PITTSBURGH — Federal government attorneys are urging a federal judge not to grant a temporary injunction against provisions regarding insurance coverage for contraception and abortion for a charity organization affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

A federal judge has scheduled a Nov. 12 hearing and says he wants to hear attorneys talk about what happens if the Diocese and its related entities, including Catholic Charities, don't abide by mandates in the law.

Justice Department attorneys argue that if Catholic Charities objects to coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, its insurance administrator must then provide the coverage at no charge and seek reimbursement from the federal government.

Attorneys for the diocese say playing even an indirect role in providing such coverage amounts to “facilitating or enabling evil.”

EAST STROUDSBURG — A university in northeastern Pennsylvania is cutting programs and laying off faculty to address a projected budget gap of nearly $7 million for the 2014-2015 academic year.East Stroudsburg University officials announced Wednesday that the school will be phasing out its bachelor of arts degree in music and bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees in French, as well as minors in both French and German. Current students can get their degrees but those degrees won't be offered to new students.The school also said eight tenured teachers have been offered transfers, five faculty members will be laid off and two more faculty positions will be phased out over the next two years.

MEADVILLE — The state attorney general's office has sued to remove a court-appointed board of trustees who oversee a 121-year-old amusement park.The lawsuit filed in Crawford County contends The Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park have fallen nearly $900,000 behind on property taxes, and failed to have insurance when fires burned the park's Dreamland Ballroom in 2008 and its Beach Club, which is leased and operated by a private firm, on Aug. 1.The park was struggling for years with declining attendance, maintenance issues and even weather — it shut down 14 of 16 weekends due to rain and poor crowds in 1992 — before it was sold to a consortium of local businessmen in 1993 who filed for bankruptcy.The park was closed altogether in 1995 but reopened in 1996 when it was purchased by Ohio businessman Gary Harris, only to see him convicted for tax evasion and lose control of the park, prompting a county judge to order that it be run by trustees or court-appointed custodians since 1998.The park's finances have continued to be an issue and the county has threatened a tax sale. That's because Summit Township has filed a claim for $880,000 in unpaid property taxes dating to 1996 against any insurance settlement received by Park Restoration, the private company that leased and operated the Beach Club.