In other news: Court documents suggest reason for police raid of Kansas newspaper; Dentist convicted of killing wife on African safari set to be sentenced to life in prison

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 22, 2023

By The Associated Press

Court documents suggest reason for police raid of Kansas newspaper

The police chief who led the raid of a Kansas newspaper has alleged in previously unreleased court documents that a reporter either impersonated someone else or lied about her intentions when she obtained the driving records of a local business owner. But reporter Phyllis Zorn, Marion County Record Editor and Publisher Eric Meyer and the newspaper’s attorney said Sunday that no laws were broken when Zorn accessed a public state website for information on restaurant operator Kari Newell. The raid carried out Aug. 11 and led by Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody brought international attention to the small central Kansas town that now finds itself at the center of a debate over press freedoms.

Dentist convicted of killing wife on African safari set to be sentenced to life in prison

A wealthy dentist convicted of killing his wife at the end of an African safari is expected to be sent to prison for the rest of his life when he is sentenced in federal court Monday. U.S. government prosecutors are also seeking an estimated $25 million in penalties from Larry Rudolph. He was found guilty in federal court last year for mail fraud for cashing in nearly $5 million in insurance policies for his wife, Bianca Rudolph. Prosecutors say he wanted to live a lavish retirement with his longtime girlfriend with the help of the insurance money.

A power outage in New Jersey was due to an unlikely culprit: a fish likely put there by a bird

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Officials say a New Jersey power outage a week ago was due to an unlikely culprit — a fish. Sayreville police say a fish was found on a transformer after the Aug. 12 outage, and they suspect a bird dropped it. They dubbed the fish Gilligan and called him “a hard working family man.” Jersey Central Power and Light Company spokesperson Chris Hoenig said animals are a common cause of power outages but they’re usually squirrels — “fish are not on the list of frequent offenders.” He said the area has a lot of ospreys, which were on the state’s endangered species list until less than a decade ago.