Charlemagne Prize: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya among three winners from Belarus

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Maria Kolesnikova and Veronika Tsepkalo were announced as the winners to recognize their fight for "freedom, democracy and human rights" in Belarus. The prize was awarded in Aachen on Friday.


Veronika Tsepkalo (left), Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (center) and Maria Kolesnikova (right) received the award for their 'commitment to democracy'

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was one of three winners of the 2022 Charlemagne Prize announced on Friday.

The chairman of the Charlemagne Prize Directorate, Jürgen Linden, said the panel wanted to recognize the "courageous commitment to freedom, to democracy, to the preservation of human rights and thus to European values" of Maria Kolesnikova and Veronika Tsepkalo, along with Tsikhanouskaya.

The laureates formed a "unique role model" against dictatorship, oppression and an unjust state, Linden said.

The recipients received the award "with great pleasure," the former mayor of Aachen added.

The trio will receive the honors in an award ceremony on May 26, 2022, at Aachen City Hall.

'Stay united': Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya speaks to DW

Opposition to Lukashenko

Tsikhanouskaya, 39, has become the face of the opposition to Alexander Lukashenko, who has led Belarus since 1994. Tsikhanouskaya contested last year's election in Belarus in place of her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a blogger and critic of Lukashenko who was sentenced to 18 years in prison earlier this week.

The outcome of the 2020 election in Belarus, which saw Lukashenko secure a large majority, has been rejected by the United States and the European Union.
Who is Maria Kolesnikova?

Kolesnikova, meanwhile, is serving an 11-year sentence in Ukraine. Linden said her sister would join the other two award winners at the ceremony in Aachen next year.

Always at the forefront of the post-election protests in Minsk, Kolesnikova rose to become one of the most recognizable faces of the opposition movement that has accused Lukashenko of rigging the ballot.

In an interview with DW, Kolesnikova said it was always clear to her that she could be arrested at any time.

Who is Veronika Tsepkalo?

One of the three leaders of the democratic movement in Belarus, Tsepkalo succeeded in bringing together an unprecedented number of people to protest against Lukashenko, accusing his regime of violating human rights, falsifying elections and using brutality to quell dissenting voices.

Tsepkalo is currently working to protect women's rights in Belarus.

What is the Charlemagne Prize?

The prize, which was first awarded in 1950, is to recognize special services to European unification. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis was the most recent winner for his pro-European stance.

Former German chancellors Konrad Adenauer and Angela Merkel, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis, are among previous award winners.

jsi/msh (dpa, AFP)

Explained: What causes a tornado?

Tornadoes can be destructive and hard to predict. We know why they form and that climate change can play a part — but we can't always see them coming. Here's why.



Supercell thunderstorms can produce more than one tornado at a time

Tornadoes can be terrifying — whether you experience them or only see images of the aftermath.

Most tornadoes are harmless and brief. But when a tornado falls outside the norm and collides with humans, it can cause severe damage and even death.

That is what happened when a series of tornadoes hit the United States in early December, leaving a trail of destruction from Arkansas to Kentucky. Dozens of people were killed and many are still missing.

The US National Weather Service described one of the tornadoes as "potentially historic" — due to it possibly being on the ground for the longest distance on record.


THOUSANDS STILL WITHOUT SHELTER AFTER US TORNADOES
Struggling to survive
A drone shot shows the extent of destruction: in Mayfield, Kentucky, the water tower collapsed like a house of cards. "Our infrastructure is so damaged. We have no running water. [...] Our wastewater management was lost, and there's no natural gas to the city. So we have nothing to rely on there,'' Mayor Kathy Stewart O'Nan told broadcaster CBS, adding that many people were struggling to survive.
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How does a tornado form?

Scientists know the basic ingredients for a tornado, but they are still trying to work out exactly what causes them.

"The truthful answer is we don't know," says Walker Ashley, an atmospheric scientist at Northern Illinois University.

Ashley is — what you might call — a storm chaser.

"I spend about a month and a half out of the year chasing these weather events, and they never want to [turn into a tornado] when I'm sitting there," Ashley told DW.

Specific weather conditions

Tornadoes form in very specific weather conditions. It usually starts with a kind of rotating thunderstorm called a supercell. A supercell can bring lightning, strong winds, hail and flash floods.

If the wind speed and its direction are different at different altitudes, you can then get a "wind shear."

Wind shears are often harmless but they can cause air currents to spin and create a horizontal tube of air. That's common in supercell thunderstorms, but it's not a tornado yet.

Sometimes a storm will suck up that tube of air until it becomes vertical. And when that happens it's called a mesocyclone.

That's still not a tornado. For a tornado to form, there also needs to be spinning air near the ground.

The stronger the tube of air rotates, the closer it can get to the ground and the more likely it is that it will turn into a tornado. Ashley says: Think of it like a figure skater.

"When a figure skater brings their arms out, they slow down. When a figure skater brings their arms in, they speed up," says Ashley. "And what a storm does is it takes that rotation, tilts it into the vertical and stretches it. And when it stretches it, it increases the rotation even more."

When that happens, gusts of warm air rise and gusts of cool air sink, blowing across the land. If there are enough rising and sinking gusts, the air near the ground starts spinning.

Once it's vertical, the tornado becomes darker. It picks up dust, debris and anything else that gets in its way. A really intense tornado will pick up cars, animals and even houses.

Why are tornadoes hard to predict?

Spring is considered to be tornado season in the US, but it can strike at any time, such as the ones in December 2021.

But they are hard to predict because compared to other extreme weather events, tornadoes are relatively small. That makes them difficult to observe.

"If we think about all the different hazards we have like hurricanes, droughts, floods, tornadoes might be one of the smallest," says Ashley, "even the most violent tornadoes are, at most, a half-mile (800 meters) wide — they occur typically in the order of seconds to minutes."

So, tornadoes often occur below particular levels that researchers generally use for observing, modeling and predicting weather events. Scientists can simulate tornadoes using computers, but "it requires an immense amount of computing power," says Ashley.

It's important to be able to predict extreme weather events so that authorities can issue warnings and give people a chance to get to safety. So, what do they do?

To issue warnings, scientists look out for supercell thunderstorms and use radar technology to measure how fast the mesocyclone is rotating. The faster it's rotating and the closer it is to the ground, the more likely it is that it will turn into a tornado.

"A majority of the storms and tornadoes [we observe] are on the cusp, like a storm is rotating like crazy in the mid-levels, but just because it's rotating up there doesn't necessarily mean it's going to come to the ground," says Ashley.

But researchers "don't have very good observations in the lowest levels of the atmosphere," says Ashley, and that seems to be a critical piece in the puzzle."
How does climate change affect tornadoes?

The role of climate change in tornadoes is complex. But Ashley says it's not a question of whether climate change causes tornadoes. The question is whether climate change contributes to the exact "ingredients" needed for tornadoes to form.

"As it relates to climate change, we know that some of the fundamental ingredients that [contribute to] severe thunderstorms and go on to produce hail and tornadoes are increasing," says Ashley.

And the modeling shows that that is particularly true in the United States, but it may also be happening in the UK and Europe.

Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany


CYCLONES, TYPHOONS, HURRICANES - THE POWER OF DEVASTATION
Social distancing impossible during Cyclone Amphan
Residents along Bangladesh's coast are being moved to safety as one of the strongest cyclones in years strikes the region. Millions of people had to be evacuated from low-lying regions along the Bay of Bengal on May 19. But plans are complicated by the coronavirus precautions. Maintaining social distancing is nearly impossible.
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Philippines: Typhoon Rai leaves trail of devastation

Typhoon Rai triggered landslides, floods and other accidents in southern and central Philippines, killing at least three people. Emergency services have been working around the clock.



The storm also hit major population centers like Cebu city, home to almost 1 million people

At least three people had died and two others were injured as typhoon Rai continued to batter southern and central Philippines on Friday, according to the country's national disaster agency.

The tropical storm, one of the most powerful of the year, made landfall on Thursday, with winds up to 195 kilometers (120 miles) an hour. Rai has weakened since making landfall, being downgraded from a Category 5 storm — the highest classification — to a Category 3.

More than 332,000 people had evacuated high-risk villages and around 15,000 of them had sheltered in evacuation centers, presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said.

The powerful winds have greatly damaged towns and cities, with trees uprooted, roofs torn off, and electricity lines cut.

Several villages were flooded in the wake of the storm as well.


Aid workers clear out city streets as strong winds bring down civic structures

The mayor of Mindanao island, the second-largest island of the archipelago, told a local media outlet that the typhoon had ravaged Surigao city, in Mindanao's northeast, for several hours, causing "severe" damage. Surigao city has a population of around 170,000 people.

Scores of flights were canceled and dozens of ports temporarily closed to offset the impact of the typhoon.


Strong winds have uprooted trees, seen here is the destruction on Friday on coastal town of Dulag, Leyte island, central Philippines

Wind speeds slightly ease, typhoon heads for exit

Rai, locally known as Odette, was a super typhoon, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane in the United States, when it slammed into Siargao island on Thursday.

But wind speeds had eased to 155 kilometers an hour (96 miles an hour) by Friday. At 1 p.m. local time on Friday, the eye of the storm was in the vicinity of the island province of Palawan, moving westward towards the South China Sea, according to the Philippines' storm warning agency.

Typhoon Rai hit the Philippines quite late in the typhoon season, with most storms developing between July and October in the region.

rm/msh (Reuters, AFP)

COACH ABUSE; MALE RAPE
Chicago Blackhawks settle lawsuit with Kyle Beach
By JAY COHEN

 The names of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks, left, are displayed on the Stanley Cup in the lobby of the United Center during an NHL hockey news conference on June 11, 2013 in Chicago. Representatives for the Blackhawks and a former player who is suing the team over how it handled his allegations of sexual assault against an assistant coach were meeting with a mediator Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021 for the first time in hopes of resolving the case.
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks and a former player who said he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach have settled a lawsuit that eviscerated the franchise’s once-sterling reputation and shook up the NHL, bringing questions about the sport’s culture back to the forefront.

The confidential settlement was announced after the sides met Wednesday with a mediator for the first time. Former first-round pick Kyle Beach and Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz, the son of team owner Rocky Wirtz, participated in the Zoom session.

“The Blackhawks hope that this resolution will bring some measure of peace and closure for Mr. Beach,” the team said in a statement attributed to Rocky and Danny Wirtz, and Susan Loggans, Beach’s attorney.

“As for the Blackhawks organization, we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that, going forward, this team will be a beacon for professionalism, respect and integrity in our community. We remain grateful for the trust and support of the Blackhawks community, and we promise to continue working every day to earn and maintain that trust.”

Loggans also is part of a second lawsuit filed in May by a former high school student whom Brad Aldrich was convicted of assaulting in Michigan. That suit is still pending, but the sides plan to meet again in the future to discuss a resolution.

The Blackhawks said as late as mid-May that Beach’s allegations lacked merit. B ut an independent review, commissioned by the team and released in October, showed the organization badly mishandled Beach’s allegations that he was assaulted by Aldrich during the team’s 2010 Stanley Cup run. Aldrich told investigators the encounter was consensual.

According to the report by Jenner & Block, the encounter between Beach, then a 20-year-old minor leaguer called up in case the Blackhawks needed help in the playoffs, and Aldrich, then 27, occurred on May 8 or 9 in 2010.

Beach told investigators that Aldrich, a video coach at the time, threatened him with a souvenir baseball bat before forcibly performing oral sex on him and masturbating on the player’s back, allegations that he also detailed in his lawsuit.

About two weeks later, on May 23, 2010, right after Chicago advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, general manager Stan Bowman, top hockey executive Al MacIsaac, team president John McDonough, executive vice president Jay Blunk and assistant GM Kevin Cheveldayoff met with coach Joel Quenneville and mental skills coach Jim Gary to discuss the allegations.

Former federal prosecutor Reid Schar, who led the investigation, said accounts of the meeting “vary significantly.” But there was no evidence that anything was done about the accusations before McDonough contacted the team’s director of human resources on June 14 — a delay that violated the franchise’s sexual harassment policy, according to Schar.

During those three weeks, Aldrich continued to work for and travel with the team. Schar said Aldrich also “made an unwanted sexual advance” toward a 22-year-old Blackhawks intern.

Bowman resigned in the wake of the independent review, and MacIsaac also departed the organization. McDonough, Blunk and Gary were already out of the NHL by the time the report was published.

Quenneville and Cheveldayoff met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. Quenneville then resigned as Florida Panthers coach, but Cheveldayoff remained in his position as Winnipeg general manager. The league also fined Chicago $2 million.

Loggans and representatives for the Blackhawks held settlement talks in early November, meeting for about an hour. She said after those discussions that “each side had different viewpoints.”

The investigation commissioned by the team found no evidence that Rocky or Danny Wirtz were aware of the allegations before Beach’s lawsuit was brought to their attention ahead of its filing. Danny Wirtz in October said he had instructed team attorneys to seek “a fair resolution consistent with the totality of the circumstances.”

Blackhawks sexual assault scandal, explained: GM Stan Bowman steps aside, full timeline of 2010 incident

Jackie Spiegel 

Content warning: This story contains details about alleged sexual assault.

The Blackhawks announced on Oct. 26 the results of an independent investigation following allegations of sexual assault by a former player and the subsequent coverup by team officials.

"It is clear the organization and its executives at that time did not live up to our own standards or values in handling these disturbing incidents," a letter to the community from the Blackhawks read. "We deeply regret the harm caused to John Doe and the other individuals who were affected and the failure to promptly respond. As an organization, we extend our profound apologies to the individuals who suffered from these experiences. We must — and will — do better."

On a Zoom call with reporters, team owner Rocky Wirtz, CEO Danny Wirtz and former federal prosecutor Reid Schar, who ran the investigation with his law firm Jenner & Block LLP, made statements that provided information and the results of the findings from the investigation.

The report, a detailed 107-page document that was delivered to the Wirtz's on Monday, describes the incidents that occurred in 2010 and the lack of an investigation by the Blackhawks organization.

On Wednesday, Kyle Beach came forward as "John Doe" and spoke to TSN's Rick Westhead in an emotional 27-minute interview.

