C M Y K Nxxx,2020-12-17,A,001,Bs-4C,E1

U(D54G1D)y+,!=![!$!"

ANNA MONEYMAKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The first major winter storm of the season shut down virus testing sites and schools from Virginia through New York. Page A21.Snow Sweeps Up the Coast

If baseball somehow reflectsAmerica, as romanticists like tobelieve, then it also shares in itsblemishes. The National andAmerican leagues were segre-

gated until 1947,and the decadessince have beenmarked by a halt-ing kind of reckon-ing.

On Wednesday,Major League Baseball took oneof its biggest steps to redresspast racial wrongs: It formallyrecognized several of the Negroleagues as on par with the Amer-ican and National leagues, adistinction that will alter theofficial record books to acknowl-edge a quality of competitionthat the long-excluded playersnever doubted.

With the change, more than3,400 players from seven distinctNegro leagues that operatedbetween 1920 and 1948 will berecognized as major leaguers.And the statistical records will beupdated.

“All of us who love baseballhave long known that the NegroLeagues produced many of our

game’s best players, innovationsand triumphs against a backdropof injustice,” Rob Manfred, thecommissioner of Major LeagueBaseball, said in a statement.“We are now grateful to countthe players of the Negro Leagues

where they belong: as MajorLeaguers within the officialhistorical record.”

The adjustments to the statis-tics will almost assuredly resultin a new single-season record forbatting average. But the impact

on other records will be fairlysmall as a result of the shorterschedules played in the Negroleagues, most of which playedonly 80 to 100 games, as com-pared to the 154 per season that

Righting a Wrong, Baseball Elevates Negro Leagues to the Majors

From left, John Stanley, Frank McAllister and Gene Smith of the New York Black Yankees in 1942.BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

Continued on Page A21

TYLERKEPNER

ONBASEBALL

China may have been a late-comer to the moon, but when itscapsule full of lunar rocks and soilreturned to Earth early Thursday,it set the stage for a new spacerace over the coming decades.This time, it will be a competitionover resources on the moon thatcould propel deeper space explo-ration.

The country’s Chang’e-5 space-craft gathered as much as 4.4pounds of lunar samples from avolcanic plain known as MonsRümker in a three-week operationthat underlined China’s growingprowess and ambition in space. Itwas China’s most successful mis-sion to date.

The United States and the Sovi-et Union competed for supremacyin a space race in the 1960s and’70s, during which they broughtback lunar samples, but that was adifferent era. Now China is in thefray, and today’s competition —once seemingly the realm of sci-

ence fiction — could be equally in-tense and more mercantile.

The Chinese are eager to flaunttheir technical skills and explorethe solar system. Like the UnitedStates, the country has a broadergoal to establish a lunar base thatcould exploit its potential re-sources and serve as a launchingpad for more ambitious missions.

Beijing has not “staked outsome sort of declarative state-ment where they want to replace

China Takes Rivalry With U.S. One Step Farther: To the Moon

By STEVEN LEE MYERSand KENNETH CHANG

The Chang’e-5 spacecraft, withlunar rocks, returned to Earth.

CHINA GLOBAL TELEVISION NETWORK

Continued on Page A15

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s allieshave begun an ambitious cam-paign to raise millions of dollarsfrom corporations and individualsby offering special “V.I.P. partici-pation” in reimagined inauguralfestivities that will be largely vir-tual because of the coronaviruspandemic.

Far fewer tickets than normalare being distributed for people toattend the actual swearing-in cer-emony outside the Capitol on Jan.20, which is organized and fundedby the government.

To create an air of celebration,Mr. Biden’s inaugural committeesaid it was raising private funds topay for virtual events that willecho the Democratic conventionthis year, which featured a 50-state roll call from spots around

the nation. There are also plansfor a “virtual concert” with majorperformers whose names havenot yet been released — and possi-bly for an in-person event later inthe year.

