In brief: ‘Oz’ costume sells at auction for $3M

NEW YORK – The Cowardly Lion costume from the classic film “The Wizard of Oz” and the piano from the movie “Casablanca” each sold for over $3 million at a New York City auction. They were among Hollywood memorabilia offered at Bonhams on Monday.

The big cat outfit, which went for just over $3 million, had been authenticated as the one Bert Lahr wore in the 1939 film. Its face is a sculpted likeness of the late actor.

Costume owner James Comisar has a trove of TV memorabilia from shows including “I Love Lucy” and “Lost.” He has said he plans to use money from the Cowardly Lion costume sale to exhibit his collection.

The upright “Casablanca” piano fetched $3.4 million.

Lawsuit seeks review of federal coal leases

BILLINGS – Conservation groups sued the government Tuesday to force officials to undertake their first broad review of the federal coal-leasing program in decades and consider how burning the fuel contributes to climate change.

The lawsuit from Friends of the Earth and the Western Organization of Resource Councils is being paid for by the philanthropic foundation of Microsoft founder Paul Allen. It was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The plaintiffs in the case said there hasn’t been a comprehensive review of the government’s coal program since 1979. That was before climate-changing greenhouse gases produced by burning coal emerged as a significant public concern.

More than 40 percent of the roughly 1 billion tons of coal that is mined annually in the U.S. comes from beneath federal lands in Western states. The coal industry has defended the federal leasing program, which in 2012 brought in $876 million in royalties and almost $1.6 billion in bonus payments on lease sales, according to the Interior Department.

Wild weather finally calms in Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A wild nine-day stretch of weather that saw epic snow followed by springlike temperatures, high winds and flood fears came to a close Tuesday, and forecasters said the Buffalo area was in for an uneventful Thanksgiving.

There were isolated reports of melting snow flooding basements and pooling in yards and roads Tuesday, but the region dodged the widespread flooding that residents had feared when temperatures climbed well above freezing following as much as 7 1/2 feet of snow last week.