"Just a great feeling of relief and vindication, and it was no longer my word against everybody else’s," he said. "Because a lot of things were made public, a lot of people were interviewed, and I really felt like there was a lot of lies told in the media. And it was very special and important to me to have that truth come out yesterday."
What are the allegations?

On May 7, 2021, an unnamed former Blackhawks player (referred to as John Doe 1) filed a lawsuit in an Illinois court against the organization. The filing alleges the Blackhawks ignored the player and a teammate's disclosure of then video coach Brad Aldrich's sexual assault in 2010.

"This entire man’s life has been destroyed," Susan Loggans, the former player's attorney, told Chicago public radio station WBEZ in June. "These professional athletes have to function at the top of their game at all times in order to be competitive, and these things are really debilitating."

TSN's Rick Westhead reported, the filing alleges Aldrich was watching pornography and performed a sexual act in front of him without his consent in May of 2010. Aldrich then sent inappropriate text messages and threatened the player "physically, financially and emotionally" if he did not participate. An amended complaint from July 2021 goes into further detail regarding the incident and noted he tried to leave but Aldrich blocked his way and threatened the player with a souvenir baseball bat.

According to TSN, in May 2010, two players also told then-skills coach Paul Vincent of inappropriate behavior by Aldrich who then asked Jim Gary, the team's mental skills coach, to follow up. Per the lawsuit, John Doe 1 told Gary what occurred.

"On or about May 2010, plaintiff, John Doe, began seeing Gary for counseling services after he was sexually assaulted by a team employee," the statement of claim says, per Westhead. "Prior to the sexual assault on John Doe, defendant was made aware that the same team employee had sexually assaulted a teammate of John Doe."

Gary allegedly convinced the former player "that the sexual assault was his fault, that he was culpable for what had happened, [and had] made mistakes during his encounter with the perpetrator and permitted the sexual assault to occur."

Per TSN, Vincent, a former police officer in Massachusetts, met with then-Blackhawks president John McDonough, vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac, GM Stan Bowman and Gary before the Western Conference final in San Jose, Calif., to discuss what he was told. According to Vincent, he asked them to contact Chicago law enforcement but they declined.
Who is Brad Aldrich?

Aldrich was hired in July 2008 and served as the video coach with the Blackhawks during the team's Stanley Cup season in 2010.

He left the organization that summer and went on to work and volunteer with USA Hockey, the University of Notre Dame, Miami University (OH) and Houghton High School. Aldrich was convicted in 2013 in Houghton, Mich. of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a student. He was sentenced in 2014 to nine months in jail and five years of probation.

The former student, who played on the high school hockey team, is listed as John Doe 2 and is also suing the Blackhawks citing they provided positive references for Aldrich.

Per The Associated Press, Miami University (OH) also opened an investigation in June. Aldrich was the director of hockey operations at the school but resigned in 2012 "under suspicion of unwanted touching of a male adult." In September, the school released its findings and concluded that he sexually assaulted two men in the fall of 2012.
What did the Blackhawks investigation reveal?

Over the course of a four-month-long investigation, 139 witnesses were interviewed including 21 current and former Blackhawks players and players from the AHL affiliate in Rockford, 14 members of the 2009-10 Blackhawks roster and five of the nine "Black Aces" or practice players called up during the 2010 playoffs, John Doe 1 and Brad Aldrich.
Who is John Doe?

While his identity is anonymous, the investigation notes that John Doe 1 (named as John Doe further) was a 20-year-old prospect who was called up during the playoffs to serve as a "Black Ace." A "Black Ace" is a player brought up during the postseason to practice with the team and be ready to play in the case of an injury, suspension, or any other reason that rostered player cannot play.
When did the assault occur?

Per interviews with both John Doe and Aldrich, both concur that a sexual encounter did occur on either May 8 or 9, 2010. The exact date is unknown but based on timelines regarding the team's travel plans around the playoffs, this is the date the investigation pinpointed. Aldrich claims the encounter was consensual while John Doe says it was "entirely non-consensual."
What occurred on the night of the assault?

At the time, the Blackhawks were playing the Canucks during the second round of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. Aldrich invited John Doe over telling him "he had the power to get John Doe onto the Blackhawks' roster" before turning on pornography. John Doe stated "that Aldrich threatened John Doe by telling John Doe he needed to act like he enjoyed the sexual encounter or John Doe would never play in the NHL 'or walk' again" and then forcibly performed sexual acts before threatening him again. Again, it should be noted that Aldrich said the encounter was consensual.
When were the Blackhawks informed and what steps did they take?

May 12-19, 2010

While in San Jose during the Western Conference finals, John Doe tells Paul Vincent, the Blackhawks skating coach, what occurred. Vincent, however, recalls hearing rumors from Nick Boynton and then approached John Doe and another player, revealed to be Black Ace 1 mentioned below.

May 23, 2010

Al MacIsaac, senior director of hockey administration, is informed by an employee that "there may have been a sexual encounter involving Aldrich and John Doe." MacIsaac tells Gary to speak with John Doe who provided limited details which included that Aldrich was pressuring the young prospect to have sex with him or his career would be harmed.

Sometime between May 12-19, John Doe told a fellow "Black Ace" (Black Ace 1) that "Aldrich tried to touch him." When contacted for the investigation, he did not recall the conversation but did remember John Doe speaking with Gary about it.

Later in the day, the Blackhawks eliminated the Sharks from the playoffs in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. One hour after, a meeting took place with the following senior managers:
President John McDonough
Senior director of hockey administration Al MacIsaac
General Manager Stan Bowman
Executive Vice President Jay Blunk
Assistant General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff
Head coach Joel Quenneville
Mental skills coach and team counselor Jim Gary

Per the report, all men recall being told there was an incident. Gary remembers stating Aldrich was threatening John Doe's career but none recalled being told the exact nature of what occurred. Others in the meeting recall Gary stating Aldrich tried to "get under the sheets" with John Doe.

From the report, it seemed there was more concern for the on-ice product than what occurred off the ice:


Bowman recalled that during the meeting, McDonough and Quenneville made comments about the challenge of getting to the Stanley Cup Finals and a desire to focus on the team and the playoffs. Several years later, MacIsaac, in discussing the situation between Aldrich and John Doe with another Blackhawks employee, stated that McDonough did not want any negative publicity during the Stanley Cup Finals.

Bowman recalled that McDonough said he would handle things; however, as noted there was no evidence anything was actually done until after the playoffs. At 9:06 p.m., Gary and Bowman spoke by phone and Bowman informed him that they "will pursue this" and bring it to "an ending."

It should be noted that the report did not find Vincent's statements above regarding contacting management as accurate.

June 9, 2010

The Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup.

June 10, 2010

Aldrich made sexual advances towards and physically touches a 22-year-old intern as the team celebrated the championship.

June 14, 2010

McDonough informs human resources regarding the allegations of Aldrich and the May 23 meeting. Per the report, the director of human resources noted: "McDonough said it was decided that the group would not alert Human Resources or do anything about the incident during the playoffs so as not to disturb team chemistry."

June 16, 2010

When meeting with the director of human resources, and upon hearing the allegations, Aldrich did not confirm nor deny what occurred. He is given an option to either undergo an investigation or resign. He chooses to resign. He is given a severance, playoff bonus, have his name engraved on the Cup, have a day with the Stanley Cup, was given a championship ring and was at the banner-raising ceremony.

