An appeals court has agreed to hear an appeal of a decision to try a 12-year-old boy as an adult in the shooting death of his father's pregnant fiancee.

The state Superior Court on Tuesday granted a defense request to review the decision by Lawrence County Judge Dominick Motto.

Prosecutors allege that Jordan Brown of New Galilee shot 26-year-old Kenzie Houk with a 20-gauge shotgun as she slept in their New Beaver farmhouse in February 2009. Her unborn son, who was nearly full-term, also died.

Motto said in March that Brown was unlikely to be rehabilitated in the juvenile system.

Conviction as an adult on a first- or second-degree murder charge would mean a mandatory life sentence without parole.

If the case is moved to juvenile court, the state could not hold him beyond his 21st birthday.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is projecting a budget deficit of $876,000 in 2011 because of funding cuts.Symphony president Lawrence Tamburri outlined the orchestra's budget in its annual request Monday for funds from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, or RAD.The agency doles out a portion of the county's 1-percent sales tax to libraries, parks, stadiums and cultural agencies.The symphony is projecting expenses of nearly $31.7 million and revenue of more than $30.8.Symphony officials say state funding is being cut from $2.5 million to about $750,000.The symphony also expects less endowment funding because of the weak economy.The symphony is asking for $1.25 million in RAD funding, $350,000 more than it got this year.

One of the busiest passages out of Pittsburgh is closing over the weekend.The outbound Fort Pitt Tunnel will close from 10 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday so crews can replace ceiling tiles inside the tunnel.It will be the longest closure of the tunnel since 2003, when PennDOT shut down the tunnel and the Fort Pitt Bridge as part of a $90.3 million upgrade and renovation.Up to 55,000 vehicles use the tunnel each weekend day.The tunnel carries Interstates 279 and 376 out of the southern edge of downtown.Traffic will be detoured to Route 51 on the nearby West End.