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On April 22, a settlement was reached by the National Football League (NFL) and thousands of ex-players regarding a class-action lawsuit filed by the players.

CNN reports that a federal judge approved the settlement, which if fully implemented over the agreed 65 year timeline could cost the NFL more than $1 billion. The settlement would pay out to former players dealing with, or who will have to deal with, Alzheimer’s disease, moderate dementia, Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Each retired player can stand to see up to $5 million in damages.

The lawsuit was filed against the NFL by players who accused the league of ignoring serious medical conditions they developed while playing. More than 5,000 retired NFL players participated in the lawsuit, citing medical issues stemming from repeated trauma to the head.

The settlement will go to players who retired before July 8th, 2014 as well as to the family members of players who died before then.

More than 200 retired players, however, decided not to join the lawsuit, opting instead to sue the NFL by themselves.

The plaintiffs hope that the money will come to them soon, though if the NFL appeals the settlement may not be allotted for quite some time. Typically, 95% of personal injury lawsuits are settled pretrial.

“Today, these courageous men and their families have made history,” said Christopher Seeger and Sol Weiss, two attorneys representing the players. “Despite the difficult health situations retired players face today, and that many more will unfortunately face in the future, they can take comfort that this settlement’s benefits will be available soon, and will last for decades to come.”

They cautioned, however, that an appeal could “take months, if not years” to resolve before players start to see payments.

Kevin Turner, a former fullback who filed one of the first lawsuits against the NFL for concussion-related injuries, was ecstatic about the settlement.

“What matters now is time, and many retired players do not have much left,” Turner wrote in a statement. “I hope this settlement is implemented without delay so that we can finally start helping those in need.”

Turner has ALS (otherwise known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease”), a nervous system disease which he claims was caused by the head injuries he sustained while playing for the NFL.

Four men have been charged with serious counterfeiting charges after an investigation busted a multi-million dollar scheme that spanned the globe.

The men are accused of running more than $1.5 million counterfeit American bills from Uganda. The high-quality $20, $50, and $100 bills were made in Uganda and then sold on underground, illicit websites (sometimes known as the “Dark Web”). The bills have been found in Florida, Minnesota, Texas, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

The Morning Call reports that on April 22nd, Michael Lin and Zackary Ruiz were arraigned in an American court in Pittsburgh. Lin and Ruiz, both of whom are underage, pleaded not guilty. Ryan Gustafson, 27, the alleged ringleader of the plot, is being held in Uganda where the operation is said to have been based. The fourth member, 30 year-old Jeremy Miller from Seattle, plead not guilty via his attorney the following day in the Pittsburgh court. It is not certain whether Miller will be extradited to the United States, since he is also facing prosecution in Uganda.

Gustafson sold the bills to Ruiz and Miller (among other customers, presumably), who then circulated them across the country.

Lin was not charged with buying the fake notes from Gustafson, though like Ruiz he is facing conspiracy charges. Lin is accused of circulating the currency as well as writing an online guide about how to use them in casinos. Lin, a former employee of the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is 20.

Ruiz, 18, is originally from Las Vegas and despite the federal charges against him, remains a student at the Nevada Virtual Academy. Because he lives at home with his mother and sister, the judge has allowed him to remain free. Lin is also not in jail but has to wear an electronic ankle bracelet because he has no ties to the Bethlehem area.

In what prosecutors call a sophisticated operation, the counterfeit bills were printed in Uganda and then shipped in boxes that appeared to contain brochures from a Christian charity organization in Uganda. The money was hidden under the boxes and kept together by water-soluble glue. The men collected the money by dissolving the boxes in water, freeing the money.

The operation fell apart in December 2013 when authorities arrested a conspirator who is now cooperating as a witness. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shardul Desai told the presiding judge that the trial could take up to a month, due to the tome of documents submitted as evidence, including chatroom and instant messaging transcripts retrieved from the Dark Web. Desai did request, however, that the court seal or redact certain documents in order to protect confidential informants.

“We have data…from all over the world — Uganda and several sites in the United States,” Desai told the judge.

