NATIONAL BRIEFS

PENNSYLVANIA: Sandusky appears in court

Jerry Sandusky came from prison to Centre County Court in Bellefonte to hear his lawyer testify Thursday that he did not have a chance to fully analyze 12,000 pages of discovery materials he got before trial. But now that he has reviewed them, Joe Amendola said, nothing would have changed his defense strategy. Amendola took the stand in a hearing for Sandusky's defense to outline their claims of getting a new trial on the grounds they were deluged by documents they had little time to review. Senior Judge John Cleland did not immediately rule. Sandusky was in good spirits, Amendola said, despite being resigned to a life of solitary confinement and one visit a month from his wife, Dottie, who attended the hearing.

NEW JERSEY: Buses collide, injuring many

A New York City-bound commuter bus slammed into a school minibus Thursday, flipping the school bus on its side and injuring more than a dozen people in the larger vehicle. The school bus, which wasn't carrying children, toppled onto a power supply station in front of an apartment complex in Old Bridge. The commuter bus went off Route 9 and traveled another 60 yards before hitting a telephone pole and smashing into a tree. At least 17 people on the commuter bus were injured, including the driver. The 55-seat Academy bus carrying 30 to 35 people was on the right shoulder in a lane reserved for commuter buses, police said.

OREGON: Tree bomb plot trial begins

The trial of a man accused of plotting to blow up a Christmas-tree lighting ceremony began Thursday amid concerns about security when FBI agents and their informants are scheduled to testify. The trial of Mohamed Mohamud started with jury selection in Portland's federal courthouse. Two men Mohamud thought were his jihadist co-conspirators are expected to testify. They were in fact undercover FBI agents leading the sting of Mohamud that led to his arrest in November 2010.