ON THIS DAY: April 1, 1918, First daylight saving time goes into effect - WPXI Pittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh City Councilman Robert Garland became known as the “father of daylight saving time” after turning the clocks forward was signed into federal law on March 19, 1918. On April 1, 1918, the nation’s timepieces took their first “spring forward” as daylight saving time went into effect for the first time.

It is believed that Benjamin Franklin first thought of turning clocks forward in summertime. He noted in 1784, while in Paris, that when he woke at 4 a.m. the sun was already shining brightly into his room and that more candles were being used in the evening. The squandering of so much daylight seemed very unnecessarily extravagant to Franklin, as he wrote his about his proposals to a Paris newspaper.

The British can claim the first daylight saving time law, which was introduced in Parliament in 1908 but took until 1916 to finally become law. Other European countries adopted similar measures after the outbreak of World War I in 1918.

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Robert Garland Robert Garland, 1935. (Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System)

While working as the manager of the War Resources Committee for Western Pennsylvania, Garland introduced the concept of daylight saving time. He became a passionate advocate for the potential increased productivity in the morning and greater recreational opportunities in the evening, after seeing it in effect in England.

Serving on both the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce and with the United States Chamber of Commerce, Garland used his influence to become appointed chairman of the national Special Committee on Daylight Saving. The committee, in turn, lobbied legislators in Washington to create the Federal Daylight Saving Time Law.

President Woodrow Wilson signed the law on March 19, 1918. Garland received the pen he used and it became a prized trophy.

Despite the fanfare at its passage, the law was repealed over President Wilson’s veto in August 1919, after farmers argued that their work was regulated by the sun, not lawmakers. Many cities, including Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and New York City continued to observe daylight saving time, which again became a federal requirement in during World War II, after President Franklin Roosevelt signed it back into law in 1942. Once again, Garland received the pen that made the presidential signature.

After the war ended, so did Roosevelt’s law and the nation reverted back to a patchwork of observances, or not. It became so disorganized that a 35-mile bus ride from Moundsville, West Virginia to Steubenville, Ohio would cross seven different time changes. That finally ended in 1966, when daylight saving time again became federal law with the passage of the Uniform Time Act.

Daylight saving time was extended an additional month in 1986 and then again in 2005, now spanning eight months of the year.

Garland’s interest in changing the clocks had its roots in his work ethic and industrial interests.

Born on Sep. 27, 1862 in Ireland, Garland emigrated to the U.S. alone as a teenager, and lived with an aunt in Pittsburgh. He began working as a water boy in the Oliver Iron and Steel plant and was joined a few years later by his three younger brothers.

Together with two of his brothers, he formed the Garland Chain Company in 1893, which became known for making electrical conduit that had a patented coating.

Garland married Alice Bailey (the daughter of another prominent local manufacturer) and settled in Squirrel Hill. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter, but the boy died in an epidemic when he was three years old.

Robert Garland Robert Garland (center) being sworn in as a member of the City Council by Mayor McNair and an unidentified man, July 8, 1935. (Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System)

Garland’s successful business earned him attention and he was appointed to replace a city council member in 1911. Garland would become the last Republican on the council and serve as the lone Republican for much of his tenure. Unions always opposed his reelection, but Garland’s charisma and straight talk won over many members despite their leaders’ objections.

Garland served on the council for 28 years, primarily as chairman of the finance committee, though he was also council president from 1934 to 1935.

Modern Pittsburgh still bears Garland’s touch. He championed the removal of the “hump” on Fifth Avenue. He was instrumental in the simplification and renaming of streets in the city, coining “Boulevard of the Allies” in place of Monongahela Boulevard, among many others. He was also vocal in lobbying for the construction of Mount Washington Roadway (now known as McCardle Roadway).

During the Great Depression, Democrat efforts to unseat Garland finally paid off and he left office in 1939.

Garland died in 1949 at the Masonic Home in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. He was 86 years old.

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This Time, Lawmakers Want Control Over COVID-19 Aid - The Pew Charitable Trusts

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With states set to receive billions of dollars in federal aid, lawmakers and governors are sparring over who should decide how to spend the cash.

Look no further than Kentucky, where Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear chose how to spend $1.5 billion in federal coronavirus aid last spring. Now another $2.4 billion is on the way, and Republican lawmakers have blocked Beshear from divvying up the latest windfall without their permission.

“Our constitution in Kentucky only vests spending authority with the General Assembly,” said Kentucky state Sen. Chris McDaniel, a Republican and co-chair of the budget committee. McDaniel said the legislature’s proposed budget will clarify that authority.

Bills in at least three other states—Connecticut, West Virginia and Wisconsin—also would let lawmakers control the aid states receive from the American Rescue Plan Act, which President Joe Biden signed earlier this month. The law gives states and the District of Columbia $195 billion to spend on broadly defined purposes, such as fighting the pandemic and boosting the economy.

The federal aid fight is part of a larger struggle over the balance of power in state governments that’s emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. A growing number of lawmakers say it’s time to reconsider how long governors can act without consulting them during a crisis and to limit executive branch control over federal grants. And Republican state lawmakers might want the chance to receive credit for the spending, especially since no GOP member of Congress supported the relief package.

Stateline Story March 4, 2021

State Lawmakers Split Over Need for Federal Aid

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Some governors say tussles over spending decisions could hold up COVID-19 relief for people, businesses and communities in need.

Beshear on Friday vetoed the budget provision giving the legislature authority over American Rescue Plan Act funds, claiming that it would conflict with federal law and delay spending decisions.

“These provisions also slow and hinder the provision of assistance to the many Kentuckians that are unemployed or underemployed, to affected Kentucky businesses and nonprofit organizations,” Beshear wrote in his veto message.

The Kentucky legislature overrode the veto.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, also a Democrat, on Monday vetoed a bill that would have given the Republican-controlled state legislature power over the money. He said during a news conference that he wanted to make sure the funds didn’t “get tied up in some political fight in the legislature.”

But Connecticut’s Democratic governor, Ned Lamont, hasn’t said whether he’ll try to block a bill—unanimously approved by the Democratic-led legislature—that would require him to get lawmakers’ approval before spending the money.

“This legislation is consistent with Governor Lamont’s approach since the beginning of the pandemic, which has been to work with the legislative branch throughout the pandemic emergency on critical decisions,” said Paul Mounds, Lamont’s chief of staff, in an emailed statement.

The West Virginia bill passed unanimously through the Republican-controlled House of Delegates last month and is now being considered by the state Senate. Republican Gov. Jim Justice’s office did not respond to Stateline’s request for comment before publication time.

Whether legislators have a say in how American Rescue Plan Act dollars are spent depends on state law. Governors and state agencies in 31 states can spend unanticipated funds, such as federal emergency grants and court settlements, without legislative approval, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers, a professional association based in Washington, D.C. 