The contrast between the con-straints of putting on inauguralfestivities in the midst of a publichealth crisis and fund-raising asusual underscores how donationsto an inaugural are not just aboutgetting good seats for the swear-ing-in or tickets to the glitziestblack-tie balls. They are also away for corporations and well-heeled individuals to curry favorwith a new administration, a reali-ty that prompted liberal groups onWednesday to ask Mr. Biden’s in-augural committee to forgo corpo-

Inauguration Donors Can ExpectV.I.P. Perks but No Fancy Balls

By KENNETH P. VOGEL and ERIC LIPTON

Continued on Page A17

As the coronavirus ravagedNew York this spring, state offi-cials faced a terrifying prospect:Casualties were mounting, andthe reserve of ventilators andmasks was dwindling. As doctorsconsidered rationing lifesavingtreatment, the state rushed into$1.1 billion in deals for suppliesand equipment.

Now, New York wants much ofthat money back.

State officials are trying to getat least partial refunds on a thirdof that spending, by clawing backmillions paid to vendors that theysaid failed to deliver on time, andworking to extricate the statefrom deals now that stockpiles aresufficient, an analysis by The NewYork Times shows.

The same is true in New YorkCity, where officials have canceled$525 million in agreements for vi-rus-related goods — more than aquarter of the total virus spendingfor the city’s primary procure-ment agency — and are trying torecover nearly $11 million from

vendors they said did not deliver.The reversals follow a frantic

buying spree during the virus’s fe-rocious surge through New York.After Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo andMayor Bill de Blasio suspendednormal rules for bidding andoversight, their administrationssometimes turned to companieswith colorful résumés and claimsof access to manufacturers, but lit-tle experience.

“We were scouring the world tofind every company that couldprovide the critical supplies andequipment needed to save livesand keep people safe,” said AdamBuchanan, the chief contractingofficer for New York City’s prima-ry procurement agency.

On the chance these suppliersmight deliver, officials made quickagreements with a used car seller,

$1 Billion Spent on Virus Gear,Now New York Wants a Refund

By MICHAEL ROTHFELDand J. DAVID GOODMAN

A Scramble for SuppliesLeads to Hasty Deals

and Disputes

Continued on Page A5

In the coming days, squads ofCVS and Walgreens employees,clad in protective gear and carry-ing small coolers, will begin to ar-rive at tens of thousands of nurs-ing homes and assisted-living fa-cilities to vaccinate staff membersand residents against the corona-virus.

It promises to be a crucial mile-stone in America’s battle against apandemic that has inflicted espe-cially severe carnage on nursinghomes. At least 106,000 residentsand staff members of long-termcare facilities have died from thevirus, accounting for 38 percent ofthe country’s Covid-related fatali-ties.

But even before it begins, themass-vaccination campaign isfacing serious obstacles that areworrying nursing home execu-tives, industry watchdogs, elder-care lawyers and medical experts.They expect nursing homes to bethe most challenging front in themission to vaccinate Americans.

Some residents and staff mem-

bers are balking at taking the vac-cine. Short-staffed facilities areconcerned about workers callingin sick with side effects, strainingresources just as some frail resi-dents are likely to experience fe-ver and fatigue from the shots.Most nursing home employeeswork in shifts; will it be possible tovaccinate everyone over thecourse of just a few visits fromCVS and Walgreens?

While some states began vacci-nations in nursing homes thisweek, the broader nationwide ef-fort will start over the next fewdays. And there remains wide-spread confusion about a key ele-

Inoculations at Nursing HomesFace an Obstacle Over Consent

By REBECCA ROBBINS andJESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG

Some Residents andStaff Members Balk

at Vaccinations

Continued on Page A6

WASHINGTON — Aftermonths of stalemate, congres-sional leaders were on the vergeon Wednesday of cementing aroughly $900 billion stimulus dealto deliver emergency aid to indi-viduals and companies devastat-ed by the toll of the worseningpandemic, racing to finish the de-tails and stave off a governmentshutdown on Friday.

