STATE
BRIDGEVILLE — A man found an envelope stuffed with $3,600 and returned it to the newlyweds who lost it after their reception.
Brennan Breene said he found the envelope Sunday in the middle of Washington Pike, a busy highway. Breene said he learned from local news Web sites Monday the couple lost the money, so he gave it to the Bridgeville police so the couple could claim it.
David and Ashley Marasco had their wedding reception in nearby South Strabane. They mistakenly drove off with their wedding album on the trunk of their car, but didn't realize the money in the album had fallen out.
HARRISBURG — The state auditor general said the state police could be doing a better job informing citizens about convicted sex offenders in their communities.Auditor General Jack Wagner on Tuesday released a new report that gave the Megan's Law website a grade of "C-minus" in comparison to other states. Among other things, the report cites poor quality photographs of the convicts, a search engine that sometimes fails to produce complete offender lists and the lack of e-mail notifications to neighbors whenever an offender moves in.Police said they are working to enhance the mapping capabilities of the website and are considering e-mail notifications. They said new website enhancements are tentatively slated to be unveiled in December.
PITTSBURGH — A man declared his innocence and said he had received an unfair trial before he was sentenced to life in prison in the death of his 2-year-old daughter.Authorities said 26-year-old William Page left Nyia Page out in the snow in a playground near their home in Braddock in 2007 because he was angry she kept removing her diaper. Jurors convicted him in March but split on whether he deserved the death penalty.Page on Tuesday denied having killed anyone and vowed to fight until he was free. Allegheny County Judge David Cashman told him he should have received the death penalty and called him a "despicable human being." He sentenced Page to life in prison plus 21 to 42 years for murder, kidnapping, making false reports to police and aggravated indecent assault.
BRADFORD — A contractor helping to restore part of the Kinzua Viaduct in northwestern Pennsylvania said the age of the metal railroad bridge contributed to its collapse during a tornado in 2003.Rudy Klancer came to that conclusion while supervising work by Highlander Energy Product of Kane, which is rebuilding 24 pillars of the bridge as part of a restoration project. Eventually, Kinzua Bridge State Park officials want to build a glass-bottomed overlook at the edge of what's left of the bridge.
