STATE
PINE TWP, Mercer County — Fire officials suspect snow is to blame for a roof collapse at an abandoned skating rink near Grove City Medical Center.
The roof collapse happened Sunday evening.
No injuries were reported at the former “Neat Feet” rink.
Officials say it hadn't been used in about two years.
Emergency officials believe the collapse was caused by the weight of the snow on the rink's roof.
PHILADELPHIA — An aide says a top Pennsylvania's state senator accepted a free trip to the Super Bowl from an energy company drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale.The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, a Republican, had his ticket, plane ride and hotel bill paid for by Consol Energy.Drew Crompton, Scarnati's legal counsel and chief of staff, said the free trip is permitted under Pennsylvania ethics rules.The newspaper reports that it's not known whether Consol paid for any other legislators to attend last Sunday's game in Arlington, Texas.Other Pennsylvania legislators went to the game as guests of the Steelers, who lost to the Green Bay Packers.Crompton said the trip wouldn't affect Scarnati's decisions on natural-gas policy.
PITTSBURGH — A 93-year-old former mayor of Pittsburgh is continuing her recovery from pneumonia at a hospital.Sophie Masloff, the city's first female mayor, was admitted to UPMC Shadyside in Pittsburgh on Friday night after not feeling well for several days.Her attorney, Frederick Frank, told a Pittsburgh newspaper that she was feeling much better and that her outlook remains good.Masloff served as mayor from 1984 to 1988.
SCRANTON — Testimony is set to resume in the federal corruption trial of a former northeastern Pennsylvania judge who allegedly took part in a $2.8 million kickback scheme involving juvenile detention centers.Today will be the fifth day of testimony in the trial of ex-Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella. Prosecutors say Ciavarella and another judge took illegal payments from the builder and operator of privately owned juvenile detention facilities.The state Supreme Court threw out thousands of juvenile convictions issued by Ciavarella, saying he disregarded the constitutional rights of the defendants. He has denied any link between the payments he received and the youths he sent to the facilities.The second judge pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in the scheme and awaits sentencing.
