Pennsylvania News Briefs

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Unemployment hotline operates on Sundays

A hotline that helps unemployed Pennsylvanians is extending its hours because of the tough economic climate.
The hot line is now staffed Sundays from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. That’s besides the weekday hours Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Christopher Manlove is the spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. He says call volumes have gotten heavier recently, so the department is adding nearly 300 additional staff.
He says staff will help people file for benefits and answer questions. The number is 888-313-7284.

Turnpike fares rise 25 percent over weekend
A ride on the Pennsylvania Turnpike is costing drivers more.
Tolls on the turnpike increased by 25 percent starting Sunday. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says the increase is the sixth in more than 68 years and first since August 2004.
Turnpike CEO Joe Brimmeier says the tollbooth income is not only going back into toll roads, but toward infrastructure improvements in every county in the state.
The commission says starting in 2010, tolls will go up about 3 percent each year.
The commission oversees and maintains 545 miles of roads.

Pittsburgh sees rise in homicides in 2008
Last year saw a jump in the number of homicides in Pittsburgh, even as other cities are seeing fewer slayings.
Pittsburgh police investigated 79 homicides in 2008. That number could fall to 73 if the bureau reclassifies some deaths as accidental or justifiable, including three police-involved shootings.
But even the lower figure makes 2008 the city’s bloodiest year since 1993, when there were 83 homicides.
The number also represents a 28 percent increase from 2007, when the city recorded 57 homicides.
Allegheny County as a whole had 120 murders in 2008, up from 98. The record, 125, was set in 2003.

City libraries to shorten hours
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said hours at the city’s libraries will be reduced at all branches unless a judge’s order blocking the closure of 11 branches is rescinded.
In November, Nutter announced plans to shut down the 11 libraries as part of an effort to close a $1 billion gap in the city budget.
But a judge ruled last week that the branches must stay open.
Nutter said the order is forcing the city to operate with fewer employees and bleed money by the day.

Fire kills young father; girlfriend, baby escape
A man has been killed in a western Pennsylvania duplex fire, but his girlfriend managed to escape with their 2-year-old child.
Police in Summerhill Township are still investigating the fire reported about 3:30 a.m. Saturday.
The dead man is 27-year-old Arthur Livingston Jr. The Cambria County coroner says Livingston moved into the duplex three days before the fire and may have become disoriented in the smoke because he wasn’t familiar with the floor plan.
Township police are investigating the cause of the fire, which remains undetermined.