Human Race

Died

Russian Orthodox priest Gleb Yakunin, a longstanding advocate for religious freedom and democracy in the Soviet Union, died Christmas Day. Yakunin, 80, was defrocked in 1966 for his criticism of the church and its collusion with Communist authorities. Ten years later he founded the Christian Committee for the Defense of the Rights of Believers in the USSR, which collected over 400 documents confirming human rights abuses by the KGB. He worked with Alexander Solzhenitsyn and other dissidents and was arrested in 1980. He served five years in the Soviets’ dread gulag prison Perm 35, then was exiled to Siberia. Under Mikhail Gorbachev’s peristroika he was released and went on to author a law on “freedom of all denominations” used to open churches and monasteries in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. But Yakunin remained a critic of the Orthodox Church, saying it refused to break with the past and citing state preferential treatment in the Putin era. In 1997 Orthodox leaders excommunicated him for “antichurch activities.”

Died

Bess Myerson, New York television personality and political activist, died in California at 90. Crowned Miss America in 1945 just days after Japan’s surrender marked the end of World War II, she was the first—and only—Jew to date to win the beauty contest.

Cleared

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes,” said Mark Twain. Rep. Steve Scalise, the third-ranking House Republican, endured weeks of vilification following reports he spoke at a white supremacist gathering in 2002. But longtime David Duke political adviser Kenny Knight, who organized the gathering, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune on Dec. 31 Scalise did not speak at a meeting of the European-American Unity and Rights conference. Scalise spoke at a meeting of the Jefferson Heights Civic Association held at the same hotel 2½ hours prior to the event, according to Knight and others. Scalise, who was not at the time a member of Congress and had only one staff person, said initially he did not recall speaking to the group but apologized anyway after a bevy of news pundits and some members of his own party said he should step down.

Treated

Pauline Cafferkey, a nurse diagnosed with Ebola after working in Sierra Leone, was in stable but critical condition in a London hospital. The 39-year-old volunteer received plasma treatment from Ebola survivors, as experimental drugs used to treat other Western medical professionals have run out.

Promoted

Caleb Stegall, 43, took the oath of office in December and assumed his new seat on the Kansas Supreme Court (“The revival of localism,” March 12, 2011). Gov. Sam Brownback appointed Stegall, his former chief counsel and member of the Kansas Court of Appeals, to replace Justice Nancy Moritz after she accepted a position with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Stegall, his wife Ann, and their five sons attend Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Lawrence, Kan., where he is a ruling elder.

Struck

Maryland Episcopal Bishop Heather Cook, 58, fatally struck a cyclist with her car and then initially fled the scene Dec. 27 as 41-year-old Thomas Palermo, a married father of two, lay dying. She returned 20 minutes later after other cyclists reportedly tracked her down. The Diocese of Maryland placed her on leave, and the Baltimore Police Department said it planned to bring charges. In 2010, Cook faced charges for driving under the influence.

Sentenced

A federal judge sentenced former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell to two years in prison for corruption involving $165,000 in loans and gifts. “I am a fallen human being,” McDonnell said, but he disagreed with the verdict and planned to appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Revoked

Oklahoma’s Medical Licensure Board revoked the license of abortionist Naresh Patel, 62, after authorities arrested him in December for scamming women at the Outpatient Services for Women in Warr Acres. Patel allegedly billed three undercover investigators for abortion-inducing drugs—even though none of the women were actually pregnant.

Died

Norman Bridwell, 86, creator of the “Clifford the Big Red Dog” children’s books—with nearly 130 million copies in 13 languages in print—died Dec. 12.

Died

ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, 49, died after a seven-year battle with a rare form of cancer. The SportsCenter mainstay spent 21 years with ESPN. In July 2014 at ESPN’s ESPY Awards, he said: “When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live.” (See “Departures,” Jan. 10, for 2014 deaths.)

By the numbers

3-1 The cash advantage for Democrats over Republicans from donations by the 183 groups that gave more than $100,000 in 2014 midterm elections, according to an Associated Press analysis. The study found that Democrats also received more from top individual donors.

700 The number of Protestant churches expected to close over the next four years in the Netherlands. Roman Catholic leaders in the country expect to close more than 1,000 churches in the next 10 years.

-48° The temperature, on Dec. 31, in Daniel, Wyo., the lowest temperature recorded in the contiguous United States during 2014. In the early morning on that day, 80 percent of the U.S. land area was below freezing.