“That’s more than twice as many as we had at the at the same time last year,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. “We may need to go back to 1959 to find a year with as many cases reported by this time so far, ” she said Thursday.

Pertussis is a highly contagious illness caused by a bacterium called Bordetella pertussis. It easily spreads from person to person when people cough or sneeze. It starts out with symptoms very similar to a cold, but a week or two later, a violent cough develops. It’s better known as whooping cough because of the “whooping” sound those infected make when they are violently coughing over and over again and try to inhale.

The cough can last for weeks, and children can cough so hard and rapidly that blood vessels can burst. They have difficulty eating, drinking and breathing.

Young children are particularly at high risk for serious complications. Schuchat says so far nine babies have died from pertussis this year. She adds that the highest rates of illness have been seen in babies younger than 1, and half of those cases have been infants younger than 3 months old.

Whooping cough is vaccine preventable, but newborns can’t get the first dose of vaccine until they are 2 months. Then they need four more vaccinations before they turn 7 to get full protection. This is why young children are highly dependent on the people close to them to be vaccinated so they don’t pass the disease on to them.

“We strongly urge pregnant women and all who will be around babies to be vaccinated. Infants often get pertussis from a family member or household member,” said Schuchat. The latest CDC data suggest only 8% of adults get a booster vaccine against pertussis.

Schuchat says many states are seeing higher than expected cases of pertussis.

One of the states hit hard in this wave of disease is Washington. In April, the Washington State Department of Health declared an epidemic . The department is reporting 3,014 cases as of July 14 — a 1,300% increase compared with the same time in 2011, when they reported 219 cases. Health Secretary Mary Selecky said: “We are seeing the largest number of cases in our state since the early 1940s.”

Wisconsin is reporting 3,022 confirmed and probable cases so far in 2012.

Schuchat says pertussis cases go up and down in waves. She says if the number of cases continue to grow, “we may be on track for record high pertussis rates this year.” The last time whooping cough rates were climbing in the U.S. was in 2010, when 27,550 cases of pertussis were reported to the CDC.

In addition to high rates of illness among of babies, new data published Thursday in the CDC’s “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,” shows high rates of whooping cough among 13- to 14-year-old adolescents in Washington. Schuchat says this is something health officials are seeing nationwide as well and is different from previous pertussis outbreaks.

Why this is happening isn’t entirely clear. Schuchat suggests waning of immunity or a weakening of the protection over time might be part of the what’s contributing to these teens getting sick.

Health officials acknowledge that vaccines are not perfect, but they do provide the best protection against whooping cough. So the CDC is emphasizing the importance of young children getting their five pertussis vaccinations, then getting the recommended booster shots between 11 and 12 and that adults who will be around babies also getting vaccinated.

“In 2010, only 8% of adults had any history of receiving a Tdap booster,” said Schuchat.

She suggests that clinicians who see patients with a persistent cough consider pertussis as a diagnosis. Then she says doctors should “be proactive with treatment, especially with pregnant women, infants and others who are around infants.”

By Miriam Falco, CNN Medical Managing Editor
™ & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

The fine is equivalent to one year’s worth of football revenue. They money will go to help sex abuse victims.

“No price the NCAA can levy will repair the … damage inflicted by Jerry Sandusky,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said in announcing “unprecedented” sanctions against Penn State University.

Penn State will be ineligible for bowl games for four years. The school also have to forfeit all its football program’s wins from 1998 to 2011. This strips the late Joe Paterno of the title of winningest coach in major football college history.

The NCAA will allow all Penn State football players to transfer and begin playing for a new school immediately.

™ & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Related:
Statue of the late Penn State football Coach Joe Paterno was removed from outside the campus’ stadium.
Penn State leaders showed ‘total disregard’ for victims, review finds
Jury finds Jerry Sandusky guilty on 45 child sex abuse charges

Read the complete story from AP — Police: Pa. mom changed her kids’ grades.

The largest gathering of World War II aircraft was on display at the Ogden-Hinckley Airport this weekend.

Wildfire officials say the lightning-caused, 1,300-acre OMG Fire started near the OMG Gold Mining Mill, west of St. George.

Police are looking for a woman who went missing six weeks ago after crashing a stolen car into a Holladay home. Detectives say 28-year-old Allyson Vavro has been desperately trying to avoid them and is becoming a danger to herself.

