Latest news with #HouseBill1052
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Seattle man involved in 2023 hate crime home invasions sentenced
The Brief Demarcus Pate received a 6.4-year sentence for 2023 Seattle home invasions targeting Asian American homes, pleading guilty to hate crime charges. The burglaries prompted Washington lawmakers to pass a bill clarifying "hate crime," pending the governor's approval. SEATTLE - The man involved in a string of 2023 home invasion burglaries targeting Asian American homes in Seattle was sentenced Friday to six-and-a-half years in prison. You may remember harrowing video of a South Seattle home invasion from 2023, when two masked men rushed a homeowner at his front door and shocked him with a Taser. Seattle Police determined that several teenagers were coordinating attacks on Asian American homes, claiming they were "weaker" and easier to rob. One of the defendants, Demarcus Pate, was sentenced Friday to 77 months — roughly 6.4 years — in prison. The backstory Pate pleaded guilty on March 31 to second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, two counts of first-degree burglary and hate crime. "I appreciate the work of our Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys, Victim Advocates and Legal Service Professionals for bringing this case to justice, and for the good investigative work of Seattle Police Department detectives," said King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion. The cases against the other suspects are still working their way through King County court. What's next The spate of targeted home invasions inspired Washington lawmakers to pass House Bill 1052, which seeks to clarify the definition of "hate crime." The bill passed the House and Senate and now goes to Gov. Bob Ferguson's desk to be signed into law. The Source Information in this story comes from the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Boeing 737 reportedly rejected overseas, FOX 13 finds matching jet in Seattle China retaliates against Trump's tariffs Docs: Man accused of killing WA grandmother 'meticulously planned' murder Gov. Bob Ferguson signs bill restricting armed forces from entering WA Fast Ferry cuts loom as Washington faces budget crisis Boy shot, killed in Tacoma, WA on Easter Sunday night Seattle high school student shot, killed in Yakima on Easter Sunday To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Regulators deny Summit's CO2 pipeline application
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The latest attempt to route a CO2 pipeline through South Dakota has ended in a defeat for the company. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday denied the permit application from Summit Carbon Solutions. Commissioner Kristie Fiegen and commission chair Gary Hanson voted for the denial. Commissioner Chris Nelson voted no. The denial was without prejudice, which means Summit can file another application in the future. Summit submitted the application in November, after South Dakota voters had rejected Senate Bill 201. It attempted to state that a PUC permit overrides any local regulations. The passage of SB 201 last year led to significant turnover in the legislative elections last year and brought a stronger anti-CO2 membership to both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That in turn led to passage this year of House Bill 1052 that says CO2 projects can't use eminent domain to force their way across people's properties. The passage of HB 1052 then led to Summit asking the state commission to suspend the schedule and put the application on hold indefinitely. That position later changed. On Tuesday, Summit attorney Brett Koenecke repeated that Summit was willing to accept 12 months. Summit has received approval for the pipeline from other states. Landowners attorney Brian Jorde requested the denial. He told the South Dakota commission on Tuesday that Summit has no way to get the line from Iowa into Lincoln County and no way to get the line to North Dakota through McPherson County. Koenecke said Summit still believes there is a chance to reach agreements with landowners along the South Dakota portion of the route. But, he noted, 'I think the price of poker has gone up considerably.' Said commission chair Hanson, 'I don't see the possibility of an indefinite suspension.' He told Koenecke, 'You're between a rock and a hard place.' Koenecke said there are people — 'lots of them' — who support the proposed pipeline. 'Why can't you let it play out?' he asked the commissioners. 'Let's find out if this is possible. Let's find out.' Jorde, the landowners attorney, said Summit doesn't plan to refer HB 1052 to a public vote. 'It's like watching a slow car crash,' he said. Commissioner Fiegen made the motion for denial. 'The application is not ready to go forward,' she said. 'The current route in my view is not viable.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Regulators face major decision on CO2 line
