SCRANTON — The mayor of Scranton officially kicked off his campaign for Pennsylvania governor.

Chris Doherty officially launched the campaign at noon today.

The Democrat is joining four other contenders in the spring primary. Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell is not running again.

The other Democratic candidates are Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and state Auditor General Jack Wagner.

At least two other candidates are vying for the Republican nomination: Attorney General Tom Corbett and U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach.

PITTSBURGH — The FBI's Baltimore field office will be named for an agent who was slain near Pittsburgh last year.Special Agent Sam Hicks, 33, was fatally shot as he led officers on a drug raid at a home in Indiana Township Nov. 19, 2008. Christina Korbe, the wife of the drug suspect sought, is jailed awaiting trial on charges she killed Hicks. She has acknowledged shooting Hicks, but said she thought he was an intruder.Hicks' widow, Brooke, and their son, Noah, will attend the Nov. 23 dedication ceremony in Baltimore.Hicks was a Baltimore City police officer from 2002 until the FBI hired him in March 2007 and transferred him to Pittsburgh.

ALIQUIPPA — Thousands of Pittsburgh-area commuters are taking a different route to work without changing the road on which they travel.That's because state Route 60 is now incorporated as part of Interstate 376.Route 60 linked Pittsburgh's western suburbs with other parts of Allegheny, Beaver, Lawrence and Mercer counties.Now the road is part of a 70-mile I-376 corridor that stretches from Interstate 80 northwest of Pittsburgh, south through the city and eastward to Monroeville, where motorists can link up with the Pennsylvania Turnpike.Drivers won't notice any difference, except for signs. But regional officials said the single Interstate designation could help attract businesses to the area.

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh-area Democrat sued state Rep. Anthony DeLuca and the state Department of Revenue saying she was fired after she testified before a grand jury investigating the lawmaker.Erin Vecchio's federal lawsuit, filed late Friday, doesn't detail the investigation or say what, if anything, has resulted from it. Vecchio, chair of the Penn Hills Democratic committee, said she testified in December and, almost immediately, got a bad performance review at the revenue department. She said DeLuca, a Penn Hills Democrat, also threatened and harassed her about testifying.DeLuca's staff said Monday they weren't aware of the suit and didn't immediately comment on it. Nor did officials at the revenue department, where Vecchio said she was fired as a tax account collections manager in August.

WILKES-BARRE — A panel investigating the "kids-for-cash" scandal will hear from the current Luzerne County district attorney and her predecessor today.The first witness to testify before the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice this morning will David Lupas, who is now a judge and previously served as district attorney in Luzerne County. The second is current District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll. The county's public defender and a juvenile probation official also are to testify.Two former judges face federal racketeering charges for allegedly accepting payoffs from two private juvenile detention centers. Last month, the state Supreme Court threw out thousands of juvenile cases, saying none of the young offenders got a fair hearing.The panel's job is to investigate the scandal and recommend measures to prevent similar situations.

PITTSBURGH — Professional wrestler and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle and his former girlfriend agreed to have no contact with one another.An Allegheny County judge signed the order Monday. Trenesha Biggers, also a wrestler, also withdrew a protection from abuse complaint against Angle, but he was scheduled for a preliminary hearing today for a simple assault charge in the case.Police allege Angle attacked Biggers at his suburban Pittsburgh home Aug. 6.In September, a district judge cleared Angle of possessing human growth hormone. The 40-year-old wrestler had a prescription for neck injuries.A charge of driving with a suspended license also was dismissed because it was related to a driving under the influence charge he beat last year.

ROCHESTER — A New Brighton man is using a global positioning device in his company vehicle to fight a speeding ticket.David Riesmeyer was ticketed June 15 for allegedly driving 64.5 mph in a 50 mph zone in Rochester.The officer who ticketed Riesmeyer used a stopwatch-like device to calculate his speed between two painted lines on a road. But Riesmeyer said the GPS recorded his speed every three seconds and shows he was driving only 57 mph.That's important because state law says a motorist must exceed the speed limit by at least 10 mph to get a ticket, if police aren't using radar on a road with a speed limit less than 55 mph.