Clear Channel Radio News

March 15, 2012

Latest Pennsylvania news, sports, business and entertainment

US-SCHOOL-BUS-TRUCK

1 dead, others hurt in Pa. school bus, truck crash

ROCKWOOD, Pa. (AP) _ Authorities say a tractor-trailer collided

with a school bus carrying about two dozen students and adults

Wednesday in western Pennsylvania, killing the truck driver and

injuring at least 21 people, most of them students.

State police say the crash happened yesterday afternoon on Route

281 near Rockwood. The truck and a school bus taking Turkeyfoot

Valley Area School District students back from a vocational and

technical school in Somerset struck each other.

Officials say the truck had crossed over into southbound lanes

and hit the bus almost head-on. The truck driver was killed, but

police were not releasing the driver's identity because his family

had not been notified yet.

Twenty-three people, including two adults and 21 high-school

students, were on the bus, but authorities say they didn't know any

details about injuries.

VOTER ID

Corbett signs Pa. voter ID mandate bill

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ Pennsylvania is home to one of the

nation's toughest photo identification laws for voters, less than

eight months before the presidential election.

Gov. Tom Corbett signed the bill Wednesday evening, a few hours

after the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives

passed it, 104-to-88, largely along partisan lines.

The photo ID requirement would go into effect for November's

presidential election in Pennsylvania, traditionally a swing state

that is expected to be a battleground again this year.

A court challenge to the photo ID requirement is expected, and

counties warn it'll unnecessarily lengthen election day lines and

cause voter confusions.

Republicans say it'll combat voter fraud, but Democrats

criticize it as an unconstitutional effort to suppress votes by

people who traditionally support their candidates.

GAS DRILLING-DENSITY

Most of Pa. Marcellus gas drilling in 11 counties

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Data from Pennsylvania show many counties

don't have any gas drilling wells tapping into the gas-rich

Marcellus Shale formation and may never have any despite the

proliferation of them elsewhere.

U.S. Geological Survey maps indicate the shale formation doesn't

exist in the heavily populated southeastern portion of the state.

The Marcellus Shale is a rock formation thousands of feet

underground in large parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West

Virginia.

Pennsylvania data compiled by the Powell Shale Digest specialty

industry newsletter show almost 90 percent of the almost 5,000

shale wells drilled in the state in the last six years are located

in just 11 counties. Bradford County in northeast Pennsylvania has

the most, with 1,008.

CAMPAIGN SPENDING

Murphy outraises Kane 5-1 in Dem contest for AG

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ Campaign finance reports show former

congressman Patrick Murphy outraised his opponent by more than 5-1

in the Democratic primary contest for attorney general.

Reports made public Wednesday by state and campaign officials

showed Murphy raised more than $305,000 since the beginning of the

year, contrasted with the $58,000 raised by former Lackawanna

County prosecutor Kathleen Kane.

Murphy's campaign, which received generous support from

organized labor, ended the reporting period on March 5 with $1.2

million in the bank. Kane, who has relied mainly on a $1.8 million

loan from her wealthy husband, had a balance of nearly $2 million.

The race is one of two contests for statewide row offices in the

April 24 primary.

HOME INVASION-TRIPLE SHOOTING

Man charged in Pa. home invasion double slaying

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Authorities in western Pennsylvania have

charged a man in the shooting deaths of a woman and her son during

an early morning home invasion near Pittsburgh.

Officials say 21-year-old Andre Lamar Davis of Pittsburgh was

taken into custody Wednesday in the deaths of 51-year-old Angela

Proctor and 22-year-old Manning Proctor. Police said they were

killed and another person injured after the gunman entered the Penn

Hills home shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Superintendent Charles Moffatt said investigators believe the

shootings stemmed from an argument over a debt.

Davis is charged with two counts of criminal homicide,

aggravated assault, and firearms counts. He remains in custody

pending a March 23 preliminary hearing. A listed number for him

could not be found Wednesday; it was unclear whether he had an

attorney.

PHILADELPHIA VIOLENCE

Trial ordered in Jan. 1 Philly stabbing death

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ A man has been ordered held for trial in a

south Philadelphia stabbing death that came only a few minutes into

the new year.

Fifty-three-year-old Santo Mancuso is charged with murder and

possessing an instrument of crime in the Jan. 1 death of

77-year-old Joseph Testa.

Municipal Judge James DeLeon on Wednesday dismissed a resisting

arrest count.

Police said the former security guard was stabbed just 11

minutes into the new year after he went to check out an altercation

outside his home.

Authorities said the argument stemmed from a long-simmering

dispute between neighbors.

Mancuso's attorney told KYW radio that his client was attacked

and suffered a head injury on the night in question, but declined

further comment.

NASA ROCKET LAUNCHES

NASA delays rocket launch to study jet stream

ATLANTIC, Va. (AP) _ NASA has delayed its planned launch of five

rockets aimed at learning more about the jet stream's current at

the edge of space.

NASA initially said it would send up five rockets in five

minutes from coastal Virginia early Thursday. But it subsequently

announced Wednesday the launch was scrubbed due to a payload

problem. The next attempt will be no earlier than Friday night.

The rockets are to release a chemical trail to track winds

circling Earth at up to 300 mph, about 65 miles above the surface.

Officials had said long, milky white clouds could be visible for

about 20 minutes from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to southern New

Hampshire, and as far west as Morgantown, W.Va. _ weather

permitting. That area includes Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia,

New York and Boston.

PENN STATE-PRO DAY

New coach, new look at Penn State pro day

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) _ Pro day at Penn State had a new look.

The Nittany Lions players auditioning Wednesday before more than

25 NFL scouts sported sleek workout gear _ but with names on the

backs of the shirts.

It was another first in Happy Valley under new coach Bill

O'Brien, though there's no indication that the familiar plain,

numbers-only jerseys worn on gamedays will be going away any time

soon.

O'Brien's NFL connections might come in handy, though, for the

crop of Penn State players hoping to make it to the next level.

All-American defensive tackle Devon Still is Penn State's best pro

prospect.

It was the first time the former Patriots assistant had met

extensively with most of the departing senior class. The players

say he's treated them like family.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)