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The company seeking a state permit for South Dakota's first-ever carbon-dioxide pipeline now wants regulators to put its request on hold indefinitely so there is more time to negotiate with reluctant landowners. But attorneys for a group of landowners opposed to the project argue that Summit Carbon Solutions' permit application should be dismissed rather than delayed, because their clients have zero intention of letting the controversial line ever cross their properties. Mega Millions changes start this week That's the dilemma facing the three members of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, who on Thursday will consider how to handle Summit's request. It's the latest choke point in a years-long fight over South Dakota's tradition of landowner rights and the farmer-owned ethanol processors whose year-round purchases of locally-grown corn will increasingly depend in the future on finding some way to reduce releases of CO2 into the atmosphere. What's created the current controversy was the South Dakota Legislature's decision this year to outlaw the use of eminent domain for CO2-carrying pipelines. House Bill 1052 was quickly signed into law by the state's new governor, Larry Rhoden, a rancher and former legislator who has never been a fan of letting big projects use the legal system to force their way through people's land. In announcing his decision last month, Gov. Rhoden said it would give Summit the opportunity to negotiate with landowners for access. 'The ethanol industry will remain a crucial part of our state's economy and a key asset as we implement an all-of-the-above energy approach to restore American energy dominance,' he stated. Summit filed its application for a state permit on November 19, 2024. State law requires the PUC reach a decision within one year. The commission had already scheduled an evidentiary hearing that would start on August 13 and continue through September 13, and had ruled on hundreds of intervention requests from landowners and others, when, just days after the governor signed HB 1052, various landowners began withdrawing as intervenors in the Summit permit proceeding. Then on March 12, Summit asked the PUC to suspend the hearing schedule and grant the company an indefinite delay. Two weeks later, the landowners group asked the PUC to deny Summit's application altogether and filed formal declarations from 80 landowners spread along the proposed route that 'no survey of any kind and no easement agreement of any kind will be granted to Summit.' On that same day of March 27, the PUC staff filed its response to Summit's request. The PUC staff supported Summit on suspending the hearing schedule but opposed Summit on doing so indefinitely. The PUC staff recommended that the commissioners place guardrails: Summit must notify the commission of its intent to resume the process at least 1 monthin advance. Summit must provide monthly status updates via letters filed into the docket and attendquarterly status hearings before the commission. The commission should have 12 months to process the docket and issue a decisiononce Summit resumes the process. All of this comes a year after the Legislature approved Senate Bill 201 that would have changed a key provision in state law. The law that was in effect gave the PUC the option of overriding local regulations when granting a permit. The final version of SB 201 would have required that any PUC permit override all local regulations. A coalition of landowners and an alliance of other groups referred SB 201 to a statewide vote in the November 2024 general election. Voters rejected it in 65 of 66 counties. That defeat kept in place the old law giving the commission the option of whether to suppress local control. The opponents of SB 201 also ran candidates against many of the senators and many of the representatives who had voted for 201 and knocked out a dozen incumbents in the June 2024 primary elections while also winning contests for open seats. Those results changed the Legislature's membership sufficiently that anti-201 majorities now control both chambers. That in turn led to passage this year of the legislation denying eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. The alliance issued a statement after HB 1052 was signed into law: 'Governor Rhoden listened to the people and heard their message to ban eminent domain for CO2 pipeline projects.' The alliance's leader, Jim Eschenbaum of rural Miller, was elected by the South Dakota Republican Party central committee as its new chair. On March 31 of this year, three of the anti-CO2 lawmakers — Republican Sen. Joy Hohn, Republican Sen. Mark Lapka and Republican Rep. Karla Lems — filed a request that the PUC allow them or their businesses to withdraw as intervenors from the Summit permit proceeding. Lems was prime sponsor of the new law outlawing eminent domain for CO2 lines; Lapka was its lead Senate sponsor. On Friday, Summit's legal team filed its responses to the commission. Regarding the PUC staff's proposed safeguards, Summit stated, 'While