Hundreds of kids splashed around in Lehi’s annual Foam Day.

Provo commuter’s car is covered in comics!

Check out the 2012 Pioneer Day Events. We have a look at our photo gallery of the floats in the Days of ’47 Parade.

Defensive lineman Mike Lewis talks to FOX 13′s Jeff Rhineer about the season and the upcoming playoffs.

The commemorative Air Force-owned aircraft are maintained and operated as an all-volunteer non-profit flying museum. All members are dedicated to the preservation of the historic aircraft and the education of the heroic actions of those who risked their lives defending our freedoms.

“The smaller aircraft are primarily based in Utah. We are from the Utah wing and we have a museum of a number of different aircraft up in Heber City at the Heber City airport,” said Dave Bernard, Col. of the Commemorative Air Force.

The current roster includes the B-25 bomber “Maid in the Shade,” the P-51 Mustang, the C-45 and several other warbirds, which were all on display and available for rides and tours in Ogden this weekend.

“There’s still a few hundred of them still flying and that’s what we’re doing here with the Commemorative Air Force is raising funds, keeping them flying and educating the public and enjoying being around them,” said Bernard.

The pilots say they still fly the classic warbirds to keep the public educated and to honor veterans.

“I have two primary goals as to why I do this. We’re an all-volunteer group, we put a lot of blood sweat and tears and quite a bit of money into this and for me, it’s to honor the vets from WWII and from all of the United States,” said Matthew McNamara, pilot.

Russ Gilmore, who flies a B-25 Mitchell that was at the 68th and 70th Doolittle Reunion, says it was an honor to meet the American heroes.

“That’s what it’s all about for us, is representing the WWII veterans; true heroes that flew these airplanes in combat,” said Gilmore.

The event continues through Monday.

In 2006, Monty became the first therapy dog at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo.

“He knew he was dealing with sick people. People who were afraid, not feeling well, and he would go to the wards and be calm and just wait for the children to come to him,” said Lena Toritch, the sculptor of Monty’s statue.

A memorial for Monty, who died of cancer himself, was created outside that hospital to honor the dog and the support he provided.

“The hospital has chosen to honor him with an arts commission statue to represent the significant impact therapy dogs have on patients in the hospital,” said Nicole Gerber, Monty’s owner.

Toritch was commissioned with creating the memorial statue, something she says is interactive.

“Children can come up and touch him, people in wheelchairs can come up and touch him. And I believe he has healing powers. If you come up and hug him, tell him your secrets, rub his nose, you never know what good things might happen to you,” she said.

Gerber says that the statue is a good representation of the dog, who had a playful but gentle personality.

“When I first saw the finished statue, Monty was in the crate but immediately I said, ‘This is Monty’. And when we pulled him out and put him on the pedestal my heart just stopped. I wanted to go up and hug him,” said Gerber.

A truck hauling 30 tons of coal rolled over when it turned onto a bridge and the driver was thrown out. His leg was stuck under the truck, leaving him dangling from the bridge.

After three hours, firefighters lowered by a crane were able to rescue the man.

Jean-Yves Blondeau, a French designer, created a special suit with 34 wheels attached to shoot down the 60-degree slope of a mountainside in the Hunan Province of China.

He was able to make it down the curving mountain by rocking his body to turn and standing up to slow down.

The world’s biggest lollipop, a 7,000 pound See’s sucker made out of 100 pounds of butter and 3,000 pounds of sugar and cream, made a pitstop in San Francisco.

The giant candy has about 14 million calories.

“I get funny looks for sure, but I get them everywhere, so I’m used to it,” he said.

The 1991 Hyundai has racked up 173,000 miles and has no air conditioning, but attracts attention everywhere it goes.

“The car was a gift from a friend and it didn’t run. So when we finally got it running it was the 20-year-old red paint that had been sitting in the sun,” Cameron said.

When the car was mechanically revived a couple years ago, Cameron created a fresh look for the three-cylinder ride.

“My grandma collects the comics for me. She handed me a big stack of ‘em,” he said, explaining how car came to be. “I decided to papier-mache it. It took three days.”

The comic strips were applied one at a time using adhesives and paint and finished with “something that’s used for finishing wood decks.”

