BIG SUR, Calif. -- A wildlife biologist in Big Sur was killed by a tree during a wild windstorm that wreaked havoc in many areas of the Central Coast.

Michael Tyner, 35, of Big Sur, was working for the Ventana Wildlife Society in one of Big Sur's redwood forests when he was struck by tree that toppled over at 2:50 p.m Wednesday.

Wednesday's 40-60 mph gusts caused the tree to uproot and slam to the ground near North Coast Road at mile marker 16.

Read the original story at KSBW.com

"Tyner died instantly from his injuries," the Monterey County sheriff's coroner detective Diana Schumacher said. "A forensic examination confirmed his death was a result of blunt force head injuries."

Tyner's death was the first caused by this week's wind storm, which left a path of destruction across California and Utah.

Tyner was a highly respected field supervisor for the Ventana Wildlife Society's California Condor Recovery Program, based in Monterey.

"It was truly an honor to work alongside Mike," his close friend and co-worker Joe Burnett said.

"He was truly an exceptional biologist, a great friend, and staunch protector of all natural things," Burnett said. "Mike will be dearly missed and his positive impacts on Big Sur’s natural beauty will live on through the condors. I’m almost sure he’s up there soaring with them now."

An avid birder, Tyner graduated from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo and began studying songbirds along the Carmel River with the society in 2002.

Winds howl across LA-area for second night

Wind gusts finally eased up on Friday afternoon, blowing at a mere 1 mph in Santa Cruz and 3 mph in Monterey.

This was a big change from Wednesday night, when sustained winds howled at 40 mph and gusts hit 70 mph in Santa Cruz.

At least four homes in Santa Cruz County were destroyed by tumbling trees during the storm. A two-story house in Scotts Valley on Baja Sol Drive had a giant redwood tree slice well into its roof Thursday night. Everyone in the house escaped without injuries.

Several other Scotts Valley residents reported that their cars and trucks were smashed by tumbling trees.

PG&E used a helicopter Friday while attempting to repair power supplies for thousands of Scotts Valley residents and business owners who are sitting in the dark.

Customers in Boulder Creek, Bonny Doon, Watsonville, Corralitos and Freedom are also without power.

Nearly two dozen fires erupted Thursday in Northern California but most were confined to a few acres of land. Low humidity and high winds were blamed for fanning the fires.

KSBW.com is the website for the NBC affiliate in Salinas, Calif.

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SAN FRANCISCO — When police ordered him to drop his gun, the masked man who appeared to be robbing a San Francisco convenience store didn't comply — because he was holding a plastic prop.

That led to a few tense moments when officers inadvertently walked in on a television show filming Wednesday.

Film coordinator Yasmine Yoshida told the San Francisco Chronicle that the robbery was staged for an episode of the Japanese show "World's Most Interesting Footage."

Gun replica on purse trips up traveling teen

But the fake robbery at Alpha Market prompted a 911 call to police, who responded with weapons drawn.

According to the police report, officers overpowered the actor after he ignored their orders.

Yoshida says the film crew had all the proper permits and a good relationship with the owner of the market, where they've filmed before.

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Bill Haber / AP file

A poster at The Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans features Carry Nation, the hatchet-wielding teetotaler who began her crusade against drinking by busting up saloons in Kansas.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Even in the Kansas town where turn-of-the-century teetotaler Carry Nation's legacy is enshrined, the influence of the hatchet-wielding crusader is waning.

Residents in Medicine Lodge, where Nation lived for about a decade and home to the Carry Nation Home Museum, approved a measure this week to allow Sunday liquor sales. The vote, which was expected to be certified Friday, allows the sale of beer and liquor on all Sundays except Easter.

Some see the move as progress in a state that has yet to ratify the constitutional amendment ending Prohibition. Others think the changes would enrage the town's famous former resident.

Ann Bell, who's on the board of directors of the museum, said Nation is likely turning over in her grave.

Sunday sales are likely to start Dec. 11.

A Penn State accuser who dined with Jerry Sandusky this summer did so only after getting permission from police, the man's lawyer said Friday as he blasted suggestions that alleged victims remained friendly with the former Penn State coach.

"Police gave their seal of approval for him to attend. They even wanted him to wear an electronic listening device," attorney Howard Janet said Friday. He also called into question Sandusky's motives for inviting the man to dinner while the ex-coach knew he was under investigation.

Sandusky has been charged with molesting eight boys over 15 years. He is accused of mining the ranks of his Second Mile charity to find underprivileged boys to abuse.

Sandusky says he is innocent and his lawyer, Joseph Amendola, has questioned several accusers' claims and the depiction of his client made in a grand jury report that identified the alleged victims by number. Earlier this week, Amendola told The Patriot-News of Harrisburg that several accusers visited the Sandusky home and stayed on good terms with the ex-coach for years.

He told The Associated Press on Friday that another dinner guest that night was the man identified in the grand jury report as Victim No. 2, who Sandusky is accused of sodomizing in a Penn State shower.

Janet said another man identified as a victim in the grand jury report attended, but he did not specify who that was. He called Amendola's claim that accusers remained friendly with Sandusky was "grotesque."

Janet represents the man known in the grand jury report as Victim No. 6, who was allegedly bear-hugged by Sandusky as they showered together at Penn State in 1998, when the boy was 11. The boy's mother filed a complaint; a police investigation ended with no charges filed.

The alleged victim, now 24, contacted police this summer when Sandusky invited him over for dinner, Janet said. He didn't wear a wire because he was nervous but reported back to police about the dinner afterward, the lawyer said.

The dinner started at Sandusky's house and then moved to a restaurant, and included Sandusky and his wife.

Janet said Sandusky pitched the dinner as a chance for former Second Mile participants to get together. "Why was he arranging to meet with victims while under investigation? Was he trying to tamper with or improperly influence potential witnesses?" Janet said.

He would not say if the investigation came up in conversation that night, or detail what his client later reported back to police. The client didn't wear a wire because he was nervous, Janet said.

Sandusky's lawyer said the meeting was part of an effort by Sandusky and his wife to maintain "friendships with lots of kids they helped as those kids grew into adulthood."

"The dinner at a local State College restaurant last summer, which was attended by Jerry and Dottie and alleged victims 2 and 6, was simply an effort on the Sanduskys' part to maintain those long established positive relationships with young men whom the Sanduskys believed were their friends," Amendola said.

Victim No. 2 was the boy seen being abused by Sandusky in a Penn State shower in 2002, according to the grand jury report. The witness, since identified as then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, told coach Joe Paterno about the incident, the report said. Police were never notified.

The grand jury report said the boy had not been located. Amendola has said he believes the alleged victim is being represented by a State College attorney who did not respond to messages left by the AP late Friday.

Penn State fired Paterno and school President Graham Spanier after the report was made public. Two former Penn State officials are charged with failing to report complaints of abuse, and with lying to a grand jury. They have pleaded not guilty.

Sandusky is free on bail, and is next due in court on Dec. 13 for a preliminary hearing.

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Gary Higgins / Patriot Ledger via AP

Richard Figueiredo poses with a lobster trap in Pembroke, Mass.

The 1991 "Perfect Storm," the deadly event off Massachusetts that led to a best-selling book and Hollywood movie, is still generating news. A man who lost lobster traps in the storm was contacted by a beachcomber in Ireland who'd found a tag with his last name on it.

A quick search on Facebook led to a connection last week and then a phone call Thursday brought the two sides even closer together, The PatriotLedger.com reported Friday.

"You can see it's been around," said Richard Figueiredo of the trap tag after seeing a photo sent by beachcomber Rosemary Hill of Waterville, Kerry County.

"A very well-traveled tag indeed" is how Curt Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer known for studying flotsam, described the find. He estimated it could have drifted 50,000 miles in currents before ending up on the Irish beach.

The tag likely drifted into the Gulf Stream, Ebbesmeyer said, where it would then float into the mid-Atlantic and probably get stuck in a huge gyre that traps flotsam for multiple three-year loops before letting go. The pot itself might have been stuck in the ocean floor for many years before the tag came free and started drifting, he said.

Figueiredo said that Hill offered to mail the tag back, but he wants her to keep it.

"The meaning it has over there is what matters," he said. "I am honored that she has put so much enthusiasm into this. What's happening now is a gift to me."

A teenage girl's sense of style got her in trouble at the airport.

Vanessa Gibbs, 17, claims the Transportation Security Administration stopped her at the security gate because of the design of a gun on her handbag.

Gibbs said she had no problem going through security at Jacksonville International Airport, but rather, when she headed home from Virginia. "It's my style, it's camouflage, it has an old western gun on it," Gibbs said.