September 2013

The director of human resources is contacted by the Houghton Police Department during their investigation into Aldrich on suspicion of criminal sexual assault. She recalled informing the police that he resigned but could not provide more information without a subpoena.

2021

After the court filings in May 2021, the Blackhawks announced internally in late June the hiring of a former federal prosecutor, Reid Schar, to lead an "independent investigation" into the allegations. During the subsequent investigation, it is also revealed that Aldrich sent inappropriate text messages to Black Ace 1.
What are the results of the investigation?

Per the investigation, and as noted above, the organization waited three weeks between learning of the incident and taking any action. That action was Aldrich resigning.

As stated in the investigation:


As a result, the Blackhawks’ own sexual harassment policy—which required investigation of all reports of sexual harassment to be conducted "promptly and thoroughly"—was violated. The failure to promptly and thoroughly investigate the matter and the decision to take no action from May 23 to June 14 had consequences. During that period, Aldrich continued to work with and travel with the team.

Aldrich engaged in an unwanted sexual advance on a Blackhawks intern—physically grabbing the intern in a sexual manner. And Aldrich continued to participate in team activities and celebrations, in the presence of John Doe. Even after the allegations were finally reported to the Director of Human Resources, still no investigation occurred, and Aldrich was permitted to resign his position and to continue participating in Stanley Cup victory events.

The investigation did not reveal any recommendations provided for future employment by the Blackhawks. Records from USA Hockey, Miami University and Houghton found no evidence of references and Aldrich was hired at the high school as a volunteer through the recommendation of a family member.

On Oct. 26, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz announced that Stan Bowman "stepped aside" as the team's GM. Current vice president of hockey strategy and analytics Kyle Davidson will take over as the interim GM as the team searches for new hockey operations leadership.

"We and he ultimately accept that in his first year as general manager, he made a mistake alongside our other senior executives at the time and did not take adequate action in 2010," Wirtz said before adding that none of the other executives involved in the response will be with the organization moving forward. Al MacIsaac and Bowman were the only ones still with the team as of Oct. 26.


Joel Quenneville is currently the Panthers head coach and Kevin Cheveldayoff is the Jets general manager. Quenneville denied over the summer any knowledge while Cheveldayoff released a statement via the Jets:

"I had no knowledge of any allegations involving Mr. Aldrich until asked if I was aware of anything just prior to the conclusion of his employment with the Chicago Blackhawks. After confirming that I had no prior knowledge of anything, I had no further involvement," the statement said.

In light of the investigation, the NHL announced the Blackhawks have been fined $2 million "for the organization’s inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response in the handling of matters related to former video coach Brad Aldrich’s employment with the Club and ultimate departure in 2010. Half of that will go towards organizations in and around Chicago that provide counseling and training for, and support and assistance to, survivors of sexual and other forms of abuse.

Danny Wirtz, during his remarks, said: "John Doe deserves better from the Blackhawks and while we believe we have a strong legal defense, I've instructed our lawyers to see if we can reach a fair resolution consistent with the totality of the circumstances."

Tuesday night, USA Hockey also announced that Bowman has stepped aside as the team's general manager for the 2022 Olympics.

Kyle Beach decided to sue the Blackhawks, claiming that the organization did nothing when he raised allegations of sexual assault. Beach's attorney, Susan Loggans, confirmed the suit on Nov. 23. According to ESPN's reporting, Beach is seeking an excess of $50,000 from the team, but the exact amount was not specified.

On Nov. 30, the Blackhawks filed a motion to dismiss Beach's lawsuit. According to TSN's Rick Westhead, the organization is arguing that the statute of limitations had expired before the suit was filed. The team said a mediation session is scheduled for Dec. 15 to try to settle the lawsuit.

The team and Beach's lawyer, Susan Loggans, jointly announced Dec. 15 that they had reached a confidential settlement of the suit.

"The Blackhawks hope that this resolution will bring some measure of peace and closure for Mr. Beach. As for the Blackhawks organization, we remain steadfast in our commitmemt to ensure that, going forward, this team will be a beacon for professionalism, respect and integrity in our community," the statement said in part.

 
What's next for Joel Quenneville, Kevin Cheveldayoff?

Speaking to Westhead, Beach was adamant that Quenneville knew what occurred:

"Now in statements that came out in the release, Stan Bowman has quoted Joel Quenneville saying — and this is not a quote, this is my words — saying that the playoffs, the Stanley Cup playoffs and trying to win a Stanley Cup was more important than sexual assault. And I can’t believe that. As a human being, I cannot believe that, and I cannot accept that.

"I’ve witnessed meetings, right after I reported it to James Gary, that were held in Joel Quenneville’s office. There’s absolutely no way that he can deny knowing it and there’s absolutely no way that Stan Bowman would make up a quote like that, to somebody who served his organization and his team so well."

Quenneville was allowed to coach the Panthers on Wednesday night against the Bruins. He was scheduled to meet with Bettman in New York on Thursday. Cheveldayoff was originally scheduled to meet with the commissioner on Monday but the meeting was moved up to Friday.

"The NHL is inclusive, The NHL includes everybody, and they let me down and they’ve let down others as well," Beach said. "But they continue to try and protect their name over the health and the well-being of the people who put their lives on the line every day to make the NHL what it is. I hope through and through that Gary Bettman takes this seriously and that he does his due diligence, that he talks to not only them, but Stan Bowman, John McDonough, and anybody else that has information to offer before he makes his decision. Because they already let me down, they wouldn’t investigate for me, so why would they now?"

MORE: Full timeline of Joel Quenneville's involvement in 2010 scandal

On Thursday, following the meeting with Bettman, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Panthers general manager Bill Zito and Panthers president and CEO Matthew Caldwell, Quenneville tendered his resignation.

"With deep regret and contrition, I announce my resignation as head coach of the Florida Panthers," Quenneville said in a statement. "I want to express my sorrow for the pain this young man, Kyle Beach, has suffered. My former team the Blackhawks failed Kyle and I own my share of that. I want to reflect on how all of this happened and take the time to educate myself on ensuring hockey spaces are safe for everyone."

Cheveldayoff met with Bettman on Friday and the league announced he "was not responsible for the improper decisions made by the Chicago Blackhawks" and would, therefore, not be disciplined.

"While on some level, it would be easiest to paint everyone with any association to this terrible matter with the same broad brush, I believe that fundamental fairness requires a more in-depth analysis of the role of each person," Bettman said in the NHL's announcement. "Kevin Cheveldayoff was not a member of the Blackhawks senior leadership team in 2010, and I cannot, therefore, assign to him responsibility for the Club’s actions, or inactions. He provided a full account of his degree of involvement in the matter, which was limited exclusively to his attendance at a single meeting, and I found him to be extremely forthcoming and credible in our discussion."

MORE: Gary Bettman on Quenneville, Cheveldayoff and what's next for the NHL

Cheveldayoff spoke to the media Tuesday alongside Jets chairman Mark Chipman. He reiterated multiple times that he did not know the extent of what Beach went through and was under the impression it was "along the lines of harassment — inappropriate texts, unwanted advances." Had he known there was a sexual assault, Cheveldayoff said, he "would like to think that it would have risen to a different level."