Stateline Story January 22, 2021

Lawmakers Move to Strip Governors’ Emergency Powers

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Restrictions on that power vary. In Pennsylvania, for instance, the governor can unilaterally spend federal aid only during an emergency. In Minnesota, the governor can do so when the legislature isn’t in session, but must consult with lawmakers when they are in session. 

Connecticut lawmakers didn’t object to Lamont’s control over federal relief last spring, when it wasn’t clear how long the pandemic would last or how bad things would get, said Democratic state Sen. Cathy Osten, co-chair of the Appropriations Committee.

“I think people were probably not as willing to have this conversation,” she said, “just because of where we were with dealing with our constituents relative to COVID.”

But a year later, with $2.6 billion in new federal aid heading Connecticut’s way, lawmakers decided it was time they had oversight of the funds. The aid is equal to about 10% of the 2021 state budget.

Backing the bill was a no-brainer for Connecticut’s Republican lawmakers, who have had little say over the state’s pandemic response. “We want to be able to do our jobs,” said GOP state Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria. “We were elected to make these decisions.”

Lawmakers in some states can work the new federal aid into their budget plans as part of the regular appropriations process. But there’s little time to do so in about half of states, where legislatures head home for the year by mid-May.

Kentucky’s legislative session ended Tuesday, so lawmakers didn’t have time to include plans for the American Rescue Plan Act aid in their budget, McDaniel said. The legislature was reportedly planning to pass legislation Tuesday that could allocate some of the money. But Beshear will likely have to call lawmakers back for a special session to spend the rest of the aid.

Democratic lawmakers in the state also want a say in how the money is spent. Kentucky Senate Minority Leader Morgan McGarvey, a Democrat who also serves on the budget committee, said he supports giving the legislature a bigger role, although he disagrees with the budget language.

“We should all just be communicating on the best and most efficient way to help Kentuckians with the money from the American Rescue Plan,” McGarvey said. “I don’t view this as a turf war, but I do believe, as a legislator, that the legislature plays a role in appropriating the money that comes to the state.”

Meanwhile, it could take weeks or months for the U.S. Treasury to clarify the rules for spending the federal aid. Some state leaders are reluctant to start budgeting the aid before then. In particular, they want Treasury officials to explain one specific sentence in the law, which bans states from using the aid to pay for tax cuts.

Stateline Story March 18, 2021

States Debate Improvements to Unemployment Systems

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said during a U.S. Senate hearing last week that explaining that provision will be difficult. “We will have to define what it means to use money from this act as an offset for tax cuts,” she said. “And given the fungibility of money, it's a hard question to answer.”

In Kentucky, Democrats and Republicans both want to use part of the federal aid to expand broadband internet and shore up the unemployment insurance trust fund, McDaniel and McGarvey said.

But there inevitably will be partisan fights over how to spend the cash, said Sam Marcosson, a professor at the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law. “I think tax cuts are very likely to also be in the mix,” he said, depending on what the Treasury allows.

Lawmakers have plenty of political reasons to push for control over the relief, experts who follow state politics say.

They could use the money to benefit their districts, said Professor Gary Rose, chair of the department of government at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. “A lot of that money that’s coming in, here and elsewhere, has political ramifications,” he said.

If Kentucky’s Republican lawmakers don’t insert themselves into the spending process, their party can’t claim any credit for the aid, Marcosson said, as no congressional Republicans voted for the aid package.

“The fear would be, politically, that it puts them in a position where the Democrats can claim all the credit if it does work,” he said of the aid package, “and the economy rebounds in the second half of the year.”

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New York Giants co-owner John Mara says after spending big money, 'time for us to start winning' - ESPN

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New York Giants co-owner John Mara approved of the team spending more money this offseason as it handed out more than $100 million in guaranteed money. But without saying general manager Dave Gettleman's job is in jeopardy, Mara also made it clear what he expects in return.

"It's time for us to start winning," Mara told reporters via videoconference after the conclusion of the NFL owners meetings Wednesday. "That's one of the reasons we spent the money we did."

To that end, Mara and the Giants re-signed defensive lineman Leonard Williams and signed receiver Kenny Golladay and cornerback Adoree' Jackson. All totaled, New York committed $110 million in guaranteed money to this trio. It represents a pivot for a team that had not spent big in free agency in recent years.

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But Mara said the Giants wanted to surround quarterback Daniel Jones with more talent. Mostly, though, he wants to do something they haven't done recently: win. The Giants have posted losing seasons in seven of the past eight years. After going 11-5 in 2016, New York has gone a combined 18-46. That ties them with the New York Jets for the NFL's worst record during this span.

"It's been a very difficult four- or five-year period for us," Mara said. "I'm tired of the losing and having a postseason press conference trying to explain what went wrong and why I think we're making progress.

"I think we're moving in the right direction, but it's been brutal the last few years. We're looking forward to turning it around and not having to make excuses for why we haven't done it."

New York hopes Golladay, new tight end Kyle Rudolph ($12 million) and speedy receiver John Ross ($2.5 million) can help invigorate the offense. The return of running back Saquon Barkley should help, as well.

But the additional help means Jones needs to produce. He threw 11 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions in 14 games last year. In two seasons, he has thrown a combined 35 touchdowns and 22 picks while the Giants are 8-18 with him as a starter. Mara said he wouldn't put any benchmarks on Jones to measure his improvement -- or to gauge his team's desire to keep him around.

"We think the world of Daniel," Mara said. "We want to see him take the next step. I don't have any specific benchmarks other than, let's win some more games. He'll have a better team around him this year than he's had in previous years, so we certainly expect him to take that next step. I want to see him continue to improve because I do think he has what it takes to be a long-term winner in this league."

Mara pointed to coach Joe Judge as one reason he's optimistic. New York finished 6-10 in Judge's first year, a two-game improvement over 2019. But Mara said it's "definitely" a better locker room than it has been in a while and that players believe in Judge.

"We won only six games last year, but I sensed just a different feeling from the players. They believe in his message. You could see that in team meetings. You could see that on the practice field and you could see in their effort. Now is the time to start winning more games," he said.

That's partly why Mara wasn't about to put Gettleman on the so-called hot seat in March, despite a 15-33 record since his hiring in 2018.

"I'm not going to speculate on that right now," Mara said. "Let's see how the season plays out. I have more confidence going into this season than I've had in previous years. Hopefully the money that we spent and given the draft we expect to have, we'll have a better team on the field this year.

Mara said the Giants didn't plan on spending so much money this offseason, but said the right opportunities presented themselves with Golladay and Jackson. He said he talked to Golladay before he signed, trying to sell him on doing so, but added by that time the receiver's mind was probably made up.