But her preference for the pistol style didn't sit well with TSA agents at the Norfolk airport.

Gibbs said she was headed back home to Jacksonville from a holiday trip when an agent flagged her purse as a security risk. "She was like, 'This is a federal offense because it's in the shape of a gun,'" Gibbs said. "I'm like, 'But it's a design on a purse. How is it a federal offense?'"

After agents figured out the gun was a fake, Gibbs said, TSA told her to check the bag or turn it over. By the time security wrapped up the inspection, the pregnant teen missed her flight, and Southwest Airlines sent her to Orlando instead, worrying her mother, who was already waiting for her to arrive at JIA.

"Oh, it's terrifying. I was so upset," said Tami Gibbs, the teen's mom. "I was on the phone all the way to Orlando trying to figure out what was going on with her. It was terrifying. I don't ever want to go through it again."

Vanessa and her mom said it's hard to believe anyone could mistake the design on the purse for a real gun because it's just a few inches in size and it's hollow, not to mention Vanessa has taken it on planes before. "I carried this from Jacksonville to Norfolk, and I've carried it from Norfolk to Jacksonville," Vanessa said. "Never once has anyone said anything about it until now."

TSA isn't budging on the handbag, arguing the phony gun could be considered a "replica weapon." The TSA says "replica weapons have prohibited since 2002."

It's a rule that Vanessa feels can't be applied to a purse. "Common sense," she said. "It's a purse, not a weapon." A TSA official at JIA said it's not that uncommon for passengers to wear something that could be considered a gun replica, but the official encourages everyone to check the prohibited items list, which can be found online or at the airport before going through security.

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A tiny, all-white Appalachian church in rural Kentucky that voted to bar interracial couples from its congregation will be asked to overturn its decision, its pastor said Friday.

Stacy Stepp, pastor of Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church, told the Lexington Herald-Leader that he will ask members to reconsider the decision, perhaps as early as Sunday.

"We're going to get it resolved," Stepp told the Kentucky newspaper.

The church was drawn harsh criticism this week after its members voted 9-6 on the resolution, which says the church "does not condone interracial marriage" or allow such couples to join or take part in certain worship activities.

The church member who crafted the resolution, Melvin Thompson, said he called the matter an "internal affair."

"I am not racist. I will tell you that. I am not prejudiced against any race of people, have never in my lifetime spoke evil about a race," said Thompson, the church's former pastor who stepped down earlier this year. "That's what this is being portrayed as, but it is not."

Church secretary Dean Harville disagreed: He said the resolution came after his 24-year-old daughter, Stella Harville, visited the church this summer with her 29-year-old fiancé, Ticha Chikuni of South Africa.

Harville, a longtime member who serves also as the church clerk, said the couple attended worship service; she played the piano as he sang a song called "I Surrender," NBC New York reported.

Harville said Thompson, who had been pastor for many years, told him in August that the pair couldn't sing at the church again.

In November, Thompson proposed the church go on record saying that while all people were welcome to attend services, the church did not condone interracial marriage. A vote at the church affirmed his stance. Most in the congregation did not vote.

NBC New York’s Greg Wilson, msnbc.com's Sevil Omer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Earlier: Kentucky church bars interracial couples

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Getty Images file

Adam Carolla

For years, Adam Carolla gave out life and love advice via his syndicated show, "Loveline," which he co-hosted with Dr. Drew Pinsky. But turns out Carolla doesn't just have advice, he has some pretty strong opinions -- especially about the young generation, at least those participating in the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Expletives were flying in Carolla's interview with the right-leaning Media Research Center, in which he ranted that the Millennial generation have been spoiled by Baby Boom parents who treated them all as very special snowflakes.

"We've created a bunch of f---ing self-entitled monsters," Carolla said in the interview, going on to mimic a Millennial demanding unearned recognition. "'I want my Most Valuable Player trophy.' 'Well, you're the slowest, fattest guy on the team.' 'Why should he get one and I don't get one?' 'Because he busts his ass and he runs a 4.4 (40-yard-dash). That's why he gets one.'"

Carolla says he believes being raised in a culture of reward for all, despite the amount of work put forward, created the Occupy Wall Street protesters, calling them "self-entitled pricks who think the world owes them a living."

You can listen to the interview below. Warning: contains profanity.

