Pennsylvania news

• Four women sought protection from man accused in Mount Gretna murder-suicide

  09-09-2015 23:18
  
  Stacey Pennington wasn't the only woman who had sought protection from Patrick Derr, the man who fatally shot her Labor Day in Mount Gretna.
  
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• Burn victim testifies Harrisburg woman offered massage, lit him on fire

  09-09-2015 22:50
  
  A preliminary hearing was held Wednesday for Christina D. Leach, 27, of Harrisburg, who is facing charges of aggravated assault, arson, theft and criminal attempt at criminal homicide. after police say she lit a Silver Spring Township man on fire.
  
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• Woman admits confining disabled people in squalor, forcing 2 into prostitution

  09-09-2015 22:29
  
  Linda Weston pleaded guilty to keeping mentally disabled adults captive in the basement of a Philadelphia home and cashing their disability checks.
  
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• Mount Gretna killer used dead dad's gun to shoot ex-girlfriend

  09-09-2015 22:22
  
  Patrick Lynn Derr, the man police say killed a Mount Gretna gift shop owner, did not use his own gun in the fatal attack.
  
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• Joe Paterno's heirs seek expanded access to Freeh Report files in NCAA defamation case

  09-09-2015 22:03
  
  Paterno family has won right to review documents, but only under "Attorney's Eyes Only" rules at present. Freeh's successor law firm is still fighting the release.
  
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• Court backs life prison sentence in Carroll Township murder

  09-09-2015 21:56
  
  Police said Sandra Mulder, 52, suffocated after Bryan Wayne Brackbill Jr. bound her legs and arms with duct tape and placed her face-down on the floor in her Chestnut Grove Road home
  
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• Truck driver gets 12 months behind bars after deadly I-81 crash

  09-09-2015 21:50
  
  Muniru Iddriss, 31, of Lancaster, was sentenced to 6 to 12 months in Cumberland County Prison on charges related to the May 2013 crash that killed two people in Silver Spring Township.
  
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• Tacony 'House of Horrors' ringleader pleads guilty

  09-09-2015 21:32
  
  She and others kept mentally handicapped people captive in a locked sub-basement and cashed their Social Security and disability checks.
  
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• Questions remain as autopsy nears for body of man found in Harrisburg home

  09-09-2015 21:15
  
  On Wednesday an employee with the office said the coroner is classifying the death as a pending case and not releasing any further information.
  
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• AG adds 3 more local Golden Living nursing homes to lawsuit alleging deficient care

  09-09-2015 21:02
  
  Newly added local targets of the lawsuit are the chain's West Shore, Lancaster and Reading facilities.
  
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• Harrisburg applies for federal grant to expand police force

  09-09-2015 20:53
  
  City council members Tuesday night approved an application for nearly $740,000 to the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to participate in the COPS grant program. The program would pay for the cost of five new police officers for three years.
  
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• Tell the pope what's on your mind

  09-09-2015 20:38
  
  Yo, Il Papa.
  
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• Bishop Gainer: Reforms to annulment process aid mission to provide compassionate healing

  09-09-2015 20:26
  
  Gainer, however, cautioned that the reforms to the annulment process announced on Tuesday by Pope Francis amount to procedural changes, not substantive changes.
  
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• Lancaster County man pleads guilty to forcing sex acts on boy

  09-09-2015 19:55
  
  Walter Lee Barron, 32, pleaded guilty to forcing sex acts on a boy seven years ago in a Millersville home, according to a news release from the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
  
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• Demand for housing on Airbnb during the pope's Philly weekend seems flat

  09-09-2015 19:00
  
  Lots of hype, but not many takers for $10,000 a night rents.
  
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• Truck driver fired over road rage report loses bid for unemployment comp

  09-09-2015 18:33
  
  Court records show Mark Zurawski had a series of road-related issues even before the November 2014 incident that got him canned from his job with a Philadelphia-area fuel company.
  
