PITTSBURGH — The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a $38.3 million contract to Walsh Construction of Chicago to build an ambulatory care center for the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.

The new building at H.J. Heinz Division will provide primary care, physical rehabilitation, audiology, dental care, an outpatient pharmacy and patient education.

Two buildings will be demolished and an existing community living center will be renovated. The project also includes new roads, parking lots, walks and landscaping.

NEW CASTLE — Residents of an arson plagued town are thinking about setting up neighborhood watch groups.At least 35 deliberately set fires in the last 18 months have people on edge.There have been 45 suspicious fires in the past year and a half and 24 arsons have occurred in the lower east side of town. Fire Chief Tom Maciarello estimates the damage at about $250,000.So far, no arrests have been made and no one has been injured.A $1,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest.

PENN HILLS — Police in the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills are trying to figure out how a stolen semiautomatic handgun got into a sixth grader's swim bag. The gun was confiscated Thursday morning after the girl walked through a school metal detector.Penn Hills Police Chief Howard Burton says he doesn't believe the girl knew the fully loaded handgun was in the swim bag she took to Linton Middle School on Thursday. The girl was removed from school pending the outcome of the investigation.Officials say the gun had been reported stolen from Uniontown.

HARRISBURG — A 55-year-old Berks County woman died from swine flu Thursday, the first death from the illness in the state, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said.She had significant underlying health issues, a health department spokeswoman said.The state has 269 confirmed cases and 101 probable cases of illness due to the virus, according to the health department."We continue to monitor this outbreak and are taking every possible step to minimize the impact of the virus on the citizens of Pennsylvania," Secretary of Health Everette James said.There have been 11,468 probable and confirmed swine flu cases in the U.S., including 770 hospitalizations and 19 deaths, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The epidemic peaked in Mexico, the center of the outbreak, in late April, and now has spread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the CDC said.