Parents of a toddler who was allegedly duct-taped to his nap mat by a Willow Park day-care center co-owner filed suit Tuesday against the Heart2Heart Montessori Academy.

Kristi and Brad Galbraith allege in a lawsuit filed in Parker County that Heart2Heart was negligent in properly carrying out its responsibilities and supervising employees, resulting in injury and pain to their 21/2-year-old son.

The allegations surfaced June 17 after an employee, Hannah Tidwell, called Kristi Galbraith advising her that her son and another boy had been forcefully secured by duct tape to their napping mats by one of the facility’s owners, Pamela Decker.

“When she contacted me, the first thing she said was, ‘I wanted you to know we called CPS today.’ Of course, I felt sick to my stomach, probably wailed out loud in the car,” Kristi Galbraith said in a phone interview Tuesday. “I asked her ‘What do you mean? What happened?’ Then she proceeded to tell me what actually happened to our son that day.”

Tidwell then sent Kristi Galbraith three photographs that she’d snapped of the boy, secured to the mat with the thick, silver tape.

She told the Galbraiths that when she confronted Decker about her actions, Decker responded: “Do not say anything about this. I know this [is] illegal but felt it was necessary.”

The allegations sparked investigations by the state’s Child Care Licensing and Willow Park police. Both…

BRUCE OMORI / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Nico Verissimo of Puna, foreground, voted as a line snaked through the cafeteria of Keonepoko Elementary School on Aug. 15.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii on Thursday filed a legal challenge to the primary election on behalf of voters in Puna on Hawaii island who were unable to vote because of the damage left by Tropical Storm Iselle.

In a news release, the ACLU says the lawsuit concerns the fundamental right to vote and the disenfranchisement of hundreds and potentially thousands of affected voters. It asks the court to give any voter effected by Iselle the opportunity to vote in person or by absentee ballot by Sept. 20, the constitutional deadline for tabulating primary results.

The lawsuit also urges the court to invalidate a state law that gives Scott Nago, the state’s chief election officer, the discretion over how to conduct a postponed vote after a natural disaster. The ACLU argues that the state Legislature should prescribe how such elections are conducted.

“Although the votes in question may not change the outcome of any of the various races, the ACLU filed this suit because the right to vote is a cornerstone of our democracy,” Daniel Gluck, ACLU senior staff attorney, said in a statement. “Every vote counts equally – this is about an individual exercising a fundamental right and not about the results of any single race.”

The ACLU’s suit challenges the…

The lawsuit was filed on the behalf of McBride’s estate Tuesday and the first status conference is scheduled for Nov. 18.

The wrongful death lawsuit is seeking nearly $10 million in damages, the Detroit News reports.

A jury on Aug.7 found Wafer guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter and felonious use of a firearm stemming from the death of McBride.

Wafer, who claimed self defense, unlocked and opened his door, then shot McBride in the head with a shotgun from a few feet away on Nov. 2.

Wafer said McBride was violently pounding on his front and side doors, that he feared for his life but never meant to shoot her and didn’t believe the gun was loaded.

He’d hoped only to scare away whom he believed to be multiple people trying to break into his Dearborn Heights home.

Wafer now faces up to life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 3.

A lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of a juvenile inmate alleges he suffered permanent injuries from the combination of a physical attack and use of force by correctional officers while housed at the Nevada Youth Training Center in Elko.

The complaint was filed in Clark County District Court by Al Lasso, a personal injury attorney in Las Vegas. The plaintiff, Daniel Vargas, who was transferred to the Northern Nevada facility in October, lost eyesight after he alleges officers attacked him and hogtied him in November, securing his limbs together behind his back.

“We don’t want any other child to go through what Daniel and other children up there have had to go through,” Lasso said, who added his client was not doing interviews.

Last month, Family Court Judge William Voy ordered 12 Clark County youth to be returned to his jurisdiction after reports that youth were being “hobbled” at the Elko facility. The lawsuit claims Vargas was one of those inmates.

Hobbling is defined as using a 2-foot-chain to connect the wrist restraint to the ankle restraint, preventing the person from standing upright, according to state officials.

The complaint alleges that at the end of November, Vargas woke up in accordance with facility policy and went to the bathroom to wash his hands and brush his teeth.

But because Vargas desperately needed to use the restroom and proceeded to the stall before brushing his teeth, officers attacked…

Myreico Broaden, 37, was arrested last week on charges of attempting to elude and possession of a controlled substance.

Defense attorney Julian McPhillips said he believes that what triggered the arrest was that Broaden’s suit against the city was amended to identify two police officers by name.

“It is just blatant and obvious retaliation,” McPhillips said.

Broaden has filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against him that argues that the arrest violates Broaden’s right to free speech and access to courts.

Martha Earnhardt, spokeswoman for the Montgomery Department of Public Safety, said the warrants against Broaden were signed Jan. 30 and were served Aug. 5 but added that she could provide no other information because of the pending litigation.

Broaden sued the city in March, claiming his leg was injured and that he was subject to racial epithets after a Montgomery Police Department cruiser ran over him without provocation Jan. 30.

On July 24, the names of police officers Perry Bullard and Eric Skipper were added to the lawsuit.

The city filed an answer to the complaint July…

Det. Ernest L. Allen Sr. was killed May 9 when an out-of-control concrete truck barreled downhill on Loma Vista Drive in Beverly Hills and slammed head-on into Allen’s pick-up truck, which was northbound on the winding, sloping road.

The collision marked the fourth major crash on the road in less than a year and the second one to kill a Los Angeles Police Department officer. On March 7, Officer Nicholas Lee was killed near the same stretch of Loma Vista by an out-of-control truck that was in the area for construction.

The May 9 collision is still under investigation, but Beverly Hills police investigators say it appears the truck’s brakes failed — the same issue that appears to have been involved in Lee’s crash.

In the lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Allen’s mother and two children assign responsibility for his death to the truck’s driver for failing to maintain his vehicle; the company he worked for, Over & Over Ready Mix, for hiring him; and Beverly Hills and Los Angeles for designing the road and failing to keep it safe.

After Allen’s death, the city placed a 30-day…