It also mattered that Golladay, 27, and Jackson, 25, were both young and played positions of need. Williams is 26.

"You can't do that every year, but when the opportunity presents itself you have to seize it," Mara said. "That's what we did this year. We think it will pay off. We're certainly not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like the direction that we're going."

One thing the spending did prevent: an extension for Barkley, who is coming off a torn ACL. But he's entering his fourth season and New York can pick up his fifth-year option, so there's time for an extension to happen. Mara said he does want to get one done eventually.

"We fully expect him to be as good as new," Mara said. "If anybody is going to spend 100% of his efforts to rehab it will be Saquon. But we're not in any hurry to do that particularly after the money we just spent. But I said it at the end of the season and I'll say it again: We hope he's going to be a Giant for life. At the appropriate time we'll start those discussions."

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As Cuomo Sought $4 Million Book Deal, Aides Hid Damaging Death Toll - The New York Times

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo boasted, “I am not a superhero,” in early versions of his book, drafted as his aides scrubbed a politically damaging Health Department report.

ALBANY, N.Y. — As the coronavirus subsided in New York last year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had begun pitching a book proposal that would center on his image as a hero of the pandemic. But by early last summer, both his book and image had hit a critical juncture.

Mr. Cuomo leaned on his top aide, Melissa DeRosa, for assistance. She attended video meetings with publishers, and helped him edit early drafts of the book. But there was also another, more pressing edit underway at the same time.

An impending Health Department report threatened to disclose a far higher number of nursing home deaths related to the coronavirus than the Cuomo administration had previously made public. Ms. DeRosa and other top aides expressed concern about the higher death toll, and, after their intervention, the number — which had appeared in the second sentence of the report — was removed from the final version.

The revisions occurred as the governor was on the brink of a huge payoff: a book deal that ended with a high offer of more than $4 million, according to people with knowledge of the book’s bidding process.

A New York Times examination of the development of Mr. Cuomo’s lucrative book deal revealed how it overlapped with the move by his most senior aides to reshape a report about nursing home deaths in a way that insulated the governor from criticism and burnished his image.

Mr. Cuomo also utilized the resources of his office — from his inner circle to far more junior personnel — to help with the manuscript. In late June and early July, for example, a top aide to the governor, Stephanie Benton, twice asked assistants to print portions of the draft of the book, and deliver them to Mr. Cuomo at the Executive Mansion in Albany, where he lives.

One of Ms. Benton’s directives came on June 27, the same day that Ms. DeRosa convened an impromptu teleconference with several other top advisers to discuss the Health Department draft report.

On Wednesday, Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to the governor, rejected any link between Mr. Cuomo’s book and the Health Department report.

“There is no connection between the report and this outside project, period,” Mr. Azzopardi said. “And any suggestion otherwise is just wrong.”

The book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic,” was a dramatic retelling of the battle against the virus in a state where nearly 50,000 people have died. It would garner Mr. Cuomo a fleeting spot on the best-seller list.

Emails and an early draft of Mr. Cuomo’s book obtained by The New York Times indicate that the governor was writing it as early as mid-June, relying on a cadre of trusted aides and junior staffers for everything from full-scale edits to minor clerical work, potentially running afoul of state laws prohibiting use of public resources for personal gain.

Melissa DeRosa, the secretary to the governor, assisted Mr. Cuomo in editing his book and pitching it to publishers.Justin Lane/EPA, via Shutterstock

One aide to the governor, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said that she and others were also asked to assist in typing or transferring notes for Mr. Cuomo’s book, which he composed in part by dictating into a cellphone.

“Sorry lady can u print this too and put in a binder,” Ms. Benton wrote to another female staffer on July 5, a Sunday. “And drop at mansion.”

Ms. DeRosa, the highest nonelected official in Mr. Cuomo’s office, was particularly involved with the development of the book, and was present during some online pitch meetings with Mr. Cuomo. The July 5 request, in fact, was to print a 224-page draft entitled “MDR edits” — a reference to Ms. DeRosa, who had sent the draft to Ms. Benton on July 4, according to the emails. The staffers communicated via personal Gmail accounts, not official governmental email addresses.

Mr. Azzopardi said that Ms. DeRosa and Ms. Benton had “volunteered on this project” during their free time, something he added was “permissible and consistent with ethical requirements” of the state.

As for the junior aides’ participation in tasks related to the book, he said, “Every effort was made to ensure that no state resources were used in connection with this project.”

“To the extent an aide printed out a document,” he said, “it appears incidental.”

Ms. DeRosa also had significant input on the July 6 report issued by the Department of Health, which basically cleared Mr. Cuomo’s administration of fault in its handling of nursing homes — discounting the impact of a March 2020 state memo that had asked such facilities to take in or readmit residents who had tested positive for the disease.

Critical changes had been made to the final version of the Health Department report, after concerns were raised about the data by Ms. DeRosa and a second Cuomo aide, Linda Lacewell, according to interviews and documents.

In two earlier drafts of the report, which were both reviewed by The Times, the second sentence said that “from March 1, 2020, through June 10, 2020, there were 9,844 fatalities among NYS nursing home residents with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.”

The earlier drafts were written by Eleanor Adams, a top state epidemiologist, and Jim Malatras, a former Cuomo aide who now serves as chancellor of the State University of New York system. The 9,844 death total was far higher than the 6,432 nursing home deaths used in the state’s final report, which continued the state’s practices of omitting the deaths of nursing home residents who died at the hospital.

Mr. Azzopardi said the July 6 report was intended to examine whether the administration’s policies “contributed to increased deaths, and not be a full accounting” of all nursing home residents who died. He added that the report had since been updated to include most “out of facility” deaths. It did not change the overall conclusions of the report, he said.

Mr. Cuomo, 63, has declined to confirm exactly how much he was paid for “American Crisis,” which was published by Crown Publishing Group in mid-October, just as a second wave of the coronavirus began to swell in New York.

Crown declined to comment on the sale price or confirm that it slightly exceeded $4 million, a large sum for an author whose previous memoir, “All Things Possible,” from 2014, sold fewer than 4,000 hardcover copies.

The governor’s office said he would donate a “significant portion” of the book’s proceeds to a Covid-related charity, though he has not indicated how much; on Wednesday, Mr. Azzopardi reiterated that the governor’s book payment and charitable contributions would be released with his tax returns and state-mandated financial disclosures, both of which are due in mid-May.

Since the book’s publication, Mr. Cuomo has seen his carefully crafted public image badly tarnished as the revelations about obfuscation of the scope of nursing home deaths have resulted in a federal investigation.

