HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO is endorsing Arlen Specter as he seeks a Pennsylvania record sixth term in the U.S. Senate.

The executive council of the organized labor federation met Tuesday in a suburban Harrisburg hotel to take a closed-door vote.

Specter and his principal opponent in the Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, met separately with the group before the vote.

Specter won 34 out of 43 votes, or better than the two-thirds necessary to win the endorsement. Specter also won the group's endorsement in his last campaign in 2004, before he switched from Republican to Democrat.

The AFL-CIO is not endorsing a Republican candidate in the Senate primary contest.

WILKES-BARRE — A judge appointed to review thousands of juvenile cases tainted by a northeastern Pennsylvania courthouse scandal says the state should increase assistance for poor defendants and open proceedings to the public.Senior Berks County Judge Arthur Grim issued the recommendations Monday as part of his final report on juvenile cases tied to a kids-for-cash scandal involving a pair of Luzerne County judges.The state Supreme Court appointed Grim last year to examine cases handled by former Judge Mark Ciavarella. Ciavarella and former Judge Michael Conahan are facing charges for allegedly taking $2.8 million in kickbacks from the owner and builder of two juvenile detention facilities.The state's high court last year vacated the convictions of thousands of juveniles who appeared before Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008.

PITTSBURGH — Authorities have identified a man who plunged more than 50 floors from the top of a Pittsburgh skyscraper during rush hour, but have yet to conduct an autopsy to confirm he died from the fall and not some other cause.The man was identified Tuesday as 37-year-old Thomas Senchisen of Pittsburgh. He might have been employed by a contractor working at the 54-story BNY Mellon Center in downtown Pittsburgh.Senchisen was pronounced dead after falling or jumping from an elevated walkway on the building's top floor around 4:30 p.m. Monday.

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia woman convicted of attempted prostitution for offering sex to an undercover officer in return for World Series tickets says she's been humiliated.Forty-four-year-old Susan Finkelstein says she did intend to flirt with whomever answered a Craiglist ad she posted in October describing herself as a buxom blonde in desperate need of tickets for the Phillies-Yankees World Series.But in an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News published Tuesday, Finkelstein says she never intended to trade sexual favors for tickets.Authorities say Finkelstein sent an undercover officer topless photos and offered sex in return for the tickets. She was convicted last week of attempted prostitution.

BETHLEHEM — An eastern Pennsylvania hospital says it plans to stop hiring new employees who are smokers.St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network says it hopes to improve the health of its 7,000 employees and reduce health costs.Beginning May 1, all prospective employees will be screened for nicotine and will be ineligible for a job if they test positive. Anyone rejected can take the test again in six months and be considered for employment. Current employees will not be affected.Bob Zimmel, the hospital's senior vice president of human resources, says he proposed the policy about a month and a half ago after hearing about a similar rule in Cleveland. He says the policy will be good for business as well as health, since it will reduce health insurance claims.