When asked if his car is a “chick magnet”, Cameron quickly answered, “Yes! It got me my wife. She thought is was absolutely wonderful.”

Married for nine months, the two met at a culinary school in Washington state and made the move to Utah in the colorful car which continues to rack up about a hundred miles a day as Cameron commutes between his home in Provo and his job in Salt Lake City as a baker at the Grand America Hotel.

Cameron remarked on the many luxury cars that come and go from the upscale hotel, “We actually just had Porsche (automotive group) in-house, so the bottom garage was filled with a hundred and fifty Porsches.”

But he doesn’t covet other cars.

“My car is awesome,” he said.

And he doesn’t mind if you point and laugh at his car. He and his aging Dihatsu can frequently be spotted on I-15…in the slow lane.

Utah Highway Patrol officers, a SWAT team and officers from other police agencies are in the area of 2900 North and 3200 West in unincorporated Davis County where they say they spotted the suspect.

At around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, North Salt Lake police conducted a welfare check on a North Salt Lake home after the suspect’s family called, concerned that he was suicidal.

The suspect, a man in his 40s who police say they encountered two years ago when he barricaded himself inside what they believe is the same North Salt Lake home, was not at at home, but police officers were able to track his cell phone to an industrial area in west Salt Lake City just north of the Salt Lake International Airport.

An officer found and confronted the man in the area, but the suspect ran off into the marshland in southern Davis County.

At around 7 p.m., Unified Police responded to reports of shots fired near 2900 North and 3200 West, which is in the marshland near Salt Lake International Airport. A man on an ATV reported that he had encountered the suspect who then shot at him.

Police report that he shot at a UHP helicopter three times during the incident, but no one was injured.

During the 3-hour search, the man somehow made it to his car and was able to barricade himself inside, but SWAT members fired tear gas and took him into custody.

He was transported to a local hospital with three self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Police say he was conscious and breathing.

Alliant Techsystems, Inc., or ATK, was recognized by NASA and Northrop Grumman for creating the optical mirrors on the James Webb Space Telescope.

“This component was a developmental component for the James Webb Space Telescope that will support the primary mirror in deep space for all telescope observatories,” said Bob Hellekson, ATK. “It’s designed and fabricated to be very stable to a 38-nanometer level. That level is equivalent to ten hydrogen atoms.”

ATK build the 2,000-pound frame that holds the mirrors, which measure about 22 feet in diameter. The frame is made of a composite material designed to withstand temperatures of 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The telescope, which is scheduled to launch in 2018, will enable scientists worldwide to view the birth and evolution of galaxies and the formation of stars and planets.

“What we’re learning on James Webb is going to enable a bunch of new applications, new observatories for NASA in the future, national defense applications. People now have new capabilities in their tool box that they didn’t have before,” said Lee Feinberg, NASA.

Officials say the telescope’s reach will extend beyond viewing distant galaxies.

“We’re investing in the future and in learning and in science. What we have today is one of those great American success stories because this country leads the world when it comes to this type of innovation and technological development,” said US Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah. “It makes me very proud to live in this country and it makes me proud to live in this state where we have folks like the ones who work at ATK.”

Utah’s involvement with the telescope extends beyond ATK. The metal beryllium, which was used in the construction of the optical mirrors, was mined from the Materion Corp. mine in Delta. Utah State University is involved with research that will help engineers in the construction of the telescope.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 people, including corporate executives and Utah lawmakers, will spend three days at the Grand America Hotel holding workshops and conferences on the current state of American politics.

Protesters, including members of the Occupy Salt Lake movement, who say ALEC is a group of corporations designed to control the government, are expected to descend upon Salt Lake City all week. They criticize ALEC for its supposed secrecy and corporate cronyism.

“This is what’s wrong with America.  ALEC is not just a symbol of the corporotocracy in the nation we live. ALEC is a substantial portion of that corportocracy.’” said Jesse Fruhwirth with Occupy Salt Lake. “ALEC has the support of the richest corporations in the world. No one is parallel to them.”

The group Alliance for a Better Utah will host ALEC Exposed meeting at 629 South State Street. The meetings are open to the public.

ALEC currently has 2,000 legislative members in all 50 states, which is roughly one-third of all sitting lawmakers. Most are Republicans.

