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Brokaw retiring after 55 years

"NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw delivers his closing remarks during his final broadcast, in New York on Dec. 1, 2004. Brokaw says he is retiring from NBC News after working at the network for 55 years. The author of "The Greatest Generation" is now 80 years old and his television appearances have been limited in recent years as he fought cancer. He says he will continue writing books and articles. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

NEW YORK — NBC News veteran Tom Brokaw said Friday that he is retiring from the network after 55 years. Brokaw, author of “The Greatest Generation,” was NBC’s lead anchor at “Nightly News” and for big events for more than 20 years before giving way to Brian Williams in 2004. The 80-year-old newsman did documentaries and made other appearances for the networks after that, but he has fought cancer and his television appearances have been more sporadic. He said he will continue to be active in print journalism, writing books and articles. Brokaw began at NBC in its Los Angeles bureau in the 1960s, where he covered Ronald Reagan’s first run for public office and the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. He was a White House correspondent during Richard Nixon’s presidency, and began co-hosting the “Today” show in 1976. He started hosting “Nightly News” in 1983. For two decades, the triumvirate of Brokaw, ABC’s Peter Jennings and CBS’ Dan Rather were the nation’s most visible broadcasters, anchoring major stories like the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. “During one of the most complex and consequential eras in American history, a new generation of NBC News journalists, producers and technicians is providing America with timely, insightful and critically important information, 24/7.” Brokaw said. “I could not be more proud of them.”

Rare gold coin sells for $9.36M

DALLAS — A rare gold coin made by a noted craftsman in New York in 1787 has sold at auction in Dallas for $9.36 million. Heritage Auctions offered the New York-style Brasher Doubloon on Thursday evening as part of an auction of U.S. coins. Heritage said the sale is the most ever paid for a gold coin at auction and the buyer wished to remain anonymous. “The Brasher Doubloons, for coin collectors, coin connoisseurs, this is sort of a holy grail … the one piece that is the most famous and the most desired coin,” said Todd Imhof, Heritage’s executive vice president. Of the seven such coins known to exist, the one sold Thursday was the “finest quality,” Imhof said. It came from the collection of the late New York businessman Donald G. Partrick, who purchased it in 1979 for $725,000. The coins have such mystique that one was featured in the Raymond Chandler novel “The High Window.” The U.S. Mint didn’t begin releasing coins until 1793. Before that, the coins circulating were colonial, from private minters or foreign. Ephraim Brasher, a New York gold and silversmith known for producing high quality items, made the Brasher Doubloons, Imhof said. He said elements featured on the coins, including an eagle, became part of the nation’s coins. “I think these coins are generally considered to have been sort of prototypes, experimental pieces if you will, and were likely given to VIPs and dignitaries at the time.”

Make-A-Wish Iowa CEO charged

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The former CEO of Make-A-Wish Iowa has been arrested on three felony charges alleging she embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from the charity that supports sick children. Jennifer Woodley, 40, was booked at the Polk County Jail in Des Moines on Thursday on two counts of first-degree theft and the unauthorized use of a credit card. She was released on bond. Months after becoming its leader, Woodley secretly awarded herself a $10,000 bonus in October 2019 that had not been approved by the board, according to criminal complaints unsealed Friday. The bonus, which Woodley added to a list of legitimate bonuses earned by other employees, cost the organization $15,540 in all, police said. Woodley also made 84 unauthorized purchases on an organization credit card that were for her personal use, totaling more than $23,000 over a 10-month span, the complaints state. Make-A-Wish Iowa has an annual budget of $4 million, a staff of 16 employees and is governed by a 17-member volunteer board. During Woodley’s tenure, the 35-year-old chapter granted its 4,000th wish for a child and said it planned to grant about 170 wishes for children per year. Jail records list Woodley’s new address as Winston Salem, North Carolina, where her husband, Matt Woodley, is an assistant basketball coach at Wake Forest. The couple has had two daughters who have required brain surgery, and one of them received a trip to Walt Disney World through Make-A-Wish Iowa before Woodley was hired as CEO.

Austin wins confirmation

WASHINGTON — Lloyd J. Austin, a West Point graduate who rose to the Army’s elite ranks and marched through racial barriers in a 41-year career, won Senate confirmation Friday to become the nation’s first Black secretary of defense. The 93-2 vote gave President Joe Biden his second Cabinet member; Avril Haines was confirmed on Wednesday as the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence. Biden is expected to win approval for others on his national security team in coming days, including Antony Blinken as secretary of state. Biden is looking for Austin to restore stability atop the Pentagon, which went through two Senate-confirmed secretaries of defense and four who held the post on an interim basis during the Trump administration. The only senators who voted against Austin were Republicans Mike Lee of Utah and Josh Hawley of Missouri.

Tire falls from small plane

CHICAGO — A tire fell from a small plane near homes in a Chicago neighborhood before the plane landed safely at O’Hare International Airport. No injuries were reported on the ground or among those on the plane, which sent up sparks on a runway as it landed Thursday evening without its left side landing gear, the Chicago Department of Aviation said. Rose Bock said she heard a big boom in her Jefferson Park neighborhood about seven miles from the airport before the wheel was found in a neighbor’s yard. “I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know if it was in my house, I checked the basement, everything,” Bock said. “I really didn’t look outside.” The single-engine plane was traveling to Chicago from Ironwood, which is located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Two crew members and five passengers were on board. Shonah Grant said she and her husband spotted the plane’s tire near their front porch when they returned from a walk. Grant said her children at home heard a bang as the wheel fell between the houses. “It is a little freaky because where we live, we’re right in a flight path to O’Hare. We have massive planes that fly over. Thank God it was a small plane, but it’s really surreal.”

Juvenile lifer could be released

DETROIT — A man who has been in prison for nearly 50 years for murder when he was a teenager has won a major decision from the Michigan appeals court that should lead to his eventual release. A Wayne County judge violated David Bennett’s rights when he cited mental health as a reason to keep him locked up with no chance for parole, the appeals court said Thursday. Bennett, now 66, has become a “productive, stable and peaceful adult” while in prison, even saving more than $40,000 through various jobs, the court said in a 3-0 opinion. “Treated mental illness is not a signal of irreparable corruption, and no evidence even hinted that Bennett’s mental illness created a realistic danger that he would reoffend,” the court said. Bennett, who was 17 when he fatally stabbed Vivian Berry, was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1972. But like hundreds of other convicted teens in Michigan, he was eligible for a new hearing based on U.S. Supreme Court decisions that say minors must not be treated the same as adults at sentencing. A judge must consider the crime but also Bennett’s background.

Segregationist’s statue out

RICHMOND, Va. — A panel of Virginia legislators advanced a bill Friday to remove a statue of Harry F. Byrd Sr., a staunch segregationist, from the state Capitol grounds. The decision to advance the bill comes amid a yearslong effort in history-rich Virginia to rethink who is honored in the state’s public spaces. Byrd, a Democrat, served as governor and U.S. senator. He ran the state’s most powerful political machine for decades until his death in 1966 and was considered the architect of the state’s racist “massive resistance” policy to public school integration. “It is my deep belief that monuments to segregation, massive resistance, and the subjugation of one race below another, like this statue, serve only as a reminder to the overt and institutional racism has and continues to plague our Commonwealth,” the bill’s sponsor, Del. Jay Jones, said when introducing the measure.

Home sales highest in 14 years

WASHINGTON — Sales of existing homes rose 0.7% in December, pushing the entirety of 2020 to a pace not seen in 14 years and providing one of the few bright spots for a U.S. economy mired in a global pandemic. Rising sales in the final month of the year lifted activity to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.76 million units in December, the National Association of Realtors reported Friday. For all of 2020, sales rose to 6.48 million, the highest level since 2006 at the height of the housing boom. That represented a 5.6% gain from the 5.34 million previously owned homes sold in 2019. The median sales prices was $309,800 in December, up 12.9% from a year ago. The big jump in prices reflected strong demand as Americans locked down by the pandemic and forced to work from home are seeking to move to larger homes. Sales have been boosted by record-low mortgage rates. Economists predicted those trends would continue this year, though mortgage rates may rise slightly from record lows if the economy improves as expected.

