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After USA TODAY investigation exposed wrongdoing, university official thanks reporter, praises free press

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I’m USA TODAY editor-in-chief Nicole Carroll, and this is The Backstory, insights into our biggest stories of the week. If you’d like to get The Backstory in your inbox every week, sign up here.
When we talk about the goal of investigative journalism, we talk about holding the powerful accountable and being watchdogs for the vulnerable.
Two stories in the past two weeks did exactly that.
Tuesday, the California State University’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adopt a series of reforms in response to our reporting that revealed its chancellor mishandled six years of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation complaints against then-Fresno State Vice President of Student Affairs Frank Lamas.
Joseph Castro resigned as CSU chancellor on Feb. 17, two weeks after reporter Kenny Jacoby’s investigation into his time as president of Fresno State sparked outrage and pressure from lawmakers, students, faculty and the public.
Jacoby reported that “Castro repeatedly declined to discipline Lamas, even after an outside investigator found Lamas responsible in 2020 for sexually harassing an subordinate and engaging in ‘abusive workplace conduct.’ Instead, Castro authorized a settlement with Lamas that gave him $260,000 and a clean record in exchange for his retirement. Although the agreement banned Lamas from working at CSU again, it promised him a letter of recommendation from Castro to help him find work elsewhere.”
Trustee Douglas Faigin thanked USA TODAY for its investigation
Faigin started by saying, “I also want to maybe make a statement that’s not going to be somewhat popular with some people in the system.”
Then he said it anyway. It’s extraordinary:
“We are here today, going through this catharsis and great change for the better because of a free press in America and specifically USA TODAY and Kenny Jacoby. Now, a lot of people have been offended that – I’ve been told that they don’t like the idea that this guy is writing stories, exposing things and showing that there are negative things about the CSU. We would not have known about any of this stuff because … all these facts were withheld from us. And obviously, we would have done something about it if we’d known. But we didn’t.
“But here comes USA TODAY, Kenny Jacoby, and six months of hard work, effort that’s not easy. Believe me, investigative reporting is not easy. And he was able to develop that story. And look at all the changes that have occurred because of that. Of course, the LA Times, the Fresno Bee, and numerous others have taken it from there, and building on those known facts. But thank you, USA TODAY, for doing such a great job and showing us the way forward.
“What I also think is so important out of this is the idea of what kind of danger America faces as media faces strong winds economically and institutionally against it. And how many papers and investigative reporting are going downhill because it’s an expensive, difficult proposition. This alone is a great example of why we need a free press in America. I would hope that his stories and investigative reporting is up for journalism awards. And in a lot of journalism awards, it’s not just how good the story is, how the exposé is there. But it is also a measure of what change the story brought about. And from this meeting today, I hope people realize we’re changing. We recognize the problem. We’re taking action. We’re not going to put up with it until we find solutions all because of Kenny Jacoby and USA TODAY.”
I asked Jacoby what he thought when he heard the remarks.
“It was a heartwarming moment for me,” he said. “He certainly didn’t need to say those things – it’s clear not everyone at the CSU appreciated USA TODAY bringing these issues to light, and he even said he thought his statement would be unpopular with some at the CSU.
“I felt honored that he not only credited us for our reporting but used his platform to recognize the value of investigative journalism.”
More than 140,000 people died in US nursing homes from COVID-19
In a separate investigation, USA TODAY compiled data filed by more than 15,000 homes and, for the first time, published a report card on how each fared during a five-month surge of COVID-19 infections and deaths that started in October 2020.
Reporters Letitia Stein, Jayme Fraser and Nick Penzenstadler and reporting partner Jeff Kelly Lowenstein analyzed the data and interviewed industry experts, government overseers, nursing home workers and families of the dead for the series.
“We had all the ingredients for strong investigative reporting,” Stein said. “Robust data, public documents such as health inspection reports to reveal errors that facilities may not otherwise disclose, and people who had suffered from corporate and regulatory failures. Reporters from across the USA TODAY Network helped us to collect their stories.”
The team scored the performance of every nursing home in America during the worst COVID outbreak and created a searchable database that published March 10.
The next day, the White House contacted our reporters.
“Health policy advisers to President Joe Biden cited a USA TODAY investigation into nursing home care during the pandemic as evidence of a troubled industry urgently in need of reform to crack down on poor performers and profiteering,” Penzenstadler reported.
The topic was personal for Stein. Early in the pandemic, her 84-year-old father went from living independently at home to being bed bound in the span of a few weeks.
“My family at the time didn’t have a high-quality nursing home option,” she said. “Paramedics brought him home from the hospital in a stretcher, depositing him on a bed newly installed in the living room. A feeding tube was still in its box. It fell to me to coordinate for him at home the level of care that typically would be provided at a nursing home. I came to appreciate how nursing homes are essential infrastructure in a rapidly aging nation.
“We need these institutions to work.”
Holding the powerful accountable. Looking out for the vulnerable. That’s the power of investigative reporting.
“There is so much anger directed at journalists right now, most of it manufactured and unfair. But let me tell you, these reporters are still out there trying to uncover wrongs and trying to change people’s lives for the better,” said Chris Davis, executive editor for investigations. “At this moment, as much as at any other in our history, we need these investigative reporters.
“We need them to be fearless and interminable and to speak truth to power.”
Backstory:A journalist and a refugee. How one reporter helps cover the war in Ukraine while living through the fallout.
Backstory:Escaping two wars in six months. Afghan refugees in Ukraine forced to flee terror all over again.
Nicole Carroll is the editor-in-chief of USA TODAY. Reach her at EIC@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter here. Thank you for supporting our investigative reporting. You can subscribe here.
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Travel
Razzies royally torch 'Diana' musical and 'Space Jam 2,' show love to Oscar favorite Will Smith

