Latest news with #SouthDakota
CBS News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Mike Lindell celebrates victory after appeals court voids $5M award in election data dispute
A federal appeals court handed a victory Wednesday to Mike Lindell, ruling that the MyPillow founder doesn't have to pay a $5 million award to a software engineer who disputed data that Lindell claims proves that China interfered in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an arbitration panel overstepped its authority in 2023 when it awarded $5 million to the engineer, Robert Zeidman, of Las Vegas, who took Lindell up on his "Prove Mike Wrong Challenge." "It's a great day for our country," a jubilant Lindell said in an interview. "This is a big win. It opens the door to getting rid of these electronic voting machines and getting paper ballots, hand-counted." Lindell, one of the country's most prominent propagators of false claims that the 2020 election was a fraud, lost in a different case in Colorado last month. A jury ruled that Lindell defamed a former employee of a voting equipment company by accusing him of treason, and awarded $2.3 million in damages. Lindell said he is appealing, and that he actually considers the verdict a victory because MyPillow itself wasn't found liable. President Donald Trump and his allies lost more than 50 court cases trying to overturn the 2020 election results, and his own attorney general at the time said there was no indication of wide-scale fraud. As part of a "Cyber Symposium" Lindell hosted in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 2021, Lindell offered $5 million for anyone who could prove that "packet captures" and other data he released there were not valid data from the 2020 election. Zeidman entered a 15-page report that he said proved the data wasn't what Lindell claimed. Contest judges declined to declare Zeidman a winner, so he filed for arbitration under the contest rules. A panel of three arbitrators, including one named by Lindell, concluded that Zeidman had satisfied the rules and awarded him $5 million. U.S. District Judge John Tunheim affirmed the award last year. He expressed concern about how the arbitrators interpreted what he called a "poorly written contract," but he said courts have only limited authority to overrule arbitration awards and ordered Lindell to pay up. But the appeals court ruled Wednesday that the arbitrators went beyond the contractual language of the official contest rules in deciding how to construe them, instead of sticking to the document itself. The appeals court said the rules were unambiguous, even if they might have favored Lindell. "Whatever one might think of the logic of the panel's reasoning, it is contrary to Minnesota law. ... Fair or not, agreed-to contract terms may not be modified by the panel or by this court," the appeals court wrote, and sent the case back to the lower court with instructions to vacate the $5 million award. Zeidman attorney Brian Glasser urged people to read the arbitrators' decision and "judge for themselves if the Eight Circuit's decision today is more persuasive, or rings in truth louder, than the unanimous contrary decision of three arbitrators who heard all the evidence, including one appointed by Mr. Lindell."
Associated Press
9 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Mike Lindell celebrates victory after appeals court voids $5M award in election data dispute
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal appeals court handed a victory Wednesday to Mike Lindell, ruling that the MyPillow founder doesn't have to pay a $5 million award to a software engineer who disputed data that Lindell claims proves that China interfered in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an arbitration panel overstepped its authority in 2023 when it awarded $5 million to the engineer, Robert Zeidman, of Las Vegas, who took Lindell up on his 'Prove Mike Wrong Challenge.' 'It's a great day for our country,' a jubilant Lindell said in an interview. 'This is a big win. It opens the door to getting rid of these electronic voting machines and getting paper ballots, hand-counted.' Lindell, one of the country's most prominent propagators of false claims that the 2020 election was a fraud, lost in a different case in Colorado last month. A jury ruled that Lindell defamed a former employee of a voting equipment company by accusing him of treason, and awarded $2.3 million in damages. Lindell said he is appealing, and that he actually considers the verdict a victory because MyPillow itself wasn't found liable. President Donald Trump and his allies lost more than 50 court cases trying to overturn the 2020 election results, and his own attorney general at the time said there was no indication of wide-scale fraud. As part of a 'Cyber Symposium' Lindell hosted in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 2021, Lindell offered $5 million for anyone who could prove that 'packet captures' and other data he released there were not valid data from the 2020 election. Zeidman entered a 15-page report that he said proved the data wasn't what Lindell claimed. Contest judges declined to declare Zeidman a winner, so he filed for arbitration under the contest rules. A panel of three arbitrators, including one named by Lindell, concluded that Zeidman had satisfied the rules and awarded him $5 million. U.S. District Judge John Tunheim affirmed the award last year. He expressed concern about how the arbitrators interpreted what he called a 'poorly written contract,' but he said courts have only limited authority to overrule arbitration awards and ordered Lindell to pay up. But the appeals court ruled Wednesday that the arbitrators went beyond the contractual language of the official contest rules in deciding how to construe them, instead of sticking to the document itself. The appeals court said the rules were unambiguous, even if they might have favored Lindell. 'Whatever one might think of the logic of the panel's reasoning, it is contrary to Minnesota law. ... Fair or not, agreed-to contract terms may not be modified by the panel or by this court,' the appeals court wrote, and sent the case back to the lower court with instructions to vacate the $5 million award. Zeidman attorney Brian Glasser urged people to read the arbitrators' decision and 'judge for themselves if the Eight Circuit's decision today is more persuasive, or rings in truth louder, than the unanimous contrary decision of three arbitrators who heard all the evidence, including one appointed by Mr. Lindell.'
