NBC this morning parted ways with host MATT LAUER, and sources said that Lauer "allegedly sexually assaulted a female NBC staffer" during the '14 Sochi Games. A source said that the "decision to fire Lauer was made" late last night by NBC News Chair ANDY LACK (PAGESIX.com, 11/29).
POLICE REPORT: Rays investor RANDY FRANKEL was the "victim of an Internet hacking scheme originating in Nigeria that led to the theft of nearly $40,000." Frankel told St. Petersburg police in February of an "issue with an email from his assistant's AOL account to a Rays email account containing instructions to Wells Fargo Bank for payment of a dividend from a common private investment account" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 11/29).
NAMES: Former Seattle Univ. men's basketball coach CAMERON DOLLAR has "accused the school of racial bias, firing him without cause and failing to provide full compensation owed to him in a lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court" (SEATTLE TIMES, 11/29)....The Akron School Board on Monday "unanimously approved the master plan" for the I Promise School backed by LEBRON JAMES. Leaders from James' foundation back in April "proposed a plan to partner with Akron Public Schools and create a public school to educate students at risk of falling behind their peers." The school will be "based on the foundation's existing I Promise Network programs, which have helped more than 1,100 Akron-area grade school students the past six years with programs, support and mentors" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 11/28)....Newlyweds SERENA WILLIAMS and ALEXIS OHANIAN have "jetted off to the private Bahamian island of Kamalame Cay" for their honeymoon (NYPOST.com, 11/28)....In partnership with performance-based crowdfunding platform Pledge It, U.S. women's national hockey team F AMANDA KESSEL has "launched a personal 'Goals for Concussion Research' campaign to benefit the EMPWR Foundation, a charitable movement created to advance the recovery of concussion injuries" (THE DAILY)....Basketball HOFer DAVE COWENS, MARTINA NAVRATILOVA and CHRIS BERMAN last night were among those honored at the New England Sports Museum's annual awards ceremony at TD Garden (NKYTRIBUNE.com, 11/29).