At the same time, the governor has also been battling a series of sexual harassment accusations, including some from former employees like Charlotte Bennett and Lindsey Boylan, and a current aide, Alyssa McGrath. Those allegations have been the subject of an investigation overseen by the state attorney general, Letitia James, as well as one led by the State Assembly. The conclusions of those investigations are likely months away.

Mr. Cuomo’s draft of the book did contain some acknowledgment of problems with the nursing homes, including a suggestion — also included in “American Crisis” — that new facilities should be built to handle “infected people who do not require the acute care of a hospital but should not be sent to a nursing home or a rehabilitation center because they may not be prepared to provide the level of care and isolation a contagious person requires.”

The draft Ms. DeRosa worked on did not have any mention of the Health Department report, its data or its conclusions.

The draft also contains a three-page-long broadside against Mayor Bill de Blasio, the governor’s fellow Democrat and frequent political foe, which was cut from the final manuscript. He characterized the mayor as a political opportunist having “very little interest or aptitude for government policy or governmental operations.”

Mr. Cuomo also compared his popularity rating to that of the mayor — “My popular rating in New York City has always been higher than his,” he wrote — and denigrated Mr. de Blasio as being “viewed as one of the worst mayors in modern history,” who suffers from “obvious ego driven narcissism.”

“De Blasio’s standing is somewhere between negative and irrelevant,” Mr. Cuomo wrote in the early July draft, before comparing him, unfavorably, to President Trump. “He is just annoying and counterproductive. Trump is a serious threat.”

Mr. Cuomo’s self-assessment, however, was often less critical.

“I have experience and a skill set that qualifies me as a good governor,” Mr. Cuomo wrote in his draft. “I have accomplished by any objective standard more than any governor in modern history. But I am not a superhero.”

Bill Neidhardt, the spokesman for Mr. de Blasio, said that “Andrew Cuomo writing about ego-driven narcissism sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.”

“It’s more of the same from a bully facing impeachment after covering up deaths at nursing homes and numerous credible accusations of sexual assault,” Mr. Neidhardt said.

The disclosure that Mr. Cuomo apparently used staff to assist with his book comes after revelations that his administration gave members of the governor’s family and other influential people special access to government-run coronavirus testing last March when such tests were difficult for most residents to obtain.

The list of those receiving preferred access included the governor’s mother, Matilda Cuomo; his younger brother, Chris Cuomo, the CNN anchor; and at least one of his sisters. On Thursday, The Times also reported that a pharmaceutical executive with longstanding ties to the state was able to secure testing in March for his family.

Mr. Cuomo’s book has sold around 48,000 hardcover copies, according to NPD BookScan, but has seen its sales staggered by scandals surrounding his administration. In early March, Crown said that it would stop promoting “American Crisis,” because of a federal investigation into the withholding of data. The imprint also canceled plans for a paperback edition.

Mr. Cuomo’s draft of “American Crisis” contained some nuggets of self-reflection, including a take on his televised briefings last year, which led to him being one of the most popular political figures in the nation for a time.

“People are smart,” the governor wrote. “And after a while if they can watch you long enough, they can figure out who you are.”

Elizabeth A. Harris contributed reporting.

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Australia lifts Brisbane lockdown in time for Easter as COVID cases dwindle - Reuters

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By Swati Pandey

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SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia will end a lockdown of its third-biggest city Brisbane on Thursday, just in time for Easter holidays, as only one new locally transmitted COVID-19 case in Queensland state eased fears of a widespread outbreak.

FILE PHOTO: The Brisbane River is seen flowing past the skyline of central Brisbane January 13, 2011. REUTERS/Mick Tsikas

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the three-day lockdown in Brisbane would end at noon local time (0200 GMT), but residents would still be required to wear masks in public and some social distancing restrictions would remain in place.

“We are expecting a very good Easter,” Palaszczuk said.

But she cautioned that the state, a popular destination for domestic travellers over the Easter break and subsequent school term holidays, was “not out of the woods yet”.

“I’m asking Queenslanders for the next two weeks if we all do the right thing, we can get through this together,” Palaszczuk said at a televised briefing.

Officials had imposed the snap lockdown in Brisbane, home to more than 2 million people, on Tuesday as they grappled to contain two fresh COVID-19 clusters that now comprise 18 cases, including the new local infection.

High testing rates over the past 24 hours have enabled the easing of curbs, Palaszczuk said.

But in broader measures, gatherings at homes across the state will remain capped at 30, dancing in public venues is banned and businesses must maintain distancing of one person per two square metres.

The Queensland outbreak has jumped the border, with a case in neighbouring New South Wales (NSW) prompting the cancellation of the popular Bluesfest music festival in the coastal tourist town of Byron Bay and the reintroduction of mobility curbs in four council areas in the north of the state.

NSW, of which Sydney is the capital city, reported no new cases on Thursday.

“We are confident that New South Wales is able to deal with the current scare,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.

Australia has largely curtailed the outbreak via border closures, snap lockdowns and speedy tracking systems. It has reported about 22,000 local cases, including 909 deaths, since the start of the pandemic, far fewer than most other developed nations.

However, some health experts have warned a slow vaccine rollout is increasing the risk of fresh outbreaks. Around 670,000 doses had been administered by the end of March, well below the government’s initial target of 4 million.

Australian states have also complained about the pace of distribution and uncertainty about supplies.

Berejiklian said NSW, Australia’s most populous state, was “ready and willing to help” with the centre’s vaccination drive.

“The quicker people are vaccinated, the quicker we can look forward to the easing of restrictions, to feeling safer and to overseas trips,” she said.

“I think that is something that all of us would welcome.”

Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Jane Wardell and Himani Sarkar

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EV Maker Arcimoto Reported Its Results. The Focus Is on a Short-Seller's Claims. - Barron's

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An Arcimoto FUV three-wheeled electric vehicle.

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The electric-vehicle maker Arcimoto reported fourth- quarter numbers Wednesday evening, but as is the case with many companies in the business, investors are focused on other issues. In Arcimoto’s case, it is a negative research report by a short seller published late this month.

For 2020, Arcimoto (ticker: FUV) reported a loss of 63 cents a share from $2.2 million in sales. Wall Street was looking for $3 million in sales and a loss of 55 cents a share.

Although sales were lower than analysts projected, management sounded upbeat about the future. “As we look to the year ahead and emerge from the pandemic our course is clear,” said CEO Mark Frohnmayer in the company’s news release. “2021 is the year Arcimoto will lay the groundwork for the next decade of growth.”

Analysts project the company will generate about $21 million in sales in 2021, up more than 850% year over year.

Arcimoto makes small, three-wheeled vehicles designed for the delivery and healthcare markets. The vehicles are also meant for consumers looking for a fun driving experience. The stock ticker, FUV, refers to fun utility vehicles; Arcimoto delivered 97 of them in 2020.

