Neither John Strand nor county officials in North Dakota's Cass County will collect damages they claimed were due, reports In-Forum. The verdict followed five days of testimony. Of the trial, an In-Forum editorial says, "If a winner has to be tagged, we give it to the citizen who values the right to petition, criticize and argue with government without fear of being silenced by a punitive and petty lawsuit."

As previously reported by AAN News, John Strand sued North Dakota's Cass County in February 2003, which resulted in a temporary restraining order that halted demolition of an old jail. The county countersued for $39,000, the amount of damages attributed to the delay. On Monday, Strand took the stand for about 35 minutes, reports In-Forum. His attorneys argue that the countersuit is the county's attempt to intimidate Strand for his activism. (High Plains Reader is applying for membership to AAN.)

The Casey Journalism Center, a nonprofit program at the University of Maryland, has awarded its 2005 Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism in honor of distinguished coverage of disadvantaged children and families. The winning story in the "Nondaily Newspaper" category is "Good Kids, Bad Blood," written by Lauren Gard for East Bay Express. The runner-up and honorable mention in that category are from Gambit Weekly and Westword, respectively.