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• Dauphin County may ban asking about criminal backgrounds in some hiring

  09-09-2015 18:16
  
  Dauphin County could become the second county in the state to 'ban the box'- eliminate a question about prior criminal convictions on some county job applications.
  
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• Mount Gretna fatal shooting suspect died of suicide: coroner

  09-09-2015 18:12
  
  Patrick Lynn Derr died Tuesday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, said Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick.
  
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• Dorm room search that found drugs didn't violate college student's privacy rights, Pa. court rules

  09-09-2015 18:00
  
  The Superior Court decision nixes a lawsuit Kylie Walk filed against Alvernia College - now Alvernia University - over the December 2007 search that landed her in Berks County Court.
  
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• Condition of Mount Gretna fatal shooting suspect remains unchanged

  09-09-2015 17:46
  
  Derr's condition remains unchanged as of late Wednesday morning, said Cornwall Police Chief Bruce Harris.
  
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• Investigation into fatal plane crash shows crew failed to do pre-flight check

  09-09-2015 17:22
  
  A Philadelphia newspaper co-owner and six others were killed in the May 2014 crash in Massachusetts.
  
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• Charges will not be filed in Lancaster County road rage shooting at restaurant parking lot

  09-09-2015 17:19
  
  The Lancaster County District Attorney's Office reviewed a May 6 shooting incident, ruling that charges will not be filed.
  
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• Woman accused of setting Cumberland County man on fire heading to trial

  09-09-2015 17:13
  
  Following a preliminary hearing Wednesday, all charges have been held to county court for Christina Leach, 27, of Harrisburg, who is accused of setting a man on fire in May.
  
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• IUP fraternity suspended after rape reported at house

  09-09-2015 16:46
  
  The suspension means Sigma Chi cannot recruit new members, conduct meetings or conduct charitable or social events.
  
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• School district says threat is cleared, police to remain at Donegal High School as precaution

  09-09-2015 16:31
  
  Susquehanna Regional police told the Donegal School District administration everyone is safe, but police will remain at the school as a precaution.
  
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• Out of the Darkness suicide prevention walk is Sept. 12

  09-09-2015 16:03
  
  The walk will be held 5-7 p.m. Sept. 12 on City Island and in Riverfront Park.
  
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• Take Steps walk takes aim at Crohn's and Colitis

  09-09-2015 15:56
  
  The walk starts at 3 p.m. Sept. 13 on City Island.
  
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• Harrisburg teens disappointed in the havoc peers created over the weekend

  09-09-2015 15:30
  
  Many people were shocked and surprised at reports that groups of teens wreaked havoc in midtown over Kipona weekend. For their peers there's one word that stood out as they talked about the weekend Tuesday: sad.
  
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• Lancaster man charged with simple assault after he 'slashed' at Taco Bell employee with pocketknife

  09-09-2015 15:21
  
  Bruce W. Gainer, 39 of Lancaster is charged with simple assault as a result of the incident at 3:23 a.m. on Sept. 5 at a Taco Bell on Columbia Avenue in Manheim Township.
  
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• Lancaster man charged with simple assault after cutting shirt of Taco Bell employee

  09-09-2015 15:21
  
  Bruce W. Gainer, 39 of Lancaster is charged with simple assault as a result of the incident at 3:23 a.m. on Sept. 5 at a Taco Bell on Columbia Avenue in Manheim Township.
  
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• Woman found huffing under clothing rack at Wal-Mart: Police

  09-09-2015 15:18
  
  The incident occurred on Tuesday at the Wal-Mart along East Main Street in Ephrata and involved Laurel Lee Potter, 30, of Lancaster, borough police said.
  
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• Silver Spring Township supervisors to vote on conservation easement purchase, surety bond for transformer transport

  09-09-2015 15:00
  
  The Silver Spring Township Board of Supervisors will meet at 6:30 p.m. today at the administrative building, 8 Flowers Drive.
  