Forbes
13 hours ago
- Climate
- Forbes
OTUS Drones Are The Next Big Thing In Storm Chasing, Just Ask The Tuckers
The OTUS Project group via drone approaching a multi-vortex tornado near Parmelee, South Dakota, ... More July 20, 2025. The tornado season in the southwestern U.S. typically runs from late March to mid-June. But as June morphs into July, tornado alley tends to meander up into the midwestern plains, particularly the northern part. Earlier this year, I spent time storm-chasing in Texas, encountering half-a-dozen twisters with Tim Bovasso, Jeff Anderson and Chris Coach. Along the way, I also met a unique chaser group called the OTUS - Observation Of Tornadoes By UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Systems - project. They seek out tornadoes, then actually fly special drones into the funnels to gather valuable information regarding near-ground wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, humidity and the like. I was so intrigued by OTUS' science work that I profiled the group last month (link below) with the idea that I might tag along next year to watch them in action. Lo and behold, they decided to give chasing one more go this year, in the midwest, so I met them in Omaha, Nebraska, this past weekend to chase for a few days. OTUS team member Louis Tucker prepares his special drone to fly into a tornado, South Dakota, July ... More 22, 2025. The first day, Sunday, according to weather models had the lowest odds of producing a tornado - zero - while Monday and Tuesday looked substantially better. Sunday, however, was eventually upgraded to 2%, later to 5%. Armed with drones and a rental car, our group set out toward South Dakota in the morning to intercept one of two promising supercells projected to initiate later in the afternoon. Louis Tucker, the pilot, readied his drone in the car while younger brother Nelson, closely monitored the weather and directed father Louis Sr., a former Navy Seal, to maneuver various back roads to position ourselves for the best potential intercepts. It was a family affair, if you will. Two other OTUS members, due to previous commitments, couldn't be there - Erik Fox and Tanner Beard. Once a decision had been reached as to which supercell to chase, we hightailed it to the desired location, just outside of Parmelee, South Dakota, to be close enough to deploy the drone if a tornado were imminent, basically a 5-mile radius. As we watched the wall cloud at the base of the supercell form, tension within the group mounted. Everything has to be perfectly right for a tornado to drop, and you never know. Sometimes you're absolutely sure - and poof, nothing. Other times you are taken completely by surprise. Louis (left) and Nelson Tucker at work identifying the best locales to chase twisters, South Dakota, ... More July 2025. The more we watched, the better we thought our chances were. Suddenly a small bowl of dancing dust appeared on the ground, then began to rise and tighten up. We had ourselves a tornado, a multi-vorticed one at that! Louis immediately deployed the drone, sending it at over 100 mph toward the thing which was probably three miles away. En route, though, there was a slight glitch, and Louis had to return it to base before penetrating the core. That said, he captured some stunning images of the tornado as it was forming, and valuable meteorological data as well, to be analyzed later this summer. Louis Tucker of OTUS flies his drone toward a supercell in Minnesota, July 22, 2025. The next two days, which were supposed to have the highest tornado probabilities, were total busts. We traversed South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska and even Minnesota scouring, putting in more than 1,500 miles in the process, to no avail. The only reassuring news was that no tornadoes were reported on those days, so it wasn't us at fault. In fact, the Sunday tornado we had found was the only one reported that day. These folks know their stuff. The extra time did give OTUS a chance to locate a precious drone worth a few thousand dollars that had been lost a month back. We also got to see and photograph some majestic supercells. So next spring it is. I'm hoping we can get close enough to some big twisters so Louis can fly us inside with his drones, allowing both scientists and the public alike to see things nobody has ever seen, or measured. Spectacular mothership structure in South Dakota, July 20, 2025. Make no mistake: What these OTUS guys are doing is pure exploration, not simply walking in the footsteps of others as is the case with the insane and dangerous overcrowding on Mt. Everest. Pay attention. You will hear more about OTUS again, I can assure you, and not just from me.
