State News-Monday, August 7th

READING, Pa. (AP) - A man suspected in the shooting death of a Reading police officer will be formally arraigned today. Twenty-four-year-old Cletus Rivera is being held on 25 million dollars bail. He is accused of killing 40-year-old Patrolman Scott Wertz.Wertz was killed early Sunday morning outside a convenience store a block from City Hall. Rivera said he was innocent as he was led into court. Wertz and other officers had been responding to a large brawl. He is survived by a wife and two sons.

TOBYHANNA, Pa. (AP) - Authorities in the Poconos say there's a growing problem with gang members from New York City and its suburbs. In the private, gated communities of the Poconos, they can stakeout new drug turf with little interference from municipal or state police. Many of these gang members are teenagers and young adults, brought by their parents to escape big-city crime but instead bringing crime with them. With so many parents commuting to jobs in New Jersey and NewYork, teenagers are left unsupervised for hours at a time after school. Experts say bored teens who have little to keep them occupied can be easy pickings for gang recruiters.

KENHORST, Pa. (AP) - Reading police are investigating the death of a teenage girl whose body was found floating in the Schuylkill River on Sunday. Authorities say 16-year-old Rosa Centeno of Kenhorst was pronounced dead at the scene by investigators from the Berks County coroner's office. An autopsy is planned today at Reading Hospital. Police say they are treating the death as suspicious. Sergeant John Solecki of the police criminal investigations division says Centeno "was fully clothed and wearing sneakers, so obviously she wasn't going for a swim and drowned accidentally." A kayaker discovered Centeno's body at about 9 o'clock Sunday morning near the Bingaman Street Bridge. Authorities say she had been reported missing the same morning. They have not said who contacted them.