The week at a glance...United States

Los Angeles

Medical pot chaos: After years of trying in vain to regulate the sale of medical marijuana, California found itself in a cloud of legal uncertainty this week as federal law-enforcement officials attempted to shut down 71 of the city’s 500 to 1,000 dispensaries. Federal authorities have already closed some 600 cannabis dispensaries across the state, and last month targeted L.A., where so-called pot shops far outnumber Starbucks. But activists this week convinced the City Council to repeal its recent ban on medical marijuana outlets, and now they will attempt to negotiate with the U.S. authorities. “Medical marijuana dispensaries are very much like what they distribute: They’re weeds,” said David Welch, an attorney for 15 of the 71 dispensaries. “You cut them down, you leave, and then they sprout back up.”

Framingham, Mass.

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Meningitis outbreak: Twelve people in 10 states have died from a deadly strain of fungal meningitis linked to tainted steroid injections that may have been given to some 13,000 patients, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week. A contaminated lot of methylprednisolone acetate, usually prescribed for back pain, has caused serious illness in 137 others, officials said. “This is a very rare form of meningitis and there is not a great deal of clinical experience with it,” said Dr. John Jernigan, a CDC epidemiologist. The New England Compounding Center in Framingham, which supplied the steroid, has shut down, said the CDC, but the contaminated drugs had already been shipped to facilities in 23 states from July to September. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) called for a congressional inquiry, citing “serious concerns” about the lax regulations for compounding pharmacies, which have traditionally prepared medicines for individual patients, but have since grown into small drug companies, critics said.

Bellefonte, Pa.

Sandusky sentenced: Defiantly proclaiming his innocence, former Penn State University football coach Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison for sexually abusing at-risk boys who were entrusted to his care. In a packed courtroom, the 68-year-old retired defensive coordinator listened as three of his victims told the court of the nightmares, depression, and shame they endured after Sandusky violated them. Then Sandusky turned to Judge John Cleland and said, “I didn’t do these alleged disgusting acts,” and launched into a soliloquy about children, balloons, and dogs. Sandusky was convicted in June on 45 counts of child sex abuse, and the scandal led to the dismissal of Penn State’s legendary football head coach Joe Paterno and school officials who knew of the abuse for years but failed to report it, to protect the school’s lucrative football program.

Washington, D.C.

Affirmative action case: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in a controversial case that may decide whether race can be considered for college admissions. In Fisher v. University of Texas, Abigail Fisher, a 22-year-old white woman who was rejected by the University of Texas at Austin in 2008, filed suit against the school, arguing that its consideration of race violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and doesn’t meet standards set by the high court. The case may be decided by Justice Anthony Kennedy, said William Leiter, an expert on affirmative action law and policy. Kennedy “has embraced the concept that you could use race as one factor” in admissions, but only as part of a “holistic” process that focuses on individuals and does not set numerical targets, said Leiter.

Washington, D.C.

Wildfire cuts: In the worst wildfire season on record, which has already seen nearly 9 million acres of forest destroyed, the U.S. Forest Service ran out of money to fight the fires, The Washington Post reported this week. To pay for firefighters, fire trucks, and aircraft that dump retardant on burning forests, officials were forced to borrow from other forest-management programs, many of which were aimed at preventing runaway fires. Congress, which provided about half of the $1 billion needed to fight fires this year, kicked in an emergency $400 million for prevention programs like brush removal, but has not heeded experts who insist that climate change is causing longer droughts and has expanded the fire season by two months. Dried vegetation and brush give wildfires more fuel to burn, said Chris Topik of the Nature Conservancy. “We’re not going to stop these fires, but we can make them less intense.”

Deerfield Beach, Fla.

Death by roaches? The winner of a bug-eating contest died in the midst of his victory celebration this week, after downing dozens of the live, 3- to 4-inch roaches on top of worms and crickets, authorities said. Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach became ill shortly after the contest ended and collapsed, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities were waiting for results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Archbold defeated about 30 other contestants to win the grand prize, a pet python, at Ben Siegel Reptiles in this coastal city 40 miles north of Miami. “He would push everything into his mouth and try to swallow it with water,” said witness Sarah Bernard. “He ate a very large number of insects.”