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Texas resident sues Xcel for pole records after Smokehouse Creek Fire

Illustration accompanying article: Texas resident sues Xcel for pole records after Smokehouse Creek Fire
  • Texas resident Salem Abraham is suing Xcel Energy in court to obtain and publicize the utility's power pole inspection records across eight states following the February 2024 Smokehouse Creek Fire.
  • Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Xcel Energy in December alleging that pre-fire inspections showed some poles were deteriorating; some poles had been in service since 1936; Abraham is a donor to Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate.
  • Xcel Energy agreed under a temporary injunction to inspect 35,000 wooden poles annually in Texas and to replace the most damaged poles as quickly as one day after inspection.
  • Abraham lost an estimated 3 million to 4 million trees at his ranch near Canadian, Texas; the Smokehouse Creek Fire killed two people and an estimated 15,000 head of cattle.
  • Xcel Energy has paid nearly $400 million in settlements through June on estimated losses of at least $460 million for the Smokehouse Creek Fire.
 2026-09-22 · 3 MIN READ

Clancy defense lawyer says he was 'upset' over holdout's refusal to acquit

Illustration accompanying article: Clancy defense lawyer says he was 'upset' over holdout's refusal to acquit
  • Michael Desronvil, the lone holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, told CBS News on Thursday he "didn't have any doubts" she was criminally responsible for strangling her three children at the family's Massachusetts home.
  • Other jurors said the panel was ultimately divided 11-1 in favor of finding Clancy not criminally responsible; the jury considered not guilty by reason of insanity, manslaughter and first-degree murder during nearly 40 hours of deliberation.
  • The jury foreperson, a retired fifth-grade teacher, told NBC that Desronvil had admitted he had reasonable doubt but still would not vote to find Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity, and described not reaching a verdict as "awful" and an "emotional rollercoaster."
  • Defense attorney Kevin Reddington told ABC's Good Morning America he was "upset" the holdout would not acquit Clancy, saying the juror would not "apply the law of reasonable doubt" as instructed by the judge.
 2026-09-18 · 3 MIN READ
Illustration accompanying article: Federal jury acquits rapper Lil Durk of murder-for-hire charges