TASK DEFINITION: Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.
PROBLEM: The decision by Dewayne Johnson, who sued Monsanto in 2016, brings the total award to $78 million, down from the jury’s verdict on Aug. 10 of $289 million - $39 million in compensatory and $250 million in punitive damages. Johnson’s law firm said in a statement that he accepted the reduction “to hopefully achieve a final resolution within his lifetime.”   Judge Suzanne Bolanos of San Francisco’s Superior Court of California, who oversaw the trial, earlier this month affirmed the liability portion of the verdict, but ordered punitive damages to be slashed to concur with California and federal law. Bayer denies allegations that glyphosate can cause cancer and said it will appeal the decision as the verdict was not supported by the evidence presented at trial. The verdict, which marked the first such decision against Monsanto, wiped 10 percent off the value of the company and shares have since dropped nearly 30 percent from their pre-verdict value. The company, which faces more than 8,700 U.S. lawsuits over glyphosate, says decades of scientific studies and real-world use have shown glyphosate to be safe for human use. Regulators around the world, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have found glyphosate was not a likely carcinogen to humans and approved the chemical, but the cancer unit of the World Health Organization in 2015 classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”  The jury found the company’s glyphosate-containing RoundUp and Ranger Pro products responsible for causing Johnson’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and said the company had failed to warn him and other consumers of the risks. Johnson could decide whether to accept the reduction or face a new trial on the punitive damages portion. His lawyers on Wednesday said they would challenge the amount of damages during Bayer’s appeal.

SOLUTION: Groundskeeper in Bayer in U.S. weed-killer case accepts reduced award.

PROBLEM: In that time, at least 20 residents died and more than 100 suffered injuries after homes failed to provide care as required, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found in examining reports issued by the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH), which licenses and inspects long-term care facilities and investigates complaints. The actual death toll may be much higher. In interviews with the newspaper, and in lawsuits, families have tied other deaths and injuries for which there were no state citations to improper care. The newspaper examined thousands of regulatory citations and hundreds of police reports from 2015 through 2018, reviewed lawsuits and interviewed dozens of people. The investigation found breakdowns in care that often were rooted in inadequate staffing, poor training or efforts to cut costs. In some cases, seniors tried to summon staff for help and got no response for hours, wandered away from facilities unnoticed, or languished in unsanitary and hazardous conditions. Others fell repeatedly, suffering bruises, bloody faces and broken bones. Some suffered in pain for days without treatment. In some cases, caregivers physically, verbally and sexually abused residents. Georgians seeking care for aging family members pay thousands of dollars a month to facilities that have popped up across the state in recent years promising luxurious amenities and top-flight attentiveness. Many offer to provide safe, consistent care. But the reality, is that too often thin staffs are overwhelmed, seniors have been treated callously or ineptly, and safeguards have been ignored, the investigation discovered. In a 2016 case, it took an aide at a Savannah facility 26 minutes to respond to an emergency call from a resident who had diabetes and high blood pressure. The resident was unconscious by that time. Another 19 minutes elapsed before anyone called 911. When the ambulance made it to the hospital, the resident was pronounced dead. In October 2018, a 92-year-old woman was repeatedly bitten by ants at a facility in Sandy Springs. The upscale facility failed to eradicate the insects that had been reported in her room a week earlier. Then, over two consecutive days, ants attacked the woman in bed. She died days later. Though abuse is less common than neglect, police and DCH records showed that more than 100 residents reportedly were abused by workers of assisted living and large personal care homes over the four years the newspaper’s investigation covered. Records showed that at home near Athens, a worker in 2017 hit an 86-year-old woman with dementia who tried to leave the facility, bloodying her nose and bruising a cheek. The same worker was accused of pulling an 84-year-old resident’s hair and striking her. A facility in Decatur received a state citation in March 2018 after an aide was accused of abusing a resident late at night. Nine months earlier, a separate allegation of abuse involving two other employees surfaced on the night shift. Will Johnson, the elder abuse prosecutor with the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council, told the newspaper that elder abuse and neglect is “not acceptable in our society, in our state, anywhere.” “No one who has lived their life and reached 70, 80, 90 years of age, raised a family, contributed to society — they should never be left to rot in a bed or be bashed in the face or have all of the money that goes to their care squandered,” Johnson  said. State Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta, said, “I’m saddened for the people that were injured, and I’m appalled for humanity in general that our elders would be treated this way.” “Certainly, as a state, we need to intervene,” said Cooper, who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee. Top officials at DCH refused repeated requests over several months to meet with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After the newspaper provided its findings to DCH, a spokesman again declined an interview, saying it wasn’t in their “best interest.” The agency would only answer questions submitted in writing. While officials didn’t directly address some questions, DCH Commissioner Frank W. Berry said the agency manages a heavy workload and is always seeking ways to improve and carry out its mission. “The health and well-being of Georgians is always our top priority,” Berry wrote. A 2011 state law paved the way for assisted living communities, expanding choices for families whose only options previously were personal care homes, which serve seniors who need help with meals and medication reminders, or nursing homes for those requiring intense assistance. Assisted living facilities allow a higher level of care from staff who can administer medication and assist residents who need help moving around. The 2011 legislation and the rapid graying of the population have led to facilities’ taking in more residents who in their 80s and 90s who have chronic care needs. While facilities market an active lifestyle, some have residents who can’t push their own wheelchairs or who need assistance to get out of bed, dress or eat. Some residents are unable to speak. The state cited facilities 238 times for admitting residents with conditions and illnesses that staff could not handle. At the same time, the for-profit companies that dominate the industry have incentives to keep their costs low, which translates to minimal staffing, said Catherine Hawes, Regents Professor Emeritus at the Texas A&M Health Science Center and a nationally recognized expert on long-term care. “It’s like - let me sit down and write a prescription for disaster,” she said. “You’re writing a prescription for abuse and neglect.” ___ Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com

