Latest Pennsylvania news, sports, business and entertainment

PENN STATE-ABUSE

Sandusky renews effort to have charges thrown out

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Jerry Sandusky is again asking a judge to throw out the child sexual abuse charges against him, arguing that some counts are too vague to defend and others involve alleged victims whose identities haven't been determined.

A lawyer for the former Penn State assistant football coach filed motions on Wednesday, less than three weeks before trial is scheduled to get under way.

Defense attorney Joe Amendola writes that charges related to a person described as Victim 2 can't be sustained based on the testimony of Mike McQueary, an assistant coach who's said he saw Sandusky attack the boy in a team shower a decade ago.

Amendola argues prosecutors won't be able to show there was any sexual contact with Victim 6, and that the Victim 8 allegations require impermissible hearsay.

PRISON POWDER INVESTIGATION

Powder mailed to Pa. prison; 5 in stable condition

MUNCY, Pa. (AP) Pennsylvania prison officials say five employees are in stable condition at a hospital after a white powder was mailed to Muncy State Prison.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Sue McNaughton said Wednesday the prison workers are being kept at the hospital for observation.

State police and the U.S. Postal Service are investigating, but so far they haven't identified the substance. The prison south of Williamsport remains under a limited state of emergency.

Muncy is the diagnostic and classification center for Pennsylvania's women inmates.

LIGHTNING-PLANT FIRE

Lightning blamed for Pa. chemical plant fire

BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) Lightning from overnight storms is being blamed for a fire at a chemical plant near Philadelphia.

Fire officials say a lightning strike ignited a pair of chemical storage tanks at the Rohm and Haas plant in Bristol around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Officials at the scene said a fire police officer who was directing traffic apparently suffered a fatal heart attack after going home because he felt ill.

Bristol Borough School District canceled classes Wednesday and emergency officials recommended residents close their doors and windows to limit exposure to an unpleasant odor resulting from the fire.

A spokeswoman for plant owner Dow Chemical says there's no danger to residents.

BUTTOCKS ENLARGEMENT INJECTIONS

Dancer: $1,000 buttocks enhancement damaged lungs

PHILADELPHIA (AP) A woman who calls herself the "Black Madam" has been ordered to stand trial in Philadelphia on allegations she administered illegal buttocks injections.

Forty-two-year-old Padge Windslowe is charged with aggravated assault and deceptive practices.

At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, an exotic dancer testified that she paid $1,000 for the injections at a "pumping party" in Philadelphia.

She says Windslowe had silicon in a water bottle and used Krazy Glue to close four injection sites. The dancer said she later suffered serious lung damage and was hospitalized for two weeks.

Police believe Windslowe also injected a 20-year-old London tourist who died last year. No charges have been filed in that death as detectives await extensive autopsy test results.

Windslowe is being held on $750,000 bail.

OFFICER SHOT-PENNSYLVANIA

Pa. man who killed officer to testify at trial

EASTON, Pa. (AP) The man charged in the fatal shooting of a Pennsylvania police officer responding to a disturbance complaint at his home is expected to take the stand in his own defense.

In a delayed opening statement Wednesday, George Hitcho Jr.'s attorney told a jury his client killed Freemansburg police Officer Robert Lasso, but the killing wasn't premeditated.

Defense attorney Michael Corriere wants the jury to consider a voluntary manslaughter or third-degree murder verdict. Prosecutors have alleged Hitcho deserves a first-degree murder conviction and the death penalty for killing Lasso last August.

Authorities say Hitcho shot Lasso in the head with a shotgun as the officer tried to fend off Hitcho's dogs. Lasso was responding to a neighbor's complaint when he was killed.

Corriere says he expects Hitcho to testify Wednesday.

POLICE DEPARTMENT-SEX ASSAULTS

Pa. police chief to fight child sex-abuse charges

(Information in the following story is from: The Times-Tribune, http://thetimes-tribune.com/ )

OLD FORGE, Pa. (AP) A northeastern Pennsylvania police chief says he'll fight charges that he sexually molested a teenage girl on multiple occasions between 2004 and 2007.

Suspended Old Forge Police Chief Larry Semenza tells The Times-Tribune of Scranton http://bit.ly/KlGaFH that he's looking forward to his day in court. His attorney says his clent will plead innocent.

Lackawanna County prosecutors say Semenza met the girl when she became a junior firefighter and had numerous sexual encounters with her in the firehouse.

The accuser, now 23, reported the alleged abuse two weeks ago. State police have also arrested a police captain and former volunteer firefighter and charged them with molesting the same girl.

A preliminary hearing for Semenza that was scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed until next week.

ART STUDENT BEATEN

DA: No charges against police in student beating

PITTSBURGH (AP) A prosecutor won't bring charges against three white Pittsburgh police officers who were accused of using excessive force by a black student who claimed they wrongly beat him.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said at a press conference Wednesday there isn't a prosecutable case against the officers.

Twenty-year-old Jordan Miles was a student at the city's performing arts high school at the time of the 2010 beating.

The undercover officers contend Miles ran and resisted after appearing to have a gun, but it was a bottle of soda. Miles denies even having the bottle and claims he was targeted simply because he was a young black man.

Last year, the Justice Department chose not to file criminal civil rights charges against the officers.

HUSBAND KILLED

Son: Mother who killed Pa. father was abused

(Information in the following story is from: Bucks County Courier Times, http://www.phillyburbs.com )

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) The son of a suburban Philadelphia woman on trial for fatally shooting her estranged husband says his father was physically and verbally abusive toward his mother.