Chipman, who was emotional at times and mentioned he has personally witnessed the effects of sexual assault, stressed that the Jets are committed to being involved in change, to getting the NHL to acknowledge the "systemic problems that will require systemic solutions" and improve resources.

"I don't know that anything we're going to say to you today is going to necessarily do that," Chipman said of attempting to regain public trust. "All I can tell you is what I'm committed to and that is being a part of a process that says enough. Enough. And, as I hope you gathered from my opening remarks, this is a subject that is deeply personal to me and it is to Kevin.

"So I don't expect that you aren't and others aren't going to hold us accountable to what we say today. I can't speak for every team, I can't speak for the league and I'm not trying to avoid my responsibility as a member of this league. I can only speak from my heart, in terms of my commitment, our team's commitment to getting this right so that somebody else isn't coming forward months or years from now because we failed them. That's all I can do and that's what my commitment to you and everybody who's listening today."

For the full report, which was released publicly by the Blackhawks, click here.

ANOMALOUS WEATHER
At least 5 dead as Midwest rocked by hurricane-force winds
By MARGERY A. BECK and MARGARET STAFFORD

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A sheet of metal is wrapped around the stump of a utility pole near Jefferson, Iowa, on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, after a band of severe weather produced strong wind gusts and reports of tornadoes across much of the state Wednesday night. The storm caused property damage and downed power lines, leaving many Iowans without electricity. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Des Moines Register via AP)


OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — At least five people died as a powerful and extremely unusual storm system swept across the Great Plains and Midwest amid unseasonably warm temperatures, spawning hurricane-force winds and possible tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.

In southeastern Minnesota, Olmsted County Sheriff’s Lt. Lee Rossman said a 65-year-old man was killed Wednesday night when a 40-foot tree blew onto him outside his home. In southwestern Kansas, blinding dust kicked up by the storms Wednesday led to two separate crashes that killed three people, Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Mike Racy said. And in eastern Iowa, a semitrailer was struck by high winds and rolled onto its side Wednesday evening, killing the driver, the Iowa State Patrol confirmed.

The storm shifted north of the Great Lakes into Canada on Thursday, with high winds, snow and hazardous conditions continuing in the upper Great Lakes region, the National Weather Service said. More than 190,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity Thursday afternoon in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Kansas, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.

At least two tornadoes were confirmed in southern Minnesota on Wednesday, the state’s first twisters on record in December. The small community of Hartland, Minnesota, might have been the hardest hit, with a reported 35 to 40 homes sustaining minor damage and a few businesses severely damaged, Freeborn County Emergency Management Director Rich Hall said. Winds reached at least 110 mph in Hartland, the National Weather Service said.

Losses also included livestock. Dozens of cows were electrocuted at a dairy farm after a power pole landed on a milking barn in Newaygo County, in western Michigan. Tim Butler said his workers at the dairy survived the event, but at least 70 cows died. Dozens survived, but many were “hurt bad,” Butler said.

The destructive weather system developed amid unprecedented warmth for December in the Plains and northern states. That included temperatures that rose to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) across southwestern Wisconsin on Wednesday evening. The Weather Company historian Chris Burt compared the heat to that of a “warm July evening.”

“I can say with some confidence that this event (the heat and tornadoes) is among the most (if not THE most) anomalous weather event ever on record for the Upper Midwest,” Burt wrote in a Facebook post.

The winds knocked down trees, tree limbs and nearly 150 power lines in northern and western Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. In the western Michigan village of Fruitport, high winds peeled back a portion of Edgewood Elementary School’s roof, leading officials to close all district schools Thursday.

There were more than 20 tornado reports Wednesday in the Plains states, scattered mostly through eastern Nebraska and Iowa, based on preliminary reports to the Storm Prediction Center. The storm system led to the most reports of hurricane-force wind gusts — 75 mph (120 kph) or higher — on any day in the U.S. since 2004, the center said.

“To have this number of damaging wind storms at one time would be unusual anytime of year,” said Brian Barjenbruch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, Nebraska. “But to have this happen in December is really abnormal.”

The governors of Kansas and Iowa declared states of emergency.

The system came on the heels of devastating tornadoes last weekend that cut a path through states including Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois and Kentucky, killing more than 85 people.

On Wednesday, there were at least 59 reports of hurricane-force wind gusts regionwide, which exceeded the 53 recorded on Aug. 10, 2020, when a rare derecho wind storm struck Iowa, the Storm Prediction Center said. The destruction on Wednesday, however, was far less severe than from last year’s derecho, which caused billions of dollars of damage.

The winds also whipped up dust that reduced visibility to zero in parts of Kansas and caused at least four semitrailers to blow over, leading officials to temporarily close much of Interstate 70, as well as all state highways in nine northwestern Kansas counties.

Kansas deployed helicopters and other firefighting equipment to help smother at least a dozen wind-fueled wildfires in western and central counties, officials said Thursday.

That dust and smoke was carried north by the storm and concentrated over parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, causing a dramatic drop in air quality in those areas late Wednesday. That spawned a glut of calls to already-taxed emergency dispatchers from people reporting the smell of smoke.

The system blew into the Plains from Colorado, sending gale-force winds across a swath from New Mexico to Minnesota, Wisconsin and upper Michigan. The weather service recorded a gust of 107 mph (172 kph) Wednesday morning at Lamar, Colorado, and gusts of 100 mph in Russell, Kansas.

Scientists say extreme weather events and warmer temperatures are more likely to occur with human-caused climate change. However, scientifically attributing a storm system to global warming requires specific analysis and computer simulations that take time, haven’t been done and sometimes show no clear connection.

“I think we also need to stop asking the question of whether or not this event was caused by climate change,” said Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini. “We need to be asking, `To what extent did climate change play a role and how likely was this event to occur in the absence of climate change?’”

The unusually warm temperatures on Wednesday were due in part to record high ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, which wouldn’t have happened without global warming, said Jeff Masters, a Yale Climate Connections meteorologist who cofounded Weather Underground.

Stafford reported from Liberty, Missouri.

Associated Press writers Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas; Ken Miller in Oklahoma City; Terry Wallace in Dallas; Seth Borenstein in Washington D.C.; Jim Anderson in Denver and Grant Schulte in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

ROE REMAINS THE LAW

US regulators lift in-person restrictions on abortion pill
By MATTHEW PERRONE

This Sept. 22, 2010 file photo shows bottles of abortion pills at a clinic in Des Moines, Iowa. The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021 loosened some restrictions on the pill mifepristone, allowing it to be dispensed by more pharmacies. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday permanently removed a major obstacle for women seeking abortion pills, eliminating a long-standing requirement that they pick up the medication in person.

Millions of American women will now be able to get a prescription via an online consultation and receive the pills through the mail. FDA officials said a scientific review supported broadening access, including no longer limiting dispensing to a small number of specialty clinics and doctor’s offices.

But prescribers will still need to undergo certification and training. Additionally, the agency said dispensing pharmacies will have to be certified.

The decision is the latest shift in the polarized legal battle over medication abortion, which has only intensified amid the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is certain to spur legal challenges and more restrictions in Republican-led states.

Earlier this year the FDA stopped enforcing the in-person requirement because of the pandemic. Under Thursday’s decision, the agency permanently dropped the 20-year-old rule, which has long been opposed by medical societies, including the American Medical Association, which say the restriction offers no clear benefit to patients.

