AG faces careless-driving count in death
PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota’s Republican attorney general has been charged with misdemeanor careless driving after he struck and killed a man with his car, authorities said Thursday.
Jason Ravnsborg also is facing misdemeanor charges of operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile electronic device and veering out of his lane, Emily Sovell, deputy Hyde County state’s attorney, announced. Authorities said he was not on his phone at the time of the crash.
Ravnsborg, who was elected to his first term in 2018, initially told authorities he thought he had struck a deer or another large animal as he drove home to Pierre from a Republican fundraiser late on Sept. 12. He said he didn’t realize he had killed a man, 55-year-old Joseph Boever, until he returned to the accident scene the next day.
Sovell said the evidence didn’t support more serious felony charges such as vehicular homicide or manslaughter. She noted that nothing showed Ravnsborg was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
Ravnsborg has said he is confident he did not commit a crime, provided a blood sample and handed over his electronic devices to investigators. A toxicology report from a sample taken roughly 15 hours after the crash showed no alcohol in Ravnsborg’s system.
Beadle County State’s Attorney Michael Moore, who helped with the case, said the Boever family had been told of the decision beforehand.
“They obviously don’t like our decision in this case, but as we all know, victims don’t make this decision,” Moore said. Later, pressed by a reporter, Moore added: “I don’t feel good about it, but it’s the right decision.”
Gas pipeline explodes in Oklahoma field
AMES, Okla. — No injuries were reported after a natural-gas pipeline exploded early Thursday in northwestern Oklahoma, authorities said.
The explosion occurred about 5:45 a.m. in a field southeast of the town of Ames, about 65 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, according to Ames Fire Chief Mike Willey.
“There was no threat to people or private property,” Willey said. “The closest house is about a quarter mile away.”
A fire in the 6- to 8-inch pipeline was brought under control shortly after 9 a.m., but the cause has not been determined, Willey said.
The pipeline is owned by DCP Midstream of Denver, according to Oklahoma Cor. Commission spokesperson Matt Skinner.
DCP spokesperson Jeanette Alberg said in a statement that the pipeline is shut down and there has been no other damage.
Skinner said the pipeline is a gathering pipeline where gas from various wells are gathered for transportation.
Trial allowed over police’s armed search
ST. LOUIS — A federal appeals court panel has ruled that a gun-drawn police search of a St. Louis County home constituted a “severe, warrantless intrusion.”
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling Tuesday. At issue was a search in 2016 in which St. Louis County officers entered a Ballwin home searching for someone who skipped out on cab fare.
ACLU of Missouri attorney Anthony Rothert called it “a nightmare for this family and something that is not supposed to happen in this country.”
The ruling allows a 2017 lawsuit to go to trial.
Jon Luer and Andrea Steinebach awoke about 3 a.m. on July 10, 2016, to find armed officers in their hallway. The court opinion said the two officers took Luer’s stepson, who also was in the home, to let the cabdriver look at him. The officers left after deciding he was not the suspect.
Under scrutiny, 50-year legislator to quit
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who set much of Illinois’ political agenda as House speaker for four decades before his ouster last month, announced Thursday that he is resigning his seat in the Legislature.
Madigan, the longest-serving legislative leader in U.S. history, was tarnished by a federal bribery investigation announced last summer. Madigan has not been charged in the federal case and maintains his innocence. But after being implicated, he lost his bid for a 19th term as speaker to Hillside Democrat Emanuel “Chris” Welch.
In a statement Thursday, Madigan, 78, did not explicitly state the reason for his departure at end of the month after holding the post for 50 years.
“It’s no secret that I have been the target of vicious attacks by people who sought to diminish my many achievements lifting up the working people of Illinois,” Madigan said. “I have been resolute in my dedication to public service and integrity, always acting in the interest of the people of Illinois.”
In July, Madigan was implicated in a long-running bribery scheme involving the state’s largest electric utility, ComEd, in which the utility admitted it secured jobs, often requiring little or no work, and contracts for Madigan’s associates in return for favorable treatment in regulations.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, Joseph Fitzpatrick, said that the investigation is ongoing.