University union could strike in Oct. HARRISBURG — The union representing faculty and coaches at 14 state universities says its members will strike by the end of October if a new contract settlement is not reached.The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education said after a fifth day of marathon bargaining sessions Wednesday that it has proposed raising faculty pay by 12 percent while seeking other contract changes.The university system’s proposal for eight additional bargaining sessions, including this weekend, was rejected by the union, which announced its intention to go on strike no later than Oct. 30 if no deal is reached. Earlier this week the union said it would hold a strike workshop this weekend.The state system has asked the state’s labor board to appoint a fact finder. The union has called the move a delaying technique.The union represents about 5,500 faculty and coaches at Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester universities. Members have been working under contracts that expired June 30, 2015.The university system has said a strike would halt classes for more than 100,000 students. The schools would remain open.

Wolf nominates secretary of DEPHARRISBURG — The man who’s been running Pennsylvania’s environmental protection agency for the last four months is Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s nominee to keep the job on a more permanent basis.Wolf on Wednesday nominated Patrick McDonnell to be secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. He’s been the acting secretary since May and has held several top department posts.McDonnell requires approval by two-thirds of the state Senate to become secretary.The secretary’s job has been vacant since May 20, when John Quigley resigned after the governor’s office began looking into an e-mail he had sent to environmental advocacy groups.In it, Quigley urged the groups to support him and accused Republicans of “shilling” for the natural gas industry amid policy battles over drilling regulations and power plant pollution.

Drilling moratorium in parks extendedHARRISBURG — Pennsylvania has extended a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in state forests and parks for five years.A Pittsburgh newspaper reports that a new five-year forest management plan spells out an oil and gas management policy that supports the public lands drilling moratorium ordered by Gov. Tom Wolf.The 234-page plan released last week by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources also addresses climate change impacts for the first time.The Forestry Bureau holds 123 oil and gas leases on 301,000 acres. Drilling is allowed to continue on those leases.More than 1.5 million acres of the 2.2 million acres of state-owned forest land remains unleased, and the division chief of the Forest Resource Planning Section says officials don’t think additional leases would be wise now.