State News-Tuesday, Dec. 12th

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The city's two largest newspapers and their largest union are still at odds over pensions but a Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia spokesman says more talks may be held today. The Guild and The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News negotiated for more than 14 hours before breaking off talks about 12:45 a-m today. Guild spokesman Stu Bykofsky says the Guild was waiting for a company response to its latest proposal on pensions. The Guild had threatened to strike when its contract expired November 30th, but has held off as negotiations continued. Meanwhile, officials said yesterday that six of the nine other unions at the newspapers voted to ratify three-year labor contracts.

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. (AP) - Two Democrats recently elected to Congress from the Philadelphia suburbs are appearing with union members today. Joe Sestak and Patrick Murphy are appearing at a union hall in
Plymouth Meeting to pledge their support for raising the federal minimum wage.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Republicans want ballots in a state House race to be re-counted by hand. Democrats say that will take weeks and propose to feed the ballots through a different type of optical scanner instead. With the House divided equally, the results of this disputed election will determine control of the chamber. Chester County elections officials have certified results showing Democratic candidate Barbara McIlvaine Smith edging out Republican Shannon Royer by 23 votes. A judge needs to rule on how
the recount will proceed.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Longtime state Representative Dwight Evans is running for mayor of Philadelphia.
Last night's announcement capped a day of visiting with constituents and highlighting his campaign platform of stemming the wave of crime and violence in the city. Evans has joined Congressman Chaka Fattah, former City Councilman Michael Nutter and businessman Tom Knox as declared candidates for the Democratic primary in May. Congressman Bob Brady and electricians union leader John Dougherty have also said they are considering entering the race. The winner of the Democratic primary is favored to win the general election in November because Democrats dominate Philadelphia politics. The city hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1948.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Five Philadelphia prison guards accused of beating an inmate have been acquitted. The five guards were fired in June. But one defense lawyer says they'll be seeking back pay following the acquittal yesterday. The prosecution and defense agreed that inmate Geraldo Rosario pulled a handmade knife on a guard before being subdued and taken to a different cell block. The prosecution maintained that the guards stripped Rosario and beat him so badly he had to be hospitalized. Defense attorneys said Rosario was injured when he became uncooperative and had to be subdued a second time. The defense also argued that the guard who had a knife pulled on him - not one of the five who had been charged - had changed his story and wasn't a credible witness.

CLARION, Pa. (AP) - Men's cross country and indoor and outdoor track are on the way out at Clarion University of Pennsylvania in an effort to meet requirements of Title Nine, the landmark gender-equity law.
Thirty-nine percent of Clarion undergraduates are male and 61 percent female. But only 41 percent of the university's student athletes are female. University President Joseph Grunenwald says cutting men's sports
is not something the university wants to do but is the only financially viable option. The university says the sports will be cut at the end of the spring semester.