Biden in W.Pa. to discuss broadband Internet access for rural areas as part of stimulus plan

ERIE, Pa. — Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to be in northwestern Pennsylvania to discuss ways federal stimulus funding can be used to expand broadband access to the Internet for rural areas that aren’t served by faster connections.

Lawyer pleads guilty to role in $2.5M kickback scam involving northeastern Pa. juvenile cases

SCRANTON, Pa. — A lawyer at the center of a $2.5 million kickback scheme involving a pair of corrupt judges and hundreds of juvenile criminal cases pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday.

Husband, wife jailed for smuggling $2.1 million in scrap silver from Pa. plant in lunch boxes

GREENSBURG, Pa. — A husband and wife have been jailed for smuggling $2.1 million worth of scrap silver out of a western Pennsylvania plant in their lunch boxes. Fifty-two-year-old Pamela Shermenti and 57-year-old William Shermenti, of Loyalhanna Township, will begin serving their sentences July 6. A Westmoreland County judge on Monday sentenced the wife to one to two years in the county jail; her husband will serve nine to 23 months.

Pa. mom charged with boosting daughter’s grades, reducing scores of two classmates

HUNTINGDON, Pa. — A high school secretary illegally changed grades in a school computer system to improve her daughter’s class standing, according to criminal charges filed Thursday.

Small-town Pennsylvania bears brunt as car dealerships fade, leaving scars

SANDY LAKE, Pa. — Upset that General Motors was planning to “wind down” the dealership where they had loyally bought their Chevys for years, schoolteacher Marie Kohr and her husband, Kevin, went to GM with a message: “You are killing America.”

Pa. landlord pleads guilty to planting cameras to watch women tenants for nearly 2 decades

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia landlord has admitted setting up spy cameras and secretly recording women tenants for nearly two decades.

Pa. landlord pleads guilty to planting cameras to watch women tenants for nearly a decade

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia landlord has admitted setting up spy cameras and secretly recording women tenants for nearly a decade.

Sealed divorce record in Pa. county 50 miles from their home offers privacy to Jon & Kate

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Jon and Kate Gosselin don’t live in Montgomery County, Pa. So why are the stars of “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ getting divorced there?

Police: Man blares porn soundtrack to chase away neighborhood kids in Pa. cul-de-sac squabble

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. — Police in suburban Philadelphia say a man fed up of children playing in his cul-de-sac blared a pornographic soundtrack to chase them off.

AP Exclusive: Pa. legislative leaders’ pet projects benefit most from secretive grants

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania House leaders are steering a disproportionate share of grant money to their districts through a long-secret system of funding state lawmakers’ pet projects, The Associated Press found.

Kate Gosselin says in divorce filing that her marriage to Jon is ‘irretrievably broken’

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Kate Gosselin says in divorce papers that her marriage to Jon is “irretrievably broken.”

Interior Secretary Salazar optimistic about making deal with landowners for Flight 93 memorial

SOMERSET, Pa. — The government has made “substantial progress” in negotiating with the seven landowners whose property is needed so the Flight 93 National Memorial can be built by the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday.

Police: Pa. politician cited for public drunkenness after passing out at government meeting

WIND GAP, Pa. — Police in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley say an elected official passed out drunk at a public meeting and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.

Pa. mom charged with feigning abduction, taking daughter to Disney, waives evidence hearing

RICHBORO, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia woman accused of faking her abduction and taking her daughter to Disney World is waiving her right to a preliminary hearing.

Pennsylvania man is accused of shooting 19-year-old son to death during Father’s Day argument

STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Police say a 62-year-old northeastern Pennsylvania man shot his 19-year-old son to death during a family argument on Father’s Day.

Makeovers bringing confidence to job seekers frustrated by long, fruitless search for work

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Shalimar Pabon didn’t see the pink slip coming. She didn’t expect a yearlong search for another steady, full-time job that forced her to seek welfare benefits for her five children and herself.

Pennsylvania borough is raising an orange flag to make sure street crossers get right of way

LEMOYNE, Pa. — A central Pennsylvania borough is raising an orange flag to make sure pedestrians get the right of way while crossing streets.

