Awarded: A federal judge approved a class-action settlement awarding up to $1,000 each to dozens of protesters who claim police violated their civil rights and used excessive force in arresting them last year. The deal resolves one of several lawsuits against law enforcement agencies in Baton Rouge after the July 2016 police shooting death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man. Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson says the settlement demonstrates courts can be an effective vehicle for holding officers and governments “accountable” for police misconduct. Read more.
Chemical expansion: Dow Chemical and state officials dedicated $2 billion in investments at the company’s 3,000-acre site in Plaquemine today. Dow announced plans in 2013 to expand its operations in Iberville and West Baton Rouge parishes. The expansion includes construction of two new polyolefin plants designed to produce next-generation synthetic rubber and high-performance polyethylene, along with 1 million square feet of warehousing. The investments, officials say, represent more than 2,500 direct Dow and contractor jobs in the Plaquemine-area and created 1,200 construction jobs during the past four years. Read more.
Sold out: Apple began accepting early orders for the iPhone X at 12:01 a.m. in California and within minutes sold out, Bloomberg reports. Shipping times quickly lengthened to as much as six weeks in the U.S., signaling supplies will likely remain tight as the new device goes on sale Nov. 3. It was a similar story around the world. In Hong Kong, the $999 [or more] phones, appeared to sell out less than a half-hour after ordering began in the mid-afternoon, with the online store there showing the phone “currently unavailable.” Read more.
