Plaintiff Brenda Pickern is a visually impaired and mobility-impaired woman who depends on an electric wheelchair for transportation. Pier 1 Imports Inc. operates its store leased from the Siegmund Weinstock Family Trust.

The store is separated from the street by a long strip of land containing a public sidewalk and a 10-foot-wide grassy berm. There is no access ramp connecting the sidewalk to the store's parking lot. Both the public sidewalk and the grassy strip are owned and maintained by the city.  more...

DEAR BOB: About a year ago, my elderly mother deeded to me her home and two rental properties I manage for her. Her attorney handled the quitclaim deeds and the recordings. Mother died in October 2006. When I talked to my mother's tax accountant he said, "It's too bad your mother deeded the titles to you. If you had inherited those properties, you would have a new stepped-up basis of market value and you would owe practically zero tax when you sell them shortly after her death." Is this true I don't get a new stepped-up basis? --Ellen H.  more...