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Supreme Court weighs local governments' climate change lawsuits against oil and gas companies
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court grappled Monday with whether local governments can sue oil and gas companies in state court to help cover costs associated with climate change, an issue with potentially billions of dollars at stake.
Key justices appeared wary about the potential sweep of litigation, but torn over the complex questions of federal and state law raised by the case.
Officials in Boulder argue their lawsuit is an attempt to hold energy companies Suncor and ExxonMobil accountable for their contributions to climate change.
They say that worsening disasters such as floods and wildfires put a heavy financial burden on local communities, and the industry should bear part of that cost.
The city and county of Boulder first sued the oil companies in 2018, years before the 2021 Marshall Fire destroyed nearly 1,100 homes and left two people dead. Total damage was estimated at $2 billion, the costliest wildfire in Colorado history.
The companies say that a flurry of lawsuits in state courts is not the way to deal with the global issue.
Governments from largely blue-leaning areas around the country have filed similar lawsuits seeking damages that could total billions of dollars, part of a wave of legal action worldwide seeking to leverage action through the courts.
"Presumably, if you prevail, the next day, a municipality in every single state will file a lawsuit," said Chief Justice John Roberts. "How do you think that will work out on the ground?"
Justice Brett Kavanaugh said a win by Boulder could bankrupt the oil companies and other potential defendants.
"I mean, anyone is a potential defendant for a suit like this. Any manufacturer, any business,'' he said.
A win for the oil and gas companies at the Supreme Court, meanwhile, could shut down dozens of similar cases filed in recent years.
Former 'American Idol' singer Caleb Flynn is sentenced to life in prison for wife's murder
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A former music pastor in Ohio who appeared briefly on " American Idol " was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, after a jury convicted him last week of murdering his wife while he was having an affair.
The judge said Caleb Flynn, 40, used his Christian faith to manipulate others and showed no remorse for actions marked by "layers of deceit, manipulation and cruelty."
With tears rolling down his cheeks, Flynn apologized to his family just before being sentenced, starting with his two young daughters, who were home when he shot his wife in her sleep. He called their births the "greatest joy in this life."
Although he said he accepted responsibility for his words and decisions, Flynn remained adamant that he was innocent.
"As I stand here before God, who is my ultimate judge, I am not lying when I say I did not kill my wife," he said.
Prosecutors said Flynn staged a home invasion in February and claimed a burglar killed his wife, Ashley Flynn, a 37-year-old schoolteacher and volleyball coach. In his 2013 appearance on "American Idol," Flynn credited his wife with encouraging him to chase his dreams on the singing contest. He did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood.
During the trial, Flynn didn't testify on his own behalf, nor did anybody else.
Family members, including Ashley's parents, spoke in favor of the harsh sentence Monday, while saying they had forgiven Flynn because they didn't want her legacy to be hatred.
Pennsylvania's measles outbreak is the largest in decades in the US
NEW YORK (AP) -- Pennsylvania has surpassed 1,000 measles cases this year, state health officials said Monday, making it the largest state outbreak in more than three decades.
The U.S. is enduring its worst year for measles since 1991, with nearly 3,900 reported cases, according to the CDC. The nation has seen eight reported measles-associated deaths in the past two years -- more than the combined total of reported deaths over the previous three decades.
Since the beginning of last year, large outbreaks have been reported in several states, including Texas and Utah, as well as South Carolina, which had the largest with 997 cases reported.
The governor of New York on Monday declared a disaster emergency because of measles cases in neighboring states and in rural areas of New York. The executive order extends the pool of people who can administer measles vaccines to include paramedics, midwives and others, and allows nurses to join doctors in ordering testing. The state has more than 100 cases this year.
Health officials say Pennsylvania's current outbreak started in April, west of Philadelphia. There have been 1,004 cases, including 198 hospitalizations and five deaths, state officials said.
Health experts attribute such outbreaks to low vaccination rates.
