In the news
■ Laura Dolata, a resident of La Quinta, Calif., argued, “We’re at a point in history where we cannot be freely wasteful of water” as the desert city’s council members unanimously rejected a proposed surf lagoon surrounded by hundreds of homes and hotel rooms.
■ Daniel Gavin Couch, a boat captain in Florida, was charged with manslaughter in an accident that killed a woman and injured her son and nephew after an investigation determined that he cut the line holding their parasail because it was dragging in high winds before they ultimately slammed into a bridge.
■ Chad Chronister, sheriff of Hillsborough County, Fla., was ordered to pay $15 million to the parents of a teenager who was killed while trying to cross a highway after being kicked out of the state fair by deputies after a disturbance.
■ Robert J. Putorti, a town justice in upstate New York who bragged to colleagues about pulling a loaded gun on a “large Black man,” a defendant who approached the bench “too quickly,” faces removal from office if the state’s judicial conduct commission has its way.
■ David Jungerman, 84, of Raytown, Mo., awaits sentencing after being convicted of fatally shooting a lawyer who won a $5.75 million judgment against him in a lawsuit on behalf of a homeless man Jungerman shot because he thought the man was stealing from him.
■ Ruby Katherine Montoya of Arizona was sentenced to six years in prison and must pay $3.2 million in restitution along with an accomplice after they used a cutting torch to damage the Dakota Access pipeline in Iowa and set fire to equipment in three counties.
■ Lisa F. Garcia of the EPA said the agency is looking out for consumers as two New Jersey-based companies agreed to pay $325,000 in fines for marketing a pesticide as a disinfectant spray against the coronavirus.
■ Emil Jones III, an Illinois state senator, pleaded innocent to charges of lying to the FBI and seeking a payoff to oppose legislation requiring a statewide evaluation of red-light camera systems, and he remains on the November ballot, running unopposed.
■ Michael Close of Denver, accused of using an AK-47 to kill a woman and wound her boyfriend after an argument as they encouraged their dog to relieve itself near his apartment, was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder.