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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. 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A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change.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.
TOP STORIES:
VIEWING HARRISBURG
HARRISBURG — With his first budget still incomplete and his major priorities still blocked by huge Republican majorities in the state House and Senate, Gov. Tom Wolf is faced with delivering a second budget proposal in the coming days. The question of how to approach it has never been tackled by any of the Democrat’s predecessors in modern Pennsylvania history. By Marc Levy. UPCOMING: 700 words by 2 p.m. EST.
FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL-FIRE
SHANKSVILLE — The National Parks Service says an investigation has failed to determine the cause of a 2014 fire that struck the Flight 93 National Memorial in western Pennsylvania but identified factors that may have contributed to the blaze. SENT: NewsNow. UPCOMING: About 350 words by 5 p.m. EST.
TEACHER SLAYING
LANCASTER — One of two defendants charged in the slaying of an elementary school teacher during a burglary of her central Pennsylvania home has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges. SENT: NewsNow. UPCOMING: About 250 words by 5 p.m. EST.
COUNCILMAN ARRESTED
PITTSBURGH — A former western Pennsylvania councilman convicted of improperly using $50,000 from the trust fund of an elderly widow with dementia has been allowed to remain free on bail pending his appeal. SENT: NewsNow. UPCOMING: About 250 words by 3 p.m. EST.
EXCHANGE:
EXCHANGE: WRONGLY EXECUTED AT 16?
MEDIA — By the time he reached his 16th birthday, Alexander McClay Williams had achieved a dubious distinction at the Glen Mills School for Boys, a facility for adjudicated youth in Thornbury. Assigned there in 1926 when he was 12 by Delaware County Judge W. Roger Fronefield because he had set fire to a barn on Baltimore Pike, he became the reform school’s longest resident “inmate.” He might have been there until he was 21, but instead achieved another, more grim distinction. On June 8, a little more than six weeks shy of his 17th birthday, he was executed at Rockview Prison in Centre County, give months after being convicted by an all-white jury of fatally stabbing a Glen Mills matron 47 times with an ice pick. Williams appears to have been the youngest person executed by the state of Pennsylvania, said Sam Lemon of Media, who has spent more than 30 years researching the case and believes Williams was innocent. Patti Mengers, Delaware County Daily Times.
EXCHANGE-CATCHING TEXTING DRIVERS
PITTSBURGH — Cambria County Assistant District Attorney Heath Long could not prove that a young man was texting when he careened his pickup into another, killing a grandfather and his teenage granddaughter. “What we did know is a very short period of time before he called 911, he received a text,” Long said, “but we could not show that he read it.” Long could show was that the defendant texted earlier during his drive from a few miles down the road, and had crossed the center line before the crash. Prosecutors accepted a plea deal for two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one of texting while driving. Long, who has spent about two decades prosecuting car crash cases, said distracted driving cases are among the most difficult to prove. Phone records take months, even years, to produce, he said. Police can have difficulty in catching drivers texting, and the Pennsylvania law does not encompass the myriad uses of modern phones such as using GPS, taking a selfie or talking on the phone. Melissa Daniels, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
EXCHANGE-PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH COMIC
ARCHBALD — Kai Morgan knows he’s a little different. He was one of the few “non-Caucasian” kids to graduate from Tri-Valley High School, and comes from a mixed ethnic background of what he describes as “Filipino” and “Pennsylvania Dutch.” Today, at 27, Morgan’s taken a humorous approach to his Pennsylvania Dutch roots and created a comedic alter ego, “Dutch Master Morgan.” As a part-time comedian, Morgan has been hosting stand-up events since November in Schuylkill, Dauphin and Northumberland counties, many of them to benefit volunteer fire departments. In his day job, he’s a full-time EMT with Lebanon County EMS, Cleona. “When we were kids, we used to imitate our teachers’ accents, teachers who we didn’t like, and my dad,” Morgan, Valley View, a son of Scott and Roxanne Morgan, said. Vicki Terwilliger, The (Scranton) Times-Tribune.
