Judge says Greenpeace must pay $345 million in pipeline lawsuit, cutting jury amount nearly in half

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By JACK DURA, Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota judge has ordered Greenpeace to pay damages of $345 million, reducing an earlier jury award after it found the environmental group and related entities were liable for defamation and other claims brought by a pipeline company in connection with protests of an oil pipeline nearly a decade ago.

The award is roughly half the $667 million that a jury previously had awarded to the company, Dallas-based Energy Transfer and subsidiary Dakota Access.

State District Judge James Gion granted and denied Greenpeace requests to rule in its favor on various claims before recalculating the damages.

Energy Transfer said it intends to appeal the verdict “as we firmly believe that the original jury findings and damages awards for conspiracy and defamation are lawful and just.”

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The lawsuit stems from protests nearly a decade ago against the Dakota Access oil pipeline and its crossing of the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation. The case would go next to the North Dakota Supreme Court.

In March, a nine-person jury found Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc. liable for defamation and other claims brought by Energy Transfer.

The jury found Greenpeace USA liable on all counts, including conspiracy, trespass, nuisance and tortious interference with business relations. The other two entities were found liable for some of the total claims.

Damages totaled $666.9 million, divided in different amounts among the three Greenpeace organizations, who earlier planned to appeal.

The pipeline company accused Greenpeace of carrying out a scheme to stop the pipeline. Greenpeace attorneys said there was no evidence to back up the pipeline company’s claims.

Since the verdict, attorneys for the Greenpeace entities asked the judge to reduce the damages and to undo the verdict in their favor. Energy Transfer asked the judge to enter the judgment the jury found.

The lawsuit was filed in 2019 and went to trial earlier this year in state district court in Mandan, North Dakota.

In September, the judge denied a request from the pipeline company to stop Greenpeace International from continuing with an anti-intimidation lawsuit it filed in the Netherlands.

Current DJ’s ‘Troma Project’ celebrates 50 years of horror and hip hop

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For more than 50 years, the independent film company Troma Studios has produced low-budget, underground horror movies like “The Toxic Avenger” that served as a playground for some of today’s biggest names in film. On Halloween, this legacy will be celebrated by Twin Cities musician, journalist and 89.3 The Current radio host Chaz Kangas on his new hip hop album.

Twin Cities based musician, journalist and rapper Chaz Kangas will release his horror-homage album “The Troma Project: 50 Years of Reel Fan-Toxic Hip Hop” on Halloween. The album features local and national artists while pulling sound directly from the films of Troma Studios. (Courtesy of Bump Opera)

Featuring musicians from across the country and sounds pulled directly from Troma Studios’ most recognizable films, Kangas’ “The Troma Project: 50 Years of Reel Fan-Toxic Hip Hop” will be released on Halloween.

“I’ve always had a love of the company,” Kangas said. “They were really sort of what made me a film obsessive.”

The album creates a soundscape made up entirely of audio pulled from Troma films, a collaboration blessed by studio founder Lloyd Kaufman.

“Knowing that it was Troma’s 50th anniversary and always being a fan of concept albums and projects, I pitched the idea to Lloyd, (to) sample some of the movies from Troma’s 50-year history to make entirely new songs,” Kangas said.

Troma Studios is North America’s oldest independent film studio, opened in 1974 by Kaufman and Michael Herz. The studio cultivated a community with its cult classics “The Toxic Avenger” and its subsequent sequels, as well as “Tromeo and Juliet,” which was co-written by “Superman” director James Gunn. Kaufman blends comedy and commentary in his films, including the “Class of Nuke ‘Em High” trilogy and “Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD.”

“It seems that whoever has worked for Troma, they all look back on it as a kind of film school or something,” Kaufman said. “I think we’ve infused a lot of young people with the notion of, ‘To thine own self be true.’ And that’s certainly true of Chaz Kangas.”

Kangas, as a fan of the studio and Kaufman himself, met the director and studio founder at a fan convention in his teenage years and has remained in contact since.

“It stands out quite well,” Kaufman said. “I was signing books in Minneapolis, and he and his parents showed up. And he was very articulate and full of dreams and full of energy. I saw he was unique immediately and, luckily, we kept in touch with each other, and it resulted in this album.”

The 11-song album features musicians from across the country as well as local artists like hip hop artist Desdamona, who is featured on the album’s single, “Girls School Screamers,” a female-led slasher-inspired beat.

Twin Cities MC Christopher Michael Jensen is also rapping on the album’s “Choices of a Different Path.” Having known Kangas for nearly a decade, Jensen said he was excited to get to work on such a concept-based album.

“There’s definitely a quality about it that’s unique just because you can tell the samples in it are not typical fair for a hip hop type album,” Jensen said. “Every song has some kind of reference to Troma.”

