State News-Wednesday, October 11th

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The candidates for governor disagreed over issues such as gun control but toned down the rhetoric in their second and final debate last night. Democratic Governor Ed Rendell and Republican challenger Lynn Swann broke little new ground in the hourlong debate in the studios of W-P-V-I-TV but avoided the attacks and dueling statistics of their first televised debate in Pittsburgh. Rendell renewed his pitch for a law that would limit handgun purchases in Pennsylvania to one per month to cut down on gun violence. He said the law has been blocked by Republicans who control the Legislature and challenged Swann to endorse the proposal. Swann said more aggressive enforcement of existing laws is the best response to rising gun violence. The former Pittsburgh Steelers star, who has called for adding five thousand police officers across the state, also said he opposes giving cities and towns the power to enact their own gun control laws. Rendell said he supports giving Pennsylvania cities that authority.

BERLIN, Pa. (AP) - A prosecutor says three Berlin Brothers Valley High School students accused of taking an assault weapon onto school property posed no direct threat to the school. Somerset District Attorney Jerry Spangler says one of the three students left the gun in his car after showing it to a friend. The next day the three students drove the vehicle to the Berlin Community Grove, where a witness reported them to police. The grove property is owned by the school district. Spangler says there is zero tolerance for firearms on school premises even if the students didn't intend to threaten anyone. State police say the teens have been released to the custody of their parents and face weapons and drug charges in juvenile court. They say the teens had also taken medication prescribed for someone else. Spangler says the charges do not warrant juvenile detention.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - An international agency says governments on both sides of the U-S-Canadian border should work more closely to prevent and keep track of spills that pollute the Great Lakes system. The International Joint Commission advises the two countries on issues concerning the lakes. It released findings from a two-year study of accidental or intentional discharges into the lakes and the waterways connecting them. The body focused on the channel linking Lake Huron with Lake Erie, which includes the Saint Clair River, Lake Saint Clair and the Detroit River. For the most part, the report says the number of spills in the Great Lakes basin has appeared to decline since 19-90. But it says firm conclusions were hard to draw because of spotty, inconsistent data and urged both countries to do better at
gathering and sharing information.

WINDBER, Pa. (AP) - A 391-thousand-500 dollar state grant is expected to create five jobs immediately and up to a dozen within a year working on fuel cell research in western Pennsylvania. Kuchera Defense Systems received the Department of Environmental Protection grant yesterday to create a new center dedicated to creating a pilot plant for manufacturing fuel cells. The Windber-based company will also use the D-E-P money and funds from the Air Force Research Laboratories to upgrade its equipment and facilities. Chief Financial Officer Ron Kuchera says the company aims not only to manufacture fuel cells for other firms but also to develop its own fuel cell technology.