Joe Paterno, head football coach at Penn State, was fired by the school’s Board of Trustees, along with four other administrators who lost jobs due to a child molestation scandal. Paterno allegedly knowingly failed to report former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s molestation of at least eight boys between 1994 and 2009.

Allegations of sexual harassment made in the 1990s from two National Restaurant Association employees arose against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain on Oct. 30. Cain has admitted that the accusations were made, but claimed that he was falsely accused.

The Drug Enforcement Adminstration (DEA) has taken emergency action to ban three chemicals used to make substances marketed as "bath salts" that can also be used as recreational drugs similar to cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine.

President Obama offered to waive provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, which has been at the heart of educational controversy for nearly a decade. As early as this November, the Department of Education will allow states to apply for the removal of test standards, the expansion of state input in school and district curriculums and the increase of flexibility in federal education spending.

The U.S. Marshals Service held an auction selling household items, including 14 pairs of underwear and a photograph of a naked rear end, all belonging to convicted felon Bernard Madoff. Sales totaled over $400,000 and will compensate victims of Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme.