A Diocese's Scandal, a College's Adversity, a Daughter's Anguish and a Qb's Tweet Among Top 2020 Stories by Jay Tokasz

By Jay Tokasz
Buffalo News
December 17, 2020

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/a-dioceses-scandal-a-colleges-adversity-a-daughters-anguish-and-a-qbs-tweet-among-top/collection_5fd08ed0-3e4a-11eb-bcee-db5c3e31c5db.html

While the Covid-19 pandemic overshadowed most other local news this year, one of the biggest stories of 2018 and 2019 – the Buffalo Diocese’s clergy sex abuse scandal – spilled into 2020 in a major way. The diocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing represented an historic new chapter in the scandal. The New York attorney general’s lawsuit against the diocese is unique in its effort to hold some of Buffalo’s bishops personally accountable, through state charitable law, for mishandling abuse claims. We’ve published many stories on the diocese’s bankruptcy case this year. I included the first story on the filing because it encapsulated much of the scandal to that point, while also giving a thorough account of what the bankruptcy will mean for the region. The story on the attorney general’s action shows how officials for decades covered up for a priest who is now accused in 21 separate Child Victims Act lawsuits. I also included three stories unrelated to the diocese scandal. A thoroughly sourced story prompted intense reader interest and outrage over how the current D’Youville College president has gone about making personnel and other changes at the college. Another story highlighted how a woman who was abused as a girl by her father is seeking justice through the Child Victims Act, even though she doesn’t expect to reap a financial windfall. And finally, a breaking news story about former Bills great Jim Kelly’s controversial tweet was just fun to write.