SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A jury’s $289 million award to a former school groundskeeper who said Monsanto’s Roundup left him dying of cancer will bolster thousands of pending cases and open the door for countless people who blame their suffering on the weed killer, the man’s lawyers said.

“I’m glad to be here to be able to help in a cause that’s way bigger than me,” Dewayne Johnson said at a news conference Friday after the verdict was announced.

Johnson, 46, alleges that heavy contact with the herbicide caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The state Superior Court jury agreed that Roundup contributed to Johnson’s cancer and Monsanto should have provided a label warning of the potential health hazard.

Johnson thanked jurors “from the bottom of my heart” for their work, along with his lawyers and his family.

His was the first case filed by a cancer patient against the agribusiness giant to reach trial. It was expedited because court filings indicated that Johnson was dying. His victory may set the precedent for many others.

“A unanimous jury in San Francisco has told Monsanto: ‘Enough. You did something wrong and now you have to pay,’” said Brent Wisner, Johnson’s lead trial lawyer. “There’s 4,000 other cases filed around the United States and there are countless thousand other people out there who are suffering from cancer because Monsanto didn’t give them a choice … We now have a way forward.”

Monsanto has denied a link between the active ingredient in Roundup — glyphosate — and cancer, saying hundreds of studies have established that glyphosate is safe.

Monsanto spokesman Scott Partridge said the company will appeal. Partridge said scientific studies and two government agencies have concluded that Roundup does not cause cancer.

“We are sympathetic to Mr. Johnson and his family,” Partridge said. “We will appeal this decision and continue to vigorously defend this product, which has a 40-year history of safe use and continues to be a vital, effective, and safe tool for farmers and others.”

Johnson used Roundup and a similar product, Ranger Pro, as a pest control manager at a San Francisco Bay Area school district, his lawyers said. He sprayed large quantities from a 50-gallon tank attached to a truck, and during gusty winds, the product would cover his face, said Brent Wisner, one of his attorneys.

Once, when a hose broke, the weed killer soaked his entire body.

Johnson read the label and even contacted the company after developing a rash but was never warned it could cause cancer, Wisner said. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2014.

“The simple fact is he is going to die. It’s just a matter of time,” Wisner told the jury in his opening statement last month.

But George Lombardi, an attorney for Monsanto, said non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma takes years to develop, so Johnson’s cancer must have started well before he began working at the school district.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Roundup’s active ingredient is safe for people when used in accordance with label directions.

However, the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization, classified it as a “probable human carcinogen” in 2015. California added glyphosate to its list of chemicals known to cause cancer.

Johnson’s attorneys sought and won $39 million in compensatory damages and $250 million of the $373 million they wanted in punitive damages.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the unsettled Republican primary race between Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach (all times local):
9:15 p.m.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s lead over Gov. Jeff Colyer stands at only 110 votes after late mail-in ballots were added to previous vote totals Friday in their hotly contested Republican primary race.

Colyer has accused Kobach of advising county election officials not to count some late mail-in ballots that legally should be counted. Kobach said his advice on their handling has followed the law.

State law says mail-in ballots would be counted if they were postmarked Tuesday and arrived by Friday.

Kobach’s lead had been 191 votes when statewide results were first reported Wednesday morning. More than 313,000 ballots were cast in Tuesday’s primary.

Counties still must review almost 9,000 provisional ballots given to voters at the polls when their eligibility is in doubt.
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5 p.m.
An aide to Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer says Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s top deputy also shouldn’t advise county election officials while their tight Republican primary battle hangs in the balance.
Colyer spokesman Kendall Marr said the governor objects to Kobach having Assistant Secretary of State Eric Rucker take over Kobach’s election duties while the race is unresolved.
Kobach announced Friday that he’s stepping away from those duties until after the final primary vote is certified by the state. Colyer had called on him to stop advising county official on yet-uncounted ballots.
Marr said that while Rucker is “a good and decent man,” assigning Kobach’s duties to an employee that Kobach can fire does not end conflicts of interest. Colyer has said the state’s attorney general should advise counties.

3p.m

Kansas counties are reporting updated vote totals in the contested Republican primary between Gov. Jeff Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach that reflect late mail-in ballots.

The secretary of state’s office was updating results as it received them from individual counties.

With the first 25 counties reporting, Kobach’s lead almost doubled to 241 votes from 121. That’s still a tiny margin with more than 311,000 ballots cast.

Kansas law says mail-in ballots are counted if they are postmarked Tuesday and arrive by Friday.

Colyer accused Kobach of advising county election officials to not count some late-arriving mail-in ballots that should be counted. Kobach’s office was planning a formal response later Friday.

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1:20 p.m.

Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer’s re-election campaign plans to have a representative in all 105 counties next week as local election officials review mail-in and provisional ballots to arrive at final official vote totals.

Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach are locked in a tight race for the GOP nomination for governor. The primary was Tuesday. Kobach led by 121 votes out of more than 311,000 cast as of Thursday.

The counting in their race is not complete because state law says mail-in ballots that are postmarked Tuesday can be accepted by the counties as late as Friday. County officials also must review perhaps several thousand provisional ballots, given to voters at the polls when their eligibility is in question.

Colyer’s spokesman said the governor believes Kobach’s office is advising county clerks to discard mail-in ballots that by law should be counted, and the campaign representatives will be at canvass meetings to be sure that they are.

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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Kansas man who was on parole for a 1991 case has been formally charged in two more.

While appearing before a judge Friday via video, Eric Harbacek again stated that he’s not guilty of any of the charges against him. He also indicated that he wanted to represent himself on the new charges. However, a Reno County judge was able to convince him to accept an appointed attorney. But, Harbacek also made it clear that he wanted to invoke his right to a speedy trial.

Harbacek is charged by the state in one case with criminal possession of a firearm for allegedly having a rifle despite prior convictions for aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer.

In the second case, he’s accused of stealing some firearms from a building he is supposedly going to rent for a barber shop. The owner of the property says Harbacek stole the guns on July 16. Harbacek said in an earlier hearing that he did have the guns moved to a location in Careyville, where they were being stored because he knew he couldn’t have them.

The next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 22. However, Harbacek noted that he may be back in prison on a parole violation at that time.

BARTON COUNTY —Trail’s End Lodge, a small hunting lodge at Camp Aldrich, caught fire early Friday morning, according to a media release from Barton County Community College

The Camp Ranger noticed the flames when he stepped outside to start his day at about 5 a.m. The Claflin Fire Department responded to the call.

There were no injuries. The camp was not in use at the time.

Preliminary investigation indicates electrical problems may be a contributing factor.  The initial estimate of loss is placed at $165000.00, according to Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir.

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BARTON COUNTY —Trail’s End Lodge, a small hunting lodge at Camp Aldrich, caught fire early Friday morning, according to a media release from Barton County Community College

The Camp Ranger noticed the flames when he stepped outside to start his day at about 5 a.m. The Claflin Fire Department responded to the call.

There were no injuries. The camp was not in use at the time.

Vice President of Administration Mark Dean said the cause remains under investigation.