State News-Friday, Dec. 22nd

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) - Eight Marines are charged in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha last year. Four Marines -- including a Pennsylvania native -- were charged with murder in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths to arise from the war in Iraq. The Marine Corps says the other four charged were officers who weren't there but were accused of failures in investigating and reporting the deaths. A squad leader, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, was charged with murdering 12 people and ordering other Marines to murder six people after a roadside bomb killed one Marine and injured two others.
Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt, from Washington Township, Westmoreland County, south of Pittsburgh, stands accused of the unpremeditated murder of three Iraqis.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has issued 16 pardons and commuted the sentence of an Iowa man who was convicted on drug charges. Six of the federal offenses were drug crimes, while others included bank fraud, mail fraud, the acceptance of a kickback, a false statement on a loan application and conspiracy to defraud the government over taxes. On the pardons list is a Pennsylvania woman: Patricia Ann Hultman, of Kane, Pennsylvania. She was sentenced in October 1985 to one year of imprisonment on drug charges. With this batch, Bush has issued 113 pardons and commuted three sentences in his nearly six years in the White House. A pardon amounts to federal forgiveness for one's crime, while a commutation cuts short an existing prison term.

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) - Members of the United Mine Workers overwhelmingly approved a new five-year contract with the Bituminous Coal Operators Association. The new contract includes the largest pay increase since 1974. The union says 80 percent of the U-M-W members who voted approved the contract. The union wouldn't release the vote total. The contract covers only workers at unionized subsidiaries of Pittsburgh-based Consol Energy. Union miners will receive a 20 percent across-the-board salary increase over the life of the contract, which will take effect January First. They also will receive an immediate one-thousand-dollar bonus. Future retirees' pensions will increase by ten dollars per month. Health benefits were maintained with no increase in co-payments.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Thomas Eakins' masterpiece "The Gross Clinic" is going to remain in Philadelphia. City officials say a huge fundraising drive yielded tens of (m) millions of dollars that will prevent the sale of the painting. Mayor John Street says a 10 (m) million dollar donation by the Annenberg Foundation, coupled with three separate three (m) million dollar contributions, will cap the effort to retain the painting. The mayor says the painting belongs in Philadelphia just as much as the Liberty Bell and the city's sports teams. Arts supporters have been trying to raise money by a Tuesday deadline imposed by the painting's owner, Thomas Jefferson University. The university announced in November that it was selling the canvas for 68 (m) million dollars to help fund expansion efforts.

EASTON, Pa. (AP) - A man has pleaded guilty to killing his younger brother at their mother's house and dismembering the body. Twenty-six-year-old Stephen Austin, of Birdsboro, was sentenced to 21 to 42 years in state prison yesterday after his guilty plea to third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Austin killed his 22-year-old brother, Jonathan Austin, during an argument in May at their mother's home in Upper Mount Bethel Township in Northampton County. Police say they found Jonathan Austin's severed head and hands in Stephen Austin's Jeep when they arrested him, along with a shovel and ax.
Austin's attorney says he is satisfied with the plea agreement.

DENVER (AP) - The Denver Nuggets are set to resume their schedule at the Pepsi Center tonight with a game against Sacramento, two days after a blizzard forced the cancellation of their matchup against the Phoenix Suns. New star acquisition Allen Iverson could be joining them. He's expected to fly to Denver today. Denver will be without star Carmelo Anthony who is serving a 15-game suspension for a weekend on-court brawl during the Nugget's game against New York. The league hasn't set a makeup date for the Suns-Nuggets game. The Nuggets say Andre Miller, who was traded to the 76ers, is expected to fly to Philadelphia today.