Twenty-year-old Gabriel Burklund testified Tuesday during the trial of his mother, Dorleen. She's charged with first-degree murder in the October 2010 shooting of Michael Burklund at their home in Springfield Township, Bucks County,

Dorleen Burklund shot her husband eight times. Prosecutors say the killing was intentional; the defense maintains it was an act of self-defense.

The Bucks County Courier Times reports Gabriel Burklund told the court he never saw his father strike his mother, but says she was left bruised after one fight and his father frequently made veiled threats toward her.

Testimony continues Wednesday.

HOME INVASION-MARIJUANA OPERATION

Police: Home invasion leads to pot-growing bust

DARBY, Pa. (AP) Police say an investigation into a home invasion led to the seizure of more than 200 marijuana plants from a Philadelphia-area home.

Darby police say they removed $200,000 worth of marijuana from the home after getting reports of gunfire Monday night. Officers who responded to the scene say they found the operation inside a small house that had been targeted by three assailants.

Police Chief Robert Smythe says three men burst into the home, demanding money and began filling trash bags with marijuana. The chief says visitor to the home tried to chase the assailants away in a truck, prompting one to fire a handgun.

The alleged grower faces drug and related charges.

Investigators are still trying to determine the identities of the men involved in the home invasion.

FLIGHT 93-FUNDRAISER

Flight 93 memorial fundraiser raises $2 million

PITTSBURGH (AP) The National Park Foundation says a Washington, D.C. fundraiser featuring two former presidents raised $2 million for the Flight 93 National Memorial.

Foundation spokeswoman Marjorie Hall says Wednesday that after the previous night's event $8 million in private donations are still needed to finish the memorial located near Shanksville, about 75 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, along with $4 million in public funding.

Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and House Speaker John Boehner hosted the D.C. benefit.

The first phase of the memorial was dedicated in September. The site honors the 40 passengers and crew members who died when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001. Passengers and crewmembers fought terrorists for control of the hijacked plane that was targeting Washington.

ELDERLY LOTTERY SCAM

Jamaican man pleads guilty to lottery scam

PITTSBURGH (AP) A Jamaican man has pleaded guilty to a nationwide lottery scam that targeted elderly people.

Authorities say 23-year-old Jeffery Augustus Bernard pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of mail fraud and money laundering.

Investigators say Bernard was one of four men who targeted elderly citizens throughout the U.S., telling them they'd won the "Mega Millions Lottery."

The men were arrested last October about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh after a victim in Topeka, Kan. sent $25,000 to the men, supposedly to satisfy costs associated with the winnings. The victim never received any money and reported the suspected fraud.

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 4. Bernard could face 40 years in prison, a fine of $750,000, or both.

PITTSBURGH-SIGN DISPUTE

Pittsburgh can't agree on fixing rusting landmark

(Information in the following story is from: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, http://www.post-gazette.com )

PITTSBURGH (AP) A landmark sign on a Pittsburgh hillside is rusting away, and the city and advertisers can't agree on how to fix it.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Wednesday that the tug-of-war has been going on for four years.

The sign was designed to display the city's name in big letters by day, and light up in neon at night. A big part of the dispute is whether it should be modernized with brighter, energy-efficient LED lighting, or use neon tubing.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and the sign's owner, Lamar Advertising, both say current regulations appear to make modernizing the sign a challenge.

Bayer, which has advertised on the sign since 1995, says the outdated lighting technology is not the image the company wants to promote in the region.

VILSACK-FARM BILL

Vilsack touts PSU research, stumps for farm bill

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack hopes to raise the profile of agricultural research at universities like Penn State as Congress begins the arduous task of renewing the federal farm bill.

The USDA says Penn State leads more than 65 federal research grants totaling more than $30 million. Vilsack visited one project Wednesday after touring a plant lab taking part in research for biofuels.

The former Iowa governor says he understands the budget predicament facing Pennsylvania. Gov. Tom Corbett earlier this year proposed cutting higher education funding for Penn State while maintaining level funding for research and extension.

But Vilsack's focus is squarely on swaying Congress. He's trying to highlight the impact of agricultural research beyond the farm.

CASINO REVENUE

Pa. table games receipts fall in April from record

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) April gambling receipts from table games at Pennsylvania's 11 casinos fell a month after hitting a record high as competition grows in bordering states.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported Wednesday that gross revenue was $56.5 million.

That was down from March's $61.9 million. It beat April 2011 receipts by 7 percent, but per table revenue fell 10 percent from the year-ago period. Sugarhouse Casino in Philadelphia had the highest per-table average.

Pennsylvania first licensed slot-machine casinos in 2006 before authorizing table games in 2010. Its gambling market is now the nation's second-largest behind Las Vegas.

But Ohio's first casino opened Monday, and three more are planned this year. Meanwhile, two are open in Maryland, a third is opening in June and regulators licensed a fourth last month.

BARNES FOUNDATION

Barnes Foundation opening in new Philly location

PHILADELPHIA (AP) After years of bitter court fights, the Barnes Foundation is opening its doors to the public at its new location on Philadelphia's "museum mile."

A sneak peek Wednesday offers the first look at the foundation's home on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The $150 million museum is now home to the multibillion-dollar art collection of the late pharmaceutical magnate Dr. Albert Barnes.

The Barnes opens Saturday. Admission is free for the first 10 days and tickets are completely sold out.

The huge collection of paintings by Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso had been housed in Merion since 1925. It arrived from the suburbs after 10 years of legal challenges from neighbors who wanted the collection to stay put.