Another musician, Conner Sloat (also known as Bald Halfwit), described working on the album as a different creative avenue.

“I’m really glad that the opportunity arose because I got to create really awesome music that was outside of what I’m used to,” Sloat said.

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Paying homage to the film and horror influences of Troma, the album’s cover was designed by Four Finger Distro founder and musician Jeep Ward, also known as DJ Halo.

“It feels like a straight-up and down hip hop project, in the sense of hip hop specifically as an art form and production style that is sample-based and uses other people’s work to make something new,” Ward said. “I hope this project shows people that DIY is still alive and well, and if you really want to do something, you’ll do it.”

The album will be released digitally Friday and distributed by Four Finger Distro, a record label that centers community-based musicians. Physical media, such as CDs and vinyl records, will also be available for purchase.

“It’s been a labor of love and, you know, I’m super happy with the final project,” Kangas said.

Girls state soccer: Poirer passes, attitude adjustment propel Mahtomedi back to title game

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Kayla Poirer didn’t get the glory that comes associated with scoring a goal, but without a couple skillful touches by the senior, Mahtomedi would no longer have a chance to repeat as state champions.

An unlikely save by Olivia Boberg was huge, too.

An outside midfielder, Poirer set up Lucy Peer and Elise Aflakpi for goals 3 minutes, 28 seconds apart in the second half as the Zephyrs rallied past Mankato East, 2-1 in a Class 2A girls soccer semifinal Wednesday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Top-seeded Mahtomedi (16-2-2) will face either No. 2 Blake or No. 3 Holy Angels for the title at 12:30 p.m. Friday. The Zephyrs beat Holy Angels 2-0 in last year’s title tilt.

Down 1-0 at the break, Zephyrs coach Dave Wald said his message was about attitude.

Mahtomedi Elise Aflakpi’s header is stopped by Mankato East goalkeeper Eva Starkey during the first half of the Class 2A Semifinal of the Girls State Soccer Tournament at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. Mahtomedi won 2-1. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

The Zephyrs graduated 11 seniors from last year’s championship team, and have played all season without injured captains Allie Rippentrop, a striker, and North Dakota goalie commit Jacque Worden. Rippentrop returned with three shifts in the win.

“We’ve been kind of piecing it together all season. It hasn’t always been pretty, but these girls get it done. For the last few years, we’ve had a lot of people in front of them. It’s their time now. But it’s hard, this is a tough situation, a lot of pressure, so I think we kind of played afraid in the first half,” Wald said. “… It’s in those big moments in the final third of who’s going to have the attitude to get in there and do the dirty work. Today, Lucy and Elise did that.”

A play into the middle off a Poirier cross ended with Peer scoring on a rebound in front in the 49th minute. From a similar spot on the pitch, Poirier deked a defender and her centering pass was headed in by Aflakpi soon thereafter.

“Kayla has a really good foot and really good aim, especially on the corners. … She’s just great at that,” Aflakpi said.

“Great goals, hard to defend that,” Mankato East coach Miranda Rauenhort said.

The two Zephyr goals would not have been enough if not for the alert play by Boberg less than five minutes later.

Goalkeeper Harlow Berger made a sliding, point-blank save in the box, but the rebound went right to a Cougar, who for a split-second had the entire net to shoot at. But Boberg, a freshman defender, hustled to the goal line to block the attempt.

“All I knew was to keep the ball out, get back up and move it,” she said.

Mia Graff’s cross from near the right corner ricocheted in off the far post to give Mankato East (15-3-2) a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

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A ticking clock: How states are preparing for a last-minute Obamacare deal

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By Amanda Seitz and Julie Appleby, KFF Health News

One family in Virginia Beach, Virginia, just found out their health plan’s deductible will jump from $800 to $20,000 next year. About 200 miles north, in Maryland, another household learned they’ll pay $500 more monthly to insure their brood in 2026. And thousands of people in Idaho were greeted with insurance rates that’ll cost, on average, $100 more every month.

As shopping season opens for Affordable Care Act plans in some states, customers are confronting staggering costs for their health insurance next year. The extra federal subsidies put in place in 2021 that made coverage more affordable for millions of people will expire at the end of this year unless a gridlocked and idle Congress acts.

With Democratic and Republican lawmakers at an impasse, the federal government shut down on Oct. 1, spurred by the need for an estimated $353 billion over a decade to continue providing enhanced ACA subsidies for roughly 24 million people. Both sides have dug in, with Republicans saying Senate Democrats must vote to reopen the government before they’re willing to negotiate on the ACA’s costs.

If Congress does manage to strike a deal in the coming days or weeks to extend some subsidies, the prices and types of plans available on the online marketplaces could change dramatically, bringing unprecedented uncertainty and upheaval to this year’s open enrollment, which begins in most states on Nov. 1.