Counterfeiting is a serious problem in the United States, Canada, and throughout the world. In order to combat the problem, many currency counting machines used by banks and financial organizations feature counterfeit-detection technology to root out fake notes quickly.

Once upon a time, having just one visible tattoo could make or break your chances at getting hired by a respectable company. Millions of people would refrain from getting tattoos or even have their existing tattoos removed due to the social stigma of showing one’s ink in the workplace.

As the Millennial generation — those born in the years between the early 1980s and the early 2000s — has gradually come of age, however, these old stigmas are disappearing.

According to USA Today, 73% of ink enthusiasts get their first tattoo between the ages of 18 and 20; these days, 40% of Millennials have one or more tattoos.

Even more telling? A recent CareerBuilder.com survey found that a mere 31% of human resource managers said that visible tattoos could harm one’s chances at getting hired.

“For centuries, most businesses have vigorously defended their traditional right to set and enforce dress and appearance standards for employees,” Joseph O’Grady, professor of business at Burlington, VT’s Champlain College, said. “But the 21st century has brought lots of changes in social norms.”

One in five adults in the U.S. has at least one tattoo. Even Jill Abramson, journalist and former New York Times executive editor, proudly displays her body art — in 2012, Forbes named Abramson the fifth most powerful woman. It’s clear that expressing your individuality and building a prestigious career are no longer mutually exclusive.

However, universal workplace acceptance is still a fairly far-off concept — some employers still have rules against visible tattoos, requiring employees to conceal them while on the job, and other professions frown upon employee tattoos without having explicit rules against them. Some businesses, fearing the branding effects associated with employing people with tattoos, are still very much concerned with hiring people whose body art is visible.

With tattoos becoming ever more popular, however, it likely won’t be long before having a visible tattoo no longer means you’re not a capable worker.

A major reduction in alcohol-fueled car accidents over the past several decades has had positive effects for the economy as well as for public safety, according to a new study.

In 2010, alcohol was a factor in 12% of car accidents, only half what that figure was in 1984-86.

In order to estimate the impact of this reduction on the U.S. economy, researchers calculated economic gains resulting from the fall of drunk-driving crashes since the mid-1980s, as well as direct monetary impacts on employers and consumers. That included categories such as medical costs, property damage, emergency response services, crash investigation, legal services and productivity changes.

The report estimates that each of the 25.5 billion miles Americans collectively drove while under the influence in 2010 reduced national economic output by 80 cents, reduced the Gross Domestic Product by 40 cents and cut 12 jobs.

But the drop from the mid-80s increased national economic output by around $20 billion, increased national income by around $6.5 billion, raised the GDP by $10 billion and added around 215,000 jobs to the economy.

Of course, not all accidents are avoidable, and more than three million people are injured in car accidents across the country each year, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But further reductions in drunk-driving rates — ideally to zero — would produce even greater gains, the researchers say.

A combination of legislation and better safety features implemented over the past three decades have helped to ameliorate the toll alcohol-related accidents take. The study recommends that ignition interlocks (devices which require the driver to blow into a breathalyzer before the car will start) be made mandatory for all drivers with previous DUI convictions, a measure that is currently in place in 10 states. It also suggests that parents voluntarily install such devices in cars driven by teens.

“Alcohol-involved crashes drag down the U.S. economy,” the researchers conclude, but “those losses are preventable.”

The full study has been published in the journal Injury Prevention.

There are a number of different causes of back pain — from poor posture, to medical conditions like arthritis, to living too sedentary a lifestyle — but researchers have found a new indicator that some people may be predisposed to back pain, because they have spines like chimpanzees.

A research team comprised of scientists from Canada, Scotland, and Iceland sought to learn more about the relationship between the shape of bones in the spine, spine health, and upright movement by analyzing the skeletons of ancient humans, orangutans, and chimpanzees, BBC News reports.

Researcher Mark Collard of the University of Aberdeen and Simon Fraser University in Canada says that their findings reveal that people who have disc problems have spines most similar to those of the chimpanzee.

