PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has refused to stop Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala's investigation into state Sen. Jane Orie's alleged campaign activities on behalf of her sister, Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin.

Zappala, a Democrat, announced in January that he was investigating claims by a former intern for the Republican state senator. The intern says Orie's staff performed campaign work on state time to benefit Melvin.

Orie has denied the allegations and her attorney, along with Senate Republicans, filed motions seeking a court order to end the investigation.

Judge Melvin did not participate the court's decisions to deny both motions on Wednesday.

No charges have been filed against Orie, the Senate's majority whip.

HARRISBURG — The jury in the public corruption trial of an ex-Pennsylvania lawmaker and three former aides will deliberate for a sixth day.Jurors in the trial of former Democratic state Rep. Mike Veon were to resume deliberations at 8 a.m. today. The panel has now deliberated for about 38 hours since closed-door talks began late last week.Veon and former staffers Brett Cott, Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink and Steve Keefer are on trial in Dauphin County. Prosecutors say they ran a scheme to siphon off taxpayer resources to wage political campaigns and underwrite other activities.

WILKES-BARRE — Two county commissioners from northeastern Pennsylvania are calling for the resignation of a fellow official charged in a federal corruption probe.Lackawanna County Commissioners Corey O'Brien and Mike Washo say they want fellow commissioner A.J. Munchak to resign after federal prosecutors charged him Tuesday with taking bribes.Prosecutors say Munchak and former commissioner Robert Cordaro received more than $450,000 in cash and benefits from contractors. They pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Thursday in Wilkes-Barre. Jury selection is tentatively scheduled for May 17.In a statement issued following the indictments, Munchak said he plans to stay in office while fighting the charges.

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania employers continued to reduce payrolls last month as the state's unemployment rate rose slightly to its highest point in a quarter century.The state Labor and Industry Department said Thursday that employers shed another 16,000 jobs in February. That brings the number of jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007 to 260,000, or one in 22.The department also says the unemployment rate rose from 8.8 percent to 8.9 percent in February, the highest in 25 years.The department initially reported the jobless rate to be 8.9 percent in October, then later revised it downward to 8.6 percent.Still, Pennsylvania's rate remains below the national jobless rate of 9.7 percent.

PITTSBURGH — The state health department says Pittsburgh emergency workers didn't violate state laws when they asked a man who later died to walk to them during a snowstorm.Health department spokeswoman Stacy Kriedeman says the agency found no violations of state emergency response laws in the hours before 50-year-old Curtis Mitchell died February 7.Mitchell and his wife repeatedly called 911 seeking help for his abdominal pain during a winter storm that dropped 20 inches of snow on the city.Medics asked Mitchell to walk to an ambulance because of hazardous road conditions but he was in too much pain. He died after waiting 30 hours for help.Autopsy results are pending, awaiting toxicology test results.The city could soon release the findings of its own investigation.

PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County prosecutors have dropped charges against a Pittsburgh-area man charged in a hit-and-run because the victim remains in a coma.Fifty-four-year-old Alonzo Cotton of Pitcairn has said he might be responsible for the Feb. 21 accident that injured 50-year-old Ernestine Ross. She remains in critical condition.Defense attorney Jim Sheets says Cotton struck something with his car but was afraid to stop in Pittsburgh's crime-ridden Homewood neighborhood. Cotton turned himself in after seeing Ross' crying daughters on television, asking the person involved to come forward.Ross' family says she is unable to breathe on her own.Sheets says prosecutors plan to refile more serious charges should Ross not recover. He had been charged with aggravated assault.