The organization drafts bills for lawmakers in almost every state. They call them model bills, or laws advocating conservative values like corporate tax reduction, but the group says that lawmakers aren’t required to push for ALEC-supported legislation.

“If they want to take our ideas and run with them and craft them into legislation for Utah they’re free to do that. I think the left is upset because they’re not winning,” said David Buer, spokesperson for the Sutherland Institute, a conservative think tank. “ think that’s an insult to Utah legislators and our governor to say that they’re just a pass-through for whatever corporations want. They take the ideas that are passed through and if they feel those ideas match those principles then they move forward with them.”

In Utah, ALEC was behind the so-called ag-gag bill that outlaws photography of farming operations with the purpose of stopping animal rights protesters. It passed in Utah in March.

Utah lawmakers are also influential in the group. State Senator Curt Bramble of Provo is on the national board of directors.

The dry weather and deadly wildfires are one of the reasons sales are down, but Matt Shadle who works for Black Cat Fireworks in Sandy says there have been more vendors moving in.

“It’s been a tough year. We didn’t really see this coming. There’s been a tremendous amount of other fireworks vendors who have moved into the state. So the fire work business has been watered down,” said Shadle. “Lots of places are really really hurting.”

Shadle says Black Cat Fireworks has sold only a third of the fireworks it did last year. There are fewer people buying fireworks and those that do are buying less.

“We actually haven’t bought any fireworks this year. Just haven’t been into it as much I guess with all the fires,” said Alisha Steward, a customer.

The last day to legally light fireworks is July 27. There are restrictions statewide of when and where fireworks can be ignited. For those restrictions, contact your local fire department or visit publicsafety.utah.gov.

Wildfire officials say the lightning-caused OMG Fire started near the OMG Gold Mining Mill, west of St. George. It was 20 percent contained Sunday afternoon.

Officials say the fire, which is visible from St. George, may cause closures to Highway 91.

And in a double triumph for Britain, his Team Sky teammate Mark Cavendish claimed the 20th and final stage in Paris for the fourth successive year.

Proudly wearing the race leader’s yellow jersey, Wiggins finished safely in the bunch, pumping the air in triumph as he crossed the line after three weeks and 3,497km of racing.

The 32-year-old Londoner finished three minutes 21 seconds clear of Chris Froome to complete a one-two for Britain and Team Sky.

Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) claimed the final podium position.

Wiggins was assured of overall victory after his brilliant victory in the individual time trial Saturday, his second on this year’s race.

“It’s very surreal at the moment. This sort of thing happens to other people, you never imagine it happens to you,” he told ITV Sport after his triumph.

“It’s incredible. I bet I’ll look back in years to come and think ‘God, that was special’.”

The final stage over 120km from Rambouillet was largely processional until hitting the finishing circuit in the French capital where the action started.

Wiggins had vowed to deliver victory to world champion Mark Cavendish and in the final kilometer he came to the front of the bunch to set the pace.

Cavendish then took it up in his trademark style to hold off green points jersey winner Peter Sagan of Slovakia and Australia’s Matthew Goss.

It was his third stage win of this year’s Tour de France and sixth for Team Sky.

Wiggins and Cavendish will now turn their attentions to the 2012 London Olympics.

Cavendish is favorite for the men’s road race next Saturday, where he will again look for Wiggins for support.

Wiggins is targeting the individual time trial later in the Games for his tilt at a fourth Olympic gold medal.

In anticipation of a triumph for Wiggins, thousands of jubilant British fans watched the action unfold on the Champs Elysees, waving Union Jack flags as he stood on the podium to receive the yellow jersey for the final time.

Wiggins had been in the most famous outfit in cycling for 13 days after seizing control of the race at the end of the first week.

With superb support from his teammates, and in particular Kenyan-born Froome, he tightened his grip on the overall classification as defending champion Cadel Evans of Australia fell by the wayside.

Nibali offered the strongest challenge to the British duo, but he eventually finished over six minutes adrift of Wiggins.

Thomas Voeckler gave the home nation some cheer by claiming the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey while Tejay Van Garderen of the United States finished fifth overall, two places ahead of BMC teammate Evans, to win the white jersey for best rider under 25.

™ & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

“It was weird,” said Glenn Rotkovich, managing partner of the Lead Valley Range in Byers, Colorado. “I didn’t know what kind of message was left by this idiot. We need to know if he’s an idiot before we let him have access to our range.”

Rotkovich told CNN that Holmes sent in an online application on June 25. Rotkovich said he called the number Holmes left on the form, only to get a message he said was largely unintelligible.

He said the voice was “guttural, freakish, maybe drunk. Just weird and bizarre — a deep, guttural, forced voice.”

Rotkovich said Holmes didn’t call him back. He left another message, and said he was again disturbed by the voice on the machine.

“It bothered me so much I told my staff, ‘If this guy shows up, he gets nothing until I meet him,’ ” Rotkovich said.

He said he tried calling Holmes a third time, again with no response, then quit. Holmes never called back, nor did he come to the range in Byers, about 40 miles east of Denver. But when news broke Friday of the bloodbath in a theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Rotkovich said one of his staffers remembered the name and saw that it matched reports of the suspect in the killings.

Holmes, a 24-year-old doctoral student in neuroscience, was arrested outside the Century 16 multiplex early Friday. He’s accused of opening fire in the crowded theater during a midnight screening of the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Pictures obtained of Holmes show a tall, bright-eyed, dark-haired young man, in contrast to the man a law enforcement official said had dyed his hair red and identified himself as “the Joker” after his arrest. It’s an image difficult to reconcile for those who know him as a clean-cut, quiet graduate student.

He entered the University of California, Riverside, in 2006 on a scholarship and graduated with highest honors with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience in 2010.

“Academically, he was at the top of the top,” Chancellor Timothy P. White said.

UC Riverside police have no record of any contact with Holmes, the university said. Neither did police at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where Holmes enrolled in 2011 as a doctoral candidate in its neuroscience program at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, university officials said in a statement released Sunday.

Holmes’ sole brush with the law in Colorado appears to have been a 2011 summons for speeding from Aurora police.

A syllabus that lists Holmes as a student at the medical school shows that he may have taken a class in which he studied topics as diverse as substance abuse, schizophrenia, depression and other disorders. According to the document, he was to have delivered a presentation in May about microRNA biomarkers.

But there are indications that something may have been amiss in Holmes’ life in recent months. He withdrew from the program in June 2012, though “he gave no reason for his withdrawal from the graduate school,” said Jacque Montgomery, spokeswoman for the University of Colorado.

It is not immediately clear if Holmes, who also worked in a paid position in the university’s neuroscience research program, was still employed there after withdrawing from the program.

He received a large volume of deliveries over the past four months to both his home and work addresses, which police believe begins to explain how he got his hands on some of the materials used in the rampage and the subsequent discovery of his booby-trapped apartment, Aurora Police Chief Paul Oates told reporters Saturday. Holmes purchased four weapons and more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition in recent months, Oates said.

Police haven’t disclosed any motive for the attack or explained Holmes’ appearance at the time of his arrest, citing an ongoing investigation.

Holmes was dressed in black, wearing a ballistic helmet, a tactical ballistic vest, protective leggings, a throat and groin protector, and a gas mask during the attack, police said, and witnesses say they did not see his face because of the mask.

Unlike most people his age, Holmes does not appear to have a social media footprint — no accounts with Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr, though authorities are investigating whether he posted a profile on the sex website Adult Friend Finder.

The profile contains a picture of a man with fiery red hair, a law enforcement source said. Police believe it may be a picture of Holmes, said the source, who was not authorized to speak to the media. The profile said it was created by a 24-year-old man from Aurora and has since been taken down.

Adult Friend Finder said Sunday that it “values the privacy of its members” and would not confirm the identity of any users. The site will respond to police inquiries “as may be required by law,” company spokesman Lindsay Trivento said in a written statement.

It’s a profile that contrasts with news that Holmes worked as a counselor at a summer camp for needy children in 2008.

Camp Max Straus caters to needy children ages 7-14, and is run by Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles, which confirmed his employment but would not offer further details or comment.

The man who grew up in the upscale northwest San Diego neighborhood of Rancho Peñasquitos was renting an apartment in Aurora, according to police and realty records. Tom Mai, a neighbor of the Holmes family in San Diego, described Holmes as “clean-cut, quiet, responsible.”

