Latest Pennsylvania news, sports, business and entertainment

OFFICER SHOT-PENNSYLVANIA

Pa. jury sentences man to death in officer killing

EASTON, Pa. (AP) Jurors in eastern Pennsylvania have sentenced a man to death for fatally shooting a police officer last summer.

The Northampton County jury announced its decision around 3 p.m. Thursday in the penalty phase of George Hitcho Jr.'s murder trial. It came after 2 ½ hours of deliberations.

Hitcho was convicted of first-degree murder last week in the August killing of Freemansburg police Officer Robert Lasso. Lasso was shot while responding to a disturbance call at Hitcho's home.

Prosecutors had argued that nothing in Hitcho's life offset his decision to shoot Lasso in the back of the head. The defense maintained Hitcho had become erratic and volatile after a series of head injuries.

Freemansburg is about 50 miles north of Philadelphia.

TODDLER TWINS DEAD

Toddler twins dead in Philly, mom being questioned

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Investigators in Philadelphia say toddler twins have been found dead in their home and their mother is in custody.

Police say the 18-month-old boy and girl appear to have died of suffocation. Police say their 41-year-old mother attempted to take her own life by slitting her wrists and they believe she gave some kind of prescription pills to her 4-year-old daughter.

The 4-year-old girl is hospitalized. Information on her condition wasn't available.

Neighbors say the woman is a nurse. They say her husband called 911 when he came home from his job as a corrections officer Thursday afternoon and saw what happened.

The names of the woman and her children were not immediately being released.

GIRLS SHOT

2 girls shot in crossfire during Philly shootout

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Police say two 13-year-old girls were caught in the crossfire in North Philadelphia and two men are in custody.

Investigators say there was some type of party under way on the street when two men started shooting at another man around 6 p.m. Thursday.

The teenage girls were outside playing on the block when they were struck by gunfire.

Police say bullet fragments hit one girl in the head, chest and stomach and she is listed in stable condition. They say the other girl was shot in the eye and was listed in critical condition.

Police believe the shooting was payback for another shooting that happened on the block two days before.

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested and authorities are questioning a second man.

SCHILLING'S GAMING COMPANY

RI gov tries to salvage ex-Red Sox pitcher's firm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (CHAY'-fee) says he'll continue efforts to salvage former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's faltering video game company and protect his state's investment.

The 38 Studios company moved from Massachusetts to Rhode Island in 2010 after Rhode Island offered a $75 million loan guarantee officials said would bring jobs and tax revenue.

The company was late this month on a $1.1 million payment to the state economic development agency. It laid off its entire staff on Thursday.

Rhode Island likely would be responsible for paying some of 38 Studios' debts should it collapse.

Messages left with Schilling on Thursday haven't been returned. Schilling also pitched for Baltimore, Houston, Philadelphia and Arizona.

HARRISBURG-FINANCIAL WOES

Harrisburg financial overseer expected to be fired

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) The former financial custodian for Pennsylvania's cash-strapped capital says he stepped down from the post because he expected to be dismissed after calling for an investigation into the massive debt tied to the city's municipal trash incinerator.

David Unkovic was Harrisburg's state-appointed receiver before abruptly resigning two months ago. He told a Commonwealth Court judge on Thursday he stepped down because he thought his removal was imminent.

Also at the hearing, Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter appointed retired Air Force general William Lynch, whom Gov. Tom Corbett nominated to be Unkovic's successor in the unprecedented state takeover.

Unkovic testified he was also concerned creditors for the city's debt-wracked trash incinerator had already gained control of it through a separate court case.

PERSONAL CARE HOME RAPE

Police: Male patient rapes woman at Pa. care home

AMBRIDGE, Pa. (AP) A male resident of a western Pennsylvania personal care home has been jailed on charges he raped a 71-year-old female resident of the facility.

Online court records don't list an attorney for 51-year-old Marvin Lee Brown, who has past convictions for indecent and aggravated assault.

Ambridge police say he followed the woman into a restroom where he attacked her Tuesday night at the Maplewood Personal Care Home. That's about 20 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment and testing.

Officials at the care home did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.

Brown remains jailed unable to post $500,000 bond on charges of rape, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and simple assault.

SCHOOL EMPLOYEES-DRUGS

Fired bus driver challenging Pa. school drugs law

(Information in the following story is from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com )

PITTSBURGH (AP) A fired school bus driver has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn a Pennsylvania law that bans people with drug convictions from working for public school districts or their contractors.

Forty-eight-year-old Terri McCloskey is suing because she lost her eight-year job with Frye Inc., a bus company that provides service to the Jamestown Area School District in Mercer County, because of her 1986 drug conviction.

