Star Tribune
Minnesota alleges Reynolds, Walmart falsely advertised waste bags as recyclable
Minnesota has become the second state to sue Reynolds Consumer Products and the first to sue Walmart for allegedly falsely advertising that some of their waste bags are recyclable.
The state said in a lawsuit announced Tuesday that Hefty brand recycling bags and Walmart’s Great Value brand recycling bags — both made of low-density polyethylene — can’t be recycled at any facility in Minnesota.
As a result, the suit said, recyclable items placed in the bags would wind up as trash in landfills, waterways or incinerators because opening the bags and sorting through their contents would be costly and potentially risky for recycling workers.
State Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the lawsuit — charging the companies with consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, false advertising and deceptive environmental marketing claims — at nonprofit Eureka Recycling in northeast Minneapolis.
“Reynolds and Walmart … are taking advantage of Minnesotans’ good intentions to misleadingly market so-called ‘recycling’ bags to us that can’t be recycled and actually harm recycling,” Ellison said in a statement.
“I’m holding Reynolds and Walmart accountable for putting their ill-gotten profits ahead of people, our environment and the law.”
Reynolds and Walmart used such phrasing as “perfect for all your recycling needs” and “developed for use in municipal recycling programs,” which the complaint alleges are false.
The suit also alleges how in recent months, both companies have revised some of these statements on their websites and packaging to make them more flexible. For example, one such statement says the bags are “designed for use in participating program areas only” and consumers must confirm their recyclability with local recycling facilities.
“Plastic bags are not recyclable in our programs, and we don’t accept them, but we get lots of them anyway,” Lynn Hoffman, co-president of Eureka Recycling, said in a statement.
“They wrap around equipment, making it less effective. [They also] contaminate and decrease the value of other material like paper and cause safety hazards like fires.”
The bags reportedly are also a potential threat to employees who must stop the recycling machines several times per day and manually untangle the bags.
Eureka estimated such bags are other plastics cost the facility about $75,000 a year in lost productivity and revenue.
In June 2022, the state of Connecticut sued Reynolds Consumer Products because of the recycling bags. And Walmart has been named in a class-action lawsuit over its bags.
“Walmart does not manufacture these items and looks to our suppliers to provide quality products that comply with all applicable laws, including labeling requirements,” Walmart said in a statement. “We will respond in Court as appropriate once we are served.”
Illinois-based Reynolds Consumer Products Inc., known for Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil, produces the Hefty bags. Walmart is the country’s largest retailer and has Great Value bags as a private brand.
A 20-year-old St. Paul man is now facing three murder charges in separate killings in Minneapolis in recent years.
Albert Jerome Lucas was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court in connection with the killing of 20-year-old Antonio Vernon Harper, of Minneapolis, on Nov. 6, 2023, in Minneapolis in the 3300 block of Dupont Avenue N.
Lucas, who has been jailed since May and remains held in lieu of $2 million bail, is scheduled to appear in court early Thursday afternoon. He does not yet have an attorney listed in court records for this latest charge.
According to Wednesday’s criminal complaint, which charges Lucas with one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder:
Officers arrived to the scene and saw Harper on the ground suffering from a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.
A witness told police that she saw three males “hugging” the side of home and looking toward Harper and two of his friends. Gunfire from Lucas erupted, hitting Harper, and the suspects fled in a car. One of Harper’s friends shared with officers that the shooting was gang-related.
Officers saw the vehicle two days later and determined it had been stolen in St. Paul. The driver fled police, but officers soon found the vehicle. DNA on a cigar wrapper inside the vehicle was tested and came back as a match for Lucas.
Star Tribune
Palestinian officials say an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza killed 15
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on a school sheltering the displaced in northern Gaza on Thursday killed at least 15 people, including five children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants who had gathered at the Abu Hussein school in Jabaliya, an urban refugee camp in northern Gaza where Israel has been waging a major air and ground operation for more than a week.
Fares Abu Hamza, head of the ministry’s emergency unit in northern Gaza, confirmed the toll and said dozens of people were wounded. He said the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital was struggling to treat the casualties.
“Many women and children are in critical condition,” he said.
The Israeli military said it targeted a command center run by both militant groups inside the school. It provided a list of around a dozen names of people it identified as militants who were present when the strike was called in. It was not immediately possible to verify the names.
Israel has repeatedly struck tent camps and schools sheltering displaced people in Gaza. The Israeli military says it carries out precise strikes on militants and tries to avoid harming civilians, but its strikes often kill women and children.
Hamas-led militants triggered the war when they stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. Some 100 captives are still inside Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says women and children make up a little more than half of the fatalities.
Twin Amur tigers born at Como Zoo in August now have names — Marisa and Maks.
Two long-time volunteers who have worked with zookeepers to care for and teach the public about the zoo’s big cats came up with the names, the first to be born at the St. Paul zoo in more than 40 years.
Marisa, a name that the volunteers found to mean “spirited and tenacious,” call that a perfect reflection of her personality. The name also carries special significance for the Como Zoo community, as it honors a retired zookeeper of the same name who was instrumental in the care of large cats during her 43 years at the zoo, Como Zoo and Conservatory Director Michelle Furrer said.
The male cub has been named Maks, which is associated with meanings like “the greatest” or “strength and leadership.” The volunteers felt this was an apt description of the male cub’s confident demeanor and growing sense of leadership, Furrer said.
“Marisa and Maks aren’t just names; they’re a fun reminder of the passion and care that keep us committed to protecting wildlife every day,” Furrer said.
The newborns and their first-time mother, 7-year-old Bernadette, remain off view to allow for more bonding time, zoo officials said. The cubs’ father, 11-year-old Tsar, has been a Como resident since February 2019 and remains on view.
Fewer than 500 Amur tigers — also known as Siberian tigers — remain in the wild as they face critical threats from habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict, the zoo said.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings