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The Joe Paterno statue was removed Sunday morning from its pedestal outside Beaver Stadium, and it will be stored in an unnamed "secure location," Penn State president Rodney Erickson announced. Erickson also said the Paterno name will remain on the university's library. Shortly before dawn in State College, Pa., a work crew installed chain-link fences to barricade access to Porter Road outside Beaver Stadium and covered the fence with a blue tarp. The work crew then removed the 7-foot, 900-pound bronze statue by forklift and placed it into the lower level of the stadium. Erickson released his highly sensitive decision...

The embattled members of Penn State's Board of Trustees quietly have decided to leave Joe Paterno's statue standing -- at least for now and, some hope, forever, according to sources with firsthand knowledge of the trustees' private discussions this week. The trustees' reluctance to remove the statue is motivated, in part, by a desire not to offend alumni and students who adore the late coach despite the damning findings of his role in the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse cover-up detailed in the Freeh report, the sources said. Some trustees also said in interviews they want to resist being pressured...

In January 2011, Joe Paterno learned prosecutors were investigating his longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky for sexually assaulting young boys. Soon, Mr. Paterno had testified before a grand jury, and the rough outlines of what would become a giant scandal had been published in a local newspaper. That same month, Mr. Paterno, the football coach at Penn State, began negotiating with his superiors to amend his contract, with the timing something of a surprise because the contract was not set to expire until the end of 2012, according to university documents and people with knowledge of the discussions. By August,...

The report which Penn State commissioned regarding the Jerry Sandusky scandal has been released. The findings of the commission, chaired by former FBI Director Louie Freeh, are a scathing indictment of the processes and procedures used by Penn State to deal with the allegations of sexual molestation by a football coach.Little is revealed in the report which was not already generally known, but the tone and breadth of the reporting was startlingly harsh. No one is immune from criticism ranging from the president of the university all the way down to a janitor who witnessed an episode of sexual molestation...

The independent report by Louis Freeh and his law firm, Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan, LLP, into the facts and circumstances of the actions of The Pennsylvania State University surrounding the child sexual abuse committed by a former employee, Gerald A. Sandusky, will be available at 9am today. Mr. Freeh’s statement is available now by clicking on the Download the Press Release link below.

Joe Paterno defended his football program's integrity in a 7-month-old letter released Wednesday, a day ahead of a report that could forever mar his legacy. In the letter, written shortly before his death and confirmed as legitimate by his family, Paterno rejected the notion that Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse of boys amounted to a ''football scandal'' or in any way tarnished the accomplishments of his players or Penn State's reputation as a whole. The results of Penn State's internal investigation into the Sandusky scandal are set to be released Thursday in a report that should answer many of the troubling...

The Penn State horror story has taken a twist for the sicker. And Joe Paterno's legacy is now more clearly defined. E-mails have been uncovered by NBC. Three scared sheep - Penn State's president, vice president and athletic director - were going to alert the real authorities to the possible misdeeds of Jerry Sandusky, until the athletic director spoke with Paterno and persuaded the other two Sheep not to be so rash. Subsequently, at least four more young boys were molested by Sandusky. Paterno apparently persuaded the group to go easy on old Jerry. The athletic director, Tim Curley, e-mailed...

CNN have reportedly been informed of the contents of emails between top Penn State officials that allege a cover-up of a 2001 incident involving Jerry Sandusky, and the messages seem to implicate that it was Joe Paterno's idea to not report Sandusky

Jerry Sandusky, the former Assistant Coach for Penn State, was found guilty today of molesting children. The high-profile began last year when almost a dozen people came out, revealing that Sandusky has molested them, which then resulted in the firing of Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno. Sandusky was found guilty of at least some of the almost 50 that were levied against him. The jurors deliberated for two days, starting yesterday. Sandusky leaving court earlier today Sandusky's stepson also stated yesterday that his father had abused him. However, jurors were not aware of this as they were sequestered. Sandusky...