Police say western Pa. man died of natural causes the same day his girlfriend was murdered

CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — Police have determined that a southwestern Pennsylvania man died of natural causes the same day his longtime girlfriend was found beaten to death in a separate residence in the same town. Police had previously thought 63-year-old James Claybourne might have committed suicide in his Connellsville home on June 1. Instead, the Fayette County coroner has determined he died of a heart problem.

In Pa. speech, George W. Bush says private sector, not government, will lead economic comeback

ERIE, Pa. — Former President George W. Bush says businesses will be at the leading edge of helping to lift the United States out of the recession.

Correction: Immigrant Killing-Students story

POTTSVILLE, Pa. — In a June 17 story about the sentencing of two Shenandoah teenagers convicted of simple assault in the beating death of an illegal Mexican immigrant, The Associated Press erroneously identified the defendant who slumped at the defense table after being sentenced. It was Derrick Donchak, not Brandon Piekarsky.

Man ‘relaxing’ on air mattress in Lake Erie bay rescued by Coast Guard, arrested on warrant

ERIE, Pa. — A man floating on an air mattress in a Lake Erie bay had to be rescued by the Coast Guard and was taken into custody by Erie, Pa., police. Police said two boaters called 911 after a fisherman told them his friend was in the water. The Coast Guard crew pulled the man from Presque Isle Bay about 60 yards from shore at about 11:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Teenagers sentenced for simple assault in beating death of illegal Mexican immigrant in Pa.

POTTSVILLE, Pa. — Two teenagers convicted of simple assault in the beating death of an illegal Mexican immigrant that sparked outrage from Hispanic leaders and civil-rights groups were each sentenced Wednesday to at least six months behind bars.

Man found floating on air mattress in Pa.’s Presque Isle Bay rescued and then arrested

ERIE, Pa. — Police arrested a man who had to be rescued by the Coast Guard after he was found floating on an air mattress in Presque Isle Bay. Police haven’t identified the man or said what charges he faces in the incident about 11:20 p.m. Tuesday. So far Wednesday, police have not returned calls for more information.

Small Pa. town heavily penalized for wronging developer files for bankruptcy protection

WESTFALL, Pa. — A decade ago, this small Pennsylvania town was found to have engaged in racketeering to thwart a condo development. Then years later it was found to have wronged the developer yet again.

Pa. windfall: Cop spots $100 bills blowing in breeze; tracks down NJ man who lost $3,000

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A New Jersey man was left wondering where his $3,000 cash had gone after a job in Pennsylvania. Turns out, the answer was blowin’ in the wind. A Harrisburg-area police officer gearing up to catch speeders early Saturday spotted several $100 bills fluttering in the breeze along the road.

Deadline to sell looms for Pa. land owners with property around planned Flight 93 memorial

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — The federal government says Friday is the deadline to get land needed for the Flight 93 National Memorial in western Pennsylvania without using eminent domain.

Biden visits Pa. bridge to tout stimulus at start of nationwide tour of recovery projects

CARLISLE, Pa. — Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday the $787 billion economic stimulus program is creating jobs with infrastructure projects like the replacement of a dilapidated bridge in central Pennsylvania, the first stop of a cross-country “Road to Recovery” tour.

Prosecutor: Pa. man flicking lighter to shoo cat from under mom’s bed sets fire that kills her

SLATINGTON, Pa. — Prosecutors say an eastern Pennsylvania man flicking a lighter to get a cat to come out of hiding from under his mother’s bed started a fire that killed her.

Secret Service agent attacked with brass knuckles, asphalt chunk in road rage in Pa.

SCRANTON, Pa. — A northeastern Pennsylvania man is accused of attacking a Secret Service agent with brass knuckles and a chunk of asphalt.

Pa. man accused of speeding in police station parking lot, stopping between marked cars

ENOLA, Pa. — Police in south-central Pennsylvania say a drunken driver who was speeding in a police station parking lot and stopped his car between two marked cruisers so he could take a nap has been arrested. East Pennsboro police Chief Dennis McMaster said the 37-year-old man caught the attention of an officer Sunday night.