In brief: Halo removed from Paterno mural

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – An artist has removed a halo from a mural of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno amid the school’s child sex-abuse scandal.

Michael Pilato had put a halo over Paterno’s image after the beloved coach’s death in January, but said he felt he had to remove it Saturday after a report that Paterno, former university President Graham Spanier and others buried allegations of child sex-abuse against ex-assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Paterno’s family denies the claim.

Pilato added a large blue ribbon, instead, on Paterno’s lapel symbolizing support for child abuse victims, a cause the artist said Paterno had endorsed.

Pilato earlier removed Sandusky from the downtown mural. He said he hasn’t made a decision on Spanier’s image.

Familiar Romney foe wins nomination

BALTIMORE – A doctor who ran against Mitt Romney for Massachusetts governor a decade ago won the chance to challenge him again on Saturday, this time as the Green Party’s presidential nominee.

Jill Stein, an internist from Lexington, Mass., blasted both Romney and President Barack Obama, saying both had become too dependent on donations from corporations in order to acquire office at the expense of the nation’s citizens.

“We need real public servants who listen to the people – not to the corporate lobbyists that funnel campaign checks into the big war chests,” Stein told applauding supporters at a Holiday Inn in Baltimore. “That’s what brought me to the Green Party, the only national party that is not bought and paid for by corporate money.”