Armed lawmaker causes stir

WASHINGTON — Capitol Police are investigating an incident in which a Republican lawmaker was blocked from entering the House chamber after setting off a metal detector while apparently carrying a concealed gun. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., set off the metal detector while trying to enter the chamber Thursday afternoon. The metal detectors were installed after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, which left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer. The incident was witnessed by a reporter from the Huffington Post. After setting off the machine, Harris was asked to step aside for further screening. At that time, an officer discovered Harris was carrying a concealed gun on his side, according to the reporter. The officer sent Harris away, at which point Harris tried to get Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., to take the gun from him. Katko refused, telling Harris he didn’t have a license to carry a gun. Harris eventually left and returned less than 10 minutes later. He once again went through security and did not set off the magnetometer. He was then allowed to enter the House floor. Harris, in his sixth term representing Maryland’s Eastern Shore, issued a statement through his chief of staff, Bryan Shuy. “Because his and his family’s lives have been threatened by someone who has been released awaiting trial, for security reasons, the congressman never confirms whether he nor anyone else he’s with are carrying a firearm for self-defense.”

‘Bigfoot’ hunting season proposed

OKLAHOMA CITY — A mythical, ape-like creature that has captured the imagination of adventurers for decades has now become the target of a state lawmaker in Oklahoma. A Republican House member has introduced a bill that would create a Bigfoot hunting season. Rep. Justin Humphrey’s district includes the heavily forested Ouachita Mountains in southeast Oklahoma, where a Bigfoot festival is held each year near the Arkansas border. He says issuing a state hunting license and tag could help boost tourism. “Establishing an actual hunting season and issuing licenses for people who want to hunt Bigfoot will just draw more people to our already beautiful part of the state,” Humphrey said in a statement. Humphrey says his bill would only allow trapping and that he also hopes to secure $25,000 to be offered as a bounty. Micah Holmes, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, which oversees hunting in Oklahoma, told television station KOCO that the agency uses science-driven research and doesn’t recognize Bigfoot.

Arizona allows rec pot sales

PHOENIX — Legal sales of recreational marijuana in Arizona started on Friday, a once-unthinkable step in the former conservative stronghold that joins 14 other states that have broadly legalized pot. The state Health Services Department on Friday announced it had approved 86 licenses in nine of the state’s 15 counties under provisions of the marijuana legalization measure passed by voters in November. Most of the licenses went to existing medical marijuana dispensaries that can start selling pot right away. Under the terms of Proposition 207, people 21 and older can grow their own plants and legally possess up to an ounce (28 grams) of marijuana or a smaller quantity of “concentrates” such as hashish. Possession of between 1 ounce and 2.5 ounces (70 grams) is a petty offense carrying a maximum $300 fine.

London police break up wedding

LONDON — Police in London said Friday that they have broken up a wedding attended by 150 people — despite a nationwide lockdown that bars households from mixing. The venue was a school whose principal died from the coronavirus last year. The Metropolitan Police force said officers found a large number people packed into the north London school with blacked-out windows on Thursday night. The force said that “following enquiries it was established that the group had gathered at the location for a wedding.” The force initially said 400 people were at the wedding, but later revised the number to 150. Weddings are allowed only in “exceptional circumstances” — such as one partner being dangerously ill — and with a maximum of six people attending. Police said the organizer could face a 10,000-pound ($13,600) fine, Many guests fled as police arrived, but five people who attended received 200-pound fines. The Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School, a state-funded Orthodox Jewish high school, said its hall had been leased to an outside organization and “we had no knowledge that the wedding was taking place.”