Shares were unchanged in after-hours trading Wednesday, while the stock closed up 0.3% in regular trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.4%.

Arcimoto stock has been under pressure since March 23, when a short seller published a report alleging the company’s preorders for its FUVs aren’t real, and that the vehicles aren’t safe, among other things. The stock is down about 20% since then.

Frohnmayer spoke with Barron’s shortly after the report was released and denied the allegations. “The report starts out with a blatant falsehood…that we have fake preorders,” said the CEO. “We do not.”

Arcimoto reports 4,800 orders and has taken refundable deposits that are held in a separate account, according to the CEO. “We call them strong sales leads,” he said.

Frohnmayer defended Arcimoto’s vehicle safety as well. “We take our [safety] reporting requirements very seriously,” adding the company has contacted customer about a safety or recall issue every time it was required to. Some Arcimoto recall details are available on the website of the National Highway Safety Administration, as they are for other vehicle makers.

The short seller, Bonitas Research, didn’t respond to a request for comment at the time.

Investors heard directly from management on the company’s Wednesday evening conference call. Frohnmayer reiterated his view that the report was “chock-full of falsehoods and misrepresentations” before going into details about the company’s preorders and safety practices.

About 23% of Arcimoto shares have been sold short, according to Bloomberg. . The average short interest for small-capitalization stocks in the Russell 2000 is about 5%.

Short sellers have had a tough time in Aricmoto stock this past year. Arcimoto stock is up more than 1,000 percent over that span as investors have become more excited about the potential for electric vehicles.

Arcimoto is a small capitalization stock with a market value of roughly $470 million. Four analysts cover the company. Three rate shares Buy and one rate shares Hold.

Write to editors@barrons.com

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2021 Texas Open: Live stream, start time, watch online, TV channel, golf schedule, coverage - CBS Sports

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The PGA Tour event the week before the Masters is no longer a facsimile for Augusta National like the Houston Open used to be, but there are still plenty of players looking to lock in their form and several others just trying to survive and advance this week's Texas Open to get to next week's first major.

One of those who needs a win to get in next week is Rickie Fowler. He'll be heavily featured this week at TPC San Antonio alongside former Ryder Cup teammates Jordan Spieth and Tony Finau. Young stud Scottie Scheffler and older former stars Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson and Henrik Stenson round out the list of bigger names that will be in attendance at TPC San Antonio this week.

And there will be some desperation, which always makes for interesting golf. Perhaps from Spieth, who will want everything set perfectly heading to Augusta and certainly from the Fowlers and Keegan Bradleys of the world who badly want a tee time next Thursday.

Hopefully we get a few blustery few days of hard, fun golf at TPC San Antonio as players fight themselves and a course that can play quite difficult depending on the weather. With a Masters berth potentially on the line for whoever wins and a possible future Masters champion figuring out what still ails him, there should be some fine theatrics this week at the underrated Texas Open.

Here's how you can follow throughout the week.

All times Eastern; streaming start times approximated

Rounds 1-2 -- Thursday and Friday

Round starts: 8:15 a.m. 

Featured groups: 8:15 a.m. - 7 p.m. -- PGA Tour Live

Live TV coverage: 4-7 p.m. on Golf Channel
Live simulcast: 4-7 p.m. on fuboTV (Try for free) and NBCSports.com

Radio: 1-7 p.m. on PGA Tour Radio 

Round 3 -- Saturday

Round starts: 8:15 a.m. 

Featured groups and holes: 8:15 a.m. - 6 p.m. -- PGA Tour Live
Early TV coverage: 1-3:30 p.m. on Golf Channel

Live TV coverage: 3:30-6 p.m. on NBC
Live simulcast: 3:30-6 p.m. on fuboTV (Try for free) and NBCSports.com

Radio: 1-6 p.m. on PGA Tour Radio 

Round 4 -- Sunday

Round starts: 8:15 a.m. 

Featured groups and holes: 8:15 a.m. - 6 p.m. -- PGA Tour Live
Early TV coverage: 1-2:30 p.m. on Golf Channel

Live TV coverage: 2:30-6 p.m. on NBC
Live simulcast: 2:30-6 p.m. on fuboTV (Try for free) and NBCSports.com

Radio: 1-6 p.m. on PGA Tour Radio 

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The Time-Balanced Attack From The Blue Jackets Defense In Tuesday's Win Should Not Go Unnoticed | 1st Ohio Bat - 1st Ohio Battery

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Elvis Merzlikins made 37 saves and was the number one star of the night - and it was likely the best performance turned in by anyone on the roster this season.

The goalie was undoubtedly the catalyst in the Columbus Blue Jackets surprising 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Tuesday night. 

But there was something from the box score that should be acknowledged: the balanced number of minutes seen by the Blue Jackets defense, and why the 38 shots registered by the Lightning sounds much worse than it actually was.

First, the balanced defense, where the Blue Jackets ice-time leader was David Savard, who was on the ice for 22:44. Just six seconds behind him was his blue line buddy, Vladislav Gavrikov. Just a few ticks behind him was the 22:23 played by Seth Jones, with linemate Zach Werenski just five seconds behind him at 22:18. 

For just the second time this season, Savard led the Blue Jackets in time on ice. Along with Gavrikov, both played around three minutes more than their average, which is in the 19 minute range. Those three minutes came from time that would typically go to the top pairing of Werenski and Jones, who were both about three minutes under their season average in time on ice.

That duo, particularly Werenski, have seemed low on energy late in the games at times this season - but not tonight. Whether or not a more balanced attack on defense was the culprit for the late-game boost remains to be seen, but coach John Tortorella dished out defensive minutes like he had two top lines, and that could be a recipe for success. 

To give up 38 shots on goals would seemingly say otherwise, but where and when the shots came from are important here. Nearly half of Tampa Bay's shots on goal came from Victor Hedman, Luke Schenn, and Andreas Borgman - three defenseman who have combined for six goals in a combined 60 games this season. Of course, they're combined in name only, because Hedman has all six of those goals. 

Hedman alone had 10 shots in Tuesday's game, more than any other two players combined. He's a great defenseman, but a team like the Lightning do not have to rely on their defensive corps to score for them.

In fact, Tampa Bay has six players who have hit double-digit goals on the season. Of those six - Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, and Mathieu Joseph - they combined for only nine shots (1.33), an average of 1.5 shots per player. 

Merzlikins made acrobatic saves, as any goalie will typically do in a win, but a kudos to the rested Blue Jackets defense for allowing a lot of Merzlikins saves to be easy grabs from safer locations.

Limiting shot quality is more important than limiting shot quantity, and Tuesday's game was the perfect illustration of that. Work to be done, yes, but work that may pay off nicely in the near future.

Elvis Merzlikins was the star Tuesday night, but the Blue Jackets defense deserves attention as well - if only for one game.

