Washington
Former Olympian pleads not guilty in Reflecting Pool damage case after Trump alleged vandalism
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.
David Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics, entered the plea through one of his attorneys during his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court. Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, was indicted last Thursday on a single felony count of property destruction.
In front of a packed courtroom, D.C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean did not require Hearn to be supervised by the court while he is free awaiting a trial. A status hearing was scheduled for Aug. 5.
Prosecutor Kevin Reddington said the government wasn’t seeking any court supervision for Hearn, but just a “ stay-away order” without specifying in court where it wanted to keep Hearn away from.
Mary Dohrmann, one of Hearn’s attorneys, urged the judge not to impose any conditions of court supervision, calling Hearn an “upstanding citizen and member of the community.”
“The government’s evidence is weak,” she added.
Dozens of supporters, many carrying homemade signs, gathered outside the courthouse and waited for Hearn to leave after the hearing.
President Donald Trump ordered a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Reflecting Pool ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary this month, but the project has been plagued with problems. Workers have used chemicals to curtail an algae bloom. Trump has said the pool likely would need to be drained again for liner repairs after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.
Trump has claimed without substantiation that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, said last week that six other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the $16 million pool project.
Hearn’s attorneys have said the charges against him are based on a “concocted narrative” and “should be alarming to every American.”
“This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures,” the lawyers said in a statement. “The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.”
Hearn previously told The Associated Press that he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride on June 19. He said he reached in to examine newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.
Pirro accused Hearn of causing more than $1,000 in damage by ripping up recently installed sealant from the pool and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.
New York
State sues 3M, DuPont and other companies over so-called forever chemicals
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s attorney general sued several large chemical and agricultural companies on Thursday, alleging they knowingly sold harmful so-called forever chemicals used in cosmetics, non-stick cookware and other products.
The lawsuit against 3M, DuPont de Nemours, The Chemours Company and Corteva and other manufacturers is the latest legal action over PFAS, which have been linked to an increased risk of certain cancers and developmental delays in children.
“Big companies like 3M and DuPont knowingly sold toxic products that threatened New Yorkers’ health and polluted our environment for decades. It’s time for them to pay for the damage they caused,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
Filed in state court in Albany, the lawsuit seeks to force the companies to fund environmental cleanup efforts in New York and to warn consumers about their products. It argues that, in some cases, the companies were aware that the chemicals were toxic or could cause environmental damage.
DuPont, 3M, Corteva and Chemours didn’t immediately respond to Thursday messages seeking comment.
Last year, DuPont, Chemours and Corteva, agreed to pay New Jersey up to $2 billion to settle environmental claims stemming from PFAS.
PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of chemicals that have been around for decades and have now spread into the nation’s air, water and soil.
They were incredibly useful, ensuring that firefighting foam suffocates flames and helping clothes to withstand rain, among many other uses. But because they resist breaking down, the chemicals stay in the environment and become harmful.
Illlinois
John Deere owners will get the right to repair their equipment under a new FTC settlement
It looks like John Deere owners can soon feel free to fix their own machines.
The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from several states secured a right-to-repair settlement Wednesday with agriculture equipment giant Deere & Co. — commonly known as John Deere — that requires the company to let farmers and independent shops fix their own equipment.
The Illinois-based manufacturer has faced complaints for years for withholding the software needed for repairs and forcing customers to use authorized dealers instead of independent ones.
This marks the second right-to-repair settlement Deere has reached this year, following a separate $99 million class-action settlement with farmers in April. Though the class-action compensated consumers, the FTC’s settlement instead requires Deere to make its repair services available to equipment owners and independent shops.
The FTC and attorneys general from Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin brought the antitrust lawsuit in January 2025, arguing that Deere had illegally restricted farmers and independent shops that might otherwise service them from repairing farm equipment such as tractors. Deere also makes engines and equipment for forestry, landscaping and construction.
Under the order filed in Illinois, Deere will now be required to make diagnostic and repair tools available to equipment owners and independent repair shops, not only its own network of authorized dealers. It also prevents Deere dealers from retaliating against equipment owners or repair shops who choose to fix their own equipment instead of paying for Deere’s services. The order is headed to Judge Iain D. Johnston for his approval.
“For too long, Arizona farmers and independent mechanics have been at the mercy of Deere’s monopoly over repair tools, forced to wait — and pay — for authorized dealers just to fix broken tractors and other equipment,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement Wednesday.
Deere must pay $1 million collectively to the five states for antitrust enforcement costs and will be subject to strict compliance oversight for the next 10 years.
In the complaint, the FTC argued that Deere provides a service software tool to authorized dealers but does not provide the full version to equipment owners or independent shops. Deere had said the lawsuit was baseless, denied that its distribution of service tools was anticompetitive and argued that it could not monopolize services since it does not directly provide them.
