National Roundup

Illinois
Lawsuits filed against plant over fumes

CHICAGO (AP) — Nearly three dozen people have sued the operator of a suburban Chicago medical equipment cleaning plant they claim emits fumes that have adversely affected their health, lawyers for the plaintiffs announced Tuesday.

The 32 lawsuits filed against Sterigenics LLC this week in Cook County seek damages from the company, which operates a plant in Willowbrook.

Jeanne Hochhalter is one of those suing Oak Brook-based Sterigenics. She said Tuesday that the cancer she developed is directly related to the long-term release from the plant of the chemical ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen.

A Sterigenics spokesman said the company “has consistently complied with applicable regulations.” The spokesman added the claims against Sterigenics lack merit and “we intend to vigorously defend against them.”

In February, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency shut down the Willowbrook plant after air quality monitoring recorded spikes of ethylene oxide in surrounding neighborhoods.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul and DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin in July reached an agreement with Sterigenics that will allow the plant to reopen after additional emission capture and control equipment is installed.

Sterigenics also agreed to fund $300,000 in community projects designed in coordination with the state to benefit the environment and the local community.

When the agreement was announced, Sterigenics president Philip Macnabb said resolution of the matter puts the company a step closer to resuming the work of sterilizing vital medical products and devices for patients in Illinois and beyond.

But Hochhalter and others who are suing Sterigenics argue the plant should never be allowed to reopen.

Rhode Island
Alex and Ani drops $1.2B lawsuit against Bank of America

CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — Jewelry maker Alex and Ani has dropped its $1.2 billion discrimination lawsuit against Bank of America that had alleged “gender bias and greed.”

The Providence Journal reports the Rhode Island company agreed to voluntarily dismiss the suit after reaching a confidential agreement with the Charlotte, North Carolina, bank.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, had accused Bank of America of trying to push women out of leadership roles at the company. It also argued the bank wrongly placed Alex and Ani in default of a $170 million loan and froze a $50 million revolving line of credit.

A Bank of America spokes­man told the Journal that no payments were made to the company for dismissing the suit and that the bank strongly disagrees with the allegations.

Florida
Trial to start in case of fatal shooting over parking spot

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — A prosecutor told jurors a Florida man who fatally shot an unarmed black man during a dispute over a parking space had initiated a similar confrontation just months before.

Prosecutor Fred Schaub said Wednesday during opening statements of Michael Drejka’s trial in Clearwater that five months before he fatally shot Markeis McGlockton in July 2018, the defendant had threatened another driver about parking in a handicapped parking spot.

Prosecutors say Drejka confronted McGlockton’s girlfriend for parking in a handicapped space. Convenience store video recorded McGlockton leaving the store and shoving Drejka to the ground. Seconds later, Drejka pulled out a handgun and shot 28-year-old McGlockton as he backed away. McGlockton ran inside the store, where he collapsed and died.

The trial is expected to last two to three weeks.

Wisconsin
Court OKs man’s  conviction over making Facebook threats to police

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A state appeals court says a Darien man was properly convicted of threatening police on Facebook.

A jury convicted Aaron Wigman in 2017 of threatening officers. According to court documents, two Delavan officers cited him for disorderly conduct in 2016 after he made racially-charged rants in a bar. That night he wrote on Facebook that he hoped the next officer who messes with him wears bulletproof pants and he would bleed officers out.

Wigman contends his posts weren’t a true threat as defined in statute and the trial judge failed to instruct the jury on the definition.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals upheld his conviction Wednesday, finding the judge included a partial definition of a true threat in the jury instructions.

Wigman’s attorney didn’t immediately return a message.

Missouri
$385K settlement reached in park injury case

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis has agreed to pay $385,000 to settle a lawsuit with the family of a girl who was smashed by a 200-pound (90 kilogram) racquetball door that was left off its hinges at a city park.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Michael Mullen approved the settlement Tuesday. An attorney says the girl was in a medically induced coma for about a month in 2016 and may suffer long-term harm. The girl wasn’t named in the lawsuit because she’s a minor.

About $208,000 of the settlement was set aside in an annuity and a trust for the girl, now 7. Another $128,333 will pay legal expenses. The remainder went to pay medical and other costs.

The city denied allegations of wrongdoing in the settlement.

Washington
Man gets over 2 years for hate crime assault

BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) — A Bremerton man convicted of a hate crime against a black man was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison.

The Kitsap Sun reports A Kitsap County Superior Court jury convicted Robert Maykis of assault and malicious harassment along with two sentencing enhancements for using a deadly weapon.

On Feb. 9, 2018, court documents say the victim was headed home from work and after exiting a bus had the urge to urinate. Documents say because of a medical condition, he didn’t believe he would be able to make it home and went behind a nearby business.

Documents say the man told an officer that Maykis then emerged from a parked van and began yelling slurs at him, including the n-word.

Documents say Maykis threw a rock at the man, striking him in the leg.

A lawyer for Maykis says he will appeal.