Top stories from the Ledger-Enquirer | Nov. 4-11, 2017

1. Phenix City man fell while buying a watermelon. Now Walmart will pay him $7.5 million.: A Russell County Circuit Court jury returned a $7.5 million verdict late Wednesday against retail giant Walmart at its Phenix City store. In July 2015, Henry Walker, a retired Army sergeant, was purchasing a watermelon at the store when his foot got caught in the wooden pallet and he fell, breaking his foot and hip, according to court testimony. Walker, 59 at the time of the incident, was awarded $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages

2. Police: Man with 6 prior DUI convictions charged with homicide by vehicle after Saturday crash: Daniel Lee Voss, 58, of Columbus has been charged with homicide by vehicle in the Saturday death of a Columbus man. According to a police report, officers at the scene determined that Voss was impaired when the crash occurred and has six prior convictions for driving under the influence. Voss also faces charges of DUI and following too closely.

3. Distracted driver struck 3 pedestrians in deadly wreck near Lakebottom, police say: A distracted driver struck three people and a parked vehicle Sunday evening in a deadly crash near Lakebottom, authorities said. Rebecca Hastie, 62, was pronounced dead on the scene at 7:39 p.m. Sunday, said Muscogee County Deputy Coroner Charles Newton.

4. 5 Muscogee schools on list of lowest-performing in Georgia: Five schools in Muscogee County and one in Chattahoochee County are among the 104 lowest-performing in Georgia, putting them at risk of intervention or even takeover by the state. Baker Middle School, Rothschild Leadership Academy and Brewer, Dorothy Height and Martin Luther King Jr. elementary schools, as well as Chattahoochee County Middle School, are on the list of chronically failing schools

5. Barbecue grills connect China to Columbus: Marv Lieberman was questioning. Lieberman, 72, is chief operating officer of Pit Barrel Cooker, a new player in the $1 billion U.S. barbeque grill business. Its 14-inch “Junior” grill is its latest to be manufactured in China. The first batch just shipped from the factory here that Lieberman is about to visit. Lieberman is long-experienced with manufacturing in China.

This story was originally published November 11, 2017 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Top stories from the Ledger-Enquirer | Nov. 4-11, 2017."