SOLUTION: Allegations of neglect, abuse at Georgia elder facilities.

PROBLEM: Police said they had arrested 135 activists from the Extinction Rebellion group by 1130 GMT. The group expects 10,000 people will come to the capital from across Britain to join the two-week protest, which is part of a coordinated international movement. There were similar climate protests on Monday in Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, Madrid and other cities around the world. Large crowds of protesters blocked some of Westminster’s largest and busiest roads, bridges and squares, carrying banners with slogans such as “Climate change denies our children a future unless we act now”. Banging drums and chanting, they took over the tourist hotspot of Trafalgar Square and marched down the Mall, the broad tree-lined avenue that leads to Buckingham Palace. Some activists glued or chained themselves to cars parked in the middle of roads or to street lamps, making it hard for police officers to detain them. “We’re here because the government is not doing enough on the climate emergency,” said protester Lizzy Mansfield. “We only get one planet and so we’re here to try and defend it.”  Extinction Rebellion rose to prominence in April when it disrupted traffic in central London for 11 days. More than 1,000 activists were arrested, of whom 850 were prosecuted for various public disorder offences. So far, 250 have been convicted. The Metropolitan Police has adopted more proactive tactics this time. Police chiefs said last week they would mobilise thousands of officers to handle the protests and that anyone who broke the law, even as part of non-violent civil disobedience, would be arrested. On Saturday, officers used a battering ram to enter a building in south London where the activists had been storing materials to use during the two-week protest. Eight people were arrested during the raid. Extinction Rebellion said the police response showed that British authorities considered the group a significant movement. Early on Monday, a group of activists locked themselves to a mock nuclear missile outside the Ministry of Defence, calling on the government to redirect funds spent on Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent towards policies to combat climate change. “Climate not Trident” read a banner by the fake missile. Richard Dyer, a retired doctor from Scotland who was taking part in the street protests, said he regarded it as an extension of his medical career because climate change was the biggest threat yet to public health. “People in the environmental movement and climate scientists have been trying to persuade the public and government to take serious action and nothing has happened,” he said. “We want to use any way we can to make people and governments sit up and notice.”

SOLUTION:
"When New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer wanted to ""provide driver’s licenses to those who are undocumented. (Hillary Clinton) said don’t do it."