A Maryland convenience store who sued the U.S. Small Business Administration over its rule prohibiting businesses owned by people with criminal histories from applying for COVID-19 relief loans on Friday urged a court to keep the case alive despite an “11th hour” change to the program by the SBA that rendered him eligible to apply.…

Altimont Mark Wilks, a small business owner from Hagerstown, Md., who was unlawfully barred from applying for a much-needed Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan, can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the Small Business Administration…

Lee County is expanding the ability of law enforcement to use license plate readers along local roadways. The Lee County Board of County Commissioners this week OK’d allowing the Cape Coral and Fort Myers police departments to use poles along county roads for the readers. Read the full article   TweetShareShare0 Shares

Police in Cape Coral and Fort Myers are keeping an electronic eye on motorists and have been for quite some time, but now they are adding even more recording devices. The readers allow police to check traffic for stolen vehicles, Silver and Amber alerts and wanted persons. Even as New Civil Liberties Alliance is filing lawsuits, including the possibility of…

Four industry groups have filed another petition before the SEC accusing the regulator of using “backdoor regulation” of 12b-1 fees. “This petition is about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s thirty-year effort to effectively outlaw Rule 12b-1 fees, and the concerted campaign of subregulatory sabotage upon which it embarked when it could not get its way through…

Recent guidance concerning a federal pandemic relief program undercuts lawsuits against the Small Business Administration for barring loan seekers with criminal records, the Trump administration said in a court filing. The memo, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, highlights Wednesday changes to the Paycheck Protection Program that limit a criminal justice restriction in…