State News-Tuesday, Sept. 19th

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - No lawmakers who collected the midterm pay raises have rushed to repay the money since last week's state Supreme Court ruling declaring them unconstitutional. But two current legislators and one former state representative say they plan to do so. The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that allowing legislators to immediately collect raises of between 16 and 54 percent as"unvouchered expenses" violates a constitutional provision that bars lawmakers from collecting pay raises in the same session in which they are approved. But the court did not order lawmakers to repay the money. The Senate clerk's office says Senator Michael Stack ofPhiladelphia is the only senator so far who has indicated he will pay the money back. Representative Russ Fairchild of Union County and former Represenative Alan Butkovitz of Philadelphia also say they plan to repay the expenses.

PHILADELPHIA (AP)-Church lawyers say plaintiffs who allege that they were sexually abused by priests should not be allowed to sue the archdiocese under federal anti-racketeering laws because the statutes do not cover personal injury. C. Clark Hodgson Junior is an attorney for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit brought
against the church in June by 13 people who say they were abused by priests. The lawsuit argues that the archdiocese violated federal conspiracy and anti-racketeering laws by attempting to cover up the abuse. The statutes are most commonly used to prosecute organized
crime, and lawyers in other states have been unsuccessful in using the laws in alleged priest abuse cases. Stewart Eisenberg is the victims' attorney. He says that while these are "not the normal, everyday claims," the case should go forward.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Prosecutors say two businessmen ignored warnings more than six years ago that a pier holding up a nightclub in Philadelphia would collapse within hours.
That decision, according to prosecutors, ultimately led to the deaths of three women when Pier 34 collapsed into the Delaware River on May 18th of 2000, killing three people and injuring dozens more. Pier 34 owner Michael Asbell and Heat nightclub operator Eli Karetny went on trial this morning in Philadelphia Common Pleas court on charges of risking a catastrophe and conspiracy. Prosecutor Jude Conroy told jurors in his opening statement that no actual repairs were done to the structure despite the warnings. The defendants blamed the collapse on three related contractors they had hired over the years. Thomas Bergstrom is the attorney for Asbell. He told the jury that their job was to determine if Asbell and Karetny are criminals.
The trial is expected to last a month or more.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann says -- if elected -- he'll authorize putting up to five-thousand additional law enforcement officers on the streets of
Pennsylvania's largest cities by 2010 to fight escalating crime. Swann was speaking at a campaign stop at a West Philadelphia community center. He also says he would increase enforcement of current gun laws, expand community-based crime fighting programs
and create a "drug dealer registry" similar to sex offender registries. He says the five-thousand figure was not set in stone, but a benchmark number, and that officers could be added in cities with higher crime rates including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Altoona, Harrisburg, York, Reading, Williamsport and other municipalities.