Tokyo Olympics creative director out over ‘power harassment’

Alex Jones ordered to pay $45.2M more over Sandy Hook lies

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas jury on Friday ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages to the parents of a child who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, adding to the $4.1 million he must pay for the suffering he put them through by claiming for years that the nation’s deadliest school shooting was a hoax.

The total — $49.3 million — is less than the $150 million sought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut. But the trial marks the first time Jones has been held financially liable for peddling lies about the massacre, claiming it was faked by the government to tighten gun laws.

Afterward, Lewis said that Jones — who wasn't in the courtroom to hear the verdict — has been held accountable. She said when she took the stand and looked Jones in the eye, she thought of her son, who was credited with saving lives by yelling “run” when the killer paused in his rampage.

“He stood up to the bully Adam Lanza and saved nine of his classmates’ lives," Lewis said. "I hope that I did that incredible courage justice when I was able to confront Alex Jones, who is also a bully. I hope that inspires other people to do the same.”

Watershed moment in the fight against misinformation

Alex Jones, arguably the world’s best known purveyor of toxic conspiracy theories, is in court this week facing a defamation lawsuit related to the vicious and inhumane lies he spread about the families who lost children in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The case could mark a turning point in the war against misinformation.

Wryly funny essays chronicle rocky road to motherhood, postpartum anxiety

‘Motherhood is often oppressively touted as one of the most important things a woman can do, and yet that same oppressive force demands she never speak on the inherent realities of mothering.”

So begins Toronto sportswriter Stacey May Fowles in her touching memoir on becoming a mother after four years of infertility.

Fowles is best-known for her baseball reporting, including 2017’s Baseball Life Advice, a collection of essays celebrating baseball while challenging sexist attitudes towards female sports reporters.

She’s also published two novels, a children’s book and contributed to several literary anthologies, demonstrating gifts for reporting, research and prose.

Manitoba appeal court to review 27-year-old murder conviction

Frank Ostrowski took a giant step forward today towards to clearing his name of a 1987 murder conviction.

The 65-year-old Ostrowski appeared briefly in court in the first stage of an eventual hearing before the Manitoba Court of Appeal to review the tactics used by prosecutors to convict him of the drug-related slaying Robert Nieman Sept. 25 1986.

The hearing was ordered earlier today by federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay. By law, the federal justice minister has the authority to order a new trial or refer the matter to the court of appeal if a miscarriage of justice likely occurred.

“I am satisfied there is a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in Mr. Ostrowski’s 1987 conviction,” MacKay said in a statement.