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The National Park Service chief has said that his decision to block a ban on selling bottled water at Grand Canyon National Park was based on safety and contracts, but emails released Friday indicate an early concern was how Coca-Cola, a major water vendor as well as parks funder, would react.

"While I applaud the intent, there are going to be consequences, since Coke is a major sponsor of our recycling efforts," NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis said in the email exchange posted by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The watchdog group obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Jarvis then directed two deputies to further "talk about this before GRCA pulls the plug" -- GRCA being shorthand for Grand Canyon. He further noted that the president of the National Park Foundation, through which Coca-Cola and other private entities help with funding, "would like to host a meeting of the beverage reps, which makes some sense to me."

Coca-Cola did contact the foundation with concerns, National Park Service spokesman David Barna told msnbc.com, but "that just started the conversation."

"The initial plan to end sales of bottled water in Grand Canyon National Park raised more questions than it answered," he added.

On the other hand, Barna said, Coca-Cola's recycling campaign at the National Mall, part of the park service, "was more holistic, with the goal to recycle all bottles, rather than focus on one type" by banning it.

PEER earlier this year accused Jarvis of caving in to Coca-Cola, at which time he issued a statement that his decision in December 2010 to scuttle the ban "was not influenced by Coke, but rather the service-wide implications to our concessions contracts, and frankly the concern for public safety in a desert park."

The safety concern refers to the possibility that visitors without access to water could succumb to the heat.

In a statement, PEER said that argument "appears especially farfetched given that Grand Canyon had spent more than $300,000 installing 'watering stations' and made reusable containers available.

"Zion National Park, a desert park, banned plastic bottles more than two years ago with no reported ill effects," it added.

A second string of emails released Friday shows that the chief of commercial services for the park service directed other parks to avoid their own bans until further notice.

"A number of concessioners and bottled water suppliers have expressed concern over this initiative," Jo Pendry wrote last Jan. 11. "The Director has asked that we host a meeting with the water bottlers ... (and) also asked that no NEW initiatives be implemented until a Service-wide position is developed on this issue (e.g., no new water bottle bans!)"

The ban was championed as a way to reduce solid waste by Steve Martin, who retired as superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park earlier this year.

"Both the paper record is there for how widespread the understanding of what we were doing was, and the approvals," The Associated Press quoted him as saying last month. "That's what makes it so extraordinary. Right as we're moving to the finish line on a really excellent program, because of Coke's influence, it was scuttled."

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John Amis / AP

Bishop Eddie Long kisses is wife Vanessa Long before speaking on Sept. 26, 2010, at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church near Atlanta. Vanessa Long withdrew her petition for divorce on Friday, hours after filing for the split.

Updated at 8 p.m. EST

The divorce of Bishop Eddie Long, the Georgia megachurch pastor once accused of coercing four young men into having sex, is on again, according to his wife's lawyer.

A change of heart was reported earlier Friday just hours after Vanessa Long had announced that she had filed for divorce from Long after 21 years of marriage.

In a statement issued late Friday, Vanessa Long's attorney says "she has determined that dismissal of her divorce petition is not appropriate at this time."

Earlier Friday, she said in a statement released through Eddie Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church that she loves her husband and planned to withdraw her petition.  

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had reported: 

"Upon prayerful reflection, I have reconsidered and plan to withdraw my petition for divorce from my husband, Bishop Eddie L. Long," she said in an emailed statement bearing the New Birth logo. "I love my husband. I believe in him and admire his strength and courage."
She went on to blame "years of attacks in the media" for her initial decision to seek a divorce.

The church's statement represented an about face from Long, who said earlier she decided to "terminate my marriage" after "a great deal of deliberation and prayer."

"It is my sincere hope that this matter can be resolved expeditiously, harmoniously, and fairly," she said in her initial statement.

"I ask that you respect my privacy and that of my family, as my attorneys and I have agreed that we will not try this case in the media, and I do not intend to make any further statements concerning this matter," she added. "I also ask that the public pray for my entire family during this difficult period of transition."

According to the divorce petition filed Thursday in DeKalb Superior Court, the couple is "currently living in a bona fide state of separation."

In May this year, Bishop Long settled lawsuits filed by the four men who once attended the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in suburban Atlanta.

Days later the congregation cheered Long as he took the pulpit, while the choir opened the service with the hymn "Moving Forward," which began: "I'm not going back, I'm moving ahead. Here to declare to you my past is over."

The allegations by the men were not investigated criminally because Georgia's age of consent is 16. The young men were 17 and 18 when the alleged sexual contact occurred.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Earlier: Megachurch pastor's wife seeks divorce

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Some New Yorkers may have wondered what Mayor Michael Bloomberg was smoking when he proclaimed he has his "own army” and admitted he "smoked up" in college during an unscripted speech at MIT Tuesday.

During that speech, Bloomberg let down his guard on a wide range of topics – including his own drug and alcohol use in the 1960s.

“I don’t know where you went to school, but we were too smoked up and drunk to carry a gun,” Bloomberg said, after describing a conversation with an Oklahoma lawmaker about legislation banning guns on college campuses.

See video and read the original report at NBCNewYork.com

The “smoked up” comment came after Bloomberg described how powerful his job is.

“Where else would I run an organization with 330,000 employees? I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh-biggest army in the world,” Bloomberg said.

He added, “I have my own State Department, to Foggy Bottom's annoyance. We have the U.N. in New York, so we have entrée into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have.”

Bloomberg made the comments as he gave the keynote address at MIT’s Collaborative Initiative Conference, on the tech campus in Cambridge, Mass.

Bloomberg’s spokesman said there was “nothing new” about the mayor’s puzzling statements on Tuesday.

Stu Loeser said “he was speaking a bit euphemistically to a bunch of college students.”

Bloomberg also raised eyebrows when he said it wouldn’t be so bad to double class sizes as long as the teachers are capable, and said the reason students aren’t allowed to bring their iPads to class is because they would download pornography, causing lawsuits.

“This is Bloomberg unbound,” political strategist Dan Gerstein said. "He doesn’t have to run for reelection. I think you’re actually gonna see more of this over the next couple of years until he leaves office.”

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Nuri Vallbona / AP

Trainer Marcia Hinton with Lolita during a performance at the Seaquarium in Miami in 1995.

Supporters have offered $1 million for her release. Annual demonstrations have demanded her return to the Northwest. Over the years, celebrities, schoolchildren and even a Washington state governor have campaigned to free Lolita, a killer whale captured from Puget Sound waters in 1970 and who has been performing at Miami Seaquarium for the past four decades.

Activists are now suing the federal government in federal court in Seattle, saying it should have protected Lolita when it listed other Southern Resident orcas as an endangered species in 2005.

"The fact that the federal government has declared these pods to be endangered is a good thing, but they neglected to include these captives," said Karen Munro, a plaintiff in the lawsuit who lives in Olympia, Wash. Plaintiffs include two other individuals, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The lawsuit filed in November alleges that the fisheries service allows the Miami Seaquarium to keep Lolita in conditions that harm and harass her and otherwise wouldn't be allowed under the Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit alleges Lolita is confined in an inadequate tank without sufficient space and without companions of her own species.

The agency is still reviewing the lawsuit, said Monica Allen, a spokeswoman with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose fisheries service oversees marine mammals.

Lolita, who is estimated to be about 44 or 45, is the last surviving orca captured from the Southern Resident orca population during the 1970s. She is a member of the L pod, or family. Female orcas generally live into their 50s though they can live decades longer.

Wallie Funk / AP

In this Aug. 8, 1970, photo provided by Wallie Funk, members of a pod of orca whales are held captive in Penn Cove, off Whidbey Island, Wash. Seven of the dozens of whales captured, including Lolita, who has been performing stunts for Miami Seaquarium for the past four decades, were sold to marine parks around the world. Five whales drowned during the capture.

The J, K and L pods frequent Western Washington's inland marine waters and are genetically and behaviorally distinct from other killer whales. They eat salmon rather than marine mammals, show an attachment to the region, and make sounds that are considered a unique dialect. The whales, with striking black coloring and white bellies, spend time in tight, social groups and ply the waters of Puget Sound and British Columbia.

When the National Marine Fisheries Service listed the Southern Resident orcas as endangered — in decline because of lack of prey, pollution and contaminants, and effects from vessels and other factors — it didn't include whales placed in captivity prior to the listing or their captive born offspring.

They're "not maximizing opportunity to protect the species if you exclude captive members," said Craig Dillard, litigation director for the Animal Legal Defense. Lolita should have the same protections as other wild orcas, he added.

