News briefs

Tribune News Service on Oct 15, 2024

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North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson sues CNN, porn store employee for defamation

North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson announced Tuesday he was suing CNN and a porn store employee for defamation.

CNN published a story last month regarding Robinson’s alleged racist and sexually explicit posts on message boards of the porn site NudeAfrica, where he detailed his preferences, described himself as “black Nazi” and derided Martin Luther King Jr., among other things.

Roughly two weeks before CNN’s story, local North Carolina outlet The Assembly reported Robinson was a frequent customer at multiple porn stores in Greensboro during the 1990s and 2000s.

The fallout from the stories led multiple campaign staffers to resign and many high-profile Republicans to distance themselves from Robinson as he refused to step down from his position as lieutenant governor while denying the allegations.

—New York Daily News

Denver City Council clears way for affordable housing project for LGBTQ+ seniors after lengthy hearing

The City Council on Monday rezoned a 31-acre property that was formerly home to a military supply depot in northeast Denver’s Clayton neighborhood.

The zoning changes, more than a year in the making, clear the way for an affordable housing project that will cater to LGBTQ+ seniors, property owners say.

The council’s final 9-2 vote came despite significant reservations voiced by even members who ended up supporting the changes.

Members worried that rezoning the expansive property to a set of rules that allow housing could open the door to mass redevelopment that would wipe away job-creating commercial space. The land is notably home to the York Street Yards mixed-used property that has brought manufacturing and retail jobs to former military warehouse buildings there.

—The Denver Post

Perdue faces class action lawsuit over PFAS contamination in Maryland

BALTIMORE — Salisbury residents have filed a class action lawsuit against a Perdue Farms subsidiary over PFAS contamination found in groundwater on its site.

The federal lawsuit, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, alleges that Perdue AgriBusiness was reckless in its disposal of PFAS-containing wastewater, causing the groundwater beneath its site in Salisbury to become contaminated.

The suit alleges that contamination has spread into the neighboring residential community. The class action covers all property owners in a roughly 3.25-square-mile area, which is believed to be the “contamination zone.” It also includes any individuals who lived, worked, or attended school or church in the affected area for at least six months, dating back to 1985.

PFAS are an expansive group of manmade chemicals, which were first used decades ago because of their heat, oil and water-resistant properties. They’ve been used in a variety of products, including outdoor gear, nonstick pans, food packaging and medical devices, and because they do not deteriorate readily in the environment, they are known by the nickname “forever chemicals.” Some have been linked to medical conditions, including certain types of cancer, and have been phased out, while others remain in use today.

—The Baltimore Sun

Israel vows it will make its own decision on how to attack Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted the country is free to act as it chooses in a counter-strike against Iran after a report suggesting his government is heeding U.S. pleas to keep nuclear and energy facilities off its target list to limit the risk of escalation.

“We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests,” Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday.

Israel and the U.S. have been conferring regularly on how to retaliate for Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic-missile salvo, a dilemma that’s jangled nerves across the Middle East and in energy markets. The debate has tested the relationship between Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden, who has sought unsuccessfully to secure a cease-fire in the country’s conflicts with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A report in the Washington Post said the Israeli premier had agreed to limit the response to military targets. The newspaper cited two officials familiar with the matter who it didn’t identify.

—Bloomberg News