“Our findings show that the vertebrae of humans with disc problems are closer in shape to those of our closest ape relatives, the chimpanzee, than are the vertebrae of humans without disc problems,” Collard explained.

Simply put, some spines have evolved better than others for walking upright on two legs.

The study’s findings could shed light on ways to start preventative care and treatment measures for people who have spine shapes that predispose them to back pain. As it is, back pain is one of the most common health complaints in America. Furthermore, experts estimate that Americans spend more than $50 billion each year on back pain, and that only includes the most easily identified costs.

The study’s findings were released just after researchers found that one of the most commonly used medications for back pain, acetaminophen, is not effective on some types of back pain.

CBS News reported last month that a team of researchers led by Gustavo Machado of The George Institute for Global Health at the University of Sydney in Australia reviewed data from 13 different pain studies before concluding that the drug is mostly ineffective for treating back pain caused by osteoarthritis.

In an attempt to fend off would-be intruders, the National Park Service plans to install temporary steel spikes on top of the fencing surrounding the White House.

CBS News reports that in conjunction with the Secret Service, the National Park Service intends to install half-inch “pencil points” to prevent people from climbing over the fence. A temporary measure, the agency labeled the spikes a “removable anti-climb mechanism.”

The spikes will be installed on the tips of the fence at a five-degree angle. The installation proposal was approved on April 16th by another agency, the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts.

“The interim solution enhances security without affecting the visitor’s experience,” the National Park Service said in a statement. “A timeline for installation is not yet available, but we are working expeditiously on this improvement.”

The proposed installations come after a series of high-profile break-ins in the White House. Last September, Omar Gonzalez climbed over the fence, ran past the north lawn and managed to enter the Executive Mansion before being caught by the Secret Service. This March, two men were apprehended by security after attempting to unlawfully enter the White House, according to The Daily Beast.

People aren’t the only intruders the White House has had to content with. In January, a man who lived a few blocks away from the White House unintentionally landed his friend’s 2′ x 2′ personal drone (or “quadcopter”) on the White House lawn, according to the New York Times. The man, who was inebriated at the time, was not charged with a crime.

The spikes will have to be approved by the National Capital Planning Commission, which is set to meet on Thursday. Assuming they are approved, installation will begin shortly.

The White House is also considering permanent security measures, including overhauls in pedestrian areas, parking lots and access points, and of course the fence. The National Park service claims that the permanent installations, if approved, will have to be “climb delay and blast” resistant. Also in need of approval by the US Commission on Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, the installations could begin as soon as the summer of next year.

The temporary and permanent fence installations come at an opportune time, since the U.S. fencing industry is expected to grow 7% annually. By 2018, the industry is expected to earn $9 billion by installing more than 875 million feet of fencing.

Most of the time, homeowners consider work done on the garage to be an asset to the main house (with about 71% of homeowners who recently replaced garage doors believing it improved the value of their property). Not many people see an upgraded garage as a replacement for a home, however.

But that’s exactly the trend in Portland, OR, where a growing number of garages are being upgraded into legal “accessory dwelling units.” Homeowners can rent these out or use them as semi-independent living spaces for senior parents or grown children, but some are choosing to live in their own garages and rent out their main houses, instead.

“Portland residential properties have nice-sized lots,” Holly Huntley told Oregon Live, the online version of The Oregonian, April 28. Huntley owns Environs, a company that specializes in both designing and building small but complete homes. “A new ADU [accessory dwelling unit] uses only a small portion of the lot and a garage conversion doesn’t need any more ground room,” she said, explaining the appeal.

According to Kareen Perkins, the city’s building permitting services manager, applications for such conversions have more than tripled since 2009.

That’s not necessarily because conversions are inexpensive. In fact, the cost per square foot in a garage conversion project can range from $100 to $300, which is more than one would expect to pay if building a detached house.

But Portlanders seem to like the idea regardless. Later this month, there will even be a tour offered of 25 ADUs so interested parties can learn more about the process and get a better idea of how these tiny houses turn out.