He noted that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering whether to give all captive chimpanzees the same protection as wild chimpanzees.

'She remembers'
The Miami Seaquarium declined to comment on the lawsuit. It issued a statement saying Lolita is active, healthy, well-cared for and plays an important role in educating the public about the need to conserve the species. Lolita has learned to trust humans completely, the statement says, and "this longstanding behavioral trust would be dangerous for her if she were returned to Puget Sound, where commercial boat traffic and human activity are heavy, pollution is a serious issue and the killer whale population has been listed as an endangered species."

Howard Garrett, co-founder of the nonprofit Orca Network based on Whidbey Island, Wash., said returning her to Northwest waters is the right thing to do. It would be healthier for her, and allow her to rebuild family bonds with the L pod.

"She remembers where she came from. I think she will remember her water and her family," said Garrett, who has spent years advocating for her release and whose group plans to help Lolita transition back to Northwest waters.

Munro joined the lawsuit because she believes Lolita deserves to retire and return to the Puget Sound, where she can swim naturally and attempt to reunite with her family.

She became an advocate for the majestic creatures, after witnessing a "very violent, distressing scene" of orcas being torn from their pods while out sailing in 1976. The captors used explosives, boats and seaplanes to chase the animals into shallower waters and netted them, she said.

"They were taking these orcas away purely for money and profit, because they make huge amounts of money from whale shows. They (orcas) don't belong in these aquariums," she said, adding "Lolita deserves to come back."

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Broward Sheriff's Office

Philip Winikoff, 81, admitted to fondling two women in 2006.

An 81-year-old Florida man who claimed he was a doctor and went door-to-door offering free breast exams was sentenced to 13 months' jailtime on Friday.

Philip Winikoff, of Coconut Creek, admitted approaching women in a Lauderdale Lakes apartment complex in 2006 under the guise of a doctor who was performing complementary breast exams in the area. Prosecutors said two women were assaulted before Winikoff was caught.

At his hearing, a judge also said Winikoff will be on probation for 15 years after his release from prison under the terms of a plea deal reached with prosecutors this week, reported NBCMiami.com.

According to Prosecutor Lawren Zann, Winikoff, carrying a black bag, introduced himself as a doctor to his victims and got them to invite him into their apartments. The first woman's boyfriend was in a different room in the apartment as Winikoff massaged her breasts and asked her to undress, Zann said, reported Florida's Sun-Sentinel.

He then allegedly fondled her genitals before the woman stopped the exam. He immediately found his next victim in the same apartment complex, and repeated the ruse, Zann said.

Winikoff was charged with sexual battery and practicing medicine without a license. Several family members were in court on his behalf, including his wife, The Sun-Sentinel reported.

Had Winikoff been convicted at trial, he could have faced up to 55 years in prison.

A 7-year-old boy has been accused of sexual harassment after punching a fellow first-grader in the groin, but the boy's mother says he was acting in self-defense.

Tasha Lynch told The Boston Globe that her son, Mark Curran, was being choked during the Nov. 22 incident on a school bus, and has been afraid to go back to school in South Boston ever since.

“I think my kid was right to fight back [after he was choked],’’ she said. “He wasn’t doing anything except protecting himself.’’

A spokesman for the Boston public schools confirmed the incident had been classified as possible sexual harassment, but declined to comment it. Curran faces suspension or being transferred to another school if his actions are deemed to be sexual harassment, according to a letter from his school.

“Any kind of inappropriate touching would fall under that category,’’ school spokesman Matthew Wilder said to The Globe. “The school administration is conducting a full investigation that has not concluded yet. Certainly, once that investigation is through, we’ll then make a final conclusion as to who will be disciplined and how.’’

Boy took his gloves, choked him, kid says
Lynch said she could tell her son was upset when she picked him up from the bus stop after school on Nov. 22. She said she asked him what was wrong, and he told her another boy had choked him and taken his new gloves.

Furious, Lynch said she went up to the bus driver and demanded to know what had happened.

“He just smiled and shrugged,’’ she said. She called school officials but no one got back to her, so the following week she had her older son took Mark into the principal's office to tell her, reported The Globe.

“I just thought they were going to call the parents, tell us both to come in and make the boys shake hands,’’ Lynch said. Or, at least, make the other boy return her son's gloves. Instead, Tynan Elementary school officials began questioning Mark about his role in the scuffle.

