State News-Tuesday, Dec. 26th

BUTLER, Pa. (AP) - Neighbors say a man who killed his girlfriend and her son before killing himself was pleasant and easygoing. Neighbors in Butler, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, say they didn't see it coming from 60-year-old Joel Bodley. A short time after wishing his neighbor a merry Christmas, he killed 55-year-old Debby Chuba and her 17-year-old son, Andrew. Then he called 9-1-1 and told police there were three bodies in his home. By the time police arrived, he'd shot himself. Autopsies are planned for all three bodies from the Christmas double murder-suicide.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) - A 20-year-old college student is accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in Williamsport. According to court papers, the girl told police that Shaun Cormier forced her into a bedroom of a Williamsport house and raped her, leaving her with injuries that required surgery. According to an affidavit from police Agent Raymond Kontz, when Cormier was questioned by police he acknowledged having sex with the girl, but his account was different from hers. He did not eleborate. Cormier is a student at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. He is being held in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of 200-thousand dollars bail.

CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) - A mobile crisis intervention service is now in place for Cumberland and Perry counties. It will allow police to get professional help when dealing with mentally unstable people. Local crisis centers have workers who specialize in dealing with mentally unstable people, but they were not always available to accompany police to a scene. Taylor Andrews, a board member of a mental health advocacy group, says it meets a real need and he applauds the counties for taking the step. Andrews says his only concern is whether two mobile workers will be enough to cover both counties. Dauphin and York counties have similar mobile services.

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A cat stuck inside a wall in Bloomsburg was rescued by firefighters, who used a thermal-imaging camera to pinpoint where the animal was. Lois Kessler says her cat, named Kitty, fled Sunday when her grandson tried to pet her. Kitty hid in a closet and fell through a hole in the floor, then got lost in the space between the floorboards and the ceiling of the story below. Assistant Fire Chief Don Long says firefighters used the camera to find the cat's exact location, then cut through the drywall to free the animal. She then fled and hid under a couch.

WASHINGTON CROSSING, N.J. (AP) - Unlike Christmas 1776, the bad weather this year waited until General George Washington crossed the Delaware River. Raindrops greeted the re-enactor and about 100 of his troops as they arrived by boats on the New Jersey shore. Washington was played by Robert Gerenser of New Hope, Pennsylvania. He crossed with his 15-year-old daughter Kiersten. Son Robert Junior was part of an artillery unit. He is a second lieutenant in the Army. The event honors the daring Revolutionary War attack that began on Christmas 1776. After landing in New Jersey, the Colonial troops surprised Hessian soldiers in Trenton and helped turn the tide of the Revolutionary War.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The hectic and historic year 2006 saw Pennsylvania move closer to becoming one of the nation's biggest commercial gambling states. A year from now, the state could boast slot-machine gambling parlors in every corner. By 2009 or 2010, Governor Ed Rendell projects that slots could take in an estimated three (b) billion dollars a year, money that would go toward property and other tax cuts. Pennsylvanians can expect the SugarHouse Casino and Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia to sprout on opposite flanks of the Ben Franklin Bridge. The Majestic Star Casino will join Pittsburgh's two major sports stadiums on the Ohio River. And Sands Bethworks Casino is touted as a new life for the now-stilled flagship factory of Bethlehem Steel.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - When Tim Schieber bought a luxury town home a year ago, he didn't think it would be hard to find a buyer for his old Bucks County stone farmhouse. But it ended up taking 15 months, a 190-thousand-dollar price cut, 16-thousand dollars worth of remodeling and a new real estate agent before he and his wife could sell the home. After years of gains, the Pennsylvania real estate market slowed down in earnest this year as buyers balked at paying ballooning home prices and speculators left the market. A growing economy, low mortgage rates and new types of loans had fueled a decade-long housing boom. But declining affordability has put a dent in the market, especially in eastern Pennsylvania. While there are signs the market may be stabilizing, analysts say it's still too early to say whether a bottom has been reached.

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - More and more people are opening their real presents in the days after Christmas - and it's not because they are exchanging what they didn't want. That's more people are doing what 68-year-old Natalie Kizer of North Scranton does for her eight grandchildren, ages one to 28: buying gift cards. This year, she bought 400 dollars worth. Retailers are responding, too. Many expand their hours in the days after Christmas as consumers across the country start to redeem an estimated 25 (b) billion dollars in gift cards they find under the tree and in their stockings. Officials say that, in addition to after-Christmas clearance sales, gift cards are increasingly driving the sales. In 2003, gift cards represented about six-point-six percent of consumers gift-buying budget; this year, its expected to be more than 19 percent.