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Clean Energy Completes $29.5 Million ITC Sale
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE) has announced that, CE bp Renew Co, LLC, its joint venture with BP Products North America Inc., has finalized the sale of $29.5 million in investment tax credits (ITC). This marks the third successful ITC transaction and completes the sale and monetization of all ITCs tied to its six operating renewable natural gas (RNG) projects. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Clean Energy's renewable natural gas facility at Tri-Cross dairy, Viborg, South Dakota. The $29.5 million in credits were generated by four of Clean Energy's dairy RNG production facilities: Ash Grove, Marshall Ridge, VF Renewables and Tri Cross, dairies which are located in key agricultural regions in Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota. These projects collectively have the ability to produce up to an estimated 3.9 million gallons of negative carbon-intensity RNG annually to fuel transportation fleets. 'This transaction highlights the value of our renewable natural gas development portfolio,' said Clay Corbus, senior vice president and head of renewable fuels at Clean Energy. 'As the third successful transaction to fully monetize our RNG projects, it's a milestone which reflects market confidence and positions Clean Energy for further growth in the clean fuel sector.' About Clean Energy Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is the country's largest provider of the cleanest fuel for the transportation market. Our mission is to decarbonize transportation through the development and delivery of renewable natural gas (RNG), a sustainable fuel derived by capturing methane from organic waste. Clean Energy allows thousands of vehicles, from airport shuttles to city buses to waste and heavy-duty trucks, to reduce their amount of climate-harming greenhouse gas. We operate a vast network of fueling stations across the U.S. and Canada as well as RNG production facilities at dairy farms. Visit and follow @ce_renewables on X and LinkedIn. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including without limitation statements about: the amounts and timing of renewable natural gas expected to be produced or consumed; the potential development of the market for RNG; the environmental and other benefits of Clean Energy's fuels; the availability of environmental, tax and other government regulations, programs and incentives; and the impacts of legislative and regulatory developments. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and, unless otherwise required by law, Clean Energy undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Additionally, the reports and other documents Clean Energy files with the SEC (available at contain risk factors, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this news release.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
On This Date: America's Record-Largest Hail Fell In South Dakota
Sometimes you need a little serendipity to set a new all-time weather record. On July 23, 2010, 15 years ago today, a supercell thunderstorm spawned a brief tornado and an 85-mph wind gust near Vivian, South Dakota, about 30 miles south of the state capital, Pierre. But it was the hail this supercell produced that etched this storm into U.S. history. One resident of Vivian saved several of the giant hailstones in a freezer after they pelted his property. Meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Aberdeen, South Dakota, later visited the Vivian resident and measured the largest of these stones to be a whopping 8 inches in diameter and 1.9375 pounds, both new U.S. records, topping the previous record from Sept. 3, 1970, in Coffeyville, Kansas. (WATCH: Flash Flood Floats New Mexico Business) It's hard for a single photo to illustrate how mammoth this hail was. The Vivian hailstone was almost as wide as a typical ball your child might use on the playground and roughly as heavy as a hammer. Now picture those stones falling at speeds over 100 mph, and you might imagine the damage they caused. The hail left large divots in grass and punched a hole through the deck of the Vivian home. And because the severe thunderstorm knocked out power at the home, the record hailstone melted somewhat between when it was first found and when the NWS meteorologists measured it. The Vivian hailstone is also the heaviest on record in the Western Hemisphere, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The heaviest hailstone anywhere on Earth weighed 2.25 pounds in the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh on April 14, 1986. Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
