State News-Tuesday, Sept. 5th

ALLENWOOD, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania reptile expert Clyde Peeling calls the death of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin from the barb of a stingray an unfortunate freak accident. However, the namesake of Clyde Peeling's Reptileland in Allenwood in Union County says many thought the 44-year-old entertainer took unnecessary chances with potentially deadly reptiles. Peeling says the manner in which Irwin specifically handled venomous snakes "cavalier-like," and likely reflected badly on more responsible zookeepers. Irwin died Monday after being stung through the chest by a stingray while shooting a documentary called "Ocean's Deadliest" off the coast of Australia.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A new study suggests Pennsylvania schools aren't meeting the needs of children with asthma, nor are they fully prepared to deal with children's asthma attacks. Surveys of 757 schools in Pennsylvania in 2004 found that one-fifth didn't always have adults on hand who know what to do for a severe asthma attack. Also, more than half of the state's urban schools didn't allow students to carry inhalers. The study's authors at Penn State University say the subject is important because asthma is the leading health-related reason children miss school or athletics. It affects one of every eight children 17 years old or younger. The study is being released today in the September issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - The state Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by Erie Insurance Exchange of a ruling ordering the company to pay about three million dollars to a customer. The court says the appeal had been improperly granted. In a 2002 case, a Luzerne County judge said customer Jean Hollock was entitled to the money because of how the insurer handled her claim stemming from a 1992 auto accident. Hollock had claimed, among other things, that the insurer acted in bad faith by forcing her to arbitration. After she rejected a claims adjuster's offer to settle for 30-thousand dollars, an arbitration panel awarded Hollock 865-thousand dollars. The company paid Hollock her 500-thousand dollar policy limit, and she then sued. A company spokesman says officials weren't sure what further action would be taken following the Supreme Court ruling.

NEWMANSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto apparently led to the death of a seven-year-old boy, killed after a tree limb fell on his family's camper. The manager of Eagle's Peak Campground in Millcreek Township,Lebanon County, says the tree limb fell around two a-m Saturday while the child was camping with his family. A a spokeswoman for the Dauphin County coroner's office says the boy died at Hershey Medical Center.