Judge dismisses defamation claim by Dakota Access protester
BISMARCK, N.D. – A federal judge has dismissed part of a lawsuit by a New York City woman who was severely injured in an explosion while protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota four years ago.
In a 54-page ruling issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor dismissed claims of defamation against law enforcement officials who made public statements blaming the woman for her own injury.
Sophia Wilansky, who was 21 at the time, suffered an arm injury in a violent November 2016 clash between protesters and police during the unsuccessful months-long protest in southern North Dakota against the pipeline.
Protesters allege the blast was caused by a concussion grenade thrown by officers, but law enforcement said it was caused by a propane canister that protesters rigged to explode.
Wilansky’s lawsuit filed two years ago also seeks millions of dollars for alleged excessive force, assault, negligence and emotional distress. Those parts of the lawsuit are still pending.
Traynor, who is based in Bismarck, sided with government attorneys who argued statements about news events released to the public by law officers as part of their official duties are entitled to immunity.
Principal in Holocaust controversy fired again in Florida
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A Florida high school principal was fired again Monday over a comment he made to a student’s parent last year regarding the Holocaust.
The Palm Beach County School Board’s vote on Monday morning reversed an earlier decision to reinstate Spanish River High School Principal William Latson.
Latson was fired in October 2019 after sparking outrage when he told a parent he “can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event” because he wasn’t in a position to do so “as a school district employee.”
He appealed his firing and an administrative law judge ruled in August that the school board had gone too far in firing him. That prompted the school board’s 4-3 vote to reinstate him last month.
On Monday, the board reversed course and voted 7-0 to fire Latson following outrage in the Jewish community, the Palm Beach Post reported.
Report: South Dakota official distracted before fatal crash
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was distracted before he drove onto a highway shoulder where he struck and killed a pedestrian in September, state Secretary of Public Safety Craig Price said Monday.
Price said 55-year-old Joseph Boever was walking on the side of the road and displaying some type of light on the night of Sept. 12 when Ravnsborg’s 2011 Ford Taurus hit him. Price did not describe what led Ravnsborg to become distracted.
Ravnsborg called 911 that night and told a dispatcher that he hit “something” and that “it was in the middle of the road.” When the dispatcher asked if it could have been a deer, Ravnsborg initially said, “I have no idea” before adding, “It could be.”
Boever’s relatives believe he was walking toward his truck that had crashed earlier that evening.
Hyde County State’s Attorney Emily Sovell, who is handling the case, did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.
A toxicology report taken roughly 15 hours after the crash showed no alcohol in Ravnsborg’s system, although at least one expert said that would have been enough time for alcohol to leave the body of someone who had been drinking heavily.
Philippines: 20 dead, thousands of homes damaged in typhoon
MANILA, Philippines – At least 20 people were killed as Typhoon Goni lashed the Philippines over the weekend, and about 13,000 shanties and houses were damaged or swept away in the eastern island province that was first hit by the ferocious storm, officials said Monday.
Goni blasted into Catanduanes province at dawn Sunday as a super typhoon with sustained winds of 140 mph and gusts of 174 mph. But it weakened considerably after making landfall and shifted direction to spare the capital, Manila, before blowing out into the South China Sea.
The Office of Civil Defense said at least 20 people were killed in Catanduanes and nearby Albay province.
Catanduanes, an island province of more than 260,000 people that is often lashed by Pacific storms, was isolated after losing power and communications due to Goni and another typhoon that had hit a week earlier. But officials there managed to connect to the outside world on Monday after disaster-response authorities flew to the devastated island with satellite phones.
Catanduanes Gov. Joseph Cua and other officials said the typhoon whipped up 16-foot storm surges and damaged or swept away about 13,000 houses.
Iran begins annual air force drill with drones, fighter jets
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s air force began an annual drill Monday, state television reported, with its aging fleet of U.S.- and Russian-made jet fighters taking part alongside locally made drones and other aircraft. The drill will see forces from eight air bases take part over two days in exercises that include missile firing and mid-air refueling.
This is the second drill Iran has held since a decadelong U.N. arms embargo on Iran that barred it from purchasing foreign weapons like tanks and fighter jets expired earlier in October.
Iran reportedly is interested in purchasing new aircraft, as it still flies U.S. F-14 Tomcats alongside F-4s and F-5s dating back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.