Human Race

Overturned

A federal appeals court on April 22 overturned Barry Bonds’ obstruction of justice conviction in a 10-1 decision. Baseball’s home run king was convicted in 2011 in part for an irrelevant answer to a 2003 grand jury question on steroids, instead talking of his childhood. He has maintained he didn’t realize the substances he used were illegal. Baseball writers have consistently voted to keep the steroid-era All-Star out of the Hall of Fame.

Died

Mary Doyle Keefe, the model for Norman Rockwell’s “Rosie the Riveter” in 1943, died April 21. She was 92. Rockwell paid the petite Keefe $10 for two mornings as a model and transformed her into “sort of a giant” for the famous poster and Saturday Evening Post cover image. With big arms, blue jeans, a lunch box, and feet resting on Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf manifesto, “Rosie” symbolized the women who worked in American industry while millions of men were at war. Keefe worked as a dental hygienist before having four children with her husband, who died in 2003.

Left

Jackie Robinson West Little League (JRW), stripped of its U.S. title in January, has severed some ties with the league, the Chicago Tribune reported. While still a charter member of Little League, the Chicago-based children will play in the Cal Ripken Division of the Babe Ruth League. A team spokesman cited “disrespect” from Little League for allegedly failing to inquire of JRW officials about cheating accusations before stripping the team of the title. Adults are accused of illegally manipulating districts to create a super team.

Recovered

R.C. Sproul went home from the hospital April 23 after suffering a stroke. Ligonier Ministries reported that Sproul has no paralysis and remains his “jovial self.” The pastor and theologian had checked himself into the hospital several days earlier suspecting a mild stroke. Doctors confirmed the stroke and discovered undiagnosed diabetes. His speech and strength are still returning.

Tried

Oskar Groening, a former Nazi SS sergeant who manned the entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps, went on trial April 21 on 300,000 counts of accessory to murder. The 93-year-old told the German judge he shares “moral guilt” in atrocities he witnessed. Termed the “Accountant of Auschwitz,” he often oversaw the confiscation of arriving Jews’ belongings. He coped with vodka. The 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz has led to a 40 percent spike in visitors to the camp this year.

Sentenced

Megan Huntsman, 40, received life in prison April 20 for killing six newborns and keeping their bodies for 18 years. She pled guilty in February to asphyxiating her children soon after giving birth between 1996 and 2006. A seventh body she kept was stillborn, she said. Police arrested Huntsman in April 2014 after her estranged husband found one of the children, all of whom were his. A meth addict before succumbing to alcohol, Huntsman stated there’s “no reasonable answer” for her “sick and heinous crime.”

Died

Cardinal Francis E. George, a Roman Catholic archbishop who led stern responses to sexual abuse and religious liberty issues, died on April 17. He was 78. George came to national prominence in 2002 during the sexual abuse scandal, urging the Church to bar any priest from serving who faced credible allegations. He remained vocal on principle after his cancer diagnosis in 2006, fighting Obamacare’s contraception mandate and closing Catholic Charities’ Chicago foster care arm in 2011 when the state tried to force the group to place children with same-sex couples.

Shot

American physician and teacher Debra Lobo, 55, faces a long recovery after suspected ISIS militants shot her on April 16. Four gunman shot her twice in the head as she left the Karachi, Pakistan, medical school where she teaches. She faced several surgeries, but doctors told the family she should recover. The wife of a Pakistani man and mother of two teen daughters, Lobo has worked in Karachi for 22 years. Pro-ISIS pamphlets near her body promised more attacks.

Vindicated

A Kentucky court ruled Lexington printer Blaine Adamson may decline to print messages that conflict with his Christian beliefs. A local human rights commission had found Adamson guilty of discrimination after he declined to print T-shirts for a gay pride festival in 2012 (see “Losing their shirts,” May 2). The commission may appeal the court’s decision, but Adamson’s attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom said the ruling affirms a business owner’s freedom to exercise his conscience at work.

Died

Former child actor Sawyer Sweeten, who played Geoffrey Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond, committed suicide on April 23. Sweeten, 19, starred on Ray Romano’s popular sitcom alongside real-life twin, Sullivan, and sister, Madylin, who both played siblings on the show.

By the numbers

$1.2244 trillion | The amount owed by the United States to Japan at the end of February, making the country America’s largest foreign creditor. The U.S. Treasury owed China, which had been the largest creditor, $1.2237 trillion.

$100,000 | The fine retired Gen. David Petraeus received, plus probation, on April 23 after pleading guilty to mishandling classified information. Petraeus admitted to giving the information to his mistress and biographer Paula Broadwell.

4.25 | The diameter of hail, in inches, reported in Stephenville, Texas, on April 26. A standard softball has a 3-inch diameter.