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NCAA TOURNAMENT VIRUS OUTBREAK FACES Texas two step: Biden, CDC director ‘Concrete Cowboy,’ Baylor, Houston end warn of rebound in movie monsters Final Four droughts cases if US lets up new this week Page 24 Page 5 Page 14 Polish general joins US Army’s recently reestablished V Corps ›› Page 4 stripes.com Volume 79 Edition 246 ©SS 2021 WEDNESDAY,MARCH 31, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas VIRUS OUTBREAK Special Ops diversity chief’s posts investigated BY CAITLIN M. KENNEY Stars and Stripes WASHINGTON — The new chief of diversity and inclusion for U.S. Special Operations Com- mand is under investigation for controversial social media posts, including one that compared for- mer President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, according to the Pen- tagon. John Kirby, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said Monday that De- fense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been notified by Gen. Richard Clarke, the SO- MATT ROURKE / AP COM command- Patti Burt poses for a portrait near a photo of her granddaughter, 9-year-old Ava Lerario, in Cherry Hill, N.J., on March 10. On May 26, Ava er, of the investi- Torres-Estrada Lerario; her mother, Ashley Belson, and her father, Marc Lerario, were found fatally shot inside their home. gation into the posts made by Richard Torres-Es- trada. “[Austin] appreciated being kept apprised of that and that he supports the work that they’re do- The hidden toll ing to look at this more deeply,” Kirby said during a news briefing at the Pentagon. Pandemic masks ongoing child abuse crisis as reports, investigations and interventions plummet The command announced BY SALLY HO her brothers didn’t play outside. Torres-Estrada as the new chief AND CAMILLE FASSETT Protective services visited their on Thursday in a tweet, writing Associated Press home at least twice, in 2019, over that they looked forward to his LANSFORD, Pa. — Ava Lerario reports of potential abuse of Ava’s “contribution in enhancing the ca- lived in a home marked by both younger brother. Her father, Marc pabilities and effectiveness of love and chaos, even before the Lerario, had an explosive temper. [Special Operations Forces] walls of the pandemic started clos- Her mother, Ashley Belson, strug- through diversity of talent, help- ing in on her fractured family. gled with drug addiction and con- ing us recruit the best of the best.” Sandwiched between two broth- sidered leaving him. Torres-Estrada’s job involves ers, the 9-year-old was her father’s She didn’t dare take Ava. If she being an advocate and senior ad- princess, and she loved to snuggle left with his favorite — the one who viser in diversity and inclusion for up with her mom to read. She shared his strawberry blond hair senior SOCOM leadership, Ken sometimes lugged her favorite and could calm him with a smile — McGraw, a spokesman for Special stuffed animals all the way to the Ashley feared he’d kill her. Operations Command, wrote bus stop, where she never hesitated In the end, Ashley wasn’t the on- Monday in an email. The position to share toys or books, or befriend a MATT SLOCUM / AP ly one who died. also leads and directs all diversity new or lonely kid. Desks are arranged in a classroom at Panther Valley Elementary But neighbors noticed she and School on March 11 in Nesquehoning, Pa. SEE TOLL ON PAGE 6 SEE POSTS ON PAGE 4 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Wednesday, March 31, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER VW weighs changing to ‘Voltswagen’ in US EXCHANGE RATES Military rates So. Korea (Won) 1,135.07 Associated Press The company had briefly there are plans for more, in- Switzerland (Franc) .9430 Euro costs (March 31) $1.15 Thailand (Baht) 31.31 DETROIT — Volkswagen is posted a press release on its cluding a nostalgic reprise of Dollar buys (March 31) 0.8303 Turkey (New Lira) 8.3182 British pound (March 31) $1.34 planning to change its brand website early Monday an- the company’s Microbus. Japanese yen (March 31) 107.00 (Military exchange rates are those available name in the United States to nouncing the brand name Even with the ID.4 fully on South Korean won (March 31) 1,105.