The FDA’s latest scientific review stems from a 2017 lawsuit led by the American Civil Liberties Union, which argued that the agency’s restrictions block or delay medical care, especially for people in low-income and rural communities.

The ACLU hailed the elimination of the strictest requirements but said regulators should have gone further and allowed prescribing by any physician and broader pharmacy dispensing. Abortion opponents said the FDA decision would result in more drug-related side effects and complications for women.

Physicians who prescribe the drug, mifepristone, will have to certify that they can provide emergency care to deal with potential adverse effects, including excessive bleeding, FDA officials said Thursday.

The change still means many more doctors will be able to write prescriptions and American women will be able to fill their orders at far more pharmacies, including via online and mail-order services.

The effect will vary by state. More than a dozen Republican-led states have passed measures that limit access to the pills, including outlawing delivery by mail.

Increased use of mail-order abortion pills could pose a dilemma for the anti-abortion movement, given that its leaders generally say they don’t favor criminalizing the actions of women seeking abortions and because mail deliveries can be an elusive target for prosecutors.

The latest policy shift comes as advocates on both sides of the abortion debate wait to see whether the conservative Supreme Court will weaken or even overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that guarantees the right to abortion nationwide.

Roe’s demise would likely prompt at least 20 Republican-governed states to impose sweeping bans while perhaps 15 states governed by Democrats would reaffirm support for abortion access. More complicated would be politically divided states, where fights over abortion laws could be ferocious.

Medication abortion has been available in the United States since 2000, when the FDA first approved mifepristone to terminate pregnancies up to 10 weeks. Taken with a hormone blocker called misoprostol, it constitutes the so-called abortion pill.

About 40% of all abortions in the U.S. are now done through medication — rather than surgery — and that option has become more pivotal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time of approval, the FDA imposed limits on how the drug could be distributed, including barring it from regular pharmacies and requiring that all doctors providing the drug undergo special certification. Women were also required to sign a form indicating they understood the medication’s risks. The FDA said Thursday there have been 26 deaths associated with the drug since 2000, though not all of those can be directly attributed to the medication due to underlying health conditions and other factors.

Common drug side effects include cramping, bleeding, nausea, headache and diarrhea. In some cases excess bleeding needs to be stopped with a surgical procedure.

Near the beginning of the outbreak, the FDA waived in-person requirements for virtually all medications, but left them in place for mifepristone.

That triggered a lawsuit from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which successfully overturned the restriction in federal court. The Trump administration then appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, which reinstated the requirement in January.

The point became moot — at least temporarily — in April when the FDA said it would not enforce the dispensing limits during the current public health emergency.

“The FDA’s decision will come as a tremendous relief for countless abortion and miscarriage patients,” said Georgeanne Usova, a lawyer with the ACLU. “However, it is disappointing that the FDA fell short of repealing all of its medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone and these remaining obstacles should also be lifted.”

Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, said the decision “will lead to more lives lost to abortion, and will increase the number of mothers who suffer physical and psychological harm from chemical abortions.”

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Associated Press writer David Crary contributed to this story from New York.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Uncertainty follows court’s rejection of Purdue opioids deal

By GEOFF MULVIHILL

Cheryl Juaire, of Marlborough, Mass., center, leads a protest near the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass., on Friday, April 12, 2019. A federal judge’s decision to reject a massive opioid settlement with Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma is a victory for those who want to hold the family that owns the company accountable for their role in the nation’s overdose epidemic. It also will delay the billions of dollars that would have gone to communities and addiction treatment centers across the country to address the ongoing toll of drug addiction.

(AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)


A federal judge’s decision to reject a multibillion dollar opioid settlement involving OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is being hailed as a step toward justice by advocates who have long called for greater accountability for the family that owns the company.

But not everyone involved in the arduous settlement process is celebrating, including some advocates who have lost loved ones to the nation’s ongoing — and growing — addiction crisis. The ruling Thursday from New York-based U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon is a blow to those who sought to use billions of dollars from Purdue and from the Sackler family members involved with the company to fight the epidemic.

“It could be dragged out for months, if not years,” said Cheryl Juaire of Massachusetts, who has lost two grown sons to opioid overdoses.

Juaire founded an organization for grieving parents and was a voice for victims on a committee during the Purdue bankruptcy proceedings that led to the settlement vacated this week.

“Every day, 265 people are dying. The attorneys are getting richer because they’ve still got a job to do, and lives are being lost,” she said. “When is somebody going to say, ‘This is all about the lives?’”

Avi Israel also lost a son to opioid addiction, but sees this week’s ruling differently. Like Juaire, he has dedicated his life to fighting addiction, starting Save the Michaels of the World, a group that has helped get 1,200 people in western New York into addiction treatment this year.

He said Thursday’s decision was the right one.

“You could give me all the money in the world; that’s not going to bring my son back,” said Israel, who also sits on a state board that helps distribute money New York brings in from opioid litigation.

Allowing lawsuits to move forward against Sackler family members could have a more long-lasting effect by deterring corporate executives from pushing medications they know could cause harm.

“I want them to know what it feels like for millions of us in this holiday season, when you sit at the table and you stare at an empty chair and you know that all of that could have been avoided,” he said.

 

Pill Mann" made by Frank Huntley of Worcester, Mass., from his opioid prescription pill bottles, is displayed during a protest by advocates for opioid victims outside the Department of Justice, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Washington. A federal judge has rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s sweeping deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon in New York found flaws in the way the bankruptcy settlement protects members of the Sackler family who own the company from lawsuits. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Advocates for opioid victims gather around a banner made by artist Fernando Luis Alvarez with the image of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco that reads "DON'T SHIELD THE SACKLER CARTEL!" During a protest outside the Department of Justice, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Washington. A federal judge has rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s sweeping deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon in New York found flaws in the way the bankruptcy settlement protects members of the Sackler family who own the company from lawsuits.. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The contrasting views of justice in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy reflect a complicated case at the center of multiple lawsuits seeking to hold players in the drug industry accountable for the nationwide epidemic of addiction and overdoses. Combined, prescription and illicit versions of the drugs have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades, and it’s gotten worse during the coronavirus pandemic. Federal officials say there were 100,000 overdose deaths in the 12 months that ended in April, the majority of them from opioids.

The Purdue case is the highest-profile, but it’s not the largest opioid settlement in the works. The drug distribution companies AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, plus drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, have agreed to a settlement worth $26 billion over time. The deal relies on having a critical mass of local governments surrender their right to sue and sign on.

Facing thousands of lawsuits from state and local governments, unions, hospitals and others, Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 as part of an effort to settle the cases. After negotiations and mediation, it reached a deal supported by the overwhelming majority of state and local governments, as well as individuals with claims who voted on it.

The plan calls for Sackler family members to give up ownership of Purdue. The transformed company would continue to make OxyContin, but with profits going to fight the opioid crisis. It also would try to develop low- or no-cost drugs to reverse overdoses and treat addictions. Sackler family members would contribute $4.5 billion over time in cash and charitable assets.

Most of the money would flow to government entities, which would be obligated to use it to fight the crisis and not just to fill their budgets.