EXCHANGE-BLACK CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS
ALTOONA — Graves of black soldiers who served in the Civil War, such as this one at Union Cemetery in Hollidaysburg, are sometimes marked “U.S.C.I” for United States Colored Infantry. They stand for United States Colored Infantry, and they mark the resting place of one of dozens of local black men who took up arms during the Civil War. It’s been 150 years since those units began returning home from their service in the South, where more than 175,000 members fought – and in some cases, died – to free their fellow African-Americans from slavery. The Blair County men who fought for that hope risked death at the hands of an enemy that didn’t recognize their freedom. Black soldiers captured by the Confederacy risked punishment and enslavement; many were executed on the spot. “For me, this was an eye-opening experience,” said Harriet L. Gaston, a Penn State Altoona minority programs coordinator who researched local soldiers. Ryan Brown, The (Altoona) Mirror.
EXCHANGE-DIGITAL YEARBOOKS
WHITEHALL — When David Janders moved back to the Lehigh Valley after 40 years in the Arizona desert, he was looking for a way to reconnect with old friends and acquaintances. Janders tried digging up his 1968 Whitehall High School yearbook, but soon realized that an older sibling must have tossed it out even before he left for Arizona. He checked online for a replacement and was shocked by the steep prices they were fetching. “I mean, we’re talking $78 for a copy on eBay,” Janders said. “That was just crazy.” Luckily, Janders didn’t have to wait long for a much better deal to come his way. The Whitehall Township Library recently made its entire collection of Whitehall yearbooks, which dates to 1922, available in digital form. Whitehall isn’t alone. A growing number of libraries, including Parkland Community Library, Northampton Area Public Library and the Allentown Public Library, either have or are in the process of digitizing their collections using a service based in Oklahoma. Sarah M. Wojcik, The (Allentown) Morning Call.
IN BRIEF:
SEX ASSAULT-KILLING — A defense attorney says he will ask a federal judge to review a state Supreme Court ruling allowing prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the retrial of a man charged in the murder of a woman in central Pennsylvania more than a decade ago.
TAXI DRIVER SHOT — Authorities are looking for three suspects in a shooting that injured a taxi driver in south Philadelphia.
PROFESSOR-CHILD PORN — A federal judge in western Pennsylvania has rejected a former Allegheny College professor’s bid for leniency in a child pornography case.
HOUSE FIRE-THREE DEAD — A coroner has ruled the deaths of three people in a central Pennsylvania house fire more than a year ago accidental although police say they are still investigating the blaze.
CASEY-CLINTON — Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey is heading to New Hampshire to campaign for Hillary Clinton ahead of that state’s first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday.
SPORTS:
HKN–PENGUINS-PANTHERS
SUNRISE, Fla. — Jaromir Jagr and the Florida Panthers try for a sixth straight win, when they take on his former team — the Pittsburgh Penguins. Game begins 7:30 p.m. EST. UPCOMING: 500 words, photos.
HKN–RANGERS-FLYERS
PHILADELPHIA — The New York Rangers come to Philadelphia to play the Flyers. UPCOMING. 650 words. Game starts at 1 p.m. EST. AP Photos.
BKN–NETS-76ERS
PHILADELPHIA — The Brooklyn Nets come to Philadelphia to play the 76ers. UPCOMING. 650 words. Game starts at 7:30 p.m. EST. AP Photos.
BKC–VIRGINIA-PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH — Malcolm Brogdon scored 21 points and No. 9 Virginia pulled away from Pittsburgh in the second half of a 64-50 victory on Saturday. By Will Graves. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos.
BKC–T25-VILLANOVA-PROVIDENCE
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Third-ranked Villanova (19-3, 9-1 Big East) looks to avenge its lone Big East loss of the season when it visits 11th-ranked Providence. The Friars (18-5, 6-4) are hoping to have back leading-scorer Ben Bentil, who suffered a sprained right ankle in their loss to DePaul on Tuesday. The Wildcats are likely to be without center Daniel Ochefu for the third straight game with a concussion. By Kyle Hightower. UPCOMING: 650-words. Game starts at 2:30 p.m. EST. Photos.
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MARKETPLACE: Calling your attention to the Marketplace in AP Exchange, where you can find member-contributed content from Pennsylvania and other states. The Marketplace is accessible on the left navigational pane of the AP Exchange home page, near the bottom. For both national and state, you can click “All” or search for content by topics such as education, politics and business.