HARRISBURG — A county judge has rejected former state Rep. Bill DeWeese’s bid for a new trial on corruption charges.

Thursday’s ruling by Dauphin County Judge Todd Hoover clears the way for DeWeese’s lawyers to appeal his conviction to the state Superior Court.

The judge defended several trial rulings that DeWeese cited as justification for a new trial. He also turned down a motion to modify DeWeese’s 2½- to five-year prison sentence.

The 62-year-old Democrat from Greene County is incarcerated at Retreat state prison near Wilkes-Barre. He was convicted in February of five felonies involving the use of public resources for political purposes.

Scranton approves new recovery planSCRANTON — The adoption of a revised fiscal recovery plan has allowed the financially struggling city of Scranton to receive $2.2 million in state aid and a $6.25 million shot-term loan to help it pay its bills.Scranton’s city council adopted the revised plan on Thursday, less than two months after cash flow problems forced the mayor to temporarily cut the pay of hundreds of workers to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.Mayor Chris Doherty and council had been locked in a long standoff over how to deal with the city’s financial problems before hammering out a compromise agreement that includes a commuter tax, a sales tax and contributions from city nonprofits.

Harrisburg tax issue in courtHARRISBURG — A judge is considering a state appointee’s request to force Pennsylvania’s cash-strapped capital to increase taxes, arguing it’s necessary to help the city pay its bills.Before it ended, Thursday’s six-hour hearing before Commonwealth Court Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter also included arguments by lawyers for Harrisburg’s City Council that there’s no legal authority to force the city to raise taxes.Gov. Tom Corbett’s appointee who is managing the city’s finances wants to double the city’s 1 percent earned income tax as part of a fiscal recovery plan. Council members are refusing to approve it.The city is deep in debt over a costly renovation of its municipal trash incinerator, and it’s facing a cash shortfall. Corbett signed a law last year that authorized the unprecedented state takeover of Harrisburg.

Abducted baby boy is found OKPITTSBURGH — A 3-day-old boy who was abducted from a Pittsburgh hospital Thursday afternoon was found unharmed about five hours later and a suspect was taken into custody, police said.The abduction happened just after 1 p.m. The baby was found on the 21st floor of a downtown building, a mile away from the Magee-Women’s Hospital, where the boy went missing as his family was getting ready to take him home.The suspect, an unidentified woman who appeared to be in her mid-20s, smiled and laughed as she was taken out of a police cruiser for questioning, sparking even more questions in the case.A spokeswoman for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which includes the hospital, said the suspect is not believed to be a UPMC employee. The hospital said in a statement that the baby was examined by a doctor and was in “good health” and was reunited with his mother.

Pa. court sets voter ID hearing Sept. 13HARRISBURG — A hearing on Pennsylvania’s new voter-identification law will be held next month before the state’s highest court.The state Supreme Court ordered Thursday that the hearing be held Sept. 13 in Philadelphia.The order ends a dispute between the law’s opponents, who wanted a September hearing, and the Corbett administration, which urged waiting until October. The law, which takes effect in the Nov. 6 election, requires all voters to show specific forms of photo ID at the polls.