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ “Voltswagen” as its shifts its change. The press release was sale, only a small fraction of many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain (Dinar) .3767 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ production increasingly to- noticed by a reporter from VWs on U.S. roads will bear the Britain (Pound) 1.3719 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2637 your local military banking facility. Commercial ward electric vehicles and USA Today before it was re- “Voltswagen” name. The vast China (Yuan) 6.5732 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.3454 tries to distance itself from an moved. The release was dated majority of VW’s vehicle sales Egypt (Pound) 15.7207 when buying currency. All figures are foreign emissions cheating scandal. April 29. in the U.S. will still be powered Euro .8534 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7750 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ A person briefed on the plan The premature release by gasoline for the foreseeable Hungary (Forint) 310.17 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.3352 said a formal announcement is comes as VW is taking reserva- future and will continue to be Japan (Yen) 110.37 INTEREST RATES planned for Tuesday. The per- tions for the new ID.4 small labeled simply as “VW.” The Kuwait (Dinar) .3024 Norway (Krone) 8.5663 Prime rate 3.25 son didn’t want to be identified electric SUV in the U.S. It’s the German automaker sold just Philippines (Peso) 48.53 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.97 Federal funds market rate 0.09 because the plans had not been company’s only new electric under 326,000 VW-branded ve- Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7508 3­month bill 0.03 made public. model sold in the U.S., though hicles in the U.S. last year. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3480 30­year bond 2.24 WEATHER OUTLOOK WEDNESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST WEDNESDAY IN EUROPE THURSDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 51/42 Kabul Seoul 72/41 67/43 Baghdad 80/56 Drawsko Osan Tokyo Kandahar Mildenhall/ 70/40 61/50 Pomorskie Busan 73/46 Lakenheath 61/46 68/48 60/46 Iwakuni Kuwait City 57/51 Bahrain Zagan Sasebo Guam 84/62 76/70 Brussels Ramstein 65/44 69/46 73/39 67/50 81/78 Riyadh Lajes, Stuttgart 92/64 Doha Azores Pápa 60/57 66/42 90/66 Aviano/ 66/45 Vicenza 68/46 Naples 67/51 Okinawa Morón 72/69 82/60 Sigonella Rota 65/48 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 70/59 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 90/70 52/49 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Classified .................... 13 Comics .........................16 Crossword ................... 16 Faces .......................... 14 Opinion ........................ 15 Sports .................... 18-24 Wednesday, March 31, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Trials begin in lawsuit over 3M’s earplugs BY ROSE L. THAYER cola, Fla., for the cases of three veterans In 2017, the VA compensated about 1.79 In July 2018, the Justice Department an- Stars and Stripes who were selected as “bellwether” trials in million veterans for tinnitus and about 1.16 nounced 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million to AUSTIN, Texas — A lawsuit involving the U.S. District Court Northern District of million for hearing loss, according to the resolve allegations that it knowingly sold more than 229,000 veterans with hearing Florida under Judge M. Casey Rogers. Hearing Health Foundation, a nonprofit the earplugs to the military without disclos- problems that they claim are linked to Bellwether trials can be used in multidis- funder of hearing research in America. ing defects that hampered effectiveness. faulty earplugs issued by the military be- trict litigation to present a representative The lawsuit focuses on 3M’s combat That lawsuit was filed through the whistle- gins its first trial Monday in a Florida feder- of the cases before a jury to gain useful in- arms earplug, version 2. Work began on the blower provision of the False Claims Act, al courtroom. formation for potentially reaching a settle- product in the late 1990s, when the military according to the Justice Department. The multidistrict litigation claims the ment for all cases. It can help both parties tasked the St. Paul, Minn.-based company In settling the claim, 3M did not admit to companies that made the earplugs — 3M determine the costs of subsequent litiga- to design an earplug that could block loud wrongdoing, according to the company. and its predecessor Aearo — knew from tion. gunfire while allowing the wearer to hear Following that decision, a series of law- testing that the equipment it designed in Two of the veterans in the bellwether low-level sounds, such as speech. The re- suits were filed by veterans who wore the coordination with the military did not fit trials have hearing loss and tinnitus, ac- sulting product, a dual-sided earplug, was earplugs and now suffer from hearing loss. properly into an ear canal and could loosen cording to court documents. The third vet- sold to the military until 2015. Those claims were combined into the mul- in a way that was imperceptible to the eran suffers hearing loss and conditions re- No recall was ever issued on the product ti-district mass tort case now churning wearer.

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