Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies

Genaro C. Armas

Three women walk past a picture of legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno to pay their respect in front of his casket during a public viewing in the Worship room of the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 in State College, Pa.. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

2nd day of mourning for Paterno to end with burial

Last updated Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - 9:50am

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The second day of a three-day period of public mourning for Joe Paterno will culminate with the funeral and burial for the Hall of Fame football coach who became the face of Penn State University.

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Family, football meant everything to Joe Paterno

Genaro C. Armas The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, January 23, 2012 - 4:13pm

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Other than family, football was everything to Joe Paterno. It was his lifeblood. It kept him pumped.

Life could not be the same without it.

"Right now, I'm not the coach. And I've got to get used to that," Paterno said after the Penn State Board of Trustees fired him at the height of a child sex abuse scandal.

Before he could, he ran out of time.

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(Carolyn Kaster/The Associated Press)
In this Sept. 4, 2004 file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno leads his team onto the field before an NCAA college football game against Akron in State College, Pa. Paterno, the longtime Penn State coach who won more games than anyone else in major college football but was fired amid a child sex abuse scandal that scarred his reputation for winning with integrity, died Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. He was 85.

PSU coach Joe Paterno dies

Genaro C. Armas The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, January 23, 2012 - 2:55pm

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Happy Valley was perfect for Joe Paterno, a place where "JoePa" knew best, where he not only won more football games than any other major college coach, but won them the right way: with integrity and sportsmanship. A place where character came first, championships second.

Behind it all, however, was an ugly secret that ran counter to everything the revered coach stood for.

Paterno, a sainted figure at Penn State for almost half a century but scarred forever by the child sex abuse scandal that brought his career to a stunning end, died Sunday at age 85.

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Paterno's health situation worsens

Genaro C. Armas The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, January 21, 2012 - 4:51pm

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A family spokesman says former Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who is battling lung cancer, is in serious condition after experiencing health complications.

The 85-year-old Paterno has been in the hospital since Jan. 13 for observation for what his family had called minor complications from cancer treatments.

“Over the last few days Joe Paterno has experienced further health complications,” spokesman Dan McGinn said in a brief statement Saturday to The Associated Press. “His doctors have now characterized his status as serious.

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Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, right, leaves the office of Centre County District Justice Daniel A. Hoffman under escort by Pennsylvania State Police and Attorney General's Office officials in Bellefonte, Pa., on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2011. Sandusky was arrested and jailed Wednesday on new child sex abuse charges brought by two new accusers, including one who claims Sandusky molested him numerous times in a basement bedroom, according to authorities. (AP Photo/The Patriot-News, Andy Colwell)

Sandusky posts bail in latest sex abuse charges

Genaro C. Armas, Mark Scolforo The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, December 8, 2011 - 10:19am

BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky posted bail Thursday after spending a night in jail following a new round of sex-abuse charges filed against him.

Sandusky secured his release using $200,000 in real estate holdings and a $50,000 certified check provided by his wife, Dorothy, according to online court records. Sandusky remained at the facility as of midmorning and the warden said he was quiet and cooperative during his overnight stay.

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(Andy Colwell/The Associated Press)
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, right, leaves the office of Centre County District Justice Daniel A. Hoffman under escort by Pennsylvania State Police and Attorney General's Office officials in Bellefonte, Pa., on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2011. Sandusky was arrested and jailed Wednesday on new child sex abuse charges brought by two new accusers, including one who claims Sandusky molested him numerous times in a basement bedroom, according to authorities.

Sandusky jailed on new child sex abuse charges

Genaro C. Armas, Marc Levy The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - 5:09pm

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Ex-Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested and jailed Wednesday on new child sex abuse charges brought by two new accusers, including one who claims Sandusky molested him numerous times in a basement bedroom, according to authorities.

The claims bring the number of Sandusky's alleged victims to 10 and he now faces more than 50 charges stemming from accusations he molested boys for years on Penn State property, in his home and elsewhere.

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Sandusky arrested on new sex abuse charges

Genaro C. Armas, Marc Levy The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - 2:56pm

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Ex-Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested and jailed Wednesday on new child sex abuse charges brought by two new accusers, including one who claims Sandusky molested him numerous times in a basement bedroom, according to authorities.

