RIDGWAY — A Western Pennsylvania man has been formally arraigned in northern Pennsylvania in the stabbing death of his girlfriend, whose body was found near deer carcasses in a park.

Nicholas Martin, 22, of Johnsonburg is charged in Elk County with homicide, aggravated assault and abuse of a corpse in the March 23 death of 18-year-old Alyssa Forsyth of Ridgway.

Security was increased for Martin's arraignment Friday, during which he pleaded not guilty to all charges.

A friend testified that the defendant told him he had killed Forsyth, who authorities said was strangled and then stabbed multiple times with a screwdriver as well as a kitchen knife.

PITTSBURGH — The Allegheny County Health Department has hired a new director.County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said at a Friday news conference that Dr. Karen Hacker, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, will begin work in September. She will make $195,000 annually, and the Heinz Endowments will cover $50,000 of that.The Health Department has been without a permanent director since March 2012.

PITTSBURGH — The West Penn Allegheny Health System says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded an investigation that dates to 2008.A newspaper reports that Pittsburgh’s second-largest health system disclosed the information Thursday in a financial report that also shows worsening losses for the most recent fiscal quarter.West Penn says the SEC indicated on May 20 that it has no plans to recommend penalties at this time.