It's been decades since a U.S. state has seen an outbreak surpass 1,000 cases, stretching back to a multiyear outbreak in New York City in the early 1990s that infected more than 4,500 people.
The nation eliminated the domestic spread of measles in 2000 by maintaining high vaccination rates, but those rates have fallen in recent years to below the 95% coverage needed to prevent outbreaks.
2 people killed, including a student, after Florida school bus rolls over in crash
A Florida school bus carrying nearly 40 people overturned after being struck by an oncoming car on the way to a high school early Monday, killing a student and the driver of another vehicle that caught fire, authorities said.
A heavy presence of emergency responders rushed to the crash site in Winter Haven, south of Orlando, and 26 students were transported to a hospital, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. At least one person was in critical condition.
The crash left the bus upside-down on the side of the road. The front end was a mangled mess of metal and one of its four back tires appeared to be missing.
"It was a horrible crash," Judd said. "It was a terrible, tragic morning. We had a beautiful 10th grade girl lose her life."
The bus was headed to Winter Haven High School when an oncoming car crossed the center line and struck the side of the bus near the rear wheels, Judd said. The sheriff said the impact ripped the tire off the bus, which then crashed head-on into an oncoming Jeep that caught fire.
Most of the 39 people aboard the bus were high school students, along with the bus driver and the driver's daughter. Judd said first responders spent the first several hours getting people to the hospital, identifying them and reuniting students with their parents.
"I think this is the most horrific bus tragedy we've had in decades, as far back as I can remember," Judd said.
Officials didn't immediately report the condition of the driver of the car that hit the bus, but Judd said that person had been heading to work and was cooperating with investigators. They were not arrested or charged with a crime.
Dennis Hastert, longtime Republican House speaker who went to prison, dies at age 84
CHICAGO (AP) -- Dennis Hastert, whose congressional legacy as the longest-serving Republican House speaker was later fouled by allegations that he had molested high school athletes during his prior career as a teacher and wrestling coach, has died, a coroner said Monday. He was 84.
Hastert, who was speaker from 1999 until 2007 and spent more than a year in prison later in life, died Saturday of natural causes at his home while receiving hospice care, according to Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell.
When he was sentenced in 2016 to more than a year behind bars, the former history teacher became one of the highest-ranking American politicians ever ordered to prison.
In the late 1990s, Hastert was a little-known Illinois lawmaker with a reputation for congeniality that had helped him ascend the ranks of congressional leaders. When Newt Gingrich lost support because of ethics violations and the GOP's poor showing in an election, Republicans elected Hastert to succeed him. In his first weeks on the job in 1999, he presided over the House while the Senate conducted then-President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial.
After the GOP reclaimed the White House, Hastert helped pass then-President George W. Bush's legislative agenda.
In 2015 he was accused of evading banking regulations as part of a plan to pay hush money to conceal unspecified "prior misconduct." Nearly a year later, prosecutors said Hastert's alleged misconduct involved the sexual abuse of teenage boys on his wrestling team in Yorkville, a small town west of Chicago.
Prosecutors said Hastert sexually abused at least four team members during his coaching career, which lasted from 1965 to 1981.
The person Hastert was paying, identified in court papers only as Individual A, said the abuse occurred in a motel room when he was 14 on the way home from wrestling camp. Hastert allegedly touched other wrestlers in a locker room after saying he would give them massages. Two wrestlers said Hastert performed sexual acts on them.
Prosecutors also described a recliner where Hastert often sat in the locker room with a direct view of the stalls where the boys showered.
Hastert agreed to plead guilty to evading banking laws. In all, he paid more than $1.7 million out of $3.5 million that he had promised to Individual A, sometimes in lump sums of $100,000 cash.
At the sentencing hearing, where he received 15 months behind bars, the visibly angry judge called Hastert a "serial child molester."
In a statement, Hastert said he was "deeply ashamed" and admitted that he "mistreated" some of his athletes. But he never referred directly to sexual abuse.