STATE
PITTSBURGH — Two women have been found shot to death while three children slept safely upstairs after a SWAT team responded to a reported home invasion.
Police say they were called to the home about 2:30 a.m. Friday after a report of shots being fired. Officers arrived to find the women's bodies and the children still in bed.
Early reports said police were questioning a suspect, but police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki says police are still searching for suspects and have made no arrests.
PITTSBURGH — A contractor wants an appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the parents of a Pittsburgh-area soldier electrocuted in an Army barracks shower in Iraq.The notice of appeal filed Thursday by KBR doesn't include the contractor's arguments to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It simply indicates the company will ask the court to overturn a March ruling by a federal judge who refused to dismiss the suit after KBR argued she had no jurisdiction over military matters.KBR claims it was not responsible for Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth's death in January 2008.
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia's ban on the use of hand-held cell phones while driving is now law.Mayor Michael Nutter signed the measure Thursday.Enforcement will start in November, but it will be primarily on city streets.State police now have primary responsibility for patrolling the interstates in the city of Philadelphia and spokeswoman Cpl. Linette Quinn says state police don't enforce local ordinances. That will include the new cell phone law. Quinn says there's nothing to stop city police from citing drivers on the interstates, but state police won't be pulling over motorists for that offense.
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Health says it continues to find people who it considers to be probable swine flu cases.The Department of Health said Thursday that the three new cases are all adults in Philadelphia and neighboring Montgomery County. Further testing is necessary to determine the presence of swine flu.Also Thursday, Cumberland Valley High School in south-central Pennsylvania decided to cancel a planned field trip to New York City due to swine flu concerns. About 40 students in a humanities and arts class and five adults had been planning to make the trip Friday.
PITTSBURGH — The iconic water fountain where Pittsburgh's three rivers meet won't be gushing as high this year, and will probably be out of service next year.The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources says Point State Park doesn't have sufficient electrical service to operate the primary central pump which sprays water straight up in the air. Several smaller pumps that create peacock-shaped sprays around the fountain's perimeter will still spray water.The fountain is undergoing renovations as part of the park's $30 million makeover. But that work will likely require the fountain to be shut off entirely in 2010.
