Copy Desk Daily, Feb. 18, 2019

It's not really a success story in activism, since the Panamanian government pushed the Barro Blanco dam project through. This flooded Kiad and two other riverside communities, their cemetery and ceremonial site included, while causing springs to dry up and other environmental effects. But circumstances around the process launched an investigation by the Social and Environmental Compliance Unit, an accountability mechanism established to monitor the activities of the United Nations Development Program.

Read: Panama: Catholic sister considers dam a violation of indigenous people's right to religion 

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The Pennsylvania grand jury investigation wasn't handled as clearly and cleanly as it could have been. This is what a former federal prosecutor has to say about how other states should approach their sex abuse investigations, so that people aren't left questioning the process and the findings.

Read: Essential lessons for conducting grand jury investigations of clergy sexual abuse

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You've heard about Frédéric Martel's new book — now you can read some of it for yourself before it's released on Thursday.

Read: Excerpt: 'In the Closet of the Vatican'

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Emily Kahm is finishing up a fellowship at Augustana College, where she teaches a course in American Catholicism that is centered around the work of women religious. She sends her students out to interview a sister, an assignment that's generated surprising encounters.

Read: Q & A with Emily Kahm, a theology teacher with a focus on sisters

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While politics has resulted in a packed Supreme Court that might well overturn Roe v. Wade in the not-too-distant future, the needle hasn't moved much in terms of the general culture.

Read: Editorial: Is John Paul II the model for abortion debate?

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