 

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Time to get tough with China on global trade, UK tells G7 allies - Reuters

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By William James

3 Min Read

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will on Wednesday push G7 allies to get tough on China over “pernicious practices” that undermine the international trading system, calling for an overhaul of outdated and ineffective World Trade Organization rules.

Slideshow ( 2 images )

Trade minister Liz Truss will host her G7 counterparts and the new head of the WTO, using Britain’s platform as current president of the group of rich countries to promote post-Brexit Britain as a leading free trade advocate.

“This is the time to get tough on China and their behaviour in the global trading system, but also modernise the WTO. In many ways it’s stuck in the 1990s,” she told the Financial Times in an interview.

Since leaving the European Union and pinning its economic future on global trade, Britain has stepped up criticism of China’s trade practices.

“People cannot believe in free trade if it is not fair,” Truss said in a statement before the meeting.

“Public trust has been corroded by pernicious practices, from the use of forced labour to environmental degradation and the stealing of intellectual property.”

China, a WTO member since 2001, denies that it steals intellectual property, unfairly hurts the environment or improperly trades goods made with forced labour.

Related Coverage

Wider relations between London and Beijing have soured in recent months, with tit-for-tat sanctions over China’s human rights record and a bitter row over reforms to the governance of former British colony Hong Kong.

Britain and other WTO members argue that China benefits from exceptions to the rules which were made decades ago and no longer reflect its status as an economic superpower.

“The WTO was established when China was 10% the size of the U.S. economy,” Truss told the FT. “It is ludicrous that it is still self-designating as a developing country — and those rules need to change.”

Other G7 allies, including U.S. President Joe Biden, agree on the need to reform the WTO and to address China’s rising global influence. The problem is finding a solution that all sides agree on.

Echoing the fear of many Western nations that they will lose their grip on control of the post World War Two international order to China, Truss said that unless WTO can be reformed, countries will find other frameworks to trade within.

A strategic review of British foreign policy this month focused on the need to gain more influence in the Indo-Pacific to balance against China, describing its authoritarian leadership and economic might as the biggest state-based threat to Britain’s economic security.

The ministers will be joined on the call by recently-elected WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who inherited an organisation that has struggled to enforce and modernise its rule book.

China has expressed confidence in her leadership and also said it wants reforms and a more effective trading system.

Reporting by William James; Editing by Elizabeth Piper, Peter Graff, William Maclean

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All-Time Marlins Countdown: The Final Chapter - Fish Stripes

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There have been 630 players to have appeared with the Florida and Miami Marlins through their first 28 seasons of MLB play.

Fish Stripes has counted down 629 of them. With one day until the opener, we finish off our offseason-long countdown with the number one Marlins player. He tops the list in both raw bWAR, at 35.7, and in bWAR per batter faced. For context, the number two player on the list, Kevin Brown, averaged .00712. bWAR per batter faced, and Stanton averaged .00867 during his time with the team. For additional context, his .00608 rate of bWAR since joining the New York Yankees would have placed ninth on the Marlins list, just below Christian Yelich.

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#1 Giancarlo Stanton

Giancarlo Stanton is a six-foot-six right-handed hitting and throwing right fielder from Panorama City, California. Born on November 8, 1999, the Marlins took him in the second round of the 2007 draft out of Notre Dame HS with the 76th overall choice. It was an unusually loaded draft, with 13 players in the first two rounds totaling 10 bWAR or better to date. Stanton is second, with 41.0, to Josh Donaldson’s 41.5.

Stanton made good use of the minors, with 89 home runs through 324 contests. That includes 39 in 125 games for the Single-A Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2008. In his rookie season of 2010, he slammed 22 homers with 59 RBI in 100 games, slashing a .259/.326/.507 line but striking out over 31 percent of the time. On September 12, Stanton belted two home runs, going three-for-four and knocking in three as the Marlins topped the Washington Nationals, 6-5.

Stanton put in his first full season of work at the major league level in 2011, appearing in 150 games. He hit .262/.356/.537 with 34 home runs and 87 RBI, while slightly improving his whiff-rate to 28 percent.

The 2012 campaign would see Stanton miss a month of the season with a right knee problem and an abdominal strain. Still, in 129 games, he set a then-career-best with 37 homers, knocking in 86 and leading the major leagues in slugging percentage by slashing .290/.361/.608. Although he was invited to the All-Star Game for the first time, he didn’t appear due to the aforementioned injury.

In 2013, Stanton again spent a large part of the season on the injured list, missing a month-and-a-half between a hamstring strain and shoulder soreness. On June 17, he accounted for all of Miami’s offense by hitting a two run homer in the sixth and a solo shot in the ninth in a 3-2 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks. When Stanton was healthy, his line regressed to .249/.365/.480, with 24 moonshots and 62 RBI.

Stanton earned his first National League Silver Slugger Award for right field in 2014, leading the NL with 37 homers, 299 total bases, and a .555 slugging percentage. He hit .288 and knocked in 105, stealing a career-best 13 bases in 14 attempts. He was good enough to finish second in the NL MVP race.

The 2015 season would see Stanton miss over half of the year with a broken bone in his left hand. He slashed .265/.346/.606 in 74 games, still managing to hit 27 balls out of the park with 67 RBI, and got his third invitation to the All Star Team.

In 2016, Stanton hit .240/.326/.489 in 119 games, and finished the year with a career-low .815 OPS. Even so, he led the Marlins with 27 homers and placed fourth on the club with 74 RBI.

Stanton finally put it all together in 2017 with a fully healthy season. In 159 games, he led the majors with 59 homers and 132 RBI, also leading the NL with a .631 SLG and 169 OPS+. He won the NL’s MVP Award, got his fourth All-Star invite, and his second NL Silver Slugger Award. He hit two homers 10 times for the Marlins, including on August 25, when he drove in five by going three-for-three in an 8-6 win against the San Diego Padres.

Although Stanton is understandably well known for his tremendous offensive capabilities, his defense has gone quietly unremarked-upon. In his seven seasons with Florida/Miami, Stanton was worth 40 runs DRS above the average National League outfielder.

After the 2017 season, Stanton was traded to the New York Yankees for infielder Jose Devers, two years of Starlin Castro, and fireballer Jorge Guzman.

Stanton was fully healthy for the Yanks in 2018, and hit 38 home runs in 158 games. Since then, he’s appeared in 41 regular season games through the two intervening seasons, totaling seven homers. Although largely free of Stanton on the books for the time being, the Marlins remain “on the hook,” so to speak, for $30 million on the back end of his deal, between 2026 and 2028.

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Gusty winds make short work of ice | News - White Bear Press

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Volleyball swept by San José State, left short-handed - Daily Aztec

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San Diego State volleyball fell in straight sets to San José State (25-18, 25-18, 25-17) on March 27 at the Spartans’ home gym, Yosh Uchida Hall.

