State News-Labor Day, Sept. 4th

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger underwent an emergency appendectomy and will miss Thursday's season opener against the Miami Dolphins. Coach Bill Cowher says he was told yesterday's surgery was uneventful. Cowher said he saw Roethlisberger yesterday morning and that Roethlisberger wasn't looking well. He was taken to the hospital shortly afterward. It's the second hospitalization for Roethlisberger since he led the Steelers to their fifth Super Bowl win. A helmetless Roethlisberger crashed his motorcycle in Pittsburgh in June, when a car turned in front of him. The crash accident left him with various facial injuries, including a broken jaw, nose and orbital bones, numerous cuts and a concussion.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senator Rick Santorum repeated his claim that chemical weapons have been found in Iraq. In a televised debate,challenger Bob Casey called that claim "crazy." Both men support continuing the war in Iraq, with Casey saying the number of Special Forces troops should be doubled. Casey accuses Santorum of not holding the administration accountable for its handling of the war. Santorum says Casey criticizes tactics in Iraq, rather than recognizing that the war is part of a multi-layer fight against what he calls "Islamic fascism." The Republican senator and his Democratic challenger also discussed the federal deficit. Casey said he has been fiscally responsible in his work but was vague about what federal program she would cut.

HAZLETON, Pa. (AP) - About 300 people gathered in Hazleton to hear speeches against the city's crackdown on illegal immigrants. Yesterday's gathering in Hazleton was peaceful and did not feature any confrontations with supporters of the ordinance.Most of the people attending were from out of town, including some from as far away as Philadelphia. Four buses had been chartered to bring people to the event. Confrontations had been feared because a gathering to oppose a similar crackdown in Riverside, New Jersey, attracted counterdemonstrators. Some of them had Confederate flags and somewere spitting and shouting racial slurs.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor's body is lying in state at the City-County building through 10 p-m tonight. His body will then be moved to a funeral home tomorrow and Wednesday before a funeral is held Thursday at Saint Paul Cathedral in the city's Oakland section. O'Connor died Friday from a rare brain cancer. He had been diagnosed with the disease in July. O'Connor was 61 years old.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The last time Pittsburgh came together to mourn a mayor was nearly two decades ago. In May 1988, then-Mayor Richard Caliguiri, suffering from a rare, incurable disease, died of a heart attack. He was 56 and serving his third term. On Friday, death struck the mayor's office again when Mayor Bob O'Connor died after battling a rare brain cancer. He was 61 and had served just eight months. Like O'Connor, Caliguiri was a favorite son in the traditionally working class city. Both men served on City Council and as its president before becoming mayor. And at the end, both died on Fridays 18 years apart.

WHITEHALL, Pa. (AP) - A suburban Pittsburgh man accused of killing his estranged wife by pinning her against a wall with a car has been held for trial. Forty-seven-year-old Esad Lemo of Whitehall is charged in the August 13th death of 38-year-old Jasminka Lemo. The Lemos and their two children came from Bosnia and were resettled in Whitehall by Catholic Charities in 1997. Police say the couple had a history of domestic problems, and the wife filed for divorce earlier this year. They were living apart.

PAOLI, Pa. (AP) - Police say a teen pointing a gun at a friend killed the friend when the weapon discharged. State police say 17-year-old Scott Sheridan was shot in the face and died in the shooter's driveway. Sheridan and the suspect, 17-year-old Sean O'Neill, were classmates at Cardinal O'Hara High School. O'Neill is charged as an adult with involuntary manslaughter and is being held in the Chester County Prison. Police say several people at O'Neill's home drinking in the hours leading up to the shooting Friday. The home is located in Edgmont, on the Delaware-Chester county line.