State News-Tuesday, Jan. 16th

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - It wouldn't be an Ed Rendell eventwithout cheesesteaks. Pat's King of Steaks expects to serve atleast 15-hundred of the Philly food favorite at the governor'sinaugural ball tonight. With any luck, they won't run short of beer. Yuengling isdonating 125 cases of its Pottsville brew. Some longtime westernPennsylvania brands should be served too -- Iron City and RollingRock, even though Rolling Rock is no longer made in Pennsylvania. Organizers of Rendell's second inauguration say this should below-key compared to four years ago. Tonight's inaugural ball is expected to host about half of the 95-hundred revelers who packed the hall at the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex in 2003.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Two candidates for mayor of Philadelphia are announcing plans today. Congressman Chaka Fattah is to explain his ethics plan for city government. Former City Councilman Michael Nutter is to give details of how he'd fight crime. State Representative Dwight Evans and businessman Tom Knox and former are the other decleared candidates for the Democratic nomination. Congressman Bob Brady and labor leader John Doughertyare considering running. The winner of the May 15th Democratic primary is heavily favored to win the general election in November. Philadelphia hasn't elected a Republican mayor since Bernard Samuel in 1948. Current Mayor John Street can't run this year because of term limits.

WASHINGTON (AP) - New federal legislation could encourage more state investment in Amtrak by making federal matching funds available. Senators Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Trent Lott of Mississippi plan to introduce their legislation today. The bill calls for 12 (b) billion dollars in federal funding for the next six years. State corridors are Amtrak's biggest success stories next to its busiest route from Boston to Washington. They are a stark contrast to the long-distance trains, which are costly and attract new passengers. Fourteen states currently fund service that Washington-based Amtrak wouldn't otherwise provide.

BALTIMORE (AP) - New research is casting doubt on the view held by some educators that young teenagers do better academically when elementary and middle school grades are in the same school building. After examining K-through-8 schools in Philadelphia, Johns Hopkins University researcher Douglas Mac Iver found students in grades six through eight performed about the same as their peers in traditional middle schools. The school systems in Philadelphia and Baltimore used test data to justify their decisions to switch to K-through-8 schools. But Mac Iver says the data could be skewed. In Philadelphia, he says, the schools showing better results are in more affluent areas and tend to attract and retain better teachers.

BERNVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Autopsies are planned today on the Berks County mother and daughter dead from a murder-suicide. Police released little information after the bodies of22-year-old Duceliz Diaz and her five-year-old daughter were found yesterday in their apartment in Bernville. Authorities didn't immediately release the child's name or say how police believed they died. Bernville is about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

NEW BLOOMFIELD, Pa. (AP) - The Perry County coroner says a man shot by police didn't die from the gunshot. Coroner Mike Shalonis says 52-year-old Joseph Dum bled to death from his many stab wounds, all self-inflicted. He says the gunshot to the arm wasn't life-threatening. Police investigating the murder of Elaine Pierson saw Dum's carparked near where the body was found on Saturday. They wanted to ask why he was parked there, but he fled and led police on a chase.That was followed by a struggle in which Dum threatened police with a knife and stabbed himself multiple times. That's when he was shot, but it took yesterday's autopsy to determine the gunshot didn't kill him. Authorities say there's no indication that Dum had anything to do with Pierson's death.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Dollar Bank Jamboree in Pittsburgh will not be held this summer because the state park it uses is undergoing a 35 (M) million-dollar renovation. Organizers say the popular country music concert will be suspended until the summer of 2008 because Point State Park won't be available this summer. The free concerts have drawn tens of thousands of fans since 1995, boasting singers such as Reba McIntire, Vince Gill, Clint Black and Trisha Yearwood. The Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta and Three Rivers Arts Festival are also considering relocating temporarily or working around the construction for events this summer.