STATE
APOLLO — The Westmoreland County Coroner's Office says a 75-year old woman is dead after she fell in front of a tour bus she had been riding.
A deputy coroner says Betty Ruffner, of Cheswick, was killed about 7:10 p.m. Monday in Washington Township where she got off the bus owned by Myers Bus Lines of Export.
The bus was returning from a casino in Wheeling, W.Va. and stopped along Route 66 so Ruffner could get off.
Authorities say Ruffner fell, but the driver didn't realize that and accidentally drove over her.
Authorities didn't immediately identify the driver.
NORRISTOWN — Attorneys are discussing whether a 14-year-old Montgomery County boy accused of plotting a "Columbine-style" attack at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School should be tried as a juvenile or an adult.District Attorney Bruce Castor is expected to decide by the end of the week whether he will ask the court to consider moving the case from juvenile court to adult court.Authorities arrested Dillon Cossey on Oct. 10, saying he had amassed dozens of BB guns, swords, knives and homemade explosives in his parents' suburban Philadelphia home while planning an attack at the high school.His mother, Michele Cossey, was arrested Friday on charges of illegally buying her son a .22-caliber handgun, a .22-caliber rifle and a 9 mm semiautomatic rifle with a laser scope.
PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh man charged with taunting a police dog is free and will likely have his charges dismissed.Twenty-three-year-old Kenneth King spent nine days in jail because he couldn't post the $100,000 bail after his arrest Oct. 7.Police say 23-year-old Kenneth King taunted and threatened to kill Benny, a German shepherd. King says he yelled at the dog because it barked and startled him when he walked past a police vehicle. Taunting police animals is a felony under Pennsylvania's animal cruelty law.King's attorney, James Ecker, says the bail was unreasonably high and an Allegheny County judge agreed, releasing King without bond Tuesday.Allegheny County prosecutors say they'll dismiss the charge once King takes anger management classes.
