The legislation, which passed a divided Legislature with broad bipartisan support earlier this week, ushers in some of the most significant changes to the state criminal justice system in years.

“Every single person, every single Minnesotan deserves to feel safe and protected in their communities,” Walz said. “This bipartisan piece of legislation moves us toward a critical step toward criminal justice reform”

Major policy shifts include a statewide ban on chokeholds and neck restraints — such as the one used on Floyd — and a prohibition on taxpayer-funded warrior-style training for officers. The measure also creates requirements for data collection related to deadly force encounters and officer intervention and establishes a new arbitration panel for police misconduct cases.

The measure, which takes effect Aug. 1, is the product of weeks of intense negotiation at the Capitol amid mounting pressure to reform policing in Minnesota and beyond. Legislator from both parties have heralded the agreement as an example of lawmakers, activists against police brutality and law enforcement groups coming together to find common ground and enact necessary changes. Still, many advocates said the reforms didn’t go far enough.

—Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Court upholds sanctions against Alex Jones in case brought by Sandy Hook families

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday upheld legal sanctions against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in the case brought against him by a group of Sandy Hook families and first responders.

Jones and his attorney Norm Pattis were sanctioned last summer after the Sandy Hook families charged they were violating orders to turn over information to plaintiffs and Jones let loose a tirade on his online show against one of the attorneys for the families, including a comment about putting his “head on a pike.”

Jones and Pattis had argued the sanctions violated his First Amendment rights, but the court disagreed unanimously and found the sanctions were warranted and that Jones must comply with lower court’s orders to produce information for the Sandy Hook families’ legal team.

Jones also failed in his bid to convince the state Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by a Superior Court judge earlier this year that blocks early dismissal of the case.

A group of Sandy Hook families and first responders have sued Jones for claiming the 2012 attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown that claimed the lives of 20 first graders and six educators was a hoax, and argue that he profited by spreading the hoax claim.

Controversial N.C. professor Mike Adams found dead in his home

RALEIGH, N.C. — A University of North Carolina-Wilmington professor who was set to retire next month after a history of controversial social media posts was found dead in his home on Thursday afternoon.

Deputies with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Wilmington home of Mike Adams to do a wellness check and found his body, according to Lt. J.J. Brewer. The Sheriff’s Office is conducting a death investigation at the house, but did not release any other details about the circumstances.

Brewer said Adams’ family and the university have been notified.

UNCW officials did not immediately respond to a phone call Thursday evening.

Adams, a 55-year-old tenured criminology professor, was set to retire from UNCW on Aug. 1, after reaching a settlement agreement with the university for more than $500,000. He sparked controversy at the university for more than a decade, particularly and most recently surrounding his comments on social media, the News & Observer previously reported.

His early retirement was announced last month after Adams was publicly criticized for tweets about Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus.

In a May 28 tweet, Adams said universities shouldn’t be closing but that they should shut down “the nonessential majors. Like Women’s Studies.”

The next day, Adams tweeted, “This evening I ate pizza and drank beer with six guys at a six seat table top. I almost felt like a free man who was not living in the slave state of North Carolina. Massa Cooper, let my people go!”

Adams also tweeted about the individuals protesting the killing of George Floyd, saying that rioters were “thugs looking for an opportunity to break the law with impunity.”

Multiple change.org petitions, with more than 120,000 signatures, started circulating against Adams. And faculty, students, alumni and celebrities demanded that the university get rid of him.

—The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)

LA-area man dies after entering residence during termite fumigation

LOS ANGELES — A Whittier man was found dead Tuesday after entering his own home while it was being fumigated for termites, authorities said.

A fumigation company discovered the body inside a tented home on See Drive, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.

“The owner of the home went back to his residence and entered for unknown reasons,” Lt. Marc Verlich said. “He was overcome by the poisonous gases.”

The chemical used in the home was the gas fumigant Vikane, authorities said.

About 10 sheriff’s deputies in hazardous materials suits responded to the scene after the L.A. County Fire Department was initially dispatched Tuesday afternoon.

The dead man, who authorities said was in his 40s, was not identified. There was no evidence of foul play in the death, fire Capt. Jason Centeno said.

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