Staff's suggested guardrails are not perfect, the Applicant can see its way clear to agree to the suggestions which Staff has made therein.' As for the landowners group's request that the commission deny Summit's application altogether, Summit responded that the request was 'opportunistic.' Summit pointed out that the commission already has held public meetings and determined intervenors. (The meetings were along the proposed route in the communities of Sioux Falls, Mitchell, De Smet, Watertown, Redfield and Aberdeen.) Summit's South Dakota application is part of a broader project that would collect CO2 from various ethanol producers in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota and ship it to central North Dakota for burial. One of the proposed Summit line's potential customers is Gevo's proposed aircraft renewable-fuels plant at Lake Preston, South Dakota. Under South Dakota's previous governor, Kristi Noem, South Dakota made major financial commitments to the project. Both her husband, Bryon Noem, and then-Lt. Gov. Rhoden participated in the groundbreaking. The governor-appointed state Board of Economic Development gave Gevo a sales-tax break potentially worth up to $12,294,059 on October 11, 2022, for the proposed Lake Preston facility. A month later, the board gave a related proposed facility, Dakota Renewable Hydrogen, also to be at Lake Preston, a sales-tax break potentially worth up to $3,351,400. In 2023, Gevo received approval for $187 million from the state livestock-nutrient management bond fund. On the September 15, 2022, day of the groundbreaking, Noem didn't attend but described Gevo's project as 'the largest economic investment in South Dakota history. The announcement quoted Lt. Gov. Rhoden: 'Today, we get to celebrate South Dakota's continued growth. I'm excited about the long-term partnership that this facility will have with our farmers.' One of the photos from the event distributed by Noem's office and posted on X showed Rhoden next to then-state Economic Development Commissioner Steve Westra, with Noem's husband a few men farther down, all throwing dirt from gold-painted shovels. Everyone there was smiling. The next day, Noem used her weekly column to further promote Gevo's project. 'Companies like Gevo are also proving that government mandates aren't necessary for our energy industry to be environmentally responsible. They are taking the lead to 'go green,' and they're working with our farmers to do it,' her column said. 'The facility will use sustainable, regionally grown corn as its feedstock and will pay farmers a premium for sustainably grown corn. This is one area where the free market should – and is – taking the lead,' the column concluded. 'I'm proud of Gevo and all the innovative, hardworking businesses in South Dakota. They are helping make our state an example to the nation.' The Gevo project and the related Dakota Renewable Hydrogen facility both received PUC approval in December to have Kingsbury Electric Cooperative assigned as their electricity provider. That came after settlements were reached. But Gevo told South Dakota lawmakers last year it would put the project elsewhere if necessary. The backup plan became clear on February 25, 2025. Gevo announced acquisition of assets of an ethanol production plant and CO2 sequestration facility in western North Dakota. Summit has intended to bury COS from its multi-state line in the same general area. A week later the South Dakota Senate gave final legislative approval to banning eminent domain for CO2 lines. Two days after that, Gov. Rhoden signed it into law. And six days later, Summit was asking the PUC to delay its request for a permit. The PUC will consider the various arguments on Summit's request starting at 2:30 p.m. CT on Thursday in room 413 of the state Capitol in Pierre. Audio from the meeting will be available via Internet at KELOLAND News plans to cover the meeting and report the results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Prosecutors push to clarify Washington's hate crime law
King County prosecutors want state legislators to tweak how Washington defines a hate crime, which they say would make the anti-bias law easier to enforce. Why it matters: Local prosecutors say that they've struggled to get a conviction in some cases that involve racial or anti-LGBTQ bias simply because the perpetrators may have had other motives, too. What they're saying:"Jurors are interpreting the law to require that a defendant's bias be the only motive," Yessenia Manzo, a prosecutor who handles hate crimes in the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, told a panel of state senators this month. That's a problem "because most hate crimes are mixed-motive," Manzo said. Even in cases where bias is the driving factor, "every defendant comes up with some sort of other excuse for their violence," Manzo told members of the state Senate Law & Justice Committee during a public hearing last week. The latest: House Bill 1052 would amend state law so a hate crime wouldn't be defined