Top 5 Medford Stories in October: Dalai Lama Visits, Assault in Medford Square, Sandy

The following five stories received the most unique visitors on Medford Patch last month:

Medford Fire Lieutenant on Paid Leave After Alleged Assault: A Medford firefighter was placed on paid leave after he was arrested for allegedly beating an acquaintance with a pair of electrical pliers, according to city officials and police reports. Fire Lt. Paul Spencer, 56, faces charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery after an incident at a Howard Road home on Oct. 14 that left another man with a bloody head wound and unable to move his fingers, according to a Medford police report.

The Dalai Lama in Medford: On a normal day, if you walk along the triple deckers lining Washington Street and Magoun Avenue not much will stand out from any other Medford neighborhood. Oct. 16 was no normal day. There were decorated dancers in the street, a market set up on Washington Street and a giant white tent stretched across four backyards. All for a visit from the Dalai Lama.

Teen Faces Assault to Murder Charge in Medford Square Stabbing: A Melrose teen faces a charge of assault to murder after allegedly stabbing a man in a fight in Medford Square. Derik DeAngelo, 19, and another man were allegedly in a fist fight about 9:30 p.m. Friday near 35 Riverside Ave. when DeAngelo pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim. He is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault to murder. Further information on the incident was not immediately available Monday.

Hurricane Sandy Hits Medford: Thousands remained without power for days after Medford felt the effects of Hurricane Sandy's high winds and heavy rain.

Former Medford Scoutmaster Among those in Boy Scout 'Perversion Files': A Medford scoutmaster in the 1960s was banned from involvement with the Boy Scouts after multiple members of his troop alleged he had inappropriate contact with them, according to previously non-public Boy Scouts of America files. The files were released Thursday by order of the Oregon Supreme Court. They were used as evidence in a 2010 lawsuit against the Scouts in a molestation case that resulted in a jury awarding $20 million to a man molested by an assistant scoutmaster in the 1980s.