HARRISBURG, Pa. – For months, the identity of the boy who was sexually assaulted in the locker room showers by Jerry Sandusky was one of the biggest mysteries of the Penn State scandal. Now, for the first time, a man has come forward to claim he was that boy, and is threatening to sue the university.
The man’s lawyers said Thursday they have done an extensive investigation and gathered “overwhelming evidence” on details of the abuse by Sandusky, the former assistant football coach convicted of using his position at Penn State and as head of a youth charity to molest boys over a period of 15 years.
Jurors convicted Sandusky last month of offenses related to so-called Victim 2 largely on the testimony of Mike McQueary, who was a team graduate assistant and described seeing the attack.
Report: At least 719 died rebuilding Iraq
In the first tally of its kind, a federal investigative agency has calculated that at least 719 people, nearly half of them Americans, were killed working on projects to rebuild Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003.
The toll represents an aspect of the Iraq war that is rarely brought to public attention, overshadowed by the much higher number killed in combat as well as the billions of taxpayer dollars spent on reconstruction.
The actual number of people killed doing reconstruction work is probably much higher than 719 but cannot be reliably determined, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said in releasing its estimate Friday. The U.S. government has no central database for this category of war casualties, and even within the U.S. military, the records on hundreds of troop deaths are too imprecise to categorize, the report said.
Hepatitis C carrier leaves 7-state wake
A dozen hospitals in seven states are scrambling to identify people who might have been infected with hepatitis C by a traveling medical technician who was charged a week ago with causing an outbreak in New Hampshire.
David Kwiatkowski, 33, is accused of stealing anesthetic drugs from Exeter Hospital in New Hampshire and contaminating syringes used on patients. His same strain of hepatitis C, a blood-borne viral infection that can cause liver disease and chronic health issues, has been diagnosed in 30 of the patients.
In addition to Arizona, hospitals and state health agencies have confirmed that Kwiatkowski also worked in Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania before being hired in New Hampshire in April 2011.
House votes to ban new regulations
The U.S. House passed legislation Thursday that would ban major new federal regulations for two years or until the quarterly unemployment rate falls to 6 percent or less.
All six Republicans from Indiana – including Reps. Marlin Stutzman, Dan Burton and Mike Pence, the GOP candidate for governor – supported the moratorium on any regulations costing the economy more than $50 million. All three Hoosier Democrats – including Rep. Joe Donnelly, his party’s candidate for a U.S. Senate seat – voted against the bill.
The last time the unemployment rate was below 6 percent was July 2008, when it was 5.8 percent.
The Democratic Senate is unlikely to consider the legislation.
Police radios failed during Obama visit
Oakland, Calif.’s year-old $18 million police radio system failed repeatedly during President Obama’s visit Monday and during protests surrounding it.
Many of the 100 police officers assigned to presidential security duty that day were unable at times to communicate through their radios with police dispatchers, and even with each other, during the president’s fundraiser at a downtown theater, according to the head of the city’s police union.
“It doesn’t work, that’s the bottom line. Our officers have absolutely no confidence with this current radio system,” Donelan told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Motorcycle theft ring busted in NY
Authorities have dismantled a motorcycle theft ring they say specialized in stealing high-end bikes off New York City streets in 30 seconds flat.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced the enterprise corruption and other charges on Thursday against 33 people.
A 17-month investigation revealed the defendants stole more than 60 motorcycles that were resold on a black market in the Caribbean.
US likely to target al-Qaida in Mali
The U.S. is likely to weigh options including military assistance and direct strikes to drive a growing al-Qaida presence out of the coup-wracked African nation of Mali, a Pentagon official said Thursday.
“We cannot allow al-Qaida to sit in an ungoverned space and have a sanctuary and impunity,” said Michael Sheehan, the Defense Department’s assistant secretary for special operations, during the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
U.S. officials first must find ways to work with the post-coup government in Bamako to combat the militants, Sheehan said.
LA unveils park in downtown renewal
The heart of downtown Los Angeles used to stop beating at sundown. Office workers would clear out of Civic Center to begin long commutes to the suburbs, leaving an empty concrete landscape surrounded by courthouses and government buildings and inhabited mainly by homeless residents of Skid Row.
Hoping to bring new life to those streets, city officials on Thursday unveiled Grand Park – a great green hope for the future of the nation’s second-largest city.
The $56 million renovation aims to create a 12-acre strip of lawns, winding paths and gardens that will become a vibrant center of city life.