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(ANDY COLWELL/The Associated Press) Former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, center, wearing handcuffs as he is escorted to the office of Centre County Magisterial District Judge Leslie A. Dutchcot, in State College, Pa. A lawyer for a young man who accuses Sandusky of sexual abuse says he expects his client and at least five other alleged victims to testify at a preliminary hearing next week.

For Sandusky’s accusers, a chance to face him

Genaro C. Armas, Maryclaire Dale The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - 7:35am

PHILADELPHIA — Ex-Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky could face several accusers after a lawyer for one young man said his client and at least five others were planning to testify at a preliminary hearing next week.

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FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2011 file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno stands on the field before his team's NCAA college football game against Northwestern, in Evanston, Ill. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching, File)

Scandal puts Joe Paterno's rule in spotlight

Genaro C. Armas, Seanna Adox The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - 10:14am

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- A Penn State administrator responsible for overseeing student discipline said former coach Joe Paterno did not have the authority to change his office's decisions when football players were sanctioned.

Joe Puzycki said Tuesday night in an email to The Associated Press that "we adjudicated athlete cases the same as we did any other student" -- though Paterno was vocal in sharing his opinions.

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Joe Paterno has lung cancer, son says

Genaro C. Armas The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, November 18, 2011 - 2:57pm

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer, according to his son.

Scott Paterno said in a statement provided to The Associated Press by a family representative on Friday that the 84-year-old Joe Paterno is undergoing treatment and that "his doctors are optimistic he will make a full recovery."

"As everyone can appreciate, this is a deeply personal matter for my parents, and we simply ask that his privacy be respected as he proceeds with treatment," Scott Paterno said in a brief statement.

Scott Paterno said the diagnosis was made during a follow-up visit last weekend for a bronchial illness.

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FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2011 file photo, former Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky sits in a car as he leaves the office of Centre County Magisterial District Judge Leslie A. Dutchcot in State College, Pa. Sandusky, who is charged with sexually abusing eight boys in a scandal that has rocked the university, said in an telephone interview with Bob Costas Monday night on NBC News' "Rock Center" that there was no abuse and that any activities in a campus shower with a boy were just horseplay, not molestation. (AP Photo/The Patriot-News, Andy Colwell, File)

Penn State abuse scandal likely to spawn lawsuits

Genaro C. Armas, Mark Scolforo The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, November 18, 2011 - 9:39am

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The full story about what happened in the Penn State child-sex abuse scandal will only come out through the civil lawsuits that now appear inevitable, and the matter raises novel and challenging legal issues, according to lawyers with experience in similar litigation.

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Email outlines reaction to alleged Sandusky attack

Genaro C. Armas, Mark Scolforo, Maryclaire Dale The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - 10:27am

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- A day after the former Penn State assistant football coach who is charged with sexual abuse of boys declared his innocence in a television interview, an email surfaced from a key witness against him, saying he stopped an alleged attack in the team's showers.

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Penn State assistant won't coach Saturday because of threats

Genaro C. Armas The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, November 11, 2011 - 11:28am

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary will miss Saturday's game against Nebraska after the school said he received "multiple threats."

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Joe Paterno and his wife Susan stand on their porch to thanks well wishers gathered outside after John Surma, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Penn State University Board of Trustees, right, announced the firing of university President Graham Spanier, and football coach Joe Paterno in State College, Pa.,Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Penn State shaken after firing of Paterno

Genaro C. Armas The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, November 10, 2011 - 11:58am

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- After nearly a half-century on the job, Joe Paterno says he is still getting used to the idea of not being Penn State's football coach. So is the rest of the shaken campus, after one of the most tumultuous days in its history.

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(Carolyn Kaster/The Associated Press)
In this Oct. 17, 2009, file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno pauses as he walks the field before an NCAA college football game against Minnesota in State College, Pa. Paterno, who preached success with honor for half a century but whose legend was shattered by a child sex abuse scandal, was fired by the Board of Trustees on Wednesday.

Penn State trustees fire Paterno, Spanier

Genaro C. Armas The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, November 9, 2011 - 11:13pm

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Joe Paterno was fired by the Penn State board of trustees Wednesday night despite saying he would retire as coach after the football season ended, brought down by the growing furor over the handling of child sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach.

Penn State President Graham Spanier was also ousted.

“I am disappointed with the board of trustees’ decision, but I have to accept it,” the 84-year-old Paterno said in a statement. “A tragedy occurred, and we all have to have patience to let the legal process proceed.”

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