The measure, which has beenunder discussion for months asthe coronavirus has ravaged theeconomy, is expected provide anew round of direct payments tomillions of Americans as well asadditional unemployment bene-fits, food assistance and rental aid.It would prop up sputtering busi-nesses with federally backedloans and provide funding forschools, hospitals and the distri-bution of a just-approved vaccine.

While the agreement was notyet final, Republicans and Demo-crats alike signaled that they wereready to coalesce around the mainelements, marking an extraordi-nary shift from just weeks ago,when both sides were issuing ulti-

matums and refusing to budgefrom long-held positions.

The momentum indicated thatrelief could soon be on its way forindividuals and businesses whohave waited for months as econo-mists have clamored for anotherrobust infusion of federal aid,warning that Congress’s failure toact could do long-lasting damage.

“We’re making good progress,”said Senator Chuck Schumer ofNew York, the Democratic leader,in a brief interview on Wednesdayafternoon as staff exchanged of-fers and counteroffers. “No onegets everything they want, butwe’re feeling pretty good.”

But even as lawmakers movedtoward striking an elusive deal,the package pointed to troubles onthe horizon for President-elect Jo-seph R. Biden Jr., who had pressedfor at least some compromise onemergency pandemic aid beforeyear’s end. To break the logjam,Democrats appeared to havedropped their demand for a dedi-cated funding stream for statesand cities that are facing fiscal

Lawmakers Near DealTo Speed $900 Billion

In Relief to AmericansShift in Talks After Months of Gridlock

— Economists Say Aid Falls Short

By EMILY COCHRANE

Continued on Page A9

Americans are buying Christmas treesin droves, and tree farms are strugglingto meet the demand. PAGE B8

BUSINESS B1-8

A Pandemic Growth IndustryThe Women of Color Quilters Network’smembers create symbols of liberation,resistance and empowerment. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

Needlework of Racial Injustice

A Libyan bomb expert may be chargedby the Justice Department in the 1988bombing of a Pan Am flight that killed270 people. PAGE A14

INTERNATIONAL A10-15

New Lockerbie Charges SeenThe gifts — tens of millions of dollarseach — went to dozens of schools thatserve many minority and lower-incomestudents. PAGE A21

NATIONAL A16-21

Windfall for Smaller CollegesHow Jeffrey Toobin, a star of legal jour-nalism in books, on TV and at The NewYorker, lost his sweetest gig. PAGE D1

THURSDAY STYLES D1-8

Undone by Zoom Transgression

The brand’s strategy of flavor innova-tions is stunning in its simplicity, boost-ing sales of the classic variety. PAGE D7

The Endless Oreo Variations

Jamelle Bouie PAGE A22

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

With “Wolfwalkers,” Cartoon Salooncompletes a hand-drawn trilogy basedon Celtic mythology. PAGE C1

Irish Studio Dreams Big

States carried out fewer executions, butthe federal government did more than ithad in over a century. PAGE A20

Executions in U.S. Decline

The plaintiffs accuse the tech giant ofabusing its monopoly over its high-profit online-ad technology. PAGE B1

10 States Sue GoogleBoris Johnson, the prime minister, hasstuck by a vow to lift curbs on gather-ings, despite rising cases. PAGE A7

In Britain, Christmas Is On

As election falsehoods fade, coronavirusvaccine claims are surging, oftenspread by the same people. PAGE A8

TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-9

Conspiracists Shift Gears

The Supreme Court has agreed to de-cide a case about how much collegeathletes can be compensated. PAGE B9

SPORTSTHURSDAY B9-11

Judging N.C.A.A. Rules

FIRST DOSES Gloom began to liftat some nursing homes as thevaccine arrived. PAGE A6

Late Edition

VOL. CLXX . . . . No. 58,910 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2020

Today, snow, ending during the day,travel remaining difficult, high 30.Tonight, partial clearing, cold, low21. Tomorrow, partly sunny, cold,high 32. Weather map, Page B14.

$3.00