Newsmakers

Charged Former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies star Lenny Dykstra was charged with grand theft auto and drug possession by prosecutors who claim he used phony information to lease a car from a Southern California dealership. Dykstra, 48, was charged with 25 misdemeanor and felony counts of grand theft auto, attempted grand theft auto, identity theft and other crimes. He faces up to 12 years in state prison if convicted.

Out To rest his groin ahead of Wimbledon, Roger Federer pulled out of the Gerry Weber Open grass-court tournament at Halle, Germany. Federer is a five-time champion at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament and was the No. 1 seed. “I am very disappointed as it’s one of my absolute favorite tournaments on the ATP Tour, but my body, especially my groin, really needs a rest,” Federer said – a day after losing to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final.

Introduced New Penn State coach Patrick Chambers has declared the dawn of a new era for hoops in Happy Valley. The energetic Chambers was formally introduced as the Nittany Lions’ new leader, taking over two weeks after Ed DeChellis stepped down to become Navy’s new coach. A Philadelphia-area native, Chambers returns to his home state after a successful two-year run at Boston University.

Sued Former Southern California assistant coach Todd McNair has sued the NCAA, accusing the collegiate governing body of libel, slander and misconduct in its investigation of the Reggie Bush case. McNair was punished for what the NCAA claimed was his role in the scandal surrounding the Heisman Trophy-winning tailback. The NCAA claimed he knew about some of the gifts lavished on Bush’s family.

Fined Owner Richard Childress was fined $150,000 for assaulting Kyle Busch, the latest incident in an ongoing feud between NASCAR’s most polarizing driver and Childress’ race teams. The 65-year-old grandfather apparently approached Busch after the Trucks race at Kansas Speedway last Saturday, placed him in a headlock, and punched him several times. Childress was upset that Busch had bumped into Joey Coulter on the cool-down lap after the race.