Pennsylvania
Paterno's son calls allegation about father 'bunk'
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Joe Paterno's son said Friday that an allegation made by insurers that a boy told the longtime Penn State University football coach in 1976 that he had been molested by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky is "bunk."
In a tweet , Scott Paterno wrote that "it would be great if everyone waited to see the substance of the allegation before they assume it's true. Because it's not."
If the allegation were true, it would suggest his father had protected "an obscure assistant coach no one had yet heard of" in 1976, Paterno wrote . He added: "It's bunk."
The allegation was revealed Thursday in an order issued by Philadelphia Judge Gary Glazer in litigation between an insurance company and Penn State. The order also cited reports by unnamed assistant coaches who said they witnessed inappropriate contact between Sandusky and children, according to Pennlive.com. Glazer wrote there was "no evidence that reports of these incidents ever went further up the chain of command at PSU."
The allegations were made in victim depositions taken in the insurance case, but those depositions remain under seal, Pennlive.com reported.
In 2001, Paterno told high-ranking university officials that one of his assistant coaches reported seeing Sandusky acting inappropriately with a child in a team shower. In 2011, Paterno told a grand jury that he did not know of any other incidents involving Sandusky, who retired from Penn State in 1999.
Sandusky is appealing a decades-long sentence for abusing 10 boys during encounters that went back to the 1990s. He had met the boys through the children's charity he founded in 1977.
Evidence of earlier allegations had not previously come to light, though the university disclosed in November that it had settled a total to 32 claims regarding Sandusky allegations that were worth $93 million.
Penn State spokesman Lawrence Lokman told Pennlive.com that university officials knew broadly of the allegations made in the insurance case, but refused to talk about the "specific circumstances" of people who came forward in the settlement process.
Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship, a group formed in the wake of the scandal to oust board members who voted to fire Paterno, released a statement calling for Penn State officials to produce all records related to the insurance case "so that they may be evaluated fairly and fully in an environment of complete transparency."
Paterno had an unparalleled coaching career at Penn State but was fired in the months between Sandusky's November 2011 arrest and his own death of lung cancer in January 2012.
Three administrators who worked with him as high-ranking university officials await trial on criminal charges for their handling of the Sandusky scandal.
An appeals court recently threw out many of the charges against former president Graham Spanier, former vice president Gary Schultz and former athletic director Tim Curley, and state prosecutors did not challenge that decision. No trial date is set.
On Thursday, Sandusky was granted a hearing as he pursues appeals in his 45-count child sexual abuse conviction.
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California
Arsenio Hall sues O'Connor for libel over Prince post
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Arsenio Hall is suing Sinead O'Connor over a Facebook post in which the singer accused him of furnishing Prince with drugs.
The comedian's libel lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court calls O'Connor's accusations fabricated lies. The lawsuit states O'Connor, who scored a hit in 1990 with her rendition of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U," barely knew the superstar and despised him.
O'Connor wrote a Facebook post Monday that stated investigators looking into the supplier of drugs used by Prince should question Hall. She also accused him of drugging her.
O'Conner's agent did not immediately return an email message seeking comment.
The lawsuit seeks more than $5 million in damages but any award would be decided by a jury. The case was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.
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Missouri
Bank robber who dropped trail of money gets 15 yrs.
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) - A bank robber who left a trail of cash as he ran from the scene of the crime has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 41-year-old Cameron Boddie of Dellwood pleaded guilty and was sentenced Wednesday.
Authorities say Boddie dropped thousands of dollars in cash as he fled a Commerce Bank branch in University City on Feb. 25, 2015. Bills were found on a sidewalk, on streets and in a stairwell. Dogs and the dropped money helped authorities track down the robber in Clayton, where Boddie was arrested near a parking garage.
Police say Boddie had only about $100 in $1 bills left on him.
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New York
Agency: Bars can't ban pregnant women or refuse them drinks
NEW YORK (AP) - Pregnant women can't be kept out of New York City bars or refused alcoholic drinks just because they're expecting, under new city guidelines.
The city Human Rights Commission guidelines, set to be released Friday, outline a variety of anti-discrimination measures and expound on a 2013 law that mostly concerns protections for pregnant workers.
But the guidance also warns against bouncers refusing to let mothers-to-be into bars or restaurants refusing to serve them alcohol, which the U.S. Surgeon General and major medical associations say women should avoid during pregnancy.
How to treat women who use intoxicants of various sorts has long been debated in the U.S. Some states have laws allowing authorities to detain or bring criminal charges against women who use illegal drugs while pregnant.
Overall, the guidelines mostly address pregnant women's rights in the workplace.
Under federal law, employers must treat pregnant workers the same as any other temporarily disabled worker when it comes to allowing light duty and other accommodations. New York City's 2013 law goes further.
It requires all but very small employers to accommodate reasonable pregnancy-related requests - such as minor work schedule changes, providing a chair or letting workers eat at their desks - even if other employees can't do the same without a doctor's note saying they need it. There are exceptions if accommodating the expectant mother would unduly strain the employer financially or operationally, or if the employee can't do her job, no other comparable jobs are available and a lesser post or an unpaid leave is unworkable, the guidelines explain.
"Far too often, pregnant employees are denied basic accommodations in the workplace, unnecessarily putting their pregnancy and health at risk," Human Rights Commissioner and Chair Carmelyn Malalis said in a statement.
Published: Mon, May 09, 2016