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• Warrant issued for Berks County man accused of having sex with teen girl

  09-09-2015 14:51
  
  A Berks County man is charged with corruption of minors stemming from an incident where he is accused of having sex with a teenage girl.
  
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• Police investigate threat at Lancaster County high school

  09-09-2015 14:28
  
  Students are not being allowed into the high school while police investigate the threat.
  
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• CV, Mechanicsburg school districts showing biggest signs of suburban sprawl

  09-09-2015 14:15
  
  Since last year, Cumberland Valley School District's enrollment has increased by nearly 300 students -- clocking in at just under 8,600 as the school year began. CV isn't the only school district dealing with surging enrollment figures.
  
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• Several photos released of Fulton Bank robbery suspect

  09-09-2015 14:12
  
  The man is accused of robbing the Fulton Bank on Millersville Pike at gunpoint at around 1:20 p.m. on Sept. 1.
  
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• Incident cleared from Interstate 83 in Dauphin County

  09-09-2015 13:44
  
  The incident occurred near mile marker 48.4 at about 6:40 a.m. in Lower Paxton Township.
  
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• Pope Francis changes to annulments consistent with marriage, family themes of U.S. visit

  09-09-2015 13:30
  
  With just a few weeks before his first visit to the U.S., Pope Francis' new directives on church annulments align with themes central to his papacy: family and marriage.
  
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• Decaying body found in Harrisburg home; landlord shoots at tenant: Overnight police report

  09-09-2015 13:03
  
  Here's what you may have missed in police and court-related stories from around the midstate on Tuesday.
  
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• Highmark loses $318 million on Obamacare plans

  09-09-2015 13:00
  
  Customers were sicker, and thus used more medical care, than expected.
  
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• Incident slowing traffic along Interstate 83 in Dauphin County

  09-09-2015 12:48
  
  Initial dispatches from the scene indicated that a car was stopped along the concrete barrier separating the north and southbound lanes, and that the driver was slumped over in the vehicle and possibly intoxicated.
  
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• Relief from the heat and humidity on the way to the midstate

  09-09-2015 11:37
  
  Relief is in sight, in the form of rain and temperatures that will be about 20 degrees cooler on Thursday.
  
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• Susquehanna Township School District grapples with what's next for Keystone, PSSA scores

  09-09-2015 04:31
  
  Susquehanna Township School Assistant Superintendent Tamara Willis presented the test scores to the school board Tuesday, warning that there was still data missing to make sense of some of the scores.
  
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• Angry crowd confronts Steelton officials

  09-09-2015 04:19
  
  Most don't get the answers they want.
  
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• Harrisburg council members approve board appointments with split votes

  09-09-2015 03:12
  
  Councilwoman Susan Brown-Wilson addressed her colleagues before the voting began on appointments to the Harrisburg Planning Commission, Audit committee and Harrisburg Architectural Review Board. She lamented that she sees the same names every couple of years for the same boards.
  
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• Mechanicsburg Area School Board amends child abuse protection policies

  09-09-2015 03:05
  
  The changes are largely technical in nature.
  
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• Harrisburg School Board committee considers cost savings

  09-09-2015 03:04
  
  Harrisburg School Board's Budget, Finance, and Facilities Committee considered a buffet of issues Monday night.
  
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• Cumberland Valley officials review options for expanding athletic facilities

  09-09-2015 02:43
  
  During a meeting of the Finance & Facilities Committee on Tuesday night, school board members and administrators discussed several options and their associated costs to expand gymnasiums and build new and bigger ones to keep up with its expanding student body.
  
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• Could be a wet Wednesday in midstate

  09-09-2015 02:40
  
  Wednesday will bring a chance of showers and thunderstorms.
  
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• Partial delay in charter school payments on tap for Harrisburg School Board

  09-09-2015 02:10
  
  The district has $33.24 million in savings and liquid assets that could offset the lack of state funds for now, Interim Chief Financial Officer William Gretton told the board's Budget, Finance, and Facilities Committee.
  
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