At the time of his arrest, Holmes was living in a small, three-story brick building on Paris Street in Aurora, in Apartment 10, within walking distance to the university.

“Neighbors report he lived alone and he kept to himself,” Oates said.

Jackie Mitchell, who lives close to Holmes, had a beer with him on Tuesday.

Mitchell was stunned at news of Holmes’ alleged involvement in the attack.

“You would never guess he was a violent guy,” Mitchell said, describing Holmes as “nerdish” and “a book-smart type guy.”

Holmes told police during his arrest he had booby-trapped the third-floor apartment, prompting investigators to evacuate the building and four others nearby and Friday and Saturday trying to disarm and get rid of a variety of explosive devices left behind.

Kaitlyn Fonzi, a 20-year-old grad student and neighbor, said she heard techno music blasting from his apartment around the time of the shooting and had nearly opened Holmes’ unlocked apartment door to complain — unaware that the unit was wired to explode.

A timer had turned the music on so that it would blare in his apartment after he left for the Aurora multiplex, according to a law enforcement source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

From Scott Bronstein, CNN.
CNN’s Mariano Castillo and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.
™ & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

He spoke after meeting with victims’ families and survivors at the University of Colorado Hospital, one of several area medical centers that treated patients from the attack.

“I confessed to them that words are always inadequate in these kinds of situations, but that my main task was to serve as a representative of the entire country and let them know that we are thinking about them at this moment, and will continue to think about them each and every day,” Obama said.

Twelve people were killed and 58 wounded in the Friday rampage that has shocked the nation and reignited a conversation about gun laws in America.

“It reminds you that even in the darkest of days, life continues and people are strong,” the president said, after describing the recovery of some victims. “Out of this darkness a brighter day is going to come.”

Though much attention has been paid to the “perpetrator of this evil act,” that spotlight will fade, leaving behind just the good memories of those impacted by the tragedy, Obama said.

Nearby, thousands of Aurora residents gathered for a prayer vigil to remember the victims and to start the long and painful process of healing.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper read the names of those killed and to each, the crowd responded: “We will remember.”

Pastor Robin Holland led a prayer for comfort.

“City of Aurora, the healing has begun. Your presence here is the step of healing that this nation needs to see. And I am so proud to be a citizen of Aurora, Colorado,” he said.

Residents lighted candles, while balloons, flowers and simple, white crosses collected at a makeshift memorial.

“It is not this senseless act of violence that marks us as a community. It is the lives and acts of these heroes and the innumerable acts of kindness, love, and care for our neighbors that defines who we are,” Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said at the vigil. “We will reclaim our city in the name of goodness, kindness and compassion.”

The man accused of opening fire inside the theater left a trail of evidence that police say suggests the shooting was part of a calculated plan that included killing anyone who tried to learn more about him in the aftermath of the attack.

Authorities have said little about what they believe was the motive of suspect James E. Holmes, though investigators say there is evidence planning was under way for up to months beforehand.

Holmes, 24, is being held in connection with the shootings at the theater and the subsequent discovery of his booby-trapped apartment, which authorities believe he rigged before leaving for the Century Aurora 16 multiplex. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday morning.

Holmes received a high volume of deliveries over the past four months to both his home and work addresses, which police believe begins to explain how he got his hands on some of the materials used in the attack and those found at his apartment, said Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates.

“What we’re seeing here is evidence of, I think, some calculation and deliberation,” Oates said.

Gov. Hickenlooper told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that he spent a day going from hospital to hospital, talking with survivors.

He concluded that Holmes was a person who wanted to terrorize and instill fear in people’s lives, but said he can’t conceive of a motive.

“This is a deeply troubled, twisted, delusional person,” he said.

One survivor, Josh Nowlan, sustained gunshot wounds, but said he is happy just to be alive. He wouldn’t be, he said, if the suspect’s weapon had not jammed.

“I know I wouldn’t be here. If that gun did not jam, I am full certain that I probably would not be here,” he said from his hospital bed Saturday.

Echoing Nowlan’s comments, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the investigation said Sunday that a semi-automatic rifle used in the killings jammed, apparently because of a problem with the 100-shot magazine feeding it.

