February 3, 2012

 

Latest Pennsylvania news, sports, business and entertainment

PA CORRUPTION SCANDAL

Jury in DeWeese corruption trial go home for night

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The jury in state Rep. Bill DeWeese's

corruption trial will resume deliberations Friday morning.

Lawyers in the case said Dauphin County President Judge Todd

Hoover excused the jurors late Thursday afternoon.

DeWeese is the first sitting lawmaker to face trial as part of a

broad investigation begun by the state attorney general's office in

2007.

Prosecutors say the Greene County Democrat and one-time House

speaker used taxpayer-paid employees to do political campaign work

on state time. DeWeese has testified that he never ordered or

bullied staff members into doing campaign work.

SANTORUM-DAUGHTER

Santorum says daughter Bella out of hospital

FALLON, Nev. (AP) _ Rick Santorum says his 3-year-old daughter,

Bella, is home from the hospital after a bout with pneumonia.

Santorum told reporters that his daughter left the hospital on

Thursday and is back at her Virginia home. Santorum took a break

from campaigning last weekend to rush home to be with his ailing

daughter.

Bella Santorum has genetic disorder Trisomy 18, which her father

often describes to audiences as ``incompatible with life.'' Any

health issues can prove fatal for the youngster.

Santorum canceled his schedule last Sunday, just before Florida

had its primary on Tuesday. Santorum decided to pull out of the

state to stay home and then focus on upcoming contests in Missouri,

Minnesota, Colorado and Nevada.

RAW MILK-ILLNESSES

35 cases of illness tied to Pa. farm's raw milk

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ Pennsylvania health officials say the

number of people stricken with illness after consuming raw milk

from the same dairy has risen to 35 in four states.

The confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection include 28 people

in Pennsylvania, four in Maryland, two in West Virginia, and one in

New Jersey.

Health officials said Thursday consumers should discard raw milk

bought from the Family Cow farm in Chambersburg on or after Jan. 1.

The farm has voluntarily suspended raw milk production.

An Agriculture Department spokeswoman said final test results of

milk samples from the farm may be available Friday.

The federal Food and Drug Administration warns that raw, or

unpasteurized, milk can contain harmful bacteria. Dairy farmers say

demand is growing because of concerns about hormones in traditional

dairy products.

MURDERED FATHER-SPYING

Pa. woman faces charges of killing husband in 2008

MEDIA, Pa. (AP) _ The widow of a suburban Philadelphia man slain

in 2008 has been arrested in Delaware and faces charges that she

killed her husband along with her son.

Bhavnaben Ingle was taken into custody by state police in

Delaware at the family-owned 7-Eleven franchise. There was no

immediate word regarding her extradition to Pennsylvania.

She now stands accused along with her son, Parth Ingle, in the

murder of Arunkumar Ingle. The 55-year-old Boeing engineer was

bludgeoned and stabbed to death at the family home in Middletown

Township, Delaware County.

Early in the investigation, prosecutors charged Parth Ingle with

illegally hacking into his father's emails and putting a stealth

GPS device on his vehicle. Authorities said the son learned from

the emails that his father had been having an affair for years.

OFFICER-SEX TRAFFICKING

Officer charged in connection to trafficking case

READING, Pa. (AP) _ A former police officer from eastern

Pennsylvania has been charged in connection with a sex trafficking

case.

Federal officials said late Thursday that 37-year-old Ronald

Miko of Reading is charged with obstructing a criminal

investigation.

Court documents allege that Miko was on the Reading police force

when he helped a pair of Berks County men in 2007 set up a

prostitution ring that trafficked women as well as girls under 18.

When the two men were charged by a federal grand jury in July

2010, prosecutors allege Miko wired money to one of them to keep

him quiet about Miko's involvement.

If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000

fine.

It couldn't be immediately determined if Miko had an attorney to

comment on his case.

COACH-MARIJUANA CHARGES

Pa. high school coach charged with student pot buy

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) _ Authorities say a high school security

guard and football coach in eastern Pennsylvania has resigned after

he was caught buying drugs from a student.

Police in Allentown said 40-year-old Shawn Moser of Alburtis

bought $20 worth of marijuana from a 16-year-old student at William

Allen High School.

Moser was a security guard at Allen and a freshman football

coach at Dieruff High School, also in Allentown.

The school district said he has since resigned.

Both the teen and Moser are facing charges.

STATE POLICE-WHISTLEBLOWER

Fed court upholds dismissal of Pa. trooper's suit

(Information in the following story is from: Pittsburgh

Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com )

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says a

federal judge in Pittsburgh was right to dismiss a retired

Pennsylvania State Police lieutenant's whistleblower lawsuit that

claimed his superiors retaliated against him for cooperating in a

sex harassment investigation of another trooper.

