Iowa
Man loses legal bid to block planned wind energy project
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - A man who sued a Black Hawk County board has lost his bid to block a planned wind energy project.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that a judge affirmed Monday the county Board of Adjustment's power and decision to issue a permit to Washburn Wind Energy. The company plans to erect 35 wind turbines east of Hudson.
Farmer Harold Youngblut's lawsuit says the board's April 2018 action violated the county's zoning ordinance and amounted to an illegal "taking" of property because of the wind project's potential effect on neighbors.
The $120 million project drew objections from nearby property owners concerned about its potential impact on their health, quality of life and property values. Project supporters have said it would generate clean energy and give farmers where the turbines would be placed new revenue to keep their farms viable.
Youngblut's lawyer says he'll probably appeal.
Oklahoma
Ex-jail administrator sentenced for Oklahoma inmate's death
ENID, Okla. (AP) - A former jail administrator in Oklahoma has been sentenced to just more than two days in jail after she pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the death of an inmate who spent more than two days in a restraint chair.
Former Garfield County jail administrator Jennifer Shay Niles was sentenced Tuesday to 55 hours in jail. She was among several people charged following the 2016 death of Anthony Huff.
According to the Enid News & Eagle , Niles testified Tuesday that Huff was restrained because he had been kicking doors and hitting his head on a wall. But prosecutor Chris Boring said Huff was left to suffer in the chair and wasn't removed until he was dead.
The state medical examiner's office listed Huff's probable cause of death as chronic alcoholism.
Maryland
Baltimore officer convicted of assault in beating of teen
BALTIMORE (AP) - A Baltimore police officer has been convicted of assault and misconduct in office for tackling a compliant teenager and beating him with a stun gun.
The Baltimore Sun reports Officer Carlos Rivera-Martinez was found guilty Tuesday for the 2016 attack on Melvin Townes, who was 16 years old at the time.
The teen told the court he was walking near city hall one morning that summer when he noticed police officers making an arrest. He says an argument started and led to a foot chase with Martinez.
Townes then stopped fleeing, turned around, knelt on the ground, put his hands in the air and was hit repeatedly with Martinez' stun gun.
Martinez has been suspended without pay since being charged. He's set to be sentenced in August.
North Carolina
Florida man arrested in1972 slaying of N. Carolina woman
SMITHFIELD, N.C. (AP) - A Florida man has been arrested in one of North Carolina's coldest cases - the 1972 slaying of a woman found bound and shot beside her 4-month-old baby.
The News & Observer reports 65-year-old Larry Joe Scott was arrested Monday in Bradenton and charged with murder and kidnapping in the death of 33-year-old Bonnie Neighbors.
Neighbors was kidnapped with her baby boy while on their way to pick up her 7-year-old son from school. Her body, and the living infant, were later found in a migrant worker house near Benson.
Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell says the investigation picked up after nearly 47 years when newer DNA technology pointed to Scott. State Attorney General Josh Stein says confirmatory testing is in process.
Alabama
State sets new execution date for sword-and-dagger slaying
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The Alabama Supreme Court has set a new lethal injection date for a man convicted in the 1991 sword-and-dagger slaying of a pastor.
The Montgomery Advertiser reports the court on Monday moved Christopher Lee Price's execution to May 30. Price was set to be executed last month but a last-minute stay delayed his death.
Price asked to die by nitrogen hypoxia, a method Alabama has authorized but not developed. His lawyers argued it would be less painful than Alabama's "botched" lethal injections.
The state successfully argued that Price missed a deadline to request nitrogen, but its death warrant expired before a post-midnight Supreme Court ruling vacating the stay.
Price killed Church of Christ pastor Bill Lynn as he prepared Christmas gifts for his grandchildren.
Wisconsin
Husband convicted of killing wife in1982
MINOCQUA, Wis. (AP) - The husband of a northern Wisconsin woman killed 37 years ago has been convicted in her death.
An Oneida County Circuit Court judge has found Robin Mendez guilty of killing Barbara Mendez while she was working at Park City Credit Union in Minocqua in 1982.
WJFW-TV reports Mendez had no expression on his face when Judge Jill Falstad delivered the verdict Tuesday afternoon.
The case went unsolved until his two daughters came forward and told police their father had manipulated them into providing an alibi for him. Mendez will be sentenced under 1982 state sentencing guidelines rather than current guidelines. That means he will be sentenced to life in prison but will be eligible for parole after about 13 years.
No sentencing date has been set.
West Virginia
Doctor convicted in drug distribution scheme
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia doctor has been convicted in federal court on drug distribution charges.
A jury found 60-year-old Dr. George P. Naum of Wheeling guilty Tuesday of illegally distributing controlled substances.
Prosecutors say Naum conspired with others on the illegal operation from a drug treatment center in Weirton from 2008 to 2016.
Naum faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of two counts of distributing controlled substances outside the bounds of professional medical practice.
Published: Thu, May 02, 2019
