NEU » ddddddddddWatson and his form

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island has reached a $25.6 million settlement with two of the financial backers it sued over a disastrous deal with former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schillings 38 Studios video game company.The states Commerce Corp. announced Tuesday that it has agreed to the proposed settlement with Wells Fargo Securities and Barclays Capital Inc.The settlement was filed Tuesday in Rhode Island Superior Court and is contingent on the courts approval.The company founded by Schilling moved from Massachusetts to Rhode Island in 2010 after the states economic development agency agreed to give it a $75 million loan guarantee. The deal was financed through bonds offered to investors. Less than two years later, 38 Studios ran out of money and filed for bankruptcy.The state says its still in litigation with First Southwest Co. and Schilling.The new settlement brings to $42 million the amount the state has recovered from parties involved in the deal.This really and truly is a hard-won victory for all the parties, particularly the taxpayers of the state of Rhode Island, said retired Superior Court Judge Francis Darigan, Jr., who was called in as a mediator to help broker the settlement.Darigan told reporters Tuesday that negotiations are ongoing with the other parties and he is hopeful they can agree to a settlement before a trial scheduled for October. But he described Wells Fargo and Barclays as the biggest players and said hes doubtful the state will be able to recover from the remaining parties the nearly $40 million it says its still owed.That might be a stretch, Darigan said. Im hoping that we can make a significant contribution towards that, but I dont want to mislead anybody to think that the state is going to recover every nickel.Wells Fargo said in a statement that its pleased to have reached an agreement.We are not admitting liability, nor did we do anything improper, spokesman Gabriel Boehmer said in a statement. It is simply in our shareholders best interest to minimize the risk that accompanies lengthy litigation.The states top law enforcement officials announced last month that there would be no criminal charges following a yearslong investigation into the people and organizations involved in the 38 Studios deal. But the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is still pursuing a lawsuit against Wells Fargo and Rhode Islands economic development agency, which accuses them of making materially misleading statements about the bonds used to fund the deal.Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo said in a statement Tuesday that the settlement is a big step in recovering taxpayer money lost to a bad deal.Rhode Islanders understandably feel hurt by this deal -- and I do too -- but I want everyone to know that we are demanding accountability, getting money back, and moving the state forward, she said. Maple Leafs Jerseys China .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. Custom Maple Leafs Jerseys . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. http://www.custommapleleafsjersey.com/ . 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Or a target on his forehead.Watson was the skipper and stand-out player of the 2012 Essendon team, 34 of whom were hit with one-year doping bans for their roles in the spectacularly ill-conceived supplements program.That he won the Brownlow Medal in that very season - four votes clear of Richmonds Trent Cotchin and Hawthorns Sam Mitchell - only added to the opprobrium heaped on him in some quarters.How could an award for the leagues best and fairest player stay with a man who had served a doping ban?To his credit, Watson did not dodge that tricky question on Friday.It has been incredibly distressing for me to have people question my integrity and infer an intention to act against the spirit of the game - a spirit that is intrinsically a part of who I am, he said.The basic principle behind this prestigious award is to honour the fairest and best.If there is a question in peoples minds as to whether the 2012 award is taainted, the fairest and best thing to do is to give it back and honour the history that has gone before me.ddddddddddddWatson and his former and current Essendon teammates remain convinced they did not deserve the one-year suspensions.Watson took it harder than anyone else.He spent much of 2016 in New York - as far away as possible from the suffocating AFL bubble - before finally making the decision in September to resume his playing career in red and black in 2017.Doing so will be much less difficult without constant criticism about why he refused to voluntarily give the medal back.The AFL Commission gave Watson the chance to plead his case to keep it.Wisely, the 31-year-old turned them down.Handing the Brownlow back on his own terms and starting 2017 with a clean slate - or as clean as possible given the murky nature of what has happened at Essendon in the past few years - was the smart play.And it was the right play. 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