Michele Eberle, executive director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, the state-run marketplace, is gaming out strategies should that happen, including the possibility of pausing enrollment so her 200-person team can update the plans to reflect any changes, should Congress pass a new bill on ACA subsidies.

“We will do whatever it takes to make sure we can provide Marylanders with the most affordable health coverage,” Eberle said. “The mechanics of how that gets done, we don’t really know until we figure out what Congress might do.”

“I think everyone realizes that, depending on what happens, we just can’t flip a switch overnight,” she added.

Exchange customers in Maryland can expect to pay, on average, about 35% more next year, even with help from the state, which agreed to offer backup subsidies should the federal government’s discounts expire at the end of this year. Eberle said notices of premium hikes — which assumed the federal subsidies would expire — already were sent to mailboxes and inboxes. One middle-income family of four in the state, for example, will see their monthly premiums go from $916 to $1,427.

People living in most states still use healthcare.gov, the federal marketplace, to enroll in coverage. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees the federal exchange, declined to answer questions about how quickly the agency could pivot on any changes Congress may make after sign-ups start.

“CMS does not speculate on potential Congressional action,” Health and Human Services spokesperson Emily Hilliard said in an email.

Like other states that run their own ACA exchanges, California has sent letters to policyholders with information about their 2026 coverage, with costs calculated under the assumption that the subsidies would expire.

But the California exchange team, too, devised backup plans to contact policyholders and revamp its online marketplace if Congress acts before year’s end.

“At no point is it too late,” said Jessica Altman, executive director of Covered California, the state’s exchange. “We are ready to move any mountain we can possibly move to make any changes as quickly as we possibly can.”

It could take about a week to reprogram the site to reflect prices that factor in more generous subsidies, if Congress were to approve them exactly as they currently are, Altman said.

States may also have to update premiums themselves to reflect new rates. Most insurers submitted two sets of premium rates to states this year in case Congress agreed to extend the subsidies.

Right now, many shoppers are seeing the set of higher rates that insurers plan to charge if the subsidies expire.

Insurers say it is necessary to raise premiums without the subsidies because they anticipate healthier, younger people will drop coverage rather than pay more. That would leave insurers with a sicker, older pool of people to cover.

If a subsidy deal is reached, insurers could lower the premiums.

The complications don’t end there.

If Congress passes a subsidy deal after customers have started picking plans, people might see the new prices and want to reconsider the type of coverage for which they already signed up. Enrollees may change plans as long as enrollment is open, through Jan. 15 in most states.

Dozens of insurers offer ACA plans across the country. Those plans range widely in the doctors or medications they cover, as well as how much customers contribute in copays, the fees owed for medical services, and deductibles, the out-of-pocket amount paid before insurers pitch in.

Some people might be willing to pay a higher monthly premium in exchange for a lower deductible. Others, especially those who don’t expect to incur major medical bills, might risk a higher deductible to keep monthly premium payments lower.

In Virginia, some customers are being presented with strikingly high deductibles for next year, said Deepak Madala, the director of Enroll Virginia, which assists people with enrolling in coverage.

He said he’s helping one family in Virginia Beach facing a jump in premium costs from $70 to about $280 a month.

To buy a plan at a similar price, the family, with a household income of about $60,000, would need to look at coverage that carries a deductible of $20,000 or more, he said. Right now, their deductible is $800.

With premiums and deductibles that high, some customers might rethink coverage entirely, he said.

They’re deciding whether “to go without or switch to a plan with a very high deductible,” Madala said of ACA customers’ options.

Pennsylvania’s state-based exchange, which last week started sending out notices detailing 2026 rates, estimates a 102% increase in premiums for its roughly 500,000 customers. About a third of customers are expected to drop coverage, said Devon Trolley, executive director of the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority.

The timing of any subsidy deal reached by Congress is most precarious, though, for the roughly 135,000 Idahoans enrolled in ACA coverage.

That’s because their state opened enrollment on Oct. 15, weeks before the rest of the country — and it will end earlier, on Dec. 15.

With ACA enrollees facing average increases of 75% for coverage costs, about 20% are expected to drop out of the marketplace, said Pat Kelly, executive director of Your Health Idaho, the state exchange.

Idaho is prepared to revamp its website if anything changes on the subsidies — a process that could take days — and has “notices ready to go” to inform policyholders of additional savings, Kelly said.

“We would work to do it as quickly as possible, and make sure it is done right,” he said, adding that factors such as the day of the week or proximity to the Thanksgiving holiday could add time.

If Congress waited to act until the federal subsidies expire on Dec. 31 — the date Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly raised as the deadline for a deal — it would be too late for people in Idaho.

“We would run out of open enrollment, and there would not be enough time to make changes,” Kelly said of any congressional deals reached after mid-December.

©2025 Kaiser Health News. Visit khn.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.