Larry Nassar

There are now more than 300 women and girls who claim former sports doctor Larry Nassar sexually abused them, according to their civil suit attorneys. This week Michigan State University and the victim’s attorneys returned to mediation to try to come up with a settlement.

A group of Larry Nassar survivors are organizing a rally tonight at Michigan State University to call for the resignations of interim president John Engler and the entire board of trustees.

The rally comes after accusations and apologies about a meeting between Engler and one of Nassar’s victims. 

"Fake news.” That's how a top Michigan State University official described a Nassar survivor's claims that Interim President John Engler offered her a $250 thousand payout in return for dropping her suit against the school.

The Detroit Free Press obtained emails sent by a top Engler aide following Kaylee Lorincz's appearance before the Board of Trustees, where she described the meeting she and her mother had with Engler, his aide, and a university spokesperson.

Whenever you think things couldn’t possibly get worse for Michigan State, they do. Just after the team doctor turned sexual predator went off to prison, disaster struck again.

William Strampel, his former boss and the former dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, was arrested and charged with various things, including criminal sexual misconduct of his own. That case has yet to work its way through the courts, but is going to be anything but helpful to MSU’s attempts to heal itself and stay solvent.

What struck Dan Wetzel, a national columnist for Yahoo Sports, most about last Friday’s MSU board meeting was the way Michigan State University Interim President John Engler interrupted Nassar survivor Kaylee Lorincz as she tried to tell a story about him.

“For him to interrupt her, to say, ‘Your time’s up’ – it’s like he has no idea,” Wetzel said. “I don’t think he even knows what the phrase means these days. It tells me he’s not paying attention to anything. He seemed to say it without irony.”

Last Friday, an 18-year-old survivor of former MSU sports doctor Larrry Nassar’s sexual abuse stood before the university’s Board of Trustees and Interim President John Engler. She made national headlines.

Kaylee Lorincz accused Engler of privately offering her $250,000 to drop her civil lawsuit against the school, and after she said it wasn’t about the money, she says Engler told her, “Well, give me a number, then.” She says he offered a number to survivor Rachael Denhollander.

Before Lorincz could finish recounting the events before the Board, the interim president told her “Time’s up. Stop.”

Now we know why Michigan State’s interim president, John Engler, tapped an ol’ Republican hand to head government relations at the school. He understands politics well enough to know they’ll need the help.

And the politics surrounding the aftershocks of the Larry Nassar sexual-abuse scandal are very simple: someone must pay.

For the assaults on hundreds of women under the guise of sports medicine. For the lawsuits that followed. For the dreadful management inside State’s vaunted athletic department and the office of former president Lou Anna Simon.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has approved a permit for Nestle to increase the volume of water it pumps from its well in Osceola County from 250 gallons per minute to up to 400 gallons per minute.

More than 80,000 people spoke out against Nestle's permit request, but the MDEQ said it cannot base its decision on public opinion.

This Week in Review, Weekend Edition host Rebecca Kruth and senior news analyst Jack Lessenberry discuss potential political blow-back that could stem from the state's approval of Nestle's permit.

This week, a Michigan House inquiry about the handling of complaints over convicted sex offender and former MSU sports doctor Larry Nassar completed its work. The information was turned over to the Attorney General’s office. Some of that information was released in a letter to House speaker Tom Leonard.

Before the FBI arrested Larry Nassar for child pornography possession in December 2016, he was googling “Is it illegal to not use gloves with intravaginal manipulations,” “intravaginal manipulations for back pain,”  “vaginal massage,” and “Pubic Hair Removal Demonstration (18+) YouTube,” as police discovered after pulling 57,000 pages of search history from Nassar’s cell phone and laptop.

This week, Michigan State University's interim president John Engler announced the school was returning to mediation with victims of Larry Nassar, saying "The university remains committed to reaching a fair settlement with all the survivors."

But at the same time, MSU lawyers were trying again to dismiss the numerous federal lawsuits the university facing.

Larry Nassar's former boss Dr. William Strampel has been charged with a felony and three misdemeanors. Strampel denies the charges. Michigan Radio's Rebecca Kruth and senior news analyst Jack Lessenberry discuss new developments in the Michigan State University sex abuse case.

In a way, the news that the longtime dean of Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine has been charged with criminal sexual conduct may be even worse than the revelations about Larry Nassar. MSU’s line all along has been that Nassar, the former sports medicine doctor who molested hundreds of women, was an anomaly.

The fallout from the Larry Nassar scandal at Michigan State University continues. Nassar’s boss and former Dean of MSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine, William Strampel, was arrested late Monday and arraigned Tuesday on felony and misdemeanor charges.

Few stories are more horrifying than the revelation of nearly two decades of Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse of gymnasts — girls and women who were supposed to be getting medical treatment.

The story came to life because of investigate reporting by the Indianapolis Star newspaper. Marisa Kwiatkowski, the investigative reporter at the Star who broke the Nassar story, joined Stateside to discuss how she discovered the story through investigating the USA Gymnastics team, how sources were initially hesitant to talk, and the state of news media in 2018.

This week, an article in The Atlantic blasted Michigan State University for its handling of nearly every aspect of the Larry Nassar scandal. Nassar is the former MSU physician who sexually abused girls and young women despite complaints that date back to 1997. The article focused on how MSU is “botching its reputation rehab.”

One of the experts interviewed for the article is Jeff Hunt. He is a partner and co-founder of PulsePoint Group and the author of the book, Brand Under Fire: A New Playbook for Crisis Management in the Digital Age.

People who remember, remember Republican John Engler as a blunt, pugnacious governor. And, before that, the same as state Senate majority leader.

Michigan State University interim president John Engler accused state lawmakers of interfering with negotiations to settle out of court with victims of former sports doctor Larry Nassar. Engler's comments came in response to a set of bills adopted by the senate this week that give victims more time to file lawsuits. The former governor also said the bills could subject universities to more lawsuits and drive up tuition.

This Week in Review, Weekend Edition host Rebecca Kruth and senior news analyst Jack Lessenberry talk about Engler's reaction to the legislation.