HARRISBURG — Dozens of employees of the Pennsylvania auditor general's office are in line to be laid off because of budget cuts.

A Pittsburgh newspaper reported Wednesday that the affected workers have been offered help with unemployment benefits and finding other work.

The layoffs are expected in mid-June, unless the state budget includes more money than expected for the governmental watchdog body.

The layoffs will leave the auditor general with a work force of 476 people.

HARRISBURG — Former Penn State president Graham Spanier is asking a county judge to throw out criminal charges accusing him of helping to cover up abuse allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.Spanier's lawyers last week filed the motion, citing his allegation that the university's former top lawyer violated attorney-client confidentiality when she gave prosecutors information about him.He's also arguing that some of the charges were filed after the statute of limitations had run out.Spanier remains a faculty member while fighting the accusations that he and other administrators committed crimes as they responded to complaints about Sandusky, who was convicted last summer of 45 counts of child sex abuse.Spanier was charged in November along with former athletic director Tim Curley and retired vice president Gary Schultz.

HARRISBURG — Former state Rep. Bill DeWeese should be granted a new trial on corruption charges because a judge improperly limited the number of defense witnesses who testified, DeWeese’s attorney told a Superior Court panel Wednesday at a hearing on his appeal.William Costopoulos said Dauphin County Judge Todd Hoover allowed him to question just eight witnesses about a directive in which DeWeese, a longtime floor leader of the House Democrats, cautioned caucus staff members to confine campaign activity to lunch hours, vacation days and other personal time.The longtime Greene County lawmaker is a former Marine and “he believed that when a superior gave directives, those directives would be followed,” the lawyer told the three-judge panel.DeWeese, 63, was convicted last year on five felony counts for illegally using public employees and resources for political purposes. He is serving a 2½- to five-year term at Retreat State Prison.