Coming into the game, the Aztecs (5-9) and Spartans (6-8) were tied for seventh in the Mountain West Conference, but the loss pushed SDSU to eighth. 

Head coach Brent Hilliard said the main problem was the team’s passing.

“It’s sad, but it’s true: volleyball often just comes down to serving and pass,” Hilliard said. “And the fact was, we played Boise State last week and we could pass pretty well, and this week could not pass. It’s hard to really pick apart too much of the match if you can’t pass. And so we just couldn’t get the ball to the setters and that’s why we struggled so much.”

In all three sets, SJSU took quick leads and left the Aztecs trailing.

The first set had the Scarlet and Black tied with the Spartans up until 11-11. Then, SJSU was able to burst ahead and take a lead as big as seven points, with several points coming off of Aztec errors.

The second set was the same story, with the Spartans able to take a big lead right at the beginning of the set. SJSU took a quick 10-5 lead with a seven-point run. The Aztecs were briefly able to tie it up again at 16-16, but the Spartans answered back with a six-point run to win the set.

Hilliard said the key to winning was to slow down SJSU, but the team was never able to achieve that.

“San José State runs a much different style of offense than anybody else in the conference, so it’s very unique,” Hilliard said. “So I told them if they could just find some rhythm and slow them down a little, you’ll eventually catch up, kind of like a fast break team. Usually, it takes a game to catch up to their speed, but unfortunately, we never caught up to it the whole day.”

The third set continued the trend from the previous two sets, with SJSU taking a quick 7-3 lead, leaving the Aztecs to play from behind again. SDSU trailed for the whole set, with the Spartans keeping at least a five-point lead for the entirety of the third set.

SDSU’s struggles showed with a posted .160 hitting percentage versus SJSU’s .372.

No one recorded more than eight kills, as junior outside hitter Victoria O’Sullivan led the Aztecs with eight. However, she also led the team with six attack errors.

That was not the only problem for the Aztecs. In the third set, freshman outside hitter Heipua Tautua’a, who has been one of SDSU’s staple players, was subbed out due to a dislocated thumb. Freshman right-side hitter Gabriella Spaethling came in as a substitute, playing in her second game of the season and not having played since a game against Nevada on Feb. 26. 

The injury left SDSU short-handed, and Hilliard said before the match the team was already going into the game down some athletes due to a positive COVID-19 test.

“It was a tough weekend all the way around,” Hilliard said. “24 hours before the match started, we had an athlete test positive and so we didn’t even know we were going to play the match or even fly up to the match. And including (Tautua’a’s) injury, we just couldn’t catch a break, so-to-speak.”

One bright spot for the team, however, was senior right-side hitter Erin Gillcrist’s performance. Gillcrist contributed both offensively and defensively by posting five kills, two service aces and three blocks. Her performance won most of the Aztecs’ points in the second set, allowing the team to keep the set close despite the Spartans’ point runs.

Hilliard commended the 6-foot-1 senior for being one of the team’s more consistent players.

“Erin is a very athletic and dynamic girl,” Hilliard said. “One of the better athletes on our team. When she gets a good set, she’s really able to put some nice pop on the ball and she really does a great job of getting explosive.”

Other highlights include sophomore setter Ashley Vanderpan leading the team with 16 assists and senior defensive specialist/libero Lauren Lee’s team-high nine digs.

Up next…

The game against SJSU marked the Aztecs’ final road game of the season. SDSU only has two games left, with its first against Air Force on Thursday, April 1 at Peterson Gym.

Hilliard said he welcomes the season ending for the sake of the players’ well-being, and hopes for everyone to stay healthy until next fall.

“I think it’s a welcome end to the season with the fact that we’re short-handed, and only for that reason,” Hilliard said. “I think we were feeling pretty good about ourselves last weekend when we were at full-strength and now we’re down two better players. When that happens, you’re usually hoping to get some other players some opportunities. See what they can provide as they move towards a very shortened off-season, and see if they can take that into the upcoming fall season. 

“I would hope that’s how they would use this opportunity to play these last two matches. Obviously, for the standings it doesn’t mean a whole lot, so we’re just trying to make sure we finish the season as healthy as possible. And also see if we can find some sparks. Mainly, a lot of the freshmen, too, make sure they get that full spring season of play so they can be ready for the fall.”

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It’s Time to Revisit the Satanic Panic - The New York Times

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As the United States shifted with the anxieties of the 1980s, baseless conspiracy theories about satanic cults committing mass abuse spread around the country.

Vigilante parents dug under a preschool, searching for secret tunnels. The police swapped tips on identifying pagan symbols. A company that sells toothpaste and soap had to deny, repeatedly, that it was acting as an agent of Satan.

Early in the 1980s, baseless conspiracy theories about cults committing mass child abuse spread around the country. Talk shows and news programs fanned fears, and the authorities investigated hundreds of allegations. Even as cases slowly collapsed and skepticism prevailed, defendants went to prison, families were traumatized and millions of dollars were spent on prosecutions.

The phenomenon was so sprawling that, in its aftermath, it took on several names, like the ritual abuse scare or the day care panic. But one name has increasingly stuck: the satanic panic.

“The evidence wasn’t there, but the allegations of satanic ritual abuse never really went away,” said Ken Lanning, a former F.B.I. agent who worked on hundreds of abuse cases with the bureau’s behavioral science unit. “When people get emotionally involved in an issue, common sense and reason go out the window. People believe what they want and need to believe.”

Although the lurid claims in “Michelle Remembers” were quickly challenged, the book was a best seller. Chronicle/Alamy

1980: The ‘proper fuel’ for panic

When the book “Michelle Remembers” was published in 1980, introducing readers to a cast of murderous Canadian satanists, it landed on a powder keg of American anxieties, said Mary deYoung, a professor emeritus of sociology at Grand Valley State University.

More women were going to work, by choice and necessity in the wake of the women’s rights movement and as the country struggled with a recession. Conservatism and the religious right were ascendant, and both emphasized the nuclear family. Good day care was hard to find, Ms. deYoung said, and many parents felt guilt for relying on it.

And after decades of denial, the public was starting to confront the problem of sexual abuse, especially involving children. “You hook all of those things together magically and boom — you’ve got the proper fuel for a moral panic,” she said.

The spark, she said, was “Michelle Remembers,” a book by a Canadian psychologist and his former patient about her memories of child abuse at the hands of satanists. Although its lurid claims were quickly challenged, the book was a best seller. Suddenly, it seemed, terror could be lurking in any neighborhood.

