Newsmakers
Indicted A Greene (N.Y.) County grand jury indicted racehorse breeder Ernest Paragallo on Thursday on 35 misdemeanor cruelty charges arising from allegations that horses on his upstate New York farm were underfed and parasite-infested. State Police raided Paragallo’s farm 20 miles south of Albany on April 8 and charged the Long Island resident with 22 cruelty counts. The grand jury added 13 more.
Dropped Lowe’s will not renew its naming rights of Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway when its contract expires after this season. The home improvement chain signed as sponsor of then-Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1999 in the first major naming rights deal of a NASCAR track. Lowe’s will continue its primary sponsorship of three-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.
Recovered NASCAR’s Reed Sorenson will drive for Richard Petty Motorsports at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Sunday after recovering from the effects of carbon monoxide inhalation suffered in a crash at Pocono Raceway.
Appealed The International Tennis Federation has appealed a doping ruling that essentially cleared tennis player Richard Gasquet, who was said to have inadvertently taken cocaine by kissing a woman in a nightclub. The ITF said it was appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after an independent tribunal’s decision last month exonerated Gasquet for a positive cocaine test. The Frenchman was allowed to resume playing after completing a 2 1/2 -month retroactive ban.
Rejected A judge has rejected the NCAA’s motion to dismiss a media lawsuit seeking access to documents on academic cheating at Florida State University. Circuit Judge John C. Cooper also turned down motions from the NCAA as well as the Associated Press and other media for summary judgments. The case will go to a two-day final hearing starting Aug. 20.
Waived The man police say was the getaway driver after former championship boxer Vernon Forrest was shot to death has waived his first court appearance in Atlanta. Fulton County jail spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan says Jquante Crews did not appear at a jailhouse hearing Thursday morning.