The nation in brief

Oil leak estimatedat 230,000 gallons

DOON, Iowa -- An estimated 230,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into floodwaters in the northwestern corner of Iowa after a train derailment, a railroad official said Saturday.

BNSF spokesman Andy Williams said 14 of 32 oil tanker cars just south of Doon in Lyon County leaked oil into surrounding floodwaters from the swollen Little Rock River. Williams had earlier said 33 oil cars had derailed.

Nearly half the spill -- an estimated 100,000 gallons -- had been contained with booms near the derailment site and an additional boom placed approximately 5 miles downstream, Williams said.

Officials still hadn't determined the cause of Friday morning's derailment, but a disaster proclamation issued by Gov. Kim Reynolds for Lyon and three other counties placed the blame on rain-fueled flooding.

N.H. school settles1970s abuse case

CONCORD, N.H. -- An elite New Hampshire prep school has agreed to a confidential legal settlement with a former student who was sexually abused by two teachers in the 1970s.

The settlement between St. Paul's School in Concord and William Foley was reported by New Hampshire Public Radio.

"I wish [the abuse] had never happened, obviously, I would have liked to have been happy, and I think St. Paul's made a sincere effort to address that with me," said Foley, who enrolled in St. Paul's in 1974 and now lives in New York.

In a statement, St. Paul's says the school was "pleased" to reach a resolution with Foley and apologized for the abuse Foley suffered. Board President Archibald Cox Jr. said the school plans to announce additional resources for students who were abused by faculty or staff.

Suit accuses firmsof racial profiling

SALEM, Ore. -- Several black customers are suing big-box stores and restaurants in Oregon, claiming employees at those places wrongly accused them of stealing because they were "shopping while black."

A Portland law firm has filed five lawsuits alleging racial profiling at businesses in the area. Filed between June 1 and June 21, the suits largely feature complaints of employees approaching or detaining black shoppers with accusations of theft in incidents taking place within the past year.

In one of the complaints, a pair of high school students describes being followed by the manager of a Sunglass Hut in a Portland mall last February, then being accused of theft. The manager later admitted he had misplaced the item he thought they stole, according to the suit.

The suits come in the wake of other high-profile incidents, as the nation wrestles with issues of race and the racial profiling that many black people say they routinely experience.

One April incident in Philadelphia garnered national attention when two young black men were arrested and led out of a Starbucks in handcuffs after the men, waiting in the cafe to meet a colleague, did not make a purchase and refused to leave.

A Section on 06/24/2018

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