“They didn’t believe me,’’ Curran told The Globe on Thursday. “I didn’t get my gloves back.’’

Tynan Elementary School Principal Leslie Gant didn't believe that Mark was acting out of self-defense, Lynch told The Globe.

“She said, ‘It doesn’t matter who hit who first,’ ’’ Lynch said. “‘He said he hit him in the testicles. That’s assault. That’s sexual assault.’"

I said: ‘The kid choked my son first and that’s called attempted murder. He said he couldn’t breathe.’’’

The school sent a letter to stating her son was accused of sexual harassment and endangering physical safety of other students.

A hearing for Curran will be held on Monday.

Lynch has told the school she doesn't want her son riding the bus without an adult there to make sure he's safe.

• Read the full story in The Boston Globe

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FOX

WFLD's Robin Robinson issued an apology to viewers after dashing the Santa dream for some children the night before.

Warning: If there are any Santa-loving wee ones peeking over your shoulder, this would be a good time to send them on their way.

Shortly after airing a news segment aimed at helping parents curb their kids’ high-budget Christmas expectations, WFLD anchor Robin Robinson decided it was the perfect time to cut to the chase and advised parents to just tell kids there’s no such thing as Santa.

Just one problem with that Grinch-worthy reveal —  Robinson delivered it in primetime, without one of those handy “tell the kids to leave the room” warnings.

“Stop trying to convince your kids that Santa is Santa,” the Chicago newscaster said bluntly. “That’s what my take is. Forget about it. That’s why they have these high expectations. They know you can’t afford it, so they’re going to ask some man in a red suit. There’s no Santa!”

According to Robinson, children should learn the truth as soon as they can talk. And no doubt many did when they heard her comments for themselves. That detail earned Robinson a fair share of angry messages from moms and dads.

The next night she returned to the tube with a Santa-sized mea culpa.

“It was careless and callous to say what I said in what could have been mixed company,” Robinson told viewers. "So many kids don’t get to be children that for those who do get to live the wonder and magic of Christmas, I would never spoil it intentionally. So I sincerely apologize.”

What do you think? Was the anchor out of line? Is her apology enough to satisfy parents dealing with the no-Santa fallout she brought about? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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More than 200,000 homes and businesses remained without power for a second day on Friday after powerful winds toppled trees and power lines and left debris across a wide swath of Southern California.

The fierce gusts that tore across Western states Thursday created a path of destruction that closed schools and prompted some communities to declare emergencies.

The storms, described as a once-in-a-decade event, were the result of a dramatic difference in pressure between a strong, high-pressure system and a cold, low-pressure system, meteorologists said. This funnels strong winds down mountain canyons and slopes.

The system brought high wind warnings and advisories for California, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico. The blustery weather was expected to next hit Oklahoma, Missouri and Indiana.

'Off and on'
The violent winds eased but strong gusts still blew through the region Thursday night, at times reaching 60 mph in some California mountains.

Forecasters said the winds would continue Friday, but diminish as the day wore on.

"It looks like we're going to have winds, off and on, through the weekend," said NBC4 forecaster Byron Miranda from Los Angeles.

Read complete coverage from NBC Los Angeles

The winds were also fanning fires in northern California.

The Sacramento Bee reported that more than a dozen fires burned more than 130 acres in El Dorado County. Five fires had also destroyed more than 250 acres in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties.

In Southern California, the storm knocked out electricity to more than 350,000 utility customers. By early Friday, 240,000 of them were still without power.

Gusts, which reached 80 mph, were blamed for toppling semitrailers and causing trees to fall on homes, apartment complexes and cars.

Gene Blevins / Reuters

Local residents look at eucalyptus trees which fell on cars and blocked the street on Avenue 57 after a heavy wind storm in Los Angeles.

A state of emergency was declared in Los Angeles County, where schools in a dozen communities were closed.

In some neighborhoods, concrete light poles cracked in half. Darkened traffic signals and fallen palm tree fronds and branches snarled traffic. At a Shell station, the roof collapsed into a heap of twisted metal.

Heaviest hit area
In heavily damaged Pasadena, schools and libraries closed and a local emergency, the first since 2004, was declared. Officials said 40 people were evacuated from an apartment building after a tree smashed part of the roof.

Pasadena is known for its historic homes and wide oak-lined streets that are frequently depicted in films.

