Free Republic

The decision of Penn State’s trustees to fire the storied football coach Joe Paterno and the president of the university is a strong, and a fairly unusual, statement in our sports-obsessed society that there are more important things than winning. A friend calls my attention to an even more dramatic case that I wouldn’t have remembered on my own in which a university president made an even stronger statement by suspending the entire basketball program for three years to try to purge it of a culture of corruption. Does the name Quintin Dailey ring a bell? I’m a sports fan,...

The man who witnessed Jerry Sandusky allegedly rape a pre-teen boy in the Penn State locker room in 2002 WILL be allowed to continue as a receivers coach when the team plays Nebraska on Saturday ... this according to the new Penn State head coach Tom Bradley. Bradley was just officially introduced as Joe Paterno's temporary replacement -- and stated, "Right now Mike McQueary will be coaching on Saturday."

<p>STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Mike McQueary, one of the central figures in the burgeoning child sex abuse scandal at Penn State, will remain receivers coach Saturday when the Nittany Lions play their final home game of the season.</p> <p>Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, who was appointed Penn State interim coach in the wake of a shakeup that has claimed the jobs of Joe Paterno and other university leaders, said Thursday it will be a "game-time decision" whether McQueary will coach from the sideline or the press box against No. 19 Nebraska.</p>

Today: August 04, 2005 at 19:52:41 PDT Ex-N.J. Governor Said to Have Book Deal ASSOCIATED PRESS TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A tell-all book by the nation's first openly gay governor is in the works, a New York publisher said Thursday. The as-yet-untitled memoir by former New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey will be published by ReganBooks, an imprint of publishing house HarperCollins. McGreevey announced his homosexuality and his resignation in the same stunning speech last Aug. 12, saying that he had been involved in an adulterous affair with a man. ReganBooks president Judith Regan said in a news release that...

Jury probes effort to smear GOP Testimony focuses on State Police files and McGreevey's campaign A state grand jury is hearing testimony into allegations that former State Police officials and a former state senator conducted a covert operation that used confidential files in an effort to smear Republicans and help James E. McGreevey run for governor four years ago. ...A key witness in the investigation, retired State Police Lt. Vincent Bellaran, said in an interview this week he has testified three times before the grand jury in Trenton. In return for his testimony, Bellaran said, prosecutors who report to state...

Why the press didn’t out James McGreevey Judging by the shock-and-awe reactions of folks in bars and restaurants across the country, James McGreevey's revelation in August -- "I am a gay American" -- was just as dramatic as it played on TV. But one group of people wasn't so impressed with the New Jersey governor's big news. Journalists, it seemed, had known all along. On Nightline, Charles Webster of the Trentonian said, "The context for reporters was that this was nothing new." On The O'Reilly Factor, Steve Adubato, a CN8 talk-show host and columnist, went even further. "I interviewed him...

TRENTON, N.J. -- A Democratic fund-raiser linked to Gov. James E. McGreevey extorted $40,000 in campaign donations by promising a farmer that public officials would help him get more money for development rights to his land, federal authorities said Tuesday. David D'Amiano is charged with extortion, mail fraud and bribery. According to an indictment released Tuesday, D'Amiano told the owner of a Piscataway farm he would not get premium value for his property unless he made donations to the Democratic Party. Middlesex County officials had offered Mark Halper $3 million for development rights to his 74-acre family farm. After D'Amiano...

Democratic fund-raiser indicted on extortion chargesBy JOHN P. McALPIN The Associated Press 7/6/2004, 6:02 p.m. ET TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A Democratic fund-raiser linked to Gov. James E. McGreevey extorted $40,000 in campaign donations by promising a farmer that public officials would help him get top dollar for his land, federal authorities said Tuesday. Carteret businessman David D'Amiano is charged with extortion, mail fraud and bribery. According to an indictment released Tuesday, D'Amiano told the owner of a Piscataway farm he would not get premium value for his property unless he made donations to the Democratic Party. Middlesex County officials...

For Marty Finkel and Mike Plake, South Orange village is the place to be this weekend. A new domestic partnership law making New Jersey the fifth state in the nation to give gay couples many rights accorded married people takes effect Saturday. In South Orange, officials will begin registering couples as soon as they can -- a minute after midnight. Finkel, 45, and Plake, 41, who lobbied for the law, expect to be the first couple officially recognized as domestic partners in New Jersey. "Everyone in the state is welcome," Finkel said. "It is very exciting." The new law, hailed...