HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's improving jobless rate means that the benefits period will be shorter after April 2.

The state Department of Labor and Industry said Monday that most of the state's jobless are losing six weeks of additional federal unemployment benefits. That's because Pennsylvania's three-month average unemployment rate in January dropped to 8.4 percent.

The maximum duration of unemployment benefits will drop to 93 weeks. Anyone who finishes the 93 weeks of benefits on or before April 2, 2011 is eligible to claim the six additional weeks.

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett's chief tax adviser said the state Revenue Department is cracking down on the nonpayment of use taxes on purchases made in other states or on the Internet.Acting Revenue Secretary Daniel Meuser fielded questions Monday from the House Appropriations Committee as hearings on Corbett's $27.3 billion budget opened.Pennsylvania imposes a 6 percent sales tax that businesses collect on in-state purchases of most goods and services. It has a 6 percent use tax on similar purchases made outside the state that Pennsylvanians are supposed to voluntarily report.Meuser said the roughly $350 million a year paid in use taxes is only about half of what is owed. He said the administration plans to add a use-tax line to the state income-tax form to ease reporting.

ERIE — The northwestern Pennsylvania woman convicted of orchestrating a bank robbery plot using a bomb strapped to the neck of a pizza delivery driver is appealing her conviction and life sentence.The Erie Times-News reports Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong filed a notice of appeal earlier this month in the case related to the 2003 robbery of an Erie-area bank. A jury in November found Diehl-Armstrong had plotted to lock a bomb around the neck of pizza driver Brian Wells and send him to rob the bank.Wells died after the robbery when the device exploded as he waited for a bomb squad to arrive.Details of the appeal will be filed later with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

WELLSVILLE — Officials in central Pennsylvania say a deer crashed through the windshield of a school bus, injuring the driver but leaving more than two dozen students unharmed.Police in York County said another vehicle struck the deer, sending it airborne and through the windshield of the Kauffman Bus Services vehicle at about 7:10 a.m. Monday.Police said some of the 25 middle and high school students pulled the white-tail deer away from the driver while others used their cell phones to call 911 and school officials. Officials said the 59-year-old driver, Barbara Reiff, of Dillsburg was taken to Holy Spirit Hospital and listed in stable condition on Monday afternoon.Northern York School District business manager Jason Young said no students were injured.

PITTSBURGH — Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC is offering an Apple iPhone app that lets parents get information about dozens of symptoms their children may exhibit — along with contact information and directions to the hospital's emergency room and ways to request medical appointments online.The hospital, which is part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's health network, announced the app Monday. The app known as ChildrensPgh can be downloaded from Apple's iTunes store or the hospital's site, www.chp.edu.The app offers advice on dealing with dozens of symptoms that are based on protocols used by pediatricians and nurses for more than 15 years.The app includes other information, such as over-the-counter medicine dosages for children and first-aid illustrations.

CONNELLSVILLE — A 43-year-old man has been charged with car theft, drunken driving and other crimes because police say he went joyriding in an ambulance stolen from a Pennsylvania hospital.Online court records do not list an attorney for Michael David Wilson Sr., of Republic, who was arraigned early Monday following his arrest shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday.Connellsville police said a global positioning device in the ambulance helped them track the vehicle's location and arrest Wilson.Wilson remained in the Fayette County Prison Monday after he was unable to post bond. He faces a preliminary hearing March 24.Police said Wilson crashed the vehicle after driving it away from Highlands Hospital, and that he damaged its front bumper, side mirror and part of the vehicle's boxed shell.