Portage County Legal News

Portage County Legal News.

State

Massachusetts is dumping sewage into waterways. Grassroots organizations are fighting back

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — When Ann McDonald went kayaking several weeks after a 2024 rainstorm, she thought the water in the Alewife Brook just outside Boston was safe. Even though sewage discharges into the brook during heavy storms, public health officials recommended waiting just 48 hours after rain for bacteria levels to dro ... (full story)

Southern Poverty Law Center charged with defrauding donors with payments to extremist informants

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted April 21 on federal fraud charges alleging it improperly raised millions of dollars to secretly pay leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups for inside information, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
The Justice Department alleges the civil rig ... (full story)

Investigation finds former Ohio State president violated school policy

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University's recently resigned president violated school policy by attempting to help a woman with whom he had a close personal relationship get a job at the school and access the public institution's resources, the school said in a report released last week.
The investigation was requested ... (full story)

Florida's attorney general launches criminal probe into ChatGPT over FSU shooting

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida's attorney general on April 20 opened a rare criminal investigation into OpenAI's ChatGPT over whether the artificial intelligence app offered advice to a gunman who killed two people and wounded six others last year at Florida State University.
Attorney General James Uthmeier said that prosecu ... (full story)

As the planet warms, scientists burn homes to figure out how to best protect them in wildfires

RICHBURG, S.C. (AP) — It took less than three minutes for wind-whipped flames to go from licking the side of the house to shattering a window and working under the eaves to burn everything inside. Weeks later, another house in the exact same spot was burning — again in the name of science.
That home went up in flames ... (full story)