Texas
State sues utility company to recover damages from wildfire
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas has sued the utility company whose downed power lines sparked the largest wildfire in state history, a deadly blaze that destroyed homes and livestock and charred miles of landscape, causing more than $1 billion in damage.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday by state Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses Southwestern Public Service Company, which operates in Texas as Xcel Energy, of negligence in its upkeep of aging utility poles. It seeks to recover economic damages incurred by the state and prevent the company from passing those costs on to customers.
The Smokehouse Creek fire killed three people in 2024, burning through more than 1,500 square miles (3,885 square kilometers) in Texas before spilling into neighboring Oklahoma. Texas A&M Forest Service investigators determined it was ignited when a decayed utility pole snapped and fell, dropping Xcel power lines onto dry grass.
The Minnesota-based company has acknowledged its equipment appeared to have sparked the wildfire. But the lawsuit claims the company had neglected to replace aging utility poles in the windswept Panhandle, some of which were nearly 100 years old and more than twice their typical lifespan of 40 years.
The fatalities related to the fire included a woman who was overtaken by flames after getting out of her truck, and another woman whose remains were found in her burned home. A fire chief in one of the hardest hit towns died while responding to a house fire.
The company disputed Paxton’s claims of negligence and noted it had already accepted responsibility for equipment failure. Xcel said it has already paid out more than $361 million to settle 212 of 254 claims.
Wisconsin
Slender Man attacker won’t contest state’s effort to revoke release privileges
A Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate to please horror villain Slender Man and then fled a group home won’t fight the state’s attempt to revoke her release privileges.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Scott Wagner signed off on a plan in July to release 23-year-old Morgan Geyser from a state psychiatric hospital where she had spent the last seven years and place her in a Madison group home on GPS monitoring.
The state Department of Health Services opposed her release, arguing that Geyser couldn’t be trusted. Authorities say she cut her GPS monitor off on Nov. 22 and fled the state with a 43-year-old companion. Police arrested them the next day at a truck stop outside Chicago.
State health officials filed a sealed petition with Wagner on Nov. 25 asking him to revoke Geyser’s release privileges. Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton, sent a letter to the judge on Tuesday saying that he had discussed “the allegations in detail” with her and she has decided not to contest the petition and he had notified prosecutors.
The decision clears the way for Wagner to send Geyser back to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. The state Department of Health Services runs the institute.
Geyser and her friend, Anissa Weier, lured one of their classmates, Payton Leutner, to a Waukesha park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times, narrowly missing her heart, while Weier cheered her on. Leutner barely survived the attack. All three girls were 12 years old at the time.
Geyser and Weier later told investigators they attacked Leutner in hopes of impressing Slender Man. They wanted to earn the right to be his servants and ensure that Slender Man didn’t hurt their families, the girls said. Both of them were ultimately committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute — Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25 years. Weier earned conditional release in 2021.
Geyser’s companion called WKOW-TV the day after police found them in Illinois. The person said the two became friends at church and seen each other daily for the past month. Geyser decided to flee because she was afraid the group would no longer allow them to see each other, the person said.
Minnesota
Hyundai and Kia to repair millions of vehicles under a deal to fix anti-theft technology
Automakers Hyundai and Kia must offer free repairs to millions of models under a settlement announced Tuesday by Minnesota’s attorney general, who led an effort by dozens of states that argued the vehicles weren’t equipped with proper anti-theft technology, leaving them vulnerable to thefts.
Under the nationwide settlement, the companies will offer a free repair to all eligible vehicles at a cost that could top $500 million, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said. Hyundai and Kia must also outfit all future vehicles sold in the U.S. with a key piece of technology called an engine immobilizer and pay up to $4.5 million of restitution to people whose vehicles were damaged by thieves.
The settlement was reached by 35 states, including California, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The vehicles eligible for fixes date as far back as 2011 and as recently as 2022. About 9 million eligible vehicles were sold nationwide.
Thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles soared in part because beginning in 2021, videos posted to TikTok and other social media demonstrated how someone could steal a car with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. Minneapolis reported an 836% increase in Hyundai and Kia thefts from 2021 to 2022. Ellison announced an investigation into the automakers in early 2023.
Ellison said the two companies installed engine immobilizers on cars sold in Mexico and Canada, but not widely in the U.S., leading to car thefts, crimes and crashes that injured and even killed people, including teenagers.
Under the settlement, Hyundai and Kia will install a zinc sleeve to stop would-be thieves from cracking open a vehicle’s ignition cylinder and starting the car.
Eligible customers will have one year from the date of the companies’ notice to get the repair at an authorized dealership. The repairs are expected to be available from early 2026 through early 2027.
In separate statements, the automakers said the agreement is one of multiple anti-theft efforts they have taken to help customers.
“Kia is eager to continue working with law enforcement officers and officials at federal, state, and local levels to combat criminal car theft, and the role social media has played in encouraging it, and we remain fully committed to upholding vehicle security,” the company said.
Hyundai said, “We will continue to take meaningful action to support our customers and ensure peace of mind.”
