State News-Saturday, Dec. 2nd

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - There's good, if unusual, news for a million-and-a-half natural gas customers in eastern Pennsylvania. They will pay less for the fuel this winter than they have since damage from Hurricane Katrina drove up prices. Prices typically don't go down in winter, when cold weather drives up demand. But five gas utilities made new quarterly filings yesterday that show a continued slide in gas rates. Utilities took advantage of the lowest wholesale gas prices in two-and-a-half years. The five utilities are Peco Energy, P-P-L, U-G-I, U-G-I Penn Natural Gas, and Philadelphia Gas Works.

INDIANA, Pa. (AP) - Indiana County is the self-proclaimed Christmas tree capital of the world, but many Christmas tree farmers say business isn't what it used to be. According to government data, Pennsylvania has more Christmas tree farms than any other state in the nation. And Indiana County harvests more trees than any county in the state. Farmers began growing Christmas trees in the county in about 1918. By 1960, there were more than 200 Christmas tree growers. But even though Pennsylvania has the most farms, it harvests
fewer trees than powerhouse states such as Oregon and North Carolina. Some farmers blame the decline in Pennsylvania on artificial trees and the increasing market dominance of trees like the Fraser fir, which prefers the higher elevations in other states.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The largest union at Philadelphia's two biggest newspapers says it made progress during an afternoon of contract talks, and another round of negotiations has been set for today. Talks between The Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia and the papers' owner, Philadelphia Media Holdings, are scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. The Guild called off a strike after its contract expired at midnight on Thursday, since the union and management reported progress. Nine other unions at the two papers also made clear they wanted to avoid what they said would be a damaging strike and were prepared to cross picket lines. The Guild has said it was most concerned about management proposals to freeze pensions and carry out layoffs without regard to seniority.

NEWARK, Del. (AP) - The dean of the University of Pennsylvania's famed Wharton business school has been named the new president of the University of Delaware. The announcement came yesterday that 48-year-old Patrick Harker will replace David Roselle, who is retiring in May after 17 years as Delaware's president. Harker, who is also a professor of management and private enterprise, has been dean at Wharton since 2000. In June, he was appointed to a second term that would have expired in 2012. As dean, Harker led more than 300 faculty members and 46-hundred students, along with about nine thousand executive education
participants.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A judge dismissed defiant-trespass charges yesterday against a group of anti-war grandmothers. The 11 women had been arrested in June after refusing to leave a military recruiting office in downtown Philadelphia. Municipal Court Judge Deborah Griffin says the women should not be prosecuted because they were in a public place and did nothing except refuse a request to leave. The grandmothers had tried to dissuade others from enlisting at the recruiting center. The women also asked to enlist in order to serve in the place of younger recruits who haven't yet led full lives. The grandmothers, who called themselves the "Granny Peace Brigade," were told they were too old for military service.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A new Pennsylvania state law requires motorists to turn on their headlights whenever they use their windshield wipers due in inclement weather. The law takes effect on January 29th. It carries a 25-dollar fine, but with fees that will be more like a hundred dollars. Also, a law passed in May imposes substantial penalties against drivers if the snow or ice on their vehicles injures or kills someone. This is the first winter for that law to be on the books.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Republicans will seek a recount in a legislative election that tipped control of the state House of Representatives to the Democrats for the first time in 12 years. G-O-P spokesman Al Bowman says the party plans to file its request in a Chester County court by Wednesday. That's the deadline for challenging the results that showed Democrat Barbara McIlvaine Smith beating Republican Shannon Royer by 23 votes. Bowman says Royer wants a recount because he wants to ensure that all votes were properly counted. Smith and Royer competed for the 156th district seat formerly held by Republican Representative Elinor Taylor.