Gates Foundation Funds Polio Vaccine in Eradication Effort
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $38 million to Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals to develop a low-cost polio vaccine, Reuters reports.
Judge Rejects Penn St. Insurance Claims on Sandusky Abuse
The university sought a ruling that its insurer would be liable for all of the nearly $100 million in settlements it has paid out to 32 accusers of Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant football coach who was convicted in 2012 of serial sexual abuse of children, The New York Times writes.
N.Y. Charity Fires Executive Who Suffered Chemical Attack
The Queens-based Healing Arts Initiative said the firing of D. Alexandra Dyer, the group’s executive director, was not in retaliation for a lawsuit she filed over an attack with lye that left her badly burned and scarred, reports The New York Times.
Nonprofit Tied to N.Y. Mayor Won’t Comply With Subpoena
An ethics panel is investigating the Campaign for One New York over whether it should have registered with the state as a lobbyist last year, according to The New York Times.
How 2 Tennis Pals Helped Save Detroit, and Other Untold Stories
A new book by USA Today’s Nathan Bomey adds to the account of how foundations put up hundreds of millions to pull the city from bankruptcy.
By Drew Lindsay
Senior Editor, Special Projects
George Mason Faculty Questions Donor Pacts Amid Scalia Furor
The Faculty Senate urged the university to put on hold gift agreements worth $30 million from conservative donors that have divided students and professors on the Northern Virginia campus, particularly over a stipulation that its law school be renamed for Justice Antonin Scalia, The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Washington Post write.
Taxing Big College Endowments Gains Traction on Capitol Hill
The Wall Street Journal reports on the growing Congressional chorus calling for using wealthy universities’ fast-growing, tax-exempt investment funds to put the brakes on skyrocketing tuition and student debt.
U. of Houston Donor’s Heirs Sue Over Plan to Rename Arena
The family of Roy Hofheinz, the late Houston mayor and Astros owner for whom the campus basketball arena is named, filed a challenge Wednesday to the university’s court bid to reclaim naming rights for a new donor, the Houston Chronicle and the Associated Press report.
Ill. Human-Service Groups Sue Governor Over Unpaid Bills
Social- and human-service providers say they are owed more than $100 million for contracted programs for which the state has not paid throughout a budget impasse now in its 10th month, writes the Chicago Tribune.
Lawmakers Clear Bill on UConn Foundation Disclosure
Connecticut’s House and Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would require the flagship state university’s nonprofit fundraising arm to give the state a breakdown of its spending in certain categories, reports the Hartford Courant.
Lucas Eyes New Museum Home as Chicago Group Renews Criticism
Star Wars creator George Lucas is “seriously pursuing” a different city to host his planned museum of narrative arts after a seeming truce in the battle over a proposed Chicago lakefront location broke down Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times report.
Pa. Asks 3 Board Members to Resign From Hershey Trust
The state’s attorney general wants trustees who have served for more than 10 years to depart and for board compensation to be reduced per a 2013 agreement with the $12 billion charity that operates the Milton Hershey School, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Chicago Group Suspends Lawsuit Seeking to Block Lucas Museum
Friends of the Park said it was dropping its court fight to clear the way for “a more direct and productive dialogue” on a Chicago site for Star Wars creator George Lucas’s planned museum, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Seven Nonprofit Hospitals Among Country’s Most Profitable
All seven nonprofit medical centers earned at least $150 million in 2013, The Washington Post writes, citing a new study.
Opinion: Dozens of Countries Cracking Down on Nonprofits
China’s effort to place strict controls on foreign nonprofits is part of a trend around the world of despotic and illiberal regimes restricting the activities of such groups, a New York Times editorial says.
House GOP Bill Would Eliminate Donor Disclosure to IRS
Congressional Republicans advanced legislation Thursday that would end the requirement that nonprofits identify all donors of $5,000 or more in Internal Revenue Service filings, saying the tax agency is falling to keep the data confidential, The Wall Street Journal reports.