macy’s employee discovered the woman’s body inside the restroom the next day and called 911 shortly after 6 a.m.

An autopsy showed that Tikhomirova died of congestive heart failure, according to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office.

“Defendants and defendants’ employees failed to check Macy’s bathroom before the store closed, thereby failing to discover Ms. Tikhomirova in a state of distress, and thereby preventing her from getting the treatment she required to prevent her death,” according to the complaint, which was filed Thursday in Clark County Superior Court by Canadian law firm Cross Border Law Corp.

Kelley Tarzian, Macy’s spokesperson for Washington, said the corporation doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

The plaintiffs are Valeriya Tikhomirova, who represents Lydumila Tikhomirova’s estate, and Lydumila Tikhomirova’s children, Natalya Tikhomirova, Svetlana Kalacheva, Timofey Tikhomirova, Irina Yukhimets, Andrey Tikhomirova and Aleksandr Tikhomirova.

They seek damages in an unspecified amount, including…

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What was meant to be a three-week vacation in Italy turned into a two-month exile for a Chilean family from Manhattan.

Mike Hurley, 37, and Malu Custer Edwards, 30, along with their 7-year-old son and two daughters — ages 5 and 3 — have been denied reentry into the U.S. by the State Department following a lawsuit from their nanny who accused them of enslaving her.

The family’s nanny, Felicitas del Carmen Villanueva Garnica, 50, moved with them to the U.S. in 2011 from Chile, where they lived. Shortly after, she stopped working for them in mid-March.

Two years later she filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court accusing them of human trafficking.

Garnica said the couple took her passport and locked her away in their Upper East Side apartment without enough food and her medication for hypertension. She also said she was underpaid.

They would also allow the children to hit her. She claimed that one of the kids once smashed the refrigerator door on her head.

The socialites denied all the accusations. However, the state Department of Labor made the couple pay Garnica $6,302.54 in back pay.

Edward and Hurley, who descend from Chile’s aristocracy, are a graphic designer and an interior designer, respectively.

Without thinking the allegations would be an issue, the…

Updated:   12/18/2014 08:19:19 AM PST

The Palo Alto Unified School District announced Wednesday it will pay $570,000 to settle a lawsuit brought against it by Taisei Construction Corp.

The Santa Clara-based firm was hired in 2011 to construct a high-tech media arts center and a two-story math and social studies building at Palo Alto High School. Completed earlier this year, the project was part of the district’s $378 million Strong Schools Bond Program.

Taisei filed a $25 million claim against the district in April 2013, but ultimately sued for roughly $3.8 million. The firm said it was entitled to costs associated with numerous changes the district made to the project.

The suit also named San Francisco-based project architect Deems Lewis McKinley and San Jose-based construction manager Gilbane Building Co. They will contribute to the $570,000 settlement, according to a district news release.

Under the terms of the agreement, Taisei will indemnify the district against all potential claims brought by subcontractors, as well as remain responsible for warranty and latent defect claims.

“These buildings opened this past fall and are exceptional additions to the Palo Alto High School campus,” Superintendent Glenn “Max” McGee said in a statement. “This settlement puts an end to the legal process and attorney fees. Even after paying the settlement amount, this project came in under budget and the remaining amount can be put to…