PITTSBURGH — About 2,000 Pittsburgh Public Schools students are expected to miss classes again because they either don't have proper vaccinations or haven't proven that they do.

Allegheny County Health Department officials say about 2 percent of the county's 180,000 students, or roughly 3,600, didn't provide proof by Thursday's deadline so they were barred from class. Most are in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, which still had 2,100 students without vaccines by the end of the day Thursday.

The health department has been vaccinating thousands of students to comply with the deadline.

PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a lower court's decision to keep voter referendum questions about Allegheny County's maligned drink tax off the ballot.The tax originally took effect in January 2008 as a 10 percent levy on poured drinks in bars and restaurants. The revenue was set aside for mass transit. It's since been lowered to 7 percent.Drink tax foes wanted a ballot measure slashing the levy to 0.5 percent. County council in turn sought its own referendum, essentially asking voters to choose between eliminating the tax and raising property taxes.The court's opinion, issued Thursday, upholds previous rulings that only county council has the power to regulate taxes.

HARRISBURG — The state bar's Judicial Evaluation Commission has finished rating the 15 candidates for Pennsylvania's appellate courts.The panel issued its ratings Friday for the last three candidates for Superior Court.It rated Philadelphia Judge Teresa Sarmina, a Democrat, as "highly recommended" and Chester County Judge Paula Ott, a Republican, as "recommended."The commission gave a "not recommended" rating to Libertarian Party candidate Marakay Rogers, a York lawyer, because she didn't participate in the review process.Rogers and Pittsburgh lawyer Barbara Behrend Ernsberger, a Democratic candidate for Commonwealth Court, are the only candidates this year to receive a negative rating from the panel.

NEW CASTLE — Attorneys for a 12-year-old Western Pennsylvania boy accused of killing his father's pregnant fiancee want him tried as a juvenile, not as an adult.Jordan Brown's attorneys say they'll file a request to move the case to Lawrence County Juvenile Court in the coming week.The attorneys announced those plans Thursday, after a judge allowed evidence from a search warrant to be presented at Brown's criminal trial, where he is charged as an adult.Brown is accused of fatally shooting 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk and her unborn son as Houk lay in bed.If convicted as an adult, Brown faces life in prison without parole. If the case is moved to juvenile court, any punishment would end when he turns 21.

PITTSBURGH — An autopsy has been scheduled on an Ohio man who died after falling 100 feet while working on a bridge in Pittsburgh.The Allegheny County Medical Examiner will conduct the autopsy Friday on 54-year-old Michael L'Hereaux, of Oberlin, Ohio.Pittsburgh police say the man was standing on scaffolding at the McKees Rocks Bridge when it either collapsed or he fell from it around 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Homicide detectives and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating.Although the bridge leads to the neighboring suburb of McKees Rocks it is within the city limits.The man was employed by Odyssey Contracting Corp., and was doing sandblasting work as part of a $6.8 million Penn-DOT rehabilitation project.

HARRISBURG — A bill that would legalize table games is advancing in the state House of Representatives.The Democratic-penned measure passed the House Gaming Oversight Committee on Friday by a party-line vote, 14 to 11.Senate leaders favor legalizing and taxing table games to help offset a massive state budget shortfall. However, some provisions in the House bill are opposed by the Republican-controlled Senate.For instance, the bill would charge slot-machine casinos $20 million to operate table games and set a 34 percent tax rate on the revenue.Republicans believe the fee and tax rate should be smaller. Democrats want more revenue from gambling to avoid imposing taxes on small games of chance or certain arts events.The full House is expected to vote on the bill in the coming days.