The military-style AR-15 had a separately purchased drum magazine, which can have trouble feeding bullets into the firing chamber if the gun is fired rapidly, the source told CNN.

Investigators say the rifle was one of three guns used by the suspect, along with a shotgun and a .40-caliber pistol.

Police gained access Saturday to Holmes’ apartment after intentionally detonating two rigged explosives.

Technicians, with the help of a robot, worked to handle traps, wires and possible explosive and incendiary devices, Jim Yacone, a special agent with the FBI, told reporters Saturday.

The operation proceeded with an eye toward preserving evidence, all of which will be sent to an FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, Yacone said. Among the items seized from the apartment were a Batman poster, Batman mask and a computer, according to the law enforcement source. The shootings occurred during a screening of the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Hundreds of residents were evacuated from five buildings, including the modest, three-story brick building where Holmes told police he had rigged his top-floor, one-bedroom apartment with explosives. All occupants except those who live in the suspect’s building were allowed to return home Saturday night.

As of Sunday, at least 17 people remained hospitalized — eight in critical condition — in five area hospitals.

By Dana Ford, CNN.
CNN’s Kyung Lah, Tom Watkins, Carol Cratty, Ed Lavandera, Susan Candiotti, Joe Sutton, Mike Brooks, Sarah Aarthun and Jim Spellman contributed to this report.
™ & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

But the source says the school might have preferred a one-year suspension because of the severity of the scholarship losses, postseason sanctions and other penalties the source wouldn’t specify.

“If I were Penn State or any other school and were given both options, I’d pick the death penalty,” the source said, adding the range of sanctions “is well beyond what has been done in the past” and “far worse than closing the program for a year.”

The news comes the same day the statue of the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was removed from outside the campus’ stadium.

The NCAA will punish the school following the Freeh Report, which detailed findings of an investigation into the scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of children. Sandusky, 68, was convicted in late June of 45 of the 48 sexual abuse counts he faced, involving 10 victims.

The investigation was led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, and the report held four top Penn State officials, including Paterno, responsible for failing to stop the abuse.

Everything the NCAA “needed to know was detailed in the Freeh report,” according to the source.

On Monday in Indianapolis, the NCAA will hold a press conference “to announce NCAA corrective and punitive measures for The Pennsylvania State University,” it said in a statement.

The NCAA last imposed the so-called “death penalty” to a football team in 1987 against Southern Methodist University’s program in the wake of a payments-to-athletes scandal.

The source says the sanctions “will really paint a picture that essentially says that leadership failure and systemic failures can’t be tolerated.”

NCAA President Mark Emmert wrote a letter to Penn State President Rodney Erickson on November 17, 2011, that included four questions he wanted the university to answer.

According to the source, the NCAA felt the questions were answered by the Freeh report and therefore could act before the university responded.

The source wasn’t sure if the university has been made aware of the penalties yet, but says the university was not involved in the decision. It was “not a negotiated process,” the source says.

While not divulging specifics, the source said, “The penalties go well beyond the loss of a scholarship or not being able to go to a bowl game.”

The source also said the plan includes provisions to provide “leeway” and “minimize the impact” on current players who had nothing to do with the Sandusky scandal.

Also Sunday, in State College, Pennsylvania, the 900-pound bronze statue of Paterno was removed. Penn State President Rodney Erickson said in a statement the statue is being stored in a “secure location.”

The statue was removed exactly six months after Paterno, the winningest coach in Division I football history, died of lung cancer. Paterno had coached at Penn State for 61 years, 15 of them as an assistant. He died less than three months after he coached his last game, an October 29 victory over Illinois that gave him a record 409 wins.

Under Paterno’s 46-season tenure as head coach, the Nittany Lions won two national championships, went undefeated five times, and finished in the top 25 national rankings 35 times.

The tribute to the coach, who died in January, had become an object of contention after the child rape scandal involving Sandusky.

However, Paterno’s family said they believe taking down the statue serves no purpose.

“Tearing down the statue of Joe Paterno does not serve the victims of Jerry Sandusky’s horrible crimes or help heal the Penn State community. We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth,” the family said in a statement.

“It is not the university’s responsibility to defend or protect Joe Paterno. But they at least should have acknowledged that important legal cases are still pending and that the record on Joe Paterno, the board and other key players is far from complete,” it added.

