NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Tobacco settlement: A judge in Florida ordered R.J. Reynolds to continue paying the state millions of dollars in tobacco settlement money despite selling off major brands. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Dana Gillen in Palm Beach County issued his ruling this week. R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies were part of a landmark multibillion-dollar settlement with Florida to compensate the state for treating sick smokers. But the company sold cigarette brands Kool, Winston, Salem and Maverick to Imperial Tobacco Group in 2015 and neither company continued to make payments to the state. When Attorney General Pam Bondi filed the suit last January, she said Florida was already owed $45 million and could lose $30 million a year going forward.
2 Forced labor: Federal prosecutors say a seventh person has been charged with participating in a scheme to smuggle teenagers into the U.S. and force them to work at an egg farm in central Ohio. The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that border patrol agents arrested Pablo Duran Ramirez on Saturday as he tried to cross the border between Mexico and the United States. Three others already have been convicted in the investigation that included the 2014 rescue of 10 young Guatemalans brought to work at the egg farm. Prosecutors say the teens were kept as virtual slave laborers.
3 Stranded ferry: A ferry carrying more than two dozen people hit a sandbar and got stuck for hours Wednesday, spurring an evacuation on a frigid night in the waters off New York City, officials said Thursday. No injuries were reported in the second stranding in a month for the city’s newly-expanded ferry service. The city-sponsored, privately run ferry left the Rockaway peninsula in Queens with 27 people aboard at 5:15 p.m., bound for lower Manhattan on a 20-degree evening. About 10 minutes into the trip, “we just came to a screeching halt,” passenger Jake Nicholson said.
4 Elephants lose in court: A Connecticut judge has denied a petition by an animal rights group to grant personhood to three elephants in a traveling petting zoo, calling the request “wholly frivolous.” The Nonhuman Rights Project sued in November on behalf of elephants at Commerford Zoo, based in Goshen. The group wanted the elephants released to a natural habitat sanctuary. The group says elephants “have a sense of self, remember the past and plan for the future, engage in complex communication, show empathy, and mourn their dead.” The judge said in his decision this week that the group had no legal standing to bring the petition and there was no precedent. The zoo says it properly cares for its animals.
5 Salvation Army theft: Racine County prosecutors have charged a Wisconsin couple with stealing a Salvation Army donation kettle that had $200. Alicia Wojtowicz and Jacob Doppke were charged with theft and entry into a locked coin box. Prosecutors say they were identified by people who saw a police Facebook post asking for help.