Georgia
Man gets life, plus 375 years, for killing police officer in 2015
ATLANTA (AP) — A man who shot and killed a Georgia police officer in 2015 has been sentenced to life in prison plus 375 years.
Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick sentenced Amanuel Menghesha on Friday in the death of Detective Terrence Green, a 22-year veteran of the Fulton County Police Department. Green and other officers were responding to reports of shots fired inside a house and domestic disturbance early March 4, 2015, when they were fired upon with an AK-47 by Menghesha.
Green was shot in the back of the head as he ran for cover and died at Grady Hospital, authorities said.
Menghesha, who was shot multiple times before his arrest, pleaded guilty to 33 counts including murder, criminal attempt to commit murder and aggravated assault against a peace officer.
“While we cannot bring back Detective Green, we hope this guilty plea and sentence brings relief and a sense of justice to his family, friends and colleagues,” said Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in a statement.
South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the court’s sentence “makes it clear that attacks on our law enforcement officers have no place in our state.”
“We want to wrap our arms around Detective Green’s family and pray that they and all officers involved are finally able to find some comfort and healing with this conviction,” the Fulton County Police Department said in a statement.
Nebraska
Medical marijuana effort falls short on signatures
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Proposals to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska will not appear on the November general election ballot after the efforts failed to collect enough signatures, the state’s top elections official said Monday.
Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said in a news release that the Medical Cannabis Patient Protections Initiative and the Medical Cannabis Regulation Initiative failed to meet signature requirements to get either proposal on the ballot.
Each proposal needed nearly 87,000 signatures — or a total of 7% of registered voters — as well as 5% of registered voters in at least 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties to put the proposals to a vote of the people.
The Patient Protections initiative collected 77,843 valid signatures, and the 5% threshold was met in only 26 counties, Evnen said. That proposal would have legalized the use of up to 5 ounces of marijuana for qualifying medical reasons.
The Cannabis Regulation initiative collected 77,119 signatures, and the 5% threshold was met in 27 counties. It would have legalized the possession, manufacture, distribution, delivery, and dispensing of marijuana for medical reasons and would have established a commission to regulate a state medical cannabis program.
The failure did not come as a surprise. Organizers announced in early July that they would likely miss the signature goal needed to make the November ballot, citing the death of one of the effort’s top donors. That forced organizers to rely primarily on volunteers.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and other prominent state Republican leaders have actively fought the effort to legalize medical marijuana.
Nevada
Students returning, legal battle brews over Reno dorm blast
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Three years after a gas explosion ripped through a University of Nevada dormitory, hundreds of students will start moving into the remodeled building this week as a legal battle looms over more than $100 million in damages.
School officials likened the damage from the blast July 5, 2019, to that of an earthquake. They said at the time they were lucky no one was killed and only eight suffered minor injuries because the eight-story dorm was mostly empty over the holiday weekend.
A lawsuit filed in June by the University of Nevada, Reno’s insurance company says the company that serviced the boiler is to blame, the Reno Gazette Journal reported. A status conference is scheduled Aug. 25 before Washoe District Court Judge Egan Walker.
Authorities said a pipeline in the boiler room filled air ducts and elevator shafts with gas, causing a massive explosion that rattled the campus, twisted metal, blasted appliances across rooms and broke windows.
More than 700 students had been living in Argenta Hall, the largest of nine dorms on the campus just north of Reno’s downtown casino district. A neighboring dorm also was damaged and was closed for a year.
UNR President Brian Sandoval announced last week more than 700 students would begin moving into the remodeled dorm and dining hall ahead of the Aug. 29 start of the fall semester.
“Argenta is back,” Sandoval said during a reception to thank contractors, architects and university staff for helping to rebuild and for getting through the last three years.
UNR said the dorm explosion cost the university more than $130 million for repairs, remodeling, and alternate housing for students, which included refurbishing a tower of downtown Reno’s Circus Circus hotel-casino into a residence hall.
Other costs included extra security and transportation for students living in the hotel-casino, the loss of enrollment caused by the explosion and personal property lost by students and staff.
Zurich American Insurance Co., contracted by the state’s college system, has paid $124.5 million to settle various claims. It’s now going after Battle Born Boiler and Mechanical, the service contractor that at the time maintained the residence hall heating systems, the Gazette Journal reported.
Court documents filed by the insurer accuse Battle Born of improper installation, repair and maintenance of the boiler and its parts, and knowingly violating safety codes. The suit says that Battle Born was careless and negligent enough to allow the explosion to occur.
Attorneys for Battle Born, which dissolved as a company in May, and its insurance company have denied any wrongdoing but have yet to file any detailed response.
Battle Born “is without sufficient information or knowledge with which to form a belief as to the truth or falsity of the allegations,” they said in an initial answer to the complaint filed on July 19.