The book gave people a villain to look for outside the family, said Sarah Marshall, a host of the history podcast “You’re Wrong About.”What readers heard, she said, was, “Don’t look in the mirror, the call is not coming from inside the house — the satanists are the problem.”

Some social workers and police officers, searching for an authority to help them face the problem of abuse, even adopted it as a training text, she said.

McMartin Preschool in 1988. In 1986, prosecutors charged seven school employees with child molestation and conspiracy. A week later, they dropped the charges against five defendants, citing weak evidence.Alan Hagman/Los Angeles Times, via Getty Images

1983: Fear spreads in Manhattan Beach

In the summer of 1983, a woman in Manhattan Beach, Calif., accused an employee at her son’s preschool, McMartin, of abusing him. The police sent a letter to about 200 families, asking for help with their investigation.

“The following procedure is obviously an unpleasant one, but to protect the rights of your children as well as the rights of the accused, this inquiry is necessary,” the police chief wrote, describing alleged sex crimes. “Please question your child to see if he or she has been a witness to any crime or if she has been a victim.”

The letter was “a model of what not to do,” said John Myers, a professor at the University of California, Hastings, and a lawyer who represents child victims of abuse.

The authorities also asked therapists to help interview hundreds of children. They questioned them for hours at a time, often asking leading and suggestive questions, he said. “We as professionals were singularly ill-equipped,” Mr. Myers said. “Nobody had thought about proper forensic interviews in these situations.”

The allegations “didn’t move to full-blown satanism immediately,” said Richard Beck, the author of a book about the panic. “The intermediary steps were people saying there was something weird or elaborate about what happened, and a fair number of those claims came out of the interviews.”

In 1986, prosecutors charged seven employees with more than 100 counts of child molestation and conspiracy. A week later, they dropped the charges against five defendants, citing weak evidence. All the defendants maintained their innocence.

By then, the case was a national spectacle, and prosecutors pursued it despite growing doubts about the original accuser’s story and a variety of fantastical claims from interviews, including a “goatman,” bloody animal sacrifices, a school employee who could fly and acts of violence that left no physical trace. But the trial would not end for years, with no convictions, and prosecutors around the country started dozens of cases like it.

Each authority — the police, prosecutors, psychologists, the media — put pressure on the others to act, said Anna Merlan, the author of a book on the history of conspiracy theories. “It was a very fervid environment,” she said. “Very credible-seeming people were saying: ‘Occult ritual abuse is all around you. We’ve seen it and the signs are visible if you know how to look for it.’”

In 1984, news reports that hundreds of children had been abused at a California preschool helped spread panic across the nation. But the case was not all it seemed and its impact continues to be felt.

Seminars on symbols

The authorities tried to make sense of the allegations. Mr. Lanning, the retired F.B.I. agent, said that as “a deluge” of calls about strange abuse began in 1983, he tried to investigate with an open mind. “My attitude was, yes, most anything is possible,” he said. “But where’s the evidence?”

So F.B.I. agents, police officers, lawyers and social workers gathered what they could, and shared their findings at conferences and seminars. They handed out satanic calendars, traded pamphlets about symbols like the “cross of Nero” and the “horned hand,” and copied lists of supposed occult organizations, which included a collective of feminist astrologers in Minnesota.

“A lot of this stuff was being disseminated by law enforcement without efforts to corroborate it,” Mr. Lanning said. “One cop would come up and say, ‘What a load of crap,’ but then another would say, ‘I’ve got to learn more!’”

When Mr. Lanning asked officers how they corroborated information, their stories fell apart, he said. “Oh, I got it from so-and-so,” he recalled hearing. But often, he said, the pamphlets still made it into copy machines and onto the news.

A map displayed on an episode of “20/20” that showed what they called “satanic activity” throughout the United States.20/20, via Youtube

The drumbeat on TV

In May 1985, the news program “20/20” ran a segment on Satan worship that described animal mutilations “clearly used in some kind of bizarre ritual,” rock music “associated with devil worship,” “satanic graffiti” and backward messages in pop songs.

There were a few caveats. The host, Hugh Downs, opened by saying: “Police have been skeptical when investigating these acts, just as we are in reporting them. But there is no question that something is going on out there, and that’s sufficient reason for ‘20/20’ to look into it.”

The program presented cult activity, if not the occult itself, in all but certain terms. “Today we have found Satan is alive and thriving, or at least plenty of people believe he is,” said the correspondent Tom Jarriel. “His followers are extremely secretive but found in all walks of life.” Only near the end of the report did he say that, until evidence was proved, “the link between crime and satanic cults will remain speculative.”

Three years later, NBC commissioned its own special, hosted by Geraldo Rivera, who described gruesome crimes, aired child testimony of abuse and interviewed Ozzy Osbourne. Almost 20 million homes tuned in.

Taking rumors to court

In April 1985, thousands of curious, angry and confused customers were calling the corporate giant Procter & Gamble about leaflets that accused it of using its profits from household goods to support devil worship.

“They simply are not true,” W. Wallace Abbott, a senior vice president said at a news conference. “We haven’t the vaguest idea how it started; all we know is people are believing it. Do you know how hard it is to fight a rumor?”

False rumors had started years earlier, many claiming that its logo, of a bearded man in the moon facing 13 stars, was actually a symbol of the devil. (The logo dated to 1882 and the stars referred to the 13 original colonies.) The company began a two-decade campaign to defend its name, sending representatives to churches, filing lawsuits and pursuing court cases as recently as 2007. It also changed its logo.

Six teachers and the founder of the McMartin Preschool appeared in court in 1984.Associated Press

Verdicts

In 1990, a jury acquitted the McMartin Preschool defendants on some charges and deadlocked on others, saying it was impossible to determine the truth from the children’s testimony. A second prosecution ended in a mistrial. Prosecutors, having spent $15 million, dropped the case.

Nearly 200 people were charged with crimes over the course of the satanic panic, and dozens were convicted. Many defendants were eventually freed, sometimes after years. Three Arkansas teenagers who became known as the West Memphis Three were freed in 2011, almost 20 years after they were convicted of murders that prosecutors portrayed as a satanic sacrifice. In 2013, a Texas couple were released after 21 years in prison; they were later awarded $3.4 million from a state fund for wrongful convictions.

In 1992, Mr. Lanning, the F.B.I. agent, released an investigative guide that explained his skepticism of satanic abuse claims.Two years later, researchers with the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect found that investigators could not substantiate any of roughly 12,000 accusations of group cult sexual abuse based on satanic ritual.

In a few instances, apologies followed, including from Mr. Rivera and Kyle Zirpolo, one of the former McMartin students who made allegations to the police. “I lied,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “It was an ordeal. I remember thinking to myself, ‘I’m not going to get out of here unless I tell them what they want to hear.’”

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It’s Time to Revisit the Satanic Panic - The New York Times
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