BC-PA–Pennsylvania News Digest, PA
Good evening! Here’s a look at AP’s general news coverage today in Pennsylvania. For questions about the state report, contact the Philadelphia bureau at 215-561-1133. Ron Todt is on the desk. Editor Larry Rosenthal can be reached at 215-446-6631 or [email protected] .
A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Advisories, digests and digest advisories will keep you up to date.
Some TV and radio stations will receive shorter APNewsNow versions of the stories below, along with updates.
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf is rejecting a bill that passed along with the Pennsylvania budget, citing concerns about how it divides money for schools, borrows $2.5 billion, effects greenhouse gas emissions at power plants and regulates oil and gas drilling. By Mark Scolforo. SENT: About 620 words.
PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh man who may have been targeted in a cookout ambush that killed five people and an unborn child has been jailed on an unrelated assault charge. SENT: About 340 words.
LAKE ERIE-ALGAE
TOLEDO, OHIO — A federal program to reduce farm runoff in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana that helps feed harmful algae in Lake Erie will more than double in size, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday. By John Seewar. SENT: About 500 words.
NEW YORK — In an age of ubiquitous cellphones and surveillance cameras, New York City police forensic artist Matthew Klein is one of a dying breed of crime fighters who helps catch bad guys with a pencil and paper. He is one of only about 100 full-time forensic artists in the United States, plying a throwback trade that relies on the skill of getting often-traumatized people to open up and talk about a horrific crimeBy Colleen Long. SENT: About 950 words.
RALEIGH, N.C. — An outspoken North Carolina minister who has challenged conservative state lawmakers through the “Moral Monday” movement is teaming up with the former pastor of an activism-oriented New York church for a 15-state tour to promote a “revolution of moral values” in the face of what they see as social injustice. By Martha Waggoner. About 500 words.
’ LEGACY
LATROBE — When he died in 2003, Fred Rogers was described in many headlines as gentle, beloved, kind and — of course — neighborly. But how about radical? Counter-cultural? Trouble-maker? Scholars and others are using such adjectives as they assess the legacy of the late creator and host of the long-running “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” For all his much-parodied gentle voice and manner, the Latrobe native actually worked from a steely social conscience. He used his program, with its non-threatening benign puppets, songs and conversation, to raise provocative topics such as war, peace, race, gender and poverty with his audience of preschoolers and their parents — patiently guiding them across the minefields of late 20th century political and social change. Peter Smith, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. SENT: About 1550 words.
— A jury has delivered a split verdict in the case of a former Philadelphia transit officer accused of wrongly arresting a woman who complained that he cut in line for coffee on Christmas morning in 2013.
— Jury selection has begun for the trial of a western Pennsylvania man accused of killing his girlfriend, keeping her in a refrigerator and then burying her behind his house.
— A man sentenced to decades in prison in what authorities said was the suffocation death of his girlfriend after his deliberate high-speed car crash is seeking a new trial.
— The Philadelphia-area transit agency’s proposed new budget includes no fare increase for the period running through the middle of next year.
WAWA HIRING — Wawa is looking to hire over 5,000 workers during the next three months as the convenience store chain expands its reach across six states.
PILOT DETAINED — A 50-year-old American Airlines co-pilot who was grounded on suspicion of drunkenness at an airport near Detroit has been charged with operating under the influence of alcohol.
MAN SHOT IN WOORDS — A man has been charged with kidnapping and killing a Pittsburgh man found shot to death in a wooded area of Pittsburgh last week.
— Authorities say a man found slain in a Pittsburgh suburb was strangled, and his death has been ruled a homicide.
— Police say a serial purse robber is in custody in Pennsylvania after he tried to steal a 17-year-old girl’s handbag and her uncle and father chased him and caught him. Around 11 p.m. on Friday, the girl was at her Upper Darby front door, just returning home from work, when a man put a knife to her neck and demanded her handbag.
PER-CREDIT TUITION — Indiana University of Pennsylvania plans to implement per-credit tuition for full-time, in-state students, rather than the flat annual rate of $7,060. IUP announced the change in January 2015 but didn’t implement it last fall.
TRANSCANADA-DAMS — TransCanada is looking to sell its New England power generation business, including hydroelectric dams on the Connecticut River, as part of its effort to finance its $10 billion acquisition of Houston-based Columbia Pipeline Group.
— Pennsylvania residents who work in Delaware will soon have an easier commute home.
WINDY WEATHER — A man has been charged with kidnapping and killing a Pittsburgh man found shot to death in a wooded area of Pittsburgh last week.
SHOT IN BOTH LEGS — Pittsburgh police are looking for a suspect who shot a man in both legs. Police say the victim — who they’re identifying only as a 25-year-old man — tried to run away but collapsed after a half block.
— About 12,000 Pittsburgh-area have to find a different way to get around for about the next six months. That’s because the Port Authority of Allegheny County on Monday shut down its Red Line light rail route for track repairs.
— Authorities are trying to figure out what caused an explosion and fire that left a family of four homeless in Pittsburgh’s North Hills suburbs. The family tells officials they were upstairs about 9:30 p.m. Sunday when they heard the blast in the lower part of the house in Hampton Township.
— Officials say a pilot is dead after his helicopter went down in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Times-Tribune of Scranton ( ) reports the helicopter crashed in a heavily wooded area of Greene Township on Sunday. Rescue crews located the aircraft after they pinged the pilot’s cellphone.
$600 SKIPPED CAB FARE — A 44-year-old woman is accused of skipping out on a $600 fare after police say she took a taxi 135 miles from New York City to her Pennsylvania home. Authorities say the cab arrived at Kelli Boyer’s Denver home around 1 a.m. Sunday and she told the driver she would be back in a few minutes to pay the fare. When she didn’t return in about 15 minutes, the driver called police.
— Authorities say a 79-year-old man is dead after his pickup truck crashed into an eastern Pennsylvania restaurant. South Whitehall Township Police Chief John Christman says the crash happened just after 12:30 p.m. Sunday when the Palmerton man lost control, sideswiped two vehicles, hit a utility pole and slammed into the side of Norma J’s Restaurant.
VOTING DEADLINE — Pennsylvanians who want to register to vote or change their registration face a Monday deadline before the April 26 primary. The Wolf administration has begun a new online voter registration system, available through votespa.com.
BKC–PITTSBURGH-STALLINGS
PITTSBURGH — Pitt didn’t make a splash hire in replacing Jamie Dixon, but athletic director Scott Barnes believes he made a smart one. Longtime Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings will be introduced on Monday tasked with getting the Panthers in the mix atop the loaded ACC. By Will Graves. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 6 p.m. EST.
BBN–PHILLIES-MANUEL
CLEARWATER, Fla. — From the minute Charlie Manuel walks onto the field, fans constantly seek his attention for pictures and autographs. Manuel always does his best to oblige. The folksy former manager has become a folk hero among fans who didn’t want him in charge of their Phillies in the first place. By Rob Maaddi. SENT: About 770 words. AP Photos.
BBO–PHILLIES-BLUE JAYS
DUNEDIN, Fla. — DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Philadelphia right-hander Vince Velasquez was named the Phillies’ fifth starter on Monday morning, then made his bosses look good in the afternoon by shutting out the Toronto Blue Jays for six innings in a 2-1 loss. By Jeff Odom.
BBO–TWINS-PIRATES
BRADENTON, Fla. — T Gerrit Cole pitched into the fifth inning in Pittsburgh’s 6-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Monday and likely will need one more start in Florida before joining the Pirates’ rotation.