State sues utility company to recover damages from wildfire
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas has sued the utility company whose downed power lines sparked the largest wildfire in state history, a deadly blaze that destroyed homes and livestock and charred miles of landscape, causing more than $1 billion in damage.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday by state Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses Southwestern Public Service Company, which operates in Texas as Xcel Energy, of negligence in its upkeep of aging utility poles. It seeks to recover economic damages incurred by the state and prevent the company from passing those costs on to customers.
The Smokehouse Creek fire killed three people in 2024, burning through more than 1,500 square miles (3,885 square kilometers) in Texas before spilling into neighboring Oklahoma. Texas A&M Forest Service investigators determined it was ignited when a decayed utility pole snapped and fell, dropping Xcel power lines onto dry grass.
The Minnesota-based company has acknowledged its equipment appeared to have sparked the wildfire. But the lawsuit claims the company had neglected to replace aging utility poles in the windswept Panhandle, some of which were nearly 100 years old and more than twice their typical lifespan of 40 years.
The fatalities related to the fire included a woman who was overtaken by flames after getting out of her truck, and another woman whose remains were found in her burned home. A fire chief in one of the hardest hit towns died while responding to a house fire.
The company disputed Paxton’s claims of negligence and noted it had already accepted responsibility for equipment failure. Xcel said it has already paid out more than $361 million to settle 212 of 254 claims.
Wisconsin
Slender Man attacker won’t contest state’s effort to revoke release privileges
A Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate to please horror villain Slender Man and then fled a group home won’t fight the state’s attempt to revoke her release privileges.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Scott Wagner signed off on a plan in July to release 23-year-old Morgan Geyser from a state psychiatric hospital where she had spent the last seven years and place her in a Madison group home on GPS monitoring.
The state Department of Health Services opposed her release, arguing that Geyser couldn’t be trusted. Authorities say she cut her GPS monitor off on Nov. 22 and fled the state with a 43-year-old companion. Police arrested them the next day at a truck stop outside Chicago.
State health officials filed a sealed petition with Wagner on Nov. 25 asking him to revoke Geyser’s release privileges. Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton, sent a letter to the judge on Tuesday saying that he had discussed “the allegations in detail” with her and she has decided not to contest the petition and he had notified prosecutors.
The decision clears the way for Wagner to send Geyser back to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. The state Department of Health Services runs the institute.
Geyser and her friend, Anissa Weier, lured one of their classmates, Payton Leutner, to a Waukesha park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times, narrowly missing her heart, while Weier cheered her on. Leutner barely survived the attack. All three girls were 12 years old at the time.
Geyser and Weier later told investigators they attacked Leutner in hopes of impressing Slender Man. They wanted to earn the right to be his servants and ensure that Slender Man didn’t hurt their families, the girls said. Both of them were ultimately committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute — Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25 years. Weier earned conditional release in 2021.
Geyser’s companion called WKOW-TV the day after police found them in Illinois. The person said the two became friends at church and seen each other daily for the past month. Geyser decided to flee because she was afraid the group would no longer allow them to see each other, the person said.
Minnesota
Hyundai and Kia to repair millions of vehicles under a deal to fix anti-theft technology
Automakers Hyundai and Kia must offer free repairs to millions of models under a settlement announced Tuesday by Minnesota’s attorney general, who led an effort by dozens of states that argued the vehicles weren’t equipped with proper anti-theft technology, leaving them vulnerable to thefts.
Under the nationwide settlement, the companies will offer a free repair to all eligible vehicles at a cost that could top $500 million, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said. Hyundai and Kia must also outfit all future vehicles sold in the U.S. with a key piece of technology called an engine immobilizer and pay up to $4.5 million of restitution to people whose vehicles were damaged by thieves.
The settlement was reached by 35 states, including California, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The vehicles eligible for fixes date as far back as 2011 and as recently as 2022. About 9 million eligible vehicles were sold nationwide.
Thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles soared in part because beginning in 2021, videos posted to TikTok and other social media demonstrated how someone could steal a car with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. Minneapolis reported an 836% increase in Hyundai and Kia thefts from 2021 to 2022. Ellison announced an investigation into the automakers in early 2023.
Ellison said the two companies installed engine immobilizers on cars sold in Mexico and Canada, but not widely in the U.S., leading to car thefts, crimes and crashes that injured and even killed people, including teenagers.
Under the settlement, Hyundai and Kia will install a zinc sleeve to stop would-be thieves from cracking open a vehicle’s ignition cylinder and starting the car.
Eligible customers will have one year from the date of the companies’ notice to get the repair at an authorized dealership. The repairs are expected to be available from early 2026 through early 2027.
In separate statements, the automakers said the agreement is one of multiple anti-theft efforts they have taken to help customers.
“Kia is eager to continue working with law enforcement officers and officials at federal, state, and local levels to combat criminal car theft, and the role social media has played in encouraging it, and we remain fully committed to upholding vehicle security,” the company said.
Hyundai said, “We will continue to take meaningful action to support our customers and ensure peace of mind.”