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In its proclamation of the worst films of 2021, the Razzies lambasted a critically reviled Princess Diana musical and LeBron James’ “Space Jam” sequel, but spread love instead of hate for Will Smith.
The Golden Raspberry Awards, annually announced the day before the Academy Awards, bestowed five dishonors on Netflix’s “Diana: The Musical,” a filmed production of the recent Broadway show that closed after 33 performances. “Diana” beat out “Infinite,” “Karen,” “Space Jam: A New Legacy” and “The Woman in the Window” for worst picture, plus picked up worst screenplay and worst actress for star Jeanna de Waal.
“New Legacy,” the live-action/animated hybrid basketball comedy featuring James hooping it up with Bugs Bunny and Co., earned three Razzie awards. James was named worst actor and also was saddled with worst screen couple – which went to James and “Any Warner Cartoon Character (or WarnerMedia Product) He Dribbles On” – while the movie snagged worst sequel.
How to watch the 2022 Oscars:Everything you should know about Sunday’s Academy Awards
“House of Gucci” star Jared Leto lost his Screen Actors Guild race for best supporting actor but nabbed the Razzie for worst. And Bruce Willis does so many VOD movies now that he received his own special category (worst performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie) that, to no one’s surprise, he won – for “Cosmic Sin.”
Smith, who’s expected to win the best actor Oscar Sunday for “King Richard,” received this year’s Razzie Redeemer Award for previous Razzie honorees who’ve come back with quality efforts. Recent winners include Ben Affleck, Sylvester Stallone, Melissa McCarthy and Eddie Murphy.
The full list of this year’s Razzie “winners”:
Worst picture: “Diana: The Musical”
Worst actor: LeBron James, “Space Jam: A New Legacy”
Worst actress: Jeanna de Waal, “Diana: The Musical”
Worst supporting actress: Judy Kaye, “Diana: The Musical”
Worst supporting actor: Jared Leto, “House of Gucci”
Worst performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie: Bruce Willis, “Cosmic Sin”
Worst screen couple: LeBron James and Any Warner Cartoon Character
(or WarnerMedia Product) He Dribbles On, “Space Jam: A New Legacy”
Worst remake, rip-off or sequel: “Space Jam: A New Legacy”
Worst director: Christopher Ashley, “Diana: The Musical”
Worst screenplay: “Diana: The Musical”
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Business
As more marijuana dispensaries get targeted by robbers, SAFE Banking Act lingers in Congress

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A bill that could allow electronic transactions at weed dispensaries nationwide is again make its way through Congress but the SAFE Banking Act might not be the cure-all that supporters envision.
In over a decade of operating cannabis shops in Washington, Shea Hynes never once worried about his stores getting robbed at gun point – until recently: In a span of three weeks, his stores were robbed three different times at gun point.
Reports of armed robberies at cannabis dispensaries like Hynes’ have nearly doubled in the first quarter of this year compared with all of last year, according to data maintained by the Craft Cannabis Coalition. The group, which represents more than 50 stores in Washington, has recorded more than 65 armed robberies so far this year, compared with 35 in 2021 and 29 in 2020.
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Takeaways from Friday's Sweet 16: North Carolina looks like national title contender

