Spokane diocese to settle with alleged abuse victims
Spokane, Wash. – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, which filed for bankruptcy after being barraged with sex-abuse lawsuits, has offered a $45.7 million settlement to 75 people who say they were molested by priests.
Bishop William Skylstad publicly apologized Wednesday to the victims “for the terrible wrongs inflicted on you in the past.” He urged Catholics to accept the proposed settlement, which will require money from individual parishes.
“To those of you who say this settlement will be a burden, I would say that this scandal is a burden we can no longer afford not to resolve,” said Skylstad, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Plaintiffs’ lawyer James Stang said a committee representing alleged victims voted Tuesday night to recommend that the offer be accepted.
Under the proposed settlement, the diocese agreed not to describe the plaintiffs as “alleged victims” anymore and to give them the opportunity to address parishes and write about their experiences in the diocesan newspaper. Skylstad also would go to each parish where abuse occurred to identify the offending clergymen, Stang said.
Skylstad also agreed to support the abolition of statutes of limitations on sex crimes, write letters to abused individuals and their families and add two members of a victims group to a board that reviews clergy sex-abuse complaints, Stang said.
Stang said the offer must be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and by the victims individually within 120 days.
WASHINGTON
Private drug plans told to stockpile meds
Anticipating new problems with the Medicare prescription- drug plan, the Bush administration is telling private plans they need to provide an additional 60-day supply of medicine for emergency cases.
The move will give beneficiaries more time to find alternative treatments when their private plan won’t cover a prescription.
The administration’s announcement came as pharmacists warned that fresh difficulties were possible as participants use up their initial 30-day emergency supply of medication.
In a review of the program’s first month, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt acknowledged Wednesday that there were problems with the startup. “I make no excuses,” he said. “We own the problems.”
NEW YORK
Dealers used puppies to smuggle heroin
Colombian drug dealers turned puppies into couriers by surgically implanting them with packets of heroin, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Investigators believe the ring used the dogs, as well as human drug swallowers, to conceal millions of dollars in liquid heroin on commercial flights into New York City for distribution on the East Coast.
Ten puppies, including Labrador retrievers, were rescued during a 2005 raid on a farm in Colombia, the Drug Enforcement Administration said, while announcing more than 30 arrests.
A veterinarian had stitched a total of 3 kilograms of heroin into the bellies of six pups. Three later died from infections after the drugs were removed.
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
Governor requests mining shutdown
Gov. Joe Manchin called for all coal companies in West Virginia to shut down for safety checks after two more mine workers were killed Wednesday in separate accidents.
While Manchin’s call was voluntary, he also ordered the state’s mine-inspection schedule speeded up so that all 229 surface and 315 underground mines are examined by regulators as soon as possible.
One miner was killed at an underground mine when a wall support popped loose. And a bulldozer operator died at a surface mine when the vehicle struck a gas line and sparked a fire.
The deaths brought to 16 the number of mining-related fatalities in West Virginia since Jan. 2.
WASHINGTON
Alito logs first split with conservatives
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito split with the court’s conservatives Wednesday night, refusing to let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection.
Alito, handling his first case, sided with inmate Michael Taylor, who had won a stay from an appeals court earlier in the evening. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas supported lifting the stay, but Alito joined the remaining five members in turning down Missouri’s last-minute request to allow a midnight execution.
An appeals court will now review Taylor’s claim that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment, a claim also used by two Florida death-row inmates that won stays from the Supreme Court over the past week.
JERUSALEM
Feeding tube inserted into comatose Sharon
Doctors inserted a feeding tube into Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stomach on Wednesday, according to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital, where he is being treated for a massive stroke. Sharon, 77, has been in a coma since he suffered a stroke on Jan. 4. The stomach procedure was further evidence that he is likely to be incapacitated for a long time. Long-term-care specialists and a U.S. authority on comatose patients have examined Sharon in recent days.
CARACAS, Venezuela
Chavez denies wasting billions of dollars
A candidate challenging Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez for the presidency said his top campaign issue will be what he calls a massive waste of billions of dollars through generous oil deals for friendly countries.
Chavez, leading strongly in the polls, denied the accusations by candidate Julio Borges on Tuesday night, calling his challenger a “frijolito” or “small fry.”