Deere maintained its commitment to independent repair in a statement Wednesday, adding that the agreement with the FTC reinforces its innovation of more flexible repair options.
“This is good news for our customers and for the future of how Deere equipment is supported,” said Denver Caldwell, vice president of aftermarket and customer support.
Right-to-repair has become an increasingly common issue over the years, especially for tech products, with consumers complaining that even simple repairs can only be done by company-authorized dealers.
Hungary
An Irish citizen sentenced to 14 years for killing a U.S. tourist
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A court in Hungary on Thursday sentenced an Irish citizen to 14 years in prison for strangling an American tourist to death in the country’s capital in 2024.
The victim, 31-year-old Mackenzie Michalski from Portland, Oregon, was in Hungary on vacation and reported missing on Nov. 5, 2024, after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest.
Police launched a missing person investigation and reviewed security footage from local nightclubs where they observed Michalski, who went by “Kenzie,” with a man later identified as the suspect in several of the clubs the night of her disappearance.
The man, whom police identified by the initials L.T.M and was 37 at the time, was detained on Nov. 7 and questioned, and later confessed to the killing.
Investigators said that Michalski and the suspect met at a nightclub and danced before leaving for the man’s rented apartment. The man beat and strangled Michalski while they were engaged in an “intimate encounter,” police said.
The Budapest Metropolitan Court on Thursday found the man guilty of murder and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The roughly 1 1/2 year he has already spent in detention will count toward his sentence, at the end of which the court ordered his deportation from Hungary.
The man must also pay 2.5 million forints ($7,995) in court costs. His attorney has appealed the verdict.
After his arrest in 2024, the man claimed Michalski’s death had been an accident. But police said he had attempted to cover up his crime by cleaning the apartment and hiding Michalski’s body in a wardrobe before purchasing a suitcase and placing her body inside.
He then rented a car and drove to Lake Balaton, around 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Budapest, where he disposed of the body in a wooded area outside the town of Szigliget.
Video released by police at the time showed the man guiding authorities to the location where he had left the body. Police said he had made internet searches before being apprehended on how to dispose of a body, police procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs really eat dead bodies, and the presence of wild boars in the Lake Balaton area.
He also made an internet search inquiring on the competence of Budapest police.
Former Olympian pleads not guilty in Reflecting Pool damage case after Trump alleged vandalism
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.
David Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics, entered the plea through one of his attorneys during his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court. Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, was indicted last Thursday on a single felony count of property destruction.
In front of a packed courtroom, D.C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean did not require Hearn to be supervised by the court while he is free awaiting a trial. A status hearing was scheduled for Aug. 5.
Prosecutor Kevin Reddington said the government wasn’t seeking any court supervision for Hearn, but just a “ stay-away order” without specifying in court where it wanted to keep Hearn away from.
Mary Dohrmann, one of Hearn’s attorneys, urged the judge not to impose any conditions of court supervision, calling Hearn an “upstanding citizen and member of the community.”
“The government’s evidence is weak,” she added.
Dozens of supporters, many carrying homemade signs, gathered outside the courthouse and waited for Hearn to leave after the hearing.
President Donald Trump ordered a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Reflecting Pool ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary this month, but the project has been plagued with problems. Workers have used chemicals to curtail an algae bloom. Trump has said the pool likely would need to be drained again for liner repairs after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.
Trump has claimed without substantiation that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, said last week that six other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the $16 million pool project.
Hearn’s attorneys have said the charges against him are based on a “concocted narrative” and “should be alarming to every American.”
“This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures,” the lawyers said in a statement. “The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.”
Hearn previously told The Associated Press that he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride on June 19. He said he reached in to examine newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.
Pirro accused Hearn of causing more than $1,000 in damage by ripping up recently installed sealant from the pool and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.
New York
State sues 3M, DuPont and other companies over so-called forever chemicals
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s attorney general sued several large chemical and agricultural companies on Thursday, alleging they knowingly sold harmful so-called forever chemicals used in cosmetics, non-stick cookware and other products.
The lawsuit against 3M, DuPont de Nemours, The Chemours Company and Corteva and other manufacturers is the latest legal action over PFAS, which have been linked to an increased risk of certain cancers and developmental delays in children.
“Big companies like 3M and DuPont knowingly sold toxic products that threatened New Yorkers’ health and polluted our environment for decades. It’s time for them to pay for the damage they caused,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
Filed in state court in Albany, the lawsuit seeks to force the companies to fund environmental cleanup efforts in New York and to warn consumers about their products. It argues that, in some cases, the companies were aware that the chemicals were toxic or could cause environmental damage.