The second annual “Build Small, Live Large” tour will take place May 29 through 31, and will also include workshops, presentations, and a party featuring local beer and s’mores. Tickets start at $35, and discounts are being offered until May 23.

Matthew Kohr, a lieutenant with the Raleigh Police Department’s special operations division, had stopped into a Starbucks on Peace Street back in January 2012 to pick up a cup of free coffee. But what he came away with left him unable to return to the department for several months afterward.

Kohr has alleged in a lawsuit that he was served a coffee in a faulty cup that folded in on itself, which led to several third degree burns and blisters on his skin.

The spill also set off Kohr’s Crohn’s disease in a way it hadn’t acted up before. He alleges that the burns caused him to need surgery to remove a portion of his intestine.

Thanks to changes in health care reform, inflammatory diseases like Crohn’s aren’t necessarily considered pre-existing conditions for insurance purposes. As a result, health insurance rates aren’t determined like those for auto policies, which may charge drivers more if they are under 25 or over 70.

But Kohr doesn’t just have medical bills to contend with. He says that the event took two years out of his life as he struggled to get back to work.

“I had a lot of anxiety, a lot of unsteadiness and nervousness,” Kohr said. He told the jury that he wasn’t comfortable with being in the police car, which affected his role as a supervisor.

“You know, as a supervisor, in my experience as a police supervisor, you have to lead people and be confident,” he said. “And I didn’t feel those same feelings I had in the past.”

Kohr and his wife Melanie are seeking $750,000 in compensation from the coffee chain, but he says that the loss of time at work is worth much more than that.

Because his lawsuit is a civil one, he is only allowed to seek damages of up to $750,000. But he told the jury that the months of recovery and trauma are worth far more to him than that.

“We said, ‘Well, what’s our life worth? What’s a year and a half or two years of your life worth?'” Kohr said during his testimony on May 6. “I thought it was worth $10 million.”

Attorneys for Starbucks, meanwhile, claim that the onus is on Kohr, especially considering that getting free coffee while on the job was routine for the officer.

“How does someone who knows their coffee is hot, who has had 50 cups of free coffee in the last two months, how does that person spill their coffee?” defense attorney Tricia Derr asked the court on May 5.

At any given moment, as many as 85% of all vehicles will need some kind of repair or maintenance.

But good luck getting the car repairs you need if you’re openly gay and live in Grandville, MI.

According to CNN, Brian Klawiter, owner of Dieseltec, recently made a statement on his company’s Facebook page encouraging gun owners to bring their cars to his shop — even offering a discount for those who do.

He also declared that openly gay customers are not welcome at his business, and that he has no problem turning them away at the door, citing his religious freedom.

“I am a Christian. My company will be run in a way that reflects that. Dishonesty, thievery, immoral behavior, etc. will not be welcomed,” he wrote. “I would not hesitate to refuse service to an openly gay person or persons. Homosexuality is wrong, period.”

His post emphasized that conservative American voices are being drowned out, hence his reasoning behind making the post — explaining that “free speech isn’t just for liberals.”

Since taking to Facebook to write a mini-manifesto of his views, Klawiter told a CNN affiliate he has had to contact local police to remove protesters from his property. He’s also received hundreds of calls from across the country, as well as multiple death threats.

While acknowledging that his words could be interpreted as offensive, Klawiter explained he doesn’t regret making the post.

Currently, discrimination based on sexual orientation is not prohibited in the state of Michigan — and while some municipalities have passed laws banning discrimination of LGBT people, Grandville isn’t one of them.

According to WOOD TV, Grandville Mayor Steve Maas has said he’d be open to pursuing nondiscrimination laws that would protect LGBT people, but that the citizens of his town would need to ask for such legislation first. Yvonne Siferd, director of victim services for LGBT advocacy group Equality Michigan, made a statement urging Maas to pursue legislation protecting the LGBT community.

Shortly after Klawiter’s post, GoFundMe page was created to raise money in support of Dieseltec; it was removed from the crowd-funding site shortly after.