Dan Vecellio, a staff writer for the blog Black Shoe Diaries, said there were about 100 people who watched the statue taken down, put on a forklift and driven into the stadium through a loading-dock door.

The Freeh report found several Penn State officials concealed evidence that Sandusky had sexually abused minors. Freeh concluded that Paterno could have prevented further sexual abuse had he taken action.

“I now believe that, contrary to its original intention, coach Paterno’s statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our university and beyond,” Erickson said.

“I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse,” he added.

On Sunday, Penn State employees began placing fencing around the statue, as well as a tarp. Local and university police were at the scene, and some students gathered near the football field, Beaver Stadium.

Another tribute to Paterno — the university library that bears his name — will remain as it is, Erickson said.

“The library remains a tribute to Joe and Sue Paterno’s commitment to Penn State’s student body and academic success, and it highlights the positive impacts coach Paterno had on the university,” he wrote.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) called Paterno “a powerful man who acted selfishly” who “deserves no public honors whatsoever.”

“We’re glad the statue is gone but that’s just a tiny step forward,” SNAP spokesman David Clohessy said in a statement. “We as a society must learn that a good way to deter child sex cover-ups is to punish, not praise, those who instigate such cover-ups.”

Sandusky will be sentenced in September. His legal team has said it will appeal the convictions.

Two former university administrators are awaiting trial for their role in the scandal, and more charges are possible as the state’s attorney general investigates what Penn State may have known about Sandusky’s behavior.

By Ross Levitt and Susan Candiotti, CNN.
™ & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

First Encampment Hike: Begins at 7 a.m. at Donner Park and ends at First Encampment Park. Five mile hike.

Mapleton Pioneer Day Celebration: Patriotic Ceremony at 6:30 a.m., parade at 9 a.m., and a day full of activities at the park. Evening fireworks show and live entertainment.

Provo Pioneer Day Extravaganza: Learn about the pioneers at North Park. Pioneer village, Indian village, and Mountain Man encampment to tour. Games and crafts all day. Best pioneer costume wins a prize.

Sunrise Service: Service will be held at 7 a.m. in the Tabernacle on Temple Square. Program will feature Tabernacle organist and voices from choirs around the valley. Keynote speaker will deliver inspirational message.

Days of ’47 Parade: Parade starts at 9 a.m. at South Temple and State Street and ends at Liberty Park.

Native American Celebration: Arts and crafts displays and other activities at Liberty Park along with cultural food.

Red Butte Garden: Free admission from 9 a.m to 5 p.m.

Liberty Park Fireworks: Fireworks display at 10 p.m.

Cedar City Parade: Parade starts at 10 a.m. followed by activities at Main Street Park.

Logan’s 24th of July: Candy cannon, Hula Halau O Kaahumanu Entertainment, a pioneer play land, watermelon eating contest. Performance by Nathan Osmond before the fireworks show.

Spring City Pioneer Day Celebration: Kids carnival, parade, dutch oven, 5K/10K run, softball tournament, volleyball tournament, horseshoe tournament, and a free concert in the park.

Deseret News Marathon: Starts at Big Mountain above Emigration Canyon and joins the parade route on 200 East. 10K begins at 6 a.m. at Research Park on Chipeta Way on the University of Utah campus. 5K begins at 7 a.m. at Energy Solutions Arena.

Pioneer Days at Heritage Park: Traditional pioneer games, old pioneer shops, country breakfast, and pioneer parade.

Pioneer Day at Hyde Park: Starts with a flag ceremony and breakfast in the park. Parade, games, food, and fireworks. Historical displays, movie, and a scout charity dinner.

Toquerville Pioneer Day: Story-telling, games, face-painting, and food.

Escalante 24th of July Celebration: Tours, outdoor recreation, food, and entertainment.

Fairview Pioneer Days: Citywide wake-up by local firemen at 6 a.m., 5K fun run, pioneer breakfast, craft fair, kid’s parade, antique car show, and a Fairview idol show. The day ends with the 28th annual demolition derby at the rodeo grounds.

Taste of the Town 2012: Food tasting at Layton Commons Park from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Davis County Food Tasting: Taste the food from local restaurants in a festive outdoor setting. Food tickets are $1 each.