State News-Monday, Jan. 8th

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) - There's a hearing today in the case of a soldier accused of killing two superior officers --including a Pennsylvanian -- in Iraq. Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez is charged with killing 34-year-old First Lieutenant Louis Allen of Milford and another officer. His lawyers want to hire a forensic expert to examine the victims' computer. A judge is to consider that and other matters today in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On Friday, the judge agreed that the defense should have an independent investigator. Martinez' lawyers say Army investigators weren't cooperating with them.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Classes resume today at the University of Pennsylvania -- but the professor who's been named a suspect in his wife's murder won't be teaching. A university spokeswoman says Rafael Robb remains a full, tenured economics professor at Penn. But under a mutual agreement, another professor will take over the graduate seminar Robb was scheduled to teach on game theory. Robb hasn't been charged with any crime, but he's been named as a suspect in the December 22nd beating death of Ellen Robb. Montgomery County authorities believe it was disguised to look like a burglary.

ASHLEY, Pa. (AP) - One of the last great relics of coal mining in northeastern Pennsylvania may be dismantled and sold for scrap -- or preserved as a monument to a bygone industry. Either way, the owner of the Huber Breaker is determined that its fate be decided soon. The Huber is one of the last remaining anthracite coal breakers in the United States. It has deteriorated badly since its closure in 1976. Al Roman, a construction contractor, bought the breaker in 1997. Roman says he can't keep paying insurance on the huge, hulking, boxy steel-and-glass structure. He pledged six years ago to donate it for historic preservation. But negotiations, which have intensified in recent weeks, have yet to bear fruit.

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (AP) - The National Park Service wants visitors to Valley Forge to understand better what happened at George Washington's headquaters. The six million dollar project is the largest single federal investment in the park since it became part of the National Park Service in 1976. It includes a multimedia presentation to introduce guests to Washington and his headquarters. It also introduces them to the village of Valley Forge. The village was carefully picked as an encampment site because it was a day's walk from the British troops in Philadelphia and guarded agriculture to the west. The iron forge that gave the village its name, along with most of the industrial buildings that comprised it, were torn down in the 19th century.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A former state employee is scheduled to go on trial this week in the death of his girlfriend, who allegedly fell as he dangled her out a 23rd-floor window. Kevin Eckenrode is facing third-degree murder charges after a Dauphin County judge refused to limit the charge to manslaughter. Eckenrode's lawyer says Rachel Kozlusky's death was the result of a drunken accident. Eckenrode has said the couple had been celebrating their engagement. Tests show they both had very high blood-alcohol levels -Kozlusky's was nearly four times the legal limit for driving. Prosecutors say drunkenness is no defense for the risk he took. Eckenrode, now 25, was a press aide for the state Gaming Control Board when the 23-year-old Kozlusky was killed in February.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) - Backers of a planned industrial museum at the former Bethlehem Steel site hope the impending slot-machine casino there will enable the museum to open next year. The National Museum of Industrial History was originally scheduled to open in 1999. It has been beset by missed deadlines and problems raising enough money for the 26 million dollar project. But organizers have a boost from a Las Vegas Sands casino and hotel now planned for the area. They recently announced a 12 million dollar capital campaign and hope to open the museum by the summer of 2008. The prospect of having an estimated five million people a year coming to south Bethlehem to gamble and shop is seen by some as a major reason to be optimistic.

ESSEX, Md. (AP) - Police in Baltimore County, Maryland, say a 21-year-old Berwick man was shot dead by officers last night. Police say the young man was in Baltimore County visiting friends. Police say he was involved in an argument at a bar. When officers arrived, he got into his car and fled. Police, who were told he had a gun, pursued him. After driving a short distance, police say the man jumped out of his car with the engine running, and he walked toward officers firing at them with a handgun. Officers returned fire and struck him. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. None of the officers was shot, although several bullets went through the windshield of one police car.

WASHINGTON (AP) - All over the nation, where city school districts are failing, mayors are trying to take over. The public often holds mayors responsible for public schools -- even in cities where an elected school board is in charge of running them. In Pennsylvania, Harrisburg and Philadelphia are prime examples. In Harrisburg, a five-member board of control, appointed by the mayor, acts as the governing body of the district. Enrollment is up 35 percent due to a reduction in dropout rates since the takeover in 2000. In Philadelphia, the mayor doesn't have as much control. After a 2001 state takeover, a five-member commission was created to replace the city's former school board. Two members are appointed by the mayor and three by the governor.