State News-Thursday, Dec. 21st

NEW BLOOMFIELD, Pa. (AP) - A man who killed two hikers along a remote stretch of the Appalachian Trail in 1990 is scheduled to be resentenced today. The Perry County district attorney says the county can't afford to keep fighting efforts to appeal the death sentence of 54-year-old Paul David Crews. The D-A says Crews has agreed to drop his appeals in exchange for receiving two life sentences without the possibility of parole. Crews was sentenced to death in 1991 for raping and stabbing to death 25-year-old Molly LaRue of Ohio, and fatally shooting her hiking partner, 26-year-old Geoffrey Logan Hood of Tennessee. The hikers were killed as they slept in a wooden shelter near Duncannon, about ten miles north of Harrisburg.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Allegheny County Council's special committee on government reform will hold a meeting today to discuss recent water main breaks affecting Mon Valley municipalities. Council President Rich Fitzgerald says the county will work with local officials to determine what's causing the breaks and to prevent them from recurring. Other officials have asked the Public Utility Commission to investigate the breaks, which have left some residents without
water.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) - Democrats say their candidate has taken a lead in a recount of a tight race for the state House of Representatives. A lawyer for the Democrats says a Chester County judge is to rule today on the status of about a dozen challenged ballots. But he says the Democratic candidate is up by 26 votes in the hand recount, so the challenged ballots can't affect the outcome. It's unclear whether the Republican candidate will concede in the race that decides which party controls the House.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates say a slots parlor near their stadiums will cause major congestion on game days. But traffic is one reason why the North Side proposal got the slots license. The Hill District and South Side are more congested. Two large parking garages have been built on the North Side since P-N-C Park and Heinz Field opened in 2001. Another may be built along with the casino. The Pittsburgh Penguins are also disappointed, for a different reason. They were hoping the Hill District proposal from Isle of Capri could get the state's nod. That company was offering to build a new Penguins arena at no cost to the team or taxpayers.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office has confirmed that bone fragments unearthed by crews renovating Point State Park are human. The office says the fragments are from more than one person and from a burial more than 50 years old. Forensic anthropologists conducted the preliminary examination of behalf of the office. The office says a final report will provide more detailed information. At the forks of the Ohio River, Point State Park is the site of Fort Pitt, a strategic location in the mid-1700s and the namesake for the city that sprung up around it. A crew digging a trench for temporary water lines uncovered bones December 7th about 40 yards behind the Fort Pitt Blockhouse, the only surviving building of the original fort.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Several creditors have opposed a short-term financing plan by the bankrupt maker of Iron City and other beers. A federal bankruptcy judge is scheduled to consider the proposal at a hearing today. The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and other creditors have objected to Pittsburgh Brewing Company's request for court approval of 500-thousand dollars from a secret investor. They have cited stipulations that would give the lender precedence over their claims. The 145-year-old brewery filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December last year.