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CHICAGO — In a ridiculous coincidence, the Saint Peter’s Peacocks wrote NCAA Tournament history on National Peacock Day with a thrilling upset of Purdue.
The mid-major became the first-ever No. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight, outdoing previous No. 15 seeds Oral Roberts (2021) and Florida Gulf Coast (2013). Exactly 0.8% of people picked the Peacocks to get this far, with the school from Jersey City, New Jersey, defying all odds. Is Saint Peter’s the best Cinderella of all time?
Meanwhile, the ACC is sitting pretty with three teams – Duke and now North Carolina and Miami (Fla.) – in the Elite Eight on the same day the Big Ten saw its last team go down.
A look at three key takeaways from Friday:
Saint Peter’s writes NCAA history
Coach Shaheen Holloway has this team playing inspired basketball, and now the Peacocks (22-11) are just one win from the Final Four. The best Cinderellas of the last two decades to reach Final Fours – George Mason in 2006, VCU in 2011, Loyola-Chicago (2018) all were double-digit seeded mid-majors. But none was as highly seeded as this Saint Peter’s team that’s now beaten No. 2 seed Kentucky, No. 7 Murray State and No. 3 Purdue.
WINNERS, LOSERS:Poised Saint Peter’s keeps the dream alive; bye-bye, Big Ten; hello, ACC
OPINION:Saint Peter’s embodies wackiness and uncertainty of this NCAA Tournament
ANALYSIS:Purdue’s loss leaves Big Ten shut out of Elite Eight. We could see this coming.
MORE:Legendary Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson: Coach K’s farewell tour ends Saturday
OPINION:Houston is leaving Phi Slama Jama in the 1980s for good
While other bracket-busting NCAA Tournament darlings of yesteryear have had flair (FGCU’s “Dunk City”) or a lovable fan (Loyola’s Sister Jean), this team from the MAAC is doing it with defense, namely with nine steals. In spite of being undersized against the Boilermakers, the Peacocks used aggressiveness and hustle to outduel their seemingly superior opponent behind 6-8 freshman Clarence Rubert and 6-7 junior Hassan Drame. Daryl Banks III (14 points) is the go-to scorer for Saint Peter’s, but Mr. Clutch has been guard Doug Edert (10 points) off the bench. One stat to note: a 19-for-21 clip from the free-throw line. What’s been most impressive is the Peacocks’ ability to stay hungry and poised under pressure, winning close games in all three NCAA Tournament matchups.

Blue-bloods show title potential
Duke and Villanova advanced on Thursday, and fellow blue-bloods Kansas and North Carolina will now join them in the Elite Eight. And yes, if both the Blue Devils and Tar Heels win Sunday, we could see them meet in the Final Four.
Ever since North Carolina embarrassed Duke in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Heels have been red-hot – knocking out No. 1 Baylor in the previous game in overtime. That continued against a UCLA team that reached the Final Four last year and seemed destined to get back. Caleb Love was brilliant again, finishing with 30 points off six three-pointers. Armando Bacot’s tip-in with 22 seconds left sealed the win in another impressive outing for coach Hubert Davis’ resilient team.
The last remaining No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament, Kansas stayed alive, escaping Providence by five points. It’s coach Bill Self’s ninth trip to the Elite Eight with Kansas and 11th of his career, as the Jayhawks (31-6) are one win from the Final Four. They’ve now won eight in a row and are looking like a title contender after entering the NCAA Tourney having won the Big 12 tournament.
The secret weapon for Kansas has been guard Remy Martin. For the third consecutive tournament game, Kansas got a jolt off the bench from the fiery Martin (23 points), the Arizona State transfer who has erupted in these NCAAs after playing a reserve role throughout 2021-22.
ACC > Big Ten
Despite garnering nine NCAA Tournament bids on Selection Sunday – the most of any conference – the Big Ten is out following Purdue’s stunning exit vs. Saint Peter’s. The league tanked in the first two rounds, with No. 5 Iowa – the conference tourney champ – getting upset by Richmond in the first round. No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Illinois, No. 7 Michigan State and No. 7 Ohio State all lost in the second round. And now, with Michigan’s loss to Villanova, the overall underachievement is on full display. That’s a 9-9 finish in the tournament.
No Big Ten team has cut down the nets since 2000 (the Spartans), and it’s a depressing outlook for the league that posted the second-best NET score in 2021-22 and showcased several teams with Final Four potential.
The ACC, which finished with the sixth-worst NET score as a league, has Duke, North Carolina and Miami all in the Elite Eight. That’s after the Tar Heels, Hurricanes and Notre Dame were all bubble teams in early March. The NCAA Tournament is about matchups and pathways. No matter how well the Big Ten did in the regular season, much like the Pac-12’s surprising finish last year, the ACC is well-positioned with three teams still alive and two of them title contenders.
Follow college basketball reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.
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