James Fulmer claimed he was demoted for bucking former state

police Commissioner Jeffrey Miller and his former bosses in Troop

A, which covers Cambria, Indiana, Somerset and Westmoreland

counties in 2007.

A judge dismissed the lawsuit in March saying the comments

Fulmer made about the investigation weren't protected by the First

Amendment because they related directly to his official duties, and

weren't made as a private citizen.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports the appeals court agreed

Thursday, noting every comment mentioned in Fulmer's complaint was

made to superiors or grew out of information he gathered on duty.

PHILLY POLICE-TAVERN THEFT

Ex-Philly officer gets probation, fine from theft

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ A longtime Philadelphia police officer

convicted of stealing $825 from a bar where an officer was slain

four years earlier has been sentenced to probation.

Fifty-seven-year-old Kenneth Crockett said nothing before a

judge sentenced him Thursday to five years of probation and a

$5,000 fine in the theft from Pat's Cafe in northeast Philadelphia.

The bar is considered sacred ground by police because it's where

Officer Gary Skerski was shot dead during a 2006 armed robbery.

Crockett was charged with theft after authorities said a

surveillance video showed him take money from a bar safe in July

2010, when officers were investigating a possible break-in.

The 27-year veteran of the police force was fired and lost his

pension.

Crockett maintained he was innocent.

NATIONAL DRUG INTELLIGENCE CENTER

Western Pa.-based NDIC is shutting down for good

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) _ The National Drug Intelligence Center in

Johnstown is officially shutting down for good.

The late Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha fought to bring the

center to his hometown in 1993. The center was tasked with helping

to coordinate the fight against drug abuse and drug trafficking.

It had long been a target of critics from both political parties

who said the work there was duplicated in other agencies.

NDIC once had more than 300 employees and contract personnel.

Employment in Johnstown was down to 184 at the time of last

November's congressional vote to close it.

Pennsylvania Democrats U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Murtha's

successor, U.S. Rep. Mark Critz, had recently urged the Obama

administration to keep the center open.

WHOOPING COUGH

2 more whooping cough cases reported near Philly

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) _ Another suburban Philadelphia school is

reporting an outbreak of whooping cough.

The West Chester Area School District this week confirmed a

second case of the infection known as pertussis at Hillsdale

Elementary School in East Bradford.

Whooping cough is a contagious bacterial disease that in rare

cases can be fatal. It starts off like a cold but leads to severe

coughing that can last for weeks.

Chester County health officials consider two or more cases at a

school to be an outbreak. Those without the pertussis vaccination

cannot attend classes for 21 days.

Superintendent Jim Scanlon tells the Daily Local News that the

district saw three other isolated cases earlier this school year.

Two cases were reported last week at Great Valley High School in

nearby Malvern.

LIBERTY BELL-EVANGELICAL

Court rules against abortion protester's lawsuit

(Information in the following story is from: Philadelphia Daily

News, http://www.philly.com)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ A federal appeals court in Philadelphia has

ruled that an anti-abortion protester arrested near the Liberty

Bell in 2007 can't collect damages from park rangers who detained

him.

The three-judge panel on Thursday upheld a lower-court ruling to

dismiss 32-year-old Michael Marcavage's lawsuit against two

Independence National Historic Park rangers. The Philadelphia Daily

News reported on the panel's decision.

The suit stemmed from Marcavage's arrest after he refused to

move his protest to another area of the park. A federal magistrate

convicted the Lansdowne resident of two misdemeanors.

Marcavage appealed and claimed rangers violated his

constitutional rights. In 2010, a federal appeals court threw out

the misdemeanor convictions. Then Marcavage filed an amended

complaint arguing that park rangers were liable for unspecified

damages. The court ruled against him.

RECRUITING JERSEY SHORE

Snooki and JWoww wanted in Jersey Shore ... Pa.

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ If Snooki and JWoww need a place to live,

Jersey Shore will welcome them with open arms.

Jersey Shore, Pa., that is.

The Central Pennsylvania Film Office wants the stars of MTV's

``Jersey Shore'' reality show to go to the tiny borough in

north-central Pennsylvania or to nearby Williamsport to shoot a

planned spinoff.

MTV says it's flattered by the invitation and loves all Jersey

Shores.

Officials in Hoboken, N.J., have opted not to issue a permit for

the new reality show featuring Nicole ``Snooki'' Polizzi and Jenni

``JWoww'' Farley.

``Jersey Shore'' has been filmed in Seaside Heights, N.J., Miami

and Italy.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)