"We still have large trees blocking streets and getting them removed is a priority today," said Lisa Derderian, emergency management coordinator for Pasadena.

About 200 buildings were damaged there. More than 40 buildings were red tagged, meaning they are not inhabitable.

"It will take weeks to get this stuff clear," contractor Tony Martinez told NBC Los Angeles. "We've got some crews, the city has some crews, so if we keep this up we're talking about a month or so."

Many residents Thursday blamed the city for protecting its old trees from over-trimming to such an extent that they have now become a public safety hazard.

Vince Mehrabian, the general manager at A&B Motor Cars, estimated eight Lexus, Cadillac and other luxury cars had been destroyed by fallen limbs. He said he'd been asking the city for four years to trim the trees more.

On a street around the corner, almost every tree was either cracked in half or missing limbs.

Elsewhere, San Diego’s Anna Cearley posted on her Twitter feed how she was kept awake by the wind.

“Thought we were done with #winds in #SanJose but tonight is worse yet. Whistling so loud, can't sleep,” she said on Friday.

Similar stories of downed trees and power lines echoed across the West. Areas hit hard:

Utah
On Interstate 15, strong gusts blew more than 10 semi-trucks onto their sides, prompting authorities to temporarily close the highway to trucks. Commuter train travel was also interrupted after debris covered the tracks.

Schools closed in Centerville, where a 102-mph gust was reported. Mail delivery and trash pickup were canceled.

Davis County issued a disaster declaration to request state assistance, citing more than $3.5 million in estimated damage to infrastructure.

The Red Cross opened three centers to provide food and aid to people affected by the storm, and opened one overnight shelter in Ogden.

Nevada
Weather officials warned that blowing dust was creating visibility problems on a highway between Reno and Las Vegas.

Colorado
In Steamboat Springs, the roof of a four-story condominium complex was blown off and about 100 trees were knocked over, some landing on homes. A ski area shut down its lifts after a gust of 123 mph.

Even some weather experts were surprised by the wind's force.

Jonathan Lloyd from NBC News Los Angeles, msnbc.com's Sevil Omer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.  

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 STATE COLLEGE, Pa - Penn State University's Board of Trustees on Friday formally dismissed legendary football coach Joe Paterno and President Graham Spanier, finalizing actions announced last month.

The board's executive committee held a five-minute teleconference to make the firings official and ensure that the university was following proper procedure about public meetings, said spokesman Bill Mahon.

The university announced Paterno's and Spanier's firings on Nov. 9, four days after former Penn State football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested on charges he had sex with young boys over a 15-year period.

"I think today we wanted to make sure we crossed our 't's and dotted our 'i's," Bill Mahon said.

Paterno was head coach of the Nittany Lions, a college football powerhouse, for 46 years.

Nine alleged victims have accused Sandusky of abuse, and one has filed a lawsuit against Sandusky, Penn State and The Second Mile, a charity founded by Sandusky to help troubled children.

Read interview with Sandusky on Rock Center

Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator, faces 40 counts for purportedly sexually assaulting eight boys over a 15-year period. If convicted, he faces life in prison. He has maintained his innocence.

The executive committee voted unanimously on the resolutions severing Paterno and Spanier from their positions, Mahon said. It also voted unanimously on the resolution replacing Spanier with Rodney Erickson.

Trustee Steve Garban, chairman of the teleconference, said in a statement that the purpose of the meeting was to "reaffirm" the board's Nov. 9 actions.

"While the board believes immediate action was necessary, it is holding a special meeting of its executive committee to reaffirm and ratify the board's prior personnel action," Garban said.

Although technically fired, Spanier still holds a tenured position with the university. Mahon said he remains eligible to go on a one-year sabbatical and return to teach at Penn State following a hiatus.

Mahon could not say for certain if the same provision worked for Paterno.

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By msnbc.com and NBC News

A freight train derailed early Friday near Chicago's Midway Airport, but no injuries were reported.

Several cars were off the tracks and one car was leaning over the overpass at 47th Street and Archer Avenue on Chicago's Southwest Side, according to NBCChicago.com. The incident occurred a half-mile north of Orange Line trains, delaying Metra trains and blocking traffic in the area, reported The Chicago Tribune.

The cause of the derailment is under investigation, a spokesperson for BNSF Railway Co. told the Tribune.