Iran blames Bitcoin for outages

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s capital and major cities plunged into darkness in recent weeks as rolling outages left millions without electricity for hours. Traffic lights died. Offices went dark. Online classes stopped. With toxic smog blanketing Tehran skies and the country buckling under the pandemic and other mounting crises, social media has been rife with speculation. Soon, fingers pointed at an unlikely culprit: Bitcoin. Within days, as frustration spread among residents, the government launched a wide-ranging crackdown on Bitcoin processing centers, which require immense amounts of electricity to power their specialized computers and to keep them cool — a burden on Iran’s power grid. Authorities shuttered 1,600 centers across the country, including, for the first time, those legally authorized to operate. As the latest in a series of conflicting government moves, the clampdown stirred confusion in the crypto industry — and suspicion that Bitcoin had become a useful scapegoat for the nation’s deeper-rooted problems.

Vax uncertainty threatens Olympics

TOKYO — Japan is publicly adamant that it will stage its postponed Olympics this summer. But to pull it off, many believe the vaccination of its 127 million citizens for the coronavirus is key. It’s an immense undertaking in the best of circumstances and complicated now by an overly cautious decision-making process, bureaucratic roadblocks and a public that has long been deeply wary of vaccines. Japan hopes to start COVID-19 vaccinations in late February, but uncertainty is growing that a nation ranked among the world’s lowest in vaccine confidence can pull off the massive, $14 billion project in time for the games in July, casting doubt on whether the Tokyo Olympics can happen. Japan has secured vaccines for all its citizens, and then some, after striking deals with three foreign pharmaceutical makers — Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca and Moderna Inc. Its swift action was seen as proof of its resolve to stage the games after a one-year postponement because of the pandemic.

Yellen taps Treasury aides

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that Didem Nisanci will serve as Janet Yellen’s chief of staff once Yellen is confirmed by the Senate. Nisanci, who most recently served as global head of public policy at Bloomberg L.P., was previously the chief of staff for the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Obama-Biden administration. Jason Leibenluft will serve as counselor to the Treasury secretary after having been a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He worked during the Obama-Biden administration in a variety of roles, including deputy director of the National Economic Council. Other staff picks, according to Treasury, include Calvin Mitchell as the assistant secretary for public affairs. Mitchell previously served in Treasury’s public affairs office during the Obama-Biden administration and also served in various government communications roles at the State Department, the National Security Council and the White House press office.

Bus terminal due for an upgrade

NEW YORK — New York City’s main bus terminal, long ridiculed for leaky ceilings, dirty bathrooms and frequent delays, could be in for a major overhaul. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey unveiled a proposal Thursday to rebuild and expand the embattled midtown Manhattan bus terminal. “Everyone knows the bus terminal. Very few have anything good to say about it,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said. “It is way past time that this building be replaced.” The new station would be built on top of the existing one, with sleek, glass-walled entrances and added infrastructure to accommodate more buses. Ramps that stretch across several blocks would be moved, and a storage building would be built to keep empty buses off the streets. Construction could begin in 2024, finish by 2031 and cost as much as $10 billion, the Port Authority said. About $3 billion would come from selling rights to build four commercial buildings in the area, including one atop the terminal. It would also require local and federal funding. The Port Authority Bus Terminal opened in 1950 at Eighth Avenue between 40th and 42nd streets near Times Square. A statue of Ralph Kramden, the fictional bus driver from “The Honeymooners,” stands outside its main entrance. It also provided an apt backdrop for “Midnight Cowboy,” the 1969 film that illuminated New York’s seedy underworld. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the terminal handled more than 250,000 passenger trips on weekdays, many commuting from New Jersey. A Port Authority-commissioned study projected that number would increase to more than 330,000 by 2040.

Pfizer to supply 40M to WHO

Pfizer on Friday committed to supply up to 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine this year to a World Health Organization-backed effort to get affordable shots to poor and middle-income countries. The deal is a boost to the global program known as COVAX, as wealthy nations have snapped up most of the millions of coming shots. The commitment, announced at a virtual press conference held by the Geneva-based WHO, is seen as important because Pfizer and its partner BioNTech won the first emergency authorization from the influential U.S. Food and Drug Administration in mid-December. That clearance makes it easier for international health groups and poor nations to quickly OK emergency use. The 40 million doses — for a vaccine requiring two doses — are a tiny sliver of what’s needed for COVAX, which aims to vaccinate billions of people in 92 low- and middle-income countries.

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