MONTANA
Appeals court: Judge was right to revive grizzly protections
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A U.S. appeals court said Wednesday that a federal judge was right to restore protections for about 700 grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region of the Rocky Mountains, after federal officials sought to turn over management of the animals to states that would have allowed them to be hunted.
The ruling means federal wildlife officials will have to do more to justify their proposal to lift protections for bears in portions of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho that include Yellowstone National Park.
However, the appeals court said the judge should not have required a comprehensive review of grizzly bears across their remaining range in the Lower
48 states in order to lift protections for Yellowstone bears.
The ruling from a three-judge panel with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came after proposals to hunt grizzlies in Wyoming and Idaho were blocked in 2018 by U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen.
Federal officials had stripped away the animals’ protections under the Endangered Species Act, and hunting was about to begin when Christensen intervened after American Indian tribes and wildlife advocates sued to restore protections.
He said the animals genetic health remained in doubt, and that officials needed to determine if removing protections for bears in and around Yellowstone would harm other populations of the animals. That includes grizzlies in Montana’s Northern Continental Divide area and the Cabinet-Yaak and Selkirk mountains of Montana, Idaho and Washington state.
The appeals court agreed with government attorneys who said Christensen went too far in requiring a review of those remnant populations. But it sided with wildlife advocates on the genetics issue, saying the government had not done enough to make sure hunting and other pressures don’t reduce the population size to where the bears’ genetic health could be harmed.
Attorneys for the wildlife advocates in the case said they hoped the ruling would prompt federal officials to concentrate more on conserving grizzlies rather than lifting safeguards to their survival.
But supporters of the government’s attempt to remove protections said the elimination of the need for a comprehensive review of remnant bear populations could speed up the process going forward after years of courtroom battles.
Government officials did not challenge other concerns raised by Christensen, including whether sufficient safeguards were in place to keep the bears from sliding toward extinction if states hold hunts.
The Fish and Wildlife Service already is working on that issue, according to court documents. The agency has not wavered from the position that protections are no longer warranted.
Agency representatives declined to offer a response to queries from The Associated Press about the ruling.
CALIFORNIA
Music teacher gets 18 years for lewd acts with schoolgirls
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The founder of an international music program who was accused of giving semen-tainted flutes to California elementary school students was sentenced Wednesday to 18 years in state prison, the state attorney general’s office said.
John Zeretzke, 61, of Ventura was sentenced in Orange County Superior Court after pleading guilty to six counts of committing lewd acts against five girls under 14.
For more than 30 years, Zeretzke was a teaching artist for the Music Center of Los Angeles, during which time he would share music lessons with students at Southern California schools.
In 2009, he founded Flutes Across the World, through which he contracted with schools to help children craft and decorate PVC pipe flutes. The nonprofit also participated in mission trips to share music lessons in countries such as Haiti, Honduras and the Philippines.
Prosecutors alleged that in 2017, Zeretzke recorded himself ejaculating into flutes that were then distributed to five girls at Southern California elementary schools. He then is accused of taking photos of the girls using the flutes.
That year, California authorities began investigating reports of tainted flutes. Parents in some districts were urged to put the flutes in paper bags and turn them in to authorities for testing.
However, by the time the flutes were collected and tested, no traces of semen were found, prosecutors said at trial.
“There is no place in our society for crimes against children,” California Attorney General Becerra said. “We will not tolerate this kind of behavior in our schools or anywhere in our state.”
Zeretzke still faces five federal charges that didn’t involve Southern California children. The East Bay Times has reported that he agreed to plead guilty to one federal count of producing child pornography, with the other charges to be dropped.
Zeretzke was scheduled to plead guilty in U.S. District Court on Oct. 20.
TENNESSEE
Country band Lady A files suit against singer with same name
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country group Lady A, which dropped the word “Antebellum,” from their name because of the word’s ties to slavery, has filed a lawsuit against a Black singer who has performed as Lady A for years.
The Grammy-winning vocal group filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court after negotiations with Anita White broke down in recent weeks.
According to the lawsuit, the band is seeking a ruling that their use of the trademark “Lady A” does not infringe on White’s alleged trademark rights of the same name. The band is not seeking monetary damages.
The group made up Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood announced the name change last month, saying they were regretful for not taking into consideration the word antebellum’s associations with slavery.
But White, who has been releasing blues and soul music for years as Lady A, complained publicly that the band never reached out to her before changing their name. Negotiations over the name failed to reach an agreement. A manager for White did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, the band applied for trademarks for the name “Lady A” for entertainment services and for use on clothing back in 2010 and no oppositions were filed by any person or entity.
“When we learned that Ms. White had also been performing under the name Lady A, we had heartfelt discussions with her about how we can all come together and make something special and beautiful out of this moment,” said the group in a statement. “We never even entertained the idea that she shouldn’t also be able to use the name Lady A, and never will — today’s action doesn’t change that.”
