Nation roundup for Nov. 17

Doctors: Surgeon with Ebola is ‘extremely ill’

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A surgeon who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone was in extremely critical condition Sunday at a Nebraska hospital, his doctors said.

Dr. Martin Salia, who was diagnosed with Ebola last week, arrived in Omaha on Saturday to be treated at the Nebraska Medical Center’s biocontainment unit that has successfully treated two other Ebola patients this fall.

Salia is “extremely ill,” said Dr. Phil Smith, who is helping oversee Salia’s treatment. The 44-year-old Salia might be more ill than the first Ebola patients successfully treated in the United States, according to the hospital.

“This is an hour-by-hour situation,” Smith said Sunday, adding that a team of specialists is treating Salia’s most serious issues. “We will do everything humanly possible to help him fight this disease.”

Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Of the 10 people treated for the virus in the U.S., all but one has recovered.

After Salia arrived in Omaha, his ambulance to the hospital was accompanied by a single Nebraska State Patrol cruiser and a fire department vehicle — a subdued arrival in contrast to the August delivery of Dr. Rick Sacra, whose ambulance was flanked by numerous police cars, motorcycles and fire vehicles.

Salia has been working as a general surgeon at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown.

Neb. panel might hold sway over pipeline

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Congress is suddenly scrambling to vote on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, but the fate of the oft-delayed $5.4 billion project could still wind up in the hands of an obscure commission in Nebraska that regulates telephones, taxi cabs and grain bins.

The Nebraska Supreme Court is expected to rule within weeks on whether the Nebraska Public Service Commission must review the pipeline before it can cross the state, one of six on the pipeline’s route. Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman gave the green light in January 2013 without the panel’s involvement.

The commission’s possible role is part of the tangled legal and political history of the pipeline and raises questions about whether it will continue to be snagged even if the Senate votes to approve it this week as expected.

The House voted 252-161 Friday to move forward with the project. President Barack Obama, who has delayed a decision pending the resolution of the Nebraska issue, has not said whether he would sign the legislation.

The proposed crude-oil pipeline, which would run 1,179 miles from the Canadian tar sands to Gulf coast refineries, has been the subject of a fierce struggle between environmentalists and energy advocates ever since Calgary-based TransCanada proposed it in 2008.

Lawyer: Cosby won’t address assault claims

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bill Cosby will not dignify “decade-old, discredited” claims of sexual abuse with a response, his attorney said Sunday, the first comment from the famed comedian’s lawyer on an increasing uproar over allegations that he assaulted several women in the past. Lawyer John P. Schmitt said the fact that the allegations are being repeated “does not make them true.”

“He would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work,” Schmitt said.

The renewed attention to a dark chapter for Cosby began last month when a comedian, Hannibal Buress, assailed him during a stand-up performance in Philadelphia, Cosby’s hometown, calling him a “rapist.” His remarks were captured on video and posted online. It was harsh criticism of the veteran entertainer known equally for his charming standup comedy, ethnically groundbreaking 1984-92 sitcom “The Cosby Show” and demands for personal responsibility directed at fellow African-Americans.

Adding to the growing firestorm: One of Cosby’s accusers, Barbara Bowman, leveled allegations of sexual assault against him in interviews and in an online column for the Washington Post. Bowman wrote that in 1985, she was 17 and an aspiring actress when Cosby “brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times.”

Cosby, who was never criminally charged in any case, settled a civil suit in 2006 with another woman over an alleged incident two years before.

He stonewalled National Public Radio host Scott Simon during an interview aired this weekend with Cosby and his wife, Camille, about their African-American art collection. Cosby fell silent when asked by Simon about “serious allegations raised about you in recent days,” which prompted the host to say, “You’re shaking your head, no. … Do you have any response to those charges? Shaking your head, no.”

Cosby also declined comment when asked by the AP about the allegations last week in Washington, where the Smithsonian Institution was opening an exhibit on the collection.

Cosby postponed indefinitely an AP interview scheduled for this week. It had been intended to discuss an upcoming Netflix project.

Whether the latest scrutiny will substantially affect his still-active career has yet to be seen. An appearance on CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” was canceled, and another engagement, on “The Queen Latifah Show” on Oct. 30, was characterized by that show as a postponement granted at Cosby’s request.

He has standup performances scheduled, including one Sunday night in Erie, Pennsylvania, and a special premiering Nov. 28 for Netflix. Cosby has been in talks with NBC for a new family sitcom, featuring Cosby as the patriarch. No air date has been announced.

He has kept to his busy concert schedule despite the furor, with shows last week in Madison and La Crosse, Wisconsin; Rosemont, Illinois, in the Chicago area on Saturday, and Carnegie Hall in New York on Nov. 8.

An email request Sunday to Netflix on the status of its project with Cosby did not receive an immediate response. NBC declined comment.