as a crime committed "because of" a victim's race or identity, but "in whole or in part because of" such factors. The bill, which the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office is supporting, passed out of the Senate committee Thursday. Zoom in: During a House committee hearing in January, Manzo highlighted a case in which King County prosecutors say they were unable to get a conviction on a hate crime charge because jurors thought bias wasn't the sole motive. In that case, prosecutors said the defendant berated a Black neighbor, used a racial slur and threatened to shoot the neighbor and his dogs, blaming sleep deprivation for his behavior, Manzo said. The defendant was convicted of harassment but not of the hate crime charge. The other side: State Rep. Hunter Abell (R-Inchelium) said during a House floor debate last month that the "in whole or in part" language of House Bill 1052 "is so broad as to be effectively meaningless." Opponents said the bill also raises concerns about freedom of expression. "We need to proceed very carefully when we regulate speech," state Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) said on the House floor. What's next: The bill has been amended since it passed the state House on a 61-31 vote last month.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Carbon pipeline company seeks pause in permitting schedule after SD adopts eminent domain ban
Rep. Karla Lems, R-Canton, speaks to hundreds of rally attendees at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre on Jan. 13, 2025, during an event highlighting opposition to a carbon dioxide pipeline. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) Summit Carbon Solutions wants the schedule of proceedings for its South Dakota permit application 'paused for review and adjustment' after the state's Legislature and governor approved a ban on the use of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines. The company filed a motion Wednesday with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission asking for a suspension of the scheduling order and an indefinite extension of the deadline for regulatory action on the application. The existing schedule includes a multi-day evidentiary hearing in August and September. Summit cited House Bill 1052, signed last week by Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, as a significant obstacle to completing land surveys along the pipeline's planned route. 'With the passage of HB 1052, the Applicant's ability to obtain survey permission has changed,' wrote Summit attorney Brett Koenecke. 'The surveys which are necessarily required to inform the route decisions as to right of way will be significantly delayed.' South Dakota governor signs eminent domain ban on carbon pipelines Eminent domain is a legal process for acquiring access to land for projects that have a public benefit, with compensation for landowners determined by a court. It's commonly used for projects such as electrical power lines, water pipelines, oil pipelines and highways. The ban has been hailed as a victory by some landowners who have resisted Iowa-based Summit's proposed $9 billion carbon capture pipeline. The project would transport carbon dioxide emissions from dozens of ethanol plants in five states to an underground storage site in North Dakota. It would qualify for billions in federal tax credits incentivizing the sequestration of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. The project has permits in other states, although some are being challenged in court. South Dakota regulators rejected Summit's first application in 2023, largely due to the route's conflicts with local ordinances that mandate minimum distances between pipelines and existing features. The company has since made adjustments to its route and reapplied. Critics of the project are interpreting Summit's motion as another victory for the opposition. 'This request for extension is a clear sign that Summit knows they have lost the trust of South Dakota, and will be unable to proceed on their original timeline without being able to force surveys on unwilling landowners,' said Chase Jensen, of Dakota Rural Action, in a statement. Rhoden, a longtime advocate for property rights, described the ban last week as a way to restore trust between landowners and developers. Summit issued a statement last week criticizing the ban as unfairly targeting its project and said 'all options are on the table' when asked if it was considering legal action. Summit did not immediately respond to South Dakota Searchlight's requests for comment Wednesday. The company is not the first to encounter trouble earning a permit for a carbon capture pipeline in South Dakota. Navigator CO2 canceled its $3 billion project in October 2023, citing the 'unpredictable nature of the regulatory and government processes involved, particularly in South Dakota and Iowa.' South Dakota regulators had denied Navigator's permit application a month earlier. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
