BC-PA–Pennsylvania News Digest, PA
Good afternoon! 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. Mike Rubinkam 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A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change.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.
WILLIAMSPORT — A county coroner in Pennsylvania has started ruling heroin overdose deaths as homicides, saying drug dealers are murderers. Lycoming County Charles Kiessling Jr. had been marking overdose deaths as accidental, which he called standard practice, but said he’s trying to raise awareness of a heroin epidemic that contributed to a 13 percent increase in overdose deaths in Pennsylvania in one year. SENT: 371 words.
HARRISBBURG —Some key Senate backers of medical marijuana legalization are expressing concern about a marijuana bill passed by the House last week, raising the possibility of a delay in getting the drug into the hands of Pennsylvania patients suffering from conditions like cancer and epilepsy. SENT: 456 words.
HUNTINGDON — A former president of a county bar association has been convicted of using forged documents to pose as an estate lawyer for a decade even though she didn’t have a law license. Kimberly Kitchen was convicted Thursday on charges of forgery, unauthorized practice of law and felony records tampering in Huntingdon County. SENT: 355 words.
TUCSON, Ariz. — Two bogus lawsuits that raised eyebrows for their claims— including that Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner was framed— are being separately investigated by federal authorities. One of the suits was mailed from Philadelphia. By Astrid Galvan. SENT: 602 words, AP Photos.
—— Pennsylvania’s secretary of transportation says 70 mph speed limits will be coming to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and interstate highways in May.
—EMACIATED DEP — Pennsylvania’s top environmental regulator says his agency has been “severely compromised” by years of inadequate funding.
—— The head of a Pittsburgh TV station has apologized for an anchorwoman’s Facebook post about a mass shooting that he says showed an “egregious lack of judgment.”
—— North America’s largest coke producer has once again agreed to fix longstanding air pollution problems at its plant outside Pittsburgh.
—— Federal prosecutors want a judge to freeze the assets of Pennsylvania priest who owes $70,000 in fines and restitution after he was convicted of sexually assaulting poor street children during missionary trips to Honduras.
—— Police have charged a 19-year-old Pennsylvania man in a scary school bus prank involving a “Scream” mask and a fake knife.
—— A northeastern Pennsylvania police officer awaiting trial in a fatal crash during a chase that reached speeds of more than 110 mph has been fired.
—— An appeals court has upheld a centuries-long sentence imposed two years ago against a central Pennsylvania man convicted of raping three girls over a period of several years.
—— A Japanese couple has traveled more than 6,000 miles to get married in Philadelphia with some help from the organization that first brought the groom to the city six years ago.
—— City officials say a malfunction with Philadelphia’s parking kiosks kept motorists from using their credit cards for about four hours.
—— A teenager is suing a Pennsylvania juvenile detention center and one of its workers who is accused of soliciting her for sex.
—— A 16-year-old is in stable condition after police say she was wounded by a stray bullet in Philadelphia’s Hunting Park section.
—— A coroner says two men have been found dead in a murder-suicide at a northeastern Pennsylvania home that was surrounded by state troopers.
—— A plainclothes narcotics officer killed in a shootout at a Maryland police station was remembered Friday for his infectious smile and devotion to his job and the people around him. Detective Jacai Colson was a Pennsylvania native.
—ICE INTO CAR — A hunk of ice fell from the sky and smashed into the windshield of a parked car in central Pennsylvania.
—— Police have issued an alert to parents in a suburban Pittsburgh borough after three middle school students said they were approached by a man offering to give them toys.
—— A federal judge in Pennsylvania has dismissed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against an FBI agent.
—NAZARETH TEACHERS — Teachers in an eastern Pennsylvania school district have approved a four-year contract, narrowly averting a strike.