“The most important thing to me is that in the plan, every single penny has to be used for the epidemic,” Juaire said.

Because of the advocacy of Juaire and other representatives of victims, a portion of the settlement — $750 million — would go to individual victims and their families. Payments were expected to range from $3,500 to $48,000. That set the Purdue deal apart from other large opioid settlements, where money for individual victims is not included.

But the deal came with one catch that angered many advocates, state attorneys general and others: The Sacklers would be protected from all current and future civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids.

  

Ellen Isaacs, left, and Lee Nuss, center, both from Florida, hold each other and a sing of remembrance of Randall M. Nuss, Lee's husband, during a protest with other advocates for opioid victims outside the Department of Justice, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Washington. A federal judge has rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s sweeping deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon in New York found flaws in the way the bankruptcy settlement protects members of the Sackler family who own the company from lawsuits. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Nurse practitioner Sarah Thrower, of Holidaysburg, Pa., holds a sign that reads "Sacklers Lie Children Die!!" as she stands with Randy Anderson, of Bold North Recovery and Consulting, on a bullhorn during a protest with advocates for opioid victims outside the Department of Justice, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Washington. A federal judge has rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s sweeping deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon in New York found flaws in the way the bankruptcy settlement protects members of the Sackler family who own the company from lawsuits. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Under a 2020 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, the company pleaded guilty to criminal charges in a deal that would waive most of their $8.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures as long as it entered a settlement that would use money to fight the opioid crisis. Members of the Sackler family agreed separately to pay $225 million to settle federal civil claims. There are no indications that criminal charges could emerge against family members, though some activists are pressing officials to file them.

Eight states and the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, a part of the Department of Justice, objected to the bankruptcy settlement and appealed after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge accepted the deal in September.

Their arguments swayed Judge McMahon. In her ruling, she said bankruptcy law does not give judges the power to accept deals that protect people who are not themselves filing for bankruptcy protection if some parties in the case don’t agree.

The decision “puts a fine point on the idea that there cannot be two systems of justice in this country,” one for the wealthy and one for everyone else,” Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in an interview Friday.

Purdue said it would appeal but that it also would keep trying to find a settlement all parties would accept.

McMahon anticipated an appeal in her ruling: “This opinion will not be the last word on the subject, nor should it be.” She said the issue of third-party releases has hovered over bankruptcy law for decades, with federal circuit courts disagreeing about whether they can be granted.

Jen Trejo, left, from California holds a sign that reads "JAIL TIME FOR THE SACKLERS" in one hand and a photo of her son Christopher in the other who died from opioid addiction at 32, and Kathy Moorehead of Louisville, Ky., holds a sign of P. Ryan Wroblweski, during a protest with other advocates for opioid victims outside the Department of Justice, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Washington. A federal judge has rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s sweeping deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon in New York found flaws in the way the bankruptcy settlement protects members of the Sackler family who own the company from lawsuits. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The appeal will go to the New York-based U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s expected that whichever side loses will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.

Congress also has considered legislation that would prohibit the kind of protections granted to Sackler family members, but the bill has stalled.

Representatives of the Sackler family have said in court, depositions and congressional hearings that they have not done anything improper and are not responsible for the opioid epidemic. They have not commented on Thursday’s ruling.

The Department of Justice, under different leadership than it was 13 months ago when Purdue pleaded guilty, praised McMahon’s decision.

“The bankruptcy court did not have the authority to deprive victims of the opioid crisis of their right to sue the Sackler family,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

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Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Judge rejects Purdue Pharma’s sweeping opioid settlement

By GEOFF MULVIHILL

A federal judge rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement of thousands of lawsuits over the opioid epidemic Thursday because of a provision that would protect members of the Sackler family from facing litigation of their own.

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in New York found that federal bankruptcy law does not give the bankruptcy judge who had accepted the plan the authority to grant that kind of release for people who are not declaring bankruptcy themselves.

In a statement Thursday night, the company said that it would appeal the ruling and at the same time try to forge another plan that its creditors will agree to.

Purdue said the ruling will not hurt the company’s operations, but it will make it harder for company and Sackler money to be used to fight the opioid crisis as the legal fight continues.

“It will delay, and perhaps end, the ability of creditors, communities, and individuals to receive billions in value to abate the opioid crisis,” said Steve Miller, chairman of the Purdue board of directors. “These funds are needed now more than ever as overdose rates hit record-highs, and we are confident that we can successfully appeal this decision and deliver desperately needed funds to the communities and individuals suffering in the midst of this crisis.”

Representatives of the two branches of the family who own the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesman for the descendants of Mortimer Sackler, one of the late brothers who owned the company, had no comment.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who was among a handful of state officials seeking to have the deal undone, called the ruling “a seismic victory for justice and accountability.” Tong said the ruling will “re-open the deeply flawed Purdue bankruptcy and force the Sackler family to confront the pain and devastation they have caused.”

Purdue sought bankruptcy protection in 2019 as it faced thousands of lawsuits claiming the company pushed doctors to prescribe OxyContin, helping spark an opioid crisis that has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the last two decades.

Through the bankruptcy court, it worked out a deal with its creditors. Members of the Sackler family would give up ownership of the company, which would transform into a different kind of entity that would still sell opioids — but with profits being used to fight the crisis. It would also develop new anti-addiction and anti-overdose drugs and provide them at little or no cost.

Sackler family members also would contribute $4.5 billion in cash and charitable assets as part of an overall deal that could be worth $10 billion, including the value of the new drugs, if they’re brought to market.

Government entities and businesses agreed to use any money they receive fighting the opioid epidemic. The deal also calls for millions of company documents, including communications with lawyers, to be made public.

In return, members of the wealthy family would get protection from lawsuits over their role in the opioid crisis — both the 860 already filed and any others in the future.

Most state and local governments, Native American tribes, individual opioid victims and others who voted said the plan worked out in the bankruptcy court should be accepted.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, like several others, sued Sackler family members and opposed the settlement before eventually agreeing to it this year. She said in a statement that if the deal doesn’t hold up, she’s ready to resume the civil lawsuit: “Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family remain named defendants in our ongoing litigation and we will hold them accountable for their unlawful behavior, one way or another.”

The U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee’s office, eight state attorneys general and some other entities have been fighting the deal. They argue that it does not properly hold members of the Sackler family accountable and that it usurps states’ ability to try to do so.

A bankruptcy court judge approved the plan over the objections in September. But the opponents appealed to McMahon’s court.

The main issue on the appeal was the lawfulness of the measures that would extend legal protections to family members.

Such “third-party releases” are not used in most bankruptcy cases, but they are common in cases such as Purdue’s, in which the companies involved are burdened with lawsuits and have relatively little value — but their wealthy owners could contribute.

The Purdue deal would not protect family members from any criminal charges. But so far none have been filed, and there are no signs that any are forthcoming, though some activists are calling for charges.

In a hearing, McMahon focused in on how Sackler family members transferred $10.4 billion from the privately held Stamford, Connecticut-based company over the decade before the bankruptcy. McMahon wanted to know whether the money was moved in part to ensure a role for the Sacklers in bankruptcy negotiations.

But in her ruling Thursday, McMahon did not dig deeply into those transfers or the idea of holding Sackler family members accountable for the opioid crisis. Instead, she focused on whether the bankruptcy law even allows for the kind of deal the company and its creditors struck if there are objections to it.

“The great unsettled question in this case is whether the Bankruptcy Court – or any court – is statutorily authorized to grant such releases. This issue has split the federal Circuits for decades,” she wrote.

She also noted that other courts will weigh in on the case. The next step is likely before the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

“This opinion will not be the last word on the subject, nor should it be,” she wrote. “This issue has hovered over bankruptcy law for thirty-five years.

Delaware judge rejects Fox News motion to dismiss lawsuit

A worker passes a Dominion Voting ballot scanner while setting up a polling location at an elementary school in Gwinnett County, Ga., outside of Atlanta on Jan. 4, 2021. Local officials in rural Nevada decided on Thursday, Dec. 16 2021, to replace equipment manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems — a sign that unsubstantiated concerns about election machine tampering remain prevalent in many parts of the United States more than a year after the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Ben Gray, File)


WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge Thursday rejected a motion by Fox News to dismiss a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought against the cable news giant by Dominion Voting Systems over claims about the 2020 presidential election.

In the 52-page ruling Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said that the voting machine company had shown that “At this stage, it is reasonably conceivable that Dominion has a claim for defamation per se.”

Denver-based Dominion filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the media organization alleging that some Fox News employees elevated false charges that Dominion had changed votes in the 2020 election through algorithms in its voting machines that had been created in Venezuela to rig elections for the late dictator Hugo Chavez. On-air personalities brought on Trump allies who spread the claims, and then amplified those claims on Fox News’ social media platforms.

There was no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, a fact that a range of election officials across the country — and even Trump’s attorney general, William Barr — confirmed. An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by former President Donald Trump has found fewer than 475 — a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election.

In denying the motion to dismiss the lawsuit Davis said that Dominion’s complaint “supports the reasonable inference that Fox either (i) knew its statements about Dominion’s role in election fraud were false or (ii) had a high degree of awareness that the statements were false.”

Davis said that “Fox possessed countervailing evidence of election fraud from the Department of Justice, election experts, and Dominion at the time it had been making its statements. The fact that, despite this evidence, Fox continued to publish its allegations against Dominion, suggests Fox knew the allegations were probably false.”

The judge also wrote that despite emails from Dominion attempting to factually address Fox’s fraud allegations, Fox and its news personnel continued to report Dominion’s “purported connection to the election fraud claims without also reporting on Dominion’s emails.”

“Given that Fox apparently refused to report contrary evidence ... the Complaint’s allegations support the reasonable inference that Fox intended to keep Dominion’s side of the story out of the narrative.”

Fox News Media said in a statement that “As we have maintained, Fox News, along with every single news organization across the country, vigorously covered the breaking news surrounding the unprecedented 2020 election, providing full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear-cut analysis. We remain committed to defending against this baseless lawsuit and its all-out assault on the First Amendment.”

Fox News had sought to have the lawsuit dismissed arguing that its coverage is protected by the First Amendment and that a free press must be able to report both sides of a story involving claims that strike at the core of democracy.

Manchin’s child tax credit stance draws criticism back home

By ASHRAF KHALIL


In this Dec. 13, 2021, photo, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., leaves his office after speaking with President Joe Biden about his long-stalled domestic agenda, at the Capitol in Washington. Manchin’s reluctance to endorse the Biden administration’s expanded child tax credit program is rippling through his home state of West Virginia. Manchin, a moderate RIGHT WING Democrat, is one of the last holdouts delaying passage of President Joe Biden’s massive social and environmental package. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)


WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin’s reluctance to endorse the Biden administration’s expanded child tax credit program is rippling through his home state of West Virginia.

Manchin, a moderate Democrat, is one of the last holdouts delaying passage of President Joe Biden’s massive social and environmental package, dubbed the Build Back Better Act. The West Virginia senator has expressed concerns over multiple aspects of the roughly $2 trillion package, including the continuation of the expanded Child Tax Credit program.

The expansion, passed earlier this year as part of pandemic relief legislation, boosted the monthly payments for parents and greatly expanded the scope of those eligible. In West Virginia, one of the country’s poorest states, the effect was immediate, advocates say.

“There is no state that’s more impacted by the CTC,” said Kelly Allen, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. “West Virginia, frankly, wasn’t doing great before the pandemic. So this is absolutely needed now and in the long term.”

On Dec. 15, CTC payments went out to 181,000 West Virginia families, according to Treasury Department figures. The payments averaged $446 and reached 305,000 children. Those payments could end this month, if the Biden package doesn’t pass in the next few days.

A coalition of West Virginia groups has been lobbying Manchin from the local end, emphasizing the ground-level stories of families who benefitted from the expansion.

“We’re hearing it from every corner of the state,” said Jim McKay of TEAM for West Virginia Children. “This program is really having a profound impact in a positive way.”

Allen warned that 50,000 children in the state are in danger of slipping into poverty if the payments lapse, or the negotiations drag on so long that the Jan. 15 payment doesn’t happen. One in five West Virginia children is estimated to live in poverty and 93% of children in the state are eligible for the CTC payments, tied for the highest rates in the country.

“Households across the state would have trouble meeting their basic needs,” Allen said. “There is real urgency right now to make sure families don’t get left short.”

Faced with unified Republican opposition, Biden is trying to pass the package with Democrats alone, which the House has already done. But the path in the evenly split 50-50 Senate is more difficult, with no room for dissent. Biden has been in talks with Manchin, who appears to be the final obstacle for Democrats trying to pass the big bill by Christmas.

The rocky status of the Biden-Manchin talks was described Wednesday by a person who spoke only on condition of anonymity. The person said Manchin was pushing to eliminate the bill’s renewal of expanded benefits under the child tax credit, a keystone of Democratic efforts to reduce child poverty.

Manchin told reporters Wednesday that assertions he wants to strip the child tax credit improvements were “a lot of bad rumors.” Asked if he backed eliminating one of the bill’s child tax credit improvements — monthly checks sent to millions of families — he said, “I’m not negotiating with any of you.”

Last month, a group of West Virginians gathered outside Manchin’s office in the state capital, Charleston, to present the senator with a quilt covered in personal testimonials from CTC recipients describing how the payments had improved their lives.

“It’s a life-changer,” said Rick Wilson of the American Friends Service Committee who participated in the demonstration. ”People are saying they paid off debt, kept the lights on, or bought or repaired their car so they could go to work.”

Studies suggest the child tax credit expansions are expected to cut child poverty by 40% — with 9 of 10 American children benefiting. All told, some 4.1 million children are on track to be lifted above the poverty line, according to analysis from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

In West Virginia, recipients spent 52% of their CTC money on food, with 39% going toward clothing and other essentials for their children, according to a study by Washington University in St. Louis’ Social Policy Institute.

Allen, of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said the CTC money doesn’t just benefit the recipient families. With few in a position to save the funds, the cash gets immediately spent in the community. She estimated that more than $530 million in CTC funds had flowed into the West Virginia economy.

“When families get money in their pockets, they’re spending it in grocery stores, clothing stores and child care centers,” she said. “Households know what they need and they’re spending it in a way that most folks would think is responsible.”

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Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Alan Fram contributed to this report.