By ANDREW DALTON (AP Entertainment Writer)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears and her father Jamie Spears will avoid what could have been a long, ugly and revealing trial with a settlement of the lingering issues in the court conservatorship that controlled her life and financial decisions for nearly 14 years.

A hearing on those issues — including a request from Jamie Spears for a broad ruling dismissing them — had been scheduled for Monday but was pulled from the court calendar after the settlement was approved by a judge on Friday.

Britney Spears was taken out of the conservatorshi p in November 2021, after a pair of speeches she made to a judge turned what had been a growing public sentiment against it into a cause best known by the hashtag #FreeBritney.

But several elements remained and dragged on in court, including final payments to the attorneys who helped operate the conservatorship. Spears’ attorney Mathew Rosengart had also sought a public reckoning over what he said was financial malfeasance by Jamie Spears and allegations of excessive surveillance of Spears.

All of that will now be dispensed with in the settlement whose terms were not disclosed in a series of filings last week, one of which said Jamie Spears had been “fully and finally discharged as Former Conservator of the Estate.”

“Although the conservatorship was terminated in November, 2021, her wish for freedom is now truly complete,” Rosengart said in a statement. “As she desired, her freedom now includes that she will no longer need to attend or be involved with court or entangled with legal proceedings in this matter. It has been our honor and privilege to represent, protect, and defend Britney Spears.”

The trial had been slated to begin next month.

Jamie Spears’ attorney, Alex Weingarten, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

But he told The New York Times and other media outlets that “Jamie loves his daughter very much” and “would love nothing more than to reconcile and be a family again. He has only ever acted in Britney’s best interests.”

“Jamie is thrilled all this is over,” Weingarten said. “He regrets the irresponsible and specious allegations made against him in public.”

In her memoir, “ The Woman in Me,” published last year, Spears said she felt that her father had “always been all about the money.”

She married longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari months after the conservatorship ended, but Asghari filed for divorce just over a year later. The divorce has yet to be finalized and the two are still legally wed.

And while she has dabbled in music including a 2022 collaboration with Elton John, in January she shot down rumors of a new album and vowed to “never return to the music industry.”

By HANNAH FINGERHUT (Associated Press)

The family of a Black teenager who was shot by a white homeowner when he mistakenly went to the wrong Kansas City, Missouri, address filed a lawsuit Monday, described by the family’s attorney as an attempt to put pressure on the criminal trial later this year.

The complaint, filed by Cleo Nagbe on behalf of her son, Ralph Yarl, alleges that Andrew Lester, 84, was negligent when he shot the 16-year-old without warning more than a year ago, on April 13. It states that Yarl suffered and sustained permanent injuries, as well as pain and suffering, as a direct result of Lester’s actions.

Lee Merritt, the family’s attorney, said the civil suit is to “give the family a chance to be in the driver’s seat in pursuing justice for Ralph” as the state’s criminal case against Lester unfolds.

Lester pleaded not guilty in September 2023. The trial was scheduled to begin more than a year later on October 7, 2024.

Lester’s attorney in the criminal case, Steve Salmon, said he is evaluating the civil complaint and will discuss it with Lester. He said at a preliminary hearing for the criminal case that Lester was acting in self-defense, terrified by the stranger who knocked on his door as he settled into bed for the night.

“The suit is based on what he has said,” Merritt told The Associated Press. “If he’s saying, ‘I mistakenly thought this person was a robber,’ we’re saying that’s negligence. You weren’t paying close enough attention. Everybody who rings your doorbell can’t be a robber.”

Yarl mixed up the street name of the house where he was sent to pick up his siblings. Yarl testified at the hearing that he rang the doorbell and then reached for the storm door as Lester opened the inner door. Lester told him, “Don’t come here ever again,” Yarl recalled.

He said he was shot in the head, the impact knocking him to the ground, and was then shot in the arm.

The case, which drew international attention, animated national debates about gun policies and race in America.

In a statement, Nagbe said the shooting “not only shattered our family but also exposed a critical gap in our societal fabric, where the safety of our children is jeopardized by reckless actions.”

The lawsuit also names the homeowner’s association, Highland Acres Homes Association, Inc., as a defendant. The association did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Merritt said the family is aware the litigation might be delayed pending the outcome of the criminal case but wanted to still begin the process. He cited state law that allows the victim access to the criminal case records that has not yet been satisfied, as the prosecutor seeks clarification from the judge on the case’s gag order.

Yarl was “uniquely resilient” after the shooting, Merritt said, but “his resiliency has kind of grown into some impatience with being the person who was shot a year ago.”

“He doesn’t want to be that person,” Merritt said. “He wants to be an amazing band player, a good friend, a student, a rising college student.”

Residents of Hastings will have a chance to learn more about what state and local officials are doing to address PFAS contamination in the city.

Nearly all of the water wells serving Hastings have PFAS chemical levels exceeding new federal limits for drinking water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. on May 9 at Hastings High School, 200 General Sieben Dr., in the school’s lower-level parking lot.

The event will include presentations by the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and City of Hastings that will feature recent water-testing results, impacts of PFAS, updates on the investigations for sources of PFAS in the region, and project details for water-treatment plants. There also will be a question-and-answer session.

The meeting follows a recent public notice to the community about new EPA maximum contaminant levels for safe drinking water; five of six wells in Hastings have PFAS contaminant levels above the allowed levels, officials said.

Hastings is among several cities in the east metro that are stepping up efforts to handle the “forever chemicals” after the EPA on April 10 finalized standards of no more than 4 parts per trillion for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. While some communities are able to comply by shutting off certain wells or blending water with cleaner wells, others will have to install costly new filtration systems to remove the chemicals.

For more information, go to: hastingsmn.gov/city-government/city-departments/public-works-and-engineering/pfas.

Related Articles

Battle of the Badges ax-throwing contest to benefit families of fallen Burnsville first responders

Homshuk in Apple Valley features soulful, authentic Mexican food

Lakeville eyes new public safety training facility as it gets closer to funding goal

Ryan’s proposed redevelopment of Thomson Reuters site in Eagan moves forward

Nothing fishy about BMW submerged in Burnsville pond for 20-plus years, sheriff says