DuPont, 3M, Corteva and Chemours didn’t immediately respond to Thursday messages seeking comment.
Last year, DuPont, Chemours and Corteva, agreed to pay New Jersey up to $2 billion to settle environmental claims stemming from PFAS.
PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of chemicals that have been around for decades and have now spread into the nation’s air, water and soil.
They were incredibly useful, ensuring that firefighting foam suffocates flames and helping clothes to withstand rain, among many other uses. But because they resist breaking down, the chemicals stay in the environment and become harmful.
Illlinois
John Deere owners will get the right to repair their equipment under a new FTC settlement
It looks like John Deere owners can soon feel free to fix their own machines.
The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from several states secured a right-to-repair settlement Wednesday with agriculture equipment giant Deere & Co. — commonly known as John Deere — that requires the company to let farmers and independent shops fix their own equipment.
The Illinois-based manufacturer has faced complaints for years for withholding the software needed for repairs and forcing customers to use authorized dealers instead of independent ones.
This marks the second right-to-repair settlement Deere has reached this year, following a separate $99 million class-action settlement with farmers in April. Though the class-action compensated consumers, the FTC’s settlement instead requires Deere to make its repair services available to equipment owners and independent shops.
The FTC and attorneys general from Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin brought the antitrust lawsuit in January 2025, arguing that Deere had illegally restricted farmers and independent shops that might otherwise service them from repairing farm equipment such as tractors. Deere also makes engines and equipment for forestry, landscaping and construction.
Under the order filed in Illinois, Deere will now be required to make diagnostic and repair tools available to equipment owners and independent repair shops, not only its own network of authorized dealers. It also prevents Deere dealers from retaliating against equipment owners or repair shops who choose to fix their own equipment instead of paying for Deere’s services. The order is headed to Judge Iain D. Johnston for his approval.
“For too long, Arizona farmers and independent mechanics have been at the mercy of Deere’s monopoly over repair tools, forced to wait — and pay — for authorized dealers just to fix broken tractors and other equipment,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement Wednesday.
Deere must pay $1 million collectively to the five states for antitrust enforcement costs and will be subject to strict compliance oversight for the next 10 years.
In the complaint, the FTC argued that Deere provides a service software tool to authorized dealers but does not provide the full version to equipment owners or independent shops. Deere had said the lawsuit was baseless, denied that its distribution of service tools was anticompetitive and argued that it could not monopolize services since it does not directly provide them.
Deere maintained its commitment to independent repair in a statement Wednesday, adding that the agreement with the FTC reinforces its innovation of more flexible repair options.
“This is good news for our customers and for the future of how Deere equipment is supported,” said Denver Caldwell, vice president of aftermarket and customer support.
Right-to-repair has become an increasingly common issue over the years, especially for tech products, with consumers complaining that even simple repairs can only be done by company-authorized dealers.
Hungary
An Irish citizen sentenced to 14 years for killing a U.S. tourist
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A court in Hungary on Thursday sentenced an Irish citizen to 14 years in prison for strangling an American tourist to death in the country’s capital in 2024.
The victim, 31-year-old Mackenzie Michalski from Portland, Oregon, was in Hungary on vacation and reported missing on Nov. 5, 2024, after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest.
Police launched a missing person investigation and reviewed security footage from local nightclubs where they observed Michalski, who went by “Kenzie,” with a man later identified as the suspect in several of the clubs the night of her disappearance.
The man, whom police identified by the initials L.T.M and was 37 at the time, was detained on Nov. 7 and questioned, and later confessed to the killing.
Investigators said that Michalski and the suspect met at a nightclub and danced before leaving for the man’s rented apartment. The man beat and strangled Michalski while they were engaged in an “intimate encounter,” police said.
The Budapest Metropolitan Court on Thursday found the man guilty of murder and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The roughly 1 1/2 year he has already spent in detention will count toward his sentence, at the end of which the court ordered his deportation from Hungary.
The man must also pay 2.5 million forints ($7,995) in court costs. His attorney has appealed the verdict.
After his arrest in 2024, the man claimed Michalski’s death had been an accident. But police said he had attempted to cover up his crime by cleaning the apartment and hiding Michalski’s body in a wardrobe before purchasing a suitcase and placing her body inside.
He then rented a car and drove to Lake Balaton, around 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Budapest, where he disposed of the body in a wooded area outside the town of Szigliget.
Video released by police at the time showed the man guiding authorities to the location where he had left the body. Police said he had made internet searches before being apprehended on how to dispose of a body, police procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs really eat dead bodies, and the presence of wild boars in the Lake Balaton area.
He also made an internet search inquiring on the competence of Budapest police.