Penn State officials, in an attempt to get the family of Joe Paterno to sign away its right to sue the school, offered to rename Beaver Stadium after the late coach, The Patriot-News has reported, citing a source close to the family. But the family said no. Paterno had never been keen on the stadium bearing his name, an idea that "has always been a fan-driven matter. It was never important to Joe," the source told the Harrisburg, Pa., newspaper. Joe Paterno had never been keen on Penn State's stadium bearing his name, an idea that "has always been a...

Nearly 14 years ago in an appearance on “The Charlie Rose Show,” former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich revealed that he had sought advice from Pennsylvania State University coach Joe Paterno while at the helm of the U.S. House of Representatives. “I’ve talked to Joe Paterno at Penn State a couple of times and said, ‘Alright, I’m not getting this thing done right. What would you change?’ He gave me very good advice about how he coaches and how he brings along his assistant coaches and how he deals with the players. He said, ‘First of all, you’ve got...

January 22nd was a sad day in America. A pitiful and depressing episode that confirms how a lawyer-controlled and weak-kneed society, ended with the tragic death of Joe Paterno. As sure as day turns into night, the actions taken last November by the Board of Trustees of Penn State University were responsible for the premature death of this great man. I grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, next door to Paterno’s domain: Pennsylvania. My father graduated from Ohio State, and I was – and still am – a born-and-bred Buckeye fan. I clearly remember the emergence of Joe Pa at...

The Allentown Morning Call reported on Twitter at 8:50 p.m. that former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno died tonight at the age of 85. The newspaper said football players received an email confirming the former coach's death.

Joe Paterno has died at the age of 85

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (CBS Cleveland/AP) — Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno died Saturday night from lung cancer at the age of 85, Onward State, the student-run university website, reports. The winningest major college football coach of all time, Paterno was diagnosed shortly after Penn State’s Board of Trustees ousted him Nov. 9 in the aftermath of the child sex abuse charges against former assistant Jerry Sandusky. Paterno was getting treatment since, and his health problems worsened when he broke his pelvis — an injury that first cropped up when he was accidentally hit in preseason practice last...

Joe Paterno, the man who for decades was synonymous with Penn State football and was known by the college football world as just "JoePa", has died. Paterno, 85, had been receiving chemotherapy as part of his treatment for lung cancer, and complications from that treatment claimed the longtime Penn State coach's life on Saturday. Paterno was the head coach of Penn State for 46 seasons before being fired in November as his role in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal came under greater scrutiny. Combined with the time he spent as an assistant, Paterno spent a total of 61...

Joe Paterno, Division I's all-time winningest coach who was fired by Penn State in November, has experienced further complications from treatment from lung cancer and is in "serious" condition, a family spokesman said in a statement Saturday. "Over the last few days Joe Paterno has experienced further health complications," a Paterno family spokesman said Saturday. "His doctors have now characterized his status as serious. His family will have no comment on the situation and asks that their privacy be respected during this difficult time." The 85-year old Paterno has been battling lung cancer. A source told The Citizens' Voice on...

Legendary former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is gravely ill and his family is rushing to State College to be by his side, his family has confirmed According to Onward State, Paterno was taken off of a respirator earlier today. However, the Paterno family has not confirmed that report.Facebook and Twitter are flooded with students and fans saying that they are praying for Joe and for the Paterno family. “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...

NEW YORK -- Penn State's trustees agonized over the future of legendary football coach Joe Paterno but ultimately decided to fire the Hall of Famer in part over what they said was his failure to go to authorities with a report of alleged sexual assault of a child by an assistant coach nearly a decade ago, according to a report published Thursday in The New York Times. Some of the 13 trustees interviewed by The Times said they were also troubled when Paterno greeted fans and supporters on his front lawn -- and leading them in school cheers -- just...

By now, you've likely seen the interview with Joe Paterno printed in Sunday's Washington Post and conducted by their terrific and much-decorated writer Sally Jenkins. In it, she asks the former Penn State coach about his response to Mike McQueary's March 2002 report to him of alleged indecent activity involving Jerry Sandusky and a boy in a Lasch Building shower. This is the part of Jenkins' story that jumped out at me: He reiterated that McQueary was unclear with him about the nature of what he saw — and added that even if McQueary had been more graphic, he’s not...