[naviga:h3]State troopers to wear body cameras in 2018[/naviga:h3]

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania State Police says troopers are now wearing body cameras in a pilot program that’s to last through the end of 2018.

Acting Commissioner Robert Evanchick said Tuesday that patrol troopers in Troop B in Uniontown, Troop J in Avondale and Troop T in Somerset are trained and wearing the cameras on duty.

Evanchick says the program will help the department ensure it is prepared for wider use of the cameras.

The Pennsylvania State Police received a $52,000 federal grant to buy about 30 of the cameras. The department is using them under an interim policy that it is making public.

A 2017 Pennsylvania state law exempts police audio and video recordings from the state’s Right-to-Know Law, leaving the release of those records largely to the discretion of police.

[naviga:h3]VP Mike Pence GOP headliner for Philly fundraiser[/naviga:h3]

HARRISBURG — Vice President Mike Pence is flying into Philadelphia for a fundraiser with Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor Scott Wagner.

Tuesday night’s event at the Rittenhouse Hotel benefits the Republican Governors Association. Pence and Wagner are both expected to speak. The association is not releasing details on how many people will attend the private event or how much they are paying to get in.

Wagner is challenging the re-election bid by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who began June with a nearly 10-to-1 cash advantage. Wagner spent heavily to win a three-way Republican primary last month.

Wolf had no primary opponent.

The general election is Nov. 6.

[naviga:h3]Bills to combat gun violence advances in Pennsylvania[/naviga:h3]

HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania House committee is advancing legislation to more aggressively take firearms from people who have a domestic violence restraining order against them or who are deemed dangerous by a judge.

The House Judiciary Committee passed several firearms-related bills Tuesday. Their fate in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is unclear.

In March, the Senate passed a bill that requires defendants in final protection-from-abuse cases to give up their guns in 24 hours.