Keisel will be appearing on jars of Geronimo Salsa this football season, and will be easy to spot on store shelves as his famous “da beard” is prominently featured on the label.  The 16 oz salsa comes in 3 flavors,  Mild, Medium and Hot, and is available at Western Pennsylvania Giant Eagle stores.

Keisel recorded several radio spots in support of the promotion.  In addition, a “Best of Da Beard” contest was held online for fans to show off their best Keisel-like beards for the chance to win a Brett Keisel autographed football.  The campaign’s slogan, “Fear da beard, love the salsa” is a clever way to pay homage to one of the best beards in the NFL!

Bleier’s Brew was officially launched on October 12 during a press event at the Penn Brewery in the Troy Hill section of Pittsburgh.  The beer is a light-colored, medium bodied lager beer brewed and bottled by Penn Brewery.

Rocky Bleier is not only a beloved football icon and 4-time Super Bowl Champ; he is also a decorated Vietnam Veteran.  Rocky’s service to his county has inspired him, along wth other military veterans, to support the construction of a World War II Memorial on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.  A portion of the proceeds from the sale of

In the Big Bass Lake case, lot owners began a landscaping project in front of their property that included a stone retaining wall approximately 2 feet high and 50 feet long, and a raised ground planter.  Shortly after the project began, a representative of the homeowners association informed the lot owners that the landscaping and stone wall interfered with the Association’s utility easement and road right-of-way in violation of certain restrictive covenants.  When the lot owners refused to remove the stone wall and landscaping, the Association sued.  The trial court issued a permanent injunction and ordered the lot owners to remove the landscaping and stone wall.  The trial court found that the landscaping and stone wall violated the Association’s utility easement and right-of-way in violation of the restrictive covenants in question.

On appeal, the Commonwealth Court concluded that the trial court erred in granting a permanent injunction.  The Court also held that the Association had failed to show a clear right to injunctive relief due to the fact that the Association had not proven a violation of the cited covenants.  The Court concluded that the covenants did not prohibit landscaping projects within the utility easement, and did not prohibit the lot owners from using the road right-of-way, as the covenants specifically gave lot owners in the development the right to use the roads.

Homeowners Associations might want to take note that covenant enforcement should be narrowly tailored to avoid both costly litigation and big headaches.

So what is an HOA to do to collect delinquent fees from “deadbeats”?  Look to both Pennsylvania common law, as well as the statutory authority of the Uniform Condominium Act (UCA) or the Uniform Planned Community Act (UPCA), for relief.  PA courts have long held that owners of property in private residential communities have an implied obligation to pay their fair share for the upkeep of the roads and other common areas of the development.

The UCA and UPCA both give HOA’s statutory authority to collect assessments and fees from all property owners.  The Acts create a “statutory lien” against the property of a delinquent homeowner, which can be “foreclosed in a like manner as a mortgage in real estate”.  However, the association’s lien for unpaid assessments is extinguished unless proceedings to enforce the lien are instituted within three years after the assessments become due.  Another option for the HOA is to file a breach of contract claim against the delinquent homeowner, which is subject to a 4-year statute of limitations.  So insist that your HOA collect all delinquent dues in a timely manner!

Fleury Flakes is a frosted flakes cereal packaged in a 14 oz. limited edition collector’s box.  The cover photo was shot by Pittsburgh-based renowned photographer Duane Rieder.  The cereal is available exclusively at Giant Eagle locations thru-out Western Pennsylvania.  Fans outside of the Pittsburgh area can order their boxes online at www.plbsports.com.

In addition to the cereal, Marc-Andre has also come out with his own officially licensed t-shirt.  A Winter’s Fleury t-shirts are featured on the back of the cereal box and are available for purchase at www.plbsports.com.

Attorney Brian Koeberle negotiated the endorsement deal with Marc-Andre Fleury.

“Knockoffs” or unlicensed sports products are a big problem for the various sports leagues and teams, and they are taking a hardline approach to companies that they believe are infringing on their trademarks.   But are the leagues and teams going a bit too far?  The leagues and teams have the right (and in fact an obligation under trademark law) to police and enforce their trademark rights, even if it means suing a small t-shirt company.  No one would question the Pittsburgh Steelers right to prohibit unlicensed usage of its logo or team name.  But do the teams control the colors of their uniforms, or the numbers on the back of jerseys, or their players’ nicknames?  And how about catch phrases such as “Steel Curtain”, or “City of Champions”, or “Dawg Pound”, or “Titletown”?

I always advise my clients to take a conservative approach when developing sports products to make sure they are not infringing upon any intellectual property rights.  For instance, I had a client that wanted to create a steak sauce with Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward.  They originally wanted to call the product “Hines 86 Sauce”.  I counseled them that the name was too similar to “Heinz 57 Sauce” owned and marketed by the H.J. Heinz Company.  In the end they decided to call the product “Hines Ward’s 86 Sauce”.  Better sometimes to play it safe then to end up in court fighting an entity like the NFL or a muti-national corporation.

An Advance Health Care Directive that includes a Health Care Power of Attorney and a Living Will allows you to express your health care decisions in advance by (1) naming a health care agent to make health care decisions on your behalf; and (2) giving health care treatment instructions and guidance to your health care agent and physicians.

Under a Health Care Power of Attorney, you appoint a health care agent and one or two alternates.  Your health care agent is given certain powers whenever you can’t speak for yourself, such as the power to authorize, withhold or withdraw medical care and surgical procedures; the power to authorize, withhold or withdraw food or water by tube feeding; and the power to authorize admissions to or discharges from medical, nursing, residential or similar facilities.

The Health Care Power of Attorney can also provide guidance for your health care agent regarding your goals in making medical decisions if you have an end-stage medical condition or other extreme irreversible medical condition.

A Living Will allows you to decide in advance what type of medical care, if any, you want in the event you have an end-stage medical condition or are permanently unconscious such as in an irreversible coma or irreversible vegetative state.  You can choose whether or not you want aggressive medical care such as CPR, mechanical ventilation, dialysis, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, drugs to relieve pain, or antibiotics.  You can also choose whether or not you want any type of tube feedings.

In my practice, I have been using a combined document that contains both a Health Care Power of Attorney and a Living Will.