McCloskey's attorney tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the law violates the single mother's civil rights because it automatically declares her to be unfit without considering her employment record. The bus company's owner, Jan Frye, wouldn't comment on the law but says McCloskey was a good employee.

Officials with the school district and state Department of Education declined comment on the suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Pittsburgh.

FIRE AT FIREHOUSE

Pa. firehouse goes up in flames, 1 person killed

HELLERTOWN, Pa. (AP) One person had been confirmed dead after a northeastern Pennsylvania firehouse went up in flames after a dump truck carrying a load of asphalt crashed into it.

The intense blaze at the Leithsville Volunteer Fire Company on Thursday afternoon went to three alarms, bringing firefighters from several surrounding communities to battle the blaze.

A body was found in the rubble late Thursday.

The dump truck apparently struck another vehicle with the impact pushing both vehicles into the firehouse. The victim was in the vehicle hit by the dump truck.

Fire officials identified the driver of the dump truck as 42-year-old Michael Thomas. He was reportedly hospitalized with serious burns to his arms.

The volunteer fire company lost a tanker truck, an engine and a brush truck in the blaze.

CORBETT-CHIEF OF STAFF

Corbett taps aide for judge, says it's not shakeup

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Gov. Tom Corbett has confirmed that he's replacing chief of staff William Ward.

Corbett announced Thursday that he's nominating his longtime friend to fill a vacant seat on the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Corbett said he has named Stephen Aichele (AY'-chuhl), previously his top legal adviser, to take over as chief of staff.

A spokesman for the Republican governor says this isn't a move to respond to persistent criticism by some Republican legislators about his prowess at politics and persuasion. The governor says serving as a judge was a long-time dream for the 60-year-old Ward and that he's happy to help his old friend make it come true.

Ward's nomination will require confirmation by the state Senate.

AG-CAMPAIGN SPENDING

In AG's race, Freed starts with fundraising edge

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Republican David Freed has the money edge as the general-election campaign for Pennsylvania attorney general gets under way, while Democrat Kathleen Kane works to replenish her campaign coffers after a tough primary, according to campaign finance reports filed Thursday.

Freed, the Cumberland County district attorney, had $440,000 on hand as of May 14. He was unopposed in the April 24 primary.

Kane, a former Lackawanna County prosecutor, reported less than $2,000 in the bank after spending heavily on TV advertising in her victorious campaign against former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy.

Freed's largest contribution $25,000 came from a political committee headed by GOP national committeeman Robert Asher. Kane and her husband, Chris, contributed more than $30,000 each to her campaign. The Haviland Law Firm in Philadelphia gave her $15,000.

PIAA CHAMPIONSHIPS-HERSHEY

PIAA basketball championships returning to Hershey

HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) Giant Center will play host to the PIAA basketball championships for the next four seasons.

The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News reports that the PIAA basketball championships are returning to Hershey in 2013, passing by a 29-2 vote at Thursday morning's PIAA Board of Control meeting.

Giant Center will host the tournament for the next four seasons after six straight at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.

The PIAA swimming and diving championships are also on the move, going back to Bucknell University's aquatics center for the next four seasons.

MOVIE RUSE-BOUNTY HUNTER

Ex-Pa. man nabbed by bounty hunter with movie ruse

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) A man wanted on a pair of warrants in Pennsylvania is behind bars thanks to a bounty hunter's ruse that he'd be starring in a movie with Jennifer Aniston.

Forty-year-old Joshua Garlathy arrived from Hawaii and was arrested at Philadelphia International Airport on Tuesday. He was greeted by bounty hunter Scott Bernstein and his camera crew who are filming a pilot for a reality show about deadbeat parents.

Lehigh County officials say Garlathy is the first person in county history to be arrested on a criminal warrant alleging failure to pay child support a relatively new charge stemming from a 2008 amendment to a state law.

The Morning Call of Allentown reports Garlathy owes nearly $43,000 he owed in child support for his daughter.

STOLEN GUM

Pa. man behind bars on chewing gum theft charge

(Information in the following story is from: Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era , http://lancasteronline.com)

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) A central Pennsylvania man is behind bars on charges he stole three packs of gum from a grocery store.

Police in Lancaster say 36-year-old Galen Lee Esch used a toilet seat to break the front window of Medinas Market around 2 a.m. Wednesday.

An officer arriving at the store saw Esch walking away and said he matched a description provided by a witness.

The witness reported seeing a man crawl through the store's broken window. Police said the suspect stole at least three packs of Big Red gum.

Police charged Esch with burglary, theft and trespassing. He was being held in the Lancaster County Prison on $50,000 bail. It couldn't be immediately determined whether he had an attorney.