Francesco Friedrich continued his dominant World Cup bobsled season with another four-man victory on Sunday.
The German star and his team of Martin Grothkopp, Alexander Schueller and Thorsten Margis finished with a total two-run time of 1 minute, 41.17 seconds. Between two- and four-man races, Friedrich has competed 10 times this season and won eight golds, one silver and one bronze.
As a nation, Germany has claimed 29 of a possible 45 medals in World Cup bobsledding this season.
Germany's Francesco Friedrich, right and Thorsten Margis celebrate on the podium after winning the two-man Bobsled World Cup race in Igls, near Innsbruck, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019. (AP PhotoKerstin Joensson)
Oskars Kibermanis of Latvia drove to second place in 1:41.36. Johannes Lochner of Germany took third in 1:41.61.
Codie Bascue was the top U.S. driver, with his sled placing 13th.
HONOLULU (AP) — The Hawaii attorney general's office must pay attorney fees for using last year's Maui wildfire tragedy to file a petition in “bad faith” that blamed a state court judge for a lack of water for firefighting, Hawaii's Supreme Court ruled.
It seems the state “tried to leverage the most horrific event in state history to advance its interests,” the ruling issued Thursday said.
The day after the historic town of Lahaina burned in a deadly August fire, the state attorney general's office, representing the Board of Land and Natural Resources, filed a petition alleging east Maui stream flow protections established by Judge Jeffrey Crabtree caused the water shortage.
“Naturally we paid attention,” said the unanimous opinion authored by Justice Todd Eddins. "The Department of the Attorney General initiated an original proceeding during an unthinkable human event. The petition advanced an idea that legal events impacted the nation’s most devastating wildfire.”
The Sierra Club of Hawaii complained the state exploited the tragedy to help a private company monopolize water, noting that east Maui reservoirs were of no use to west Maui, where a wildfire killed at least 101 people.
Maui County said they had more than enough water to fight the fires, the ruling noted.
A deputy attorney general refused to “walk back” the accusations, the ruling noted.
The state's “refusal to withdraw the meritless assertions, the flimsiness of its request for extraordinary relief, and its use of the Maui tragedy, support a finding of frivolousness and bad faith,” the ruling said.
The attorney general's office said in a statement that it “disagrees with the court's characterization and with its conclusions." It later added it will comply with the order.
Sierra Club attorney David Kimo Frankel said he estimates disproving the state’s claims cost about $40,000.
The ruling comes the day after state Attorney General Anne Lopez released a report into the fires saying a broad communications breakdown left authorities in the dark and residents without emergency alerts.
FILE - The sun shines through clouds over wildfire wreckage in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug. 10, 2023. The Hawaii Supreme Court says the state attorney general's office must pay attorney fees for using last year's Maui wildfire tragedy to file a petition in “bad faith” that blamed a state court judge for a lack of water for firefighting. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
FILE - The aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, is viewed Aug. 17, 2023. The Hawaii Supreme Court says the state attorney general's office must pay attorney fees for using last year's Maui wildfire tragedy to file a petition in “bad faith” that blamed a state court judge for a lack of water for firefighting. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
